THE FATHERS

OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION

VOLUME 95
 THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION

EDITORIAL BOARD

Thomas P. Halton
The Catholic University of America
Editorial Director
Elizabeth Clark Robert D. Sider
Duke Univeristy Dickinson College
†Robert B. Eno, S.S. Michael Slusser
The Catholic University of America Duquesne University
Frank A. C. Mantello Cynthia White
The Catholic University of America The University of Arizona
Kathleen McVey Robin Darling Young
Princeton Theological Seminary The Catholic University of America

David J. McGonagle
Director
The Catholic University of America Press

FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS

Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles,

Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M.

Laszlo G. Szijarto
Staff Editor
 FULGENTIUS
SELECTED WORKS

Translated by
ROBERT B. ENO, S.S.
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

Washington, D.C.
 Copyright © 1997
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.

library of congress cataloging-in-publication data

MMFulgentius, Saint, Bishop of Ruspe, 468–533.
MMMM[Selections. 1996]
MMMMFulgentius of Ruspe : selected works / translated by Robert B. Eno.
MMMMMp. cm. — (Fathers of the church ; v. 95)
MMMMIncludes bibliographical references and index.
MMMM1. Theology. 2. Catholic Church—Doctrines. i. Eno, Robert B.
MMMii. Title. iii. Series.
MMMbr65.f852e5 1996
MMM270.2—dc20
MMM96-19713
MMMisbn 0-8132-0095-4 (alk. paper)
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Select Bibliography xi

Introduction xv

selected works

The Life of the Blessed Bishop Fulgentius 1

To Peter on the Faith 57
On the Forgiveness of Sins 109
To Monimus 185
The Letters of Fulgentius 277

Indices

General Index 569

Index of Holy Scripture 576
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Fulgentius, as an author of the sixth century, makes use of

earlier authors. The translator wishes to acknowledge the
use of the following translations of authors cited by Fulgen-
tius and to thank the publishers for their permission to use
them. To Liturgical Press, for permission to use the transla-
tion of Augustine’s “Sermon 272” (by Professor Daniel
Sheerin, as found in The Eucharist, vol. 7, of the Message of
the Fathers series, edited by Professor Thomas Halton). To
Paulist Press, for permission to use excerpts from Cyprian’s
De Unitate Ecclesiae, as translated by Maurice Bevenot in the
Ancient Christian Writers series, vol. 25, and works of Pros-
per of Aquitaine, Ancient Christian Writers, vol. 32, translat-
ed by P. DeLetter. And, finally, in translating certain citations
of Ambrose and Augustine by Fulgentius, I have made use of
the translations found in the first and second series of the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, currently published by
Eerdmans. In the case of these last-named translations, I
have sometimes modified or modernized the wording.

editor’s note: Robert Eno, S.S., died on February 12, 1997,

during the editing of this translation. The editorial director of the
Fathers of the Church Series, Thomas P. Halton, recalls with grati-
tude Father Eno’s willingness to undertake, as a member of the Edi-
torial Board, whatever tasks were asked of him.

vii
 A B B R E V I AT I O N S

ACW Ancient Christian Writers. New York, N.Y./Mahwah, N.J.:

Newman Press, 1946–.
CCL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina. Turnhout: Brepols,
1953–.
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Austrian
Academy of Sciences: Vienna, 1865–.
DHGE Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastique. Paris, 1912–.
DSp Dictionnaire de spiritualité, ascétique et mystique, doctrine et histoire.
Ed. M. Viller, F. Cavallera, and J. de Guibert, S.J. Paris,
1937–.
EEC Encyclopedia of the Early Church. 2 vols. Ed. A. Di
Berardino. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
FOTC The Fathers of the Church. New York: Cima Publishing Co.,
1947–1949; New York: FOTC, Inc., 1949–60; Washington,
D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1960–.
NPNF A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church. Series 1. Ed. P. Schaff and H. Wace.
Buffalo and New York, 1888. Reprints 1956 (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans) and 1994 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson).
OECT Oxford Early ChrisGtian Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1970–.
PL Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Latina. Ed. J.-P. Migne.
Paris, 1844–65.
PCBE Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas Empire. Vol. 1. Afrique. Ed. A.
Mandouze. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la
recherche scientifique, 1982.
PLRE Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. 2. Ed. J. R.
Martindale. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
Tanner Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Ed. N. P. Tanner. 2
vols. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1990.

ix
 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Critical Texts
Fraipont, J., ed. Sancti Fulgentii Episcopi Ruspensis Opera. CCL
91–91A (1968).
Lapeyre, G. G. Vie de Saint Fulgence de Ruspe de Ferrand, Diacre
de Carthage. Paris: Lethielleux, 1929.

Translations
Vita Fulgentii:
French: Lapeyre, G. G. Vie de Saint Fulgence de Ruspe de Ferrand, Di-
acre de Carthage. Paris: Lethielleux, 1929.
German: Kozelka, Leo. Das Leben von heiligen Fulgentius. Bibliothek
der Kirchenväter. München: Kösel und Pustet, 1934.
Italian: Isola, Antonino. Vita di San Fulgenzio. Testi Patristici 65.
Roma: Città nuova, 1987.
De Fide ad Petrum:
German: Kozelka, Leo. Das Leben von heiligen Fulgentius. Bibliothek
der Kirchenväter. München: Kösel und Pustet, 1934.
Italian: Bianco, Maria Grazia. La Fede. Testi Patristici 57. Roma:
Città nuova, 1986.
Polish: There is also a Polish translation by W. Szoldrski in 1967.
De Remissione Peccatorum:
Italian: Bianco, Maria Grazia. Le condizioni della Penitenza. Testi Pa-
tristici 57. Roma: Città nuova, 1986.

Other Patristic Texts and Translations

Ambrose
De Fide. CSEL 78, ed. O. Faller. NPNF 10.
De Spiritu Sancto. CSEL 79, ed. O. Faller. FOTC 44.
Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam. CCL 14, ed. M. Adriaen.
Hymni. Ed. J. Fontaine. Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1992.
Augustine
Confessiones. CCL 27, ed. L. Verheijen. FOTC 21.
Contra Faustum. CSEL 25, ed. J. Zycha. NPNF 4.

xi
xii SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

De Baptismo. CSEL 51, ed. M. Petschenig. NPNF 4.

De Civitate Dei. CCL 48, ed. B. Dombart and A. Kalb. FOTC 14.
De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione. CSEL 60, ed. C. F. Urba and J.
Zycha. NPNF 5.
De Perfectione Iustitiae Hominis. CSEL 42, ed. C. F. Urba and J.
Zycha. NPNF 5.
De Praedestinatione Sanctorum. PL 44. FOTC 86.
De Trinitate. CCL 50, ed. W. Mountain. FOTC 45.
Enarrationes in Psalmos. CCL 38–40, ed. E. Dekkers and J. Fraipont.
NPNF 8.
Enchiridion. CCL 46, ed. E. Evans. FOTC 2.
Epistolae. CSEL 34 and 57, ed. A. Goldbacher. FOTC 18 and 30.
Retractationes. CCL 57, ed. A. Mutzenbecher. FOTC 60.
Sermones. PL 38, trans. D. J. Sheerin. The Eucharist. Vol. 7. Message
of the Fathers of the Church. Wilmington: M. Glazier, 1986.
Tractatus in Johannem. CCL 36, ed. R. Willems. FOTC 79.
Concilia Africae A.345–A.525. CCL 149, ed. C. Munier.
Cyprian
De Mortalitate. CCL 3A, ed. M. Simonetti. FOTC 36.
De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate. CCL 3, ed. M. Bevenot. OECT.
Gelasius
De Duabus Naturis in Christo. Ed. E. Schwartz. Publizisische Samm-
lungen zum Acacianischen Schisma. Münich, 1934.
Leo
Epistula 28. Tanner, vol. l. FOTC 34.
Optatus
Contra Parmenianum. CSEL 26, ed. K. Ziwsa. Trans. O. R. Vassall-
Phillips. London: Longmans, 1917.
Prosper
Responsiones ad Capitula Obiectionum Gallorum. PL 51. ACW 32.
Victor of Vita
History of the Vandal Persecution. Translated with notes and introduc-
tion by John Moorhead. Translated Texts for Historians. Vol.
10. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1992.

Secondary Literature
Lapeyre, G. G. Saint Fulgence de Ruspe: Un évêque catholique africain
sous la domination vandale. Paris: Lethielleux, 1929. [Remains
the most extensive monograph on all aspects of Fulgentius.]
 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY xiii

Much briefer but more recent summaries:

Collins, R. J. H. “Fulgentius von Ruspe.” Theologische Realenzykopädie
11.723–27(1983).
Jourjon, M. “Fulgence de Ruspe.” DSp 5.1612–15(1964).
Langlois. P. “Fulgentius” Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum
8.632–62 (c. 1969).
PCBE 507–13(1982).

Other Studies
Cal Pardo, E. “Mariología de S. Fulgencio de Ruspe” Miscelánea
Comillas 51(1969) 113–92.
Courtois, C. Les Vandales et l’Afrique Paris. RP Aalen: Scientia Verlag,
1964.
De Nicola, A. “Aspetti dell’etica matrimoniale di Fulgenzio di
Ruspe.” Augustinianum 18(1978) 361–82.
Diesner, H. J. Fulgentius als Kirchenpolitiker und Theologe. Stuttgart:
Calwer Verlag, 1966.
Di Sciascio. Fulgenzio di Ruspe e i massimi problemi della Grazia. Rome:
Gregorian University, 1941.
Grillmeier, A. “Fulgentius von Ruspe, De Fide ad Petrum und die
Summa Sententiarum. Eine Studie zum Werden der früh-
scholastischen Systematik.” Scholastik 34(1959) 526–65. “Vom
Symbolum zur Summa. Zum theologiegeschichtlichen Verhält-
nis von Patristik und Scholastik.” In Kirche und Überlieferung,
edited by J. Betz and H. Fries. Festschrift J. R. Geiselmann.
Freiburg: Herder, 1960, 119–69.
Mesnage, J. l’Afrique chrétienne: Evêchés et ruines antiques. Paris: Ler-
oux, 1912.
Micaelli, C. “Osservazioni sulla cristologia di Fulgenzio di Ruspe.”
Augustinianum 28(1988) 343–60.
Moorhead, John. Theoderic in Italy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992.
Nisters. B. Die Christologie des hl. Fulgentius von Ruspe. Münster: As-
chendorff, 1930.
Simonetti, M. “Note sulla ‘Vita Fulgentii.’” Analecta Bollandiana
100(1982) 277–89.
_______. La produzione letteraria latina fra Roma e Barbari (sec. V–VIII).
Rome: Augustinianum, 1986, 48–54.
Stevens, S. “The Circle of Bishop Fulgentius.” Traditio 38(1982)
327–41.
 INTRODUCTION

Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspe (c. 467–532), considered the

greatest North African theologian after the time of Augus-
tine (died 430), did not possess an original mind, but he
propagated and defended the Augustinian heritage against
the adversaries of the day, notably, Arians and Pelagians (or
at least semi-Pelagians). This volume gives English readers
for the first time an opportunity to study a representative se-
lection of the writings of this early sixth-century author as
well as presenting the Life for the first time in English.
North Africa had been under the rule of the Germanic
Vandals for several decades when Fulgentius was born. It
may be recalled that they had crossed over from Spain c. 429
and that Hippo Regius was under siege as Augustine lay
dying in August of 430. Carthage fell in 439. In 455, a Van-
dal fleet sacked Rome. The Vandals were Arians, and their
regime in North Africa, which was to last for nearly a centu-
ry, has been portrayed as extremely brutal and harsh for
Catholics. The History of the Vandal Persecution by Bishop Vic-
tor of Vita has recently been published in English.1 Fulgen-
tius’s family had been victimized by the Vandals earlier, and,
in his own life, he too would suffer persecution and exile.
He died only a short time before the Byzantine “liberation.”

Life
Some things about the biography of Fulgentius are quite
definite, viz., that he was in his sixty-fifth year when he died;
that he had been a bishop for twenty-five years; that he died
on the first of January and was buried the next day; that Feli-

1. Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution, trans. John Moorhead. Trans-
lated Texts for Historians, vol. 10 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1972.)

xv
xvi INTRODUCTION

cianus, his successor as bishop of Ruspe, was ordained to the

episcopate one year to the day after the burial of Fulgentius.
The only problem is that no years are attached to these facts
so that our view of the major dates of his life are not firmly
tied down to anything. Since the Life is the first of the works
to be translated in this volume, there is no point in review-
ing all the details of his biography here, but it would be
helpful to attempt to pin down some of these dates.
We may start with the fact that at this time the ordination
of African Catholic priests to the episcopate took place on
Sunday. Since the second of January fell on a Sunday in 528
and 533, the date of the death of Fulgentius must have been
January 1, 527 or 532. Thus he must have been born in ei-
ther 462/463 or 467/468 and ordained bishop of Ruspe in
502 or 507. There are reasons for preferring one date to
the other, but the majority of scholars today come down in
favor of the later dates, giving him a life span of 467 to 532.
In this case, he was bishop of Ruspe from 507 to 532.
He was born in the inland city of Thelepte in the African
province of Byzacena, well south of Carthage, of a promi-
nent family. With a good education and great prospects, he
became procurator or tax-collector (of his city ?) at an early
age. But he soon turned away from this life and chose the
monastery. Most of his biography revolves around his life
after this conversion.
One other certain date in his life is the year 500. It was in
this year that the Ostrogothic king of Italy, Theoderic, made
his only visit to Rome. According to the Life, Fulgentius was
by chance visiting Rome himself at that moment, a side trip
from Sicily where he had been staying with Bishop Eulalius
of Syracuse. Having been discouraged by that bishop from
pursuing his ambition of proceeding to Egypt to live with
the monks there, he returned to Africa, then suffering
under the harsh rule of Thrasamund (496–523). Against
his will, Abbot (and Bishop) Faustus ordained Fulgentius a
priest.
A few years later the Catholic bishops who remained de-
cided that they must risk defying the king’s prohibition
 INTRODUCTION xvii

against the ordination of new Catholic bishops. Try as he

might, Fulgentius was ultimately unable to avoid being cho-
sen as one of these new bishops and c. 507, he was ordained
bishop of Ruspe, a town on the Mediterranean coast of
Byzacena. He was just in time to be exiled to Sardinia by an
angry king. He remained there from c. 508/509 to 516/
517. Though he was among the most junior of the bishops
in the exiled group, his theological learning and literary
ability brought him to a leadership position.
King Thrasamund brought him back to Carthage for ap-
proximately two years so that he, the king, could do theolog-
ical battle with the Catholic champion. Ultimately con-
vinced that Fulgentius’s presence was doing the Arian cause
more harm than good, he was sent back to Sardinia. There
he stayed with the others until the death of the Arian king
in 523. The new Vandal king, Hilderic, was much more fa-
vorable to Catholics and to Constantinople. The exiled bish-
ops were allowed not only to return home but to resume
their episcopal ministry. Fulgentius is portrayed as enjoying
a triumphal march from Carthage to Ruspe where he lived
out his life and died only a short time before the Roman,
i.e., Byzantine, reconquest of 533, an event which would
bring mixed blessings for the Catholics of North Africa.

Writings
Many writings of Fulgentius have been lost. Of those that
have survived, the most significant, including those translat-
ed here, are dated to the period of his second exile and the
period of his return to North Africa from Sardinia until his
death, in other words, a period of about sixteen years.
There are also works which obviously date to his sojourn in
Carthage between the two periods of Sardinian exile, those
works dedicated to answering the theological arguments of
King Thrasamund. In addition, there are some thirty-nine
fragments, many lengthy, of a work against Fabianus. Like
the works against Thrasamund, this work also was con-
cerned with Trinitarian questions, as was the On the Trinity
xviii INTRODUCTION

against Felix. There are also eight undisputed sermons as

well as a treatise “On the Truth of Predestination.”
There was another North African author of the same
name whom some scholars identify with the bishop. This is
Fulgentius the ‘mythographer’. The majority of scholars
today, however, reject the identification on the grounds that
the literary genres of the two authors are too different to be
reconciled. Those who have paid more attention to the style
of the two corpora of writings seem less sure, however. That
the same author could produce such totally diverse types of
writings may seem, a priori, extremely unlikely to us, but
there is also the danger that such a judgment may be
anachronistic. That the Life of Fulgentius says nothing about
such ‘secular’ literary activities is not decisive. The works of
the ‘Mythographer’ were dedicated to a priest of Carthage
named Catus. On the other hand, if it is maintained that
Fulgentius wrote such works in “his younger days,” that too
would seem unlikely, given the fairly early age at which he
abandoned worldly interests. Thus the most prudent posi-
tion would seem to be not to identify the two Fulgentii.
THE LIF E O F T H E B L E S SE D
BISHO P F U L G E N T I U S
 Introduction
The question of the authorship of The Life of the Blessed Bishop Ful-
gentius remains a matter of dispute. No manuscript of the work indi-
cates the Carthaginian deacon Ferrandus as the author. Yet this was
the hypothesis of the seventeenth-century Jesuit scholar and editor of
Fulgentius, Pierre-François Chifflet,1 who brought the name of Ferran-
dus forward in this connection. His suggestion has been taken for
granted by the great majority of scholars since then. However, Antoni-
no Isola,2 a recent translator of the Life into Italian, takes a more hesi-
tant view to the extent that he lists the author as Pseudo-Ferrandus.
Isola grants that Ferrandus in Carthage was a correspondent of Ful-
gentius but does not see that there was that much close association be-
tween the two men. In the prologue to the Life, the author indicates
that he was a monk in Fulgentius’s monastery in Sardinia during the
second period of exile. Is this true of Ferrandus?
Evidence in favor of Ferrandus’s authorship includes the statement
made by Ferrandus himself at the end of a letter to Abbot Eugippius
in Italy, apparently not long after the death of Fulgentius, of his desire
to spread the knowledge of Fulgentius’s exemplary life and work. One
can only conclude that while Ferrandus’s authorship continues to be
widely accepted, the question has not yet been definitively resolved.
The Life itself is episodic, giving a series of vignettes. The emphasis
appears to be more of Fulgentius the monk than of Fulgentius the
bishop or theologian. His devotion to asceticism is stressed though,
like other western monks, he is not in competition with the Egyptians
or Syrians in this field. The lesson of the episode with the Arian priest
Felix near Sicca is that Fulgentius participated in the suffering of the
martyrs. (chap. 6–7). The comments on his ability to combine the life
of the monk with that of the bishop (chap.15) recall similar points
made about Martin of Tours. But, unlike that life and those of most
other holy men, the miraculous has almost no role to play here.
Hence the comments in chapter 23 on his ‘moral miracles’. Chapter
25 is devoted to listing some of his writings.

1. On Chifflet, see Bernard de Vregille, “Pierre-François Chifflet, S.J., décou-

vreur et éditeur des Péres (1592–1682),” in Les Péres de l’Église au XVII e siècle, E.
Bury and B. Meunier (Paris: Cerf, 1993) 237–51.
2. Antonio Isola, trans., Pseudo Ferrando di Cartagine: Vita di San Fulgenzio,
Collana di Testi Patristici 65 (Roma: Città Nuova, 1987), 5–8.

3
4 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

Perhaps the aspect of the Life which most strikes the contemporary
reader is the apparent restlessness of soul that Fulgentius exhibits.
After having rejected the world for the ascetic life, he moves from one
monastery to another, founds his own monastery, attempts to travel to
Egypt to find even greater ascetic challenges. Even after being made a
bishop and spending a great deal of his time in exile, he attempts at
the end to go off to a monastery again. Yet, despite this restlessness, his
writings manifest an orderly and rather prosaic mind.
If Ferrandus did not write this Life, the author may well have been
one of those who lived in the monastery with him in Africa as well as in
Sardinia. It has been said that one of the purposes of the work was to
remind the new bishop of Ruspe, Felicianus, to whom the Life is dedi-
cated, of the privileges of the local monks.
This is the first translation of the Life into English. The critical edi-
tion of Lapeyre3 (1929) has been used, but, as more recent authors
have pointed out, much still needs to be done for a more complete
critical edition.

Prologue
o ly fat h e r f e l i c i a n u s ,4 every faithful expositor
of the New Testament in whom Christ speaks, in
order to convince others more easily that he is to be
believed because of his example, puts the greatest effort into
doing good works, and, whatever he tells others must be
done, he first does himself. To no purpose does he exert
himself to teach wisely if he does not live blamelessly. To
Hthe teachers of the Catholic Church, two things are
deemed necessary: a holy life and sound doctrine. A good
life commends the one who teaches wisdom; sound doctrine
adorns the one who is living a good life. A good life makes a
person able to be loved; sound doctrine makes a person wor-
thy of praise. A good life is immediately accepted as a life
worthy of imitation; sound doctrine is judged never to be re-
jected. A good life removes all opportunities for detractors;
3. G. G. Lapeyre, Vie de Saint Fulgence de Ruspe de Ferrand, diacre de Carthage
(Paris: Lethielleux, 1929).
4. Felicianus, to whom this life is addressed, was a companion of Fulgentius
in Sardinian exile. He became his successor as bishop of Ruspe, ordained on
January 2, 533, one year and a day after his predecessor’s death. See “Felicianus
11,” PCBE, 404–5.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 5

sound doctrine resists those who contradict it. For a long

time, while I pondered the renown and the sanctity of the
blessed bishop Fulgentius, your predecessor, by whom we
were both nurtured, many times the outstanding teacher
came before the eyes of my heart. Then I lamented that the
consolation of so great a man was now lacking to the peoples
of Africa. And, although he has gone to better things, now
enjoying the delights of heaven, still I, so conscious of his
wisdom, groaned that there was no teacher like him with us
now.
Some relief was granted to my sad recollections whenever
I either read, or heard others reading, his wonderful books
or the letters or the sermons he gave to the people. While,
in silence, I considered that in these noted works, the genius
and the wisdom of the man could become known, while I
did not doubt that most people were aware of his justice,
honesty, and mercy, and how laudable a life he led, as you
well know, with his friends, following his own teachings; nev-
ertheless, I felt that these things were unknown to an even
larger proportion. Looking to the future, I feared more
strongly each passing day that forgetfulness would soon over-
take so good a life. After thinking for a long time, I said,
“See how the sound teaching of the blessed Fulgentius
shines forth since his books are read by all. When a book
bearing his name is read, it is as if he were speaking. What is
to be done in order that his holy life may also be known to
all? As long as those who knew him are still alive, or they can
hear something about his virtues from reliable witnesses, the
present generation can bear true testimony to him. But what
will the generation to come do? What will the great number
of faithful far away, across the sea, do? When they come to
read his works, in which the blessed bishop, though absent,
still speaks, and, though dead, still lives, they will soon come
to admire his wisdom; but how will they know of his blame-
less life? Just as his teaching is famous, may his life become
even more renowned.
Let us speak out and tell our brethren how so great a pon-
tiff lived. Nor should there be any fear that I, because of my
6 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

poor ability, do an injustice to a bishop who has won so great

a renown throughout all the world’s churches. Whatever
value my words may have, they cannot either increase or re-
duce the merits of one so great. But I shall proceed to bear
witness to the love because of which, ever desiring to stay
close to him, I, by his salutary exhortations, was converted
and was persuaded to take up the monastic vocation at that
small monastery which he had built in Sardinia, where he
had been exiled for the name of Christ.”
You were already living there as a priest. Days and nights,
I lived with him where the rivers of his heavenly eloquence,
sweeter than honey from the comb, daily refreshed me, and,
had it not been for the sterility of my withered spirit, my
earth would have brought forth fruit a hundredfold. But,
unworthy as I am, I was scarcely able to draw even a little
from that fullness. Trusting to the prayers of your Paternity, I
have decided to take up the work of this present booklet. I
shall put down here whatever I can remember about what he
said to us, and, even more, what we saw with our own eyes.
Knowing his doctrine, then, we shall not be ignorant of what
he did. I shall briefly explain—in no way fearing to incur the
charge of falsification—because all these things are not hid-
den from your aged Paternity. Nor are things being said as if
to one who did not know, but only those things will be said
which can be confirmed by your testimony.

Chapter 1
The truly blessed Fulgentius, born of a noble line in the
eyes of the world, had among his ancestors some of senatori-
al rank in Carthage. When King Gaiseric5 entered Carthage
as a conqueror, he compelled very many, indeed, all the sen-
ators, to sail to Italy after he confiscated their possessions.
His grandfather, Gordianus6 by name, was among those who
5. Gaiseric was the leader of the Vandals who crossed from Spain to North
Africa and conquered the Romans there. He was their king until his death in
477. See EEC I.342.
6. Fulgentius’s grandfather. See PCBE, 542.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 7

willingly undertook the journey imposed on them, wishing

at least, having lost his fortune, not to lose his freedom.
After his death, two of his sons came back to the province
of Africa in the hope of reclaiming their heritage, but they
were not able to stay in Carthage, for their house had been
given to Arian priests. But, with the partial restoration of
their property by royal authority, they went to Byzacena,7 and
there in the city of Thelepte, one of them, Claudius8 by
name, whose wife was named Mariana,9 a Christian and a
good woman, happily begot that one to whom so great a
glory was due, and his mother, as if knowing what he would
become in the future, named him Fulgentius.10 Since his fa-
ther died not long after, his religious mother first made him
study Greek literature, and soon he had committed all of
Homer to memory; he knew a great deal of Menander as
well, but she did not permit him to be taught Latin litera-
ture. She wanted him, still in his tender years, to learn a for-
eign language by which he might more easily be able, having
to live among the Africans, to speak the Greek tongue with
expert pronunciation, as if he had been brought up there.
His mother was not mistaken in making such a careful
arrangement. Ever after, whenever he wished to speak
Greek, even after a long period of disuse either in speaking
or reading it, he still pronounced it so well that one would
think that he had spent all his time living among Greeks.
After having been taught a knowledge of Greek letters, he
began the study of Latin letters at home, even though
schoolmasters usually teach Latin, but he later went to a
grammar school. The greatness of his mind and memory en-
abled him to retain all he had been taught. But then the ne-
cessity of household affairs forcing him, he was quickly taken

7. Byzacena was the Roman province of North Africa which corresponded

roughly to the central and southern sections of modern Tunisia. The city of
T(h)elepte is well inland in west central Byzacena near the border with the
province of Numidia. See J. Mesnage, l’Afrique chretienne, 110–13.
8. Claudius was Fulgentius’s father. See “Claudius 3,” PCBE, 211.
9. Fulgentius’s mother. See PCBE, 700.
10. A play on Fulgentius’s name, meaning “Bright” or “Famous.”
8 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

away and accepted, even as a young man, the responsibility

of managing family business. Even though submissive to his
mother’s wishes, here too, he stood out as an imitator of
Christ, of whom the holy Gospels bear witness: “And he was
subject to them,”11 i.e., his parents. His venerable mother was
made happy, and the outstanding nature of her wise son
consoled her in her sadness over the loss of her husband. He
came to be, in that family, one who, benevolent, rendered
honor to his friends, reasonably put off his enemies, both
kindly and severely, ruled and corrected the slaves, diligently
administered his patrimony, and became valued by the pow-
ers that be. By virtue of this, with his reputation growing
every day, of a sudden he was named procurator.12 This was
the beginning of his being able to command, advise, and
govern very many.

Chapter 2
Having accepted this power, while he used it in a mild
manner, acting from his innate goodness, he wished to harm
no one, and, when ordered to be merciless in requiring pay-
ments, the burden of this world’s business began to weigh
heavily on him and its vain happiness to be displeasing. Lit-
tle by little, with a laudable patience taking over, love for the
spiritual life began to rise in him, and, furthermore, a desire
for reading and a tireless search for prayer. Henceforward,
frequently visiting the most agreeable flocks of the monas-
teries, he learned the customs and the purpose of the ser-
vants of God. Among these ascetics, he knew that there are
not the joys of the world, but neither is there boredom.
Living in the greatest self-denial, he saw no one afraid of
slander, but loving each other. He noted that a great many
young men, dedicated to perpetual continence, were able to
keep themselves from all sexual intercourse. He was tossed

11. Lk 2.51.
12. This vague reference indicates that Fulgentius was named a civil tax col-
lector, but it is not clear of what jurisdiction.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 9

about by such thoughts within him when he cried out with

these words: “Why, I ask,” he said, “do we labor in the world
without hope of future goods? What will the world be able to
offer us? If we wish to be happy, although it is better to weep
in a good cause than to rejoice in a bad one, how much bet-
ter do they rejoice whose conscience is at peace with God,
whom the violence of the unjust tax collectors frightens not
at all, who fear nothing except sins, who do nothing except
those things with which they can fulfill God’s command-
ments. They are not weary from the journeys involved in
public service; they are not compelled either to weep in mis-
ery or disgracefully fear the loss of their patrimony. They
work with their hands; they do no harm to the interests of
others; they live in peace among themselves, lives that are
sober, meek, humble, and harmonious. They have no con-
cern for lust; rather, there is a great concern for and vigi-
lance over perpetual chastity. Let us imitate such praisewor-
thy men. Let us waste no time seizing upon this constancy in
living a good life. Let what we have merited to know as bet-
ter, thanks to God’s gracious revelation of it to us, be of use
to us. Let us renounce our former way of life and change
our work. Formerly we strove to appear more noble among
our noble friends; let us now strive to become poorer among
the poor servants of God. If we were forced to coerce
debtors, let us now try to convert sinners. Christ our Lord
was able to make teachers of the Church out of public offi-
cials. Matthew was called from the tax collector’s booth to
become an apostle. Not that we believe such an honor befits
our person; but, if he, putting aside the office of tax collec-
tor, accepted the ministry of preaching, will it not be permit-
ted to us, after putting aside the procuratorship, to assume
the lamentations of a penitent? God is our refuge. Let no ex-
cuse be found in the weakness of our age; he who is power-
ful enough to grant continence to so many young persons
whom we saw living in a monastery, can give me, a sinner, a
similar grace.”
After lengthy meditation on these words in his heart, with
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he decided to renounce
10 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

worldly joy altogether and to associate himself with that way

of life which he had been praising. At first, wary that too
abrupt a change, disturbing both mind and body, amid the
first stirrings of conversion, might generate a very great bur-
den for himself or a scandal for others, secretly he began to
practice fasting; from there, progressing little by little, he
began to abandon the company of his old friends. Frequent-
ly separated from society, on his own lands, though all, both
family and business associates, were unaware, he remained
apart, as if melancholy because of his affairs. There he used
to pray, read, fast; he cut down on the excessive amount of
his meals, ceased to visit the baths, and, although still a lay-
man, lived increasingly the full life of a monk. All who knew
him were amazed at the marvelous moderation of such a re-
fined person and attributed the cause of this change to a
narrow meanness. But, within him, with each passing day,
the love of the holy profession and a more ardent love of
mortification grew. At a certain point, then, having experi-
enced everything which seemed hard to him, he knew that,
with the help of the Holy Spirit, his will would be able to put
up with them. Assured by what St. Augustine wrote in his
Enarratio on the thirty-sixth psalm,13 he resolved to make
public his intentions. Eagerly he changed his manner of
dress, lest he feel obliged to receive as friends those who
came to him with whom he had formerly lived in a worldly
way. Wise man that he was, he realized that the conversion
of his heart would be of use only to him if he were able to
keep it secret, but, if made public, it would offer a good ex-
ample to many others for giving up their old, sinful ways.
What middle class or poor person would be ashamed to be-
come a monk, when he saw Fulgentius, with the arrogance
of his inborn pride decreasing, walking with unhurried steps
the hard path of self-denial?

13. According to Antonio Isola, Simonetti believes that the third sermon of
Augustine on Ps.36 is the place referred to. See Isola, Vita di San Fulgenzio, 46,
n. 16.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 11

Chapter 3
There was at that time a certain bishop worthy of all
praise by the name of Faustus,14 who, for the Catholic faith,
had been ordered into exile, though not far from his see.
The sly malice of the persecuting tyrant Hunneric had or-
dered this in the case of many bishops, so that they, under-
going the rigors of exile so close to their homes, might the
more easily be brought to deny God. In that same place
where he had been exiled, he built a monastery for himself
in which he lived as a man of the spirit and was held in
honor by all Christians. It was to this holy man that Fulgen-
tius, who was already well known to him, eagerly came and
made known to him with confidence the intentions of his
heart. He, knowing that he had lived in a completely worldly
life-style, hesitated to believe the one who promised such
things. So he said to him, “Why, my son, are you telling lies
and taking delight in deceiving the servants of God? Will
you be a monk, or will you thus so quickly change your
habits of pleasure so that this renunciation, with its food of
poverty ill-prepared and second-hand clothing, will not
break your spirit? What you should do, to start, is to live the
life of an ascetic layman, and, then perhaps, I shall deem it
credible that you want to, or are able to, renounce the
world.” At this, the young man, even more eager, as a suppli-
cant, kissed the hand of the one who was trying to push him
away, and begged him, with his eyes cast down on the earth,
“Father, he who gave the desire to the one who did not want
it, is able to give the ability to the one who does want it now.
Allow me to follow in your footsteps; open to me the door of
the monastery; give me the help of your holy example; make
me one of your disciples; and God knows how to free men
from my sinful ways.” When he heard this, the blessed old
man judged it a serious mistake to put off the supplicant any
14. Faustus, bishop of Praesidium Diolele in Byzacena. The location of his
see is uncertain, but it may have been a few miles to the southwest of Thelepte.
Forced out by the decrees of Hunneric, king of the Vandals after Gaiseric until
484, he founded a monastery. See “Faustus 6,” PCBE, 398.
12 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

further and was inclined to give permission. “Remain with

us, my son,” he said, “as you wish; after a few days, let us see
whether your deeds correspond to your words. I hope that
my concerns are groundless and your profession is found to
be solid.” After the holy bishop Faustus had given his per-
mission to the supplicant, the news quickly spread among
his relatives and friends that Fulgentius had become a
monk. The good were happy; the wicked confounded. His
life, lived in comfort up until then, gave little hope to some.
But certain others who knew the outstanding depth of his
singular genius were rapidly convinced to hope for great
things from him in the future. Some of his friends to whom
he had been a dear and faithful companion since his child-
hood, desiring to imitate him, now scorned the world and,
giving up their own will, went to join the monasteries.

Chapter 4
With many coming to tell her, his mother heard that Ful-
gentius had fled to the monastery, that he had completely
given up his task of running the household and managing
his patrimony, and that it was completely impossible that he
be turned aside from this resolve. Upset and fearful, with
the emotion of excessive love stirring her as if Fulgentius
were already dead (although it would be a good death for
anyone so dying), she battered heaven with superabundant
tears and cries, and, as mothers usually do at the funerals of
their sons, she was unable to stop her weeping. In a rage, she
was swept along with great speed to the monastery; with no
hesitations, she berated the holy Faustus with insults and re-
proofs, saying, “Give a mother back her son. Give the ser-
vants back their master. Bishops have always done many
good deeds for widows; why is the house of a widow now
going to perish because of you?” To which the bishop re-
sponded patiently, “If you had taken my son, woman, I
would have to condemn you to the degree my sorrow re-
quired; but, as it is, you justly berate me because I have taken
your son. When you are displeased that he is to serve Christ,
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 13

you do well to berate Faustus.” Tolerating words such as

these with equanimity and gently teasing her, he absolutely
refused to allow her even to see her son. She, knowing how
much she was loved by her son, called out with loud cries be-
fore the gate of the monastery; and frequently calling out
the name of Fulgentius, she made known to all her piteous
and desolate state.
That was the first of the temptations to beat upon Fulgen-
tius with great strength. For, he heard with his own ears his
sainted mother, whom he had always loved and whom he
had served with the greatest devotion, weeping. But, raising
his heart to heaven, he heard and did not hear; he did not
think it worthy to be swayed by her prayers because he over-
came his accustomed filial piety by a religious cruelty. Here
he was already beginning to furnish an outstanding example
to many of the patience he would show in the future and, al-
most as if inebriated with the grace of the Spirit, he in some
way no longer knew her as his mother. Now, for the first
time, the blessed bishop Faustus believed that he was whole-
heartedly converted and with joy said to the other brothers,
“This young man will easily be able to tolerate whatever
labor we impose on him, since he is able to resist his moth-
er’s sorrow.” That mother, when she realized that her son
was not coming to her, even though she lamented even
more, did not believe that he was still in the same place, be-
cause she, not yet realizing his strength, thought that, if he
had been there, he would not have been able to resist his
mother’s wailing. Frequently coming and going, she caused
the bishop much trouble and laid many traps for her son,
until, finally overcome, she went back to her own home.

Chapter 5
The blessed Fulgentius tortured himself to an incredible
degree with feats of abstinence, eating and drinking so poor-
ly and so little, without wine and oil, that his terrible fasts
caused the dried out skin of his body to break open with
many abscesses, and, with the onset of the skin disease called
14 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

impetigo, the beauty of his well-formed body was disfigured.

Many were of the view that at that point the blessed Fulgen-
tius could on the occasion of this illness either back away
from his previous decision to seek sanctity or, at least, would,
from then on, settle for mediocrity to the point that he
would no longer observe the fasts required by the common
rule. But he, contrary to everyone’s expectations, governed
by the aid of God’s prevenient mercy, took greater strength
of soul from the weakness of his body, and, the weaker he
got, the more he fasted, thinking only of his eternal salva-
tion; he entrusted the health of his body to the Lord’s will,
saying this to many, “We all know that life is usually pre-
served by eating but that health cannot be thus conferred.
For, in order that infirmity be cured, if it sufficed for the de-
sires of the palate to be satisfied, then why do even they who
daily are sated by sumptuous banquets get sick?” Therefore,
he tolerated sickness with patience and practiced self-denial
with sufficient humility. Considering everything that he did
to be small, day after day, he acted so as to become better.
Sustaining the resolve of his heart with the aid of his heaven-
ly assistance, the merciful and kind God swiftly restored the
health of his body. Then the soul of the wise man, moved by
a higher piety, with his whole mind crucified the world to
himself, and he, crucified to the world, walked the path of
righteousness from his youth, as it is written. He gave over as
a gift to his mother alone, even though he had a younger
brother named Claudius,15 the property that belonged to
him, in order that, later, it might be given to this brother by
his mother if he served her well. Thus, by a wise plan, desir-
ing to subjugate the pride of his younger brother so that he
who was unwilling to be humble from pious motives might
learn to be humble for the sake of his heritage; and his holy
mother, who could not bask in his affection after the depar-
ture of her beloved son, still deserved to be consoled by his
good deed. Then what praises and thanks all now gave to the
Lord! When they saw the blessed Fulgentius, having tram-

15. The younger brother of Fulgentius. See “Claudius 4,” PCBE, 212.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 15

pled upon the greed of this world, renounce completely the

goods which he was unable to give and distribute to the
poor, lest he offend his good mother, to deserve to have
Christ as his teacher.
Now all those things which had seemed to afflict him in
the first stages of his conversion had been disposed of. But,
because this life can never pass without its temptations,
again such a persecution of the faith sprang up which forced
the blessed bishop Faustus of holy memory to seek refuge in
a succession of hiding places and did not allow him to re-
main in peace at the monastery. Then blessed Fulgentius,
fearful either that he would be the only one left in that place
or that he would have to move frequently from one place to
another, after first talking it over with Bishop Faustus, went
to a neighboring monastery, where an abbot named Felix16
presided over a few brothers of little sophistication. He was a
friend from adolescence with whom he had always been on
familiar terms even when he was still a layman. Then Felix
the abbot, receiving him with joy, knowing himself to be in-
ferior to him in virtue, gave over to him both the title and
the power of abbot. But he, in his desire for humility, re-
fused the privilege of power and, after many pious struggles,
having undergone the ‘violence’ of charity, with the agree-
ment of the entire body of monks, he barely agreed to share
the task with his good colleague. Thus two very holy men,
equally loving God and neighbor, both similar in morals,
both aspiring to still better things, equal in their manner of
life, one superior to the other in knowledge, accepted the
gentle yoke of ruling the brethren.
O how fortunate the group of God’s servants over which
Fulgentius began to be the head! O how brightly shone that
monastery which had kept Felix as its administrator! Each
one, in giving the other his name, gave the other the
prospect of undiminished praise. Fulgentius, running along
the path of the Lord, was called happy [felix], and, with the
increasing fame of Fulgentius, Felix benefited from the

16. See “Felix 89,” PCBE, 440.

16 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

fruits of his high achievements. One of them, namely the

blessed Fulgentius, had as his special assignment, the teach-
ing of the brethren. The other labored conscientiously to
look after daily needs. When brethren arrived, one in partic-
ular preached the word of God while the other carefully saw
to the hospitality and was happy to offer it. Nothing was
done by one without the consent of the other, but both gave
orders in such a way that the monks thought they were
under one superior. So, since Felix was afraid to offend Ful-
gentius and Fulgentius Felix, with their wills in subjection
each one lived, and they were praiseworthy for the well-
being of the brethren which they consulted, and great by the
mutual subjection which they showed to each other. Who
had words to explain the power of this affection? Those
whom quiet peace had brought together, cruel war could
not separate. But, when suddenly the province was disturbed
by the incursion of a horde of barbarians,17 they, seeing tem-
poral safety assured only by flight, accepted the dangers
brought about by a journey, and, having considered the con-
sequences, they went far away where there seemed to be no
danger of a new war and offered the complete possibility for
constructing a new monastery. These great leaders of a heav-
enly army moved their spiritual camp, and, accompanied by
the crowd of their monks, they passed through unknown re-
gions of Africa; everywhere they brought joy to the good and
jealousy to the wicked.

Chapter 6
They intended to settle finally in the area of Sicca,18 at-
tracted by the region’s rich soil, welcomed by the faithful.
But there was a certain priest of the Arian sect, preaching
heresy on the estate of Gabardilla. His name among men

17. This monastery in the southwest mountainous corner of Byzacena was

subject to raids from the nomads, the Mauri or Moors.
18. Sicca Veneria (Le Kef) was a small city in the northern province of
Africa proconsularis, about 135 kilometers north of Thelepte.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 17
was Felix,19 but his will was always malevolent toward God, by
race a barbarian, cruel in his morals, powerful by his re-
sources, a fierce persecutor of the Catholics. Aware that the
name of the blessed Fulgentius was well known in these re-
gions, he foresaw that Fulgentius would secretly reconcile
many of those whom he had subverted. He did not believe
that such a man, worthy of the priesthood, was even now still
just a monk but thought that in his monk’s habit he was car-
rying out the ministry of a priest. And, in truth, even then,
he did fulfill in a praiseworthy fashion the office of a priest,
not by reconciling people, but, with salutary words, leading
all whom he could reach to reconciliation. His words were
challenging but not harsh, and he softened even hardened
hearts so that not without reason was this priest afraid for his
false religion. Driven by the spurs of a mad frenzy, the priest
undertook to persecute cruelly the servants of God and, with
lookouts stationed on all the roads, he set upon those who
walked those roads all unsuspecting. It was necessary for
those brave athletes, prepared for anything through their
voluntary labors of self-denial, to be handed over for a little
while into the hands of the persecutors, so that, being made
sharers in the sufferings of the martyrs, they learn to put up
with all the tortures used against them; they would test how
much progress they had made to the extent that they did
not deviate even in the slightest way from the true faith de-
spite the tearing of all their limbs by the lash. Unaware of
the intentions of the wicked serpent, having confidence in
their conscience, fearing nothing, the two walked on togeth-
er, talking. And, behold, suddenly as by the violence of a ter-
rible storm, the unsuspecting were assailed; the serpent di-
vided those who were joined, tied together those who were
divided, and, crushed by the cruel chains which bound
them, they were brought to the priest. Suddenly, without
being guilty of anything, they found themselves accused,
prisoners without a war. The Moors had not been able to
harm them during their flight, but now the Arians inflict

19. See “Felix 90,” PCBE, 441.

18 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

punishment on them. Then, before they were seized, Abbot

Felix threw away a few gold coins which were meant to meet
the needs of the brethren, in all innocence, out of fear, and
thus committed to God himself the keeping of God’s ser-
vants. O singular power of a divine miracle! No one could
have known where these coins were thrown; no one was al-
lowed to take away from the poor their sustenance. But they
alone, who were to be tested, were held, tied up, and led to
the priest. With menacing words, the violent priest ad-
dressed them, “Why have you come secretly from your own
area to overthrow Christian kings?” Well did that wretch call
Christians kings out of whom sadly he had driven Christ
Jesus, King of Kings, by breathing on them and whom he,
like an Antichrist, had taught to deny that Christ was equal
to the Father. While they were preparing a true reply to his
words, he first ordered them to be beaten.
Then, Abbot Felix was moved by an overwhelming chari-
ty. “Spare,” he said, “Brother Fulgentius, who cannot stand
torture. Don’t beat him, for he may die at your hands. Let
your cruelty be turned on me; I know what to confess; I am
to blame for everything.” Then, overcome by admiration for
such love, he ordered the blessed Fulgentius to be taken
away for a little while and commanded Felix to be beaten
even more by the cruel servants. Then Abbot Felix with joy-
ful heart submitted to the stripes. He sustained the suffering
with joy, because he believed that the blessed Fulgentius
would not suffer.
See how the blessed Fulgentius was revered by his friends
that he merited to be loved until death. That charity of the
blessed Felix bears outstanding witness to the holiness of
that life. For he would not have despised his own safety in
favor of his unless he had early on felt the usefulness and the
pleasing nature of that life for himself and for many others.
Let those who wish to please God imitate both. Let the
blessed Fulgentius teach others to live among the brethren
in such a way that they be loved, cherished, and deemed
worthy of assistance in their greatest need, even if this aid is
not devoid of danger. May others learn from the heroic deed
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 19

of Abbot Felix to give their all with good heart to the broth-
ers who are better and more advanced in the fear of God.
When there is such charity among brothers, such as there
was between these two very holy men, the power of every
temptation is easily overcome, and the stubbornness of ene-
mies is immediately broken. Yet this cruellest of priests was
not in the least satiated by the sufferings of Abbot Felix and
had no thought of sparing the blessed Fulgentius.

Chapter 7
But the blessed Fulgentius, a man of very delicate consti-
tution, being born of an upper-class family, had difficulties,
as he himself later told us, in standing the violent blows of
the cudgels with the ever-increasing sharpness and sudden
pain. He thought that he might be able either to calm the
rage of the furious priest if possible, or, at least for a short
time, to divert his attention before his wrath should be
rekindled, so that, with this respite, he might more easily
have a breathing space lest the non-stop punishment be-
come completely unbearable. While being beaten, he cried
out, “I have something to say—if I am allowed to speak.”
Then the priest, thinking that he wanted to convert, com-
manded the torturers to rest, and so, commanded him, still
under the threat of the lash, to say what he wanted. At which
the blessed Fulgentius began to tell the story of his travels
with the attractive words of his habitual eloquence, and the
priest was struck with astonishment and for a long time was
softened by the charm of his words, making him almost for-
get his cruelty completely. The priest marveled at the elo-
quence of the blessed Fulgentius, approved his wisdom, and,
perceiving in him some great man, began to be ashamed of
his violence, but, fearful of letting his men think that his
malice had been mastered, said, “Beat him again harder,
and batter the talkative one with multiple lashes; I know he
thinks that he can distract me. I do not know what he is try-
ing to accomplish with the long, drawn-out account of his
foolish story.” The wrathful hands of the torturers began
20 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

again, and the blessed Fulgentius was furrowed by innumer-

able lashes. At length the priest, brought to confusion by
this torture for which he was responsible, recognized the
merits of praiseworthy men and did not dare to hold them
any longer, but, having shamefully shaved their heads and
deprived them of all their clothes, threw them out of his
house, naked and without a penny. But this shaving brought
no shame on these holiest of men, nor did nakedness cause
confusion, because the injuries sustained out of hatred for
their religion had for the first time adorned them with the
glory of confessing the faith, sustained by grace from on
high. Therefore, they went away from the priest’s house as
from the site of a glorious contest, crowned by the laurels of
an outstanding victory. Retracing their steps through the
field where they had been captured, they found there the
gold pieces, which, as we said, Abbot Felix had thrown away,
all of them without exception, and they accepted them with
joy as if restored by God’s hand. Giving ineffable thanks to
God, who consoles the lowly in their trials, they rejoined the
brethren who had remained in the neighborhood. The de-
testable story of this cruel act saddened the entire region
and was spoken of even in Carthage. The news also reached
the so-called bishops of the Arians that the blessed Fulgen-
tius had been seriously beaten, and, because a bishop knew
Fulgentius’s family and had loved the blessed Fulgentius
himself while he was still a layman, he was motivated to take
action against the priest of his own religion and diocese who
instigated the beating, proposing to revenge the blessed Ful-
gentius if the latter were willing to swear out a complaint
against the above-mentioned priest. But the blessed Fulgen-
tius, even though many urged him to do this, said, “It is not
permitted for a Christian to seek revenge. God knows how to
deal with the injuries to his servants. If that priest, because
of me, is punished by men for his serious crime, we would
lose the reward from God for our suffering. In addition, it
might scandalize many little ones, if I, a Catholic and a
monk, albeit a sinner, were to seek justice from an Arian
bishop.” Unwilling to render evil for evil and knowing that
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 21

his life was of use to good people, lest perchance, they again
suffer violence at the hands of the heretics, they again left
that province and swiftly returned to regions closer to their
own province, choosing rather to have the Moors for neigh-
bors than to suffer further indignities from the Arians.

Chapter 8
They set about founding a monastery near the city called
Medidi,20 where very quickly they, as servants of the Lord,
gave themselves up to works of charity. But, all of a sudden,
the blessed Fulgentius, reading the admirable lives of the
Egyptian monks, as well as being inspired by meditating on
the Institutes and Conferences,21 decided to set out by ship for
these lands; for two reasons, in particular, viz., firstly, that,
giving up the title of abbot, he could live more humbly, sub-
ject to the rule, and, secondly, that he might submit himself
to a stricter regime of self-denial. And, because his intention
might be hindered if it became public knowledge, he imme-
diately sought an opportunity to go to Carthage. Coming to
the walls of the city with only one brother, whose name was
Redemptus,22 the companion he had chosen for his voyage,
he boarded a ship headed for Alexandria. Bringing no
money with him as was usual for such a voyage but firmly
placing all his hope in God who is rich, he sang sweetly with
David, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall
want.”23
With a fair breeze and favorable winds, they quickly ar-
rived at the port of Siracusa.24 Guided by the Providence of
God most high, he came to the city where the blessed Pope

20. Medidi, a town in Byzacena, about 55 kilometers southeast of Sicca.

21. These are works of the monastic writer, John Cassian (c. 360–435), who
came from the East but settled in southern Gaul and wrote in Latin. It is curi-
ous that he is read by Fulgentius, since Cassian was a favorite target of disciples
of Augustine such as Prosper who saw in him a “semi-Pelagian.” See EEC I.149.
22. Redemptus. See “Redemptus l,” PCBE, 956.
23. Ps 22(23).1 LXX; Ps 23.1.
24. Syracuse in Sicily. See EEC II.806–807.
22 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS
Eulalius25 then led the Catholic Church, a man of outstand-
ing holiness, of admirable hospitality, of perfect charity, in
whose heart was hidden a treasure of spiritual wisdom; he
enriched many by using the talents he had received from the
Lord. Adorned above all with the virtue of discernment, he
had a special love for the monastic calling. He even had his
own monastery where he spent time as often as he was not
taken up by Church business. It was to him therefore that
the blessed Fulgentius came, welcomed willingly with other
travelers, to the bishop’s hospitality, nor was he able to con-
ceal himself for long. For, soon enough, as was customary at
the bishop’s table, talk turned toward matters theological;
immediately his speech revealed a man of unusual knowl-
edge. From the distinction of his speech and the reserve of
his answers, the bishop realized that, under that monastic
habit, there lay a notable theologian; but he put off asking
during the meal, in the presence of the other guests, either
who he was or why he had come there. But, after the dinner,
during the afternoon hours, as the bishop was walking
through his house, looking out the window, he saw the
blessed Fulgentius, along with the other guests, looking up
at him. Right away he called him aside, “You had begun to
speak of the Institutes and the Conferences during our dinner;
I would like you to bring me these books, if you have them
with you.” Without delay, obedient to his wishes, he brought
the books and, when urged, explained the contents in his
own words. The holy Eulalius was struck by the young man’s
learning and, delighted with such a guest, earnestly inquired
why he had come from Africa. But he, afraid of being
thought presumptuous, if his intentions were revealed, said,
“I am looking for my parents who, I heard, were living as
strangers in this area.” In truth, he was seeking his parents,
those whose holy lives he sought to imitate. The bishop, real-
izing that this answer was concealing something, sought the
reason for the whole voyage from his companion, who was

25. Eulalius, bishop of Syracuse at the beginning of the sixth century. See
DHGE, v. 15., cols. 1385–86.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 23

simple and guileless. Then the blessed Fulgentius, happily

betrayed, confessed the truth openly; he said that he was
going to the furthest desert region of the Thebaid, where, as
the text urged, he would live, dead to the world, where the
larger number of ascetics would pose no obstacle to his
progress, but, rather, would offer examples.
“You are doing well,” the bishop answered, “in seeking to
follow the better things, but you know that ‘it is impossible
to please God without faith’.26 A wicked schism27 has severed
those lands to which you want to go from the communion of
blessed Peter; all those monks, whose marvelous acts of self-
denial are made widely known, will not share with you the
Sacrament of the altar. What good will it do therefore to af-
flict your body with fasts when your soul, which is so much
better than your body, will lack spiritual consolation? Go
back home, my son, lest, by the desire for a higher life, you
put your orthodox faith in danger. Once, when I was a
young man, before the grace of the honor of being a bishop
came to me, however unworthy, I thought a long time about
seeking to follow this very holy calling in the monasteries of
that province, but this same reason kept me from carrying
out my intention.”
The blessed Fulgentius, heeding the salutary counsel of
the bishop and laying aside the fervor of his original inten-
tion, let himself be persuaded to stay in Siracusa for a few
months, with the holy Eulalius supplying fitting lodging and
meals. But, because strong characters cannot remain idle, al-
ways carrying on the works of charity, even in the very mod-
est quarters he had accepted, he began to offer hospitality to
many who came; still a stranger himself, needing the assis-
tance of others, he took in strangers. The holy Eulalius mar-
veled at the freedom which blossomed in his soul, and, ex-
panding with happiness as he saw Fulgentius, to whom, as
26. Heb 11.6.
27. The Acacian schism. See EEC I.5. Behind the schism lay the Mono-
physite controversy stemming from the refusal of some eastern Christians, espe-
cially in Egypt, to accept the Tome of Leo and the decisions of the Council of
Chalcedon (451).
24 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

one who had nothing, he supplied food for each day, him-
self giving something to eat to those in need. And, if it may
be said, the great are accustomed to grow by comparison
with the lesser, although the holy Eulalius was altogether
perfect in dealing with the poor, still, watching the activities
of the blessed Fulgentius, he became still more merciful and
generous.

Chapter 9
When the winter of the present year was over, a strong de-
sire drove the blessed Fulgentius to visit without further
delay a certain bishop by the name of Rufinianus,28 who,
fleeing the violence of persecution, leaving behind the bish-
ops of Byzacena, sailed away and there, near the province of
Sicily, was staying on a very small island and living in a
praiseworthy way the life of a monk. Fulgentius wanted to go
so that, assured by a second opinion, he would know what he
ought to do. He wanted this, not because he lacked confi-
dence in Bishop Eulalius but because he realized that, in
doubtful matters, the advice of several was always most use-
ful. After many labors of a journey on foot, he came to that
place in Sicily which was closest to the island on which the
holy bishop Rufinianus was living. Carried across in a small
boat, he quickly presented himself to the venerable bishop.
He also advised him not to continue on his journey to Egypt.
He then decided to return to his own monastery but not to
pass up the opportunity to visit the tombs of the Apostles.
When the occasion presented itself, taking ship, he came
to Rome and quickly entered that city always praised with
one voice by worldly writers and truthfully called the head of
the world. It was a time of great celebration in the city; the
presence of King Theoderic29 brought great rejoicing to the
28. Rufinianus. See “Rufinianus 6,” PCBE, 1005.
29. Theoderic was Ostrogothic king of Italy from 493 to 526. Though an
Arian, he was generally tolerant of and even friendly toward Roman Catholics.
His lived in Ravenna, and his one visit to Rome was made in the year 500. See
EEC II.828 and J. Moorhead, Theoderic in Italy (Oxford: 1992), especially for the
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 25

Roman Senate and people. So it happened that the blessed

Fulgentius, for whom long since the world had been cruci-
fied, after piously touring the sacred burial places of the
martyrs and humbly paying visits to all the servants of God,
whose acquaintance he could make in such a short period,
by chance was in that place called the “Golden Palm”30 while
the aforementioned king Theoderic was delivering an ad-
dress. He saw the noble appearance of the Roman Senate
and the varied ranks of the aristocracy, each with its own dis-
tinctive insignia. Hearing with his inexperienced ears the ac-
clamations of a free people, he recognized the nature of the
glories of this world. But he was not willing to recognize any-
thing worthwhile in this spectacle, nor was he attracted by
the useless enjoyment of such worldly vanities; rather, he
burned all the more to enjoy the happiness of the heavenly
Jerusalem. He wisely said to the brethren who were with
him, “How lovely the heavenly Jerusalem must be if the
earthly Rome shines so brightly! And, if, in this world, the
dignity of such great honor is paid to those who love vanity,
how great the honor and glory to be given to the saints who
contemplate the truth!”

Chapter 10
On the same day, the blessed Fulgentius said many similar
things to the profit of the others, and, now, longing with his
whole heart to see his monastery again, he quickly sailed
back to Africa via Sardinia. With their joy the monks had a
hard time believing that the blessed Fulgentius had really
come back. The holy community was uncertain what it
should do first: whether to complain about the long absence
of their father or to rejoice in his presence. None dared to
reproach him for his departure; rather, all hastened to thank
God for his return. The laity joined in the rejoicing of the
complications of the Laurentian schism in Rome involving prominent people
whom Fulgentius may have met during his visit to Rome.
30. For the “Golden Palm,” see “Ad Palmam” in L. Richardson, Jr., A New
Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore: 1992), 283.
26 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

servants of God; all the good and upright were happy that
the blessed Fulgentius, destined to be the teacher of the
Church in Africa, did not remain in the regions across the
sea for a longer time. As in a form of rivalry, each one now
hastened to offer greater consolations of piety by which the
heart of the one who had returned might be comforted. A
man named Silvestrius,31 a good Christian and a leading man
in the province of Byzacena, offered a piece of land well suit-
ed for building a monastery. Its soil was rich and fertile, per-
fect for planting gardens that would yield much fruit, and,
something even more desirable, situated far from the furies
of war, it promised full security and peaceful tranquility. Fur-
thermore, in that vicinity lived very many good people, peo-
ple whose frequent assistance bid fair to facilitate the lives of
the monks so that no care about their material needs would
distract them in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 11
Willingly taking up the pious offer of the religious man,
blessed Fulgentius without delay founded a monastery in the
location given to him, and, with pious exhortation, inviting
many to be converted, he greatly increased the number of
monks and became the father of a large community. Al-
though he kept wanting to meditate on spiritual things, he
was compelled by his greater range of cares to be frequently
distracted; seeking from love of the truth a space of time for
holy withdrawal and rest, the needs of brotherly love and re-
sponsibility forced him to be busy about many other things.
At times nourished by the contemplation of higher things
and desiring to give himself up to reading and prayer, he
long tried to think of how he might divest himself of the bur-
den he now bore and how, under the authority of others, he
himself might live under a rule rather than impose on oth-
ers a rule of life. According to the precept of the Lord, he
judged it more profitable to obey the commands of others

31. Silvestrius. See PCBE, 1084.

 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 27

than to give commands for others to obey. Thinking these

things over for a long while, suddenly he came to a decision.

Chapter 12
By the shoreline near Junca,32 where the sea is fairly shal-
low, by Benefensa for the greater part, the narrowness of the
cliff does not permit the planting of gardens. Not even the
minimum resource of wood and drinking water is possible,
but each day these basic necessities are brought by small
boats. In this monastery, the old discipline of the strict ob-
servance is maintained, with many living holy lives there
from their childhood to extreme old age and carrying out in
an exemplary manner lives befitting their holy vocation.
There two exceptional priests, marvelous in their merits and
venerable by the honor of an old age without reproach, ful-
fill the office of abbot. They never leave the cloister but train
many men worthy of a calling in the Church. To this mon-
astery the blessed Fulgentius went secretly and, there in the
very large community, he laid aside the title of abbot and,
joining himself to a large number of monks, still stood out
above the others with his marvelous knowledge and spiritual
eloquence but was still subject to all by a praiseworthy humil-
ity and outstanding obedience, recalling indeed that phrase
from the Gospel where Our Lord said, “I have not come to
do my will but the will of him who sent me.”33 He mortified
all his desires, giving himself up to fasting, especially to
prayers, vigils, and self-denial, crucifying himself and every-
thing with his worldly vices and lusts. He was happy to work
with his own hands; in a praiseworthy way, he practiced the
art of the copyist; often he wove palm leaves into fans. He
had done this as well in his own monastery even when he
was abbot. Frequently he would read in his cell in the pres-
ence of the brethren, loved, honored by all, and a joy to

32. Junca, about 110 kilometers down the Mediterranean coast of Byzacena,
southwest of Ruspe. Bennefa is the next town south of Junca.
33. Jn 6.38.
28 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

them. But, as great as was the rejoicing in that monastery,

just as great a sadness arose in his former monastery. Those
who had received him rejoiced, but those who had lost him
were saddened. Thus arose a battle of love between the two
communities. One community tenaciously held on to its new
member, while the other asked and begged that their for-
mer father be given back to them. The former asserted that
his presence was a feather in their cap, but the other lament-
ed the loss brought about by his departure.

Chapter 13
The blessed Fulgentius, greatly desiring to learn rather
than to teach, preferred to stay as a subject there where he
was and feared to return to that place where he would be su-
perior over all. Then the unhappiness of Abbot Felix and all
the brethren whom he had left behind, taking counsel of ne-
cessity, assailed the monks on the island with the backing of
the holy bishop Faustus. Right off, by his episcopal authority,
he claimed that Fulgentius was a monk belonging to his ju-
risdiction and commanded him to be sent back and that he
ought to live where he ordered him to. He threatened those
who resisted with excommunication. He asserted that even
Fulgentius himself would be subject to a judgment analo-
gous to those who were disobedient if he did not yield. What
more need be said? The blessed Fulgentius again returned
to his own monastery; he was ordered to take up the office
of abbot again. And, lest he again be tempted to stray be-
cause of his spiritual aspirations, without warning the bishop
ordained him a priest. Now, adorned with the offices of
abbot and priest, he could neither leave the monastery nor
be ordained in another church. Now, conquered and bound
by the fetters of honor, the blessed Fulgentius began to rule
his monastery with good heart. His fame and praises grew;
he was becoming known through all the provinces of Africa;
even in the territory of the Nunti,34 he was honored as their
own bishop, and, whenever there was an episcopal vacancy,
34. Unknown.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 29

all were ready to seek with minds and voices the blessed Ful-
gentius as their high priest, nor was any other except the
blessed Fulgentius allowed to be consecrated. God saw the
desire of the peoples, and the blessed Fulgentius himself was
not unaware of it. But, because at that time the royal author-
ity forbade the ordination of bishops and would not allow
widowed sees to be provided with pastors, he lived through
this period in safety, judging the solution of flight pointless
as a way of avoiding an honor which it was unlawful either to
offer or to accept.
Later, the whole group of bishops who still remained, hav-
ing conferred together, decided, despite the royal prohibi-
tion,35 to proceed with the ordination of bishops in all
places. They reasoned this way: either the king’s anger, if it
eventuates, will abate, and they will be able to live among
their people more easily, or, if the violence of persecution
breaks out, those recently found worthy of ordination will
now be crowned as confessors of the faith and will fulfill
their ministry more easily, offering consolations to their peo-
ple amid the tribulations. All of a sudden, there was a gener-
al rush to elect, bless, and consecrate priests, deacons, and
anyone the popular choice could find, with all the towns
hurrying as if in a competition, lest in such a race any ap-
pear to be too slow or to have let others get ahead of them.
Then the blessed Fulgentius, by fleeing, kept ahead of those
who chose him; he hid in a place unknown, and they could
not find him when they searched. The people of the place
where the monastery was located first thought of putting off
their election until they found the blessed Fulgentius. But,
afraid lest the search for the blessed Fulgentius take too long
and concerned that the report reach Carthage and set off
another royal prohibition, with the necessity for speed urg-
ing them on, they decided to elect one of their own clergy.
So, in many locations where the blessed Fulgentius was ei-
ther the first choice or the only choice, after he could not be
located, they gave the highest honor to someone else.
Now the province of Byzacena was filled with new bishops,
35. A decree of Thrasamund, king of the Vandals 496–523.
30 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

and only a few sees remained unfilled. But the cruelty of the
king was again stirred up, and he decreed exile for them all,
with the sentence given first of all against the ordainer him-
self, the primate by the name of Victor,36 who, taken prisoner
by the king’s men, was brought to Carthage. Then came a
greater sadness with the happiness that had accompanied
the ordinations being turned into public mourning. While
the news was circulating that the time for ordinations had
passed, the blessed Fulgentius, thinking that the sees nearest
him now had their own bishops, returned to rule the com-
munity of his monastery, neither hesitating nor fearful but
rejoicing totally that he had escaped the burden of the epis-
copal dignity. Nevertheless, our God, bringing to fulfillment
what he had predestined by his higher counsel, now wanted
to give to him, to whom he had given the ability to teach well
the doctrine of salvation, the authority to do so, lest there be
lacking a faithful preacher of the Catholic faith against the
Arians. In a time of tribulation, he was no longer willing to
leave hidden the vessel of election through whom he had
provided the fulfilling of the office of preaching.

Chapter 14
There was Ruspe,37 a noble town, quite famous for its illus-
trious citizens. But it had no bishop because a certain dea-
con, Felix38 by name, had sought the honor of the office of
bishop. Having been himself refused by that place, he was
not going to allow another in his stead. His brother, a friend
of the procurator, fed the fires of his ambition through his
use of secular power. A strong feeling of resentment stirred
36. Victor, primate of Byzacena. As with the province of Numidia, the
provincial primacy was not attached to one see but depended on seniority in
the episcopate. Victor is a very common name, and this Victor may be one of
three, viz., Victor of Gaguari (“Victor 71”), Victor of Nara (“Victor 77”), or Vic-
tor of Vita (“Victor 85”)—not the historian. See PCBE, 1178–80.
37. Ruspe, on the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia, about 40 kilometers east
of Thysdrus (El Djem) and down the coast about 80 kilometers southeast of the
Byzacenan capital of Hadrumentum (Sousse).
38. See “Felix 91,” PCBE, 441.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 31

the hearts of the good citizens. Why did they alone remain
without a spiritual father, they who seemed to be superior to
others in worldly honors? Then suddenly there came to
these unhappy people the accurate report that the blessed
Fulgentius who in many places had been deemed worthy of
the first place in the priesthood, having been unable to be
found at the time of the ordinations, had remained a priest.
He appeared clothed with even greater glory because he
had so trampled on the lust for higher honors. As the proud
and ambitious deacon displeased them, so the one who had
tried to escape appeared praiseworthy and desirable.
All agreed that Fulgentius had been saved for them since
he had not been ordained even though the people of so
many towns had sought him. Though Fulgentius remained
in ignorance of this, the citizens of Ruspe besought the pri-
mate Victor while traveling through the town, and permis-
sion was granted for Fulgentius to be ordained by neigh-
boring bishops. So the crowd gathered and went to the
monastery. Suddenly the blessed Fulgentius, suffering from
an eye ailment, was found in his own little cell; they entered,
seized him, led him away, and he was forceably made a bish-
op without ever being asked first. Thence he was brought to
the bishop who had been told to ordain him; he became the
father of a people he did not know, so that in him the
prophetic word seemed to be fulfilled: “A people I did not
know served me.”39
The very pleasing appearance of the wise man increased
the good favor of the people who had elected him, though
he then seemed unknown to them. And to anyone to whom
he was still unknown, the poverty of his dress charmed
them, and the modesty of his manner made him venerated.
When, according to the time and circumstances, he wished
to address them, the entire crowd hung on his every word.
His familiar speech enabled one to know the nature of the
future teaching of this spiritual master. And so, in whatever
areas he traveled, the people came out to honor him, pro-

39. Ps 17(18).44.
32 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

claiming that, though the Church at Ruspe had to wait a

longer time, so much the better was the bishop it received.
The deacon, seeing that the attempts prompted by his
ambition had failed, did the only thing left to one who had
been deluded; he finally burst forth in anger. Gathering a
great crowd, he, as the sacred psalm says, “. . . placed a stum-
bling block in the path”40 for the son of peace who was com-
ing. The hostile and ambitious cleric placed himself across
the path which the chosen servant of God was traveling. But,
whenever Christ comes to the assistance of simple souls, the
election of a bishop cannot be stopped by human interven-
tion, an election in which ambition played no part. I do not
know by what urging of the Holy Spirit the crowd of people
that went before Fulgentius took another road and, even
while his enemy sat waiting on the other road, placed the
blessed Fulgentius on the bishop’s chair. The divine sacra-
ments were celebrated that very day, and, after receiving
communion from the hands of the blessed Fulgentius, the
happy crowd dispersed. When he heard what had happened,
the deacon, albeit tardily, bowed to the divine will. When
this man returned, the blessed Fulgentius received him with
kindness, mercy, and love, so much so that he afterwards or-
dained him a priest. But divine justice quickly exercised di-
vine vengeance, and the deacon become priest was dead
within a year, and the procurator who had supported him
was reduced to poverty. They both received their just deserts
in this life for their audacity, but, in the life to come, the all-
powerful God will prepare for them the grace of heavenly
pardon. We have thought this incident worth recalling that
we might show that henceforward greater authority accrued
to the blessed Fulgentius among the people because of it,
since they acknowledged in such incidents that the divine
justice was always on the alert.

40. Ps 139(140).5.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 33

Chapter 15
So the blessed Fulgentius took up the office of bishop
without ambition but with the greatest devotion, while those
who contradicted him received divine retribution. But, in
becoming a bishop, he did not cease to be a monk; having
received the episcopal dignity, he continued to observe the
commitments of his first profession in their entirety. Indeed,
in so doing, he further added to the dignity of a bishop.
Never did he seek expensive clothing or forego his daily
fasts, nor even in the company of guests did he eat dainty
dishes, nor even when lying down to rest did he seek to relax
his strict regime in the slightest. But, summer or winter, he
continued to wear his simple tunic. Unlike other bishops, he
never wore the orarium,41 but, like a monk, used a leather
belt. In his zeal for humility, he so avoided wealthy vesture
that, refusing to make use even of clerical shoes, he simply
used common, ordinary shoes in winter or, in summer, san-
dals. While in the monastery, he sometimes wore sandals;
frequently he walked around barefoot. He permitted neither
himself nor his monks to have an expensive hooded mantle
nor one of bright colors. Beneath this cloak, he went about
covered with a black or white pallium. During periods of
mild weather, he went about in the monastery with this palli-
um only. We never saw him with bare shoulders, nor did he
take off his belt to go to bed. With God as his witness, ob-
serving faithfully his continence, he offered the holy sacri-
fice in the very tunic in which he slept and used to say at the
time of the sacrifice that hearts were to be changed rather
than clothes.

Chapter 16
No one was able to force this blessed bishop to eat meat
of any kind, but he ate only vegetables, barley, and eggs, and,

41. The orarium was probably the pallium, the symbol of episcopal rank in
Africa.
34 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

while he was still young, without oil. Later, as he got older,

he ate these things with a sprinkling of oil. He was persuad-
ed to do at least this, to accept the oil, lest his eyesight dete-
riorate and prevent him from fulfilling his duty of reading.
While he was in good health, he always abstained from wine.
But, when the necessity of failing health compelled him and
he had to drink a little wine, pouring a small amount of wine
into a glass filled with water, he experienced no pleasure in
either the taste or odor of wine. Before evening prayers were
announced by the brethren, he, always at watch in body and
heart, was either praying or reading or dictating or giving
himself up to mental prayer, because he knew well that
throughout the daylight hours he would be taken up with
the needs of the Church’s children.
Sometimes he went down to celebrate the evening office
with God’s servants, but he used, much more praiseworthily,
to have his own prayer by himself in the duties I have men-
tioned. Never did he live except with other monks. And so,
when ordained their bishop, he asked of the people of
Ruspe this first favor—that they would donate a place suit-
able for building a monastery. Then, from among the many
citizens who hastened to be of service, one, Posthumianus42
by name, a Christian and among the noblest citizens of the
town, faithfully offered the great bishop a small piece of
land which belonged to him, not far from the church. There
a hill rose upward, covered with pines, offering the prospect
of a lovely small forest. The blessed Fulgentius willingly ac-
cepted the offer of the spot which he saw also possessed the
wood necessary for the construction. He quickly persuaded
the blessed abbot Felix to come as well, together with the
larger part of his community, though a small number were
left behind in the other monastery, and one of their num-
ber, Vitalis43 by name, was made the prior. He ordered both
monasteries to live under such a rule of charity as to be
joined together by such great unanimity that they would not

42. Posthumianus. See PCBE, 897.

43. Vitalis. See “Vitalis 12,” PCBE, 1224.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 35

be seen to be divided by distance. If Christ should receive

new monks in either the new or the old monastery, they
would reckon their seniority from the time of their entry
into either of the two monasteries. And, whenever they came
to visit, the superiors giving their permission, they were to
be received not as guests but as members, as it were, of the
same community. Governed as one by the regulations of the
blessed bishop Fulgentius, they venerated and loved him as
their spiritual father. The blessed Fulgentius had so ar-
ranged things that he would not lose the consolation of the
monks while taking on the burden of governing the clergy.

Chapter 17
Then suddenly the ministers of the royal wrath were sent
abroad so that the noble confessors of Christ, having been
taken prisoner, would, together with others, be forced into
exile in Sardinia. Carried off quickly, he lamented that his
church would be widowed right from the start before he had
been able to instruct it with his eloquent words. Yet, with a
greater joy, he wisely overcame this sadness because he was
now beginning to share the glories of martyrdom. Accompa-
nied by both monks and clergy, this outstanding teacher of
both orders went forth, amid the tears of the laity, from his
honorable chair to the place of the blessed combat. With
mind unencumbered, with full voice, he was now ready to
profess the Catholic faith before kings and potentates.
Carthage welcomed him when he came and, in the persons
of a very few, enjoyed the fruits of his knowledge. They
brought him many gifts, which the blessed Fulgentius or-
dered to be reserved for that monastery which he had or-
dered to be built.
He boarded the ship with crucified heart and naked body.
But he had the vast riches of his unique knowledge, which
he shared unceasingly with all with whom he came in con-
tact. Among all the bishops with whom he was to share a
common exile, he was the most junior in rank by date of or-
dination, but was not inferior to them by virtue of his pa-
36 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

tience and charity. When uncertain questions arose and the

views of all were sought, when the blessed confessors dis-
cussed the common good among themselves, Fulgentius sat
in the last place; yet, the primate, and all those behind him,
wanted to hear Fulgentius’s views and wanted to follow him.
He, however, attributing nothing to himself via empty vain-
glory, deferred all such honors to his seniors. If asked to
reply to those who sought his views, nevertheless, he was al-
ways ready to obey their commands; nor did he presume to
wrest anything from those who did not want to agree. After
long periods of deliberation, whatever decisions the group
made, it was left to the eloquence of the blessed Fulgentius
to persuade others.

Chapter 18
All imposed on him the task of responding, in the name
of all, in letters for those across the sea, whenever the bish-
ops were asked about faith or a variety of other questions.44
Just as once Aurelius,45 bishop of the church of Carthage, of
blessed memory, had among his many privileges, that of
drafting the letters for the councils of Africa, so Fulgentius
was given the privilege of himself writing the letters for this
council. There were at that time sixty and more bishops
bound by the chains of exile, whose tongue and mind the
blessed bishop Fulgentius was. Hence, whenever replies were
sent to those seeking advice, the names of all the bishops
were mentioned in the letter, but in fact the blessed Fulgen-
tius alone was the author.
In addition to these letters which treated public issues, if
any of these bishops wished to correct or admonish his dis-
tant flock, he went to ask the blessed Fulgentius and, by
means of the latter’s talents, fulfilled the duties of his office.
44. Fulgentius’s ordination to the episcopate took place c. 508. Very soon
afterward he joined other African bishops in exile in Sardinia. His own exile
lasted about eight years until 516 or 517. Letters 15 and 17 of his collection are
letters written by Fulgentius in the name of the exiled bishops.
45. Aurelius, bishop of Carthage 388–430. See “Aurelius 1,” PCBE, 105–27.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 37

O marvelous man, born not for yourself alone but for all!
The Church of Ruspe alone deserved him as its teacher, but
most of the province of Byzacena lived by his words. A cer-
tain cleric in the diocese of one of the exiled bishops sought
to stir up trouble or to ignore the command of his bishop.
But, through the letter dictated by the blessed Fulgentius,
he, though absent, was corrected in such a way that, seeking
to make up for his sins and crossing the sea, he immediately
came into the presence of him by whose eloquence he had
found himself excommunicated, and, salutarily brought low,
he also besought mercy through the blessed Fulgentius him-
self. For, the blessed Fulgentius was himself both avenger
and mediator, avenger for a colleague and intercessor for
the cleric. From him came forth the sword by which the stiff
necks of the proud were bent, and through him as well the
medicine of kindness was proffered so that the spiritual mal-
adies of brothers who sought him out were cured.

Chapter 19
At the very beginning of his glorious exile, he was not
able to found a monastery, since he had few monks with
him. But, not being able to live without some kind of com-
munity, he persuaded his fellow bishops, viz., Illustris and
Januarius,46 to live with him. Moved solely by love, he served
them and in his wisdom brought about the likeness of a
great monastery in which clerics and monks were mixed to-
gether. They had a common table and living quarters; they
prayed and studied together. No one insolently raised him-
self above another, nor did any pay greater or more specific
attention to his own brothers. But those monks who fol-
lowed the blessed Fulgentius kept a rule of stricter austerity,
possessing nothing of their own, and, although they lived
among the clergy, they did not live like them. Such was the
learning of the blessed Fulgentius, that he by his spiritual ad-

46. Illustris and Januarius. See “Illustris,” PCBE, 599 and “Januarius 38 or
39,” PCBE, 596.
38 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

monitions could turn away from earthly pleasures to spiritu-

al and heavenly delights the hearts of his followers, so that,
persevering in their good resolutions, they were not seduced
into wanting to imitate the examples of the weaker brothers,
which examples were present daily before their eyes. Who
can worthily sing the praises of this establishment? That
house was a house of prayer for the city of Cagliari.47 There
the afflicted came to receive the remedy of consolation;
there were concluded among those separated by strife agree-
ments establishing peace and concord. For those who want-
ed to have a more careful understanding of the divine Scrip-
tures, there the Lord provided a deeper explanation. It was
a delight for the leading men of the region, when possible,
to go to hear the blessed Fulgentius in discussion. It pleased
those in need of help to have to seek material assistance
there where they also received spiritual nourishment. For,
frequently the blessed Fulgentius was able by his wise admo-
nitions to bring those whom he had freed from material
hunger by his alms to renounce the world. Although they
had nothing, he persuaded them to renounce even the de-
sire to have something. He was so desirous of always gaining
more adherents for the monastery that, although he knew
that he was all things to all people, he desired and willed to
associate all men with the profession of the monastic life.
This renown, growing from one day to the next, evoked
great joy in the people of the church of Carthage. The testi-
mony of certain ones from that province who journeyed to
see the blessed Fulgentius carried back the reports to those
who could not go.

Chapter 20
Meanwhile, the implacable hatred and fearsome wrath of
King Thrasamund48 against the Catholic religion went on.
47. Cagliari, principal city of Sardinia, on its southern end.
48. Fulgentius was recalled from exile for a period of about two years
516/517–518/519. These exchanges gave rise to two works: Obiectiones Regis
Trasamundi et Responsiones Fulgentii (CCL 91.67–94) and the Ad Trasa-mundum
in three books (CCL 91.95–185).
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 39

Between harsh persecutions there were deceptive measures

trying, sometimes by terror, at other times by promises, to
force Catholics to deny that Christ was equal to God the Fa-
ther. With the intention of deceiving, he began to simulate
the desire to find out more about the Catholic religion,
thinking that no one could be found whose arguments
could convict him of error. He proposed the trap of foolish
questions to many. If any were found willing to respond, he
neither disdained nor refused them. He listened as if pa-
tiently but boasted that none satisfied him. And, indeed,
who was able to shine the light of truth on one so hardened
in heart? The daring steadfastness of their faith enabled a
number of religious men on these occasions, prepared by
the Lord, to refute the blasphemies of this king who was in-
terested in learning. The king continued to seek someone
who could most fully prove the truth of Catholic teaching by
proofs accepted on both sides. They told him that among
the bishops in exile there was the blessed Fulgentius who
lacked nothing in knowledge, who abounded in grace, and
who by his wisdom and eloquence could satisfy the king.
Immediately, the king, wanting to test this bishop to
whom the whole Church of our religion bore favorable wit-
ness, quickly sent an eager servant, by whom Fulgentius was
taken and without delay brought back to Carthage, which he
entered joyfully. Here, as a faithful dispenser, finding the op-
portunity for using the talents entrusted to him, in the little
room where he was staying, he diligently began to instruct
orthodox Catholics who came to him; explaining how the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while the distinction of
the three persons was maintained, were still preached as one
God by the faithful. So pleasant was the eloquence of the
blessed Fulgentius, such joy radiated from his countenance,
that, almost as in a contest, holy charity drew all the faithful
either to question the learned man or to hear how he an-
swered the questions. But he, proclaiming the word of God,
without any of that envy that irritates all questions, disdain-
ing no one, judging no one insolent, prepared himself, if
God through the Holy Spirit should reveal something to the
other person, to listen and to learn to accept, to follow, to
40 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

give approval. Even as a teacher, he, kind and mild, showed

the humility of a disciple. So it came about that he became
even better and more learned, even as he sought new gains
for Christ. Those who had already been rebaptized he
taught to lament their mistake, and he reconciled them.
Others he warned lest they destroy their souls in exchange
for worldly gains. Those whom he perceived to be close to
perdition, he calmed by soothing words, so that, because of
his kindness, they were ashamed to go through with the
planned evil and, turning back, they quickly began to do
penance. Others, strengthened by his words and renewed in
their faith by the salt of his teaching, confuted the Arian
heretics with all confidence. Thus, by a marvelous grace, it
came about that through one bishop, whose wisdom the
king wished to put to the test, the number of wise men in
Carthage grew and, through the ministry of the persecutor,
the strength of the Catholic faith, rather than being dimin-
ished, actually increased.

Chapter 21
All these things the king learned through his secret in-
formers. He put the genius of this outstanding bishop to the
test, his wisdom, learning, faith, piety, mildness, purity, and
he acknowledged that the man deserved his reputation and
was indeed such as he had been depicted. He sent him a
book to be read right away, one full of the poison of infideli-
ty, and demanded a rapid response. The most learned pon-
tiff accepted the challenge, dividing up the collected fallaci-
es of this very long statement into chapters, and adding his
responses, which were brief, probative, of ineluctable logic,
weighty with the authority of the witnesses invoked and
bright with the logic of reason. Having discussed his answers
in detail and at length with a number of wise men and hav-
ing brought his work to the attention of the faithful, he then
sent it to the king, who had been waiting impatiently for
some time. The barbarous king read them over carefully,
but, because he was never predestined for salvation, though
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 41

he praised the wisdom, marveled at the eloquence, extolled

the humility, still he did not deserve to recognize the truth.
The people of Carthage, however, sensing a spiritual tri-
umph, spread the word joyously but quietly that the king’s
views had been refuted, and they gloried that the Catholic
faith was still victorious, all this joined to the praises of the
blessed Fulgentius.
But the king desired to put the most learned man to the
test once again and asked him questions about still other
matters. He ordered that his questions be read to the
blessed Fulgentius only once, allowing him no time to think
about them or to write them down. For he was afraid that
Fulgentius would put the king’s words into his own respons-
es as his arguments were refuted and that, in the eyes of the
entire city, he would be ridiculed again as having been best-
ed. The blessed Fulgentius, having difficulty recalling what
had been read to him but once, put off his response. But the
king became ever more insistent, asserting that the delay
and the caution of the holy man indicated fear on his part.
Because of this, the same pontiff, relying on the virtue of dis-
cretion, lest perchance lies be spread about through the
populace to the effect that the blessed Fulgentius was not
able or was not willing to counter the king’s questions, wrote
three marvelous little books. In these booklets, he addressed
the above-mentioned king in all simplicity. He discussed all
sides of the questions he had barely heard posed in passing.
He taught that in the Incarnation, Christ the Lord had not
been without a rational soul. Thereafter, the king, filled with
great admiration, no longer dared to ask him anything. But
one of his bishops, Pinta by name, attempted a response,
more because he was unwilling to remain silent than be-
cause he had anything to say. Against him, the blessed Ful-
gentius then wrote another work in which he upheld the
truth, a work entitled, Against Pinta,49 and he showed that
the adversaries who had been conquered in his first defense
were foolhardy in trying to return to the fray.

49. This work is lost. On Pinta, see PCBE, 876.

42 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

To a priest named Abragil,50 who asked a question about

the Holy Spirit, he wrote a short Admonition, in which he
brought forward much evidence, teaching that, together
with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is to be confessed as
one God. This Admonition he ordained should be written
down between the other two works of this period; all faithful
Catholics read these works and marveled. The Arians, on
the other hand, were put to shame and murmured against
him in their chagrin. They found occasion for an evil sugges-
tion which they brought to the king. The latter wanted to
keep him in Carthage for a longer time, but these wicked
men objected, “Your work is in vain, O King; your efforts
have accomplished nothing. Bishop Fulgentius’s teaching
has been so successful that he has received some of your own
priests. Unless you do something quickly to support our reli-
gion, it will go down to defeat, and whoever has been bap-
tized by us will be reconciled and will again confess the ho-
moousion.51 And, if you try to stir up a persecution again, the
royal wrath will no longer be feared. The very presence of
Fulgentius strengthens many and reinforces all their bishops
in their faith.”
The king, as if compelled by a greater necessity, agreed
with those who put forward such arguments and had the
blessed Fulgentius sent back to exile in Sardinia. In the dead
of night (for, so the king had ordered), the blessed Fulgen-
tius, unbeknownst to the people, was taken to the ship. But
the winds were blowing the wrong way, and they had to wait
by the shore so that for many days almost the entire city
came out, and, in bidding them farewell, he gave them com-
munion with his own hand. Then, filled with prophetic grace
by the Holy Spirit, he said to Juliatheus,52 a religious man
grievously afflicted who gravely lamented the departure of
the great pontiff, “Do not weep a long time. We shall soon

50. Abragil. See PCBE, 29.

51. Homoousion, the key word of the Council of Nicea (325) against the Ari-
ans, teaching that the Son is of the same substance (i.e., divine nature) as the
Father.
52. Juliatheus. See PCBE, 617.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 43

return to you; you will see us when freedom is restored to

the Catholic Church. But, I ask, keep this to yourself—this
thing which my great love has forced me to tell you.”

Chapter 22
The blessed Fulgentius always carefully avoided boastful-
ness and never sought human glory from the gifts of the
Spirit, content with the witness of his own conscience and
trusting only in the mercy of God. Similarly, he never de-
lighted in working miracles and in no way sought that such
graces be given him. But, whenever he was asked to pray to
God on behalf of the sick, the suffering, and those being
tried by temporal misfortunes, he poured forth his prayers
in this fashion: “You know, O Lord, what is fitting for the sal-
vation of our souls. May your mercy grant to us who ask that
which necessity counsels, so that our spiritual needs will not
be injured. May the prayer of our lowliness be heard then, if
it is for our good, so that your will above all may be done.”
And, very often indeed, almighty God granted many things
to the prayers of his bishop. But he never attributed any-
thing to his own merits, but, rather, everything was assigned
to the faith of those for whom his prayers had been heard.
He maintained that it had been granted to them and not to
him.
Rather than spend much time on such things, let us men-
tion one of his views on the working of miracles. Miracles, he
said, do not confer righteousness on anyone, but notoriety
on human beings. A person, well-known in the world, unless
he is righteous, will end up condemned to eternal punish-
ment. But the one who, having been justified by the work of
heavenly mercy, will have lived as a righteous person in the
sight of God alone, even if he be little known in the world,
will be crowned and receive the joys of the saints.
44 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

Chapter 23
This man of miracles53 feared receiving praise for miracles
even though each day he performed greater miracles. By his
most holy exhortation, he brought many believers to faith,
and many heretics were reconciled; he made many who were
sunk in the worst forms of immorality accept the laws of
continence. By his most salutary admonitions, drunkards
learned sobriety, adulterers followed chastity, misers and the
greedy were taught to distribute everything to the poor.
With their lives turned around, humility became sweet to
the proud, peace to the quarrelsome, obedience to the dis-
orderly. To miracles of this kind, the blessed Fulgentius al-
ways devoted his pious efforts. They accompanied him every-
where and made him glorious always and in every place.
With a favorable and mild wind, his ship brought him
back to Sardinia. His return cheered the hearts of his fellow
bishops in exile. The province itself, adorned with the pres-
ence of so many bishops, was rendered more brilliant by the
light of his return. From all sides, Christians came running
joyfully to see the strong athlete of Christ, who, in singular
combat had broken the attack of the cruel king, now return-
ing to the divine camp, adorned with the laurels of victory,
and rejoining his former fellow soldiers. He demonstrated
so much greater humility to each of them in proportion as
he knew his courage shone forth, recalling, I do not doubt,
the words of Scripture which warn, “My son, the greater you
are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find
favor in the sight of the Lord.”54

Chapter 24
The blessed Fulgentius was no longer willing to continue
to live in his former house since there were now so many
53. Unlike many lives of bishops in early times, this life is devoid of miracles.
(The other exception is the life of Augustine by Possidius of Calama.) Perhaps
these considerations are apologetic in nature.
54. Sir 3.19.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 45

monks there. He found an available spot not far from the

noise of the city near the basilica of the holy martyr Saturni-
nus.55 Having first asked Primasius, the venerable bishop of
the city of Cagliari, at his own expense he had a new
monastery built in which, together with forty or more broth-
ers, he kept without exception the rule of monastic disci-
pline. He gave to none permission to depart from the rule
of the monastic profession. Above all, he required his monks
to observe this, that none of them would claim anything as
his own but that all things would be held in common. For,
he often said, “He must not and can not be considered a real
monk who wishes to continue to have his own property.”
That a monk might perchance have need of special food
sometimes required because of bodily infirmities; but that
he wish to claim the right to have his own property over even
the smallest things was evidence of a proud will and avarice.
He himself gave the necessities of life to the servants of God
with the greatest discretion, taking into consideration the
strength or weakness of each person. But, to those who re-
ceived more, he urged that they be more attentive to humili-
ty, telling them, “Whoever receives more from the common
property becomes a debtor to all, since what he has comes
from their property. Humility alone is fitting for a debtor.”
He said this lest anyone be scandalized when, because of
that person’s weakness, he was seen giving him something
extra. He was greatly concerned to anticipate the needs of
all his monks, to give whatever was necessary or what was a
reasonable request before it was actually sought. However, if
anyone presumed to request something before it was of-
fered, he refused the request immediately even if the monk
deserved to receive it, saying, “Monks must be satisfied with
what they receive.” But, for the rest, for those who ask as if
they had a right to something, they are still slaves to carnal
desires; they are not at all thinking about the things of heav-
en so long as they seek to provide for themselves what is nec-
55. According to Isola, there is probably a textual problem here. The Sar-
dinian martyr is Saturnus; Saturninus would refer to the third century bishop of
Toulouse (Vita, 98, note 81).
46 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

essary for them by asking first, since they cannot buy it for
themselves. He said that those were real monks who, with
their passions mortified, were prepared to wish for nothing
or to refuse nothing, but to observe only the counsels or
commands of the abbot. Thus he did not permit even the
brother who exercised the office of prior to do anything
without consulting him. Those brothers, who worked untir-
ingly at manual labor but had little affection for study, he es-
teemed less and did not consider them worthy of considera-
tion for higher tasks. But, for the one who loved to study the
things of God, even if he were weak in bodily strength and
never able to work with his hands, such a person was more
pleasing and loved.
When discussing matters in the presence of the communi-
ty, he was pleased when someone proposed very difficult
questions for him; he worked at answering them with great
keenness of intellect. Usually he permitted all the brothers,
even those of simple nature and little intellectual endow-
ment, to ask whatever they wanted; nor would he cease his
explanations because of boredom and fatigue, until they de-
clared themselves satisfied with his explanation. He had the
great and marvelous grace of rebuking turbulent souls with
a peaceful heart. Even at the moment when others thought
him to be very angry, in fact, the greatest serenity prevailed
within him. Though unperturbed himself, he appeared to
be upset and, with a salutary burst of anger, he shook up
many a malefactor. Hating vice but loving human beings, he
appeared to be severe just as long as the cause of spiritual
discipline required it. At other times, with most people, he
was kind, simple, and approachable, never calling any of the
brothers simply by name. He gave no commands, even to
the least among them, in the style of worldly authority.

Chapter 2556
During the same period, he wrote to the Carthaginians a
letter noteworthy for its sublime exhortations in which, with
56. This chapter recounts Fulgentius’s writings during his second exile. I
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 47

great sadness, he enumerated almost all the tricks and mis-

leading allurements by which unfortunate souls are lured to
their death. In addition, he swiftly replied in two booklets
concerning the forgiveness of sins to the religious man, Eu-
thymius, who had sought his counsel. He usefully discussed
the proofs for predestination and instructed one who want-
ed to know about the varieties of grace. He wrote numerous
friendly letters in which much spiritual edification is con-
tained to people living near him in Sardinia, to those living
in Africa, to people in Rome, especially senators, and to wid-
ows and virgins whose good reputations were well known.
He wrote two brief books concerning fasting and prayer to
the virgin of Christ, Proba. Fulgentius thus became better
known to all people. Thus it was that two books were sent to
the blessed Fulgentius to be critically evaluated by several
monks in Constantinople who had been upset by them.
Faustus, a bishop in Gaul, had written them with misleading
guile—against grace, secretly favoring the Pelagians, though
he wanted to appear Catholic. Lest the harmful material
spread unnoticed, Fulgentius replied in seven books, work-
ing more to expound than to refute, since just to expose his
deceitful speech was to refute the arguments of a deluded
person. The great labor involved in writing this work found
its due reward almost immediately. For, very soon, just as he
was completing its dictation, the chains of his long captivity
were broken. King Thrasamund died, and there was the
marvelous goodness of Hilderic,57 who began his reign. He
restored freedom to the Catholic Church throughout Africa;
he gave the people of Carthage their own bishop and by his

shall note those not translated in this volume. The letter to the Carthaginians is
unknown; the treatise against Faustus of Riez, which concerned questions of
grace, is lost.
57. Hilderic, king of the Vandals 523–30. His mother was a daughter of the
western emperor Valentinian III. This partially accounts for his favorable atti-
tude toward the Romans and “Catholic emancipation,” which led to the return
of Fulgentius and the other bishops exiled in Sardinia. This in turn led to his
overthrow by Gelimer in 530. Finally this led to the Byzantine reconquest
under Belisarius in 533, probably only a few months after the death of Fulgen-
tius.
48 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

most clement authority ordered that ordinations of bishops

be held everywhere.

Chapter 26
Therefore, the blessed Fulgentius, after having battered
the Pelagians in his wisdom, deserved to see Catholics rejoic-
ing. Then, just as the Holy Spirit had foretold through him,
he returned to Carthage with all his fellow bishops whence
he had departed alone. Those whom he had left in sadness
he now found joyous. Those whom he had left suffering the
violence of persecution, he now found delirious with happi-
ness. Those whom he had left lamenting the sorrows of their
mother the Church, he now found with a spiritual father.
Those whom he had left in mourning, he now found await-
ing his return with joy.
So great was the longing of the citizens of Carthage, de-
sirous of seeing the blessed Fulgentius once more, so ardent
the expectation of the whole people for the one whom they
had seen engaged in serious combat in their midst, that, as
the other bishops left the ship before him, the multitude
stood on the shore in silence, straining with eyes and minds
to pick out among all the bishops Fulgentius, whom they
knew so well, looking for him through all the ships. When
his face appeared, a great shout went up there; they disput-
ed among themselves as to who would be the first to greet
him, who the first to be recognized, who would bow his head
for a blessing, who would deserve to touch him, at least with
the tips of his fingers as he passed by, who would with his
eyes see him standing there at least from a distance. The
praise of God resounded from the lips of all. With some of
the people going on before and some following the blessed
confessors, they formed a noble triumphal parade up to the
basilica of St. Agileus. A great crowd, gathering quickly,
pressed in on the blessed Fulgentius, whom it honored more
than the rest. With happy inspiration, certain Christians
formed a circle around him, sweating as he was, so that a
path was cleared for him to pass through the midst of the
crowd.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 49

The Lord, still seeking to test the love of the faithful,

miraculously poured down a cloudburst as they were walking
about. But who is able to tell of the deeds of piety without
seeming to discount the truth? The downpour frightened
no one, nor did it prevent any from paying homage to the
glorious bishops. On the contrary, it was as if heavenly bless-
ings were raining down; so much did the faith of noblemen
increase that, joyously spreading out their cloaks over the
blessed Fulgentius, they kept the rain-showers from him and,
with their improvisational charity, invented a new kind of
baldaquin. They became imitators of those who in earlier
times spread out their cloaks on the ground, as the Gospel
says, for the Savior who was seated on the foal of an ass and
was coming to Jerusalem. Such things were done by others
who, as one person, with their own clothing covered the
bare head of the blessed Fulgentius. Evening was coming on
when they came to bishop Boniface58 of happy memory. All
together and in common they blessed and praised God.
Then the blessed Fulgentius, going through all the streets of
Carthage, wheresoever he passed, was singled out by all
hands and eyes; he was extolled with praises beyond num-
ber.

Chapter 27
Later, moving rapidly, he visited and blessed the homes of
all his friends and deigned to rejoice with those who re-
joiced; he who had previously wept with the sorrowing, satis-
fied the wishes of all. Bidding farewell to his brothers, he left
Carthage. All along the long route of his journey, he was
greeted with great joy, people coming out to meet him with
candles, lamps, and tree branches, giving thanks to the inef-
fable God who had marvelously made the blessed Fulgentius
so blessed in the eyes of all. In every church he was greeted
as if he were their own bishop, and the whole province of
Byzacena rejoiced as one people over his return. What man,
I ask you, would not have such glorification go to his head?
58. Boniface, bishop of Carthage and Primate of Africa ca. 523–36. See
“Bonifatius 26,” PCBE, 159–61.
50 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

But in the blessed Fulgentius it brought about a more pro-

found effort at humility. Arriving, covered by popular ac-
claim, and adding to the dignity of the episcopate the privi-
lege of special veneration, after he had reclaimed his
episcopal chair, still he desired to live with the monks. But
lest, because of his return the authority of Abbot Felix seem
to be diminished, he voluntarily surrendered all rights to
command the monks, wishing to do not his own will, but the
will of another. He who up until then as a monk had under-
taken the direction of his brothers, now as a bishop was no
longer willing to rule in his own monastery. So solicitous was
he, fearing to upset Abbot Felix, that, when he was to enter-
tain guests and it was necessary to buy more bread or to get
more supplies, he would first consult Abbot Felix. In any
council held in the province of Byzacena, he was the first to
be consulted on all matters of importance; but, in his own
monastery, even in the smallest matters, he humbly consult-
ed Abbot Felix. It was not enough for the blessed Fulgentius
to observe and demonstrate this humility by words and
deeds; he would also confirm in writing that he claimed
nothing for himself in this monastery and that he lived with
the monks, not for the sake of some power he had over
them but for reasons of charity. Looking to the future, this
man took steps lest the simple servants of God be made sub-
ject to some loss later on. By this document, he avoided any
future disagreement between the monks and his successors,
because he put nothing ahead of the welfare of the monks,
the servants of God. Near the Church he bought land and
put a great deal of care into building a home on it so that a
future successor of his would not lack a place to live in.
When vacancies occurred in the ranks of the clergy, he filled
them by transferring many proven brothers from among the
monks to the Church’s militia; here too he was taking chari-
ty into consideration. Practically all the clerics he ordained
were from that monastery, the fact that they already knew
each other would insure that there would be no disagree-
ments at some future time to divide monks and clerics. He
showed the greatest concern lest any cleric be clothed in ex-
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 51

pensive vesture or be taken up with worldly business and

thus drift away from his churchly concerns for a long time.
He commanded that all should live not far from the church,
should cultivate their gardens with their own hands, and ex-
ercise great care in singing the psalms well and in reading.
Each week, he set the fast on Wednesday and Friday for
all clergy and widows, as well as for whoever of the laity
was able. All were commanded to be present at the vigils
each day as well as at morning and evening prayers. Some
turbulent souls he lashed with words, but others whose fault
was public he had beaten with blows. Thus he attacked
the vices of all with salutary words, so that, while not men-
tioning names, he would cause all to be afraid and because
of that salutary fear to abandon their hidden sins. For, how
could he have a lesser concern for his own clergy, who had
eliminated the long-standing contentions and angry battles
of neighboring peoples? With salutary admonitions he paci-
fied the anger of the people of Maximiana,59 who were un-
willing to accept the bishop ordained for them. Bringing a
necessary end to this serious scandal, he modestly and wisely
put everything in order and brought back peace among
them.
By the judgment of all the bishops who met in the council
of Junca,60 Fulgentius was to be placed ahead of and above a
certain bishop named Quodvultdeus,61 who laid claim to se-
niority over him. That day Fulgentius kept silence, unwilling
to diminish the authority of the council by declining. But,
when the council was over and he saw that the other bishop
had been hurt, he was not willing to have his honor become
an occasion of sin for his brother, judging it better to take a
lower place out of charity than a higher place at the expense
of charity. In attendance a little later at the glorious council
of Sufes,62 in the presence of all, he asked that now bishop
Quodvultdeus be placed before him as he wished that his
59. Exact location uncertain; perhaps in the vicinity of Hadrumetum.
60. On this council, see “Liberatus 7,” PCBE, 638–39 (CCL 149.276 ff.).
61. Quodvultdeus. See “Quodvultdeus 23,” PCBE, 955.
62. Sufes is Sbiba in central Tunisia.
52 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

own name be called after that of Quodvultdeus so that he

might live happily, his soul reconciled to that of his fellow
bishop. The bishops marveled at the humility of the one
who asked this, nor did they want to disappoint the one of-
fering this sacrifice of humility to God for the preservation
of the communion of the spirit in the bond of charity.
Where are they now, those who were dominated by the de-
sire to lord it over others, who set themselves above their su-
periors and demanded privileges not due to them? Look to
the blessed Fulgentius, not willing to defend the primacy
which he deserved because he did not wish to be placed
ahead of anyone at the expense of charity.
Unique master and teacher of the Catholic Church, to
whom, because he had so many tasks to do here in Africa, so
little time was available, still he dictated many ecclesiastical
sermons which would be preached to the people. Whenever
he preached, he entranced the souls of all, not to induce
vain and empty applause but to generate within them com-
punction of heart. Boniface, of holy memory, bishop of the
church of Carthage, present to dedicate a church in Fur-
nos,63 invited him to preach two days afterwards in his pres-
ence. He was so moved to hear the word of God from his
mouth that, until he finished the sermon, Boniface watered
the ground with his tears, thanking God whose grace contin-
ued to raise up great and outstanding teachers in the
Catholic Church.
After his return from exile, Fulgentius wrote many new
works: ten books refuting the false doctrines of the liar Fabi-
anus,64 three small works on the truth of predestination and
grace, as well as many others which he wrote. If you wish to
find out about them, you will find authentic copies in his
monastery. But, now it is time for us to speak of how, after all
his good works, he rested, taken up to the heavenly king-
dom.

63. Furnos Maius in Africa Proconsularis, today Ain Fourna.

64. Fabianus, an Arian refuted by Fulgentius. Some thirty-nine fragments re-
main of this work (CCL 91A.761–866). See PCBE, 380.
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 53

Chapter 28
About a year before he was taken from this world, moved
by a profound compunction of heart, he suddenly gave up
his church duties. And, secretly departing from his monas-
tery, accompanied by a few brothers, he sailed to the island
of Cercina. There, on a rocky promontory named Chilmi,65
he ordered a monastery to be built. Giving himself up to
reading, prayer, and fasting, as if he knew that his final days
were approaching, he did penance with his whole heart.
And, although his entire life, from the moment of his con-
version, when he took up the life of a monk with all his
heart, had been a time of penance, now, on this island, all
the more amply and seriously like a beginner, he mortified
his body and wept in the sight of God alone. But many com-
plained about the absence of their bishop, and so, con-
strained by the requirements of charity, he went back to his
monastery. Ministering to religious people the customary
consolations, he patiently put up with the most trying labors
for the welfare of others.
But not many days had passed, and behold the good Lord
called his faithful servant home. Suddenly the sharp pains of
bodily illness hit him, and the malady burdened him for
about seventy days. With frequency he kept repeating,
“Lord, give me patience now, and forgiveness hereafter.” He
did not stop uttering these words either when the pains af-
flicted him or when he was afire with fever or worn out with
fatigue. The physicians tried to persuade him to use the
baths. “Can baths keep a mortal man from dying when the
time for living has come to an end? But if death is close and
the warm waters of the baths cannot hold it back, why, I ask
you, are you trying to have me give up at the end the regime
I have long observed as a monk?” Thus, trustingly putting
his salvation in God’s hands, as he felt the approach of death
with certainty, calling all his clergy together, with the monks

65. The Kerkenah islands are about 20 kilometers off the Tunisian coast at
Sfax. Chilmi is one of the smaller islands.
54 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

present as well, he spoke to them, saying, “Brothers, out of

concern for the salvation of your souls, perhaps I have been
hard and tough on you. And so, if anyone has suffered any-
thing, I ask you to forgive me. And, if perhaps my severity
has gone beyond what it should have, pray that the Lord will
not impute this to me as a sin.” When he had said this, the
blessed Fulgentius burst into sobs and all fell together on
their knees, proclaiming that he, good and kind, had always
watched over them for the salvation of all, as was fitting.
“May the Lord provide for you,” he said, “a pastor worthy of
him!” Then, ordering silence, he rested a while. A little later,
continuing his care for the poor, when a sum of money was
brought from which, as a most faithful steward, he gave to
the needy each day, he ordered all of it to be given away. He
recalled the names of each widow, orphan, stranger, and all
the others in need, and with careful reflection determined
what should be given to each one; having no heirs in this
world he left to the poor the heritage of his charitable solici-
tude. Nor did he deprive his clergy of their due blessing;
mercifully taking into account their poverty, in secret he
carefully took care of everything in advance. He continued
in prayer, giving a blessing to all who came in to see him. He
remained lucid until his final hour. The last day of the
kalends of January, after evening prayer, he happily gave up
his blessed spirit into the hands of the Lord, completing the
twenty-fifth year of his episcopate and the sixty-fifth year of
his life as a whole, as he had indicated to many of the broth-
ers shortly before his death. His holy body was not to be
buried on that same day but was brought to the monastery
church where he invited the monks as well as the clergy to
watch the whole night with psalms, hymns, and spiritual can-
ticles. The following morning a great crowd of people from
neighboring areas came to the funeral; he was conveyed by
the hands of priests to a church in the city which is called Se-
cunda, in which he had placed relics of the Apostles; there
he was given an honorable resting place. He was the first
bishop to deserve to be buried in that basilica where no
dead person, priest or laity, had ancient custom permitted to
 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS 55

be buried. But the great power of love removed the obstacles

posed by tradition. With all the people gathered round, with
the greatest devotion they demanded that where the holy
man, the one beloved of God, had been ordained a bishop
was the place where he should be joined in perpetuity to the
prayers of each one. For, they had experienced how much
good the prayers of the blessed Fulgentius had done for
them and how much evil he had turned away, as was shown
by clear indications shortly thereafter. Not many days after
Fulgentius’s departure, the hostile nation of the Moors sud-
denly fell upon the territory of Ruspe, devastating the area
with rapine, murder, and arson, even slaughtering those
they found within the walls of a church. Who did not marvel
at the grace of the blessed Fulgentius? As long as he lived,
the city entrusted to him did not experience the horrors of
war. And, even when the entire province underwent a terri-
ble captivity, Ruspe remained exempt, because of its venera-
ble bishop whose very life was a wall protecting the city.

Chapter 29
I have decided not to let this be passed over in silence,
that, while a worthy successor was being sought, with consid-
erable disagreement among clergy and laity, the prolonged
wrangling consumed nearly an entire year. But your holiness
sat in his chair on the very anniversary day of his death.
The first solemn anniversary of his burial deserved to be
adorned with this additional honor—that it was made even
more venerable by the celebration of your ordination. Do
you want to know how these things came about not by
chance but how they can be shown to have been granted be-
cause of his prayers?
Let me remind you of the very precise vision of the
blessed Pontianus,66 bishop of Thenae, which he himself re-
counted, “As I was traveling to help elect a bishop for the

66. Pontianus or Ponticanus, bishop of Thenae in Byzacena. See “Ponti-

canus 2,” PCBE, 883–84.
56 LIFE OF FULGENTIUS

church of Ruspe, in accordance with the commands of Da-

tianus,67 the primate, the very blessed Fulgentius himself ap-
peared while I was resting, greeting me as usual in friendly
fashion and with his cheerful face, ‘Where is your holiness
now going in such haste?’ To which I answered, ‘To elect a
bishop for the church of Ruspe.’ He laughed. ‘He’s already
ordained,’ he said.” Isn’t it obvious that what he had come to
announce had already been accomplished because of his
prayers? He, who had known of the confirmation of one not
yet chosen or ordained, by his prayers had merited to know
the day on which the one ordained was to sit in the chair. By
continual prayers and faithful devotion, we pray always that,
having become a participant in his glory for eternity, you live
happily, not unworthy of so great a predecessor. May you
give thanks to the Lord with us for the completion of this
work, and may you, with us, ask pardon of all learned read-
ers for those parts which are not as well expressed as they
should be.

67. Datianus, Primate of Byzacena, successor to Liberatus ca. 533. See “Da-
tianus 4,” PCBE, 266–67.
TO PET E R O N T H E FA I T H
 Introduction
This is probably the most popular of the works of Fulgentius, a rela-
tive term, to be sure. In the Middle Ages, it was widely attributed to St.
Augustine. In the twentieth century, it has been translated into
French, German, Italian, and Polish. Peter, probably a layman, intend-
ed to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But he found the same problem
which had kept Fulgentius himself from journeying to Egypt to visit
the monks there, namely, the growing reality of the divisions in the
eastern Church brought about by the widespread rejection of the deci-
sions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Peter asked Fulgentius for a
basic doctrinal guidebook. It dates probably to the time of his return
from the second period of exile in Sardinia.
In answer to Peter’s request, Fulgentius discusses the teachings of
the Church on the Trinity, the Incarnation, Creation, the Fall, Re-
demption, the sacraments of Baptism and Penance, and Marriage and
Virginity. While most believe that Fulgentius is the author of the en-
tire work, there have been some who have posited a second author for
the second half which constitutes a recapitulation of the first half with
each section beginning: “Hold most firmly and never doubt. . . .” This
is the first English translation of this work.

y s o n p e t e r ,1 I have received a letter from your

charity, in which you indicated your desire to travel
to Jerusalem, and you requested instruction by a let-
ter from me concerning the rule of the true faith you would
have to hold in those parts so that no one could catch you
unawares with some heretical falsity. I am glad indeed that
you have such a concern for keeping the true faith with no
shade of unbelief, a faith without which conversion not only
would be of no use but would not really be conversion at all.

1. Peter. The identity of the one who requested this doctrinal guide from
Fulgentius is uncertain. The majority of scholars views this Peter as a layman
who intended to travel to Jerusalem and asked for instruction in view of the
doctrinal dissidence there, especially that stemming from the rejection of the
Council of Chalcedon after 451.

59
60 FULGENTIUS

Indeed, apostolic authority tells us that, “without faith, it is

impossible to please God.” 2 For, faith is the foundation of all
things. Faith is the beginning of human salvation. Without
it, no one can belong to the number of the children of God,
because, without it, neither will anyone gain the grace of jus-
tification in this world nor possess eternal life in the world to
come. If anyone here will not walk by faith, he will not attain
the vision. Without faith, all human effort is empty. A per-
son, trying to please God through contempt for the world
but without the true faith, is like someone striving toward
the homeland where he knows he will live in blessedness but
who leaves the path of righteousness and foolishly embarks
on the path of error; such a person will never arrive at the
blessed city but will fall into the abyss, that place where joy is
not the lot of the one who arrives but death is inflicted on
the one fallen.
2. Nevertheless, there is not a sufficient amount of time
for an adequate treatment of the faith to be produced, since
you want to have my answer quickly. So great is the work of
this treatise that it can scarcely be fulfilled even by the great.
You did not say that you had to be instructed concerning the
faith in such a way that you designated one particular heresy
against which our work should be especially vigilant. Rather,
you seek a clarification of the faith without any further speci-
fication, and you ask for this to be done in such a short time
that surely you see how impossible it is for us to encompass
such a great matter in so brief a time and space. In any case,
we ourselves are not adequate for such a task, even if there
were a sufficient amount of time and our own mental capaci-
ty were greater so that we were able to write the many vol-
umes on this subject you seek from us. But, because “the
Lord is near to all who call on him in truth,”3 who “has exe-
cuted sentence decisively and quickly on the earth,”4 I hope
that, as he gave you a holy concern for this faith, so also, he
will grant me sufficient ability that I may respond to your
good and praiseworthy desire. I hope that, although I shall
2. Heb 11.6. 3. Ps 144(145).18.
4. Rm 9.28.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 61

not be able to say everything by which every heretical error

can be recognized and unmasked, overcome, or avoided,
still, in the name of, and with the help of, the Holy Trinity,
which is the one, true, and good God, I may say those things
in which, at least for the most part, the Catholic faith may
stand forth without any of the fog of error. If you keep these
things with you, you will be able to recognize and flee those
things which, even if they do not seem to be explicitly refut-
ed in this work, still, from those things which are here in a
more general and complete way, that which people without
faith wish to whisper in the ears of the faithful, things not
handed down by the rule of divine truth but invented by the
wickedness of human error, may be exposed.
3. Therefore, in whatever place you may be, because you
know that you have been baptized in the one name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to the
rule promulgated by the command of our Savior, retain with
your whole heart, from the start and without hesitation, that
the Father is God and the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is
God; i.e., the holy and ineffable Trinity is by nature one
God, concerning whom it is said in Deuteronomy, “Hear, O
Israel, the Lord your God is one God,” and, “You shall adore
the Lord your God and him alone shall you serve.”5 Indeed,
since we have said that this one God who alone is true God
by nature, is not the Father only, nor the Son only, nor the
Holy Spirit only but is at one and the same time, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, we must be wary that, while we say in truth
that, as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, in so
far as this is a unity of nature, we dare not say or believe
something altogether blasphemous, that he who is the per-
son of the Father is the same as either the Son or the Holy
Spirit; or that he who is the person of the Son is the Father
or the Holy Spirit; or that we dare to say or to believe that
the person who is properly called the Holy Spirit in the con-
fession of this Trinity is either the Father or the Son, some-
thing that is altogether wicked.
4. The faith which the holy patriarchs and prophets re-
5. Dt 6.4 and 6.13.
62 FULGENTIUS

ceived from God before the Incarnation of the Son of God,

the faith which the holy Apostles too heard from the Lord
himself, living in the flesh, and, instructed by the teaching
of the Holy Spirit, not only preached orally but also left be-
hind instilled in their writings for the salutary instruction of
posterity—this faith proclaims one God, the Trinity, i.e., Fa-
ther, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it would not be a real Trinity
if one and the same person were called Father and Son and
Holy Spirit. For, if, just as there is one substance of the Fa-
ther and the Son and the Holy Spirit, so there would be one
person, then there would be no way at all in which it could
truly be called a Trinity. Again, it would be a real Trinity, but
that Trinity would not be one God if, just as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are distinct from one another by what is proper
to their persons, so likewise they would be different by a di-
versity of natures. But, since in that one true God, the Trini-
ty, not only because God is one but also because he is a Trini-
ty, it is naturally true therefore that the true God is in
himself a Trinity of persons but in nature is one. Through
this unity of nature, the whole of the Father is in the Son
and the Holy Spirit, and the whole of the Son in the Father
and the Holy Spirit, and, as well, the whole of the Holy Spirit
in the Father and the Son. No one of these is outside of any
of the others, because none either precedes the others in
eternity, or exceeds them in greatness, or overcomes them
in power; because the Father is neither prior to nor greater
than the Son or the Holy Spirit, in so far as it pertains to the
unity of the divine nature. Neither is the eternity nor the im-
mensity of the Son either prior to or greater than; nor does
it by nature either precede or exceed the eternity or the im-
mensity of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Son is neither later nor
less than the Father, so neither is the Holy Spirit later or less
than the Son. And the Son is eternal and without beginning,
because the Son, born from the nature of the Father, has al-
ways existed. And the Holy Spirit is eternal and without be-
ginning, because the Holy Spirit 6 proceeds from the nature
6. Obviously here and in many other places in his writings, Fulgentius teach-
es the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 63

of the Father and the Son. So, therefore, rightly do we be-

lieve and say that the three are one God, because there is a
single eternity, a single immensity, a single divinity by nature
of three persons.
5. Therefore, let us hold that the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit are by nature one God; neither is the Father
the one who is the Son, nor the Son the one who is the Fa-
ther, nor the Holy Spirit the one who is the Father or the
Son. For, the essence, that which the Greeks call the ousia, of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, is one, in which
essence the Father is not one thing and the Son a second
thing and the Holy Spirit still a third thing, although in per-
son the Father is different, the Son is different, and the Holy
Spirit is different. All of this is demonstrated for us in the
strongest fashion at the very beginning of the Holy Scrip-
tures, when God says, “Let us make human beings in our
image and likeness.”7 When, using the singular number, he
says “image,” he shows that the nature is one, in whose
image the human being was made. But, when he says “our”
in the plural, he shows that the very same God in whose
image the human being was made is not one in person. For,
if in that one essence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there
were one person, “to our image” would not have been spo-
ken but “in my image.” Nor would he have said, “Let us
make,” but, “I shall make.” If, in reality, in those three per-
sons three substances were to be understood or believed, “to
our image” would not have been said; rather, “to our images”;
for there could not be one image of three unequal natures.
But, while the human being is said to be made according to
the one image of the one God, the divinity of the Holy Trini-
ty in one essence is announced. Then and shortly thereafter,
in place of what he had said above, “Let us make human be-
ings in our image and likeness,” Scripture thus told of the
making of the human being by saying, “And God created hu-
mankind in his image; in the image of God he created
them.”8
7. Gn 1.26.
8. Gn 1.27.
64 FULGENTIUS

6. The prophet Isaiah did not keep silent about this Trini-
ty of persons and unity of nature revealed to him, when he
says he saw the Seraphim crying out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God of Sabbaoth.” 9 Therefore, where the triple “Holy” is re-
peated, there is the Trinity of persons; where “Lord, God of
Sabbath” is said but once, we recognize the unity of the di-
vine nature. Therefore, in that Holy Trinity—and I keep on
saying it so that it may be fixed in your heart the more firm-
ly—the Father is one, who alone by his nature has generated
the one Son from himself; and the Son is one, who alone has
been born from the nature of the one Father, and the Holy
Spirit is one, who alone proceeds from the essence of the Fa-
ther and the Son. All of this is not possible for one person,
i.e., both to generate oneself and to be born of oneself and
to proceed from oneself. Therefore, because generating is
different from being born and proceeding is something dif-
ferent again from generating and being born, it is obvious
that the Father is different, the Son is different, and the
Holy Spirit is different. The Trinity, therefore, refers to the
persons of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; unity,
to the nature.
(II) 7. Just as, according to that divinity by which the Fa-
ther and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, we do not be-
lieve that either the Father or the Holy Spirit were born, but
only the Son, so also the Catholic faith both believes and
preaches that only the Son was born according to the flesh.
And in that Trinity it was not the property of the Father
alone that he was not born, but he begat the one Son (nor
was it the property of the Son alone, that he did not beget,
but he was born from the essence of the Father; nor was it
the property of the Holy Spirit that he was neither born nor
begot, but alone proceeds from the Father and the Son in
unchanging eternity), if, according to the divine nature,
God the Father would be born of no God, but, according to
the flesh, he would be born of a virgin. If, however, the Fa-
ther were to be born of a virgin, the Father and the Son

9. Is 6.3.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 65

would be one person. But this one person, from the fact that
it was born not of God but only of a virgin, would truly be
called not the Son of God but only a human son. For, the
very Son of God himself says that “God so loved the world
that he gave his only-begotten.” And again, “God did not
send his Son into the world to judge the world but that the
world might be save through him.”10 Nor would the blessed
John have said, “He who loves the Father loves the one who
was born of him.”11 Nor would the Son himself have said,
“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”12 For the
one who is called the Son, if he were the same as the Father,
would not truly be called the Son of God, because he would
be born not of God but only of the virgin. Finally, the Father
himself would not have born witness from heaven and with a
bodily voice pointed out his Son, saying, “This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased.”13 Nor would the Apostle
Paul have said of God the Father, “He who did not spare his
own Son but gave him over for all of us.”14
8. But, since all these things have been revealed by God
for our instruction and what has been revealed by God is in-
variably true, what the Catholic faith teaches is true, viz.,
that, according to the divinity, the only Son has been born
from the Father, eternal with the Father, immortal, impassi-
ble, and unchangeable God, and, according to the flesh, not
the Father but his only-begotten Son, one born in time, with
no effect on his eternity, one who suffered without affecting
his impassibility, one who died without affecting his immor-
tality, one who was truly raised without affecting his change-
lessness, by which he is true God and eternal life. One who
has everything in common with his Father, which from all
eternity he had by nature without beginning and has noth-
ing in common with the Father of those things which he, the
eternal and exalted one, humbly accepted in his person in
time.

10. Jn 3.16–17. 11. Jn 5.1.

12. Jn 5.17. 13. Mt 3.17.
14. Rm 8.32.
66 FULGENTIUS

9. Again, if not he who is properly the only-begotten Son

of God the Father but the Holy Spirit had been born of the
virgin, the Holy Church would not believe with its heart for
its justification and confess with its mouth for its salvation
the very Son who was made of the woman, made under the
Law, accepted in the Creed as “born of the Holy Spirit from
the virgin Mary.” But, if the Holy Spirit itself, who is the Spir-
it of the Father and the Son, had accepted the form of a ser-
vant, it would not have been the Spirit itself who came from
heaven15 under the form of a dove upon the one who be-
came a human being.
10. Therefore, God the Father, begotten by no God, once
from his own nature, without a beginning, begot God the
Son, equal to himself and co-eternal in divinity by that same
nature by which he himself is eternal. But the very same God
the Son since he is God eternal and true and with the Father
by nature one God in his divinity, in accordance with which
he says, “The Father and I are one”;16 the same was made
human for our sake, true and complete. True in his case be-
cause that God has a true human nature; full in his case be-
cause he assumed human flesh and a rational soul. The
same, the sole-begotten God, was born twice, once from the
Father, once from the mother; for, God the Word was born
from the Father and the Word made flesh was born from the
mother.
11. Therefore, the one and the same God, the Son of
God, born before the ages and born in time—and each
birth is that of the one Son of God—divine, according to
which the Creator, in the form of God, co-eternal with the
Father, is God; human, according to which, emptying him-
self and taking the form of a servant, he not only formed
himself in the conception of the maternal womb where he
became human, with the same taking up of the form of a
servant, but also, the same God made human came forth
from the same womb of the mother, and the same God
15. There is a misprint in the CCL text (p. 718, line 200): “adverniret”
should be “adveniret.”
16. Jn 10.30.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 67

made human hung on the cross, and the same God made
human lay in the tomb, and the same God made human
rose from the dead on the third day; but in the tomb the
same God lay according to the flesh alone and descended
into Hell according to the soul alone. Returning from
among the dead according to the flesh on the third day, the
same God, according to the flesh with which he lay in the
tomb, rose from the tomb; and, on the fortieth day after the
resurrection, the same God incarnate, ascending into heav-
en, sat at the right hand of God, and thence he will come at
the end of the world to judge the living and the dead.
12. The Word incarnate is the one Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and human be-
ings—mediator because he is true God and truly human,
having one nature of divinity with the Father and one sub-
stance of humanity with his mother, having from us up until
his death, the penalty of our iniquity; having unchangeable
justice from God the Father; dead in time because of our in-
iquity, because of his justice, he both lives forever and will
grant immortality to us mortals. He who preserved the per-
fection of his humanity in the very perfection of his divinity;
through the taking on of death, he caused the truth of his
mortality to be absorbed by the truth and unchangeableness
of his immortality.
13. This is what the blessed Peter testifies to: that “Christ
swallowed death, in order that we might be made heirs of
eternal life.”17 The blessed Paul as well teaches that Christ
swallowed up death and illuminated life and incorruption.
Christ therefore tasted death because he is truly human; and
he likewise swallowed up death because he is truly God. The
same one, indeed, as the Apostle says, “. . . was crucified out
of weakness, but he lives by the power of God”;18 one and the
same, who according to the prophecy of blessed David “was
made man” in Zion and “the Most High himself has estab-
lished it.” 19
17. Not in the New Testament; cf. 2 Cor 5.4 and Ti 3.7.
18. 2 Cor 13.4.
19. Ps 86.5 LXX; Ps 87.5.
68 FULGENTIUS

14. Therefore, the divinity of Christ is not foreign to the

nature of the Father, according to this: “In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was
God. It was in the beginning with God. All things came to be
through him and without him nothing came to be.” 20 Nor is
his humanity foreign to the nature of his mother, according
to this: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”21 For
that nature which, having been generated from all eternity
by the Father, remains; he took upon himself our nature
without sin that he might be born of a virgin. In no way
could eternal and divine nature have been conceived in time
and born in time from human nature unless the ineffable di-
vinity had taken upon itself according to the taking up of
human reality a true conception and birth in time. Thus was
the eternal and true God truly conceived by and born of a
virgin in time. For, “when the fullness of time came, God
sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that he
might redeem those who were under the Law in order that
we might receive the adoption of sons,”22 viz., with that God
having been made a human son by nature who is by nature
the one only-begotten Son of God the Father. This John the
Evangelist confirms when he later said, “And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us,” and added subsequently,
“And we saw his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten of the
Father, full of grace and of truth.”23 Thus he, Creator and
Lord of all spirits and of all bodies, i.e., of all natures, who
would be created from the virgin, created the virgin. He who
is her maker made his mother for himself, when he who
would be conceived and begotten from her flesh, the infi-
nite and eternal God, received the true material of the flesh
in order that, according to the truth of the form of a ser-
vant, God, in his mercy, would become human, and, accord-
ing to the form of God, remaining human, the same God
would not lack the truth of his nature.
15. Therefore, believe that Christ, the Son of God, i.e.,

20. Jn 1.1–3. 21. Jn 1.14.

22. Gal 4.4–5. 23. Jn 1.14.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 69

one of the persons of the Trinity, is true God, so that you do

not doubt that his divinity has been born of the nature of
the Father. And so, also, believe that he is truly human, so
that you do not think that his flesh is of a celestial, or heav-
enly, or some other kind of, nature, but that his is the flesh
of every human being, i.e., that which God himself fash-
ioned for the first human being from the earth and fashions
for other human beings, whom he creates through human
reproduction. But, although the flesh of Christ is of one and
the same nature as that of all human beings, still, that which
God the Word deigned to unite to himself from the virgin
Mary, conceived without sin, was born without sin, just as the
eternal and just God was in his mercy conceived and born,
and the Lord of Glory was crucified.
16. By these words will be explained the singular excel-
lence of that flesh whose divine person comes from that very
same conception, whose birth is the unusual origin by which
the Word has become flesh in such a way that the only-be-
gotten and eternal God, conceived in the very conception of
his flesh, might be one person with his flesh. It is certain
that that flesh of all other human beings is born through
human sexual intercourse with the male inseminating and
the female conceiving and giving birth. And, because man
and woman are joined to each other to bear children, the
sexual intercourse of the parents is not without concupis-
cence, because of which the conception of children born
from their own flesh cannot come about without sin where
the lust, not the propagation as such, transmits the sin to the
children; it is not the fecundity of human nature that causes
human beings to be born with sin, but the filth of lust which
human beings have from the most just condemnation of
that very first sin. Thus, the blessed David, although himself
born of a legitimate and just marriage in which indeed nei-
ther the guilt of infidelity nor the stain of fornication could
be found, because of Original Sin, by which children are
bound by nature to be children of wrath and not just the
children of unholy people but even all those who are born
of the sanctified flesh of the just, he exclaims and says, “Be-
70 FULGENTIUS

hold in iniquity was I conceived and in sin my mother bore

me.”24 Even the holy Job says that not one person is clean
from stain, not even if one’s life is but a single day on this
earth.25
17. Therefore, the only-begotten Son of God who is in the
bosom of the Father, in order to purify the human flesh and
soul by taking up the flesh and rational soul, was incarnated;
and he who is true God became a true human being, not
that another God became another human being but the
very same God, the very same human being. In order that
he might take away that sin which the act of human genera-
tion contracts in the sexual intercourse of mortal flesh, he
was conceived in a new way, God incarnate in a virgin moth-
er, without copulation with a male, without the lust of the
virgin conceiving, so that through the God-man whom the
inviolate womb of the virgin put forth, conceived without
lust, the sin which all human beings contract when they are
born might be wiped away. In them, in the body of this
death, such is the condition of being born, that their moth-
ers cannot fulfill the task of fruitfullness without first losing
the virginity of the flesh. Alone, therefore, the only-begotten
God took away the sin of human conception and birth who,
when conceived, took the truth of his flesh from the virgin,
and, when born, preserved the integrity of virginity in his
mother. This was the way by which God was made the son of
the virgin Mary, and Mary the virgin mother of the only-be-
gotten of God—in order that the one whom the Father
begot in eternity, the virgin, might bring forth, conceived in
time, that virgin whom God, who was to be born of her, had
previously visited and filled with singular grace that she
might have him as the fruit of her womb, the one whom the
universe has from the beginning as its Lord; and she would
see subject to her by the solemnity of birth, the one whom
not only the human but also the angelic creature knows and
adores as the Most High in the unity of his Father’s sub-
stance.
24. Ps 50.7 LXX; Ps 51.5.
25. Job 14.4.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 71

18. Thus the sin and the punishment for the sin which
through the crime of a corrupted woman entered the world,
is taken away from the world through birth from an inviolate
virgin. And, because in the condition of the human race
[brought about] by a woman made from a male only, it came
about that we were held in custody by the chains of death; in
the redemption of the human race, the divine goodness ac-
complished that through a man who was born from a
woman only, life was restored to human beings. Thence, by a
most wicked deception, the Devil associated the human race
with himself through the likeness of sin; here God took up
human nature in the unity of person. There the woman was
deceived, that she might be made a daughter of the Devil;
here the virgin was filled with grace that she might become
the mother of the Most High and unchangeable only-begot-
ten of God. There the angel, cast down by pride, gained the
heart of the woman who had been seduced; here God, hum-
bling himself through compassion, filled the womb “of the
uncorrupted virgin from whom he was to be born. Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, who was in the form of God, (which
he could not be unless he had been born of the nature of
the Father); he, according to the teaching of the Apostle,
“emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” God accept-
ed into his own person the form of a servant, i.e., the nature
of a servant, and so the Creator of human beings, “made in
human likeness” was “found human in appearance;” he
“humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death
of a cross.”26
19. Think this statement of the Apostle over carefully and,
by means of it you will realize how you may believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ is at the same time God and a human
being. In him, however, you are neither to confuse nor di-
vide the truth of each nature in the one person. Therefore,
when you first hear concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that he
was in the form of God, it is necessary for you to recognize
and hold most firmly that, by that expression, “form” must

26. Phil 2.7–8.

72 FULGENTIUS

be understood the fullness of nature. Therefore, the Lord

Jesus Christ was in the form of God because he was always in
the nature of God the Father from whom he was born. Since
he is of one nature with the Father, he is equally with him
immortal and unchangeable, equally invisible and inexpress-
ible, equally good and just, equally “merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithful-
ness,”27 equally strong and gentle, equally wise and all- pow-
erful.
20. Accordingly, all these things which we have said con-
cerning the Son of God, holding them with most firm faith
(because having all these qualities in the unity of nature
with the Father, he is, without a doubt, the equal of the Fa-
ther; because of this, the Apostle too added immediately
and said, “Who . . . did not regard equality with God some-
thing to be grasped”;28 for that equality of divinity of the Son
with the Father was not “grasping” but nature); also those
things which the Apostle added subsequently, saying that
“He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, made in
human likeness, and found human in appearance” and that
“he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even
the death on a cross,” all of these things are said of that only-
begotten God, the Son of God, of that God the Word of
whom the evangelist says, “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God,”29 con-
cerning that strength of God and wisdom of God, concern-
ing which it is said to God, “In wisdom you have made all
things.”30 From that beginning with which the Father himself
is one beginning and in which, co-eternal with himself, he
made heaven and earth, i.e., every nature, corporeal and
spiritual; as I said, take all these things as coming in person
from the only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Fa-
ther, saving, however, his eternity, immensity, immortality,
immutability, the invisibility of his divinity. By nature, God
the Son has all these things in common and equally with

27. Ps 85.15 LXX; Ps 86.15. 28. Phil 2.6.

29. Jn 1.1. 30. Ps 103.24 LXX; Ps 104.24.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 73

God the Father so that, although he was truly made a

human being for us, still he remained equal to the Father,
from whom he was born true God and the truth. Therefore,
“he emptied himself,” but “from his fullness we have all re-
ceived,” which fullness, if having emptied himself, he lost, he
would not give us from that which he did not have. Likewise,
if he had nothing, without a doubt we could receive noth-
ing. But “from his fullness, we have all received.” From the
fact that he has given us of his fullness, he shows that, even
when he emptied himself, he did not lose the fullness he
had, because, if he lost his fullness, he could never give us of
it. Therefore, he accepted the form of a servant; nor was the
self-emptying of the Most-High God anything other than the
taking on of the form of a servant, i.e., human nature.
21. Each form is in Christ, therefore, because each sub-
stance is in Christ truly and fully. Therefore, the holy evan-
gelist proclaims that he is full of grace and truth; that he is
complete in his divine nature, in which God is Truth; and he
is complete in his human nature in which he has become
truly human by grace. In that fullness, he is God, in the form
of God, equal to God; in that other fullness, a servant in the
form of a servant, because, “coming in human likeness, [he
was] found human in appearance.”31 Emptying himself, he
took the form of a servant that he might become a servant;
but he did not lose the fullness of the form of God in which
he is always the eternal and unchangeable Lord, made truly
human according to the form of a servant, of that same na-
ture of which his handmaid his mother is, and, remaining in
the form of God, true God, of that same nature of which the
Lord is the Father. In the form of God with the Father and
the Holy Spirit, the one and only creator of all things, God;
according to the form of a servant, formed by his own work-
ing and that of the Father and the Holy Spirit; because he is
creator, having a common nature with the Father and the
Holy Spirit; because, however, he was created, alone in hav-
ing a person in himself. And his coming birth according to

31. Phil 2.7.

74 FULGENTIUS

the flesh and his death and resurrection and ascension into
heaven, the Law and the Prophets never ceased to proclaim,
just as he commanded, obedient in words and deeds.
22. For, in the sacrifices of carnal victims which the Holy
Trinity itself, who is the one God of the New and the Old
Testament, commanded be offered by our ancestors, was sig-
nified the most gracious gift of that sacrifice by which God
the only Son according to the flesh would mercifully offer
himself up for us. For, he, according to the teaching of the
Apostle, “handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering
to God for a fragrant aroma.”32 He, true God and true priest,
who for us entered once in the Holy Place, not with the
blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood. He signi-
fied that other priest who each year used to enter the Holy
of Holies with blood. Therefore, this is the one who in him-
self alone provided everything he knew to be necessary for
the effecting of our redemption, for he was both priest and
sacrifice, both God and temple; the priest, through whom
we are reconciled; the sacrifice, by means of which we are
reconciled; the temple, in which we are reconciled; God to
whom we are reconciled. By himself he is the priest, sacri-
fice, and temple, because God according to the form of a
servant is all these things; not, however, God alone, because
he together with the Father and the Holy Spirit is God ac-
cording to the form of God.
23. Therefore, we have been reconciled through the Son
alone according to the flesh but not to the Son alone ac-
cording to the divinity. For, the Trinity has reconciled us to
itself through this, that the Trinity itself made only the Word
flesh. In him, the truth of the human and divine nature re-
mains unchangeable in such a way that, just as his divinity is
always true, which he has unchangeable from the Father, so
his humanity is always true and unchangeable, which the
highest divinity bears united to itself.
24. I have inserted these few things concerning the faith
of the Holy Trinity, which alone is true God by nature, in so

32. Eph 5.2.

 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 75

far as brevity, time, and speech permit. Now I shall familiar-

ize you with the things about creation you must believe with-
out a doubt.
(III) 25. First of all, believe that every nature which is not
God the Trinity (which alone is the true and eternal God)
has been created out of nothing by the Holy Trinity itself.
And so everything in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities or
powers, are the work and creation of the Holy Trinity, which
is the one God, Creator and Lord of all things, eternal, om-
nipotent, and good, existing by nature so that it always is and
can never be changed. This God who always exists, without
beginning, because he exists to the highest degree, has
given to beings created by him that they may exist; not, how-
ever, without beginning, because no creature is of the same
nature as is the Trinity, the one, true, and good God, by
whom all things have been created. And because he is good
to the highest degree, he has given to all natures which he
made that they are good; not, however, so good as the Cre-
ator of all good things who not only is good to the greatest
degree but is also the greatest and unchangeable good, be-
cause he is the eternal good; having no defect, because he is
not made from nothing; having no history, because he has
no beginning. Thus, of course, the natures made by God can
have a history because they began; therefore, they can fall
away as well because they have been made from nothing.
The condition of their origin brings them to fall away; but
the work of the Creator brings them forward. In this, there-
fore, first of all, is the natural eternity without beginning of
the Trinity, which is true God, recognized because he made
them in such a way that, though they have begun to exist,
still they cannot at some time cease to exist. In this is his om-
nipotence understood, that he made from nothing every
creature visible and invisible, i.e., corporeal and spiritual.
These things, in their very diversity, commend the goodness
and the omnipotence of the Creator even more. For, unless
he were omnipotent, he would not have made the greatest
and the least of things with one and the same ease; and, un-
76 FULGENTIUS

less he were the greatest good, he would not have given him-
self to the governing of even the smallest things.
26. Therefore, the goodness and omnipotence of the Cre-
ator is just as great in the making of small things as in great
things. For, the highest and true Wisdom has made all
things wisely; for him, wisdom is of his nature and to do
things is to do them wisely. Therefore, the simplicity of the
multiple wisdom of God manifests the greatness of his exalt-
edness, not only in the greatness of sublime creatures but
also in the smallness of the least; while all the good things
which he has created not only are greatly below and dissimi-
lar to their Creator, in so far as they are not taken out of him
but are made from nothing; but also they do not all exist in
the same manner among themselves but each being exists as
it has been given by God to exist, one in one way, another in
a different way. Nor has it been given to corporeal things to
exist in the same way as spiritual things, since even corporeal
things do not exist to the same degree and, whether in the
heavens themselves or on earth, there is considerable diver-
sity; whether heavenly or earthly, they differ not only by
being of varying dimensions, but they also shine forth with
varying degrees of brightness. For, as the Apostle says, the
brightness of heavenly bodies is one thing, that of earthly
bodies another. Among the heavenly bodies themselves, “the
brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the
moon another, and the brightness of the stars a third. For,
star differs from star in brightness.”33 Therefore, the diversity
of corporeal natures demonstrates that each one of them is
not what it is because of what it could always have had of it-
self but because of what it has received from the plan and
working of the omnipotent, unchangeable, and all-wise Cre-
ator.
27. If any corporeal creature whatsoever were of one and
the same nature as the Holy Trinity, which is the one God, it
would not exist in a place locally, nor would it ever undergo
change because of the passage of time, nor would it move

33. 1 Cor 15.41.

 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 77

from one place to another, nor would it be circumscribed by

the fact of its mass. All of this goes to show that he is the Cre-
ator of natures of this type for whom no space is big or small,
because he exists totally no less in small spaces than in large.
Nor is he changed by the passage of time; he alone who is
able marvelously to put into order the revolutions of the
days and hours, not by the unfolding of time but by the un-
changing peace of eternity. For, he does not think in terms
of time as the times pass by the coming into existence and
departure of things; nor is he bounded by any quantity of
mass, because he cannot be enclosed; nor is he spread out in
his parts throughout the parts of the universe, so that he fills
the larger parts of the world with his larger parts; and, by fill-
ing the lesser with his smaller parts, the whole of him does
not fill any place. For, he is the God who says, “I fill the heav-
ens and the earth.”34 Therefore, all the things that he has
made, i.e., the spirits and the bodies, the highest and the
lowest, the heavenly and the earthly, the living and those
things to which he has not given the capability of living, inef-
fably and everywhere the whole Lord God both fills and con-
tains; nor is he divided in those things which are divided,
nor does he vary with any change in those things which are
changed. For, unless he were unchangeable by nature, never
in these changeable things would the good order of his fore-
sight and providence have remained unchangeable.
28. Therefore, God, the unmeasured Creator of things
corporeal and incorporeal, by this first of all shows that he
himself is not a body, because he has not bestowed life on
certain corporeal things, though he himself created all bodi-
ly things. He himself is life by nature, because, if he were not
life, he did not make living corporeal things. Nor does he
make something not living unless he himself is a living
thing. Therefore, corporeal things are not of one nature
with God, because the former cannot exist of themselves.
And so, neither are those corporeal beings of one nature
with God, in each of whom he has placed individual brute

34. Jer 23.24.

78 FULGENTIUS

and irrational spirits by which the same corporeal beings are

given life and senses. But neither are those brute spirits of
one nature with God, which, although it is recognized that
he implanted in these bodies what is necessary for life and
gave them the capability of sensing, still, he granted these
same souls no light of understanding by which they could ei-
ther know or love their Creator.
29. Even of those spirits of which there is no doubt that
they are rational and intelligent, who, with blaspheming
spirit and blind heart, would dare to think or say that they
are of the same nature as God, since God is by nature alto-
gether unchangeable and unmeasurable? He who, since he
is unable to have any diversity within himself, shows forth
the diversity of his works in those same spirits whom he has
made rational and intellectual. In certain ones (i.e., those
which have been placed in earthly and mortal bodies, al-
though there is no spatial movement, because, when they
are in bodies, they are not there part by part, distributed
throughout the parts of the bodily space, but are whole as in
the whole body, so they are whole in the parts of the same
bodies), still, the variety of thoughts demonstrates diversity
in those who have movement and change over time; at
times, they do not know something, at others, they do know;
sometimes they will, at others, they do not will; sometimes
they are wise, at other times, foolish; sometimes, from being
just, they become wicked, at other times, having been
wicked, they become just; sometimes they are bright with
the light of piety, at other times, they are vicious with the
error of dark impiety.
30. Even those whom no muddy matter of earthly bodies
weighs down, i.e., angelic spirits, who does not see that they
are not of one nature with God but are made out of noth-
ing? Their mutability by nature is seen in this, that a portion
of the same creatures has been changed for the worse. Then,
because those who were not wicked (albeit by the gift of the
one by whom they were made when they did not exist and,
in so far as it has freely been given to the angelic creature by
the tireless and perfect love, they ceaselessly partake of the
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 79

abundance of the sweetness of the Lord by their contempla-

tion and exultation, nor do they fall away from it by their
natural condition), although in those who cling to God
there is no temporal variation, because, by the gift bestowed
on them of eternal incorruption and unchangeability, they
feel within them no change, still, there is in each of them a
natural boundary by which they are distinguished one from
another—because none of them is in another; and, when
some task is enjoined on one of them, another, by the deci-
sion of divine power, is assigned to fulfill some other work.
All of these things show that the holy angels are also a cre-
ation of the Holy Trinity, who, through individual things
which indeed it made as it wished, appears marvelous both
in the wisdom of its planning and strong in its execution.
31. God so created certain spirits that they might exist for-
ever; others, however, that they might cease to be spirits at
some time. Of those who would cease to exist, the Almighty
produced some from water, others, as he willed, from the
earth. But the higher spirits he made to have no natural ad-
mixture of bodily elements, those whom he also created
eternal, and he implanted in them the ability and the intel-
lect to contemplate, know, and love the divinity. And he so
created them that they might love him before themselves, by
whose work they knew that they had been created the way
they were with no preceding merits of their own, by which
they might become the way they were. In order that this love
might have a just and fitting praise, he also granted them
freedom of will, so that it would be possible for them either
to raise the attention of their holy love to him who is above
them or to lower themselves to themselves, or to those
things which are beneath them because of the weight of
wicked concupiscence.
32. It is not nature, therefore, which can subsist for eter-
nity, either in misery or living in bliss, except that it can
think about God by the gift of God himself. This intellectual
nature exists in the souls of human beings and in the spirits
of angels. For, God has instilled the ability to know and to
love him only in angels and human beings. To them, on ac-
80 FULGENTIUS

count of the freedom of the will which had most notably to

be conferred on an intellectual creature by the kindness of
the Creator, he has given them the ability and the will to
know and love him in such a way that each one is able both
to have it and to lose it. But, if anyone of his own will were to
lose it, from then on, he would not be able to regain it on
his own initiative. In order that he might again be willing to
infuse the beginnings of holy thought, by the gratuitous gift
of free goodness, into those who must be renewed, he, that
is, whose it was, at the very beginning of creation, without
pre-existing merits, marvelously to order spirits and bodies
into just the right places and relationships, as he, the wise
one, wished. Therefore, angels and human beings, because
of the fact that they have been created as rational, have re-
ceived from God in the very creation of a spiritual nature,
the gift of eternity and happiness. This was done in such a
way that, if they adhered uninterruptedly to the love of the
Creator, at the same time, they would remain eternally
blessed; if, on the other hand, by a decision of their own free
will, they would endeavor to do their own will against the
command of the Most High Creator, blessedness would im-
mediately depart from the recalcitrant, and there would be
left for them as a punishment eternal misery, henceforward
subjected to error and grief. Concerning the angels, God
has decided this and carried it out, that, if any of them loses
the goodness of will, he will never restore it by divine gift.
33. Therefore, that portion of the angels which, by its own
voluntary turning away, went away from God its Creator, by
whose goodness alone it was blessed, by the judgment of the
highest justice, found the beginning of its condemnation in
the very turning away of the will. For it, the beginning of
punishment would be nothing other than the deprivation of
the love of that blessed and good being. God ordered all of
that portion to remain in eternal punishment for which he
prepared eternal fire, where all those wicked angels could
never lack either their evil will or punishment; but, as the
evil of their unjust aversion remains in them, so also does
their just retribution of eternal condemnation. The Devil,
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 81

the originator of these evils, because out of envy he led the

first human beings to involvement in sin, infected not only
them but their entire progeny with the sentence of death,
together with the vice of sin. But God, merciful and just,
even as he confirmed the other angels in the eternity of his
love, after the Devil and his angels fell by their own will, so
also he did not permit the whole mass of the human race to
perish forever. His free goodness predestined to be brought
back to the light those whom he willed, after the darkness in
which every human being lives, because of the condemna-
tion of Original Sin, had been removed—showing in this es-
pecially that, by the undeserved grace of the liberator, he
freed them from the chains of Original Sin, while eternal
condemnation would hold on to others with unbreakable
board, especially little children who had neither good nor
evil merits of their own will.
34. That the beginning of a good will and mind is not
born from a human being himself but is prepared and be-
stowed by God, God clearly shows in this, that neither the
Devil nor any of his angels, cast down into the lower dark-
ness because of their deserved ruination, could or will be
able to regain a good will. If it were possible that human na-
ture, which, after turning away from God, lost the goodness
of the will, could of itself regain it, how much more possible
would this be for the angelic nature, which, to the degree
that it is less weighed down by the burden of an earthly
body, how much more would it have been endowed with this
ability? But God shows from what source a good will is given
to human beings. The angels, when they had it, lost it in
such a way that henceforward they cannot have what they
lost.
35. Therefore, since, through the grace of God, the same
good will is deserving of the reward of eternal bliss, and an-
gelic and human iniquity must not remain unpunished,
wherefore, according to the rule of the Catholic faith, we
await with faith the future coming of the Son of God to pun-
ish all sinful angels and to judge human beings living and
dead. The blessed Peter bears witness that “God did not
82 FULGENTIUS

spare the angels when they sinned, but, casting them into
the prisons of smoky hell, he handed them over to be kept
for punishment in the judgment.”35 Concerning the coming
judgment of human beings, living and dead, the blessed
Paul says this: “I bear witness in the presence of God and of
Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by
his appearing and his kingly power.”36 At his coming, from
that body of the first man which God fashioned from the
earth, up until the bodies of all human beings which began
to live when they were infused with a soul, all will be raised
by him by whose action they were created. In the resurrec-
tion, individual bodies will be restored to their individual
souls, which they began to have in the wombs of their moth-
ers, in order that they might begin to live—in order that, in
that examination of the just judge, souls might receive in
their very same individual bodies their reward, of the king-
dom or of punishment, in those bodies in which they had
led a good or an evil life in this world.
36. The quality of an evil life begins with lack of faith,
which takes its beginning from the guilt of Original Sin. In
it, each one begins to live in such a way that, before he ends
his life, which is ended when freed from its bonds, if that
soul has lived in the body for the space of one day or one
hour, it is necessary that it suffer with that same body the
endless punishments of Hell, where the Devil with his angels
will burn forever, he who committed the first sin and led the
first human beings to sin. With him there also are “fornica-
tors, those who serve idols, adulterers, male prostitutes,
sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers”
and all who “do the work of the flesh”37 (concerning whom
the blessed Apostle says that “they will not inherit the king-
dom of God”38); if, before the end of this life, they will not
have been converted from their evil ways, they will be
burned in eternal fire. For, every person who in this world
persists until the end in his love of wickedness and hardness

35. 2 Pt 2.4. 36. 2 Tm 4.1.

37. 1 Cor 6.9–10. 38. Gal 5.19–20.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 83

of heart, just as his harmful love of his sins held him here, so
eternal torture will hold him without end.
37. There will be a resurrection of the wicked but without
change, which God will give only to the faithful and those
living justly by faith. For, this is what the blessed Paul says,
“For, we shall all indeed rise, but we shall not all be
changed.”39 Showing that the just must be changed by divine
gift, he says, “And we shall be changed.”40 For, the wicked will
have a resurrection of the flesh in common with the just, but
they will not have the grace of transformation which will be
given to the just. Since corruption will not be taken away
from the bodies of the wicked, ignobility and infirmity will
be sown in them; for this reason, these will not be extin-
guished by death, so that that endless torment may be as a
punishment of eternal death for body and soul. But just
souls, which God the Redeemer has here freely justified by
faith and has given to the justified perseverance in good liv-
ing until the end, in the very bodies in which here they re-
ceived from God the grace of justification, and in which, jus-
tified by faith, they lived in the love of God and neighbor,
they will receive the eternal bliss of the heavenly kingdom;
and, when their bodies have been glorified, with the nature
of the flesh which God created truly persisting, without a
doubt, they will then have spiritual bodies, not animal ones,
as they do here. In the saints, “a natural body is sown; a spiri-
tual body rises.”41 In them, there will be fulfilled, through
that change which will be given only to the just, what the
Apostle says must be: “That which is corruptible must clothe
itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must
clothe itself with immortality.”42 The masculine and feminine
sexes will remain, just as the same bodies were created; and
their glory will vary according to the diversity of their good
works. For, all bodies, whether of men or of women, all that
will exist in that kingdom, will be glorious. For, that judge
knows how much glory he is to give to each one who, in this

39. 1 Cor 15.51. 40. 1 Cor 15.52.

41. 1 Cor 15.44. 42. 1 Cor 15.53.
84 FULGENTIUS

life, he first freely justified by his mercy, and whom he re-

wards with glory in the next life through justice.
38. God has given human beings the opportunity to win
eternal life only in this life, where he also desired a fruitful
penance. Penance is fruitful here because here, a human
being, when malice has been put aside, can live well and,
when his will is changed, can change his merits and his
works at the same time and in the fear of God do those
things which please God. For, the person who has not done
it in this life will indeed have penance to do in the next
world for his sins but will not find forgiveness in the sight of
God; for, although there will be motivation for regret there,
there will be no correction of the will there. His wickedness
will be blamed in such a way that justice can never either be
loved or desired by them. For, their will will be such that it
always has in itself punishment for their wickedness yet can
never accept the love of goodness. Because, just as they who
will reign with Christ will have in themselves no vestiges of
an evil will, so they who, relegated to the punishment of
eternal fire with the Devil and his angels, just as they will
never again have rest, will in no way be able to have a good
will. And, just as the perfection of grace for eternal glory will
be given to the co-heirs of Christ, so their very malignity will
pile up punishment for the Devil’s confederates; they will be
enlightened by no interior light of truth.
39. Accordingly, penance can be of use to everyone in this
life, which, at whatever time one does it, however evil, how-
ever aged, if he, with his whole heart, will have renounced
his past sins, and poured out tears for them, not only of the
body but also of the heart, in the sight of God, and taken
care to wash away the stains of all evil works with good works,
he will soon have the forgiveness of all his sins. For, with
prophetic words, the Lord promises this to us, saying, “If you
are converted and weep, you will be saved.”43 And in another
place, it is said, “Have you sinned, my child? Do so no more,
but ask forgiveness for your past sins that they may be forgiv-

43. Is 30.15.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 85
en you.”44 Prayer for sins would never have been proclaimed
to the sinner, if forgiveness would not have to be granted to
the one praying. But penance is fruitful for the sinner, if he
does it in the Catholic Church; to which God in the person
of blessed Peter granted the power of binding and loosing,
when he says, “What you will bind on earth will also be
bound in heaven; and what you loose on earth will also be
loosed in heaven.”45 Therefore, at whatever age a person will
do true penance for his sins and change his life for the bet-
ter under the illumination of God, he will not be deprived of
the gift of forgiveness, because God, as he says through the
prophet,46 does not wish the death of one dying but that he
be turned from his evil path and his soul live.
40. Indeed, no one should delay a longer time in his sins
out of hope for the mercy of God, since no one wishes to be
ill for a longer time in the body because of the hope for fu-
ture health. Those who decline to give up their sins and
vices and promise themselves forgiveness from God, not in-
frequently are thus visited beforehand by the sudden fury of
God, so that they find neither time for conversion nor the
blessing of forgiveness. Therefore, Holy Scripture mercifully
forewarns each one of us when it says, “Do not delay to turn
back to the Lord and do not postpone it from day to day; for
suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you and at
the time of punishment you will perish.”47 Blessed David also
says, “Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”48
The blessed Paul agrees with this in these words: “Take care,
brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful
heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves
daily while it is still ‘today’ so that none of you may grow
hardened by the deceit of sins.”49
Therefore, he lives “with a hardened heart” who either is
not converted, despairing of the forgiveness of his sins, or
who so hopes for the mercy of God that, up until the very

44. Sir 21.1. 45. Mt 16.19.

46. Cf. Ez 33.11. 47. Sir 5.7.
48. Ps 94.7–8. 49. Heb 3.12–13.
86 FULGENTIUS

end of this present life, he remains in the perversity of his

crimes.
41. Accordingly, loving the mercy of God and fearing his
justice, let us neither despair of the forgiveness of our sins
nor remain in our sins, knowing that that justice of the most
just judge will exact what is due from all people, all that the
mercy of the most clement Redeemer has not forgiven. For,
just as mercy takes up and frees the converted, so justice will
repel and punish the recalcitrant. These are the ones who,
sinning against the Holy Spirit, will receive forgiveness for
their own sins neither in this world nor in the world to
come. Therefore, the intellectual soul of a human being is a
spirit, in order that it may seek, recognize, and discern both
the time of his works, for which he is going in the judgment
what divine judgment has ordained, and the time of the ret-
ribution for these works, when it will not be permitted either
to change the works or to ask for the forgiveness of his sins
from the divine mercy with any hope of success. The other
spirits of all the animals, in whom there is no understanding,
because certain of them take their origin from the earth and
others from the waters (from the waters come reptiles and
birds; but, from the earth, some which crawl and others
which walk, have arisen); their “souls” live only so long as
they are in their bodies. For, their soul, which has not been
made capable of reason by God, both begins and ceases to
live with its flesh. Because, when it does not give life to the
body and does not live itself, and thus in a wonderful way
the soul is the cause of living in all flesh, still the irrational
spirit lives only so long as it can remain in the flesh, and,
when it is separated from its flesh, it is extinguished. And so
it is that, since it is the life of its flesh, it cannot live when it
ceases to provide life for the flesh; and, if there is no flesh to
which it can give life, it also will not have life henceforward.
Therefore, eternity has not been given to irrational spirits,
nor is any judgment being prepared for them in which bliss
will be awarded to them for good works or damnation for
evil works. Therefore, no such distinction of works will be
sought from them because they have received from God no
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 87

ability to understand. So their bodies are not going to rise

because there was neither justice nor wickedness in their
souls for which eternal bliss or punishment must be dealt
out to them.
42. Therefore, these animals accomplish their life and
purpose in this world according to the incomprehensible
will of the Creator, to render no account for their deeds be-
cause they are not rational. “Is God concerned about
oxen?”50 Human beings, however, because they have been
made rational, will render an account to God for themselves
and for all the things which they have received for use in this
present life and, according to the nature of their works, will
receive either punishment or glory. “For, we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may re-
ceive recompense, according to what he did in the body,
whether good or evil.”51 Then, indeed, according to the
words of our Creator and Redeemer himself, when “all who
are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those
who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but
those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of
judgment.”52 In order that, to be more precise, those who
have done evil may go into the eternal fire to burn forever
with the Devil, the prince of all evildoers, but, on the other
hand, those who have done good things will go into eternal
life, there to reign without end with Christ, the King of all
the ages. Those will reign with Christ whom God by his free
goodness has predestined for the Kingdom. Because, by pre-
destining them, he has seen to it that they are worthy of the
kingdom; he has seen to it that according to his decree
those who are to be called are obedient; he has seen to it
that those who are to be justified, having received the grace,
believe rightly and live well; he has seen to it as well that
those who are to be glorified, having been made co-heirs
with Christ, will possess the kingdom of heaven without end.
43. Throughout history, by the mysteries Christ has insti-

50. 1 Cor 9.9. 51. 2 Cor 5.10.

52. Jn 5.28–29.
88 FULGENTIUS

tuted through the faith of his Incarnation, they have arrived

at that kingdom, those whom God has freely saved with no
merits of good will or good works preceding. Just as from
that time onward when our Savior said, “If anyone is not re-
born from water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the King-
dom of God,”53 without the Sacrament of Baptism, apart
from those who poured out their blood for Christ in the
Catholic Church but without Baptism, no one can receive ei-
ther the kingdom of heaven or eternal life. And so, anyone
who receives the Sacrament of Holy Baptism in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, whether in
the Catholic Church or in any heresy or schism, receives the
complete Sacrament; but he will not have salvation which is
the effect of the Sacrament if he receives the Sacrament out-
side the Catholic Church. Therefore, that person must re-
turn to the Church, not to receive the Sacrament of Baptism
again, which no one must repeat in the case of any person
already baptized, but in order that he receive eternal life in
the Catholic community. Anyone who has received the
Sacrament of Baptism but remained away from the Catholic
Church is never prepared to obtain eternal life. Such a per-
son, even if he is very generous with almsgiving and even
pours out his blood for the name of Christ, because of the
fact that in this life he has not held tightly to the unity of the
Catholic Church, he will not have eternal salvation. Wherev-
er Baptism can be of use to anyone, it is there that almsgiv-
ing can be of avail. Baptism indeed can exist outside the
Church, but it can be of no avail except within the Church.
44. Therefore, only within the Catholic Church can the
reception of Baptism and the works of mercy and the glori-
ous confession of the name of Christ be of use to anyone—
provided, however, one lives well in the Catholic Church.
For, just as outside the community of the Catholic Church,
Baptism will be of no avail to anyone nor the works of mercy,
except perhaps that one may be tormented a bit less,54 still
he will not be numbered among the children of God. So,
53. Jn 3.5.
54. “. . . tormented a bit less”? See Augustine Enchiridion, 112.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 89

within the Catholic Church, eternal life is not gained solely

by Baptism, if, after Baptism, we lead an evil life. For, even
those who lead a good life must ceaselessly give themselves
up to the works of mercy, knowing that daily they contract
some sins, albeit light ones, for which even the holy and just
ones must always say to God while in this life, “Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”55 And
these sins frequently steal in upon people even in licit mat-
ters and things granted by God. The more the body is filled
with stronger foods and the human heart entangled with
carnal deeds and desires, so the more frequently is guilt con-
tracted in this mortal life.
45. Wherefore, humble servants of Christ, who wish to
serve their Lord without impediment and apart from any
harmful preoccupation of mind, do not seek marriage and
abstain from meat and wine, in so far as their body’s health
permits.56 Not that it is a sin either to have a spouse or to
drink wine and eat meat. For, the blessed Apostle says, “For,
everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be re-
jected when received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy
by the invocation of God in prayer.”57
For, God instituted and blessed marriage among the first
human beings. So the Apostle says, “Let marriage be hon-
ored among all and the marriage bed be kept unde-
filed. . . .”58 Therefore, the servants of God, when they ab-
stain from meat and wine, do not spurn them as impure
things, but they are following the rules of a purer life; and,
when they do not marry, they do not think that the good of
marriage is a sin, but they do not doubt that perpetual conti-
nence is better than a good marriage—above all in this age
of ours when it is said of continence, “Let the one who can
take it, take it.”59 Of marriage, however, it is said, “Anyone
who cannot control himself, let him marry.”60 In one case,
virtue is stimulated by exhortation; in the other, weakness is

55. Mt 6.12.
56. The “humble servants of Christ” are presumably monks.
57. 1 Tm 4.4–5. 58. Heb 13.4.
59. Mt 19.12. 60. 1 Cor 7.9.
90 FULGENTIUS

allayed by a remedy. So, since weakness must always be taken

into account, if it happens that anyone is deprived of his first
marriage, if he wishes to enter into a second or even a third
wedding, this will not be a sin, if he holds to them chastely,
i.e., if the one man and woman, legitimately joined together,
keep fidelity so that he is joined to no woman other than his
wife and she to no man other than her husband. In such in-
stances, even if there be any conjugal excess, which still does
not violate the legitimate marriage bed, there is only a venial
sin.
46. But such things belong to those who have not vowed
continence to God. Otherwise, anyone who will have made
himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven and in his
heart vowed continence to God, not only if he be stained
with the mortal sin of fornication, but also if he, as a man,
wishes to take a wife, or, as a woman, to marry, according to
the statement of the Apostle, he or she will be damned be-
cause he or she has made void his or her first pledge of fi-
delity. Therefore, just as, according to the declaration of the
Apostle, it is worthy that “a man fulfill his duty to his wife
and likewise the wife toward her husband,”61 because, if any-
one take a wife, he does not sin, and, if a virgin marry, she
does not sin, so according to the statement of the same
Apostle, “The one who stands firm in his resolve . . . , who is
born not under compulsion, but has power over his own
will. . . . ,”62 and who vows continence to God must, with the
fullest attention of his mind, keep it until the end, lest he
incur damnation, if he render his first pledge of fidelity void.
Likewise, married men or married women, if by mutual con-
sent they vow perpetual continence to God, know that they
are held accountable for their vow and that they no longer
owe to each other that sexual intercourse which earlier was
permitted to them, but now they owe to God the continence
which they have vowed. Then each one will possess the king-
dom of heaven which is promised to the saints, if, forgetting
those things which are behind and stretching themselves to-
61. 1 Cor 7.3.
62. 1 Cor 7.37.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 91

ward those things which lie ahead, according to what is said

in the psalm, “Make vows to the Lord your God and perform
them,”63 he both willingly vows and swiftly fulfills that which
he knows is licit and knows pertains to making progress to-
ward a better life. Because he fulfills what he has vowed, he
will make even greater progress with each new effort. To
everyone who makes a vow to God and fulfills the vow, God
himself will give the reward of the heavenly kingdom which
he has promised.
(IV) 47. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Fa-
ther and the Son and the Holy Spirit are by nature one God,
in whose name you have been baptized. Even though Father
is one name, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit a third,
this is just the one name of the nature of these three, which
is called God, who says in Deuteronomy, “See now that I,
even I, am he; there is no God beside me,”64 and concerning
whom it said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord
alone,” and, “the Lord your God you will adore and him
alone will you serve.”65
48. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Holy Trinity alone, is
true God by nature. For, since it is not lawful for us to wor-
ship three gods but only the one, true God, still, just as the
Father is called true God with the testimony of the Apostle
who says, “Having turned from idols to serve the living and
true God and to await his Son from heaven whom he raised
from the dead, Jesus,”66 the Apostle John thus also shows
that the Son is true God, when he says, “We know that the
Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know
the one who is true. And we are in . . . this true Son, Jesus
Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 67 Since he is
true God, he is also the Truth, just as he himself teaches us
when he says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”68 Con-
cerning the Holy Spirit as well, John the Apostle says, “The

63. Ps 75.12 LXX; Ps 76.11. 64. Dt 32.39.

65. Dt 6.4, 13. 66. 1 Th 1.9–10.
67. 1 Jn 5.20. 68. Jn 14.6.
92 FULGENTIUS

Spirit is Truth.”69 And, indeed, he could not be true God nat-

urally, who is the Truth. And Paul the Apostle confesses this
God saying, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God and
that you are not your own? For, you have been purchased at
a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. . . .”70
49. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Holy Trinity, the one
true God, is eternal, without beginning. Wherefore it is writ-
ten, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with
God and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with
God.”71 Again this eternity is expressed in the psalm where it
is said, “Yet God my king is of old,”72 and, in another place,
“Eternal also his power and divinity.”73
50. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Holy Trini-
ty, the only true God, just as it is eternal, is likewise the only
one by nature unchangeable. He indicates this when he says
to his servant Moses, “I am which I am.”74 Hence, it is said in
the psalms, “In the beginning you laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will
perish, but you endure. They will wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing and they pass away, but you
are the same.”75
51. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the Holy Trini-
ty, the only true God, is the Creator of all things, visible and
invisible—concerning which it is said in the psalms, “Happy
are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in
the Lord their God who made heaven and earth, the sea and
all that is in them.”76 Concerning this the Apostle too says,
“For, from him and through him and in him are all things.
To him be glory forever.”77
52. Hold most firmly and never doubt that of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is one nature but

69. 1 Jn 5.6. 70. 1 Cor 6.19–20.

71. Jn 1.1–2. 72. Ps 73.12 LXX; Ps 74.12.
73. Rm 1.20. 74. Ex 3.14.
75. Ps 101.26–28 LXX; Ps 102.25–27.
76. Ps 145.5–6 LXX; Ps 146.5–6. 77. Rm 11.36.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 93

three persons; and it is the Father alone who said, “This is

my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,”78 and the Son
alone over whom that voice of the Father alone sounded
when the only-begotten God who alone had taken on flesh
was baptized in the Jordan according to the flesh. Only the
Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son who in the form of a
dove descended on Christ, baptized and ascending from the
water, and, on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection, coming
in an appearance of fiery tongues, filled the faithful of
Christ gathered in one place. That voice, by which God the
Father alone spoke and that flesh by which only the only-be-
gotten God became human; and that dove, in whose form
the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ; and those fiery
tongues in the appearance of which he filled the faithful
gathered in one place, were the works of the entire Holy
Trinity, i.e., of the one God who made all things in the heav-
ens and on earth, visible and invisible.
(X) 53. Hold most firmly and never doubt that only God
the Son, i.e., one person of the Trinity, is the Son of the only
God the Father; that the Holy Spirit, itself also one person of
the Trinity, is the Spirit, not only of the Father, but simulta-
neously of the Father and the Son. God the Son, showing
that he alone is begotten of the Father, says, “God so loved
the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.”79 And right
after that, “. . . Whoever does not believe has already been
condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the
only-begotten Son of God.”80 That the Holy Spirit is the Spir-
it of the Father and the Son, the Apostle teaches who says,
“But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the
Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And immedi-
ately he adds, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him.”81
(XI) 54. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the same
Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son,
proceeds from the Father and the Son. For, the Son says,

78. Mt 3.17. 79. Jn 3.16.

80. Jn 3.18. 81. Rm 8.9.
94 FULGENTIUS

“When the Spirit of Truth comes, who has proceeded from

the Father,”82 where he taught that the Spirit is his, because
he is the Truth. That the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the
Son, the prophetic and apostolic teaching shows us. So Isa-
iah says concerning the Son, “He shall strike the earth with
the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall
kill the wicked.”83 Concerning him the Apostle also says,
“Whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his
mouth.”84 The one Son of God himself, showing who the
Spirit of his mouth is, after his resurrection, breathing on
his disciples, says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”85 “From the
mouth,” indeed, of the Lord Jesus himself, says John in the
Apocalypse, “a sharp, two-edged word came forth.”86 The
very Spirit of his mouth is the sword itself which comes forth
from his mouth.
(XII) 55. Hold most firmly and never doubt that God the
Trinity is unbounded in power, not in mass; and that every
creature, spiritual and bodily, is bound by his power and his
presence. For, God the Father says, “I fill the heavens and
the earth.”87 For, it is said of the Wisdom of God, which his
Son is, that, “it reaches mightily from one end of the earth
to the other and orders all things well.”88 Concerning the
Holy Spirit we read that “The Spirit of the Lord has filled
the whole world.”89 And David the prophet says, “Where can
I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your pres-
ence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed
in Sheol, you are there.”90
(XIII) 56. Hold most firmly and never doubt that one
person of the Trinity, i.e., God the Son, who alone was born
of the nature of God the Father and is of one and the same
nature with the Father, that he in the fullness of time ac-
cording to the taking up of the form of a servant was volun-
tarily conceived in a virgin and born from a virgin, the Word
82. Jn 15.26.
83. Is 11.4. 84. 2 Th 2.8.
85. Jn 20.22. 86. Rev 1.16.
87. Jer 23.24. 88. Wis 8.1.
89. Wis 1.7. 90. Ps 138.7–8 LXX; Ps 139.7–8.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 95

made flesh; and that he is essentially born from the Father

and essentially conceived by and born of the virgin; that he
is one, born of one nature with the Father and of one nature
with the virgin, who says of God the Father, “Ages ago I was
set up; before the hills, he begot me.”91 Concerning him also
the Apostle said, “When the fullness of the time had come,
God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”92
(XIV) 57. Hold most firmly and never doubt that Christ,
the Son of God, just as he is from God the Father, complete
and perfect God, so from the virgin Mary is he begotten the
complete and perfect God-Man, i.e., God the Word, having
the true flesh of our race and a rational soul without sin.
God the Son clearly points this out himself when he says of
his flesh, “Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have
flesh and bones, as you can see I have.”93 He also shows that
he has a soul by these words when he says, “This is why the
Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take
it up again.”94 Further, he shows that he has the intellect of
the soul when he says this: “Learn from me, for I am meek
and humble of heart.”95 And, concerning him, God says
through the prophet, “See, my servant shall prosper; he
shall be exalted and lifted up, and he shall be very high.”96
And the blessed Peter, following the prophecy of holy David,
confesses that there are flesh and soul in Christ. For, speak-
ing of the blessed David, he says, “But, since he was a
prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that
he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he
foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that
neither was he abandoned to the nether world nor did his
flesh see corruption.”97
(XV) 58. Hold most firmly and never doubt that one is
God the Word who himself with God the Father and God
the Holy Spirit created all the ages and on Mount Sinai gave
the Law to Moses through the ministry of angels, and God
91. Prov 8.23, 25. 92. Gal 4.4.
93. Lk 24.39. 94. Jn 10. 17.
95. Mt 11.29. 96. Is 52.13.
97. Acts 2.30–31.
96 FULGENTIUS

the Word himself made flesh who, when the fullness of time
came, was sent by the Father and the Holy Spirit; he alone
was made from the woman whom he made, alone was made
under the Law which he gave.
(XVI) 59. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the two
natures of God the Word who became flesh remain in un-
confused and inseparable union; the one truly divine which
he possesses in common with the Father, as he himself says,
“I and the Father are one,”98 and, “He who sees me, sees the
Father also,”99 and, “I am in the Father and the Father is in
me”;100 for this reason, the Apostle says that he is the “reful-
gence of his glory” and the “very imprint of his being”;101 the
other nature is truly human, and for this reason God incar-
nate himself says, “The Father is greater than I.”102
(XVII) 60. Hold most firmly and never doubt that God
the Word, having become flesh, has one person of his divini-
ty and his flesh. For, God the Word deigned in truth to unite
to himself a complete human nature and, with his divinity
remaining, the Word became flesh in such a way that, al-
though by nature this Word is not what the flesh is, because
the truth of the two natures remains in Christ, still, accord-
ing to a single person, the same Word became flesh from the
very beginning of his conception in his mother. God the
Word did not receive the person of a human being but the
nature; and into the eternal person of the divinity, he re-
ceived the temporal substance of the flesh. Therefore,
Christ the Word made flesh is one, who comes from the fa-
thers “according to the flesh” and “God, who is over all,
blessed forever,”103 one Jesus to whom the Father says, “From
the womb before the dawn I begot you,”104 where an eternal
birth before all time, without a beginning, is meant; con-
cerning whom the evangelist also says that “he was named
Jesus, the name spoken by the angel before he was con-
ceived in the womb.”105
(XVIII) 61. Hold most firmly and never doubt that it was
98. Jn 10.30. 99. Jn 14.9.
100. Jn 14.10. 101. Heb 1.3.
102. Jn 14.28. 103. Rm 9.5.
104. Ps 109.3 LXX; Ps 110.3. 105. Lk 2.21.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 97

not the flesh of Christ without the divinity that was con-
ceived in the womb of the virgin before he was taken up by
the Word; but God the Word himself was conceived by the
taking up of his flesh and the very flesh was conceived at the
Incarnation of God the Word.
(XIX) 62. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
only-begotten God the Word himself become flesh offered
himself for us as a sacrifice and victim to God with a pleasing
fragrance. In the time of the Old Testament, animals were
sacrificed by the Patriarchs and Prophets and Priests to him,
together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the time of
the New Testament, the sacrifice of bread and wine, in faith
and holy charity, the Holy Catholic Church throughout the
whole world does not cease to offer to him with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, with whom there is one divinity with
him. In those fleshly victims was signified the flesh of Christ,
which he himself, without sin, would offer for our sins, and
the blood which he would pour out for the forgiveness of
our sins. In this sacrifice, there are thanksgiving and a
memorial of the flesh of Christ which he offered for us and
of the blood which the same God poured out for us. Con-
cerning this the blessed Paul says in the Acts of the Apostles,
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of
which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which
you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own
blood.”106 In those sacrifices, therefore, was signified in a fig-
ure what was to be given to us; but in this sacrifice is clearly
shown forth what has already been given to us. In those sac-
rifices, it was foretold that the Son of God would be killed
for sinners; in this, however, it is proclaimed that he has
been killed for sinners, as the Apostle bears witness that
“Christ, while we were still helpless, yet dies at the appointed
time for the ungodly,” and that, “while we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.”107
(XX) 63. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
Word made flesh always has the same truly human flesh with

106. Acts 20.28.

107. Rm 5.6, 10.
98 FULGENTIUS

which God the Word was born of the virgin, with which he
was crucified and died, with which he rose and ascended to
heaven and sits at the right hand of God, with which he will
come again to judge the living and the dead. For this reason,
the Apostles heard from the angels, “He . . . will return in
the same way as you have seen him going into heaven,”108
and the blessed John says, “Behold, he will come amid the
clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced
him; and all the tribes of the earth will see him.”109
(XXI) 64. Hold most firmly and never doubt that God the
Trinity, i.e., the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, is by
nature the highest and unchanging good; and that, by it, all
natures have been created good, indeed, because they have
been created by the highest good; but changeable because
they have been created from nothing; that no nature is evil
because every nature, in so far as it is nature, is good. But,
since in it good can both be decreased and increased, it is
said to be evil to the degree that the good in it is decreased.
For, evil is nothing other than the privation of good. From
this it is clear that evil in the rational creature is two-fold,
i.e., (first) because of its own will, it has fallen away from the
highest good, its Creator; (second) because, against its will,
it will be punished by the penalty of eternal fire; this it will
suffer justly because it has unjustly incurred this; and, since
it has not kept the order of the divine teaching in what con-
cerns itself, neither will it escape the order of divine
vengeance.
(XXII) 65. Hold most firmly and never doubt that nei-
ther the angels nor any other creature is of the same nature
as is the Most High Trinity according to its natural divinity,
which is one by nature, God the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit. Nor were they, He who made them and those
whom he made, able to be of one nature.
(XXIII) 66. Hold most firmly and never doubt that every
creature made by the unchangeable God is changeable by

108. Acts 1.11.

109. Rev 1.7.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 99

nature; nor can any of the holy angels be changed for the
worse now, since they have received eternal bliss in which
they enjoy God enduringly, so that they cannot lose him. But
this state—that they can in no way be changed for the worse
from that state of blessedness in which they are—this was
not implanted in them by their nature, but, after they were
created, was conferred on them by the generosity of divine
grace. For, if the angels had been made unchangeable by na-
ture, the Devil and his angels would never have fallen away
from their company.
(XXIV) 67. Hold most firmly and never doubt that in
every creature which the Most High Trinity has made, spiri-
tual and corporeal, only human and angelic spirits have re-
ceived from God the ability to understand, while the other
spirits of brute animals have not received rational intelli-
gence and are altogether incapable of possessing it. So it is
said to human beings, “Do not be like the horse and the
mule, who have no understanding”;110 and so the souls of
human beings and the souls of beasts are not of one nature;
nor can the souls of human beings pass into beasts.
(XXV) 68. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
first human beings, i.e., Adam and his woman, were good,
righteous, and created without sin, with free will by which
they could have, if they were willing, always served and
obeyed God with a humble and good will; but with that
power of discretion they could also, if they so willed, sin by
their own will; and they did sin, not out of any necessity, but
by their own will; and, by that sin, human nature was so
changed for the worse that, through that sin, death obtained
the rule not only in the first human beings themselves but
also that the dominion of sin and death would pass on to all
human beings.
(XXVI) 69. Hold most firmly and never doubt that every
human being who is conceived by the sexual intercourse of
man and woman is born with Original Sin, exposed to impi-
ety and subject to death, and for this reason is born by na-

110. Ps 31.9 LXX; Ps 32.9.

100 FULGENTIUS

ture a child of wrath. Concerning this the Apostle says, “And

we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.”111 From
this wrath no one is freed except through faith in the media-
tor between God and human beings, the man Jesus Christ,
who, conceived without sin, born without sin, dying without
sin, was made sin for us, i.e., he became a sacrifice for our
sins. In the Old Testament, sacrifices which were offered for
sins were called sins,112 in all of which Christ was signified,
because he is “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world.”113
(XXVII) 70. Hold most firmly and never doubt that, not
only adults with the use of reason but also children who ei-
ther begin to live in the womb of their mothers and who die
there or, already born from their mothers, pass from this
world without the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, which is given
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, must be punished with the endless penalty of eternal
fire. Even if they have no sin from their own actions, still, by
their carnal conception and birth, they have contracted the
damnation of Original Sin.
(XXVIII) 71. Hold most firmly and never doubt that
Christ, the Son of God, will come to judge the living and the
dead. To the human beings whom he justifies through faith
here by the free gift of his grace, to these same ones who
have been justified he gives the gift of perseverance in the
faith and charity of Holy Mother Church until the end. At
his coming he will raise, glorify, and make them the equals
of the holy angels according to his promise. He will lead
them to that state in which they, in so far as God gives to
each one, are perfectly good, and cannot, from that point
on, be turned aside from that perfection where the glory of
the saints will vary, but eternal life will be the same for all.
But the Devil and his angels will be sent by Christ into the
eternal flames, where the punishment which the divine jus-
tice has prepared for them will never end. With that Devil

111. Eph 2.3. 112. Cf. Lv 4.21 [LXX].

113. Jn 1.29.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 101

will be those impious and evil human beings, about whom

Scripture says, “They imitate him who belong to him”114 in
this, that they imitated him in evil deeds and did not do ap-
propriate penance before the end of this present life. When
their bodies have been taken up again, they will burn with
the punishment of eternal fire.
(XXIX) 72. Hold most firmly and never doubt that there
will be a resurrection of the flesh at the coming of the Lord,
common to all people, good and bad. There will be retribu-
tion from the justice of God, differing for the good and the
wicked. So says the Apostle: “We shall all rise, but we shall
not all be changed.” The just who will go into eternal life will
be changed. The Apostle points this out when he says, “And
the dead will be raised incorrupt, and we shall be changed;”
and, showing what this change will be, he added, “For, that
which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility,
and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortal-
ity.”115 In their bodies there will be what the Apostle himself
says, “It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is
sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is
raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiri-
tual body.”116 What he called “spiritual” is not so because the
body itself will be a spirit, but because, with the Spirit giving
life, it will remain immortal and incorruptible. Then it will
be called a spiritual body, although it is not a spirit but re-
mains as body; just as now it is called “natural,” although still
it is not a soul but a body.
(XXX) 73. Hold most firmly and never doubt that, with
the exception of those who are baptized in their own blood
for the name of Christ, no one will receive eternal life who
has not been converted from his sins through penance and
faith, and freed through the sacrament of faith and
penance, i.e., through Baptism. For adults it is necessary
both to do penance for their sins and to hold the Catholic
faith according to the rule of truth and to receive the Sacra-

114. Wis 2.24. 115. 1 Cor 15.51, 52, 53.

116. 1 Cor 15.42–44.
102 FULGENTIUS

ment of Baptism. For children, on the other hand, who are

able neither to believe by their own will nor to do penance
for the sin which they contract at the beginning of life, the
sacrament of faith and penance, which is Holy Baptism, suf-
fices for salvation, since their age is not yet capable of rea-
son.
(XXXI) 74. Hold most firmly and never doubt that no
one here below can do penance unless God will have en-
lightened him and converted him by his generous compas-
sion. As the Apostle says, “It may be that God will grant them
repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth and that
they may return to their senses out of the Devil’s snare.
. . .”117
(XXXII) 75. Hold most firmly and never doubt that a
man whom neither illiteracy nor some weakness or adversity
keeps back, can either read the words of the holy Law and
the Gospel, or hear them from the mouth of some preacher.
But no one can obey the divine commands unless God first
come to him with his grace in order that what he hears with
his body he may also accept in his heart and, having accept-
ed the good will and the power from God, he both wills and
can perform the commands of God. For, “neither is he who
plants anything nor the one who waters, but God gives the
growth,”118 who also is at work in us both to will and to carry
through for the good will.
(XXXIII) 76. Hold most firmly and never doubt that, to
the unchanging God, not only the past and present but also
all future things are completely known in an unchangeable
way. To him it is said, “O God, you know what is secret and
are aware of all things before they come to be.”119
(XXXIV) 77. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
Trinity, the unchangeable God, most certain knower of all
things, both his own works and those of human beings,
knows before all ages to whom he will grant grace through
faith. Without it no one could, from the beginning of the
world until its end, be freed from the guilt of sin, original
117. 2 Tm 2.25–26. 118. 1 Cor 3.7.
119. Dn 13.42.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 103

or actual. “Those” God “foreknew, he also predestined to be

conformed to the image of his Son.”120
(XXXV) 78. Hold most firmly and never doubt that all
whom God by his gracious goodness makes vessels of mercy
were predestined by God, “before the foundation of the
world, for adoption as children”121 of God. Further, not one
of those whom God predestined can perish, neither can any-
one of those whom God has not predestined for life be saved
by any means. Predestination is that preparation by a free
gift by which the Apostle says that we are predestined “for
adoption as children through Jesus Christ, in accord with
the favor of his will.”122
(XXXVI) 79. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
Sacrament of Baptism can exist not only within the Catholic
Church but also among heretics who baptize in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But, out-
side the Catholic Church, it can be of no use. Indeed, just as
within the Church salvation is conferred through the Sacra-
ment of Baptism on those who believe rightly, so for those
baptized outside the Church destruction is increased by that
same Baptism, if they do not return to the Church. So much
does the communion of ecclesiastical society count for salva-
tion that the one is not saved by Baptism123 to whom it is not
given where it ought to be given. The one baptized outside
the Church has Baptism, but, for that one separated from
the Church, it is for his judgment. And, because it is obvious
that, wherever it is given this Baptism is to be given only
once; therefore, although it will have been given by heretics
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, it
is to be recognized with respect and for that reason not to be
repeated. For the Savior says, “Whoever has bathed has no
need except to have his feet washed.”124
(XXXVII) 80. Hold most firmly and never doubt that

120. Rm 8.29. 121. Eph 1.4–5.

122. Eph 1.5.
123. There is a misprint on p. 757, line 1351: “Baptismo” rather than “batp-
tismo.”
124. Jn 13.10.
104 FULGENTIUS

everyone baptized outside the Catholic Church cannot be a

partaker of eternal life, if before the end of this life they will
not have returned to the Catholic Church and have been in-
corporated into it. Because, “if I have,” says the Apostle, “all
faith and know all mysteries, but I do not have charity, I am
nothing.”125 So, in the days of the flood, we read that no one
could have been saved outside the ark.
(XXXVIII) 81. Hold most firmly and never doubt that
not only all pagans but also all Jews and all heretics and
schismatics who finish this present life outside the Catholic
Church will go “into eternal fire which has been prepared
for the Devil and his angels.”126
(XXXIX) 82. Hold most firmly and never doubt that any
heretic or schismatic whatsoever, baptized in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, if he will
not have been gathered to the Catholic Church, no matter
how many alms he may have given, even if he shed his blood
for the name of Christ, can never be saved. In everyone who
does not hold the unity of the Catholic Church, neither Bap-
tism nor alms, however generous, nor death taken up for the
name of Christ, can be of any profit for salvation, as long as
in him either heretical or schismatic depravity continues
which leads to death.
(XL) 83. Hold most firmly and never doubt that not all
those who are baptized within the Catholic Church will re-
ceive eternal life, but those who, once Baptism has been re-
ceived, live rightly, i.e., those who abstain from vices and the
concupiscence of the flesh. For, just as infidels, heretics, and
schismatics will not possess the kingdom of heaven, neither
will sinful Catholics be able to possess it.
(XLI) 84. Hold most firmly and never doubt that here
below no one can live without sin, even just and holy people
except those who were baptized as small children. And it is
always necessary for every person both to wash away his sins
by alms up until the end of this present life and in humility
and truth to ask God for forgiveness.
125. 1 Cor 13.2.
126. Mt 25.41.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 105

(XLII) 85. Hold most firmly and never doubt that every-
thing created by God is good and nothing which is received
with thanksgiving is to be rejected. The servants of God who
abstain from flesh or wine are not repudiating what has been
made by God as if it were unclean, but abstain from stronger
food and drink, solely for the mortification of the body. Mar-
riage has been instituted and blessed by God, and it is better
if anyone remain unmarried that he may more freely and
fully meditate on the things of God, on how to please God.
Still, for those who have not vowed continence, there is no
sin if either a woman marry or a man take a wife. For, not
only were first marriages instituted by God but also second
and third, a concession to the weakness of those who cannot
contain themselves. For, those who, either married or free
from marriage, have vowed continence to God, it is totally
damnable if they now wish to seek marriage, something they
vowed they would not do, or to seek it again after having
gone away from it, the one having professed continence with
a free will, the others with a common will.
(XLIII) 86. Hold most firmly and never doubt that the
Catholic Church is the threshing floor of God, and to the
end of the age within it the straw is mixed with the grain,
i.e., that the evil are mixed with the good in the communion
of the sacraments; and that in every calling, whether clerics,
monks, or laity, there are the good along with the bad. The
good must not be deserted because of the bad, nor the bad
because of the good, in so far as the meaning of faith and
charity demands that the former be tolerated, i.e., provided
either that they do not sow the seed of faithlessness in the
Church nor that they lead the brethren to some evil work by
deadly imitation. It is not possible for anyone who rightly be-
lieves in the Catholic Church and lives well to be stained by
the sin of someone else provided that he show neither ap-
proval nor favor to the sinner. It is useful for the evil to be
tolerated by the good in the Church, if, by living well or
dying well with them, it happens that, seeing and hearing
the things that are good, they look at their evil deeds, be-
come aware that they are going to be judged by God for
106 FULGENTIUS

their evil works, and thus, with the gift of grace coming first,
they are put to confusion by their iniquities and, through
the mercy of God, are converted to a good life. The good
must now be separated from the evil in the Catholic Church
at least by the distinction of their deeds, so that, while they
are in communion with them in the divine sacraments, they
do not have evil works in common with those who are
wicked. At the end of the world, the good must be separated
from the evil even in body, when Christ will come having
“his winnowing fan in his hand. He will clear his threshing
floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he
will burn with unquenchable fire,”127 when with a just judg-
ment he will separate the just from the unjust, the good
from the bad, the right from the perverse. He will set the
good on his right, the evil on his left, and, when the everlast-
ing and unchangeable verdict has come forth from the
mouth of the just and eternal judgment, all the wicked “will
go off to eternal fire, but the just to eternal life”;128 the
wicked to burn forever with the Devil, the just, however, to
reign with Christ without end.
(XLIV) 87. Faithfully believe these forty chapters which
belong most firmly to the rule of the true faith, courageous-
ly hold on to them, and defend them with truth and pa-
tience. And, if you know anyone who teaches what is con-
trary to them, flee him like the plague and reject him as a
heretic. These things which we have detailed are fitting to
the Catholic faith in such a way that, if anyone should wish
to contradict not only all of them but even any one of them,
in so far as he stubbornly repudiates even one of them and
does not hesitate to teach something contrary to them, he is
a heretic and an enemy of the Catholic faith, and as such is
to be cursed by all Catholics. Although the shortness of time
and the haste of the messenger have compelled us to pass
over in silence some of the things which should have been
included for recognizing and avoiding diverse heresies, still,

127. Mt 3.12.
128. Mt 25.46.
 TO PETER ON THE FAITH 107

if you are careful not to neglect reviewing all the material

which is contained in this work and to be thoroughly in-
formed about it, with these things you will be able with care-
ful discretion also to make judgments in a spiritual way
about other matters. For, the Apostle says that “the spiritual
man judges all things,”129 and, until then when each of us ar-
rives, may he walk there where he has arrived, i.e., may he
faithfully persevere in that which he has accepted as certain.
And, if anyone thinks otherwise, God will also reveal this to
him. Amen.130
129. 1 Cor 2.15.
130. Cf. Phil 3.15.
ON TH E F O R G I V E N E SS
OF SINS
 Introduction
At the request of Euthymius, a pious layman, Fulgentius produced
this treatise during his second period of exile in Sardinia (c. 517–523).
It may well rank among the most repetitive of his works. Surprisingly, it
does not discuss technical questions about the system of canonical
penance then prevalent, though perhaps little used, in the Church.
This treatise provides a more general treatment of the question of re-
pentance for sins. In the first book, Fulgentius discusses the issues of to
whom God forgives sins and where he forgives them. The answer is
that God forgives sins only to those in the Catholic Church who have
the true faith and who live good lives (doing good works). In the sec-
ond book, he emphasizes the question of time, that sins must be forgiv-
en while one is still in this life. Those who die in a state of serious sin
will be damned. This work has been published recently in an Italian
translation.

TO EUTHYMIUS. BOOK I

y d e a r e u t h y m i u s ,1 I am unable to express how

much I rejoice at your enthusiasm—not only that
you enrich your spirit with the heavenly Scriptures
when you are at home but that you also frequent the holy
Church with vigilant heart. So the body’s sense of hearing is
touched by the divine words and, within, the love of your
soul is nourished. The work of divine grace is recognized be-
cause, in the house of God, you are enjoying spiritually the
conversation of those whom you know are fervent in the love
of the divine Law; on the other hand, you are not happy ex-
changing useless words with certain people who, without
profit, come to the life-giving feast of the heavenly word and
who, according to the truthful word of the Apostle Paul,
who blames them, “stop listening to the truth and are divert-
ed to myths.”2
1. Euthymius: a layman otherwise unknown. See PCBE, 377.
2. 2 Tm 4.4.

111
112 FULGENTIUS

2. Of such people, I shall say, not undeservedly, that they

are like those whose stomach, overcome by some deadly
complaint, enjoys fasting more than food; and, for this rea-
son, in vain do they study the abundant medicines brought
to them. Since they refuse to take them, they acquire from
them neither strength nor health, and, in the doctor’s of-
fice, spurning the remedy of the spiritual cure offered them,
they enter it only to go away more ill than before. To them
God is able to grant a knowledge of and a love for his word,
that they may be inflamed by the example of good people.
Having been warned by these people, let them cast aside
their negligent procrastinating and let them seek salvation
in the salutary precepts of the Doctor himself—so that, to-
gether with those who, searching the word of the Lord, seek
him, they too for their salvation may not stop seeking what
can be found by those who seek.
II. 1. Therefore, the letter which you sent me, although it
did not tell me anything unknown about your heart, still, it
did furnish a great increase in happiness to my heart. I was
aware, for example, that, with the divine grace mercifully at
work in you, you often gave a great deal of thought to the
forgiveness of sins. Nevertheless, I said that our happiness
increased because you desire to obtain the forgiveness of
sins in such a way that you inquire frequently and carefully
about the way the same forgiveness works.
2. You say that the question arose among you and, al-
though you yourself recall it, still, I preferred to insert in this
small work the words which are found in your letter in the
precise order you wrote them, so that you might recognize
the product of your own dictation, but also so that anyone
else reading it, while he may be given an idea of your request
for knowledge, may also be taught to understand the answer
more easily. You ask therefore, “The Lord, the Creator of all
things, in this world forgives sins only for those for whom he
wishes to do it, and thus someone goes forth from this world
free; or, through his omnipotence, those whose sins he did
not forgive in the present world, he forgives those sins when
they leave the body before the day of judgment, or on that
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 113

very day in the world to come.” These words I have written,

you recall immediately as contained in your letter, as I have
already said.
III. 1. In the solution of this question, I see you clamoring
for the views of our littleness. To this end, I hope in the
abundance of God, by which he is always rich, that from it
our poverty can also be enriched, and from which he gives
to others as much as he wills, so that he himself abides in its
fullness—that he will deign to pour such things into our
heart which it will be profitable for us and for you to hear.
These words which in the grace of God we minister to you,
thus are also of profit to us if what we say externally, verbally,
and with pen for your salvation, we too hear within, meekly
and humbly. Not in vain then did the very holy David say,
“Let me hear what the Lord God speaks in me.”3 This kind
of hearing properly belongs to the humble.
2. For which reason in another text the same prophet
says, “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you
have crushed rejoice,”4 and, in another place, the majesty it-
self speaks thus, “But this is the one to whom I will look, to
the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my
word.”5 Nor indeed does this Spirit of God rest on the hum-
ble and peaceful so that it is not he who makes him peaceful
and humble, but he is going to rest on the one he finds
humble and peaceful. That is, he deigns to rest on the hum-
ble and peaceful, because he makes peaceful and humble
the one on whom he rests. The Holy Spirit does this that he
may expel from the man on whom he rests the vice of pride
and dissatisfaction; and thus, with the work of the Holy Spir-
it preceding and mercifully changing the will of the person,
the forgiveness of sins freely given looses every chain of past
human wickedness.
IV. 1. Thus we are not speaking of some small matter, nor
are we seeking something worthy of scorn, when, insofar as
the divine generosity helps us, we discuss the forgiveness of

3. Ps 84.9 LXX; Ps 85.8. 4. Ps 50.10 LXX; Ps 51.8.

5. Is 66.2.
114 FULGENTIUS

sins. By it, those whom God will assign to the kingdom of his
beloved Son are snatched away from the power of darkness.
By it, they are freed from eternal punishment that they may
attain eternal bliss. Through it is left behind that burden, ei-
ther that which a birth in sin has contracted or what the
wickedness of an evil life has added. Through it Christ re-
freshes those who labor and are heavy burdened, who come
to him, and on them he imposes the mild yoke and the light
burden of his love. Through it the sinner is freely justified
that his faith may be accounted justice. Through it he leaves
behind the evil life in which he was ensnared and freely re-
ceives a good one, of which he was unworthy. Through it
come about that, from now on, enlightened by the gift of
prevenient mercy, he may walk in the path of goodness, and,
led along on it, may persevere with further gifts of mercy; so
that, by an undeserved grace, the gift of good living will start
in a person, and the forgiveness of sins having been given,
this will be brought to perfection when the power of perse-
verance has been granted.
2. By the forgiveness of sins, people are freely separated
from those who will be tortured for eternity with the Devil,
and they will be added to those who will reign with Christ
without end. Finally, such is the forgiveness of sins that, for
it, the Only-Begotten of God became a human being; for it,
even his blood was poured out. The first of these the voice of
the angel disclosed at his visitation; the other the Lord him-
self disclosed. For, “when his mother Mary was betrothed to
Joseph,” and, as the evangelist bears witness, “But before
they lived together, she was found with child through the
Holy Spirit,”6 the cause of this conception was announced by
an angel to Joseph who did not know it, in these words:
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your
wife into your home. For, it is through the Holy Spirit that
this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son, and
you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people
from their sins.”7
6. Mt 1.18.
7. Mt 1.20–21.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 115

3. What is “saving from sins” except “forgiving sins”? For

our Savior himself, who came to save what had been lost, tes-
tifies that he came for this reason, to call sinners to penance.
V. The principal benefit of this call to penance is the free
forgiveness of sins. For which our Redeemer, when the feast
of the paschal meal had been completed, proclaims that his
blood must be poured forth. “Drink from it,” he says, “all of
you, for this is my blood of the [New] Covenant, which will
be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.”8 This
forgiveness, therefore, I think, either all or almost everyone
who in any way is called by the name of Christian, wishes to
find; what is significant is where or when or how someone
seeks it. For no one will be able to attain the forgiveness of
sins if he either does not hold the true faith or neglects the
duty of good works or, blinded by deadly vice, scorns the
time granted by God for living a good life inspired by right
belief. For these three things, i.e., faith, works, and time are,
taken together, so necessary for people in this life that, if
one of the three is lacking to anyone in this present life, he
will not be able to share in eternal life; and neither in this
way will he attain the forgiveness of sins through which one
arrives at the reward of eternal life. That this is necessary,
with the help of the Lord, let us demonstrate with the cor-
roboration of the divine testimonies.
VI. 1. Therefore, before all else, it must be held with firm
faith by us that our Lord God is merciful and just. From this
point, it can easily be seen by those who seek to know to
whom God forgives sins, where he forgives, when he for-
gives. When these things are known, let no one continue to
hold an unworthy idea of God, nor put off his conversion,
nor depart from the Catholic Church. If anyone has left, let
him quickly return. Concerning the matter of time, no one
should desire to delude himself with foolish thoughts, if, un-
willing to be converted to God in this life and remaining a
servant of evil until death, anyone believes that he is going
to receive the forgiveness of sins after this life when, already

8. Mt 26.27–28.
116 FULGENTIUS

judged at the time of divine tribulation, converted, sin can-

not be avoided. Rather, he remains condemned to an eterni-
ty of torture. With many and manifold tricks, the Devil strug-
gles to close and to conceal the path of the journey to
heaven; this is his unending work that he may draw on the
seduced crowd or force the unwilling crowd of the wretched
to share his suffering, as many as he is able.
2. Some he brings to consider only the mercy of God,
putting aside all consideration of divine justice; in order that
they may put off their conversion, thinking that they, even
though they will have led an evil life up until the end, will re-
ceive the blessing of forgiveness. Others he either forces or
seduces. Having abandoned the bosom of the Catholic
Church, corrupted by blindness of heart, they move to here-
sies or schisms. These souls he ensnares through the decep-
tion of a false promise so that either they think they are
being strengthened by a false teaching or they hope that in
the future the blessing of forgiveness will be theirs by reason
alone of the faith in their heart. Even if they have acted with
a bad conscience because of some temporary advantage or
fear, they are held tied to the death-dealing communion of
heretics until death. They are not paying much attention to
that declaration of our Savior who says, “Everyone who ac-
knowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my
heavenly Father; but, whoever denies me before others, I will
deny before my heavenly Father.”9 And in another text:
“Whoever is ashamed of me and of my works, the Son of
Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in
the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”10
3. In many others, the enemy of the human race strives to
insist upon the recollection of their sins, that he may instill
even in the stubborn a despair about forgiveness and ex-
clude them from the remedy of conversion. All of these
things he does, always concealed under the cover of fraudu-
lent deception, for no other reason than that he may re-
move the opportunity available in this time by which forgive-
9. Mt 10.32–33.
10. Lk 9.26.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 117

ness may be given to the converted; and thus, insofar as it

depends on his malevolence, if it can be done, no one at-
tains salvation. He knows that God is merciful and just, and
he is not unaware that only true conversion of heart can
draw the forgiveness of sins from God. He knows as well that
not elsewhere than in the bosom of the Catholic mother
alone can sins be forgiven to the converted. Nor is it hidden
from him that only in this present world can the forgiveness
of all sins be granted to the converted; where the human
race, through the divinely constituted order of the depar-
ture of the dying and the arrival of those who are born, is
not unjustly constrained by the bond of carnal birth and is
graciously loosed by a spiritual birth. Where as well conver-
sion either liberates every guilty person or renders him im-
possible to free either because fed by the neglect engen-
dered by a foolish hope or with despair strengthened and
carried forward till the end because of the wickedness of a
hardened heart.
VII. 1. But now the urgency of the work I have taken up
compels me to instruct you about all the matters I have indi-
cated above, with due discussion and proofs from the Sacred
Scriptures. For the true unfolding of the Testaments is not
silent about those things which are relevant to the advance
of human salvation that there is no excusing factor from the
coming condemnation of the scorner. At the start then, all
of the divinely-inspired Scripture proclaims that the one
true and only God, i.e., the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, is merciful as well as just. In the person of the
Church, it is said to them: “I will sing of mercy and justice to
you, O Lord.”11 Concerning God, it is also sung: “The Lord is
merciful and just and our God takes pity.”12 And in another
text: “For the Lord . . . loves righteous deeds; the upright
shall see his face.”13 And again it is said: “All the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth.”14
2. And again: “Because the Lord loves mercy and truth.”15
11. Ps 100.1 LXX; Ps 101.1. 12. Ps 114.5 LXX; Ps 116.5.
13. Ps 10.7 LXX; Ps 11.7. 14. Ps 24.10 LXX; Ps 25.10.
15. Ps 83.12 LXX; Ps 84. 12.
118 FULGENTIUS

In the very first commandment of the decalogue, the same

God indicates that he is just and merciful in the following
way: “For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing
children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth
generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast
love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and
keep my commandments.”16 Wherefore Moses says, “The
Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping stead-
fast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the
guilty but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the chil-
dren and the children’s children to the third and fourth
generation.”17 Through Isaiah also, the Lord recalls his
mercy and justice, saying, “I am God and there is no other
besides me; just and saving, there is no other besides me.
Turn to me and you will be saved.”18
VIII. 1. With these and innumerable other texts of the
same kind, in which the Lord our God is proclaimed as mer-
ciful and just, is shown how much his mercy must be loved
and how much his justice must be feared. “You, O Lord, are
merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness.”19 Just as he knows how to re-
move the punishment from the one who is converted, so in
the one who refuses to be converted, never does he allow the
sin to remain unpunished. Therefore, if there are those
whom the pious goodness of God does not free from the
domination of sin in this present world, his just severity con-
demns them in the future. From this it comes about that the
evil ones are tirelessly admonished for their salvation by the
divine words lest they remain in the servitude of sin, but
they are exhorted rather to seek the mercy of a just God
while they are in this life.
2. The good are also enjoined, that serving the Lord in
fear and exulting with him with trembling, they may acquire

16. Ex 20.5–6. 17. Ex 34.6–7.

18. Is 45.21–22. 19. Ps 85.15 LXX; Ps 86.15.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 119

discipline lest at some future time the Lord grow angry and
they perish from the way of justice. Therefore, God himself
who is merciful and just so admonishes that he be feared
and loved by the wicked because of his justice and mercy,
that, when converted, they may avoid the punishment which
justice threatens and receive the forgiveness which mercy
promises; he thus admonishes that he be loved and feared
by the good on account of his justice and mercy, by which
they who are good because of his prevenient mercy and re-
main in good works by love of his mercy and fear of his jus-
tice are able carefully to keep themselves from sins; and in-
structed by the consideration of their own weakness, they
never trust in their own strength but continually and
humbly ask for the help of divine strength.
IX. 1. Therefore, his mercy must be loved and his justice
feared by both the good and the wicked, lest either the
good, loving the mercy of God, do not fear his justice and
fall into the traps of the Devil who seduces, or the wicked,
considering only the severity of his justice, do not seek the
blessing of his mercy when they can find it in their life, and
so hardened, not only reject the forgiveness of sins but also
do not cease to multiply sins. The Devil frequently captures
in this twofold trap those who are not careful so that, either
dulled by the vain hope of a future forgiveness, they are un-
willing to be converted by the fear of justice, or, in all ways
despairing of forgiveness, they neglect their way of living
and loosing the reins to wickedness, while they despair of
forgiveness, they plunge headlong into Hell. And so that fer-
vid enemy of the human race hurls some down because of
reckless despair, but others he trips up with the deception of
a false hope. Wherefore blessed Paul in whom Christ spoke,
writing to those who lived good lives, commends their obedi-
ence, so that he orders them to act cautiously, with fear and
trembling, in their salutary acts.
2. For he says to the Philippians, “So then, my beloved,
obedient as you have always been not only when I am pre-
sent, but all the more now when I am absent, work out your
salvation in fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for
120 FULGENTIUS

his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.”20

With these words, the blessed Paul conveys the idea that
God is indeed just when he commands that fear and trem-
bling must accompany the good works of the faithful. He
also proclaims him merciful whom he says is at work in them
both to desire and to bring to perfection according to a
good will. Nor would he be justly feared by those who do
good works, if he were not just; nor would he bring to per-
fection in them every good work and will, if he were not
merciful.
3. Once again he strongly instills in the just this fear of
the divine justice when with a fearful proclamation he says,
“Whoever thinks he is standing secure, should take care not
to fall.”21 And again: “Brothers, even if a person is caught in
some transgression, you who are spiritual should correct
that one in a gentle spirit, looking to yourself, so that you
also may not be tempted.”22 When their own weakness is de-
nounced to the Apostles themselves by the heavenly teach-
ing, it is shown that the caution of a due fear is to be kept in
humility of heart, as the Lord says, “Watch and pray that you
may not undergo the test. The Spirit is willing but the flesh
is weak.”23
X. 1. Thus, everything which is contained in the divine or-
acles has been put there for the safe-keeping or restoration
of human salvation; the divine Word has taken care that,
while the fear of divine justice is instilled in the just, on the
contrary, deadly despair not be engendered in sinners, if the
hope for forgiveness were not manifested. It recalls to the
path of truth those who have strayed while it promises to the
converted that whatever evil he has done prior to conversion
will be forgiven by the divine mercy. So, the Apostle in the
letter which he wrote to the Romans, just as he warns the
faithful and the good with his teaching about the divine
severity, so he invites those without faith and the wicked to
conversion with the most certain hope of heavenly good-

20. Phil 2.12–13. 21. 1 Cor 10.12.

22. Gal 6.1. 23. Mt 26.41.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 121

ness, so that as the good learn not to be arrogant but to fear,

so the wicked may be able to acquire the remedy of eternal
salvation without any impediment of doubt.
2. Therefore, the most blessed Paul says, “See, then, the
kindness and severity of God; severity toward those who feel
but God’s kindness to you, provided you remain in his kind-
ness; otherwise, you too will be cut off; and they also, if they
do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able
to graft them in again.”24 Therefore, when the Apostle says
that the one who has not remained in goodness must be cut
off and that the one who has not remained in unbelief must
be grafted in, what just man does not, trembling, fear the
justice of God, or what evil person, having been encouraged,
will not run to the mercy of God? Who would not be com-
pelled to be solicitously fearful for any good person or who
would dare despair of the salvation of any wicked person, if
he is converted with his whole heart, since the heavenly
medicine with its salutary precepts looks after both the
healthy and the sick equally, pointing out to them fear of his
justice as the safeguard for salvation already received, assur-
ing them of the blessing of mercy, so that, lifted up by the
remedy of hope, they may receive back the salvation they
had lost.
3. Fear of justice is required of the healed person to
whom it is said: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so
that nothing more may happen to you.”25 The hope of mercy
is shown to the sick when it is said: “Those who are healthy
do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to
call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”26 The words of
the prophets never cease to show the mercy and justice of
God, as when God says through the prophet Ezechiel, “But if
the wicked turn away from all their sins they have committed
and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they
shall surely live; they shall not die. None of the transgres-
sions that they have committed shall be remembered against

24. Rm 11.22–23. 25. Jn 5.14.

26. Lk 5.31–32.
122 FULGENTIUS

them; for the righteousness that they have done shall live.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord
God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways
and live?”27 When the blessing of the divine patience and
kindness has been made clear to convert the wicked, then
the word of the prophet is directed to frightening off the
just as well: “But when the righteous turn away from their
righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abom-
inable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the
righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered;
for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they
have committed, they shall die.”28
XI. 1. Innumerable are the testimonies of the Scriptures
in which a merciful and just God is proclaimed, nor does
every text of the divine word do anything other than admon-
ish the wicked to put an end rapidly to their evil deeds out of
fear of God’s justice and [admonish] the good to abide
humbly and carefully in their good deeds. [Every text of the
divine word admonishes] both that every evil person, fear-
ing the justice of God, runs to the mercy of the just good-
ness and that every just person, rejoicing in God’s mercy, not
neglect the judgment of the most benign justice. For where
mercy and justice are perfect, neither can the just one grant
favor to sins nor can the merciful one deny forgiveness to
the converted.
2. From this, therefore, the fact that he who forgives sins
is proclaimed to be just and merciful, we know with the
greatest of ease that the forgiveness of sins is granted only to
the converted, and the punishment of eternal damnation is
inflicted only on those who remain in sin. For this reason
the psalmist sings, “If one does not repent, God will whet his
sword; he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his ar-
rows fiery shafts (and in him has prepared vessels of
death).”29 In Isaiah also is found a similar declaration from
the divine word against the recalcitrant who scorn the divine

27. Ez 18.21–23. 28. Ez 18.24.

29. Ps 7.13–14 LXX; Ps 7.12–13.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 123

clemency. In this declaration it is made known that one

obeys the divine commands not without reason and that one
does not remain in evil without punishment. He says, “Wash
yourselves clean; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of
your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to
do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the or-
phan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord; Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be
like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be-
come like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat
the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall
be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken.”30
3. Who, I ask, is so hard and altogether inert that, in these
words of the highest admonition, if he is not called to con-
version out of the pleasure of what is promised, he is not at
least compelled by the fear of punishment? Salvation will not
accept the one who scorns the divine words but the sword
will devour him. Hence it is that in another text in the book
of the same prophet, it is shown that other than through
conversion, no one will attain salvation. Thus it is said: “If
you are converted and groan, you will be saved.”31 In this
conditional statement, God uses both the precept and the
promise. Saying, “If you are converted and groan, you will be
saved,” he shows that on the condition of conversion de-
pends completely the promise of salvation.
4. Therefore, this is the condition between God and
human beings, i.e., between the Lord who gives the com-
mand and the servant who asks, between the judge who
grants in advance mercy without justice and the sinner who
awaits mercy from the one who judges justly. Therefore, this
Lord, merciful and just, severe and pious, says: If you will do
this, you will have this; if you keep what I say, I will give you
what you seek; I command conversion for you, you seek sal-
vation from me; if you obey the command, you will receive

30. Is 1.16–20.
31. Is 30.15.
124 FULGENTIUS

the benefit; If I see what has been commanded being done, I

will grant what has been asked: “If you are converted and
groan, you will be saved.”32
XII. 1. When it is said to the sinner who seeks to receive
the blessing of salvation that if he is converted and groans,
he will be saved, fittingly it is understood that, even if he
groan but still is not converted, he will not be saved. It is not
to no purpose that the divine word has brought together
both these things, except so that we may know that these two
elements, i.e., conversion and groaning, are necessary to
gain salvation. Some, indeed, terrified by the thought of
their crimes, groan in prayer because of their misdeeds, yet
they do not abandon their evil works. They confess that they
have done evil, but they are unwilling to put an end to their
evil deeds. Humbly in the sight of God, they accuse them-
selves of the sins by which they are held in servitude and the
very same sins of which they accuse themselves of in humble
speech, they stubbornly pile up with a perverse heart. The
forgiveness which they seek with tearful cries, they them-
selves push away with their evil works. They ask for a remedy
from the physician and, to their own destruction, they pro-
vide assistance to the disease. Thus to no avail do they seek
to placate the just judge with words when with their evil
deeds, they stir him up to rage.
2. Such people never cleanse their sins by their groans be-
cause they do not give up sinning after the groaning. For
they groan for their crimes, and, after the groaning, they re-
turn to their crimes. Of such people, the divine Scriptures in
the book of Ecclesiasticus say, “If one washes after touching a
corpse and touches it again, what has been gained by wash-
ing? So if one fasts for his sins and goes again and does the
same things, who will listen to his prayer?”33 Most rightly,
therefore, does God say to human beings, “If you are con-
verted and you groan, you will be saved.”34 With the severe
and good God, the prayer of the one who groans is heard,

32. Is 30.15. 33. Sir 34.30–31.

34. Is 30.15.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 125

then the tears of the one who seeks are attended to, then sal-
vation is granted to the one who weeps, if he will have been
converted to God in the humility of a contrite heart. It is
necessary that God, taking pity, forgive the sinner, if the sin-
ner, having been converted, acknowledges his iniquity.
3. Finally, holy David successfully gained divine mercy be-
cause, having been converted by the humility of a contrite
heart, he condemned the evil he had done by acknowledg-
ing it and did not put off punishment by doing penance for
the lust of the evil deed he had fallen into; because, if he
had not punished the cause of the guilt in which he was
held, without a doubt he would have been punished. Having
been converted to penance, he acknowledged his crime,
fearing lest he would have to acknowledge the penalty by
being condemned. By doing penance, he punished himself
by acknowledging what he wanted to be overlooked by the
Lord in himself. Finally, since he said, “Have mercy on me,
O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your
abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thor-
oughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”35 Im-
mediately following this he added, “For I know my transgres-
sions and my sin is ever before me.”36 He acknowledged his
sin, not that by sinning, he might increase it the more, but
that, by repenting, he might wash it away; and so the domi-
nation of sin which blameworthy enjoyment had brought in,
true conversion removed. And because David, converted
with all his heart, groaned, he was immediately saved and
thus in him was fulfilled what is commanded through the
prophet: “If you are converted and groan, you will be
saved.”37
XIII. 1. Conversion from both impiety and iniquity is
commanded. For both provoke the wrath of God against
one, because God detests and condemns both, as Paul says,
“The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven
against every impiety and human wickedness.”38 And Solo-

35. Ps 50.3–4 LXX; Ps 51.1–2. 36. Ps 50.5 LXX; Ps 51.3.

37. Is 30.15. 38. Rm 1.18.
126 FULGENTIUS

mon says, as the blessed Peter had also inserted among his
own words, “And if the righteous one is barely saved, when
will the godless and the sinner appear?”39 Whence not unde-
servedly, the vessel of election who had been filled with di-
vine charity, just as he was shaken with great sadness and sor-
row of heart because of those faithful who sinned, so he
testified that he was in mourning over those who, while liv-
ing impurely and scandalously in the Church, did not do
penance. Concerning Jews whom the impiety of an unbeliev-
ing heart possessed, he speaks thus: “If I speak the truth in
Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit
in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant
anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were ac-
cursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my broth-
ers, my kin according to the flesh. They are Israelites.”40
2. Concerning those who, though within the Church per-
sisted in their evil deeds, he spoke thus to the Corinthians
with these words of comfort: “I fear that when I come again,
my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to
mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not
repented of the impurity, immorality, and licentiousness
they practiced.”41 The Apostle would not be saddened or hu-
miliated in mourning over them, if he believed that the for-
giveness of sins would be granted to sinners and the wicked
who continue to exasperate the divine justice, without con-
version of heart. The forgiveness of sins has no effect except
in the conversion of the heart. They, we mean, who, using
their own freedom of choice, are converted by the offer of
divine aid and, their lives changed for the better, do not
cease to hasten to ask for the forgiveness of sins, they whom
either ignorance pushes unknowing to the carrying out of
these things or, worse, stubbornness of will has lured know-
ingly. For this reason the prophet prays to God in this way:
“Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgres-
sions.”42

39. 1 Pt 4.18; Prov 11.31. 40. Rm 9.1–4a.

41. 2 Cor 12.21. 42. Ps 24.7 LXX; Ps 25.7.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 127

3. And our Savior says, “That servant who knew his mas-
ter’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord
with his will shall be beaten severely, and the servant who
was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving
of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.”43 And so the
Apostle confesses with these words that he himself had
sinned in ignorance: “I am grateful to him who has strength-
ened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me
trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. I was once a
blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I
have been mercifully treated because I acted out of igno-
rance in my unbelief.”44 Lest anyone delude himself because
of ignorance, the words of the Apostle must be carefully
scrutinized. He declares that he acted out of ignorance, but
he does not thereby deny that he sinned; indeed, he says
that he was the greatest of all sinners, not the greatest, of
course, in the passage of time but in seriousness of evil.
4. Therefore, he won mercy for this reason, that the sins
which he had committed in ignorance, when enlightened,
he acknowledged and, having been converted, he immedi-
ately renounced. This happened so that, as the Apostle
James teaches us, every good gift and every perfect gift, we
know comes from above, from the Father of lights. He, when
he finds in a sinner that for which he ought to be justly
damned, he freely gives that sinner the gift of conversion
through which the well-deserved, just damnation can be
taken away.
XIV. Therefore, in every sinner who makes use of his own
free will, the blessing of the divine gift begins to work
through conversion of heart. For the rest, we know that
small children are saved, not by their own will, but by the or-
thodox faith of those who make confession on their behalf.
It is fitting that young children be absolved by the judgment
of truth, by the ministry of the confession of faith of others.
It is plain that they are bound by the chains of someone

43. Lk 12.47–48.
44. 1 Tm 1.12–13.
128 FULGENTIUS

else’s sin, so that, with others confessing spiritually, they may

receive the blessing of justification who, since others gener-
ated them carnally, bear original sin. As the sexual inter-
course of their parents was harmful to their first birth, even
though they were not yet born and had done nothing, so the
spiritual love of the faithful who make a confession of faith
on their behalf is of value for their second birth, even if they
are unaware of it. But as for how this affects those who are
now capable of rendering an account for their own actions,
no one will become blessed except the one who, renouncing
his evil actions, will be converted to God in all humility of
heart. For, “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.”45 Therefore, whoever of his own free
will and action carries on his evil way of life, cannot receive
any blessedness unless he is converted to the giver of
blessedness himself.
XV. 1. For the heart is blinded by sins but illumined by
forgiveness. Since to be blind is nothing other than to be de-
prived of light, the eye is cured to the extent that it can pos-
sess the vision of light. To that extent it lacks the defect of
blindness. For the eye will never be able to see light unless
light will have poured itself into it. Therefore, the eye can
perceive the vision of light through the infusion of light.
Thus when the forgiveness of sins is given to human beings,
without a doubt blindness of heart is driven out so that the
light of justice is discerned by the interior eye. For the rest,
how can it happen that the obscurity of darkness is removed
if the infusion of light is not given? God therefore pours the
light of true conversion into those whose sin he forgives. Just
as any blind person, as long as he is blind, cannot see the
light, so any evil or sinful person does not receive the for-
giveness of sins unless, having been given beforehand the
free gift of justification, he is converted to God with his
whole heart; for the effect of the forgiveness itself consists in
conversion of heart.
2. To the one who is not granted the grace of conversion,

45. Ps 31.1 LXX; Ps 32.1.

 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 129

the forgiveness of sins is not granted. For what is it to gain

the forgiveness of sins other than to be freed from the domi-
nation of sin? “Everyone,” as the Truth says, “who commits
sin is a slave to sin.”46 How is it believed that someone who
does not lack the most vile servitude of sin, acquires the lu-
minous gift of freedom? Wherefore for those who say, “Let
us do evil that good may come of it,”47 there is a just condem-
nation, we know, with the teacher of the nations teaching, as
he proclaims, we likewise hear [that] “neither fornicators
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor boy prostitutes, nor prac-
ticing homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunk-
ards, nor slanderers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of
God.”48 The same great teacher also warns the Galatians in
this way: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorali-
ty, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry,
jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions,
factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the
like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do
such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”49
3. Because God is just, as long as these people do such
things, they will not gain the Kingdom of God. Since, howev-
er, the same God is merciful, the evil, if they cease doing the
things that exasperate God and, humbled and corrected, are
converted to God; they will surely gain the Kingdom of God.
For, as the work of justice is not overcome, so neither is the
work of mercy removed. And so God has arranged the pos-
session of his kingdom in such a way that, because he is just,
he does not give it to sinners and the evil; but because he is
merciful, neither does he deny it to any person who is truly
converted.
XVI. 1. Conversion is shown to be genuine in a person if
impiety and wickedness are expelled from the heart. Never-
theless, this distinction is usually made between impiety and
wickedness, that impiety has either a false faith in God or
none at all; whereas wickedness soils life with evil morals.

46. Jn 8.34. 47. Rm 3.8.

48. 1 Cor 6.9–10. 49. Gal 5.19–21.
130 FULGENTIUS

Impiety blasphemes God; wickedness harms the neighbor.

Impiety, from the lowliness of the flesh, measures the most
High, striving to present the mystery of unsurpassed mercy
by slandering the divine nature; or it denies that the Son of
God was conceived and born as God in human flesh and as-
signs to the true God, not the reality of the flesh, but only
the manifestation of a false appearance; or it speaks of the
flesh of Christ from the flesh of the virgin in such a way that
it denies that it was conceived in the assuming of the flesh;
or, with impious confusion, it states that the Father is the
same as the Son and the Holy Spirit; or, with perverse sepa-
ration, it leads to the idea of diverse natures of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit; or it does not believe that the
flesh of the Son of God was assumed from the flesh of the
virgin Mary, but it does not hesitate to assert that it was
brought down from heaven; or it seeks to remove some ele-
ment of human nature from Christ, so that, having received
human flesh, it denies that the only-begotten God received a
rational soul, i.e., the complete soul of the human being.
2. It is the crime of impiety if anyone says that not every
spiritual and corporeal nature was created good by God but,
on the contrary, wishes to assign to evil its own substance. Al-
though every evil exists not from an origin or state of its own
nature but arises from a defect of thoughtful willing, not be-
cause a good nature receives an evil nature, since there is no
such thing as an evil nature, but because, with the order of
love abandoned, the rational creature, which was made for
the love of the Creator, when the Creator has been scorned,
either adheres to created things or false thoughts, becomes
worse, and places temporal things ahead of the eternal, the
lowest ahead of the highest, the changeable ahead of the un-
changeable. Likewise, there are those who say that the just
and the unjust ought to be judged, not by the diversity of
their deeds but from the communion of the sacraments,
wishing it to be of no avail to anyone if he lives justly in the
Catholic Church among the unjust. It is as if eternal reward,
whether it be punishment or the Kingdom, is to be awarded
a person not for the quality of his deeds but for the commu-
nion of the sacrament.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 131

3. All these things which have been indicated above by us

and many other things which are put forward by heretics
and schismatics against the Catholic and apostolic faith are
assigned to the vice of impiety. The very separation desig-
nates the impious, this separation which makes such people
not sharers but adversaries in the body of the Church. They
are not separated in a bodily or in a spatial sense from the
meeting of the unity of the Church unless, with corrupted
heart, they previously have departed from the faith of the
Church. They are not severed from legitimate union with
the Word of God with open impiety, unless by the adulterous
insemination of the Devil’s defilement, they conceive faith-
less and perverse thoughts. If they nurture these thoughts
with internal assent, they bring them forth later with evil
words so that like vipers, bursting apart, they die of their
own offspring. For vipers, giving birth is the same as dying.
4. Their offspring, so it is said, after the organs in which
they have been conceived have burst apart, come forth into
the light in such a way that they bring death to their moth-
ers. So when any impious vice is either conceived by agree-
ment or, in addition, given birth to by avowal, it kills the soul
with an eternal death. Consenting to the corruption, it is
puffed up by conceiving this unfaithfulness to God so that,
split apart by this birth, it later dies. The authority of the
Apostle points up such cases with these words: “Just as
Jannes and Mambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose
the truth—people of depraved mind, unqualified in the
faith.”50 Therefore, if anyone, discussing contrary things and
cutting himself off from the good, perversely opposes the
faith of the Church, he without a doubt is to be called impi-
ous. But if someone staying on in the body of Catholic unity
and still united in the communion of the sacraments is given
over to vices and crimes, he is normally called wicked but
not impious. Where such terminology comes from is not up
to us to discuss here. Still we say this: that not every wicked
person is impious although every impious person is wicked.
XVII. 1. Therefore that conversion is pleasing in the sight

50. 2 Tm 3.8.
132 FULGENTIUS

of God and accepted by him in which, at one and the same

time, both the rightness of faith is preserved and the rule of
a good life is maintained, i.e., in order that first of all, the
right view be held concerning God, then the divinely com-
manded charity be shown to the neighbor. For then does a
person love himself in the right way when, devout and hum-
ble, he prefers the love of God to himself. Then he loves his
neighbor if, insofar as he is able, he is mindful of his neigh-
bor, that the neighbor with orthodox faith and a virtuous
way of life, may attain to God. For the love of neighbor is to
be maintained in a two-fold way, viz., nothing is to be done
to the other that one would not wish done to oneself; nor,
insofar as it is possible, would one deny to the needy the as-
sistance of a good work, because one would not want it de-
nied to oneself, if one were seriously in need. Hence we rec-
ognize that we are trained by these words of our Savior when
he says, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to
you. This is the Law and the Prophets.”51
2. Christ did not say: What people will have done to you,
you do the same things to them; lest we believe that evil
should be done for evil to him who did something evil to us
or that we should think that some benefit should be denied
to someone by whom, we know, nothing beneficial has been
done for us; since a Christian must either offer or render
benevolent aid to every person; so that he both renders
good for good and forestalls evil with goodness. For it is said
to us by the Lord: “Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you that you may be children of your heaven-
ly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”52 However,
the good-living faithful not only suffer persecution from
those who on the outside struggle against the teachings of
the Catholic Church with their faithless and perverse
screaming but also from those who indeed seem to be within
the Church but who, living evil lives, repudiate the tradition

51. Mt 7.12.
52. Mt 5.44–45.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 133

of the Church not in word but by their deeds. When the

good see such people, they groan loudly and, moved by holy
feelings, the good spirit is tormented when it does not
refuse to understand the reason for the others’ bad state, al-
though it cannot agree with it.
XVIII. 1. In the present age, the wicked are held to be
mixed with the just within the Catholic Church, i.e., in the
communion of the sacraments but not of morals, i.e., by a
common belief but not by a like manner of living. Not,
therefore, in the heart but in the body; by words, not by
deeds. Now, therefore, but for the present time, according
to the statement of the blessed Paul: “In a large household
there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood
and clay, some for lofty and others for humble use;”53 for,
within the Church, there are the wicked and the just, but
outside the Church, no one is just.
2. And within the field of the Lord, while the feared-com-
ing of the winnower and the selection process by the win-
nower is put off to the end, the chaff is mixed with the
wheat in the Church in each place. Whatever place is out-
side the Lord’s field, even though the word “farmer” is used
there, in that place there can be only the chaff which is dri-
ven by the wind. To be sure, so great is the omnipotence of
our “farmer” that none can overcome his will; anyone who,
converted in this present life runs to the real location of the
Lord’s field, if he perseveringly holds on to his intention in
right faith and lives a good life, he will not be chaff but
wheat; he will not be handed over to be bound in the fires,
but he will be gathered into the barn, enriched with fruits
pleasing to the Lord.
XIX. 1. Therefore, only in the Catholic Church is the for-
giveness of sins given and received. This Church the bride-
groom himself calls his one dove, his chosen one, which he
founded upon a rock, to which he gave the keys of the king-
dom of heaven, to which he also granted the power of bind-
ing and loosing, just as the Truth itself truthfully promised

53. 2 Tm 2.20.
134 FULGENTIUS

blessed Peter, saying, “You are Peter and upon this rock, I
will build my Church and the gates of the netherworld shall
not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom
of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.”54
2. Whoever is outside this Church which has received the
keys of the kingdom of heaven is not teaching the path to
heaven but to hell; nor is he heading to the house of eternal
life, but he is hurrying toward the punishment of eternal
death; not only if he remains a pagan without baptism but
also, even if he perseveres as a heretic, if he is baptized in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nor
does one gain the true life because of the merit of baptism,
if one is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit whether within the Church or outside
the Church, if one does not end this life still within the
Catholic Church. Nor will one live because of the sacrament
of the Church’s baptism, who has not held to the commu-
nion of the Church’s faith and charity. That one is saved by
the sacrament of baptism whom the unity of charity will have
held within the Catholic Church until the end of this pre-
sent life.
XX. 1. For the rest, if any baptized person leaves the
Church or was baptized in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit outside the Church, if, before the
end of this present life, he will not have been restored to the
Catholic Church, he will not lack death but rest. Just as at
the time of the flood, if anyone did not enter the ark of
Noah, he was not saved from the flood but was killed; he did
not find salvation in the water but death. That water, in
which was prefigured the sacrament of baptism, whomever it
found in the ark, it raised up to the heavens after they had
been raised up from the earth; the remainder, however,
which it found outside, it killed after they were crushed. And
as Jericho was being destroyed, any whom the house of

54. Mt 16.18–19.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 135

Rahab the prostitute held, Jesus (Joshua) ordered kept un-

harmed; but the rest, whom that house did not contain, the
destruction of a single death consumed.
2. Therefore, in that ark and in that house, one and the
same Church was prefigured; but in those who perished out-
side the ark in the flood and in those who died by the sword
outside that house, a mystery of two-fold significance can be
considered. For I think, insofar as it seems to me now for the
current time, that not unfittingly, in the significance of the
flood, the baptism of the Christian confession can be be-
lieved to have preceded; that we may recognize that heretics,
if they remain outside the Church, by their baptism, merit
punishment, not life, and that those, who, denying Christ,
leave the Catholic Church, will perish in eternal punish-
ment. For blessed Peter expounds the mystery of the ark in
these words: “. . . while God patiently waited in the days of
Noah during the building of the ark in which a few persons,
eight in all, were saved through water: this prefigured bap-
tism, which saves you now; it is not a removal of dust from
the body but an appeal to God for a clean conscience.”55 And
where is there a good conscience except where there is a sin-
cere faith? For the Apostle Paul teaches: “The aim of this in-
struction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a
sincere faith.”56
3. Therefore, because the water of the flood did not save
those outside the ark but killed them, without a doubt, it
prefigured that every heretic who, although he has the
sacrament of baptism, must be plunged down to hell, not by
any other waters but by those very waters by which the ark
was lifted up to heaven. Nor for any other reason is death
begotten by the water for them except that the bosom of the
ark did not hold them, in which alone anyone who does not
wish to perish in the life-giving waters can live.
XXI. 1. Cyprian, the most blessed martyr, writing about
the unity of the Church, expounds the mystery of the ark

55. 1 Pt 3.20–21.
56. 1 Tm 1.5.
136 FULGENTIUS

with these words: “The spouse of Christ cannot be defiled;

she is inviolate and chaste; she knows one home alone; in all
modesty she keeps faithfully to one only couch. It is she who
rescues us for God, she who seals for the kingdom the sons
whom she has borne. Whoever breaks with the Church and
enters on an adulterous union, cuts himself off from the
promises made to the Church; and he who has turned his
back on the Church of Christ shall not come to the rewards
of Christ; he is an alien, a worldling, an enemy. You cannot
have God for your Father if you have not the Church for
your mother. If there was escape for anyone who was outside
the ark of Noah, there is escape too for one who is found to
be outside the Church.”57
2. Therefore, it is certain as much by the preaching of the
blessed Apostle Peter as by the exposition of the holy martyr
Cyprian that in the ark of Noah is found the figure of the
Church and in the waters of the flood, the figure of baptism.
Also in that house of Rahab58 the prostitute, which house as
Jericho perished at Joshua’s command was alone kept un-
harmed along with all whom it held within, in the mystery of
the Christian confession, so it seems to me, was signified the
Catholic Church from the gentiles. And having rejected the
filth of earlier fornication, she secretly took in the two spies
of Joshua; that is, either the chaste knowledge of each testa-
ment or love of God and neighbor; since both in these two
testaments, love of God and neighbor is indicated and, in
these two commandments, the whole Law and the Prophets
is opened to be recognized.
3. This woman, who earlier as a sinful whore had prosti-
tuted herself to idols, receiving Joshua’s spies, became faith-
ful and chaste; protecting them from the enemies pursuing
them, she did not bury them in the basement but secretly
hid them high upon the roof terrace of her house. It is
called a solarium for the simple reason that it is suffused by
the light of the sun. But who is the sun of the human heart,

57. Cyprian, De unitate 6. CCL 3.253. Bévenot translation. ACW 25.48–49.

58. Cf. Jos 2.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 137

except he of whom it has been said through the prophet.

“But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness
shall rise, with healing in its wings.”59 Concerning the sun as
it rises, Zachariah prophesies in the Gospel that “the day-
break from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in
darkness and death’s shadow.”60
4. And the prophet Habakkuk proclaims the ascension of
Christ and the strength of the ecclesiastical order under the
titles of the sun and the moon: “The sun raised high its
hands; the moon stood still in its exalted place.”61 So the
heart of each of the faithful is not improperly called a spiri-
tual sun-terrace, because it is illumined for its salvation by
the rays of that sun above. Therefore, Rahab the harlot hid
those spies of Joshua on the terrace of her house, that is, she
kept them in the upper parts because of the deep love of a
heart illumined by spiritual knowledge so that she might
sing this prophetic word by the truth of her deed: “I treasure
your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.”62
5. Therefore, the true faith, which is announced by divine
words, is not betrayed to persecutors at one time, at other
times is guarded inviolate and unharmed in the hearts of
the faithful, if the spirit holds on affixed, not to earthly and
perishable and fleshly promises but to heavenly and spiritual
ones, and contemplates not the things which are seen but
those which are not seen. “For what is seen is transitory,” as
the Apostle says, “but what is unseen is eternal.”63 For the
rest, whoever holds the Christian faith so that he acquires
earthly and transitory goods, such a one places Joshua’s
spies, not in the upper parts of his house, but in the lower;
when they have been placed there, they can more easily be
found by enemies and perish. For every persecutor and
enemy of the Church kills them spiritually and inflicts eter-
nal death on those whose hearts he finds tied down by earth-
ly and perishable things.

59. Mal 4.2. 60. Lk 1.78–79.

61. Hab 3.11. 62. Ps 118.11 LXX; Ps 119.11.
63. 2 Cor 4.18.
138 FULGENTIUS

6. For those who either fear to lose or lust to acquire

earthly riches do not hide the precepts of Christ, i.e.,
Joshua’s spies, in the sun terrace of the heart but hands
them over to the pursuing enemy, either because they are
terrified by fear or they are on fire with wicked lust. They
who confess the faith but deny its mysteries do not hold the
crimson cord in which sign that house was saved, hanging
from the window of her house. For the crimson cord showed
forth beforehand the mystery of the blood of Christ; which
[cord] he holds suspended from the windows of his house,
he who, under God’s protection, strengthened in faith
against the pagans or against any heretics and guarding his
faith carefully, confesses that he has been redeemed by the
blood of Christ.
7. So the Savior himself says, “Everyone who acknowl-
edges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heav-
enly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will
deny before my heavenly Father.”64 Therefore, although the
persecuting enemy attempts to kill the spies of Joshua in the
lower quarters, i.e., he strives to weaken the strength of the
Christian faith with earthly promises or terrors, if anyone
has placed in the higher quarters the faith of the Trinity by
which he believes that the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit are one in substance, he will not fear all the black er-
rors of the persecutor and all the snares of the seducer.
XXII. 1. Accordingly, not only those whom the guilt of a
repeated baptism holds entangled must speedily rush to the
Church and beg God with tears and alms for such a great
crime, but also if any, perhaps without the repetition of bap-
tism but because of the enjoyment of gifts or fear of punish-
ments, denying the mystery of the Catholic faith, have fallen
into the deadly companionship of heretics, let them take up
again the faith which they have denied and swiftly return to
the Church. In this way, with Jesus coming, they can be
found within that house, outside of which no one can be
freed from death, because just as in Jericho anyone who was

64. Mt 10.32–33.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 139

outside that house could gain no assistance for his life, so

outside the Catholic Church, no one will receive the forgive-
ness of sins; and just as within the Catholic Church, “One be-
lieves with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses
with the mouth and so is saved,”65 so outside the same
Church, unorthodox faith does not procure justification but
punishment, and a wicked confession does not acquire salva-
tion for the one who confesses but brings death. Outside
this Church, neither does the Christian name help anyone,
nor does baptism save, nor is a pure sacrifice offered to God,
nor is the forgiveness of sins received, nor is the happiness
of eternal life found.
2. For the Church of Christ is one, one dove, one beloved,
one spouse; in it the Trinity is believed to be one God, of
one nature and substance; in it no slander is inflicted on the
Son or the Holy Spirit, to the effect that they are lesser; in it
one and the same worship and one honor is offered to the
one Trinity, which is the true God. This is the one true
Church which so believes and preaches the one essence of
the Trinity that no one dares to place any one person of the
three before another. Thus it does not manifest any diversity
of worship in the substance of the divinity, so that, confess-
ing the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e., the
Trinity itself as one, true and only God, it does not in the
unity of the name incur the error of Sabellian confusion and
in the word Trinity is careful to avoid the deadly ruination of
Arian diversity. Retaining as its norm the preaching of the
Apostles, as it knows the Trinity in the persons of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit; so it proclaims the ortho-
dox faith of one God, because it proclaims the unity of na-
ture in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
XXIII. 1. If there are any who, in a variety of errors, are
outside, away from this Church, then they will receive for-
giveness of sins, if, while they are still in this world, they go
to this same Church with orthodox faith and are converted
with the humility of a contrite heart. Therefore, while there

65. Rm 10.10.
140 FULGENTIUS

is still time, let them run to their legitimate mother who, just
as she carefully holds and nourishes these children born
from her womb, so those born from a maidservant, she not
only does not repudiate when they return but also in the
bowels of her mercy, seeks them out as they wander and, out
of love, ceaselessly calls to them whom she leads back into
the communion of the Father’s inheritance. Nor does she
devote attention to them on the condition of coming from
the womb of the maidservant but recognizes in them the re-
ality of the paternal seed.
2. What is the reality of the father’s seed, except baptism
received in the name of the Trinity? Whomever she finds
like this, as the legitimate mother, she recognizes as belong-
ing to her. For, like Rachel, she knows not only that she
begets children from her own womb, but also, as the legiti-
mate mother, she claims those begotten by the maidservant
in her name. It is necessary then that such people not ne-
glect to seek out again the company of their brothers and
sisters, if they do not want to miss out on the gift of the fa-
ther’s inheritance. Therefore, leaving heresy behind, let
them quickly return to the Catholic Church; and let them
not doubt about the possession of the inheritance nor de-
spair of the forgiveness of sins. For he who does not believe
that within the Catholic Church all sins can be loosed, that
person denies himself the forgiveness of sins, if, persisting in
that same hardness of an impenitent heart, he goes forth
from this life, separated from the communion of the
Church.
XXIV. 1. Such a person speaks the word against the Holy
Spirit which must not be forgiven either in this world or in
the world to come. For “the love of God,” which “covers a
multitude of sins,” 66 “has been poured out,” as the Apostle
says, “into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us.”67 This love, because it maintains unbroken the
communion of brotherly unity, therefore covers a multitude

66. 1 Pt 4.8.
67. Rm 5.5.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 141

of sins and does not allow to perish those who persevere with
most certain hope in the unity of faith. Therefore, if anyone,
holding the faith “that works through charity”68 does pen-
ance for any earlier error whatsoever in such a way that no
false communion later holds him, and no chain of death-
dealing despair fetters him, he will be free from that word
which is spoken against the Holy Spirit which is not forgiven
the one who says it, either in this world or in the world to
come.
2. With this word, Our Lord and Savior did not convey
the idea that in the world to come sins will be forgiven which
have not been forgiven in this world; but to those who un-
derstand such things well, he shows that not other sins but
only those are to be forgiven in the world to come which will
have already been forgiven in this world in the one and true
Catholic Church. For the Lord gave the power of binding
and loosing only to it, when he says, “I will give you the keys
of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth,
shall be loosed in heaven.”69 Therefore, what holy Church
will not have so loosed in this world remains unloosable so
that even in the world to come, it can never be loosed.
Everyone whom the Church has not loosed, has been
bound; nor will he gain any benefit of loosing who, not
being converted to penance in the Church, will hope that
the forgiveness of sins will be given to him. Therefore, he
speaks the unforgivable word against the Holy Spirit who,
scorning the “riches of the goodness of God”70 “and his pa-
tience and forebearance,” “by [his] stubbornness and im-
penitent heart” is storing up “wrath for [himself] for the day
of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God who will
repay everyone according to his works.”71
XXV. 1. Whether it be “charity,” and that “from a pure
heart,” or the communion of brotherly unity, or the Father’s
gift of a heavenly inheritance, all are in the gift of the Holy

68. Gal 5.6. 69. Mt 16.19.

70. Rm 2.4. 71. Rm 2.4–6.
142 FULGENTIUS

Spirit. Concerning charity, the teacher of the nations says,

“The love of God has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”72
The Spirit also commends unity with the same charity, say-
ing, “I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner
worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through
love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the
bond of peace.”73 He also confirms that this is the commu-
nion of the Holy Spirit, saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.”74 Concerning our inheritance, he
speaks as follows: “You were sealed with the promised Holy
Spirit which is the first installment of our inheritance. . . .”75
2. The blessed Apostle also assigns to the Holy Spirit that
hope which drives out the vice of despair, saying, “May the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so
that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spir-
it.”76
Therefore, he receives an eternal share of the heavenly in-
heritance, who, preserving the unity of fraternal charity
within the Catholic Church before he ends this present life,
puts away the fatal hardness of an impenitent heart and does
not despair that in the one and truly Catholic Church, the
forgiveness of all sins is given through the Holy Spirit to
those who are converted. Our Savior himself shows this. For,
after he rose, breathing on his disciples and giving them the
gift of his Holy Spirit, he gave them the power to forgive
sins, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive
are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.”77
XXVI. 1. Therefore, let not those who, separated from the
Catholic Church by the error of whatever heresy or schism
they are held fast, close the gate of forgiveness against them-
selves because of death-dealing despair. Let them put aside
hardness of heart, if they do not wish to be tortured by un-
72. Rm 5.5. 73. Eph 4.1–3.
74. 2 Cor 13.13. 75. Eph 1.13–14.
76. Rm 15.13. 77. Jn 20.22–23.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 143

ending evils. For it has been written that: “A stubborn mind

will fare badly at the end, and whoever loves danger will per-
ish in it.”78 What is more dangerous than not to be obedient
to the divine words and to spurn the will of God who calls?
In the book of the holy Job, just as a glorious eternity is
promised to those who are converted, so the gifts of salva-
tion are denied to sinners because they do not obey. For so it
has been written: “[Those who return from iniquity] if they
listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity
and their years in pleasantness. But the impious he does not
save because they were unwilling to know God and when
they were warned, they were disobedient.”79 Therefore, let
them not spurn the time allowed for obedience but let them
return to the Catholic Church; in which alone, through the
gift of the Holy Spirit, “charity covers a multitude of sins.”80
2. If there are any who are even in the Catholic Church
and live evil lives, before they finish this life, let them hasten
to give up the evil life, and let them not think that the
Catholic name is enough for salvation, if they do not do the
will of God. For our Savior says, “. . . not everyone who says
to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”81 In
the book of Psalms as well, it is written that: “The Lord is
near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their
cry and saves them.”82 Wherefore also in Proverbs each one
of us is commanded both to fear the Lord and to depart
from evil. There it is said: “. . . fear the Lord and turn away
from evil. It will be a healing for your flesh and a refresh-
ment for your body.”83
3. And in the book of Ecclesiasticus, each of the faithful is
thus warned against doing evil: “Do no evil and evil will
never overtake you. Stay away from wrong and it will turn
away from you. Do not sow in the furrows of injustice and
78. Sir 3.26. 79. Job 36.10–12.
80. 1 Pt 4.8. 81. Mt 7.21.
82. Ps 144.18–19 LXX; Ps 145.18–19.
83. Prv 3.7–8.
144 FULGENTIUS

you will not reap a sevenfold crop.”84 Again in the same

book, lest anyone, adding sins to sins, wish to comfort him-
self vainly with the mercy of God, the salutary teaching
comes to our attention in words such as these: “Do not be so
confident of forgiveness that you add sin to sin. Do not say,
‘His mercy is great’ for both mercy and wrath are with him
and his anger will rest on sinners.”85 And again the holy Job
says, “Does not calamity befall the unrighteous and disaster,
the worker of iniquity?”86 In Proverbs it is written: “The iniq-
uities of the wicked ensnare them, and they are caught in
the toils of their sin. They die for lack of discipline and be-
cause of their great folly, they are lost.”87
XXVII. 1. And lest anyone think that some human sins
can be hidden from God, let us be instructed by the words of
holy Job when he says, “You have numbered my thoughts
and none of my sins is hidden from you. You have sealed my
iniquities in a bag, you have taken note if I erred unwittingly
in anything.”88 Lest anyone indeed think that he will go un-
punished if he is not willing to be converted, let him listen
carefully to the words of the same holy man who speaks. Let
no one since he is wicked trust that he will go unpunished,
as many as provoke God to wrath, as if there would be no
judgment for them. In Ecclesiasticus, there is a clear salutary
admonition to the effect that we may lack neither conver-
sion by which sins are avoided nor entreaty by which past
sins can be forgiven. So it is said: “You have sinned, my child!
Do so no more but ask forgiveness for your past sins. Flee
from sin as from a snake, for if you approach sin, it will bite
you; its teeth are lion’s teeth and can destroy human lives.”89
2. But let there not be silence about this: that the impious
and sinners, who are not willing to do penance for their

84. Sir 7.1–3. 85. Sir 5.5–6.

86. Job 31.3. 87. Prov 5.22–23.
88. Job 14.16–17 LXX. The current translation (New RSV) reads: “For then
you would not number my steps, you would not keep watch over my sin; my
transgression would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover over my iniqui-
ty.”
89. Sir 21.1–2.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 145

impiety or iniquity, in the end are to be sentenced to eternal

torments, but to those who do penance, my Lord grants
mercy. It is just this way in the book of Ecclesiasticus: “For
the most High also takes pity on the penitent and will inflict
punishment on the impious and sinners.”90 Again, in the
same volume, it is said: “Remember that wrath does not
delay. Humble yourself to the utmost, for the punishment of
the ungodly is fire and worms.”91 Isaiah also says that “Their
fire shall not be quenched and their worm shall not die.”92
Again it is set down in Ecclesiasticus: “An assembly of the
wicked is like a bundle of tow and their end is a blazing fire.
The way of sinners is full of offenses but at its end is the pit
of Hades [and darkness and pains.]”93
XXVIII. 1. This is the death which those living according
to the flesh will receive, as the holy statement of the blessed
Paul bears witness when he writes thus: “Consequently,
brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.”94 He follows the deeds of the flesh who either
yields to desires of worldly things or, in impiety, prefers to re-
main captive to them; since the spiritual teaching teaches us
nothing other than that when impiety has been rejected, we
also put away worldly desires. This is what the teacher of the
nations conveys with these words: “For the grace of God has
appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways
and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly and de-
voutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appear-
ance of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Jesus
Christ.”95
2. Therefore the blessed hope, the certain expectation,
the future happiness, belong to those who, rejecting impiety
and worldly desires, live soberly and justly and piously in this
world. Therefore sobriety and justice and piety must be most

90. Sir 12.7. 91. Sir 7.16–17.

92. Is 66.24. 93. Sir 21.9–10.
94. Rm 8.12–13. 95. Ti 2.11–13.
146 FULGENTIUS

scrupulously kept by Christians. He keeps sobriety who rec-

onciles his morality and his life. And he lives justly who does
no evil to his neighbor and, insofar as he can, offers assis-
tance with good works. He lives piously who neither believes
nor says anything wicked about God. Therefore, whoever
wants to attain the Kingdom of Heaven, let him live soberly
in his own life, be just toward his neighbor, and persevere in
piety with regard to God.
XXIX. 1. These things then will be of avail in the future
life, if they are a reality in the life of this present world. The
blessed Apostle knew and taught this when he ordered that
“we live soberly, justly and piously in this life,”96 teaching that
they will receive mercy in the judgment who, before the
judgment, have led a just life in this world. The divine Scrip-
ture warns us in the book of Ecclesiasticus, when it says, “Be-
fore judgment comes, examine yourself; and at the time of
scrutiny, you will find forgiveness.”97 Therefore, anyone who
desires to find compassion in the sight of God must prepare
justice for himself here. That which a person will not have
stored away for himself in this present world, he will not
have in the time of future retribution. Since this can be
shown as much as is necessary by the witness of the divine
Scriptures, let us end the first book that, subsequently, we
may be able to give a fitting end to what remains of the ques-
tion.

TO EUTHYMIUS. BOOK II

a m n o t unaware that at the beginning of the earlier

book we undertook to treat of the question of the for-
giveness of sins in the name of God and with his help,
in such a way as to initiate a three-fold division of the discus-
sion. And since we said that with our Lord, who is the true
God, there is lacking neither mercy nor justice (which we
took care to demonstrate with the manifest witness of the di-
vine Scriptures), hence we said that the truth could more
96. Ti 2.12. 97. Sir 18.20.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 147

easily be apparent to those who seek it, to whom God for-

gives sins, where and when he forgives them. Though I have
already acquitted myself of two of the parts of this three-fold
division, I am not unaware that I still owe the third. To
whom God forgives sins and where he forgives them, how
much assistance God has given us from his piety, I think has
been sufficiently shown in the former book.
2. It is certain then that forgiveness of sins is not given ex-
cept to those who are the converted within the Catholic
Church. There conversion can be true where true faith is
adorned with an accompanying holy way of life and a zeal
for good living is polluted with no stain of depraved belief.
For a good life is not truthfully so named which is depraved
by the vice of perverse belief, nor does the faith of an ortho-
dox believer suffice, if his way of life is befouled by obscene
morals and deeds. So, just as the blessed James calls faith
without works dead, so Paul in his teaching confirms that
everything which is not from faith is sin.
II. 1. Now insofar as the assistance of illumination is given
to us by the true light “which illuminates every man coming
into this world,”1 we are going to show when the forgiveness
of sins is granted to penitents. A sterile penance will be de-
prived of the fruit of forgiveness, if the opportunity of the
time offered by God is missed. So the blessed Peter says,
“The Lord does not delay in his promise, as some regard
‘delay,’ but he is patient with you, not wishing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance.”2 I
beg you, then, dear Euthymius, that it not irk you to consid-
er carefully how much that is weighty there is in the power
of the Apostle’s words. Nor should it be passed over as unim-
portant that the blessed Peter for this reason states that God
bears patiently because he does not want anyone to perish
but that all be converted to penance.
2. For here penance can profit the sinner when God does
not hasten to punish the sinner, so that he may grant the for-
giveness of sins to the person converted to penance. For if
there could be any kind of fruitful penance for the wicked
1. Jn 1.9. 2. 2 Pt 3.9.
148 FULGENTIUS

after this life, the blessed Peter would not say that God bears
patiently because he does not want anyone to perish, namely
of those whom “he foreknew and predestined to be con-
formed to the image of his Son.”3 No one of these perishes.
“For who opposes his will?”4 These are visited freely by the
mercy of God before the end of this present life; they are
moved for their salvation with a contrite and humbled heart
and all by divine gift are converted to penance to which they
are divinely predestined by free grace, so that, converted,
they may not perish but have life eternal. Without a doubt,
these are all whom, according to the proclamation of the
blessed Paul, “God wills . . . to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.”5 Because he who has done all the
things he wanted wants this, what he wants he always does in-
vincibly. And so that is fulfilled in them which the unchange-
able and invincible will of almighty God has, whose will, just
as it cannot be changed in its plans, so neither is his power
stopped or hindered in its execution; because neither is any-
one able justly to censure his justice, nor can anyone stand
opposed to his mercy.
3. Whence our Savior reproves the malevolence of the un-
believing city with these words: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you
who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many
times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwill-
ing.”6 Christ said this to show its evil will by which it tried in
vain to resist the invincible divine will, when God’s good will
neither could be conquered by those whom it deserts nor
could not be able to accomplish anything which it wanted.
That Jerusalem, insofar as it attained to its will, did not wish
its children to be gathered to the Savior, but still he gath-
ered all whom he willed. In this it wanted to resist the om-
nipotent but was unable to because God who, as it is written,
“Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,” 7 converts to himself
whomever he wills by a free justification, coming beforehand
3. Rm 8.29. 4. Rm 9.19.
5. 1 Tm 2.4. 6. Mt 23.37.
7. Ps 134.6 LXX; Ps 135.6.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 149

with his gift of superabounding grace on those whom he

could justly damn if he wished. Therefore, when the Apostle
Peter says that God “is patient, not wishing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance,” 8 let us not
so understand the word ‘all’ as stated above, as if there is no
one who will not do a fitting penance, but we must under-
stand ‘all’ here as those to whom God gives penance in such
a way that he may also give them the gift of perseverance,
i.e., those who are converted by the prevenient divine mercy
in such a way that by the same subsequent mercy, they will
never go back to the serious sins which they have re-
nounced. These are the ones to whom, as Paul says, “God
grants . . . repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth
and that they may return to their senses out of the Devil’s
snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will.”9 Any-
one who is careful to practice this penance in this life will be
able to find the fruit of his penance with God.
III. 1. Further, we read in the book of Wisdom that on the
day of judgment, certain ones will receive penance, indeed,
but not forgiveness from God. This is the way it is expressed:
“Then the righteous will stand with great confidence in the
presence of those who have oppressed them and those who
make light of their labors. When the unrighteous see them,
they will be shaken with dreadful fear and they will be
amazed at the unexpected salvation of the righteous. They
will speak to one another in repentance and in anguish of
spirit they will groan and say, ‘These are persons whom we
once held in derision and made a byword of reproach—
fools that we were! We thought that their lives were madness
and that their end was without honor. Why have they been
numbered among the children of God? And why is their lot
among the saints?’”10 No one, however, when he reads the
statement that the wicked will be amazed at the sudden, un-
expected salvation will think that at some time an unexpect-
ed salvation is going to be conferred by divine gift on those

8. 2 Pt 3.9. 9. 2 Tm 2.25–26.
10. Wis 5.1–5.
150 FULGENTIUS

who end the present life in serious sins. He spoke of the un-
expected salvation of the just, which, although its giving was
despaired of by the wicked, it still remained a hope for the
just.
2. Whence blessed David in the text of a psalm sang of the
hope of the just and their salvation as one thing, saying,
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their
refuge in the time of tribulation. The Lord will help them
and will rescue them; he will snatch them from the wicked
and will save them, because they take refuge in him.”11
Hence it is that the wicked, destined for eternal torments,
will say of the just, “These are persons whom we once held in
derision and made a byword of reproach—fools that we
were! We thought that their lives were madness and that
their end was without honor.”12 This is the unhoped for sal-
vation, since they thought that the life of the just was mad-
ness; and although they themselves were mad, they believed
that they were sane and did not hope for the retribution of
divine justice and thus did not make an effort to reform
their lives. They delighted to live licentiously here below for
a few short days and did not believe that after a little while
they would be tortured with eternal punishments.
3. So, when they will see the just in that glory of the chil-
dren of God concerning which the blessed Paul says, “. . .
[that glory] in which we stand and we boast in the hope of
the glory of God,”13 thus the wicked will be amazed at the
glory of the just, i.e., of the children of God, because the just
are the children of God. So the wicked, having a repentance
that is fruitless because it comes after the end of time and
groaning because of anguish of spirit: “Why have they been
numbered among the children of God? And why is their lot
among the saints?”14 An unexpected salvation, therefore, i.e.,
what was not hoped for by the wicked, will immediately be
given to the just, not the wicked. For it will not be given to

11. Ps 36.39–40 LXX; Ps 37.39–40.

12. Wis 5.4. 13. Rm 5.2.
14. Wis 5.5.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 151

those who, despairing of it, lead evil lives but to those who,
hoping for it well and abstaining from fleshly desires, keep
the salutary commands of blessed Peter, who says, “Beloved,
I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from world-
ly desires that wage war against the soul. Maintain good con-
duct among the Gentiles. . . .”15 By that same good conduct,
the just make of their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing
to God because through their good conduct, they are the
very Temple of God. That the faithful are, the Apostle testi-
fies, saying, “Do you not know that you are the Temple of
God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”16 Lest this
Temple be polluted by evil deeds, not only does he assidu-
ously forewarn but also strongly frightens our spirits saying,
“If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy that per-
son, for the Temple of God which you are, is holy. Let no
one deceive you.”17
4. Who, I ask, living an evil life, when he hears from the
Apostle that “If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will de-
stroy him,” and the foolish human being deceives himself
with the very wicked thought, saying, Even if I destroy the
Temple of God and live an evil life to the end, I shall be
saved. Is not the Apostle speaking about such people be-
cause he says, “Let us do evil that good may come of it?
Their penalty is what they deserve.”18 Are not these the ones
whom Holy Scripture calls unhappy and proclaims that their
hope is altogether useless, saying, “Those who despise wis-
dom and instruction are miserable. Their hope is in vain,
their labors are unprofitable, and their works are useless”?19
IV. 1. That salvation, therefore, will not be given to the
wicked but to the just; at least to those who have been cor-
rected and converted before the end of this life. That salva-
tion will be given to the good, those who have hastened to
God’s friendship through conversion, not to the wicked
who, remaining friends of the world, rightly deserve to be

15. 1 Pt 2.11–12. 16. 1 Cor 3.16.

17. 1 Cor 3.17–18a. 18. Rm 3.8.
19. Wis 3.11.
152 FULGENTIUS

called, according to the apostolic warning, enemies of God.

The blessed James reproves such people in this way: “Adul-
terers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world
means enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a
lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”20 Who-
ever, therefore, drawing away from evil and doing good,
does penance for his evil deeds in this life and, converted to
God with his whole heart, renounces wicked deeds, that per-
son’s hope will not be in vain.
2. On the other hand, he deceives himself in vain, whoev-
er thinks that he will attain life by the broad and wide road;
when the Lord commands us to walk on the narrow road
and shows us the entrance through the narrow gate by
which one arrives at the Kingdom. “Enter through the nar-
row gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads
to destruction and those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to
life. And those who find it are few.”21 Our road is the present
life, in which, if anyone does not obey the word of God, he
will not receive the forgiveness of sins; but in wailing and the
gnashing of teeth, he will lament his punishment without
end; not undeservedly, he will never merit an end to his tor-
ment, who for as long a time as he lived here, was unwilling
to renounce sin.
V.1. So the Savior forewarns each one of us, saying, “Settle
with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with
him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the
judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and
you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will
not be released until you have paid the last penny.”22 A per-
son makes the Word of God his enemy, as long as he does
those things which the divine Word forbids. To him it is said
in the psalm: “For you hate discipline and you cast my words
behind you.”23 If anyone on the road, i.e., if anyone in this
life, does not quickly consent to this word of God, he will

20. Jas 4.4. 21. Mt 7.13–14.

22. Mt 5.25–26. 23. Ps 49.17 LXX; Ps 50.17.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 153

never have rest again, having been sent into a prison of eter-
nal fire. This adversary is a good one, who continually press-
es with salutary adversity so that he may expel from us the
adversity of death-dealing wickedness. Hence this which di-
vine Scripture in another place exhorts us to, viz., to be con-
verted quickly lest deadly procrastination beget destruction
for the procrastinator, not salvation. Therefore, it says, “Do
not delay to turn back to the Lord, and do not postpone it
from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will
come upon you and at the time of punishment, you will per-
ish.”24
2. And so the word of God shows that when the time of
vengeance comes, conversion will not then help the evil per-
son evade punishment but avenging wrath will destroy him
with the due damnation. For that will be a time, not of re-
mission but of retribution, not of forgiveness but of revenge.
This is put off by the divine patience so that the number of
the saints can be filled up. The blessed John in the Apoca-
lypse recalls that it is the saints who asked for this vengeance
in these words: “How long will it be, holy and true master,
before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the in-
habitants of the earth?”25
3. And to teach those who are joined to his company that
the time for vengeance is being put off by the highest ordi-
nance, he adds right away, “Each of them was given a white
robe and they were told to be patient a little while longer
until the number was filled of their fellow servants and
brothers. . . .”26 For the blessed Paul also knew the distance
between the present world and the world to come. He knew
that only in the present world could the blessing of salvation
be acquired but that only in the world to come could a just
reward be given to individuals according to the quality of
their works, good or wicked. So, when he had repeated the
prophetic testimony which God speaks: “In an acceptable
time, I heard you, and on the day of salvation, I helped

24. Sir 5.7. 25. Rev 6.10.

26. Rev 6.11.
154 FULGENTIUS

you,”27 he immediately followed it up by adding, “Behold

now is a very acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.”28
But concerning the future, he says, “For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may re-
ceive recompense according to what he did in the body,
whether good or evil.”29
VI. 1. Therefore, eternal life will be given in the future
only to the one to whom forgiveness of sins has been given
in this world. Only he will receive the forgiveness of sins
here who renounces his sins and hastens to the highest and
true God with true conversion of heart. For that will not be a
time of forgiveness but of retribution. There mercy will not
justify the sinner but justice will distinguish the just and the
sinner. This is written in the psalm: “The Lord tests the
righteous and the wicked.”30 And, so that he might show that
in iniquity lies the destruction, not the salvation, of the soul,
he goes on to say, “He who loves iniquity, hates his own
soul.”31 Lest they who perdure in iniquity to the end of the
present life promise themselves mercy, it is said subsequently
concerning God: “On the wicked he will rain coals of fire
and sulphur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their
cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the
upright shall behold his face.”32
2. Therefore, whoever, hearing these things, is unwilling
to seek the mercy of God through conversion in the present
time, will never be able to find it in the future life. The just
judge commanded that this be denounced to us by the
blessed Apostle James, with the same saying, “For the judg-
ment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy.”33 The
order of mercy holds that the mercy which a person is com-
manded to show to another, he first bestows on himself, as
Scripture says, “Have mercy on your soul, pleasing God.34

27. 2 Cor 6.2; Cf. Is 49.8. 28. 2 Cor 6.2b.

29. 2 Cor 5.10. 30. Ps 10.5 LXX; Ps 11.5.
31. Ibid. The Latin says, “He who loves iniquity hates his own soul.” The
New RSV text reads, “. . . his soul hates the lover of violence.”
32. Ps 10.6–7 LXX; Ps 11.6–7.
33. Jas 2.13.
34. Sir 30.24.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 155

Hence if anyone does not wish to please God, he refuses

mercy to his own soul; and he who is unwilling to have
mercy on his own soul in the present world, never will he be
able to find mercy with God.
3. “For the judgment is merciless to one who has not
shown mercy.” And for this reason, he goes on to say, “Mercy
triumphs over judgment;”35 this will happen in that one who
now has mercy on his own soul by pleasing God. For the
Lord himself says, “Blessed are the merciful for they will be
shown mercy.”36 For when the blessed Apostle warns that
“everything must be done properly and in order,”37 so it is
also said in the Canticle of Canticles, “Order charity in me.”38
How will he be said to hold the order either of charity or of
mercy, he, I do not speak of any other person, but he who re-
freshes his own body with food, lest he collapse; clothes it,
lest it be cold; while it is healthy, he fears, lest it become ill;
while it is ill, he is busy about getting cured; with great con-
cern he ceaselessly does what is necessary for his flesh: food,
clothing, medicine, and by living an evil life, he seeks de-
struction for his soul. He feeds his flesh with the necessary
foods and destroys his soul with evil deeds. He refuses harm-
ful foods for his flesh and supplies his soul with evil works
like deadly poisons. He desires to prolong the life of his
flesh which is ended in a few days and procures death for his
soul of whose punishment there will be no end.
4. And because of this, he who is convicted of hating his
own soul is a cruel enemy of his flesh as well; because, as
good acts bring it about that the flesh enjoys heavenly beati-
tude along with the soul, so evil deeds bring it about that the
soul is tortured in eternal flames along with the flesh. He,
therefore, is his own most deadly enemy who, living an evil
life, does not change his life before it is over.
VII. 1. On the end of this life depends the beginning of
that life in which the retribution does not end. So it is aptly
said by the Apostle John: “Everyone who hates his brother is
a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
35. Jas 2.13. 36. Mt 5.7.
37. 1 Cor 15.40. 38. Sg (Song) 2.4.
156 FULGENTIUS

remaining in him,”39 and when holy David says, “He who

loves iniquity hates his own soul.”40 If a murderer is one who
hates his brother, what is he who, loving iniquity, hates his
own soul? And if the one who hates his brother does not
have eternal life remaining in him, how will he who ends
this life in the love of iniquity and hatred of his own soul be
able to attain the forgiveness of sins through which one at-
tains life? Since our God himself clearly shows how each one
attains life when he says, “If you wish to enter into life, keep
the commandments.”41
2. He therefore will attain life who keeps the command-
ments. But who keeps the divine commandments except the
one who, converted to God before the end of this present
life, has departed from his earlier sins? So the blessed Peter
warns us, “Let everyone who calls upon the name of the
Lord avoid evil.”42 He said this, knowing that penance is
done fruitfully in this world in which forgiveness is given to
penitents. Otherwise there will be the penitence of the
wicked in the future world, but it will bear no fruit because
there will be no conversion of the wicked. They will be sent
into the exterior darkness where there will be wailing and
the gnashing of teeth.
3. There they will be tortured endlessly, not only with the
hellish punishment of soul together with body but also by
the very darkness of the will set in evil. Here for such people
there will be the evil will itself for a heaping up of punish-
ment, because of which there remains for them torment
without end. They now scorn the opportunity offered by the
acceptable time and on the day of salvation, they do not seek
to be helped by God. God has conveyed this time to us in the
words of the prophet, saying, “In an acceptable time, I heard
you and on the day of salvation, I helped you.”43 When the
blessed Apostle inserted this testimony in his letter, he im-

39. 1 Jn 3.15.
40. Ps 10.5 LXX; Ps 11.5. (Same comment as in n.30.)
41. Mt 19.17.
42. 2 Tm 2.19.
43. Is 49.8; Cf. 2 Cor 6.2.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 157

mediately added, “Behold, very acceptable time; behold now

is the day of salvation.”44
4. In another passage, the same Apostle clearly com-
mends this time so that each person who, illumined by the
divine gift, carefully reads and adequately understands, does
not deceive himself and does not seek some other time for
his conversion or forgiveness; knowing that whoever in this
life is not willing to seek forgiveness, never will he be able to
find it after this life. The blessed Paul, therefore, writing to
the Galatians, says this: “Make no mistake. God is not
mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows because
the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the
flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal
life from the spirit. Let us not grow tired of doing good, for
in due time, we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.
So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all
but especially to those who belong to the family of the
faith.”45 What lazy person is not stirred up to the love of
good works by these words of the Apostle? Who, straying
from God, does not, frightened, seek the right way? Who is
not happy to press on with the sowing of seed, when he
knows that in the harvest he will not gather in anything
other than what he sows?
VIII. 1. Therefore, it is necessary that we pay greater at-
tention to these words of the apostolic proclamation. It is
not in vain that he so weightily warns us, saying, “Make no
mistake,” and then adds, “God is not mocked.” Afterwards,
he showed that he knew in what matter some erred, saying,
“A person will reap only what he sows.”46 Therefore, whoever
thinks that he, in the future retribution, will reap what he is
not sowing in his works in this life, errs. On the contrary,
since the diversity of the sowing and the reaping was obvi-
ously to be communicated, so the expert farmer makes the
distinction in the following words. Continuing, he says this:
“Because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption

44. 2 Cor 6.2. 45. Gal 6.7–10.

46. Gal 6.7.
158 FULGENTIUS

from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap
eternal life from the spirit.”47
2. This is the error which he forbade in the exordium of
this declaration; by which any may think that he is going to
reap something different from what he sowed. Anyone who
sows in the flesh, from which corruption is reaped, errs who
thinks that he will reap eternal life which is reserved for
those who sow in the spirit. Following up, the Apostle says,
“Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time, we
shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up.” Here he clearly
shows that the works of each person are being designated by
the word ‘seed’. For he said above, “For a person will reap
only what he sows.” Now he says, “Let us not grow tired of
doing good, for in due time, we shall reap our harvest if we
do not give up.”48
3 . Truly, the disciple of the Truth and, because of this,
outstanding teacher of the nations who, as he taught that
justice will not be absent in the retribution for deeds, so
made the distinction between the time of sowing and of
reaping, i.e., of working and rewarding; lest anyone with in-
adequate thought, confusing the time for sowing and reap-
ing, either demand the results of the future harvest in the
time of sowing or hope that the beginning of a good sowing
will be granted him at the time of the harvest and so, the
lazy and slothful worker, caught in the nets of his sloth or,
what is worse, intent on working on a death-dealing sowing,
not rejoice in the harvest but mourn when he then begins to
reap the due results of his sowing, when he will no longer be
able to change the nature of the evil seed.
4. We must pay closer attention to the fact that in this
place three elements in the teaching of the apostolic word
are shown, i.e., that we do good and that we do not weary of
it and that at the proper time, we shall reap if we do not
grow weary. Of these three, two concern the command to
work, the third resides in the promise of reward. In two,

47. Gal 6.8.

48. Gal 6.9.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 159

work is indicated for the workers, in the third, the spirit of

the laborers is lifted up by the hope of the future harvest. It
is usual for the one who hopes for an assured reward for the
quality of his work to take more strength from his work. The
Apostle therefore enjoins perseverance in the good work, so
that whoever delights to rejoice without end in the harvest
may not grow weary in the sowing. Hence, according to the
saying of the blessed Apostle, it is necessary that he arrive at
the joy of the future harvest who in the present time perse-
veres in the sowing of the good work. Otherwise, he greatly
deceives himself, either the one who up until the end of this
present life, sowing no seeds of good works, thinks that he
will reap good things sometime; or the one who, misled,
lacks perseverance in good works and yet hopes for happi-
ness in the giving of rewards. The blessed Apostle bears wit-
ness that anyone will receive at the harvest what he has sown
with perseverance.
5. Such is that very experienced winnower who will thor-
oughly cleanse his field so that in the separation of the
wheat and the chaff, he is deceived by no secret fraud; nor
does he send into the barn the chaff to be thrown in the fire
nor put in the flames the grains which are to be assigned to
the barn. In the time of the future harvest, good sowers,
those, namely who now sow in tears with perseverance, will
reap in joy and those who now weep on the way to sowing
their seeds, when they come back, they will come in joy, car-
rying their sheaves.
6. Just as he will be deprived of the joy and the company
of the harvesters who, although he sowed good things at
some point, did not persevere in sowing good things; nei-
ther will he be able to rejoice in the participating in forgive-
ness or happiness, who, insofar as he enjoys serving and fa-
voring the nocturnal sower, i.e., the Devil, so that up until
death, he does not rest from sowing those things which,
gathered up by the selection of the harvesting angels and
gathered into sheaves by the judgment of the Lord, with un-
changing command, are destined for the inextinguishable
fire. Because all the just man’s good work of the past is ren-
160 FULGENTIUS

dered void by the defect of subsequent evil, and the reward

of iniquity remains, all his work is evil. For the Apostle says
that “Each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.”49
That is, the labor in which each one is engaged when he is
commanded to go forth from the present world. Hence as
the Apostle warns, “While we have the opportunity, let us do
good to all, but especially to those who belong to the family
of the faith.”50
IX. 1. In the letter which was written to the Hebrews, not
only is conversion in the present time shown to be necessary,
but it is commanded as well that one must persevere until
the end. For he says, “Take care, brothers, that none of you
may have an evil and unfaithful heart so as to forsake the liv-
ing God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’ so
that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We
have become partners of Christ if only we hold the begin-
ning of the reality firm until the end.”51 Who, however,
would not be frightened by the example of the Apostle him-
self so that, leaving behind evil works, in penance and con-
version, he runs to God and is concerned and fearful that, if
the course of perseverance is abandoned, he will become a
reprobate.
2. For, all the faithful should consider with what concern
the blessed Paul himself ran, with what vigilance he fought,
with what severity he chastised his body. Therefore, he says,
“Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shad-
owboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that,
after having preached to others, I myself should be disquali-
fied.”52 He said these things, aware that God has spoken
through Ezechiel, “When the righteous turns away from his
righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it; for
the iniquity that he has committed he shall die.”53 Uselessly
with vain thoughts does he dream of forgiveness of sins for
himself, whoever does not persevere in the commandments
of the Lord up until the end of the present life, or whoever
49. 1 Cor 3.8. 50. Gal 6.10.
51. Heb 3.12–14. 52. 1 Cor 9.26–27.
53. Ez 18.26.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 161

does not depart from the most evil pathways before the end
of the present life.
3. For it is necessary that every just person work out his
salvation in fear and trembling and that every wicked person
cease to offer his members to sin as weapons of iniquity.
Rather, let him present himself, as it were, a living person
from among the dead, and his members as weapons for the
justice of God, and cease doing those things whose wages is
death, as Paul the Apostle says, “For the wages of sin is
death.”54 This death is also called the wrath of God to come
which will be inflicted on the wicked and on those who per-
severe in evil. Whence also John the Baptist inveighs against
the Pharisees and Sadduccees so that he touches as well with
his reproof Christians who lead evil lives. For he says, “You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance
and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as
our father.’ For I tell you, God is able to raise up children to
Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax is laid to the
roots of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not pro-
duce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”55
When the Lord’s forerunner said these things, without a
doubt he was speaking to the wicked and evil whom he
called ‘a generation of vipers” because of their likeness to
serpentine, i.e., diabolical, works.
4. He showed them by these words what they do in this
world, also what they fear in the judgment to come. Com-
manding that they bring forth fruits worthy of penitence, he
shows that human beings can be changed here and that, by
the conversion of a repentant heart, they pass from deserv-
ing punishment to the reward of the kingdom. Adding, how-
ever, that “Every tree that does not produce good fruit will
be cut down and thrown into the fire,”56 he foretold the time
of the future judgment, in which to the evil, to those who
lead a sinful life until the end, as to trees that bear no fruit,

54. Rm 6.23. 55. Lk 3.7–9.

56. Lk 3.17.
162 FULGENTIUS

it is not the forgiveness of sins that will mercifully be given

but eternal burning that will justly be rendered. Therefore,
also he foretells that our Savior will come for the separating
of the wheat from the chaff, who, having “his winnowing fan
in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the
wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with un-
quenchable fire.”57 So he informs every Christian with this
text from the Gospel that, when the separation has been
made, he considers what was given to each one with most af-
fectionate generosity at the Savior’s first coming and what
may be expected for each one in the second coming when
just retribution must be rendered.
X. 1. For our Savior and judge himself, who comes now to
save, then, however, will come to judge. Now he comes to
make the evil good by an affectionate forgiveness, then,
however, he will come to separate the evil from the good by
a just scrutiny. He points out the benefit of his first coming
when he says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to
save what was lost.”58 He thus indicates the justice to be
feared at his second coming: “For the Son of Man will come
. . . and then he will repay everyone according to his con-
duct.”59 Once more showing the mercy of his first coming, he
says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but
might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world but that the world might be
saved through him.”60 But speaking of the judgment of his
second coming, he says, “I have much to say about you and
to condemn.”61
2. And in another place: “The word that I spoke, it will
condemn him.”62 And in another place: “I judge as I hear
and my judgment is just.”63 Again he indicates the benefit of
his first coming, in which he, finding no one alive, freely
raises the dead, whom thereby he makes just from being sin-
57. Lk 3.17. 58. Lk 19.10.
59. Mt 16.27. 60. Jn 3.16–17.
61. Jn 8.26. 62. Jn 12.48.
63. Jn 5.30.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 163

ners with words such as these: “Amen, Amen, I say to you,

the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God and those who hear him will
live.”64 He subsequently foretells the scrutiny of the second
coming in which he is to judge the living and the dead, say-
ing, “Amen, Amen, I say to you that the hour will come in
which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will
come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrec-
tion of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the
resurrection of condemnation.”65
3. Therefore, the hearing of his voice now gives life to the
dead, when he gives the grace of faith to those who do not
believe and those whom he finds evil he makes good; affec-
tionately he justifies sinners; mercifully he saves sinners;
kindly he makes the blind see. The hearing of his voice the
second time, as it will render the crown of justice to the just,
so it will assign punishment to the wicked for their iniquity.
In the hearing of his first voice, the mercy of the Redeemer
has encountered sinners ahead of time; in the hearing of his
second voice, the retribution exacted by the judge follows
upon the doers of evil. In the first case, it is said to all:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will
give you rest.”66 In the second, it will be said only to those on
the right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit
the Kingdom.”67 But to those on the left, it will be said, “De-
part from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire.”68
4. The shepherd’s most certain knowledge of merits, by
which the sheep will be separated from the goats, is so great
that no goat will be placed on the right just as no sheep will
be located on the left. Those merits with which people go
forth from this life will remain ceaselessly and unchangeably
with them in that other life, whether they be good merits
which here divine piety has bestowed or bad ones which
human wickedness has procured here below. And for this
reason, there will be no removal of evil merits although
64. Jn 5.25. 65. Jn 5.28–29.
66. Mt 11.28. 67. Mt 25.34.
68. Mt 25.41.
164 FULGENTIUS

there will be an advancement for good merits. The former

will remain for punishment; the latter will be perfected in
glory. Therefore, that is the time in which God, as it is writ-
ten in the psalm, “. . . does not deal with us according to our
sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the
heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast
love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the
west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.”69
5. In that judgment, the just judge will give the crown of
justice, as the Apostle says, to those who love his coming, but
to workers of evil, as the psalm shows, he will give according
to their works and according to the evil of their efforts, and
he will reward them according to the works of their hands,
he will exact retribution of them. For this reason, namely,
that the state in which each one goes forth from this life,
without a doubt is the state that will be rewarded in the fu-
ture life; nor will there be any alteration in that just judg-
ment, from corruption to incorruption for the one who re-
mained earlier unchanged in this world, the one who did
not go from wickedness to justice and from an evil life to a
good life.
XI. 1. So Paul says, “We shall indeed all arise, but we shall
not all be changed.”70 Since the blessed Apostle said this, lest
the meaning of his words remain uncertain for some, he
knew that he had to go on to show the faithful that certain
ones, as he said, would be unchanged in the time of the fu-
ture resurrection. For, if he had said indeed: We shall all
arise but we will not be changed, it would be understood
that no one would be changed. And again, if he had said:
For we shall all rise and we will be changed; just as all are be-
lieved to be going to rise, all also would be believed in simi-
lar fashion to be going to be changed. Yet when he predicted
the future resurrection of all and still did not assert that all
would be changed, he was giving us a warning to examine
carefully who was to be changed in the resurrection of the
coming scrutiny.
69. Ps 102.10–12 LXX; Ps 103.10–12.
70. 1 Cor 15.51.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 165

2. The blessed Paul, unwilling to leave the matter ambigu-

ous, lest the wicked misbehave even more boldly if they were
to hear that the gift of a future change would be common to
them along with the just, took care to show the gift of this
change with the following words: “In an instant, in the blink
of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed.”71 When he says ‘we’, he shows that those will ac-
quire the gift of change with him, those whom in this world
the communion of the Church and of living rightly holds
with Paul and his companions. Conveying the nature of the
change itself, he says, “For that which is corruptible must
clothe itself with incorruptibility and that which is mortal
must clothe itself with immortality.”72 In order that the
change of a just reward will later follow in these people, now
the change of free generosity precedes. Showing this
change, the blessed prophet David says, “I have said. Now I
begin; this change at the right hand of the Most High.”73
XII. 1. To those then who in the present life have been
changed from evil to good, the reward of future change is
promised. Hence it will come about that each one who, con-
verted, has changed his life here for the better, in that re-
ward will also be changed, acquiring the gift of being equal
to the angels; something the Savior himself, who is faithful
in his words and holy in all his works, promises not to the
evil or sinners but only to the just and those who lead good
lives. They are not just who do not live good lives and not
unjustly will they be punished who, though loving God,
scorn his commandments; they love him who keep his com-
mandments as the Lord himself says, “He who loves me,
keeps my commandments.”74 They truly love God who obey
his precepts, God who can neither be loved unjustly nor can
he be justly scorned. These are the ones who, according to

71. 1 Cor 15.52.

72. 1 Cor 15.53.
73. Ps 76.10 LXX; Ps 77.10. The new RSV translation is: “And I say, ‘It is my
grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.’”
74. Jn 14.15.
166 FULGENTIUS

the word of God, will be changed and will be equal to the an-
gels of God, made incorruptible, that is, and immortal by
the gift of that change. And not only their soul alone will be
changed for the better so that it is no longer able to sin, but
the flesh as well, which they possessed as corruptible and
mortal, will be so changed in the resurrection that it will in-
deed be what it now is but cannot be either corruptible or
mortal such as it is now.
2. And through this, the flesh of both the wicked and the
just, which now dies, will be raised. The flesh of the wicked
will rise to eternal misery, but that of the just will remain in
eternal happiness. And just as the one flesh will rise to tor-
ture, so the other will rise to joy. It will be given life for this
reason, that it may be tortured with the soul in eternal
death; the other will live for this reason, that, together with
the soul, it may enjoy the bliss of eternal life. The body of
the just, therefore, according to the preaching of the Apos-
tle, “is sown corruptible; it will rise incorruptible. It is sown
dishonorable; it will rise glorious. It is sown weak; it will rise
powerful. It is sown a material body; it is raised a spiritual
body.”75
3. This then is done in them through grace so that the
change brought about by divine gift may begin in them,
here, first through justification in which there is a spiritual
resurrection and afterwards, in the resurrection of the body,
in which the change of the justified is brought to comple-
tion, the perfected glorification, remaining for eternity, is
not changed. To this end, first the grace of justification,
then the grace of glorification changes them so that the glo-
rification itself remains, unchangeable and eternal in them.
For here they are changed through the first resurrection by
which they are enlightened that they may be converted; by
which, that is, they change from death to life, from iniquity
to justice, from infidelity to faith, from evil acts to a holy way
of life. Therefore, the second death has no power over
them.

75. 1 Cor 15.42–44.

 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 167

4. Concerning such people, it is said in the Apocalypse:

“Blessed is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The
second death has no power over them.”76 Again it is said in
the same book: “The victor shall not be harmed by the sec-
ond death.”77 Therefore, just as the first resurrection is
found in conversion of the heart, so the second death is
found in eternal punishment. Let every person who does
not wish to be condemned by eternal punishment of the sec-
ond death, hasten here to become a participant of the first
resurrection. If any are is changed in the present life by di-
vine fear, they change from an evil life to a good life, they
move from death to life and afterwards will be changed from
obscurity to glory.
XIII. 1. Just as the most holy David blames the stubborn-
ness of the miserable and unhappy who decline to be
changed from evil to good in the time of this life, so he an-
nounces the coming punishment of divine retribution, say-
ing, “For them there is no change and they have not feared
God.”78 And lest they who were not willing to be changed,
vainly promise themselves the forgiveness of sins to be grant-
ed when this life has run its course, he then added, “He ex-
tended his hand in retribution.”79 The beginning of this ret-
ribution comes about when the wicked person, receiving the
reward which was required for his error in itself, by a just
judgment is allowed to remain in his wickedness; the com-
pletion comes when, for these same iniquities, he will be tor-
tured by eternal fire. Nor should this retribution be consid-
ered small by which the wicked person, deprived of the light
of justice, is permitted to wander in his darkness, prejudged
not by blindness of the flesh but of the heart; where this also
is relevant to the cumulation of retribution, if the blind per-
son not only is unable to perceive the light but also with
pleasure seeks to increase the darkness of his blindness.
2. To such people the Lord says in the psalms, “But my
people did not listen to my voice; Israel did not pay atten-

76. Rev 20.6. 77. Rev 2.11.

78. Ps 54.20 LXX; Ps 55.19. 79. Ps 54.21 LXX; Ps 55.20.
168 FULGENTIUS

tion to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to

follow their own counsels.”80 Concerning such people, the
teacher of the nations says, “Therefore, God handed them
over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts.”81 And a
little later he says, “Therefore, God handed them over to de-
grading passions.”82 And again: “God handed them over to
their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.”83 There-
fore, they are first of all handed over to their unjust desires,
to be handed over later to suitable punishments. Here they
are handed over to deeds that suit them, to be handed over
later to fitting punishments. Nor because the evil person de-
lights in sinning should it be thought that he is foreign to
the suffering of retribution; since by the very delight in sin-
ning, he is now gravely punished, he who is subject by his
own consent to such delight, from which the degree of de-
served punishment is increased.
3. By the degree to which what he unjustly enjoys is in-
creased the more, by so much more will the unjust person
receive more to be mournful over. If anyone here is unwill-
ing to be converted to God, to be changed from an evil life
to striving for a good life, he will not be changed there
where, when the just have been blessedly changed, immor-
tality and incorruption are conferred. Accordingly, the evil
or sinners, i.e., either those who believe wrongly or those
who live evil lives and do not before the end of this present
life give up their infidelity or iniquity, in the retribution to
come, will be neither immortal nor incorrupt. They will be
corrupted but they will not be annihilated. They will die but
they will not be extinguished. The power of the dead to feel
the torments will perdure forever, where death is not grant-
ed to the dead in their pain. There death for those in misery
will be the kind in which the soul is not taken from the body
of the sufferer but rather stays in the suffering body unend-
ingly for this purpose that it may afflict soul and body to-
gether with an eternity of suffering.
80. Ps 80.12–13 LXX; Ps 81.11–12.
81. Rm 1.24. 82. Rm 1.26.
83. Rm 1.28.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 169

4. And to this purpose, the soul will always die together

with the body; with which it will endlessly be forced to partic-
ipate in eternal torments. There the death of soul and body
does not die, because the torture of body and soul is not
ended. This indeed will be the eternal death of the wicked,
that they do not die in the eternal fire and can never at any
time be without punishment. Nor can anything be taken
away there from the burning body, although the unhappy
soul is continually burning in its body; but in order that the
whole body does not cease to burn, the whole continues
endlessly in the fire with the soul. In that body in which the
soul lived justly or wickedly, in the same body it will receive
eternal punishment or happiness without end.
XIV. 1. Therefore, it behooves each person, before he fin-
ishes the present life, to be converted by the fear of punish-
ment to come, if truly he does not wish to be tortured with-
out end after the end of this life. Wherefore, it is a foolish
belief that the unchanged wickedness of evil people in the
sight of God is to be forgiven; in his sight the absence of
good works will not be permitted to go unpunished. It is not
said to anyone who is placed at the left side, to go into eter-
nal fire, because he took away bread from someone who was
eating it but because he did not give it to the hungry; nor
did he take away the clothes from someone who was clothed
but because he did not give clothes; not because he expelled
anyone from his own house but because he did not receive
one of Christ’s least ones into his dwelling. Therefore, if he
who did not give his bread to the hungry will go into eternal
fire, what will he receive who has taken away someone else’s
bread? And if he who did not cover the naked with his
clothes will be sent into the pool of fire and sulphur, what is
he who cruelly steals someone else’s clothes going to suffer?
2. And if the greedy possessor of his own property will not
have rest, how does the insatiable plunderer of other peo-
ple’s property, if he is unwilling to be converted in this life,
vainly promise forgiveness for himself from the just judge af-
terwards? Let us consider that unhappy rich man once
clothed in purple linen, burning in the inextinguishable
170 FULGENTIUS

flames for no other reason than that, endowed with a deadly

evil, he was never willing to share even the crumbs of his
meal with poor Lazarus, struggling with continuous hunger.
He, condemned to endless torture, continued unworthy of
the refreshment of the finger of the poor man rejoicing in
eternal peace, as Abraham the Patriarch in his clear re-
sponse, showed that after this life, the good are not able in
any way to cross over to the wicked, nor can the evil at any
time change from their punishments to the rest of the
blessed. For so he says, “My child, remember that you re-
ceived what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus
likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted
here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover between us and
you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from
crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or
from your side to ours.”84
XV. 1. Accordingly, it is good for us now to do good while
it is time for doing; and in order that we may be very rich at
the harvest, we must remain neither slothful nor sterile. It is
good for each one to apply the remedy of conversion and
penance to his wounds, while the one converted can still re-
ceive the forgiveness of sins; since the penitence of the time
to come will be such that it cannot merit forgiveness. Nor
will there then be some who are to do penance, those whom
God has predestined to life. What is according to God, sad-
ness, according to the saying of the Apostle, belongs to them
in the present time, bringing about a lasting salvation so that
in the future a lasting and eternal salvation will be rendered
to those who do penance and are converted in this time. But
in the future, penance will not be lacking to those who will
not have done penance in the present life.
2. Penance of this latter type will not come from God’s
generosity but will consist in the torture of punishment. In
penance of this type, the mourning will be eternal because
there will be no fruit for such penance there. There, the evil
will not be converted by doing penance; when the wicked

84. Lk 16.25–26.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 171

person in his punishment will have penance for this purpose

only that he can never at any time lack either penance or
punishment. And so that will which here held itself un-
changeably wicked until the end, to this purpose it will have
penance without end for its crimes, that from then on it can
never be converted nor can it ever for eternity lack torment.
It is not always penance when the sinner, touched before-
hand by the grace of a pitying God, declares his sin by doing
penance in such a way that through conversion, he seeks the
grace of forgiveness. Otherwise, he is like someone who re-
pents the sins he committed but does not, changed by con-
version, run to God, just as someone might be gravely suffer-
ing from wounds and does not seek the help of a doctor. He
announces the pain he is suffering but does not look for a
remedy by which he might be healed. Wherefore, not every-
one who confesses his sin, receives forgiveness, because our
God does not pay attention only to the words that come
from our mouth but rather what we carry about in our
heart. Concerning him, the psalm says, “God who tests
minds and hearts.”85 And the Savior says, “Why do you call
me ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do what I command?”86 And so it
is that we read in the Scriptures that certain ones consistent-
ly confess their sins in word but just as consistently do not re-
ceive the benefit of forgiveness.
3. King Saul, ordered by God to destroy Amalek, incurred
sin because he barely kept the precept of God. When the
prophet Samuel had come to reprove him, he, terrified, con-
fessed his sin but still did not obtain forgiveness because his
heart was not right with God. That confession of sin came
from fear; it was from a horror of punishment, not of sin. He
did not hate what he had done but feared what he did not
want; nor did he blame his guilt in conversion but, momen-
tarily struck with terror of the divine fury, he trembled. King
David as well, overcome by the snare of carnal desire, not
only committed adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers

85. Ps 7.10 LXX; Ps 7.9.

86. Lk 6.46.
172 FULGENTIUS

but also killed the innocent husband who was not only guilty
of no crime of his own but also unaware of his thoroughly
dishonored wife.
4. When the prophet Nathan was sent to him by the Lord,
he, terrified by the prophet’s reproof, exclaimed, I have
sinned. And the prophet replied as follows: “Now the Lord
has put away your sin; you shall not die.”87 Behold, Saul said,
I have sinned. And David said, I have sinned. Since, there-
fore, in the confession of sin there was one word for both,
why was not one forgiveness granted to both? Only because
in the similar confession God saw a dissimilar will. He did
not pay attention to the sound of the word but made a dis-
tinction in the intention of the heart of each one. The one
being converted immediately rejected the desire to sin and
by doing penance himself punished his own admission; but
the other brought forth a confession of his sin verbally but,
held tight by the vice of a perverse heart, did not cast away
from himself the love of sinning.
XVI. 1. Therefore, the confession of sins avails if the sin-
ner having confessed what evil he had done would do it no
longer and by his exertion for good works sought to over-
come what he deserved because of past serious sins; so
that according to the words of the Apostle: “Wherever sin
abounded grace may abound the more.”88 So some, not
knowing the power of penance, do not do penance to this
end that hoping for the help of divine mercy they are con-
verted; rather in doing penance they commit still worse sins
since they despair of the forgiveness of sins. Such was the
penance of the traitor Judas which did not win salvation for
the penitent but procured destruction for the one who de-
spaired. Finally when he killed himself who was guilty, he
bound himself with an even worse chain of evil than he did
when he betrayed Christ who was innocent. For the sin of
betraying Christ could have been forgiven Judas, if he had
been converted while still alive; but his suicide is never for-
given him when dead.
87. 2 Sam 12.13.
88. Rm 5.20.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 173

2. After the betrayal of Christ, therefore, the betrayer had

time in which, through that blood which was poured out for
the forgiveness of sins, the sin of even Judas himself could be
forgiven; since Christ, who dies for sinners, would not have
denied to his own betrayer the benefit of forgiveness, if he,
by despairing, had not removed from himself the time grant-
ed for forgiveness. Therefore, he did not do penance in the
right way nor did he permit himself to be the just avenger of
his own crime. Therefore, the unjust avenger increased; he
did not remove the punishment merited by his crime, who,
having killed himself, deprived his killer of the time for con-
version. And in this way, because he killed himself, he took
away from himself the time for conversion by killing himself.
Most miserable Judas, who when he admitted having evilly
committed the crime of betrayal, did penance worse than
that crime, because he did not seek forgiveness from the
bottom of his heart; and so that penance for a grave sin was
deemed worse than the sin itself. That sin of betrayal of the
Lord later had time in which it could be washed away; but
that penance which brought about not conversion, but de-
spair, therefore did not help the penitent but destroyed him
because he took away the time for conversion from himself
by killing himself and, by his despair, took away forgiveness.
XVII. 1. So greatly avails the opportunity of time granted
for the forgiveness of sins! And although it is much more se-
rious to have betrayed Christ than to have murdered any
person, still the killers of Christ, any such as are converted in
the present life with all their heart, have gained the forgive-
ness of sins by the blood of Christ himself. But, whoever, I do
not say heretics or pagans, concerning whom there is no
doubt that they will be punished with eternal fire, by which
also a Catholic Christian will be punished if he commits a
murder or commits adultery or steals what belongs to others
or violates an oath by perjury or does not hesitate to bear
false witness and is not converted before the end of this pre-
sent life, even though he appears to have sinned much less
than he who killed Christ; nevertheless, Christ’s killer, if he
is converted in the present life, will be saved. The Catholic,
174 FULGENTIUS

on the other hand, for the reason that he is not converted in

the present life, after the end of this life, will be relegated to
torments which have no end.
2. This happens, not because he sinned more than the
impious person who killed Christ, but because, recognizing
the omnipotence of the good doctor, he came to the healing
remedy at the right moment, he will gain eternal life. The
other is condemned by eternal death because, despairing of
mercy, he did not seek the remedy of salvation from the doc-
tor at the right moment, and thus, even though his sin,
when compared to the killing of Christ, is deemed a lesser
crime, still he, in that same lesser crime, is much worse be-
cause although he did not kill Christ, still his sin was worse
than if he killed Christ for this reason, that he ignored the
right moment which was granted by divine patience for the
forgiveness of sins.
3. Thus it is recognized that there is no forgiveness of sins
if penance is not done at this moment; nor is penance in
this time of any avail if the forgiveness of sins is despaired of.
But in the future time, there is to be no conversion for the
wicked and the penance of such people will be endless as
well as useless. Just as forgiveness will never be given to
them, so their penance will never be ended. For they neglect
the time in which penance is fruitfully done by sinners and
in which divine pity grants the forgiveness of sins. Because of
which the Lord himself in the Apocalypse of John, consoling
his faithful and directing the attention of the wicked to the
penalty of future punishment, speaks thus: “Let the wicked
still act wickedly and the filthy still be filthy. The righteous
must still do right and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am
coming soon. I bring with me recompense I will give to each
according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are
they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree
of life and enter the city through its gates. Outside are the
dogs, the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-
worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit.”89
89. Rev 22.11–15.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 175

4. Who, I ask you, can be of such a stiff neck or who is of

such an uncircumcised heart and ears, who is not terrified
by these words, not prostrated, not converted? Who does not
wail? Who does not tremble in his innermost being? Who,
frightened by the fear of the judgment of that just judge,
does not hasten to conversion that he may find the forgive-
ness of sins and the grace of everlasting salvation? Woe to
the one who before the time of the last winnowing does not
hasten to become wheat from chaff! Woe to the one who, be-
fore the harvesting angels come to gather the weeds to be
burned from the midst of the grain, does not run to be con-
verted from weeds to grain! Nor shall the thoughtful admo-
nition of divine Scripture be scorned which gives us the salu-
tary command both for a rapid conversion and reminds us
of the coming wrath of divine vengeance for those who
delay. For thus he says, “Do not delay to turn back to the
Lord, and do not postpone it from day to day; for suddenly
the wrath of the Lord will come upon you and at the time of
punishment, you will perish.”90
XVIII. 1. In order that we may more fully recognize that
only the time of this present world is allotted for conversion,
let us pay attention to those workers whom the Lord called
to his vineyard. Although he called for them at various
hours, still at the eleventh hour he ended the call, i.e., just
before the end of the day. In those hours at which the call
went out for workers are recognized the ages of this world,
in which God has called to a good work those whom he con-
verted to himself by a free justification. It is understood that
the morning of this day means the world from its beginning
until the flood; the hiring at the third hour, from the flood
until Abraham; the hiring at the sixth hour, from Abraham
to David; from David up until the exile of the people in
Babylon, the ninth hour has been completed; then the
eleventh hour came in the first coming of Christ, in which
he came in humility in mortal flesh, in which he, the immor-
tal one, deigned to be killed for the sin of the world.
2. This then is the final call for workers, something that is
90. Sir 5.7.
176 FULGENTIUS

going on from now until the end of this present age, i.e.,
from his coming in humility until his coming in majesty;
from his coming in which the good one came to be judged
by the evil, in order that in his mercy he might make good
out of evil, until his coming in which he will judge justly
both the evil and the good; from the coming of pious for-
giveness until the coming of just retribution; from the com-
ing in which he freed the souls of the poor from usuries and
iniquities until the coming in which he will come to demand
his money with interest from those in whom he will find it
used up and not doubled by any effort at good works. This is
the hour which the blessed John called the last, saying, “Lit-
tle children, this is the last hour.”91
3. After the end of this hour, the Lord does not call work-
ers to the vineyard, but he will come to render to each one
the reward for his work, as he himself says, “Behold, I am
coming soon; I bring with me the recompense.”92 Let each
one hope that the denarius of divine reward will be given to
him, who, before the “day” of the present age is finished,
work in the Lord’s vineyard in a praiseworthy fashion. And
that work is nothing other than true conversion of the heart;
that one is converted to God as is necessary in whom there
is, as the Apostle says, “the faith which works through love.”93
4. That diversity of the hours, although it is worthily un-
derstood, as we granted above, as the differentiation of the
ages of the world, still we are able, not in any far-fetched way,
to see in this diversity of hours also the ages of the individual
person. Morning is human infancy until it is finished; then
the end of childhood completes the third; the end of adoles-
cence completes the sixth; the end of youth finishes the
ninth; maturity takes care of the eleventh; and then old age
moving toward the end, marks the sunset of the whole day.
Thus in whatever age of the present life, any sinner or evil
person will be converted to God with his whole heart, he will
immediately receive forgiveness for all his past sins.

91. 1 Jn 2.18. 92. Rev 22.12.

93. Gal 5.6.
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 177

XIX. 1. Whoever is able to find in the Gospel or to teach

that any worker is called into the vineyard94 after the end of
the day, that person may worthily hope, and with the great-
est certainty preach, that to any wicked person who will not
have been converted in the present world, the ability to do
good works or the grace of forgiveness is to be granted in
the time of the world to come. Likewise, whoever shows that
to whomever the denarius has been given by the command
of the Lord, though not called to work in the Lord’s vine-
yard before the end of the day, he may hope worthily and fit-
tingly that on such a person, though not converted before
the end of the present life, the kingdom of heaven may be
conferred by the Lord’s generosity. If they, whom the pious
labor of the day’s work in the vineyard has employed, to
them alone after the end of the day, he pays the wage of a
denarius. As for ourselves, if we wish to receive the denarius
of eternal life, let us labor in the present time in the Lord’s
vineyard. Let us not scorn the voice of the one who hires, if
we do not wish to be excluded from the generosity of the
one who pays.
2. The one who does not labor in the vineyard before the
end of the day, when the day is over, he will not be able to re-
ceive the denarius; because [that time] will not be the time
when anyone is mercifully called to work in the vineyard but
rather when the payment is given for past work. At that time,
there will not be a pious hiring but a just payment. That
denarius will not be given to the non-worker nor to the one
who works outside the vineyard. The non-worker is the
Catholic who does not bother doing good works “because
faith without works is useless and dead of itself.”95 He works
outside the vineyard who, in any heresy, makes an effort at
good works but by his false belief denies to himself the effect
of salvation. For the blessed Apostle Paul says that “whatever
is not from faith is sin.”96 “Without faith it is impossible to
please God.”97

94. Mt 20.1–16. 95. Jas 2.17 or 20.

96. Rm 14.23c. 97. Heb 11.6.
178 FULGENTIUS

3. Therefore, both deprive themselves of the denarius,

both put themselves outside the company of the workers;
the one because though within the Lord’s vineyard, he was
not willing to concern himself with making efforts to work;
the other because he worked outside—because before the
end of the day, he should have been at work within the
Lord’s vineyard. And for this reason, the one because he did
not do any of the work whereby he could be saved; the other
because he did not work there where he could receive the
gift of salvation. Thus when the day is ended, the latter is not
allowed to enter the vineyard, and the ability to do good
works is taken away from the former; because the evil-living
Catholic did not have on the wedding garment at the Lord’s
banquet (something Paul informed the faithful was to be
feared, saying, “If, indeed, when we have taken it off, we
shall not be found naked”98); but the heretic refused to
come to the same banquet at the acceptable time.
4. And so, the one will be thrown out and the ability to
come in will not be given to the other. Therefore, now is the
time for the chaff to be changed into wheat; now is the time
for every wicked person to become wheat from weeds if he
does not wish to be burned in an eternity of inextinguish-
able fire. If anyone, rejecting the grace of the present time
in which the Lord has deigned to come, not to judge, but to
save sinners, believes that he must remain in his iniquities,
he will find no mercy in the judgment to come; because at
the time of the winnowing, that winnower will not allow the
chaff to be mixed with the wheat, just as the divine severity
will not grant to the lazy, worthless servant the possession of
a talent in the time of reckoning; but, just as he will burn the
chaff with inextinguishable fire, so eternal wailing and
gnashing of teeth will greet the wicked and lazy servant con-
signed to darkness. For what does ordering that servant
bound hands and feet mean, except that in the hands is
shown that the guilt of evil works and in the feet the love of
an evil will are to be punished?

98. 2 Cor 5.3.

 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 179

XX. 1. The holy Isaiah, inspired by God, recognized the

opportunity available at this time; he never ceases to urge us
to conversion with these words: “Seek the Lord while he may
be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked for-
sake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them
return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”99 The Lord must
be sought now, therefore, when he can be found by seekers.
He must be called upon now while he is near to the one call-
ing. Now the path of impiety, now thoughts of iniquity must
be left behind.
2. Now is the necessary conversion of the sinner by which
he can shed the guilt of all sin by the blessing of divine for-
giveness. Otherwise, he will not see the good things of God
in the land of the living, if he, in this land of the dying, will
not accept the forgiveness of sins. For our Savior and judge
has himself foreordained this, that when he forgives sins, he
does so in this land. So he says to the unbelieving Jews, “But
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins. . . .”100 He did not say this because he
was not able to forgive, if he wished, the sins of this time to
people passing from this earth but in order that human be-
ings might recognize that the time for forgiveness and re-
ward has been unchangeably established by divine decree
and that human foolishness would not hope pointlessly to
hear what divine truth promises.
3. This is why also to the blessed Peter, i.e., to his Church,
he granted the power of binding and loosing on earth that
we might know that in the time of this life free mercy is
granted in the forgiveness of sins, but in the future, just
deserts will be handed out to all according to the nature of
our deeds; let us not doubt that now all sins can be forgiven
and whatever sins have not been forgiven now will be paid
for then. Recognizing this by the revelation of the Holy Spir-
it, holy David, to whom, as he himself bears witness, God had

99. Is 55.6–7.
100. Mt 9.6.
180 FULGENTIUS

shown the uncertain and hidden corners of his wisdom be-

fore he left this world, asks for the forgiveness of sins, saying,
“Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again, be-
fore I depart and am no more.”101 The blessed prophet
would not have carefully asked that the forgiveness of sins be
given him before the end of the present life, if he knew that
after this life either there would be penance for anyone or
that the forgiveness of sins would then be granted to those
doing penance by divine gift.
XXI. 1. Indeed, after this life, although there is a future
penance for the wicked, still no forgiveness of sins will be
granted them, but the penance itself will increase the pun-
ishment. It will contribute to the amassing of eternal torture;
where the hardness of the perverse heart, which before the
end of the present life will not have been forgotten by a salu-
tary confession, when he will be violently burned without
end by the avenging flames, he will be the more gravely pun-
ished by regret. For what is worse than to be so torn by a per-
petual regret about the past so that the regretful one can
never be freed from the torment of the crime committed?
Nor will this be considered in a person ending the present
life in his evil deeds, that, because his evil deeds seem fin-
ished, his torments should also be ended at some time; but
let the perversity of his evil will be noted which the evil per-
son loves and holds until the end of the present life, al-
though he unwillingly loses life itself which he lives very
badly.
2. The one who does not take care to change his bad will
before the end of the present life shows without a doubt that
he so loves his own wicked deeds that if he could live here
without end, he would wish to remain in his wicked deeds
without end. Wherefore no wicked person will be spared be-
cause he is unable to fulfill the desires of his evil will; rather,
he will be tormented without end because so long as he was
able to sin here, he did not stop sinning. And for this reason,
there will be no end to the punishment for the evil person

101. Ps 38.14 LXX; Ps 39.13.

 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 181

because before he ended the course of this life, he did not

put an end to his serious sins. Although he was unable to
prolong his evil life as much as he wished, whoever was un-
willing here to be converted while he lived, still he was able
to change for the better if he wished it, before he unwillingly
ended his evil life, to remain in the evils of Hell without end.
3. That they who end the present life in evil morals and
works will be tormented in eternal fire, is up to the justice of
the just judge, rendering to each one according to his works.
Nor is it an unjust reward by which it is brought about that
they never lack punishment, whose will in this life was not
willing to forego sin. Such people delight more in sinning
than in living; nor do they sin for this reason that they may
live forever, but rather they wish to live here forever so that
they may never cease sinning while they live.
4. But no one ends the present life safely unless, before
he finishes life, he abandons iniquity; lest he then wish use-
lessly to bemoan his crimes, when he will never be able to
avoid torments. Therefore, it is not pointless that in this pre-
sent world penance is enjoined on all, nor is conversion pro-
claimed in vain for this life. For here the penance of forgive-
ness finds fruit, if the sinner, while still alive here, puts aside
his affection for sinning. The merciful and just Lord has des-
ignated the time of the present world only for the blessing of
forgiveness; he is saving the future world for just retribution
in which each one will receive reward befitting the quality of
his faith and work, retribution that will never end.
XXII. 1. Henceforward, now let every wicked person with-
in the Church repudiate his evil way of life and hasten to
grasp the course of a good life so that he can attain eternal
life. Now let every impious person put away his wicked view
of the faith and not put off returning to the Church. Now let
everyone prepare himself to deserve to be on the right side,
if he does not wish to share the torments of those on the left
side. Now let him trod the path of justice that he may come
to the native country in which he will have eternal rest. Now
let everyone who angered God with his evil deeds, pass over
to a good life by which a kindly God is gained so that he may
182 FULGENTIUS

receive eternal life which God grants to the good without

end.
2. Let no one despair of the mercy of God, out of consid-
eration of the atrocious nature of any sin; nor still should
anyone remain in his sins on the pretext of hoping for the
mercy of God, but let the confidence of the person with
hope seek the harbor of penance without faltering in such a
way that the humility of the one with hope may drive away
the deadly shipwreck of despair. And may he so love God’s
mercy that, with fear, he also take into consideration his jus-
tice. Let him hope that everything can be forgiven him
when converted but let him think that nothing is forgiven to
the one who is stubborn. In this time, let the wicked person
change his life and he will not find punishment. Let him flee
guilt and he will receive mercy. For in this time, he receives
the blessing of forgiveness when also a change of reward ac-
companies a change of will. Now everyone who labors and is
burdened, let him come to be refreshed to God who calls;
now let him take upon himself the light yoke and light bur-
den of the Savior; now let him learn from him because he is
meek and humble of heart, if he desires to find rest for his
soul; now, turned away, let him hasten to conversion, now let
the wicked person depart from iniquity; wandering now, let
him return to the way.
3. Now let him who does not wish to suffer misery without
end seek the mercy of the Lord. Now let him who does not
wish eternal death seek eternal life. Now let him who does
not wish to be damned with eternal punishment hurry to
confess before the face of God. For now is the time when
doing penance bears fruit; now the forgiveness of sins is
granted to the one who does penance; now possession of the
Kingdom of Heaven in which one lives and rejoices without
end is not denied to the converted; where neither does
death take life away from the happy nor can sadness take
away happiness from the living. In whatever faith and works
the end of this life finds any human being, the reward which
will have no end will be given to him. Because just as every-
one who will not have been converted before the end of the
 ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 183

present life and ends in his sins, will not have peace in the
beyond, so everyone who in this time, obeying the divine
commandments, will have been converted from his sins, if
he will persevere to the end on the right path and a good
life within the Catholic Church, this person will be saved.
T O M O N I M US
 Introduction
This work too is the product of Fulgentius’s second exile in Sar-
dinia c. 517–23. While it is not ranked among the letters, it is not es-
sentially different in form from some of the later letters translated in
this volume, lengthy and devoted to doctrinal questions submitted by a
correspondent. Monimus is otherwise unknown.
The first and longest section defends the Augustinian view of pre-
destination. God predestines some to eternal blessedness, but he does
not predestine others to damnation, in the sense that he predestines
them to evil. The latter choose evil (or at least the lesser good) them-
selves, and God predestines them to punishment for their sins.
The second question reverts to the more familiar Trinitarian discus-
sion in the context of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic sacrifice is offered
to the Trinity, not to the Father alone as certain Arians argue. The
final and shortest book contests an Arian quibble over the Johannine
verse: “The Word was with God.” They claimed that what was ‘with’
God was not ‘in’ God, and, therefore, the Logos should not be held to
be fully divine.
This is the first translation of “To Monimus” into a modern lan-
guage.

PROLOGUE

g i v e t h a n k s to the Lord that you do not cease “to

bring forth good things” “out of the store of good-
ness”1 of your heart, “and an affable tongue, which
abounds in a good man,”2 conveys the purity of your heart.
Although this abounds in those to whom God grants a flow
of eloquence, still I do not believe that as much is expressed
in words as I know is contained in the depths of your heart.
Alight with the divine fire, you continuously suffer with us in
such a way that even those tribulations which, although they
happen to us, still, with the help of the Lord, have been
1. Mt 12.35.
2. Sir 6.5.

187
188 FULGENTIUS

overcome, you almost always suffer them for us in such a way

that, as often as you go back over these things in your heart,
so often are you in some way forced to suffer them. Behold
how much good charity has, behold how much praise it pos-
sesses before God and humankind, so that, while it is sad-
dened over what happened to the one it loves, more fre-
quently it endures even more by recollection. In addition,
there is this, that what charity itself was accustomed to
doing, you continuously do for us. But what else is this, ex-
cept that you are always praying for us to him in whom you
love us purely? For charity also intercedes on behalf of those
whom it loves, while also it fears those things which are free
from risk. But he feared, not with that fear which charity dri-
ves out, for “perfect love drives out fear,”3 but with that fear
which one was used to having, not for fear, but for love.
Therefore, he is afraid, not with a fear-filled fear, but with a
chaste fear. For he does not fear with a fear of sin but with
the strength of purity and firmness of virtue. Now you re-
quire of me a debt which, with the help of the Lord, I pledge
myself to repay quickly. I do not confess this debt as your Vir-
gil recalls about someone, that “he confessed it but denied
he could repay”;4 but I affirm that I owe in him, in whom I
do not deny that I am able to repay. I pledge myself to do so.
For he who gave me the ability to owe is the one who gives
me the means to repay. For unless we received from him, not
only would we be unable to repay, but not even to owe. For
what is it we owe each other except love? As the blessed Paul,
saying these things to the faithful, clearly shows: “Owe noth-
ing to anyone, except to love one another.”5 For who admits
a debt if he denies receiving? Just by the fact that we say we
owe, we immediately show that we have received. For the
blessed Apostle says, “What do you possess that you have not
received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as
if you did not receive it?”6
And in another place, he bears witness: “Because the love

3. 1 Jn 4.18. 4. Virgil Eclogues 3.24.

5. Rm 13.8. 6. 1 Cor 4.7.
 TO MONIMUS. PROLOGUE 189

of God has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”7 Therefore, he who
gave us what we owe by paying back will give us the ability to
be able to pay back what we owe. He who is the source of the
gift is the source of the debt. By his generosity he has
deigned to make himself a debtor, not because, in need, he
received something from someone, but because, out of his
abundance, he has given generously. Having put the half-
dead victim on his own mule and handing him over to the
inn-keeper to be cared for, leaving the two denarii, he pro-
fesses himself a debtor in such a way that he may say,” If you
spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on
my way back.”8 What does it mean “If you spend more” un-
less more than what you received from me? For he who
spent more, not because he received a commandment but
because he was giving an example of charity, professed that
he too had received mercy. For he says, “Now in regard to
virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give
my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.”9
So he won mercy, not only that he might receive what would
be asked, but also that he might ask for more. See how Our
Lord is—that by giving, he might owe, and the more he
gives, the more it does not displease him to be a debtor. To
the extent that he gives freely, to that extent is he a debtor.
No one can have him as a debtor, except for the fact that he
himself deigned by his free generosity to give. Therefore,
keep asking him, on my behalf, that he may grant me the
ability to repay the debt, he who gave that I might owe the
free servitude of charity to you in him.
In order that I might truly confess all to your heart, which
is my heart, since, just as from my own heart, I am unable to
conceal anything from your heart, this reasoning has
brought about in me a delay in repaying the debt. Since I
have been forced to respond to the foolishness of some
heretic who not only did not hesitate to assail my name with

7. Rm 5.5. 8. Lk 10.35.
9. 1 Cor 7.25.
190 FULGENTIUS

the reproach of the error of Photinus10 but also wanted to

turn against me even the words of Saints Augustine and
Jerome as contrary to my own profession. Now I have de-
ferred introducing his name into the letter, but, without a
doubt, you are able to remember it. For when you were
there at Carthage with us, his words were brought to me
and, if I remember well, also came to your attention; for with
you there, I could read nothing which I could not offer for
your perusal. Therefore, if the Lord wishes, I shall quickly
send these same booklets to your charity. And I do not doubt
that you will deign to bear patiently my tardiness in the mat-
ter of your debt. Since I know how much you enjoy or how
much you yourself always urge us, so that, with the help of
the Lord, it does not irk you for us to reply to heretics.

BOOK I

y d e a r s o n , Monimus, your letter shows the de-

lightful sincerity of your spirit and the laudable ardor
of your spiritual zeal as much as it seems to condemn
with complaining kindness the lateness of our re-
sponse. As if because of this, I appear to love you less than I
ought because I did not make efforts to respond to your
questions rapidly.
2. But believe me that as in the charity of Christ, I in no
way hold your person as unimportant in my heart, so also my
reply was delayed not by my will but by a variety of concerns.
On the contrary, among the concerns which I am unwilling-
ly compelled to put up with, I praise your zeal as much as I
delight in your charity.
3. For this reason, embracing the holy proposal of your
eagerness all the more because like a truly spiritual trader,
seeking the profits of the inner person and desiring to in-
crease more and more the income of the heavenly rewards,
10. The heretic here is unknown. On Photinus, see letter 8, n. 56.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 191

the first debt you are pressing me for, constantly you amass
with questions as interest, in order that our unavoidable tar-
diness may serve the increase of your profits.
4. Hence, I trust that in the mercy of our God, by which, if
there is anything in the work of this investigation and discus-
sion that is not granted to me for my own merits, it will be
granted to me on behalf of your desire. Nor will God in any
way permit your question to be defrauded of the effect of a
solution, he who set you afire spiritually to seek, since the
faithful promise will never be made void by him who says,
“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and
the door will be opened to you.”11
5. The master within, therefore, from whom we receive
the help of heavenly teaching, not only opens the secrets of
his words to us who seek, but, in order that we may seek, he
freely inspires the desire. Because we are unable to hunger
for that bread “which comes down from heaven”12 unless the
appetite be given to those who are not hungry by him who
deigns to give himself to satisfy the hungry.
6. It is also given to us that, thirsting, we run to the foun-
tain by him who gives himself that we may drink. Therefore,
he must be praised in the grace of each gift whether when
he awakens us from sleep to seek him or when he gives him-
self to be found by us who seek. He is never found unless he
himself bestirs us to seek him.
II. 1. Going over your writings as my documents to learn
from them for how many and for which questions I was in
debt to you, I was able to discover two letters that were rele-
vant. One, containing the words of St. Augustine, which he is
known to have written among other things in the book, On
the Perfection of Justice, concerning those who are predestined
to death. The other question I seem to have found is imme-
diately attached to it, i.e., “Concerning the sacrifice which
certain ones think is offered only to the Father.” In the
other letter, I found the subject of esquire stated: “What is it

11. Lk 11.19.
12. Jn 6.33.
192 FULGENTIUS

that the Apostle will be able to pay in addition to the two

denarii he received?”
2. When I found only these two letters, I immediately also
remembered a third which was not offered to me by the sec-
retary. This was the one containing the question on the Holy
Spirit, “Why is the Father asked to send someone to conse-
crate the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord?”
These are four questions: three are from your two letters;
the fourth I remembered when my memory recalled it.
3. But if perchance there are others which you have sent
us for solution and you do not find them either mentioned
or resolved in this work, I ask that you do not ascribe it to
contempt or distaste but that you patiently attribute it to for-
getfulness, especially since I was unable to pass over in si-
lence the one on the Holy Spirit which I recalled (even in a
letter not found). But because you have doubtless remem-
bered all (if perchance there are some), let it not be trouble-
some for you that, if you write back, I will remember. And I
hope that insofar as the Lord helps, our answer will follow, if
it is sustained by the assistance of your prayer preceding.
III. 1. Seeking an understanding of the first question in
the name of him concerning whom it has been written that
“the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge
and understanding,”13 I have thought it more fitting and eas-
ier that I consider your own words as well as those of the
blessed Augustine which you have in your letter, so that,
when these have been reread, the purpose as well as the so-
lution of the question may be recognized more easily.
2. While I was reading, you say, the book on the perfec-
tion of human justice, rereading the testimony of the
prophet in order, after a wary hearing, slowly and carefully I
thought over the text where it is said, “There is no one who
does good, no, not one.”14 And without any cloud, without
any hesitation, the most true interpreter himself declared
that such a type of human beings that does not do good has
been predestined to death.
13. Prov 2.6.
14. Ps 13.3 LXX; Ps 14.3.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 193

3. And in order that your words be supported by the pro-

nouncement of the aforesaid-holy man, you added the same
words which were spoken by the blessed Augustine: “For,”
you say, “the same most glorious Augustine says, ‘For we
must suppose the Psalmist here to mean that ‘good’ which
he describes in the context, saying, ‘God looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God.’15 Such good then as this,
seeking after God, there was not a man found who pursued
it, no, not one; but this was in that class of men which is pre-
destined to destruction. It was upon such that God looked
down in his foreknowledge and passed sentence.’”16
4. Ending your citation from St. Augustine here and di-
recting the attention of your letter to me, you say that I al-
ready knew why you are again urging these views, namely,
very often you had urged upon me who resisted that predes-
tination be spoken of in the case not only of the good but
also in the case of the evil, while you said that you opted for
predestination in the case of the evil, while I, when teaching,
had always said that another predestination could be spoken
of, to punishment owed but not to doing evil. You too con-
firm this, as you wrote.
5. You assert that you do not know what I will answer here
to maintain my view that, except for death, destruction is
not being spoken of here. And you add that in the mean-
time you have read this and have declared that these people
are predestined to destruction as well. Then you admonish
me to consider the words of this text and, as a teacher of my
disciples and not as a champion of my own ideas, to bring
you to a knowledge of what is to follow.
IV. 1. My dear friend, insofar as the Lord grants free
grace, I am able to recognize the measure of my own little-
ness. Placed in his school, under the one Lord and Master, I
do not aspire to be called the master or teacher of my broth-
ers. In truth, I always desire to be their fellow disciple.
15. Ps 13.2 LXX; Ps 14.2.
16. Augustine De perfectione iustitiae hominis XIII.311. CSEL 42.32. English
translation, NPNF, ser. 1, 5.170.
194 FULGENTIUS

2. So, I do not cease to ask this of that true Lord and Mas-
ter of ours that he may deign to teach me either through the
words of his Scriptures or through the conversations of my
brothers and fellow students or also through the interior
and sweeter teaching of his inspiration (where without the
sounds of words and without written letters, the truth is spo-
ken more sweetly as well as more secretly) teach me those
things, which I shall propose and assert in such a way that in
my own propositions and assertions, I shall always adhere to
the truth (which does not deceive and is not deceived), and
I shall always be obedient and agreeable to it.
3. In order that I may be able to obey and agree with the
truth, the Truth itself illuminates me, it assists, it confirms; I
ask that it, from which I have received the few things I do
know, teach me many more things which I do not know. I ask
that, with mercy preceding and following, it may teach me
whatever I do not know but should know for my salvation. In
those things which I know are true, may it preserve me; in
the things which as a human being I am mistaken, may it
correct me; in those true things about which I am uncertain,
may it confirm me. May it snatch me away from the false and
the harmful, so that in my thoughts and words it may find
what it gives for salvation. May it bring forth from my mouth
those things which are from the start pleasing in his sight
and that, as such, they be accepted by all the faithful.
V. 1. To the extent, therefore, with Truth itself (which is
the true light) “lighting up my darkness”17 in the study of
this question, the ability to understand has been to this
point granted to me, I think that in these words of St. Augus-
tine, nothing else is to be accepted, except that he confirms
that certain ones are predestined to destruction but to the
destruction of punishment, not of sin; not to evil, which they
unjustly admit, but to suffering which they will most justly
suffer; not to sin, whereby they either do not accept or lose
the benefit of the first resurrection but to torment which
their own wickedness evilly bears for them and divine justice

17. Ps 17.29 LXX; Ps 18.28.

 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 195

gives as a good reward; not to the first death of the soul in

which children are born or into which (as blessed James
says) the sinful fall back (“lured and enticed by his own de-
sire”18) but to the second death which they must suffer, with
the most just judge exacting retribution or those who, be-
fore they have received the grace of baptism, pass from this
world or those who, “receive the grace of God in vain”19 after
receiving baptism, prefer to be slaves of sin until the end of
this present life and do not wish while it is the acceptable
time and the day of salvation to be converted from their evil
path that they may live. Unaware that God’s kindness is lead-
ing them to penance, they, according to their hard and im-
penitent heart, are storing up for themselves wrath on the
day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of
God.
2. Concerning that death which sinners with their hands
and words have been inviting for themselves and thinking it
friendly, have fallen away, it is said: “Do not invite death by
the error of your life or bring on destruction by the works of
your hands; because God did not make death and he does
not delight in the death of the living.”20
3. And in another place, it is said of this death: “Through
the Devil’s envy, death entered the world and those who be-
long to his company, experience it.”21 And that we may know
that this death is foreign to the work and predestination of
God, God himself speaks through the prophet: “Repent and
turn away from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity
will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions
that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a
new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Is-
rael? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone (says the
Lord God). Turn, then, and live.”22 This is the death of impi-
ety, which God did not make, which came into the world
through the Devil. In this they who are of his company imi-
tate him.
18. Jas 1.14. 19. 2 Cor 6.1.
20. Wis 1.12–13. 21. Wis 2.24.
22. Ez 18.30–32.
196 FULGENTIUS

VI. 1. To this one death, which the sinner has invited for
himself through the contempt of the divine command by
unjustly lusting, God, by justly judging, has added a double
death, i.e., the first death consisting in the separation of soul
and body, the second, in the eternal torment of soul and
body.
2. And through this the first death by which, with the de-
parture of the soul, the flesh alone dies; but the second
when the soul returning to the flesh is tortured in the same
and with the same flesh in which it sinned. With the one it
communicated the death of sin which the goodness of God
forbade to the human race, with the same it communicated
the death of punishment which divine justice prepared for
the sinner.
3. Concerning this death, our Savior says, “And do not be
afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and
body in Gehenna.”23 Because the evil perish before Gehen-
na, it is not a divine but a human work. That they are to per-
ish in Gehenna, the justice of God brings this about—God
for whom no wickedness of the sinner is pleasing. “He who
loves wickedness, hates his own soul.”24 And John says that:
“Everyone who commits sin, commits lawlessness, for sin is
lawlessness.”25 And through the prophet, God says that “the
soul which sins will die.”26 Concerning the Son of God, John
says, “You know that he was revealed to take away sins and in
him there is no sin.”27
4. Just as there is no sin in him, so there is no sin from
him. And because it is not from him, it is not his work. And
what is never in his work was never in his predestination.
VII. 1. Thus the evil are not predestined to that which
they do that is evil, “lured and enticed by their own desire,”28
but to what they justly suffer unwilling. By the name of pre-
destination is not expressed some forced necessity of the

23. Mt 10.28. 24. Ps 10.6 LXX; Ps 11.5.

25. 1 Jn 3.4. 26. Ez 18.4.
27. 1 Jn 3.5. 28. Jas 1.14.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 197

human will but the merciful and just eternal order of God’s
future work is proclaimed. The Church sings to God of
“mercy and judgment”29 of whom this work is in humankind
so that by his hidden will, but not by unjust decision, either
he gives in advance free mercy to the wretched or he renders
due judgment to the unjust.
2. Indeed, either may he mercifully give to the debtor
what he could demand if he willed justly or demand justly
with interest what is his and render to the wicked debtor
what is owed to his evil deeds. And so, may his mercy go be-
fore the unworthy one or find him worthy of wrath. For he
gives grace freely to the unworthy. By it, the justified impious
person is enlightened by the gift of a good will and with the
ability to do good so that, with mercy going on before, he
may begin to will the good and, with mercy following after,
he may be able to carry out what he wills. By predestining,
God has prepared each one in that unchangeable will in
which he has set in order the future effect of renewing the
person so that his will cannot be new in a new work.
VIII. 1. He also gives grace to the worthy in the distribu-
tion of eternal rewards so that whether, when the just one pi-
ously justifies the impious because the Apostle says of him
“. . . that he might be righteous and justify the one who has
faith in Jesus,”30 or, when the pious justly glorifies the just
one, “and those he justified he also glorified,”31 it is the same
working of grace which both initiates a person’s good merit
to justice and consummates it to glory. First, initiating the
good will in a person, then helping the same will now begun
so that the same will both may be good by divine gift and
can overcome evil concupiscence by divine assistance and,
with God perfecting it, the very same will is later such that it
cannot have evil concupiscence.
2. And so in the present life, with the help of grace, it
does not give in to weakness, and in the future life, by the
blessing of grace, it does not have weakness. And now, let it

29. Ps 100.1 LXX; Ps 101.1. 30. Rm 3.26.

31. Rm 8.30.
198 FULGENTIUS

be re-created by the ongoing assistance of medicine; then,

let it enjoy the eternal fulness of health. God does these
things just as he always had in predestination, then he does
by grace just as he had predestined. Therefore, the acknowl-
edgment of predestination itself is made known when Scrip-
ture says, “And the will is prepared by the Lord.”32
3. It is not said to be “prepared” for any other reason ex-
cept it is said beforehand that it is to be given. “It is pre-
pared” by him through eternal goodness; it is given by the
same through undeserved grace. As the Lord himself bears
witness in the prophecy of Ezechiel, saying, “A new heart I
will give you and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will
remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and make you
follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordi-
nances.”33 Therefore, God gives a new heart so that we may
walk in his justifications which pertain to the beginning of a
good will. He also gives that we may observe and do his judg-
ments which pertain to the doing of good works.
IX. 1. Hence we know both the will to do good and the
ability to do good come from God. David agrees completely
with this, showing that by the command of divine generosity
the grace of a good will is granted: “Our steps are made firm
by the Lord when he delights in our way.”34 We have no good
works in us unless they come from God, and we bear witness
that it is done in God, saying, “Show your strength, O God,
as you have done for us before.”35 And in another place:
“With God we shall do valiantly,”36 i.e., the work of virtue. So
here in the place of the work of virtue, he said “virtue” just
as John, for the work of justice, spoke of doing justice. For
he says, “The person who acts in righteousness is right-
eous.”37 Paul also wants us to do the will of God, saying, “May
the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great
shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant,

32. Prov 8.35. 33. Ez 36.26–27.

34. Ps 36.23 LXX; Ps 37.23. 35. Ps 67.29 LXX; Ps 68.28.
36. Ps 59.14 LXX; Ps 60.12. 37. 1 Jn 3.7.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 199

Jesus our Lord, furnish you with all that is good, that you
may do his will.”38
2. What is doing his will except to do the works which he
inspires in us and which his will works in us? This is what we
also find in the words of our Redeemer himself when, for
the work of the Truth, he speaks of the truth being done.
He says the following: “For everyone who does wicked things
hates the light and does not come toward the light so that
his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth
comes to the light, so that works may be clearly seen as done
in God.”39
But we do this in God because it is given to us to do it
when God is in us doing it. This is clearly shown in the letter
to the Hebrews where, when it is said of God: “May he fur-
nish you with all that is good that you may do his will.” There
immediately follows: “May he carry out in you what is pleas-
ing to him.”40 Therefore, every work which is done by us in
God, God does in us. “For from him and through him and
for him are all things.”41 From him come both good will and
good works. The teacher of the nations affirms this with
these words: “For God is the one who, for his good purpose,
works in you both to desire and to work.”42
3. So, just as Solomon says, “The will is prepared by the
Lord,”43 Paul also asserts that our good works have been pre-
pared by the Lord, i.e., set in order in predestination. There-
fore, he says, “For by his grace you have been saved through
faith and this is not from you; it is the gift of God. It is not
from works so that no one may boast. For we are his handi-
work, created in Christ Jesus, for the good works that God
has prepared in advance, that we should walk in them.”44 Just
as the will by which we will the good has been prepared by
God through predestination, so also God has prepared good
works that we may walk in them.

38. Heb 13.20–21. 39. Jn 3.20–21.

40. Heb 13.21. 41. Rm 11.36.
42. Phil 2.13. 43. Prov 8.35.
44. Eph 2.8–10.
200 FULGENTIUS

X. 1. Let us also pay attention to eternal life and the king-

dom of heaven prepared by God for the faithful. Christ him-
self showed that he would say to those on his right, “Come,
you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom pre-
pared for you from the foundation of the world.”45 But this
too is the work of grace. For from grace is given not only a
good life to the justified but also eternal life to the glorified.
We consider this as proved by the statement of Paul when he
says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”46
2. But why is death called “wages” and eternal life, on the
other hand, grace, except that the first is paid and the sec-
ond given? But when God pays it, he punishes the evil deeds
of the human sinner, which the human being would never
have done, had he not departed from God.
3. When God gives eternal life, the work which he had
begun by justifying the impious, he now completes by glori-
fying the just person. Each of these graces, i.e., both a good
life and eternal life are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. “From his
fulness we have all received,” indeed, “grace in place of
grace,”47 i.e., the grace of eternal glorification for the grace
of unowed justification so that the grace of justification de-
stroys all evil merit by unowed blessing and confirms the
good merit by continuous assistance to which the grace of
glorification is justly rendered in reward.
4. Grace itself, therefore, is not unjustly so named, be-
cause not only does God crown his gifts with his gifts but also
because the grace of divine reward so abounds there that it
incomparably and ineffably exceeds all merit, human will,
and work, however good and given by God. Although Paul
shows that not only the light for believing in Christ but also
the strength to suffer for him is given to us by God when he
says, “For to you has been granted for the sake of Christ, not
only to believe in him but also to suffer for him,”48 because
each pertains to the grace of the present good life, still he

45. Mt 25.34. 46. Rm 6.23.

47. Jn 1.16. 48. Phil 1.29.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 201

places that grace of the future life ahead of all the sufferings
of the present time, saying, “. . . the sufferings of this present
time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed
for us.”49 And in another place: “For this momentary light af-
fliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory be-
yond all comparison.”50
XI. 1. He says that the grace remains not only in the justi-
fication of the present life but also in the reward of the life
to come, and he asserts that in the goodness of God it
abounds in us, i.e., over all the good merits of any human
being, saying, “. . . that in the ages to come he might show
the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in
Christ Jesus.”51 Grace, therefore, is a pious remuneration by
which God in the present time gives good things to evil peo-
ple, to those whom he justifies who were unholy that their
faith might be considered as justice. Concerning this remu-
neration David says, “What shall I return to the Lord for all
his bounty to me?”52
2. Grace is also that just remuneration by which, giving
better things to his good people, God is going to glorify the
just. And this will be the work of grace. That they may merit
this, by coming first, it begins mercifully; but coming after-
wards, it guards it. In the Scriptures this grace is also called
mercy. Concerning this, David says, “My God in his steadfast
love will meet me.”53 And in another place: “Surely goodness
and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”54
3. He has gone before the sinner that he may become
just; he has followed after the just person lest he become im-
pious again. He has gone before the blind man that he may
give him the light he did not find; he has come after the per-
son who can see that he may preserve the light which he
brought. He has gone before the broken person that he may
rise; he has come after the raised person lest he fall. He has
gone before, giving the human being a good will; he has

49. Rm 8.18. 50. 2 Cor 4.17.

51. Eph 2.7. 52. Ps 115.12 LXX; Ps 116.12.
53. Ps 58.11 LXX; Ps 59.10. 54. Ps 22.6 LXX; Ps 23.6.
202 FULGENTIUS

come after the person who wills the right thing, accomplish-
ing in him the ability to do good works. This mercy of God
in humankind comes after that which, in going before, it
granted. And therefore not only does it recall the wanderer
to the right path by justifying him but also guards the one
walking correctly and gives him help in order that he may at-
tain the gift of eternal glorification.
4. All of these things, i.e., both the beginnings of our call
and the increase of justification and the rewards of glorifica-
tion, God has always had in predestination; because both in
the call and in the justification and in the glorification of
the saints, he foreknew the future works of his grace. The
Apostle attributes all of this to God, saying, “For those he
foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image
of his Son, so that he might be the first-born among many
brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those
he called, he also justified; and those he justified he also glo-
rified.”55
5. Nevertheless, when we hear at the same time of the jus-
tified and the glorified, let us not assign both the work of
justification and glorification to the same moment in the
present time. For the grace of justification is given in the
present time but the grace of glorification is saved as a fu-
ture grace. The one is of faith, the other of sight. Paul says
that now “we walk by faith, not by sight.”56
What the saints believe now, then they will see. For this
reason it is said to the Church: “Hear, daughter, and see.”
Since faith comes from hearing, the just man living by faith
says with trusting faith, “I believe that I shall see the good
things of the Lord in the land of the living.”57 This, there-
fore, is the order of divine redemption and reward in hu-
mankind so that, having been justified, he believes now
what, having been glorified, he will receive then. For this
reason, Paul says, “It is not that I have already taken hold of
it or have already attained perfect maturity. . . .”58

55. Rm 8.29–30. 56. 2 Cor 5.7.

57. Ps 26.3 LXX; Ps 27.3. 58. Phil 3.12.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 203

XII. 1. Therefore, in this justification, the saints “go out

weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,” but in that glorifica-
tion, they “shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their
sheaves.”59 In the former, the householder’s workers are at
work in the vineyard; but in the latter, the workers will no
doubt take possession of the denarius as their reward. God
now gives the former so that the unworthy one may now
freely receive the beginning of good merit; he keeps the lat-
ter set aside for the future by which the worthy one who re-
ceived the beginning of good merit when he was unworthy is
able to receive worthily the reward of good merit. Therefore,
when Paul says that “those he justified, he also glorified,”60
he does not assign both to the present life but by that faith
he affirms that which is to be as it were already done, by
which faith, the prophet says of God: “Who has made the
things that are to be.”61
2. In the immutability of his plan, “. . . in accord with his
favor that he set forth in him, as a plan for the fulness of
time, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on
earth,”62 in him from the eternity of his plan, he has already
done in predestination whatever he planned to be done at
the fitting time by the carrying out of his work.
3. For just as every work of the Creator could not be with-
out a beginning nor could come into being, so that eternal
will of his is never subject to change because it does not have
a beginning of existence. What has always existed in such a
way that it never began to exist is doubtless this way so that
what it is, it cannot not be. Therefore, true immutability is
worthily called true eternity. In that eternity of his un-
changeable will, the Creator is said to have already done
what in a mutable creature, to the extent that he had
arranged that it is to be done at the proper moment, he thus
causes to be properly arranged.
4. And therefore whatever he has promised, we say is al-
ready done because we must not doubt about what must

59. Ps 125.6 LXX; Ps 126.6. 60. Rm 8.30.

61. Is 45.11. 62. Eph 1.9–10.
204 FULGENTIUS

come to be. For Abraham our father (as the Apostle says)
“did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief; later he was em-
powered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully con-
vinced that what he had promised he was also able to do.”63
Therefore, there is no falseness in God’s promises because
for the all-powerful there is no problem about doing things.
And so the effects of the will are never lacking because the
will itself is nothing other than power. Whatever he wills, he
can do; he can do as much as he wishes.
5. So it is rightly said of him alone: “He does whatever he
pleases.”64 And again: “For you have power to act whenever
you choose.”65 So we have said that there is as much power of
will there as there is will itself for the power. Since for the
one to whom it is subject, when he shall will, he can, willing
being nothing other than power.
XIII. 1. Because God is compelled by no necessity to
promise something against his will, he is not impeded by any
obstacle or adversity so that he end by doing less than he
promised or doing it later. Accordingly, he was able, as he
willed, to predestine certain ones to glory, certain others to
punishment. But those he predestined to glory, he predes-
tined to justice. But those he predestined to punishment, he
did not predestine to guilt. A sin could be from God’s pre-
destination if it were possible for anyone to sin justly. But no
one sins justly, although God justly permits him to sin. Justly
is he who deserts God deserted by God. And because a per-
son deserting God sins, God preserves justice by deserting
the sinner. What is more just than that he who because of a
desire to sin now sins, because desiring to sin, he does harm
to himself, he is permitted to do injury to himself by his sin?
2. Therefore, in the saints, God crowns the justice which
he has freely given them, freely preserved for them, and
freely perfected in them. The wicked, however, he will con-
demn for their impiety or injustice, which he did not work in
them. For in the former, he glorifies his own works; in the

63. Rm 4.20–21. 64. Ps 113.11 LXX; Ps 115.3.

65. Wis 12.18.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 205

latter, he condemns works that are not his own. Therefore,

God has predestined this, that which he himself was going to
do or that which he was going to bestow. But he has never
predestined what he himself was not going to do either
through grace or through justice. Accordingly, it seems that
what God accomplishes in those in whom he works, whom
he freely justifies, must be sought most diligently; and what
in the others whom he justly condemns.
3. For the outstanding teacher of the nations says, “But if
our wickedness provides proof of God’s righteousness, what
can we say? Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his
wrath? Of course not!”66
He, however, has substituted wrath for condemnation,
just as John the Baptist says elsewhere, “. . . But whoever
does not believe in the Son, will not see life, but the wrath of
God remains upon him.”67 He makes this wrath known to
the Pharisees and Sadduccees, with a rebuke, saying, “You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?”68 The Lord Christ has snatched us from this wrath as
Paul has assured us with his truthful proclamation, saying to
the Thessalonians, “. . . how you turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God and to await his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who has deliv-
ered us from the coming wrath.”69 This wrath, i.e., punish-
ment, which has been prepared for the evil, in another place
he calls destruction, saying, “When people are saying ‘Peace
and Security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them, like
labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they will not es-
cape.”70
XIV. 1. Let us enquire whether God must be believed to
have predestined the works of the wicked for which he con-
demns them just as he is said to have predestined what he
crowns in the saints? When we enquire about the cause of
the condemnation of the wicked and of the glorification of

66. Rm 3.5–6. 67. Jn 3.36.

68. Mt 3.7. 69. 1 Thes 1.9–10.
70. 1 Thes 5.3.
206 FULGENTIUS

the saints, we do not deny that the former are predestined to

punishment or the latter to glory. But whether, just as the
good works for which the just will be glorified are believed
to be divinely predestined, must the evil works for which the
unjust will be punished forever, be believed to be divinely
predestined? For it is said in the book of the psalms: “The
unjust will be punished and the seed of the impious will per-
ish, but the salvation of the just is from the Lord.”71 Con-
cerning both, our Savior also says, “And those will go off to
eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life.”72
2. In both, therefore, i.e., in the just and the unjust, I
think that there are three things which must be considered:
the beginning, the will; the unfolding, the work; the end, re-
ward or punishment. That we may attribute to the just and
good God whatever we see in them as just and good; we
know that those things in which we find neither goodness
nor justice are unworthy of God. And having considered the
quality of works, we believe those things which are found to
be worthy of and befitting the divine mercy or justice are
predestined by God, “the gracious, merciful and righteous
Lord.”73
3. And first we confess that the beginning of the whole of
a good will is predestined and given by that eternal Trinity
which is the one, sole, and true God. With a free justifica-
tion, he has given this prepared to humankind, that which
he had prepared to be given in eternal predestination. I
have shown this preparation of the will above, by the testi-
mony of Holy Scripture, where it is said: “The will is pre-
pared by the Lord.”
4. Therefore, the will is prepared by him who mercifully
accomplishes in us both the willing and the completion. For
the Apostle says, “For God is the one who, for his good pur-
pose, works in you both to desire and to work.”74 God, speak-
ing through the prophet, confirms that it is he who empow-
ers the faithful to do what they do, according to that oracle

71. Ps 36.28 LXX; Ps 37.28. 72. Mt 25.46.

73. Ps 111.4 LXX; Ps 112.4. 74. Phil 2.13.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 207

which has been cited by us above, where he says, “[I will]

make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my or-
dinances.”75 But what is “I will make you follow. . . .” except:
all the good you will do is my doing. So he does that we may
do. With him at work in us, every good thing we do comes
about. Concerning this it is said in Hebrews: “[May he] fur-
nish you with all that is good. . . . May he carry out in you
what is pleasing to him.”76
5. Since it has now been demonstrated that the grace of
God is at work in the good will and work of a human being,
who would argue that the glory of future reward as well,
which will be given to the saints, is not of divine grace? Since
whether believing or doing, although the faith is ours and
the works are ours, just as the Lord himself says, “Let it be
done to you according to your faith.” And blessed John pro-
claims, “And the victory that conquers the world is our
faith.”77 Paul also writes as follows: “I give thanks to my God
through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is her-
alded throughout the world.”78 Our Lord himself testifies
that the works are ours, saying, “Just so, your light must
shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your heavenly Father.”79 Still, these things when we
have them, we do not have them as originating in ourselves
but as given by God, as the Apostle says, “We have not re-
ceived the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God,
so that we may understand the things freely given us by
God.”80 As for whatever he gives us to do, just as we cannot
possess anything unless he gives it to us, so we cannot do it,
unless he himself does in us what he has granted.
XV. 1. We are in no way permitted, indeed, in a salutary
way, we are forbidden, as much in our faith as in our works,
to claim anything for ourselves as if it were our own. For
the vessel of election says, “What do you possess that you
have not received? But if you have received it, why are you

75. Ez 36.27. 76. Heb 13.21.

77. 1 Jn 5.4. 78. Rm 1.8.
79. Mt 5.16. 80. 1 Cor 2.12.
208 FULGENTIUS

boasting as if you did not receive it?”81 And in the holy

Gospel, the word of the Lord’s precursor is “No one can re-
ceive anything except what has been given him from heav-
en.”82 James the Apostle testifies, “All good giving and every
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights. . . .”83
2. What is there that is a more perfect gift than the future
glorification of the saints? For this is not yet the moment of
the final perfection of the divine gifts (so to speak) since
every perfect person is in need of perfecting. For he who
said, “Let us then who are ‘perfectly mature’ adopt this atti-
tude”84 is the same one who said, “It is not that I have already
taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity.”85
So he was perfected in the hope of future glorification but
was imperfect with the weight of corruption and mortality.
“For a perishable body weighs down the soul and this earthly
tent burdens the thoughtful mind.”86
3. He was perfect in the awaiting of the gift; he was imper-
fect in the weariness of the struggle. He was perfect in that
he served the Law of God in his mind; he was imperfect be-
cause he served the law of sin in the flesh. He was perfect
“longing to depart this life and be with Christ,”87 but he was
imperfect because as long as he was in the body, he was away
from the Lord. He was perfect “fully convinced that what
(God) promised, he was also able to do;”88 but he was imper-
fect because God has not yet done in his saints certain things
of all the things which he has promised. For this reason,
even all the just people of old (just as the same Apostle says)
“though approved because of their faith, did not receive
what had been promised. God had foreseen something bet-
ter for us, so that without us they should not be made per-
fect.”89
4. Therefore, just as the earlier saints, though approved

81. 1 Cor 4.7. 82. Jn 3.27.

83. Jas 1.17. 84. Phil 3.15.
85. Phil 3.12. 86. Wis 9.15.
87. Phil 1.23. 88. Rm 4.21.
89. Heb 11.39–40.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 209

by the testimony of their faith, were not perfected without

the perfecting of those who came after, likewise the saints
who came after cannot be perfected without those who went
before. Therefore, the gift of perfection will be given to all
when the eternal glorification will be given to the saints.
Then as the Truth states: “The righteous will shine like the
sun in the kingdom of their Father.”90 This gift of perfecting
too comes from him from whom is the beginning of the
total gift. So it would not be called a gift, if this too were not
given by grace.
XVI. 1. For it is the one God who freely both calls the pre-
destined and justifies those called and glorifies those justi-
fied. Just as “to justify” is nothing other than to make just, so
“to glorify” is nothing other than to make glorious. Accord-
ingly, because God both justifies and glorifies his own, just as
it is the work of his grace when he makes people just, so it
will be the work of his grace when he will make them glori-
ous. Just as no one can have true justice unless he be justi-
fied, so no one can have true glory unless he be glorified.
2. Where true glory comes from, our Savior shows when
he reproves the Jews, saying, “How can you believe, when
you accept praise from one another and do not seek the
glory that comes from the only God?”91 Paul, having this
mind and saying truly, “But we have the mind of Christ,”92 as
he knew true glory is from God, so he confirms that true jus-
tice is from God, saying, “That [I may] be found in him, not
having any righteousness of my own based on the Law but
that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness
from God, depending on faith. . . .”93
3. And although many examples abound by which it is
clear that not only the grace of a good will and good works
but also the very glorification of the saints are both indeed
begun and brought to perfection by God, still I think that
those which have been cited by us are enough in any event.
XVII. 1. And so, in order that these pages not go on in-

90. Mt 13.43. 91. Jn 5.44.

92. 1 Cor 2.16. 93. Phil 3.9.
210 FULGENTIUS

definitely, we must also consider the will, deeds, and reward

of the wicked. We need to find out whether a just God has
predestined the evil to do that which he is going to punish
them for doing. Whether for that reason he justly predes-
tined the wicked to punishment because he foreknew their
evil works, albeit future ones, still he did not predestine that
they come to be in the future, because he did not cause
them to come into being. So, if an origin of sin is being
sought, nothing other than pride is found. For Scripture
says, “Pride is the beginning of all sin.”94
2. This had its beginning when the angel rose up against
God. Cast down by that rising and wishing through concu-
piscence (which is the root of all evils) to usurp what was not
given him by God, he departed from God and fell. If he had
stood firm in him, he would not have fallen. But because of
evil concupiscence, by which he lusted to go beyond himself,
he became less in himself. Although he was unable to fulfill
this concupiscence in deed, still he retained it in his will.
3. Thus he became a punishment unto himself so that a
bad will is always a punishment for the wicked person, just as
blindness is for the blind person. And a lust for sinning be-
came a torment for the sinner and the rebel. The runaway
who flees that undisturbable rest in turn is enslaved to disor-
der and is justly abandoned by a good Lord whom he aban-
doned unjustly. Thus it came about that in a persistent disor-
der of his own making, he would be re-ordered toward
himself and in him who lost order in himself, the plan of di-
vine order would not perish. And this is what happened in
the human being whom the Devil himself cast down by ser-
pentine cunning. Disobeying the good Lord and consenting
to the evil servant, he was unable to attain to the full effect
of the evil will because the wickedness itself of the will was
not from God. For he would not have had this, if he had not
deserted God.
XVIII. 1. Therefore, the good God is the founder of good
natures. For “God saw” (as it is written) “everything that he

94. Sir 10.13.

 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 211
made and it was very good.”95 In all that he had made, he
made the rational creature better than the rest. So he want-
ed the greater good to be in the more powerful creature so
that no evil would be in the substance of even the least crea-
ture. And for this reason, the better-created good would be
superior to the least good, over which the highest good
(which is not created and by which every changeable good
has been created) would justly dominate.
2. By participating in this, it would be blessed, if with
humble love, it would serve the highest good. There could
not be nor can there be nor will there ever be able to be any
other blessedness for the rational creature unless by ac-
knowledging not only the one by whom it was made but also
the one by whom it was made rational, it shows greater love
for the good Creator than for itself. Nor could there be any
reason in it, unless there could be love of the Creator in it
because there is nothing else which is the true wisdom or
understanding of the rational creature, except the love of
the Creator. In the creature, love of the Creator is inversely
proportional to love of self.
3. The will of the rational creature cannot be without
some kind of love; nor can it love itself in such a way that it
does not wish its love to be anchored to something. The
creature has been placed in a middle position between the
highest good, by whom it was created, and the least good,
over which it is set. Assuredly, then, it is necessary either that
it lie miserably in the least good or truly and happily rest in
the highest good. When swept away by a certain love, either
it is lifted up by obedience and well subjected to the good
Creator, or it is pressed down by pride so that it evilly domi-
nates over the good creature. For just as it is laid low by
pride, so it is raised on high by humility.
4. Our Lord and Master says, “For everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted.”96 For this reason, it is likewise written: “God

95. Gen 1.31.

96. Lk 14.11.
212 FULGENTIUS

resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”97 God does
not find the humble to whom he gives grace humble before
the grace was given; but, by giving the grace, he makes them
humble. God gives this through grace, so that anyone who
accepts it becomes humble. Wherefore the only-begotten
teacher and giver of holy humility himself says, “Learn from
me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find
rest for yourselves.”98
5. They have lost this rest who, having rejected humility,
have become inflated with pride against their own life and
have fallen into death through pride. Concerning such peo-
ple, it has been said: “You made them fall to ruin.”99 For God
resists such people because he did not bring about the pride
in them, through which they justly deserve to remain in sin.
XIX. 1. Accordingly, because pride is the beginning of an
evil will which is not from God, it is perfectly clear that the
destruction for persons resulting from evil works is not from
God, but the destruction of retribution is payment from the
just judge for the evil. The evil will does not belong to the
best Creator but a just condemnation of the unjust angel
and human being does belong to the most just knower.
Therefore, God did not predestine the man to an evil will
because he was not the one who was going to give it to the
human being. For how could God predestine the human
being whom he had made in his image to an evil will which
he did not make?
2. Therefore, the human being began to sin in the matter
by which he departed from God. For it is written that “the
beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord.”100 And in
another place: “Indeed those who are far from you will per-
ish; you put an end to those who are false to you.”101 There-
fore, they who are far from God and are false to him indeed
perish by sinning through their evil will which is not from
God. God will destroy them by his just judgments as is prop-

97. Jas 4.6; 1 Pt 5.5. 98. Mt 11.19.

99. Ps 72.18 LXX; Ps 73.18. 100. Sir 10.12.
101. Ps 72.27 LXX; Ps 73.27.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 213

er to God. For God would not destroy them by his judgment,

unless they had perished through their iniquities. For it is
written: “How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away
utterly by terrors.”102
3. Falling away from the highest good to the lowest good,
this is the proper and voluntary evil of the sinner. By this evil
the unjust person destroys himself. And because the de-
praved person, not God, is the author of this evil, it is totally
fitting that eternal destruction in torments is paid to that
person who destroyed himself by sin. So he who wished to
perish, perishes although he does not perish in the way he
wished. Seduced by the pleasure of sins, he perishes in such
a way that if it were possible, he would remain forever in his
sins, such a person is justly dispatched to the destruction
brought about by sin because he has fallen by his own will.
4. But he must not be dispatched without punishment lest
the faithful God, in whom there is no iniquity, who is just
and holy, if he always left the sinner unpunished in sin, he
would be thought to be pleased by the sin. Through Malachy
the prophet, God rebukes the view in certain people who
say, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and
he delights in them. . . . Where is the God of justice?”103 Just-
ly, therefore, does the severity of the judge follow where the
evil of the sinner has preceded, because God is the avenger
of that thing whose author he is not, i.e., of iniquity, which
God can punish but cannot do. For it is written: “Everyone
who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness.
You know that he was revealed to take away sins and in him
there is no sin. No one who remains in him sins.”104 And
again: “A faithful God without deceit, just and upright is
he.”105 Therefore, iniquity, because it is not in God, does not
come from God.
XX. 1. What is iniquity but evil concupiscence? The Apos-
tle John shows that this does not come from God when he
says, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not

102. Ps 72.19 LXX; Ps 73.19. 103. Mal 2.17.

104. 1 Jn 3.4–6. 105. Dt 32.4.
214 FULGENTIUS

in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement

for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father
but is from the world.”106 Here, by the word “world” he
means “human beings,” lovers of this world, who are not
therefore to be punished for their love of the world because
they love some evil substance, since no substance is evil by
nature but because, not holding to the order of loving, when
they love the world more than justice, they love God less
than they ought to love him.
2. God did not make anything that was out-of-order, nor
did he predestine that anything out-of-order come into
being, he who commands through the medium of the Apos-
tle, that “everything must be done properly and in order.”107
So also in the sacred texts, it is ordered that charity follow a
proper order in order that sin may be avoided. For it is writ-
ten: “Put my charity in the right order.”108 The Apostle rejoic-
es in this right order, saying, “For even if I am absent in the
flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I observe your
good order. . . .”109 If we take a closer look at the origin of
sin, I think that it is nothing else than the inordinate love by
a rational creature of the things set in order by God. By de-
liberately abandoning the order of love, he loses salvation as
well. The rational creature was not predestined by God for
this. Nor is there any other predestination of his, except the
eternal preparation for his future works in which the cause
of no one’s evil will be able to be found because the origin
of sin never proceeded from the will of God.
XXI. 1. For the “Lord is merciful and just”110 concerning
whom it is written in another place: “The Lord God loves
mercy and truth.”111 Therefore, in all his works, either a just
truth is kept or a pious mercy is given beforehand. Further-
more, since we cannot deny that the human being has been
made good by God, if we were to say that he had been pre-
destined by God to some evil work, we would be ascribing to
the merciful and just God a work of this kind (which God
106. 1 Jn 2.15–16. 107. 1 Cor 14.40.
108. Sg (Song) 2.4. 109. Col 2.5.
110. Ps 114.5 LXX; Ps 115.5. 111. Ps 83.12 LXX; Ps 84.12.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 215

forbid), one in which he is neither merciful nor just. If, since

a human being was made by God, he was good in the pre-
sent work of God in such a way that he would be evil in his
predestination, without a doubt, he was to become evil by
the work of God, by whom he had been predestined to sin.
2. So it is that this absurdity follows immediately, as it is
said, that God, about whom the prophet says, “He made
those things which shall come to be,”112 had within himself
the origin of iniquity (which God forbid) if he had predes-
tined a person made by him to be a sinner; for his predesti-
nation is a preparation for his works. And just as it is proper
for the good God that he be the cause of the entirety of his
works, so it is unfitting that the cause of any evil work what-
soever be thought of in him. So let us take note that no rea-
son is given by which a human being should be believed to
be predestined by God to sin. For if in those of whom it is
said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual bless-
ing in the heavens, as he chose [them] in him; before the
foundation of the world, that they might be holy and with-
out blemish before him. In love, he predestined [them] for
adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the
favor of his will.”113 If, therefore, the cause of predestination
in them is sought, there is no other cause except the free
mercy of God alone.
3. He is the one about whom the psalm says, “The Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his
anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens
are far above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward
those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far
does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father has
compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for
those who fear him.”114 In all of these great, good things
112. Is 45.11.
113. Eph 1.3–5.
114. Ps 102.8–13 LXX; Ps 103.8–13.
216 FULGENTIUS

which the Lord gives to the wicked, what else is being sung
than undeserved mercy? What else other than free piety is
being proclaimed? For in this, that “He does not deal with us
according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniqui-
ties,”115 the free justification of the impious is shown forth.
And in this that “as a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him,”116 the
free adoption of children shines through by the same justifi-
cation by faith. For not as a father has compassion on his
children unless becoming our father through grace, he
deigned to make us his children. “To those who did accept
him, he gave power to become children of God . . .”117
XXII. 1. This is the cause of divine predestination in the
saints, viz., the preparation for unowed justification and
adoption which, because the evil will of the human being
did not deserve it, there is no cause for it except only the
good will of God. In the case of those who are thought to be
predestined not to suffer punishments but to commit sins,
when the cause of the predestination itself is sought, I am
unable to find what anyone who thinks he can assert such a
thing can reply.
2. Is it not, as we rightly say, that the saints are predes-
tined to this, that with God mercifully at work in them, from
evil people, they become good, and from impious people,
just (which, when we say it, we say it to the glory of God)?
Will we not be able to say rightly as well, that the evil are pre-
destined to this, that with God at work in them, albeit not
mercifully but at least justly, from being good people, they
become evil and from just people, they become impious?
3. Far be it from us and from all Christians that anyone
dare to assign to the divine justice the cause of any sin; since
he could not be the cause of any evil or impiety except in
one who is evil and impious.
4. Therefore, the mercy of God ought to be praised for
the fact that people become good from being evil and just

115. Ps 102.10 LXX; Ps 103.10. 116. Ps 102.13 LXX; Ps 103.13.

117. Jn 1.12.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 217

from being impious. But that people become evil after being
good or wicked after being just, if divine predestination is
claimed as the cause, it will be a justice that must be de-
clared defective (God forbid!). And furthermore, justice is
not rightly so called if it is proclaimed that it did not find a
person guilty and deserving of punishment but made him
so. Indeed, the injustice will be greater if God inflicts pun-
ishment on the fallen, whom it is claimed he predestined to
ruin when he was standing.
XXIII. 1. I seek to know why he could predestine the first
man, whom (as it is written) God made right, to sin, i.e., to
an evil will, which is the origin of all sin. It must be believed
either that God gave an evil will to the person who was not
yet a sinner or that he gave it to the sinner as retribution. If
he gave this to the person who was not yet a sinner, he (God
forbid) was the author of the wickedness because he gave an
evil will to a good person. That person sinned and so de-
served to be punished with eternal torment.
2. And where is it that “God did not make death”?118 And
that “there is no wickedness in God”?119 And that “The Lord
is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall be-
hold his face”?120 If, however, he did not give the beginning
of an evil will to the sinful person but God was making retri-
bution, so that the sin is believed to have begun from the
person, then the beginning of the evil will is said to have
been paid back by God as by a just judge. But what sin could
a person commit who did not have an evil will? No fruit of
wickedness could arise unless the root of an evil will brought
it forth. “For from the heart” (as the Truth says) “come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness,
blasphemy. These are what defile a person. . . .”121
3. God himself through Jeremiah reproves the evil of the
human will in such a way that he teaches that it is foreign to
him. For he says, “Yet I planted you as a choice vine. . . . How
then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?”122
118. Wis 1.13. 119. Dt 32.4.
120. Ps 10.8 LXX; Ps 11.7. 121. Mt 15.19–20.
122. Jer 2.21.
218 FULGENTIUS

He says that the vine is foreign to him not because of some

defect in the divine creation but by an aversion of his own
will, which is justly blamed because it brought forth bitter-
ness, something God himself did not produce in it. It had
the bitterness not from God’s predestination, nor from
God’s work, but from the evil of its will.
4. Because of that bitterness God rebukes it a second time
through the prophet mentioned above: “Know and see that
it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God; the
fear of me is not in you.”123 Since, therefore, it is evil and bit-
ter for a person to have left the Lord and not to have in him
a fear of God, who is contrary to the truth in such a way that
he thinks it comes from a good and kind God about whom it
is written: “How good is the God of Israel to the pure of
heart”?124 And that “no one is good but God alone”?125 Con-
cerning him, the Apostle says, “That in the ages to come he
might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kind-
ness to us.”126 And concerning his kindness is sung: “Taste
and see how sweet is the Lord.”127
5. And concerning his words, it is proclaimed a second
time: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than
honey to my mouth.”128 And again: “The ordinances of the
Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than
honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”129 Therefore, who
would think that a person has been predestined by a good
and kind God either to an evil will by which he abandons the
good God or to a bitter recalcitrance by which he does not
fear a kind God? Accordingly, it is fitting for the faithful to
believe and confess that the good and just God indeed
foreknew that people were going to sin because no future
thing could be hidden from him (since these things would
not come to be if they did not exist in his foreknowledge),

123. Jer 2.19. 124. Ps 72.1 LXX; Ps 73.1.

125. Mk 10.18. 126. Eph 2.7.
127. Ps 33.9 LXX; Ps 34.9. 128. Ps 118.103 LXX; Ps 119.103.
129. Ps 18.10 LXX; Ps 19.10.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 219

still that he did not predestine any person to sin because if

God did predestine a person to some sin, he would not pun-
ish the person for his sins.
6. By the predestination of God, there is prepared either
a pious forgiveness of sins or a just punishment for sins.
Therefore, God could never predestine a person to this be-
cause he had arranged to forbid by his commandment and
wash away by his mercy and punish by his justice. Therefore,
God has predestined to be punished with endless torment,
the wicked who God foreknew would finish this life in sin.
Just as the foreknowledge of human iniquity must not be
blamed for this punishment, the predestination of the most
just vengeance must be praised in such a way that it may be
recognized not that a person has been predestined by him
to some kind of sin but rather that he has been predestined
to punishment because of the merit of his sin.
XXIV. 1. Therefore, God foreknew all human works,
whether good or evil, because nothing could be hidden
from him, but he predestined only the good works which he
foreknew he would do in the children of grace; by his most
powerful divinity he foreknew the future evil works of those
whom he did not predestine to the kingdom but to destruc-
tion, and he arranged it with provident goodness; and be-
cause he foreknew not only that he was not going to do the
same evil things but also that the person, insofar as he
humbly clung to him would not do them either, in this he
further showed us the unconquerable power of his fore-
knowledge because he did not allow the predestination of
his justice to be made void even in the case of the evil.
Therefore, God, to show that what he foreknew must be paid
and what must be given, predestined to punishment those
whom he foreknew would depart from him because of the
vice of an evil will.
2. And he predestined to the kingdom those whom he
foreknew would return to him because of the assistance of
prevenient mercy and would remain in him with the help of
subsequent mercy. In the case of the latter, keeping mercy,
holding justice in the former; giving the latter what he pi-
220 FULGENTIUS

ously promised, justly giving as retribution to the former as

well what he predicted. Thus God did not promise all the
things he predicted, although he predicted all the things
which he promised. Just as he did not predestine all the
things he foreknew, although he foreknew all the things that
were predestined.
3. He foreknew human wills good and evil, but he predes-
tined not the evil ones but only the good ones. And al-
though it was not in his predestination that he gave evil to
the human will, still it was in his predestination that he
would give to the human willing of evil what it deserved. For
this reason, as the psalmist bears witness: “The Lord is merci-
ful and just,”130 he predestined the just to glory, the wicked
to punishment. He equally predicted and promised the pre-
destined work of his mercy in those who were to be justified
and glorified. But to the wicked, he only predicted, not
promised, the predestined work of his justice.
XXV. 1. But if someone asks why God predicted all the
things predestined and still did not promise all the predes-
tined things, we answer that it cannot be called a promise
unless when it is predicted that something is going to be
done, what is done can be of use to the one to whom it is
promised. What is promised is always something of a gift but
not always something of a judgment, since the gift of what is
promised always brings happiness while the severity of a
judgment sometimes saddens.
2. As the prophet, fearing something of this sort, pours
out his prayer to God: “Do not enter into judgment with
your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.”131
For he knew that all would have to be restrained by the
equal chain of punishment unless God, in those whom he
willed, made mercy surpass judgment. Justification and glori-
fication which do not exist in a human being from a hu-
man being, but from God, have been both predicted and
promised because they were to be of great benefit to the
saints.
130. Ps 114.5 LXX; Ps 115.5.
131. Ps 142.2 LXX; Ps 143.2.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 221

3. But punishment, which for all eternity was to be preju-

dicial to the impious, was only predicted, not promised. This
is more easily demonstrated by divine testimonies. Indeed,
in one place in the prophet each is found expressed equally,
where God through Isaiah rebukes those who do not serve
him with these words: “My servants shall eat but you shall be
hungry; my servants shall drink but you shall be thirsty; my
servants shall rejoice but you shall be put to shame; my ser-
vants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out
for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit.”132 In all
these things, whatever has been predicted only, not prom-
ised, pertains to the persons of the wicked. Nor should that
which because of the merit of wickedness, severity threatens
to be inflicted be said to have been promised by the generos-
ity of goodness. If there are things which pertain to the per-
sons of those who serve God, these have been both predict-
ed and promised.
4. This is also the point of the words of our Savior where
he says, “And these will go off to eternal punishment but the
righteous to eternal life.”133 He predicted and promised the
reward which the just would enjoy, but he did not promise
but predicted the torments with which the unjust would be
punished. Not as he predestined the saints to receive justice,
did he predestine the wicked to lose that same justice, be-
cause the “merciful and just Lord” could freely deliver from
depravity whomever he wished. But he was never the doer of
the depravity, because no one was ever depraved except inso-
far as he went away from God. Nor did God predestine any-
one to go away, even though by divine knowledge he
foreknew that he would go away.
XXVI. 1. Therefore, God, although he is not the author
of evil thoughts, still is the arranger of evil wills, and from
the evil deeds of any evil person, he himself does not cease
to bring about good. Nor in the very works of the unjust will
does he desert the just order of his own works, because this
is part of the order itself, that he justly deserts the evil will.
132. Is 65.13–14.
133. Mt 25.46.
222 FULGENTIUS

He deserts the one going away from him by his own evil
works in such a way that the good work of God who permits
it is not lacking. There, while also in the unjust will of the
sinner, he himself fulfills justice, and from the evil for which
he judges the sinner, he himself fulfills justice, and from the
evil for which he judges the sinner, blessings in advance to
those to whom he wishes.
2. Therefore, in the saints, the Lord is going to perfect
what he freely gave them that they might be good. What he
foreknew he was going to give, he predestined in the eternal
arrangement of his goodness. For this is the predestination
of God, viz., the eternal arrangement of the future work of
God. He is going to punish in the evil what he did not give
in order that they might be evil, nor did he predestine them
to any evil since he was not going to give this to them that
they might will evilly.
3. And because the perduring wickedness of an evil will
must not remain unpunished, he predestined such to de-
struction because he prepared the torment of a just punish-
ment for such people. This the Lord himself taught in clear
words because he showed that what he had prepared was not
only a kingdom where the good might rejoice but also an
eternal fire where the evil will be tortured. He will say to the
good, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world.”134 But to the evil he will say, “Depart from me, you ac-
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his
angels.”135
4. See to what the Lord has predestined the wicked and
the impious, i.e., to a just torment, not to some unjust work;
to punishment, not to guilt; to punishment, not to transgres-
sion; to destruction which the wrath or the just judge ren-
dered to sinners, not to destruction by which the wickedness
of sinners has provoked the wrath of God against them-
selves. The proclamation of the blessed Apostle shows this,

134. Mt 25.34.
135. Mt 25.41.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 223

he who calls the evil one whom God is going to condemn for
eternity vessels of wrath, not of guilt. For he says, “What if
God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power,
has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made
for destruction? This was to make known the riches of his
glory to the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared previ-
ously for glory.”136
5. I ask you, my dear Monimus, to pay attention carefully
to this text of the Apostle. For it is known that the wrath of
God cannot be spoken of except in cases where human
wickedness is believed to have come first. Nor could God be
either ignorant or unjust who could either not recognize the
guilt of a sinful human being or inflict the judgment of pun-
ishment on one who has not sinned. Also the blessed Paul
himself proclaims that proof is provided for the justice of
God in human wickedness so that he shows that the wrath of
the almighty is not inflicted unjustly. For he says, “But if our
wickedness provides proof of God’s righteousness, what can
we say? Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his wrath?
Of course not! For how else is God to judge the world?”137
6. Therefore, a distinction like this made by him between
those to be punished and those to be glorified is not a vain
one. He calls the former vessels of wrath and the latter ves-
sels of mercy to show that their own wickedness came first
just as much in the vessels of wrath as in the vessels of mercy.
For such is the true God whose mercy is free and his wrath
not unjust; and for this reason he comes before those un-
worthy whom he justifies by his goodness and finds others
worthy of punishment whom he condemns. Let it be very
clear that both in the case of vessels of mercy, that they are
good not from themselves but from God, and in the case of
the vessels of wrath, that they are evil of themselves not be-
cause of God. For the Apostle might have been able to name
those who he said were vessels of mercy, rather, vessels of jus-
tice. But if they were called vessels of justice, perhaps they

136. Rm 9.22–23.
137. Rm 3.5–6.
224 FULGENTIUS

might be thought to have justice of themselves. Now, howev-

er, when he speaks of vessels of mercy, without a doubt he
did not keep silent about what they were because he clearly
shows what was bestowed on them by God.
7. For if they were just of themselves, the Lord would re-
ward them for their works, he would not give them mercy in
advance, just as the same Apostle says in another place, “A
worker’s wage is credited not as a gift but as something
due.”138 Therefore, the vessels of mercy have been prepared
for an undeserved glory, because they have freely gained
mercy. Concerning them, even the same blessed Apostle tes-
tifies that he himself is one, saying, “I was once a blasphemer
and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mer-
cifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbe-
lief.”139
8. This is the work of God in the vessels of mercy, that the
deserved destruction not be rendered to blasphemers and
persecutors and the arrogant but that the free gift of mercy
be given. For God would never reward the vessels of wrath
with destruction if a person were not found to have a volun-
tary sin, because God would not justly inflict his wrath on a
sinful person if the person contracted guilt from the predes-
tination of God. But because the person had the cause of his
wickedness in his own will, so the blessed Paul asserts that
“God with much patience” has put up with “the vessels of
wrath, fitted for destruction.” Therefore, this wrath has
brought about destruction for such vessels because he found
in them the desserts for their voluntary wickedness. When
would the just Lord have inflicted his wrath on a sinful ser-
vant, if the servant has sinned because of the predestination
of the Lord?
9. Therefore, God fitted those vessels for that to which he
predestined them, i.e., to destruction, indeed to that de-
struction which Paul announced would come suddenly on
the evil, saying, “When people are saying, ‘Peace and Securi-

138. Rm 4.4.
139. 1 Tm 1.13.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 225

ty,’ then suddenly disaster comes upon them.”140 But if God

had predestined such people to sin, the Apostle would have
preferred to call them not vessels of wrath but vessels of
guilt, and such vessels would be said to be fitted not for de-
struction but for sin. Now, however, they are called vessels of
wrath that it may be shown that in such persons the evil com-
mitted by them is not from the predestination of God but
that such people are given what they deserve.
XXVII. 1. God does well by rewarding the evil with de-
struction, although destruction is an evil for them who now
are justly deserted and afterwards will be justly tortured. In
these people, God begins his judgment with desertion and
ends with torture. For in this present time as well in which
God deserts the evil ones who go away from him, he does
not work in them what displeases him but works through
them what pleases him. Afterwards, he is going to give them
what they deserve from his justice. They will receive it not
because God has made good use of their evil works but be-
cause they have badly used the good work of God.
2. Such people God has fitted for destruction as punish-
ment which the just judge by his just predestination has de-
creed for the sinner. Not to a sin which a person, not from
divine predestination but from his own will, has begun by his
evil lusting and completed by his evil action. Concupiscence,
conceiving, has given birth to sin but the mature sin has be-
gotten death.
3. The wicked, therefore, have not been predestined to
the first death of the soul but have been predestined to the
second, i.e., to the pool of fire and sulphur. Concerning this
the blessed John says, “The Devil who had led them astray
was thrown into the pool of fire and sulphur.”141 And in an-
other place: “The Death and Hades were thrown into the
pool of fire. . . . [This pool of fire is the second death.] Any-
one whose name was not found written in the book of life
was thrown into the pool of fire.”142 Again he says, “But as for

140. 1 Thes 5.3. 141. Rev 20.10.

142. Rev 20. 14–15.
226 FULGENTIUS

cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the un-

chaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers and deceivers of every sort,
their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulphur, which is
the second death.”143
4. He calls the second death that which follows from the
sentence of the just judge, not that which went before in the
evil concupiscence of the sinner. By this death, the Savior in-
dicated certain dead ones, saying, “Let the dead bury their
dead.”144 And the Apostle says of the widow: “The one who is
self-indulgent is dead while she lives.”145 To the Ephesians he
also says, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins in
which you once lived following the age of this world, follow-
ing the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at
work in the disobedient. All of us once lived among them in
the desires of our flesh, following the wishes of the flesh and
the impulses and we were by nature children of wrath, like
the rest. But God who is rich in mercy, because of the great
love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgres-
sions, brought us to life with Christ. . . .”146 Concerning this
death in which a human being had died in his sins, God says,
“For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone. . . . Turn
then and live.”147
5. So how is God believed to have predestined a human
being to the death of sin, something which he testifies that
he does not want? That death of the one who dies is his own
evil way; which, because it is evil, is unknown to God. For it is
written: “Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your
foot away from evil.”148 Therefore, he knows the ways which
God made; those which he did not make, he destroys be-
cause he does not know them. So it is written: “For the Lord
watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the
wicked will perish,”149 he who knows all things before they
come to be, and whose eyes observe the good and the evil in
every place, and whose “face is against evildoers, to cut off
143. Rev 21.8. 144. Mt 8.22.
145. 1 Tm 5.6. 146. Eph 2.1–5.
147. Ez 18.32. 148. Prov 4.27.
149. Ps 1.6.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 227

the remembrance of them from the earth.”150 Therefore, he

does not know the evil way, not because something in the
works of human beings escapes his knowledge, but because
he did not bring about the death of the one who dies. He
justly rendered death to the dead person.
6. Therefore, the first death of the soul which a person in-
flicted on himself, is the cause of the second death. And the
second death which God has rendered to the person is the
punishment for the first death. And because the unjust per-
son has unjustly inflicted the latter on himself, he has justly
received the former from the just judge, so that, because in
the latter, the short-sighted sinner willingly sows the seed of
wickedness, in the former, unwillingly, he reaps the fruit of
punishment. “The one who sows for his flesh will reap cor-
ruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit
will reap eternal life from the spirit.” But “the one who sows
for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit”151 has as a
gift from God both the harvest and the seed. With Paul as a
witness we know this. For he speaks as follows: “The one who
supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply
and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your
righteousness.”152 But the one who sows in the flesh will also
reap corruption from the flesh; therefore, he will not rejoice
at the harvest because he has as the supplier of the seed, not
God, but himself.
7. God has foreknown in the sinners all the future sins of
human beings; and, because he did not predestine them to
be done, he has justly predestined them to be punished at
the judgment. If you think about the very words of St. Au-
gustine which you included in your letter, you will know
right away, for afterwards he said, “The good which consists
in seeking God, there was no one to do it, there was not even
one, but in a race of human beings devoted in advance to
destruction.”153 Continuing on, he immediately added: “For

150. Ps 33.17 LXX; Ps 34.16. 151. Gal 6.8.

152. 2 Cor 9.10.
153. Augustine De perfectione iustitiae hominis XIII.31.
228 FULGENTIUS

the foreknowledge of God looked down on them and pro-

nounced sentence.”154 To be sure, with these words, he shows
sufficiently and clearly that God by his foreknowledge saw
human sins, to which he prescribed a sentence by predesti-
nation.
8. What else are we to understand by this pronouncement
of God’s sentence except the torment prepared for the sin-
ner? Justly is he who by divine knowledge is foreknown as a
sinner predestined to punishment by divine justice, as is nat-
ural, for one who was going to do evil by his own will, evil to
which he was not predestined by God. As by his foreknowl-
edge, God saw in him the future unjust work, through the
sentence of predestination, he would prepare a just torment
for him.
XXVIII. 1. Although you yourself and others like you in
their zeal for reading or swiftness of understanding, from
this citation from the works of St. Augustine which you have
noted in your letter, you very easily know what a Catholic un-
derstanding holds concerning those we hear have been pre-
destined to destruction, still lest some are slower and think
that this citation alone is not sufficient for them in this ques-
tion, I have included some things from other books of St.Au-
gustine in which he taught that the sole cause of human
wickedness is pride and that human beings are not predes-
tined by God to sin but to damnation. The cause of their not
being helped by God is in themselves, not in God.
2. Therefore, in the second book concerning the baptism
of children, written to Marcellinus, he says among other
things, “Ignorance, therefore, and infirmity are faults which
impede the will from moving either for doing a good work
or for refraining from an evil one. But that what was hidden
may come to light and what was unpleasant may be made
agreeable is of the grace of God which helps human wills;
and that they are not helped by it has its cause likewise in
themselves, not in God, whether they be predestined to con-
demnation on account of the iniquity of their pride or

154. Ibid.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 229

whether they are to be judged and disciplined contrary to

this very pride, if they are children of mercy.”155
3. Here immediately St. Augustine has added the testimo-
ny of a prophet, saying, “Accordingly. Jeremiah, after saying,
‘I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their
control, but mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps,’
immediately adds: ‘Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure,
not in your anger.’”156 As if he were to say: I know that it is for
my correction that I am too little assisted by you, for my foot-
steps to be perfectly directed; but you do not in this so deal
with me as you do in your anger when you determine to con-
demn the wicked; but as you do in your judgment whereby
you teach your children not to be proud.
4. Accordingly, he says in another place, “And let your or-
dinances help me.”157 The holy Augustine instructing the
above mentioned Marcellinus with this teaching, follows up
by saying, “You cannot therefore attribute to God the cause
of any human being’s guilt, for pride is the cause of all
human vices.”158 Pay attention to these words of St. Augus-
tine, I ask, my friend. First, that people are not helped by
God, the cause is said to be in themselves, not in God. Then,
because of the wickedness of pride they are said to be pre-
destined to be damned, something that pertains to judg-
ment, not predestined to be depraved, something that per-
tains to sin.
5. Thirdly, also consider that he warns that the reason for
human guilt is not to be referred to God. If any wickedness
of a sinner is believed to be predestined by God, the cause of
the wickedness itself is to be placed in the divine predestina-
tion. That such a thought is impious and contrary to the
Christian faith, I trust that no Christian can escape. And in
another place of the same book, the aforementioned St. Au-

155. Augustine De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum

II.xvii. CSEL 60.99. English translation, NPNF, ser. 1, 5.55.
156. Jer 10.23–24.
157. Ps 118.175 LXX; Ps 119.175 and Augustine De peccatorum meritis
II.xvii.
158. Ibid.
230 FULGENTIUS

gustine speaks as follows: “To be lifted up, indeed, to pride,

is the result of the human being’s own will, not of the work
of God; for to such a thing God neither urges us nor helps
us.”159
XXIX. 1. And in order that our statements may be
strengthened by even clearer evidence from his words,
something else must be set down by us from the book which
he wrote, On the Predestination of the Saints. Here he showed
more clearly that there can be foreknowledge on God’s part
without predestination but that, on the other hand, there
could not be predestination without foreknowledge; and
that God foreknew even what he himself did not do, i.e.,
sins. Therefore in the above-mentioned book, this is the
view of the same blessed Augustine: “Predestination cannot
exist without foreknowledge, though there can be fore-
knowledge without predestination. By predestination God
indeed foreknew that which he himself was going to do,
whence it is said: ‘He has made that which shall be.’”160
2. Furthermore, he can foreknow even those things which
he himself does not do, such as whatever sins there may be.
For even though there are certain things that are sins and at
the same time punishment for sins, so that it is written: “God
delivered them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not fitting,”161 this is not the sin of God but the
judgment of God.”162 I think that in these words of the
blessed Augustine, it is clearly shown that God foreknew and
predestined his good works, i.e., whether those which per-
tain to mercy or those which pertain to justice; but the evil
works, i.e., sins, he only foreknew but did not predestine, be-
cause this is not said to be the work of God but judgment.
3. Therefore, the work of God is not in sin, because it has
not been predestined by him that there be a sin. Therefore,

159. Augustine De peccatorum meritis II.xix. CSEL 60.103–104. NPNF, ser. 1,

5.57.
160. Is 45.11.
161. Rm 1.28.
162. Augustine De praedestinatione sanctorum X.19. PL 44.975. English trans-
lation, FOTC 86.241.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK I 231

it is judgment because what the evil person does without

God’s acting is not left unpunished.
XXX. 1. You are not unaware that in time past objections
were made by certain Gauls to that most excellent work of
St. Augustine, which he wrote, On the Predestination of the
Saints [they objected] that the blessed Augustine in the as-
sertion of divine predestination said that sinners were pre-
destined, not only to judgment, but also to sin. Because Au-
gustine died shortly thereafter, Prosper, a learned and holy
man, defended his words with orthodox faith and abundant
speech.
2. From among the chapters of the Gauls, we do not cite
many lest they seem to make even longer this book which
the necessity of the argument forces us to make long, we
have brought citations of two responses to be included. The
fourteenth objection of the Gauls goes as follows: “Objec-
tion: If some do not believe in the message of the Gospel,
they do so owing to God’s predestination. His decree is such
that those who do not accept the faith do so owing to his dis-
position.” Therefore, to this bit of impropriety which is an
objection constructed using the words of the blessed Augus-
tine, not from the truth but from malice, Prosper replies
with these words: “The unbelief of those who do not believe
in the message of the Gospel is in no way produced by God’s
predestination.
3. God is the author of good, not of evil. And so the ob-
ject of his predestination always is what is good, whether he
renders justice or bestows grace. For ‘all the ways of the Lord
are mercy and truth.’”163 Accordingly, the unbelief of unbe-
lievers should not be referred to God’s disposition but to his
prescience. The infallibility of this prescience, which could
not err about their future unbelief, does not entail that they
refused to believe of necessity.”164 The fifteenth objection was
put in these words: “Prescience and predestination are one
and the same thing.”
163. Ps 24.10 LXX; Ps 25.10.
164. Prosper Responsiones ad capitula obiectionum Gallorum XIV. PL 51.169.
English translation, ACW 32.155.
232 FULGENTIUS

4. To which Prosper responds in this way: “If you make no

distinction whatever between God’s prescience and his pre-
destination, then you endeavor to attribute to God with re-
gard to evil what must be ascribed to him with regard to
what is good. But since what is good must be ascribed to God
as to its author and helper and what is evil to the willful
wickedness of the rational creature, it is beyond doubt that
God both foreknew and predestined at one and the same
moment the good that would be done and of which he
would be the author or the just punishment which he would
render to evil merits; but he only foreknew and did not pre-
destine those actions of which he would not be the author in
any way.”165
5. My friend, we have preferred to include in this book
these few things for the present from the books of St. Augus-
tine and from the responses of Prosper for this reason—that
all may know what they ought to think about the predestina-
tion of the saints and of the impious. And, at the same time,
that it be clear that the course of our views fits right in with
the words of the same blessed Augustine. Accordingly, since
(I believe) we have shown sufficiently that the wicked are
predestined, not to sin, but to torment, we must bring this
volume to a conclusion, so that the distinctive flavor of the
books may renew the interest of the reader for considering
the discussion of other questions more attentively.

BOOK II

h e t e x t a b o v e (insofar as the Lord has deigned

to aid our littleness) contains, I think, dear Mon-
imus, enough of the question concerning the diver-
sity of predestination of the just, that is, and the wicked—
i.e., about those whom the free mercy of God, going before
and justifying, has converted and is going to glorify those

165. Prosper Responsiones ad capitula XV. PL 51.170. ACW 32.156.

 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 233

converted, and about those whom the just severity of God

abandons in their sins to be punished by damnation—the
text above has treated it at length and resolved it. In such a
way that many, although they are accustomed to be swayed
not lightly in this matter, can easily be instructed by both the
testimonies of the divine books and informed by the books
of St.Augustine and the responses of Prosper, a most learned
man, in which they recognize that the predestination of God
is nothing other than the preparation of his works which he
foreknew he would do in his eternal arrangement either
mercifully or justly. In sins neither is mercy found nor jus-
tice, and, therefore, every evil will of the wicked, by which
they sin, though foreknown by God, still has not been pre-
destined by God, since they were not going to have the evil
will itself in any other way except because they were going to
depart from God.
2. Nor did God predestine this departure of a human
being from himself, since the sole voluntary cause of the de-
parture itself was the aversion of the sinner. Since this future
departure was not hidden from God in his eternal fore-
knowledge, [the sinner] found prepared for him the punish-
ment of a just retribution.
II. 1. Now therefore, let the thrust of our discussion be di-
rected to the investigation of remaining questions, with the
Lord leading us. You state that several people have asked you
questions concerning the sacrifice of the body and blood of
Christ, which some think is offered to the Father only. This
is, you assert, the prize question, as it were, of heretics. But
there is nothing new in this, that heretics, deprived of the
light of truth, think that they are going to overcome the
truth with their propositions, by which they are most easily
overcome. “Their glory is in their shame, their minds are oc-
cupied with earthly things.”1
2. Seeking this, heretics seem to propose these things as
if, in their own eyes, they were master-strokes and unan-
swered, so that they do not see the confusion which hangs

1. Phil 3.19.
234 FULGENTIUS

over them. But when they are overcome by the truth, this is
fulfilled in them, so that they are confounded by the very
thing in which they glory. Therefore, it is no marvel, if they,
whom, blinded by their own malice (as it is written), the
truth itself (which is the true light) has deserted and the
darkness of vile error has surrounded the clouded gaze of
their perverse heart, impiously strive to break up the insepa-
rable Trinity which they do not hesitate to proclaim diverse
with differences of substance, consequently with unequal
duty of honor.
3. And since they are convicted of sinning in wisdom it-
self, the word of that very wisdom is fulfilled in them, so that
while they are sinning in it, they admit the sin of impiety
into their souls; for thus says wisdom itself: “Those who miss
me injure themselves; all who hate me love death.”2 For how
do they not hate the Son of God whom by their words they
are not able to deny is the only-begotten but with thought-
less perversity distinguish him from the nature of the Fa-
ther? Or how do they not act impiously against their own
souls who neither are in agreement that the only begotten
Son of God, indeed true God, is glorified with the Father
nor permit him to be equally honored in one and the same
sacrifice?
4. Responding briefly to them, with the help of God, (to
the extent the sequence of this work allows) by way of pref-
ace, we ask this question: Tell us whether God gave this faith
to his Church by which our father Abraham, by believing,
pleased God and in which he received all the nations of the
earth to be blessed in his seed? Or do they profess that some
other norm of religion has been divinely handed down to
them so that they think that the faith of the patriarchs and
prophets must be repudiated? And although they are re-
garded as in every way foreign to this faith (as the truth will
demonstrate) still they claim that it has been given to the
Church and they contend that it remains inviolate with
them.

2. Prov 8.36.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 235

III. 1. Therefore, while the question of sacrifice is contro-

verted between ourselves and them, we must have recourse
to those fathers whom God has glorified like lights in the
world to be guides for our instruction in the true faith. He
has deigned to show that their faith has been inspired by
him so that he most clearly calls himself their God, saying, “I
am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God
of Jacob. This is my name forever; and this my title for all
generations.”3
2. While we say that the sacrifice is offered not to the Fa-
ther alone, but at the same time the one sacrifice is offered
to the Father and the Son, they think the immolation is
made to that Father alone. Let us seek the evidence of the
true immolation that is pleasing to God in the sacrifice of
the patriarchs. With it our series of types must begin [with
them] because in their seed is the promised future blessing
of all nations, as Paul says, “Now the promises were made to
Abraham and to his descendant.” It does not say, ‘and to his
descendants’ as referring to many but as referring to one.
“And to your descendant, who is Christ.”4 And again: “that
the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles
through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith.”5
3. Therefore, let it be altogether verified that they are
sharers in the divine blessing and participants in the spiritu-
al grace who, it is apparent, are followers of the faith of
Abraham in sacrifice. In the book of Genesis we read: “Then
the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, ‘To your offspring
I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord
who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the
hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with
Bethel on the west . . . and there he built an altar to the
Lord God and invoked the name of the Lord God.”6 Now let
the heretics choose what they want, that either they confess
that the Father was seen by Abraham or certainly agree that

3. Ex 3.15. 4. Gal 3.16.

5. Gal 3.14. 6. Gen 12.7–8.
236 FULGENTIUS

the altar was built by Abraham to the Son. The reading of

the Old Testament frequently indicates that the altar was
built for no other reason than that sacrifice must be offered
to God.
4. Moses speaks concerning Noah, the just man in this
way: “And Noah built an altar to God,” and, as if he were
being questioned as to why the just man built that altar, he
added, “And he took of every clean animal and of every
clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”7 It is
clear, therefore, that the holy Abraham, the faithful friend
of God and father of the gentile faithful, built an altar to
God who was seen by him for this reason, that he might be
able to offer to him the sacrifice of a fitting immolation.
5. But lest, while he is said to have invoked in the name of
the Lord God, anyone think that another God was being in-
voked in the name of another God, since there was nothing
else in the invocation in the name of the Lord God than an
invoking of the name of the Lord God, subsequently, this
also the divine Scriptures took care to show with a clear
proof. For a bit later, it is said: “Now Abram was very rich in
livestock, in silver and gold. He journeyed on by stages from
the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had
been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place
where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram
called on the name of the Lord.”8
6. Therefore, we recognize that to invoke in the name of
the Lord God is the same as to invoke the name of the Lord
God. So let the heretics say whether they think that Abra-
ham built his altar to the Father or to the Son? Because he
invoked the name of the one for whom he built the altar. He
built an altar to none except to the God who was seen by
him, whom the heretics are accustomed to call the Son.
Striving to teach that the substance of the Father and the
Son are different, they think that all the visible forms of cor-
poreal things (to which the omnipotent Godhead, the Lord

7. Gen 8.20.
8. Gen 13.2–4.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 237

of every creature, adapted himself to let himself become

known to human beings, just as he wished and knew was fit-
ting to times, places, and persons) are to be assigned to the
Son only. From this they assert that the Son is unequal to
and different from the Father, that his nature could have
been capable of changing forms.
7. And just as if the more his divinity by nature was visible,
the more he did not spurn to show himself in visible things
in order to form human minds. But it is not for us here in
this work to discuss this matter since the point of the present
question requires only this, that because the holy Abraham
is known to have sacrificed to that God, whom divine Scrip-
ture testifies was seen by him, either let them say that the Fa-
ther was seen by Abraham, or let them agree that Abraham
sacrificed to the Son. Let the assertion of a nefarious diversi-
ty be struck down by either one as by a sharp two-edged
sword; because, if they say that God the Father was seen by
Abraham, so that they may claim that the sacrifice was of-
fered to him alone, because it is asserted that he was seen,
the as-it-were invisible Father will not have to be given priori-
ty over the visible Son; if, however, the Son was seen, and the
holy patriarch offered the sacrifice to him, the Son is not to
be placed below the Father in anything. For Abraham would
not have offered a sacrifice to him if he believed that any
other was more powerful than he.
8. And so those people who think that our faith is going
to be shaken by the blow from this question, in both cases it
is necessary that they recognize the falsity of their own be-
lief. And would that they, having recognized this, would walk
away from it, and now, having been humbled and made
peaceable in a salutary way, would return to the true faith
(which they stupidly attack in rebellion)! For Abraham who
built an altar not to another God, but to him who had been
seen by him, so that heretics might be confounded accord-
ing to that knowledge, either saw the Father or sacrificed to
the Son.
IV. 1. This God, who was seen by Abraham and to whom
Abraham, not to another, built an altar to offer sacrifice,
238 FULGENTIUS

Isaac also saw and, holding on to the faith of his father, con-
structed an altar to him. For it is written concerning Isaac
(the book of Genesis contains this): “From there he went up
to Beersheba. And that very night the Lord appeared to him
and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be
afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your
offspring numerous for my servant Abraham’s sake.’ So he
built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.”9
2. Without a doubt of his Lord the one who was seen by
him promised the assistance of his presence and the gift of
blessing and growth by multiplying his seed. Jacob too is
known to have built an altar, not to another God, but to the
one who was seen by him. And what is more, he did not re-
ceive it of his own accord, but, obeying divine command-
ments, he fulfilled it. Holy Scripture bears witness to this in
these words: “God said to Jacob. ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and
settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to
you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”10 And following
this, it is said: “Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel) which is in
the land of Chanaan, he and all the people who were with
him and there he built an altar and called the place El-
Bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself
to him when he fled from his brother.”11
3. Behold in the mouth of two or three witnesses, the
word of our faith stands; behold, the oblation of the
Catholic Church is in complete agreement with the sacrifice
of the friends of God, the Church which thus sacrifices to
the Father in such a way that at the same time it sacrifices to
the whole Trinity; since the holy patriarchs too knew that
the sacrifice which they were ordered to offer to the Son,
they were providing at the same time to the Father and the
Son with due respect. Therefore, the divine command was
given to them to build an altar to the Son, not because they
were not to sacrifice to the Father, but so that what was im-
molated by the saints would be offered at one and the same

9. Gen 26.23–25. 10. Gen 35.1.

11. Gen 35.6–7.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 239

time to the Son and the Father, and not in order that the
Son be preferred to the Father, but lest the one begotten be
thought to have been considered inferior to the Begetter in
anything.
4. Accordingly, there should be no doubt in anyone’s
mind that the rightness of our faith is strengthened by the
testimony of the sacrifice of the patriarchs. As long as any-
one with hardened heart thinks he must offer resistance to
this, he wanders as an alien, far from the faith and com-
munion of the saints. On this matter we will be able to join
together the testimonies on not unequal firmness and
strength from the prophets, unless recalling the whole debt
that must be repaid, we prefer to hurry on as quickly as pos-
sible to solve the remaining questions.
V. 1. Nevertheless, lest under the cover of abundance any-
one think that we are concealing a lack of defense, we shall
bring forward one testimony from the prophets by which it
can clearly be shown that the holy prophets, divinely in-
spired, predicted with a certain and most faithful prophecy,
that in the time of the New Testament, spiritual sacrifices
were to be offered not to the Father only but also to the Son
by the faithful. For Zephaniah says, “Therefore, wait for me,
says the Lord, from the day when I arise as a witness. For my
decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour
out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for
in the fire of my passion, all the earth shall be consumed. At
the time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure
speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia, my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my
offering.”12
2. What, I ask, is clearer than that prophecy? Or how can
heretical infidelity find a hiding place for their subborn
darkness, where it can flee the light of such a great demon-
stration? “Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its
circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its

12. Zeph 3.8–10.

240 FULGENTIUS

heat.”13 Since if there is anyone who hides himself, numbed

by the glacial cold of infidelity, the assistance of mercy can
rescue him from it, but he cannot conceal himself from the
punishment. See that the one who commands that he is to
be awaited on the day of his resurrection shows that victims
are to be offered to him by all nations, in order that that sac-
rifice be recognized as acceptable to God, the suppliant and
pure devotion of the faithful offers it in common to the Fa-
ther and the Son.
3. Would that the heretics, having been warned by this
and similar testimonies, would not listen with deaf ears but
may they acknowledge the truth of the faith by the illumina-
tion conceded to them by God, so that, receiving the saving
light from now on, they may cease to wander in the darkness
of death-bringing infidelity. Those who do not offer sacrifice
with the Son and with wretched stubbornness defect from
the faith of the patriarchs and prophets, impiously delin-
quent, show that they have been condemned by themselves.
The apostolic sentence is known to have condemned every
heretic by such a declaration to the effect that a heretic must
be avoided in every way after a first (and second) correction,
because not only will one be subverted by the same, but also
because [the heretic] has been condemned by his own judg-
ment.
4. If there are Catholic faithful who seemed to be un-
aware of this mystery up to now, from now on they ought to
know that every act of this kind of honorific or saving sacri-
fice is offered by the Catholic Church equally to the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e., to the Holy Trinity.
And it is obvious that in its single name, holy baptism is also
celebrated. There is no disrespect shown to the Son and the
Holy Spirit when a prayer is directed by the offerer to the
person of the Father.
5. The completion of this prayer, when the name of the
Son and the Holy Spirit is attached, shows that there are no
divisions in the Trinity. When words of honor are directed to

13. Ps 18.6 LXX; Ps 19.6.

 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 241

the person of the Father only, the Trinity is honored by the

integral faith of the orthodox believer, and when the inten-
tion of the offerer is directed to the Father, the tribute of
the sacrifice is offered to the whole Trinity by one and the
same act of the offerer. Therefore, when we offer a sacrifice
to the Trinity, which is the one and true God, we are not
moved by the vain objections of the heretics, for we are both
instructed by the divinely-promulgated oracles and strength-
ened by the examples of the saints who have gone before to
follow this and to hold on to it most strongly.
VI. 1. Now that question has come around to us concern-
ing the mission of the Holy Spirit: If a sacrifice is offered to
the Holy Trinity, why is the sending of the Holy Spirit only
asked for, for the sanctifying of the gift of our oblation, as if
(so to speak) God the Father himself, from whom the Holy
Spirit proceeds, could not sanctify the sacrifice offered to
him; or the Son himself was unable to sanctify the sacrifice
of his body which we offer, since he sanctified his body
which he offered to redeem us; or that the Holy Spirit was to
be sent to consecrate the sacrifice of the Church, as if the Fa-
ther or the Son was missing from the sacrifices.
2. First, therefore, it behooves us to recall that in speaking
about this mission, the Holy Spirit must not be understood
as inferior or lesser; because if lesser, then inferior, and if in-
ferior, then lesser. We bring this up in advance, knowing how
strongly this objection to our faith is frequently made by
heretics, that the Holy Spirit must be believed to be less than
the Father and the Son because he has been sent by the Fa-
ther and the Son. Moreover, if the one who sends must be
believed to be more powerful than the one sent, let them
recognize that in this they are convicted of faithlessness, be-
cause as the Holy Spirit is recorded as being sent by the Fa-
ther and the Son, so the Son too is sent by the Father and
the Holy Spirit.
3. The Son himself said it through the prophet, long be-
fore he was sent, and confirmed it by his own testimony,
after he was sent. For, coming to Nazareth and entering the
synagogue, when the book of the prophet Isaiah had been
242 FULGENTIUS

passed to him to read, he unrolled it to that place where it is

written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.”14 When the
scroll had been handed back, he bore witness that the truth
of this prophecy was fulfilled by his acts that day, saying,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”15
4. And in another place in the same prophet, he showed
that he had been sent by the Lord and by his Spirit with
these words: “And now the Lord God has sent me and his
spirit.”16 In this way before his passion, he announces that
the Holy Spirit is being sent by him to his disciples: “When
the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father, he will tes-
tify to me.”17 Above, he had taught that the same Spirit was
also sent by the Father: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that
the Father will send in my name—he will teach you every-
thing. . . .”18 The Son has been sent by the Father and by the
Spirit, and the Spirit has been sent by the Father and the
Son. Nevertheless, no Christian ought to understand that
the mission of the Son or of the Holy Spirit has been carried
out in the sense of place or space, but by that word “mission”
let us understand the work of a revelation freely granted.
5. So the Son has not been sent in some spatial sense; nei-
ther has the Holy Spirit, just as there is no spatial coming of
the Father himself anywhere. When the Son promises to
those who love him not only his own coming but that of the
Father too, he says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word
and my Father will love him and we will come to him and
make our dwelling with him.”19 Therefore, just as the Father
and the Son are nowhere absent and still they come to
whom they wish (for they come by grace, they who are
nowhere absent through power), so also in the mission or
coming of the Holy Spirit, no spatial movement on his part
is to be understood, but the effect of our sanctification is to
be believed in.
14. Lk 4.18. 15. Lk 4.21.
16. Is 48.16. 17. Jn 15.26.
18. Jn 14.26. 19. Jn 14.23.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 243

6. For if the Son is sent according to his divinity in a spa-

tial sense, or the Holy Spirit is thought to be sent in a spatial
sense, therefore, God the Father too should be believed to
exist in some place (which God forbid). And when God him-
self indicates his unmeasurability to us in such a way, saying,
“I fill the heavens and the earth,”20 the prophet’s words also
underline for us the unmeasurability of the Son. Concern-
ing him, the holy Jeremiah says, “It is great and has no
bounds.”21 And because he is the power and the wisdom of
God, concerning him it is also said: “She reaches mightily
from one end of the earth to the other and she orders all
things well.”22 Because of the Apostle’s declaration, we hold
it as certain that “in him were created all things in heaven
and on earth, the visible and the invisible whether thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were cre-
ated through him and for him. He is before all things and in
him all things hold together.”23
7. Therefore, what is there that his presence cannot fill, in
whom the Apostle declares all things in the heavens and on
earth, visible and invisible hold together? Scripture speaks
thus of the unmeasurability of the Holy Spirit also: “The
Spirit of the Lord has filled the world.”24 So David also, not
only believing in his heart to justification but also confessing
with his mouth for salvation the unmeasurability of the Holy
Trinity, one in substance, says thus: “Where can I go from
your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I as-
cend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol,
you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at
the farthest limits of the seas, even there your hand should
lead me and your right hand shall hold me fast.”25
VII. 1. Since, as we have said, the whole Trinity remains by

20. Jn 23.24.
21. Bar 3.25.
22. Wis 8.1. Wisdom became a traditional term for Christ. Because it is a
feminine noun, the new RSV uses “she” here.
23. Col 1.16–17.
24. Wis 1.7.
25. Ps 138.7–10 LXX; Ps 139.7–10.
244 FULGENTIUS

nature with the unmeasured and infinite unity of its divinity

and thus in a spatial sense is nowhere so that it is nowhere
absent, it is totally everywhere so that neither can it be divid-
ed up into parts of a whole creature bit by bit nor can it be
limited by the totality of a whole creature. Whenever the
Holy Spirit is sought by the Father for consecrating a sacri-
fice, a basic consideration of the faith, a first caution to be
retained for salvation by all Christians is that the coming of
the Holy Spirit is never to be thought of or conceived of in
some spatial sense.
2. The Apostle says to the faithful, “Do you not know that
you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells
in you?”26 And in another place: “With all prayer and suppli-
cation, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.”27 And the
Savior himself says to his disciples, “If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he
will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the
Spirit of Truth which the world cannot accept because it nei-
ther sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains
with you and will be in you.”28
3. Paul too thus proclaims that we have received the same
Spirit of adoption: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption
through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father’.”29 To the faithful,
therefore, who are the Temple of God and in whom the
Spirit of God lives, indeed, who are the Temple of the Holy
Spirit, the Apostle says, “Do you not know that your body is a
Temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from
God?”30 How is the Holy Spirit believed to be sent as if absent
before by those whom the same Apostle orders to pray in
him and to be vigilant in him since no one can pray worthily
and vigilantly unless the Holy Spirit will have poured itself
into him?
4. So, as the Apostle says, “describing spiritual realities in
spiritual terms,”31 and in the Spirit, who is God by nature,
26. 1 Cor 3.16. 27. Eph 6.18.
28. Jn 14.15–17. 29. Rm 8.15.
30. 1 Cor 6.19. 31. 1 Cor 2.13.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 245

thinking nothing corporeal, nothing spatial, nothing tempo-

ral, nothing mutable, we must consider that sometimes
under the name of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spir-
it are designated. For we read in the book of Kings that
when Elijah was about to be carried off by divine gift and be-
fore he was carried off, he gave to his disciple the confi-
dence to ask for what he wanted, he asked that a double por-
tion of the Spirit which Elijah had received be given to him.
Here is a place where we understand by the name of the
Spirit, a gift of spiritual grace is being designated. For the
substance of the Holy Spirit can neither be increased nor di-
minished who, just as he is eternal, without beginning and
without end, so is he perfect without increase or decrease.
VIII. 1. These gifts, according to his inscrutable and irre-
proachable will, just as we believe they can be increased in
human beings, so we do not deny that they can be decreased
in them. For when the gifts are of the Holy Spirit, “love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentle-
ness, self-control”32 and when “to one is given through the
Spirit, the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression
of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith
by the same Spirit”33 in human beings all of these can both
be increased and decreased.
2. From where does that increase of faith come which the
Apostles themselves ask that they be given by the Lord, say-
ing, “Lord, increase our faith”?34 That we increase also in
charity, the blessed Apostle himself shows who says, “Living
the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who
is the head.”35 But how do we grow in love, unless we receive
an increase of love with the gift of spiritual grace? “The love
of God has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”36
3. This is also known concerning the other spiritual gifts
which, according to the capacity of each person, are said ei-
ther to increase or decrease in us. Increases and decreases of
32. 2 Kgs 2.9–10. 33. 1 Cor 12.8–9.
34. Lk 17.5. 35. Eph 4.15.
36. Rm 5.5.
246 FULGENTIUS

such charismata are spoken of in this sense, that they exist in

certain people to a greater or a lesser degree, not that they
can, in themselves, be increased or decreased. For the sun,
too, so great as it is when seen by healthy eyes or however it
may seem when viewed by injured eyes, it is not made less
when perceived as smaller by disturbed eyes nor increased
when pouring more amply into healthy eyes.
4. Because, that difference of vision did not originate in
differences in the sun but consists in diversity of health and
illness. And although it illumines one less and the other
more, still it has one and the same light in itself, of which
one sees less and the other more. So it is with the Holy Spir-
it, in itself remaining immutably without growth or loss, El-
isha asked for a double portion of the Spirit because he
asked for an increase of spiritual grace.
IX. 1. Therefore, when the coming of the Holy Spirit is
sought for the sanctifying of the sacrifice of the whole
Church, nothing else is being sought for, it seems to me,
than that through the spiritual grace in the Body of Christ
(which is the Church) the unity of charity may be preserved
endlessly unbroken. For this is the principal gift of the Holy
Spirit without which any “speaking in human and angelic
tongues . . . like a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal”37
can give faith a sound but cannot have life. “Although” he
has “the gift of prophecy” and knows “all mysteries and all
knowledge, even if” he have “all faith so as” to move “moun-
tains, but” does not have “love, he is nothing.” “Even if” he
give away “everything he owns as food for the poor,” and he
hands over “his body to be burned but has not love, it does
him no good.”38 The Apostle says that the Law “was promul-
gated by angels at the hand of a mediator;”39 they spoke with
the tongues of angels, who, with their mouth, taught what is
of the Law and, by depraved actions, fought against the Law.
Concerning them, the Savior himself says, “Therefore do
and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not

37. 1 Cor 13.1. 38. 1 Cor 13.2–3.

39. Gal 3.19.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 247

follow their example. For they preach but they do not prac-
tice.”40
3. Saul also had prophecy and Simon Magus believed and
received the sacrament of baptism; for the demons too,
while they believe and tremble, seem to have faith, but it is
of no profit to them because they do not have charity. Many,
giving away their goods to the poor, because they did not
make an effort to acquire charity, have given away their
goods, but it profited them nothing, because they lost them-
selves by not acquiring charity which they should have ac-
quired. By these indications, it is shown that the Holy Spirit
is there where the “end of the Law” is, i.e., “love from a pure
heart, and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”41
3. For where there is no love along with the faith, whatev-
er gifts of the Holy Spirit there can be, the Holy Spirit itself
cannot be there; and for this reason the granting of those
gifts accomplishes nothing where some gift of the Spirit is
present in such a way that the Spirit itself is not present. Ac-
cordingly, such people, although they seem to be partici-
pants in certain gifts of the Father, still they are not sharers
in the inheritance of the Father, since “the Holy Spirit is the
pledge of our inheritance.”42 “The God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ [who] has blessed us in and with every
spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, be-
fore the foundations of the world, to be holy and without
blemish before him. In love. . . .”43
X. 1. When the Church asks that the Holy Spirit be sent
from heaven upon itself, it is asking that the gift of charity
and concord be conferred on it by God. But when does the
holy Church (which is the Body of Christ) more fittingly ask
for the coming of the Holy Spirit than for consecrating the
sacrifice of the Body of Christ? It knows that its own head ac-
cording to the flesh was born of the Holy Spirit. So by the
word of an angel, Mary is informed: “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you and the power of the most High will over-

40. Mt 23.3. 41. 1 Tm 1.5.

42. Eph 1.14. 43. Eph 1.3–4.
248 FULGENTIUS

shadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called

holy, the Son of God.”44
2. The evangelist Matthew, as well, filled with the same
Holy Spirit, affirms that “When his mother Mary was be-
trothed to Joseph but before they lived together, she was
found with child through the Holy Spirit.”45 And he thus re-
calls that the angel said to Joseph in dreams: “Joseph, son of
David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your
home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has
been conceived in her.”46 What was accomplished by the mys-
tery of this Incarnation of the Lord except that things divid-
ed are united and discordant things are subdued? For Paul is
the witness concerning Christ that: “For he is our peace, he
who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of en-
mity, through his flesh, abolishing the Law with its com-
mandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself
one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through
the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and
preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those
who were near, for through him we both have access in one
Spirit to the Father.”47
3. This was done by divine love so that from the Spirit it-
self, the body of that head might be reborn, from which the
head itself is born. And for this reason, it is necessary for us
that, just as Christ was born from the Holy Spirit, united to
his man “came out like a bridegroom from his wedding
chamber,”48 so the Church by the gift of the Holy Spirit, ad-
heres to Christ, as a woman to her husband and as a body to
its head. For the Apostle says, “For . . . Christ is the head of
the Church, he himself the savior of the body.”49 And again:
“Because we are members of his body [from his flesh and his
bones]. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his
mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become

44. Lk 1.35. 45. Mt 1.18.

46. Mt 1.20. 47. Eph 2.14–18.
48. Ps 18.6 LXX; Ps 19.6. 49. Eph 5.23.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 249
one flesh.”50 Explaining this, he added: “This is a great mys-
tery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.”51
4. Immediately following he added this testimony from
the Old Testament when the Lord exposed the temptations
of the Pharisees: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, no human being
must separate.”52 As in that holy matrimony: what was done
in the marriage chamber of the virgin’s womb, that there
were not two now but one flesh, this was done by the grace
of the Spirit. The grace of the Spirit is at work for this too—
that it may remain unbroken forever; that this unity of the
body may adhere to its head and that, knowing that “those
who are from you will perish; you put an end to those who
are false to you,”53 grace can say chastely and sweetly: “But as
for me, it is good to be near God.” And again: “My soul
clings to you.”54 These things the love of God does: “which
has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that
has been given to us.”55
So great is this unity of Christ and the Church through
this Holy Spirit that when the vessel of election says, “That
Christ is the head of the body, the Church,”56 the very body
of Christ does not doubt that it truly calls on Christ.
5. Finally, he speaks as follows, writing to the Corinthians:
“As a body is one, though it has many parts and all the parts
of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.”57
And that he may show that this body which is that of Christ,
that it may be Christ, that although it has many members, it
remains and holds together as one only by the grace of the
Holy Spirit, he follows up immediately as he says, “For in one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or
Greek, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink
of one Spirit.”58 This spiritual grace never ceases for a single
day to build up the body of Christ through the unity of

50. Eph 5.30–31. 51. Eph 5.32.

52. Mt 19.6. 53. Ps 72.27 LXX; Ps 73.27.
54. Ps 62.9 LXX; Ps 63.8. 55. Rm 5.5.
56. Col 1.18. 57. 1 Cor 12.12.
58. 1 Cor 12.13.
250 FULGENTIUS

peace and love, which grace fashioned in the womb of Mary

the virgin the gift of wisdom which is the head of this body.
6. Hence the blessed Apostle with these words shows that
we also are built up in him: “So then you are no longer
strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the
holy ones and members of the household of God built upon
the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ
Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole struc-
ture is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the
Lord; in him you are also being built together into a
dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”59
The Apostle bears witness that this building by which we
are built up in the Spirit, in another place is made for noth-
ing other than the perfection of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the building up of the Body of Christ.
7. Where he indicates the unity of the same spiritual
building, which consists in love, he says, “until we all attain
to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to
mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and
swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human
trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful
scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in
every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the
whole body, joined and held together by every supporting
ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings
about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.”60
XI. 1. Therefore, this spiritual upbuilding of the Body of
Christ which happens in love (since according to the words
of the blessed Peter, “. . . like living stones, let yourselves be
built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.”61) this spiritual upbuilding, I say, is never more op-
portunely sought than when the very Body and Blood of
Christ are offered by the body of Christ itself (which is the

59. Eph 2.19–22. 60. Eph 4.13–16.

61. 1 Pt 2.5.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 251

Church) in the sacrament of the bread and chalice: “The

cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the
blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a partici-
pation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is
one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of
the one loaf.”62
2. And, therefore, we ask that by that very grace by which
it comes about that the Church becomes the Body of Christ,
by the same grace it may happen that all the members of
charity, with the binding framework remaining, persevere in
the unity of the Body. This we seek worthily to happen in us
by the gift of that Spirit who is the one Spirit of both the Fa-
ther and the Son; because the Holy Trinity, by nature unity
and equality and love, which is the one, only, and true God,
in total accord sanctifies those whom it adopts.
3. In that one substance of the Trinity, unity is in the ori-
gin, equality in the offspring, in the love, the communion of
unity and equality. There is no division of that unity, no dif-
ference in that equality, no pride in that love. There nothing
is out of harmony, because the equality, dear and one, and
the unity, equal and dear, and the love, equal and one, per-
severe by nature and immutably. Because from the very (if it
must be said) communion of the Holy Spirit, the one love of
the Father and the Son is shown. The blessed Apostle points
out this communion with these words: “The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with all of you;”63 and in another place: “If
there is . . . any solace in love, any participation in the Spir-
it,”64 because of which it is said: “. . . because the love of God
has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us.”65
4. The Holy Spirit who is the one Spirit of the Father and
the Son accomplishes this in those to whom it has given the
grace of divine adoption, something it has done also in
those who, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, received

62. 1 Cor 10.16–17. 63. 1 Cor 13.13.

64. Phil 2.1. 65. Rm 5.5.
252 FULGENTIUS

the same Spirit. Concerning them it is said: “The community

of believers was of one heart and mind.”66 The one who is
the one Spirit of the Father and the Son and who is the one
God with the Father and the Son made the heart and soul of
the multitude that believed in God, one. So the Apostle too
states with concern that this spiritual unity in the bond of
peace must be preserved, warning the Ephesians in this way:
“I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in manner
worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through
love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the
bond of peace, one Body and one Spirit. . . .”67
5. By departing, they lose this Spirit, if they, either de-
praved by lack of faith or puffed up by pride, are separated
from the unity of the body of the Church. The Apostle Jude
shows that these people are clearly without the Spirit of
whom he says, “These are the ones who cause divisions; they
live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.”68 These, be-
cause they are natural, do not have the Spirit. Because of
this Paul the Apostle says, “Now the natural person does not
accept what pertains to the Spirit of God.”69 Such people,
therefore, are quick to promote division because they do not
have the Spirit in whom alone the members of Christ spiritu-
ally preserve precious unity.
6. Whence it is clear that among all heretics the grace of
the Holy Spirit does not exist, nor can their sacrifices, so
long as they are heretics, please God, nor is the sanctifica-
tion of spiritual grace granted to the sacrifices of those who
make their offerings while separated from the unity of the
ecclesiastical body. God delights only in the sacrifices of the
Church which spiritual unity makes a sacrifice to God, there
where the truth of faith believes in no separation in the
Trinity and the tenacity of peace preserves fraternal concord
in love.
XII. 1. Lest anyone think that we, when the Church prays

66. Acts 4.32. 67. Eph 4.1–3.

68. Jude 19. 69. 1 Cor 2.14.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 253

for the coming of the Holy Spirit in the prayer of sacrifice,

unfittingly understand by the words “Holy Spirit” love which
has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us, we have thought it suitable to
strengthen our belief with statements from the fathers. St.
Augustine in his books on baptism, when he considered the
question of the reception of heretics without the repetition
of baptism, in the third book of this same work, among
other things, says the following: “But when it is said that
‘The Holy Spirit is given by the imposition of hands in the
Catholic Church only,’ I suppose that our ancestors meant
that we should understand thereby what the Apostle says:
‘Because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’ For this is that very
love which is wanting in all who are cut off from the commu-
nion of the Catholic Church.”70
Note, I ask you, how the most blessed Augustine, divinely
learned in the Holy Scriptures, has miraculously opened up
in one place the meaning not only of the holy Apostle Paul
but also that of the holy Apostle Jude, in the name of the
Holy Spirit.
2. He says above, “The Holy Spirit is given by the imposi-
tion of hands in the Catholic Church only, I suppose that
our ancestors meant that we should understand thereby
what the Apostle says: ‘The Holy Spirit has been poured out
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.’”71
Subsequently also what the Apostle Jude set down in his let-
ter, with the uncertainty of doubt removed, St. Augustine ex-
plained. For the Apostle Jude said, “These are the ones who
cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the
Spirit.”72
3. And the blessed Augustine concerning the love of God,
which has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us, says, “For this is the very love
70. Augustine De baptismo III.16.21. CSEL 51.212. English translation,
NPNF, ser. 1, 4.442.
71. Ibid.
72. Jude 19.
254 FULGENTIUS

which is wanting in all who are cut off from the communion
of the Catholic Church.”73 And who is going to say that the
Holy Spirit given by the imposition of hands to heretics who
return is different from the one divinely given to the spiritu-
al sacrifice? Anyone who thinks or says this assuredly does
not yet understand in what way they show themselves a liv-
ing, holy victim, pleasing to God, if any schismatics and
heretics, abandoning deadly error, return to the unity of
Catholic truth, where, offering to God the sacrifice of a con-
trite heart, they themselves are a living victim, holy, pleasing
to God. Because through the contrition of a humbled heart,
they return to the unity of the members of that priest who
loved us, as the Apostle says, “. . . and handed himself over
for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.”74
4. The love of God which has been poured out in our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us
brings it about that they may return and become a spiritual
sacrifice. God willingly accepts the sacrifice only from
Catholic truth and communion; because, while he guards
his love poured out in it by the Holy Spirit, he makes the
Church itself a sacrifice pleasing to him. The Church can al-
ways receive the grace of spiritual love through which it can
continuously show itself a living and holy victim, pleasing to
God.
XIII. 1. You write concerning that place in the Apostle
where he says, “Now in regard to virgins, I have no com-
mandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion.”75 In the
letter which I wrote to you recently,76 I recalled that that
opinion was relevant to the instance where, when the two
denarii had been received from the Lord, the faithful
innkeeper did more than was required. Although you assert
that the meaning of this text77 is not so interpreted by St. Au-

73. Augustine De baptismo III.16.21. CSEL 51.212. English translation,

NPNF, ser. 1, 4.442.
74. Eph 5.2.
75. 1 Cor 7.25.
76. A letter of Fulgentius to Monimus no longer extant.
77. The work of Augustine referred to here is uncertain.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 255

gustine, you confirm that it is so interpreted by other illustri-

ous men.
2. It is true that St. Augustine said that here the Apostle
did more than was required, that, though according to the
commandment, he was able, if he wished, to live from the
Gospel, still he preferred, not only for himself but also for
those who were with him, to work with his own hands, as he
said truly to the Ephesians: “You know well that these very
hands have served my needs and my companions. In every
way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must
help the weak.”78
And writing to the Thessalonians: “You recall” he says,
“brothers, our toil and drudgery, working night and day in
order not to burden any of you.”79 And to the Corinthians,
he calls this his reward, that preaching the Gospel, he offers
the Gospel free of charge so that he does not abuse his
power in the Gospel.
3. Although St. Augustine has treated this suitably and fit-
tingly, still it must not seem unsuitable or unfitting that St.
Ambrose has located the supererogation of the blessed Paul
either in his sermons and his letters or in the too great labor
of mind and body.80 St. Optatus of Milevis, in the sixth book
against Parmenian, bears witness that Paul has done more
than is necessary with his advice on virgins in these words:
“For virginity is a matter of choice, not of necessity. So Paul
the Apostle, that famous innkeeper, to whose care was en-
trusted a people wounded with the wounds of their sins, had
received two pennies to lay out—that is the two Testaments.
These he, as it were, expended by his teaching and taught
how Christian husbands and wives ought to live; but, when
he was asked what command he would give concerning vir-
gins, he answered that nothing about virginity had been
commanded. He acknowledged that he had laid out the two
Testaments, that is the two pennies. In a certain way, the
commission was exhausted, but, inasmuch as Christ, who
78. Acts 20.34–35.
79. 1 Thes 2.9.
80. Ambrose Expositio evangelii secundum Lucam VII.82. CCL 14.240.
256 FULGENTIUS

had entrusted the wounded man to his keeping, had prom-

ised that he would repay whatsoever over and above might
be expended upon his care, Paul, after having laid out the
two pennies, gives not commandments, but counsel with re-
gard to virginity. He does not stand in the way of those who
desire it, but neither does he drive or force those who do not
desire it.”81
XIV. 1. Therefore, since this text of the blessed Apostle
has been explained in three ways by three holy men whom
we have named, whoever would choose one of these three
does not depart from the truth, nor is it necessary that what
is understood in several ways be included in multiple ways in
every writing. For the saints themselves, by whose ministry
God has deigned to open the secrets of his Scriptures, have
said that most things are not unfittingly understood, not in
one way only, but in multiple ways, without offense at any
rate to the true faith. So the blessed Augustine himself is
known to have done against Faustus in the case of the mys-
tery of Noah’s ark. For, with the Manichaean asserting that
in the books of the Old Testament nothing is prophesied
concerning the future coming of Christ in true flesh, the
same most blessed Augustine showing that our old Scripture
is full of prophetic meanings about Christ and because of
this, divinely inspired, so, among other things, he explains
that God commands that the above-mentioned ark be con-
structed with two and three stories, in such a way that in the
fifteenth book of the City of God, he might give no less sweet-
ly than miraculously the mystical explanation of the same
text in two other ways, “not with words taught by human wis-
dom but” truly (as the Apostle says) “with words taught by
the Spirit.”82
2. In order that this may be recognized more easily, I shall
cite the words of each work, just as they have been written by
him. So, against Faustus, he said this: “That the lower spaces
of the ark are divided into two and three chambers, as the
81. Optatus Contra Parmenianum VI.4. CSEL 26.149–50. English translation,
Vassall- Phillips, 257–58.
82. 1 Cor 2.13.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK II 257

multitude of all nations in the Church is divided into two, as

circumcised and uncircumcised; or into three, as descended
from the three sons of Noah.”83
3. But in the fifteenth book of the City of God, undertaking
to expound the mystery of the above-mentioned ark accord-
ing to the opening offered by the text, after some other mat-
ters, where it is said that Noah must build his ark with two
and three stories, he inserted mention of that explanation
which is contained in the books against Faustus the
Manichaean, adding this subsequently: “Biblical interpreta-
tions, of course, can vary in value—and I do not claim that
mine is the best—but any interpretation which is to catch
the mind of the writer who described the flood must realize
the connections of this story with the City of God which, in
this wicked world, is ever tossed like the ark in the waters of
a deluge. Anyone is free to reject the interpretations I gave
in the work against Faustus. I said, for example, that the
words ‘with lower, middle chambers, and third-storied shall
they make it,’ can be applied to the Church. The Church is
gathered from all nations, and is two-storied because it has
room for two kinds of men, the circumcised and the uncir-
cumcised, or the Jews and the Greeks, as the Apostle calls
them. But the Church is also three-storied because after the
flood the whole world was repeopled with descendants from
the three sons of Noah. Now, anyone is entitled to say some-
thing else, so long as what he says is in harmony with the
rule of faith. Thus, God wanted the ark to have rooms not
only in the lower story but also in the middle story—the
‘middle chambers’—and even in the top story—the ‘third
stories’—so that there should be living space from the bot-
tom to the top. These stories may well be taken to imply the
three virtues praised by the Apostle: faith, hope, and charity.
However, better application would be to the three harvest
increases mentioned in the Gospel, the thirty-fold, sixty-fold,
and hundred-fold, the meaning being that on the lowest
level in the Church we have chaste marriage, on the next
83. Augustine Contra Faustum XII.16. CSEL 25.346. English translation,
NPNF, ser. 1, 4.189.
258 FULGENTIUS

level chaste widowhood, and on the highest level virginal pu-

rity. Still better interpretations can be expressed, so long as
they square with the faith of the City of God. This is true of
any other text which I may have occasion to interpret. All ex-
planations need not be the same, but none may be proposed
which is incompatible with the Catholic faith.”84
6. Again, the same blessed Augustine asserts in the first
book on the Trinity that it “is useful if many men, differing
in style but not in faith, write many books even on the same
topics, in order that the subject itself may reach as many
people as possible, to some in one way, to others in a differ-
ent way.”85 If, therefore, those things which the blessed Au-
gustine said in one place in two ways about the ark of Noah
are interpreted differently by two men in separate places,
will not each one rightly be acknowledged to be a holder of
the truth? Still if each seems to affirm one of the meanings
found in his words in such a way that what the other says in
his words equally fits the truth, let him be pacified and ap-
prove it rather than attack it contentiously.
XV. 1. So, my friend, although that meaning which was
put forward by me perhaps is not found in the words of St.
Augustine, still most openly, it is found in the books of St.
Optatus (as you yourself are aware along with me). Nor is it
hidden from your prudence that of those things which are
said by the holy fathers, who in various ways defended the
correct rule of the Catholic faith in the teaching of the Holy
Spirit, either in their exegetical or apologetic works, whatev-
er be said by us, we are affirming a meaning befitting the
truth of that text in such a way that we do not refuse assent
to other opinions of the fathers, equally befitting the truth.
2. Nor do we depart from the truth, if in the question of
the Apostle’s supererogation, either what St. Ambrose or
what St. Augustine or what St. Optatus believed, is also be-
lieved by us, saving the truth of the faith. Since it is believed
84. Augustine De civitate Dei XV.26. CCL 48.494. English translation, FOTC
14.478–79.
85. Augustine De Trinitate I.5. CCL 50.33. English translation, FOTC
45.8–9.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 259

rightly that, with the two denarii accepted, Paul has done
something more than he had to do, in that, preaching the
Gospel while expending himself, he did not demand the
payment owed him by the faithful; rightly also is it believed
that something else is being done beyond what is required
in that he did not have a commandment of the Lord con-
cerning virgins, but he gave advice. Without a doubt, he had
both because He gave it without whose gift Paul would not
have been able to do more than was required.

BOOK III

s o f t e n , my beloved Monimus, as the virtue of

charity is considered and examined by the servants
of Christ, it is found no less marvelous than sweet.
For who does not marvel at it or who does not completely
delight in something whose burden when borne, does not
weaken the spirit with fatigue but strengthens it with enthu-
siasm? For when it burdens, it lifts up and, in a marvelous
manner, the one whom it burdens, it does not allow to be
oppressed; when it lifts up, it does not permit one to be ex-
alted. This, while allowing my past debt to you to be resolved
with the Lord’s help, again makes me a debtor. For on the
four questions which you sent to me for discussion, with the
help of him who gives wisdom to children, I wrote two books
wishing to repay you what I owed.
2. Then suddenly the statement of a certain Arian asser-
tion grated on my ears, which, just as much as it is generated
by a pointless aberration, to that degree is it “discovered” by
every intellect, foreign not only to the divine Scriptures but
also to humanity itself. For I find that, from the beginning of
the Gospel according to John, they plant a certain now unac-
customed question.1 They think that what has been said: “In
1. Fulgentius feels obliged to answer a question not raised by Monimus. It
seems to be a particularly superficial one raised by an Arian. Basing his re-
sponse on the beginning of John’s Gospel (“The Word was with God”), he rais-
260 FULGENTIUS

the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God
and the Word was God,”2 should be understood and ex-
plained in such a way that the Word should be accepted as
being with the Father, not that he is in the Father but out-
side the Father. One of them (to the extent that I have dis-
covered by hearsay) when once there arose a conflict among
them concerning these two prepositions, i.e., in and with,
when someone had received a cloak and was holding it in his
hands, asked whether that cloak which he held in his hands,
was in him when it was with him.
3. And from there, as if to confirm his view, he is said to
have closed his discourse with this definition: “When some-
thing is said to be in us, it is to be understood as being inside
us; when it is said to be with us, it is to be accepted as outside
us.” And because that cloak which he held was “with him” so
that it was not in him, so for that reason, that it was with
him, and not in him, therefore, it was outside him, not in-
side him, in the same way the Word of God also (which is
God) must be believed to be with the Father, not in the Fa-
ther, and for this reason, is not of one substance with the Fa-
ther; since something that is with someone so that it is not in
him, assuredly, is with him in the sense that it cannot be of
one substance with him. This is their reasoning, contrary to
reason. This dispute about the law is intolerably inimical to
the law of God.
II. 1. Hence, under the impulsion of Christ, my spirit was
stirred to write something lest the hearing of little ones be
disturbed by poisonous words; for it is part of the duty of our
servanthood to prepare salutary remedies of divine words
against the nascent pestilence of any deadly view. Therefore,
when the holy Apostle forewarns the faithful with concern,
saying, “See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, se-
ductive philosophy according to human tradition, according
to the elemental power of the world and not according to
es the objection that that which is “with” something is not “in” that thing and,
therefore, is of a different nature from that which it is “with.” Fulgentius seeks
to refute this verbal quibble from Scripture.
2. Jn 1.1.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 261

Christ. For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodi-
ly.”3 They, on the contrary, pursuing the error of worldly phi-
losophy of time past, not only thought that there must be
disputation about God according to the elemental power of
the world, but also they now forget religion so completely
that when they discuss God, they do not pay attention even
to the elements of this corporeal world.
2. And so, while they stubbornly shut the eyes of their in-
telligence even against those things which are seen, they
never detect with their intellect the invisible things of God
through those things which have been made. For what could
be more absurdly said than that in order that anyone discuss
God, one should employ in the discussion nothing but ex-
amples from the heavier bodies? For, that person seemed to
himself to find something significant when, receiving a cloak
and holding it in his hands, he asked whether, just as it was
with him, was it in him.
3. Thereupon, wishing to teach that the Son was with the
Father just as a cloak was with a person, that because a cloak
could be with a person, it could not be in a person, so the
Son was with the Father, but was not in the Father. I ask if he
took delight in employing something from these tangible
bodies as an example in the discussion, although to that per-
son who argues against the truth, the elements which have
been made by the truth, can never be relied upon, still, in
order that he may seem to say something acceptable so that I
may keep silence about other things, why does he show the
cloak which he held in his hands and not pay attention to at
least the breath which he drew through his nostrils?
4. Because if that cloak could be said to be with him, and
not in him, that breath, which we draw from the air, when
we perceive it by breathing, is both with us and in us and
whatever we send back by exhaling, when we give it back, we
have it neither in us nor with us. Or perhaps he is going to
say the element of that air, when we take it in by breathing is
only in us but is not also with us? Does he say, therefore,

3. Col 2.8–9.
262 FULGENTIUS

when it can be with us or when we exhale it, we do not also

have it in us?
5. But I think this, that he will not dare to speak about
that cloak, if he has given it back to the one from whom he
had received it. He sees that then he had it with him when
he received it; but after he gave it back, he now ceased to
have it with him. Just as by receiving, what he did not have
before, he now had with him; so, by giving it back, what he
had with him, he no longer had. Accordingly, if he said the
cloak was not in him but with him, still, it seems to me, that
he will not say of this breath which by turns we draw in and
breathe out from the air around us, that it is not with a per-
son, when it is in a person, because then, a person has it with
him and in him, when he receives it by breathing. Then
when he gives it up by exhaling, he does not have it with him
anymcre than he has it in him.
III. 1. In vain, therefore, in that discussion concerning
these words: “The Word was with God,” did he wish to assert
that what is in something is always internal, that what is with
someone is always external, since the breath received into
the body, is in a person in such a way that it is with a person.
And again, expelled from the body, it is not with a person
anymore than it is in a person. For he did not pay enough at-
tention to this, that because of what he struggled to assert by
an absurd example, now subsequently a weightier absurdity
held him tightly bound. For it is said: “In the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was
God.”4
2. If everything that was with God is external, and every-
thing that is in God is internal, what remains to that most ex-
pert debater except to contend that we are more powerful
than the Son of God? For the Apostle says about God: “That
in him, we live and move and have our being.”5 And in an-
other place: “One God the Father, from whom all things are
and for whom we exist.”6 So now, let anyone who, under the
name of Christian, did not fear to dispute so foolishly
4. Jn 1.1. 5. Acts 17.28.
6. 1 Cor 8.6.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 263

against Christ, when he hears that the Word is with God and
that we are in God, if he dares, let him say that the Word is
external and we are internal. If anyone thinks that that must
be said, let him pass judgment from his own words. In such a
statement, is any other judge to be sought for when the very
one who said this must without question condemn himself?
3. What will he again answer to that statement of the same
blessed Paul in which he says of God: “For from him and
through him and for him are all things. To him be glory for-
ever. Amen.”7 Behold, Paul testifies that all things are from
God and through God and in God; by the preaching of John
the Evangelist it is recognized that the Word is with god; if,
however, according to the meaning of the Arians, everything
which is in God is interior and everything that is with God is
exterior, since the Word which is with God is believed by the
Arians not to be in God but external.
4. What is left is that that which is with God is proclaimed
as inferior to everything that is in God. When this is accept-
ed—because it has been written concerning the Word: “All
things were made through him”8—this will be the orthodox
faith according to the Arians, that what is made must be pre-
ferred to the Maker. Who does not perceive into what abyss
thoughtless people fall who, resisting the true faith, try to
defend a false faith? For what is being done with such words
except that the creature, by the defense of this view, forget-
ful of his condition and redemption, dares not only to make
itself equal to the Son of God but to put itself ahead of him?
5. I am amazed how they who assert this do not consider
how the inferior fruit of wicked blasphemy is born from it.
For they say, “What is in God must be believed to be inter-
nal, but what is with God must be thought to be external.
Wherefore if something is with God and is external, it must
not be believed to be of one nature with God. It follows that
what is in God and is internal, is believed to be of one sub-
stance with God.” That reasoning leads to this conclusion,
that as the Word, because it is with God, is separated from
7. Rm 1.36.
8. Jn 1.3.
264 FULGENTIUS

his nature, so the creature, because it is in God, is believed

to be of one nature with God. From this, they are convicted
of believing these things by which they dare to put us ahead
of even the Son and try to make us equal to the Father. So
do those who dissent from the truth confuse everything. See
with what views faithless error is asserted. See with what fool-
ishness the truth of the faith is attacked.
IV. 1. But no matter with what blows heretics struggle to
shake the holy Church, we are certain from the Lord our
God that they will not be able to undermine the city built on
a mountain. In fact, they undermine and destroy themselves,
who outrage the only Son of God, true God, with slanderous
assertions. Nor do they restrain themselves even from injur-
ing the Father while they return ingratitude for the grace of
the Savior. So it seems fitting that the understanding of this
word be sought from other texts of the Scriptures, so that it
may be clear whether or not, whenever something is said to
be with someone, we are obliged, according to their view, to
think of it always as external.
2. In the book of Wisdom, we read that it is said by certain
people: “For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to them-
selves;”9 we require an explanation of this text from the Ari-
ans, whether he who thinks to himself, thinks inside himself
or outside himself ? Since the act of thinking of a person is
not only not outside the person’s body, neither is it the ac-
tion of the body. For that which is called thinking is not only
not found outside a person, neither is it found in the very
body of a person. Who does not see that thought belongs
only to the soul, to which thinking has been given by God
through the power of reason? In a human being, the spirit
rules by thinking; by working, the body shows its subordina-
tion. For there, thinking has been given to a human being
where the power of distinguishing good and evil has been
instilled.
3. Therefore, the inner person carries on the work of
thinking who, created in the image of God, has received the

9. Wis 2.1.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 265

power of understanding. When, therefore, the human being

thinks “with” himself, he is thinking within himself, not out-
side himself; he would not think outside himself even if
thinking belonged to the external person. How much more
does he think within himself, inasmuch as it not the external
but the internal person that thinks. According to the testi-
mony of Scripture, one is said to think with himself because
thinking is the function, not of the external, but of the inter-
nal person. For Scripture says, just as has already been cited
above, “For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to them-
selves.”10
What is it “to say to oneself” except to say it in one’s heart?
Wherefore it is said in another place: “When you are dis-
turbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds and be silent.”11
4. Therefore, to speak with oneself is to speak within one-
self. So that Pharisee who had invited the Lord to eat, when
the sinful woman, having entered, watered the feet of the
Savior with her tears and dried them with her hair, because
he thought within himself, said within himself what he said
by thinking. For the evangelist says, “When the Pharisee who
had invited him saw this, he said to himself.”12
What is “said to himself” except: thought within himself?
Nevertheless, with Scripture teaching, we know that the one
who thinks within himself, thinks with himself. Therefore, it
is said: “For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to them-
selves.”13
5. Still, lest the Arians wish to link this which has been
said “to themselves,” not to the preceding words but to what
follows, so that it is not said: “They said to themselves” but
“They said” and afterwards is continued, “thinking within
themselves;” so let them hear the testimonies of the divine
Scriptures and let them know that the function of human
thought belongs not to the external, but to the internal
human being. The evangelist says that when the paralytic
was brought before the Lord, “When Jesus saw their faith,”

10. Ibid. 11. Ps 4.5 LXX; Ps 4.4.

12. Lk 7.29. 13. Wis 2.1.
266 FULGENTIUS

i.e., of those who had let him down through the tiles, he
“said, ‘Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.’ At that some
of the Scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, ‘Why do you
harbor evil thoughts in your hearts?’”14
6. They who the evangelist said, “said within themselves,”
the Lord says of these very ones that they had evil thoughts
in their hearts. What is thinking evil thoughts in their hearts
except: “to reason unsoundly, saying to themselves”? In what-
ever way the Arians pull apart the meaning of this text, there
it is necessary that they find the confounding of their de-
pravity. And would that they who are thus confounded about
their error might be converted to the truth. For if they said
that this verse of Scripture must be divided in this way, what
has been written, “For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to
themselves” so that, joining “to themselves” to the preceding
words, they divide it up this way: “They said to themselves”
so that later they bring in “reasoned unsoundly.” Immediate-
ly they are convicted by the words of David that “to say to
oneself” is nothing other than “to say in the heart.” For he
says, “What you say in your hearts.”15
7. If they wish to distinguish them differently, so that they
join “to themselves,” not to the preceding words but to those
that come after, as those who spoke before said, with a silent
pause in between, afterwards they bring forward what has
been said: “For they reasoned unsoundly,” even from this
they hear the reproach of the Savior and recognize that
these are the thoughts of the heart; for he says, “Why do you
think evil in your hearts?”16 And in another place as well the
same Lord teaches: “For from the heart come forth evil
thoughts.”17 And a second time he says, “A good person
brings forth good out of a store of goodness but an evil per-
son brings forth evil out of a store of evil.”18
14. Mt 9.2–3.
15. Ps 4.5 LXX; Ps 4.5. “When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on
your beds and be silent.”
16. Lk 5.22. 17. Mt 15.19.
18. Mt 12. 35.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 267

Now do they who strive to assert that the Word is with

God, not internally, but externally, recognize in what depth
of error they are carrying on?
V. 1. Again, we read written about Wisdom in the same
book: “. . . For in the memory of virtue is immortality, be-
cause it is known both by God and by mortals.”19 For how is it
known by mortals if it is not within mortals but is outside
mortals? Since, unless it entered the human soul, it could
not be known to a human being. Concerning this, it is said:
“. . . while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in
every generation she passes into holy souls.”20 And in order
that it be recognized that passing into souls is nothing other
than entering into souls, again from that text of Holy Scrip-
ture, he thus recalls, “A holy people and blameless race, wis-
dom delivered from a nation of oppressors. She entered the
soul of a servant of the Lord, and withstood dread kings with
wonders and signs.”21 This “entering into” of his, by which he
enters souls, he also indicates in the Apocalypse of John
when he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any-
one hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his
house and dine with him and he with me.”22
2. By this entering, the Father and the Son come to their
lover and make their home with him, just as the Son himself
says, “Whoever loves me and keeps my word and my Father
will love him and we will come to him and make our
dwelling with him.”23 But if the Father and the Son, coming
to him, make their dwelling with him, not internally but are
external, are we told where they come to him and make
their dwelling with him? All the while, that Christ lives in his
faithful interiorly, we know from the preaching of Paul who
says, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”24
3. Or perchance they are going to say that Christ lives
through faith in our interior man in one way and, in anoth-
er way, he comes with the Father to make his dwelling with
his lover so that Christ all the while can live alone in our in-
19. Wis 4.1. 20. Wis 7.27.
21. Wis 10.15–16. 22. Rev 3.20.
23. Jn 14.23. 24. Eph 3.17.
268 FULGENTIUS

terior man, the Father remaining on the outside of the one

with whom he makes his dwelling. Not only is he unable to
remain in the interior but also impedes the Son by the com-
munion of his coming since he is unable to live in the interi-
or person.
4. The Son of God promised the Holy Spirit as well to his
faithful so that he remain with them and in them. For he
says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And
I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to
be with you always, the Spirit of Truth, which the world can-
not accept because it neither sees nor knows it. But you
know it, because it remains with you and will be in you.”25
See that the Holy Spirit is in those with whom the Son re-
mains.
5. What can the difference be here which is spoken of so
that he remains with them and is in them? Each preposition
is found in one text and the possibility of each position is as-
cribed to the Holy Spirit, so that he is in those with whom he
remains. Since the Holy Spirit remains with the faithful in
such a way that he can exist in the same faithful, is God the
Word with God in such a way that he cannot exist in God?
What shall I say to those who desire to argue about the Scrip-
tures in such a way that they never seek the way of spiritual
understanding and, averting their eyes from the true light,
delight to wander in the darkness forever?
6. That to be with God is the same thing as to be in God,
the Holy Scripture shows in other places. For Moses says: “A
faithful God without deceit, just and upright he is.”26
David also sings, “Just is the Lord our God and there is no
iniquity in him.”27 Paul the Apostle says that there is no iniq-
uity with God. For he speaks thus: “Is there injustice on the
part of God? Of course not!”28 Let them choose in this text
what the Arians want and, to show their wisdom in an obvi-
ous way, let them pass judgment on what is said by the Law
and the Prophets and the Apostle, Moses says, “A faithful

25. Jn 14.15–17. 26. Dt 32.4.

27. Ps 9.16 LXX; Ps 10.16. 28. Rm 9.14.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 269
God in whom there is no iniquity.”29 David also says, “Just is
the Lord our God, and there is no iniquity in him.”30 And
Paul says, “Is there injustice on the part of God? Of course
not!”31 Therefore, either let them confess that the Apostle’s
meaning fits with the meaning in the Law and the Prophets,
or let them say that Paul differs from the understanding in
the Law and the Prophets.
7. Paul the Apostle says that he has the same spirit of faith
which the blessed David had, which the holy Moses received,
just as he himself testifies, saying, “Since then we have the
same spirit of faith, according to what is written: ‘I believed,
therefore, I spoke.’ We too believe and therefore speak.”32
How did they have the one spirit of faith, if they believed dif-
ferently concerning the faithful God? For the difference in
belief is great if what Paul says, “There is no injustice with
God,”33 differs from what Moses and David say, “There is no
iniquity in God.”34 And if, as Paul says, he has the same spirit
of faith which the prophets also had, and yet his belief is dif-
ferent from their faith, let the Apostle be declared a liar
(God forbid), he who testifies that Christ speaks in him.
8. “You are looking for proof of Christ speaking in me?”
But since Christ has truly spoken in Paul, Paul is not a liar.
And when he says that he has the same spirit of faith, he
does not lie; the belief of each is in agreement so that what
Moses and David have said—that there is no iniquity in God,
this is also what Paul says, “There is no iniquity with God.”35
But if it perhaps seems to them that they are saying some-
thing quite different, this is left to them, that they contradict
either the prophets or the Apostle.
VI. 1. And although the views of the heretics, confuted by
so many and such great testimonies, is recognized as sup-
ported by no truth, still let them answer what they think
about that text of the Apostle James when he says, “All good

29. Dt 32.4. 30. Ps 9.16 LXX; Ps 10.16.

31. Rm 9.14. 32. 2 Cor 4.13.
33. Rm 9.14.
34. Dt 32.4; Ps 9.16 LXX; Ps 10.16.
35. Rm 9.14.
270 FULGENTIUS

giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down

from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration
of shadow caused by change.”36 With the one with whom
there is no alteration assuredly there is no mutability; and
with the one with whom there is no mutability is immutabili-
ty.
2. This immutability which is with God, let them say,
whether it is exterior or interior; for if it is interior, behold
this is to be in God, because it is to be with God. Therefore,
let them stop believing wrong things and hasten to agree
with Catholic orthodoxy. But if this immutability which is
with God is not believed to be internal, but external, as-
suredly it is not believed to be in God. And if the immutabili-
ty is not believed to be in God, as a consequence, God him-
self is proclaimed to be mutable. And lest they wish to
attribute this to the Son, let them hear “The Father of
lights” named in the same text.
3. Accordingly, when we hear that there is no alteration
with God, let us believe this according to the truth of the
Catholic faith, that there is no alteration in God. And when
it is said: “The Word was with God,”37 let us believe nothing
other than that: The Word was in God. And when Wisdom
says in Proverbs: “I was beside him, like a master worker,”38
let us not believe anything other than: I was in him like a
master worker. And when it is said to God: “With you is the
fountain of life,”39 let us not understand anything other
then: in you is the fountain of life.
4. And when John says, “We proclaim to you the eternal
life that was with the Father and was made visible to us,”40 we
do not understand anything else than: the eternal life which
was in the Father. For truly with God is God the Word be-
cause God the Word was in God. And truly with the God the
wise is Wisdom because Wisdom is in the wise God. And
truly with the living God is life because God the life is in the
36. Jas 1.17. 37. Jn 1.1.
38. Prov 8.30.
39. Ps 35.10 LXX; Ps 36.9. Misprint at the foot of CCL XC.60.
40. 1 Jn 1.2.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 271

living God. And truly with the true God is God the Truth,
because God the Truth is in the true God. And truly with
God the powerful is God the Power because God the Power
is in the powerful God.
5. But what is wonderful, if to be with the Father is for the
Son what it is for him to be in the Father, because by nature
born from the Father, he remains forever in the Father;
when we read about human beings (insofar as it attains to
the substance by which they are human by nature) that it is
no different, when something is said to be with them than to
be in them? To this, we shall bring forward very clear testi-
monies: in the book of Isaiah, there is the prayer of king
Hezekiah which he poured out to God after fifteen years had
been added to his life, where, among other things, he says,
“My spirit has been made with me, as a weaver coming near
to remove the cloth.”41 How else is this to be understood?
“My spirit with me,” except: My spirit in me?
6. Or will it be said that the person’s spirit is with a person
but is not in a person? Since the Apostle clearly says,
“Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a per-
son except the spirit of the person that is within?”42 As for
the text that we cited above: “Reasoning unsoundly, they
said with themselves,”43 what is this but: They said within
themselves? Again it is written in the book of Wisdom:
“When I considered these things inwardly and pondered in
my heart that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality.”44
7. What he considers inwardly, he ponders in his heart,
what he speaks of in each case, i.e., the considering and the
pondering, he showed are within him, not externally but in-
ternally. It is also said in Proverbs: “My child . . . [let not evil
thoughts seize you] who forsakes the partner of her youth
and forgets her sacred covenant; for her way leads down to
death and her paths to the shades.”45 Therefore, if evil
thoughts, which placed their dwelling with death, are out-
side of death, not in death, assuredly he lives.
41. Is 3.12. 42. 1 Cor 2.11.
43. Wis 2.1. 44. Wis 8.17.
45. Prov 2.17–18.
272 FULGENTIUS

8. And if “with the shades” does not mean placed in hell,

what is left is that that which is neither in death nor in hell is
said to have life in heaven. Therefore, it is said to God: “For
you have delivered my soul from death,”46 because he has
given life to the soul by faith, saying, “My just one lives by
faith.”47 And again it is said to him: “You have delivered my
soul from the depths of Sheol,”48 because by the grace of
God souls are delivered from hell that they may live in the
heavens. Whence the Apostle says, “Our citizenship is in
heaven.”49
9. But the soul, which through evil thoughts was with
death, how has it been freed from death, if it was not in
death? And how was it snatched from hell, if, while with the
shades, it was not in hell? Since, if it was not in death, it
would not have been dead. Through an evil will, i.e.,
through sin, who does not know that the soul is dead? Since
God says, “The person who sins shall die.”50 Therefore, it is
certain that the soul that thinks evil thoughts when it is with
death, is in death, and when it is with the shades, is in hell.
What is it that the Savior says? “What is impossible with
human beings, is possible with God.”51 Therefore, shall we
say that all things are possible to God, that even this is possi-
ble, viz., that we say that it is with God in such a way that we
say that it is not in God? For what power does God have with
him, if he does not have the power itself in him?
VII. 1. With testimonies of this sort, let it be clear that
when it is said: “The Word was with God,” nothing else must
be understood than: the Word was in God. For the Son him-
self who is God the Word bears witness not only that the Fa-
ther is in him but also that he is in the Father, saying, “Do
you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in
me?”52
This being of the Son with the Father and being in the Fa-
ther does not seem to be comparable to that of any human
46. Ps 114.8 LXX; Ps 116.8. 47. Hab 2.4.
48. Ps 85.13 LXX; Ps 86.13. 49. Phil 3.20.
50. Ez 18.20. 51. Mt 19.26.
52. Jn 14.10.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 273

person being with another person, whether it be a question

of the rule of hospitality or affection of love. For the Apostle
Paul says that he remained fifteen days with the Apostle
Peter by rule of hospitality and purity of love. Although by
reason of unity of faith and love, they were of one soul and
one heart, still Paul did not stay with Peter in the way the
Word remains with God, because it is not possible for one
human being with another to be as God the Word is with
God the Father. For a human being is with another human
being in such a way that not only can he not be with him,
but also, when he is with him, he cannot be in him by way of
substance.
2. Truly, one who is with another is outside him, because
even when he is with him by a sincere love, he is separated
by place, no matter by how great an affection each is joined
to the other. But the Word is with God in this way, just as the
word in the mind, just as counsel is in the heart; when the
mind has a word with it, it has it by thinking, because to say
that it is with it, is nothing other than to say that it is think-
ing with it. When, therefore, the mind thinks and by think-
ing generates a word within itself, it generates a word from
its own substance and generates that word from itself in such
a way that it has with it what has been begotten.
3. Nor does the word have something less because it is
born from the mind than is the mind from which it is born
because as great as the mind is which generates the word,
just as great is the word itself. For just as the word is born
from the whole mind, so what is born remains within the
whole. And because, with the mind thinking, there is not
some part of it where the word is not, therefore, so great as
the word is, just as great is the mind itself from which it is,
and when it is with it, it is in it, and what the mind itself is,
this the word is, which is from it and in it; and as great as it
is, just as great is the word because it is from the whole and
in the whole.
4. Just as great as the word itself is, so great at the same
time is also the mind itself with the word; the word is not
born from it in such a way that it may be detached from it in
274 FULGENTIUS

a spatial sense. That birth, which shows what it is and from

what it is, itself shows that it cannot exist outside of that
from which it was born, nor is it less in something but is of it
in such a way that it is with it and in it, and as great as it is
from it is just as great in it, and as great as it is in it, it is just
as great with it.
VIII. 1. Indeed, Scripture says that we too in some way are
both in God and with God but not in the way God the Word,
who is the only-begotten Son, is with God and is in God. For
it is said also to us that: “in God, we live and move and have
our being.”53 And it is said to God himself: “For even if we
sin, we are yours.”54 Nevertheless, when this is said about us,
it is not a unity with God by our nature that is being demon-
strated, but either the power of the Creator is understood or
the piety of the Redeemer. Thus we have believed that we
are in God and with God, just as, born from God, we are
children of God.
2. For it is written: “Beloved, we are God’s children now.”55
And again: “He willed to give us birth by the word of truth.”56
Therefore, God begot us by the word of truth, but he begot
the truth, the Word. He gave us the power to become chil-
dren of God, but the Son of God was not made by power;
the Son of God was born from God by nature. God begot us
by his will because the will preceded generation; in the gen-
eration of the only-begotten, however, no will of the begetter
went first where the eternal birth by nature remains without
a beginning.
3. Just as we have been begotten but not like the only-be-
gotten God, and we are children of God but not like the
only and true Son, and we are gods but not the Word who is
true God, so we are in God and with God but not as God the
Word is with God and is in God, who was born from God by
nature. Although he is called the Son and we are called chil-
dren and he, God, and we, gods, and he is begotten and we
are begotten, still there is in reality a great distance between

53. Acts 17.28. 54. Wis 15.2.

55. 1 Jn 3.2. 56. Jas 1.18.
 TO MONIMUS. BOOK III 275

the realities which one name seems to express, since he is by

nature what God is, what the Son is, what the only-begotten
is, because he was born of the nature of the Father. But we
are what gods are, what children are, what the begotten are,
not by nature, but by grace, because, though we do not have
it in our nature that we can be these things, it has been
freely given to us that we could become these things.
4. If heretics, with God’s merciful gift, grasp this distinc-
tion, they will see the true light and they will refrain from
their slanders against the only-begotten Son; they disparage
him not only in this, that he is “with” God, but also they
strive to deny that there is a human soul in him. The Son of
God himself with one verse of a psalm pointed them out say-
ing, “May that be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life.”57
5. For who disparages Christ worse with God than the one
who, hearing that God the Word is with God, says that the
same Word is not in God? Or who speaks greater evil against
the soul of Christ than he who denies that there is a human
soul in Christ? When that Word, which is God, is with God,
of whom it is so in such a way that it is in God through unity
of nature and through that same unity of nature, is one God
with it, and that soul at the same time, was taken up with the
flesh by the only-begotten God so that at the same time in
Christ, both our soul and our flesh should be saved. From
him without a doubt, he will receive eternal salvation, who in
him knows the full truth of the divine and human nature.
57. Ps 108.20 LXX; Ps 109.20.
TH E L E T T E R S O F
FULGENTIUS
 Introduction
The first seven letters of Fulgentius deal with questions of spirituali-
ty. It is probable that the letters given here are the sole remaining ex-
amples of other letters written to the same correspondents. Letters 8
to 14, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with doctrinal is-
sues, especially, of course, of the doctrines at issue with the Arian Van-
dals. Two of this group, letters 11 and 13, are letters of the Carthagin-
ian deacon, Ferrandus. They are probably kept separate because
Ferrandus is an author and theologian of note in his own right. (They
are letters 1 and 2 within the Ferrandan corpus.) These two letters
draw out lengthy responses from Fulgentius in letters 12 and 14.
In contrast, queries from otherwise unknown correspondents are
incorporated under the number of Fulgentius’s letters of reply. So, in
letter 9, Victor asks Fulgentius to refute the sermon of the Arian Fas-
tidiosus and includes the Arian’s text for good measure. Letter 10 in-
cludes the inquiry of one Scarila as well as Fulgentius’s lengthy answer
to three questions.
Of the remaining letters not translated here, two were authored by
Fulgentius in the name of the African bishops exiled with him in Sar-
dinia (letters 15 and 17). Letter 16 from Peter the Deacon, which elic-
its letter 17 in response, is also included in the Fulgentius corpus. Let-
ter 18 is a relatively brief reply to Count Reginus on the subject of the
incorruptibility of the body of Christ.

L E T T E R 1 . T O O P TAT U S

The closest most commentators come to giving a date to this letter

is to assign it to the period of the second exile in Sardinia, 515–23. It is
not even certain that the name ‘Optatus’ is to be trusted. Most manu-
scripts do not give the name, and the subject matter of the letter would
argue for a high degree of confidentiality.
The problem behind the letter is brought about by the harsh condi-
tions imposed on baptized Christians who had undertaken the non-re-
peatable canonical penance of the time. One of the many conse-
quences of this penance was that the penitent was no longer to have
conjugal relations with a spouse. Not surprisingly, because of this and
other strident demands, Christians increasingly put off doing this
penance until they were dying.
279
280 FULGENTIUS

In this case, a young wife who was believed to be dying undertook

this penance, but in fact she recovered. Now her husband expressed
serious concern about the future of their marriage. In his reply, Ful-
gentius reviewed the question of Christian marriage. Marriage bound
each spouse closely and intimately to the other. Neither was allowed to
make a vow of continence without the informed consent of the other.
The theologian then applied this basic consideration to the matter at
hand. If the husband had made such a vow, he and his wife, the peni-
tent, were bound to carry it out. If not, the continence resulting from
the penance should not bind the other partner who had not so bound
himself. Pope Leo the Great could be cited as supporting this more
moderate view. See his letter 167.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the deservedly venerable
son.
1. Some months ago I received your letter, a sign of your
holy concern. While I wanted to reply without delay, I was
seized by a sudden illness in such a way that a violent excess
of fever might have carried me off from the hustle and bus-
tle of the present life unless the true physician of souls and
bodies who cures all our illnesses and redeems our life from
destruction had deigned to grant the assistance of his medi-
cine to remove the scourge of so great an infirmity. When
deliverance had been received, the will to write was not lack-
ing but the harshness of winter stood in the way of sending
it. Now, because the Creator and ruler of the seasons has
granted a moderation of the winds, I have not delayed re-
turning as an answer to your question what I have received
from the mercy and inspiration of the highest giver.
2. You say that our daughter, your wife, recently was ill al-
most to the point of the ultimate danger and, as often hap-
pens, having received the imposition of hands, entered
upon the penitential process according to the custom of the
Christian religion. But afterwards, by gift of the divine good-
ness, she received a full restoration of bodily health. Now,
adducing the weakness of the flesh, you confess the inconti-
nence of a youthful age in addition; and in this uncertainty
of mind, in which you take the flesh into consideration, you
fear the majesty of God, just as a sailor, not knowing where
 1. TO OPTATUS 281

he is and tossed about by the waves and winds, since you are
taking precautions because of the uncertainty of the dan-
gers, you demand that a harbor where you can avoid a ship-
wreck of the soul be shown to you by our response.
3. The thrust of your question forces me to weigh ener-
getically two matters which should be considered, viz., not
only what the nature of conjugal sexuality is but also what
the promise of one making a vow demands in each matter.
4. Therefore, if any of the faithful in the light of reason
consider sexual intercourse in itself, culpable usage will not
be found in conjugal intercourse but in the excesses of the
sexual partners. Conjugal sex induces guilt not from the sex-
ual intercourse of husband and wife but from immoderate
lust. In spouses, therefore, excess is censured by the law, but
nuptial dignity is not deprived of the gift of honor conferred
on it by God. So the authority of the apostolic proclamation
cries out, “Let marriage be honored among all and let the
marriage bed be kept undefiled.”1 Paul was informing the
Corinthians about the purity of marriage that had to be pre-
served, when he prefaced his remarks with, “It is good for a
man not to touch a woman.”2 Seeing their weakness and
brimming with apostolic charity, the outstanding teacher,
with Christ speaking in him, did not neglect to put an un-
derpinning of consolation “as on a leaning wall, a tottering
fence.”3 Finally, he adds, “Because of cases of immorality
every man should have his own wife, and every woman, her
own husband. The husband should fulfill his duty toward his
wife and likewise the wife toward her husband.”4
5. The thrust of the reading from the Apostle shows that
the wife should have intercourse with her husband and the
husband with the wife by reason of a certain mutuality of
what is owed. Without a doubt, the Apostle would not have
called this a debt unless he knew that it had legitimately to
be paid; nor would he command that it be paid by the duty
of mutual consent, if it were an evil demand on the part of

1. Heb 13.4. 2. 1 Cor 7.1.

3. Ps 61.4 LXX; Ps 62.3. 4. 1 Cor 7.2–3.
282 FULGENTIUS

the one asking. Indeed the teacher of the nations has no

hesitation in including marriage among the divine works so
that he confirms that there is a power with equal right, of
the woman over the body of her husband and of the hus-
band over the body of his wife, saying, “A wife does not have
authority over her own body but rather her husband, and
similarly, a husband does not have authority over his own
body, but rather his wife.”5 And in another text, the same
one says that “there is no authority except from God.”6
6. The use of this power assigned by God to the work of
begetting is without blame if lustful excess is not permitted
to go beyond the bounds of righteousness. And the right-
eous use of marriage is this, that the spouses have sexual in-
tercourse at the proper time not to fulfill lust but for beget-
ting children. So, among those good things which God has
made is found the chaste joining of wife and husband. In
these works of God, lust cannot be found. Sometimes that is
not befitting to righteousness which has not come to human
beings from the gift of creation but to sinners from the fault
of the first sin. But without it, human progeny is not sown in
the body of this death, chaste marriages do not strive for it
but tolerate it, and the goodness of marriage imposes on it a
means without which it cannot fulfill the duty of the fecundi-
ty of nature in the sinful flesh.
7. Fruit must be sought from marriage in such a way that
the excess of lascivious pleasure is contained. So, if conjugal
practice is moderated so that the spirit is not enslaved to the
heat of lust but concentrates on the producing of children
to be born, and, when they are born, does not neglect to see
that they are swiftly cleansed in a spiritual begetting, then
the sexual intercourse conceded is not allowed to the faith-
ful spouses for the sin of the flesh because the conjugal
obligation preserves chastity and modest restraint guards
temperateness. Conjugal fecundity provides children to be
dedicated to God so that by the help of God the Redeemer,
the human being already born, may be reformed by the
5. 1 Cor 7.4.
6. Rom 13.1.
 THE LETTERS OF FULGENTIUS 283

sacrament of baptism. By God’s work, he is first formed in

the womb and human nature has him as a father by the
blessing of a second birth, the same one whom in the first
birth he recognizes as the author of his creation.
8. Therefore, if a married man fornicates, he sins mortal-
ly. But if he does not desert the faith of his bed but intem-
perately exceeds a little bit with his wife, in the natural usage
only, not only seeking to beget but sometimes obeying the
lust of the flesh, he does not do this without fault; such a
fault, however, is quickly forgiven to the one who does good
and prays because marital love preserves the fidelity for the
spouse when marital weakness is unable to guard modera-
tion. And if nuptial modesty is not held in the case of the
wife, still there is no departure from nuptial fidelity because
of any lack of moderation.
9. As long as the faith of the bed is kept, it cleanses the
stain which the weakness of the flesh contracts, if he does
not have relations with other women. This is the case with
the one who has relations with his wife not for begetting
alone but also because of the weakness of the flesh. Because
even if he goes beyond the determined method of having in-
tercourse, still he has not exceeded the conjugal limits. And
although carnal weakness contracts guilt, still nuptial in-
tegrity asks for forgiveness. As such he receives forgiveness,
not because he demands the conjugal debt from her more
than he should, but because, content with what he has re-
ceived legitimately from one woman, he does not seek from
another woman. Still, the works of mercy, which alone are
worthwhile in the Christian religion must not be lacking so
that not only those who use spouses or those who are conti-
nent, but also virgins cannot attain to the prize of virginity, if
they neglect the works of mercy and charity. If someone, on
the other hand, intent on good works, has so kept modera-
tion in regard to his wife that he has relations with his wife
only for the sake of procreating children, such a person is
without a doubt worthy of much praise, if there is anyone in
our times who can fulfill this description.
10. Fornication can never be without serious sin in which,
284 FULGENTIUS

although we do not doubt that the man without a wife sins

mortally, I think that for the husband to fornicate is an even
more serious sin. Holy Scripture says that each must be con-
demned and is alien to the kingdom of God. For in the let-
ter to the Hebrews, it is written that: “God will judge the im-
moral and adulterers.”7 And the Apostle in the letter he
wrote to the Corinthians, says, “Do not be deceived; neither
fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor boy prostitutes,
nor practicing homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor
drunkards, nor slanderers, nor robbers will inherit the King-
dom of God.”8 Again, among the works of the flesh, the
same blessed Apostle enumerates: fornication, impurity, and
licentiousness in the conclusion of which, he says, “Those
who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”9
He also warns lest he “have to mourn over many of those
who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity,
immorality, or licentiousness they practiced.”10
11. Therefore, because we have been speaking of the na-
ture of marriage as the Lord has given it, consequently, this
must be examined with the greatest care, viz., what devotion
has prescribed beforehand in your will (if there could have
been anything). Because the use of things conceded by God
is not forbidden to human beings, one should not conclude
that therefore one need not render to God what he has
vowed. It is written: “I will pay you my vows, those that my
lips uttered.”11 And lest anyone seek to use tribulation as an
excusing cause for himself, in order to gain the freedom to
evade a promise or to think of himself as free from what he
has vowed, by saying that he was forced to vow something
not by his own will but because of tribulation, the blessed
David teaches that everything which was legitimately
promised, even in tribulation, must be given back to God,
when he says to God, “I will pay you my vows, those that my
lips uttered.” And he added immediately, “. . . and my
mouth promised when I was in trouble.”12 But in Deuterono-
7. Heb 13.4. 8. 1 Cor 6.9–10.
9. Gal 5.21. 10. 2 Cor 12.21
11. Ps 65.13–14 LXX; Ps 66.13–14. 12. Ps 65.14.
 1. TO OPTATUS 285

my, it is also written: “If you make a vow to the Lord your
God, do not postpone fulfilling it; for the Lord your God will
surely require it of you and you would incur guilt. But if you
refrain from vowing, you will not incur guilt. Whatever your
lips utter, you must diligently perform, just as you have freely
vowed to the Lord your God with your own mouth.”13 And
Solomon says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay
fulfilling it; . . . Fulfill what you vow. It is better that you
should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it.”14
12. Accordingly, the use of licit things is done licitly with
moderation, as long as the renunciation of the licit thing is
not vowed and as long as the perpetual promise of conti-
nence is not held from the consent of both, i.e., of the hus-
band and wife, conjugal sexual relations are not illicit. For it
is written: “If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does
an unmarried woman sin if she marries.”15 Nevertheless, al-
though the virgin who marries does not sin, there is a type of
virgin who sins if she marries; the virgin who marries does
not sin, if, before she marries, she has not vowed her virgini-
ty to God in her heart. Otherwise, “If,” as the Apostle said,
“the one who stands firm in his resolve, however, who is not
under compulsion but has power over his own will and has
made up his mind to keep his virgin”16 sins gravely later, if,
after vowing her virginity to God, she wish to be enslaved in
a human marriage. For the blessed Paul pronounced certain
widows bound by the chain of condemnation because, after
professing continence, they did not give up the habitual will
to marry. He instructs Timothy to avoid such people as fol-
lows: “But exclude younger widows for when their sensuality
estranges them from Christ, they want to marry and will
incur condemnation for breaking their first pledge.”17
Therefore, the promise of continence removes the freedom
for sexual intercourse, nor is fornication alone forbidden to
such people, but conjugal sexuality is also forbidden and the
guilty embrace holds the sinful will, even if in practice no ef-
13. Dt 23.21–23. 14. Eccl 5.4–5.
15. 1 Cor 7.28. 16. 1 Cor 7.37.
17. 1 Tm 5.11–12.
286 FULGENTIUS

fect follows. For it has not been written in vain that “desire,
when it conceives, brings forth sin.”18
13. So, not only integrity promised to God by virgins but
also continence promised to God by widows and wives must
be preserved with fear and trembling. Because before any-
one is guilty because of a vow, he is not condemned whether
it be a virgin who marries licitly or a husband and wife ren-
dering the conjugal debt to each other. But after anyone,
seeking better things, has bound himself by a profession of
continence or integrity, he sins most seriously, if he thinks
that from then on something that was possible for him be-
fore is still an option for him. In such matters, that which
the will, making a vow to God, removes from itself, from
then on no necessity allows him to make use of it with im-
punity; nor will the violator of a vow find a justifying excuse
for his transgression, he whom no one forced to make a vow.
14. Doubtless, a distinction must be made between the
vow of a virgin or widow and the vow of those who are held
by the conjugal vow. For the freedom or liberty to make a
vow is not as great for the man or woman who does not have
the power over his or her own body as it is for any widow or
virgin. The full ability to vow bodily continence is not avail-
able to the married man or woman, whose body is not in his
or her own power but in that of the spouse, according to
that statement of the Apostle, which we have cited above: “A
wife does not have authority over her own body but rather
her husband, and similarly, a husband does not have author-
ity over his own body, but rather his wife.”19 Therefore, one
whose body is not within his or her own power is not allowed
to assume continence apart from the will of the spouse. A
person promises with right and firm vow only that which he
knows is within his right. When someone wishes to make
profession of the continence of his body which is under the
power of his spouse, it is like someone trying to give alms or
offer a sacrifice from what belongs to someone else; for our

18. Jas 1.15.

19. 1 Cor 7.4.
 1. TO OPTATUS 287

God (as he himself bears witness) loves justice and hates rob-
bery in a holocaust.
15. Therefore, that promise of continence between spous-
es is certain which has been confirmed by the consent of
both. When husband and wife, giving consent with a com-
mon will, have offered it up on the altar of faith to the true
and highest God in the temple of their heart, as a sacrifice
for a sweet aroma, neither can the wife have any further le-
gitimate power over the body of the husband to demand the
conjugal debt nor the husband over the body of the woman.
For just as before they made a vow to God together, the sac-
rifice made by only one was reprehensible, because the as-
sent of the legitimate partner was lacking, so when each has
offered with equal consent what is inseparably common to
both, he will not go unpunished if anyone believes that the
gift offered to God by a vow made voluntarily is to be violat-
ed by an illicit deed.
16. But if perchance anyone will be alleged to have made
a vow but not with his whole heart, it will be the more to be
condemned, because he did not go to God in an innocent
but in a false way. For it is written that: “a holy and disci-
plined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave foolish
thoughts behind.”20 In another text, Holy Scripture thus re-
bukes the false: “Woe to timid hearts and slack hands and to
the sinner who walks a double path.”21
17. How evil it is and how earnestly to be avoided it is if
someone should attempt by death-dealing transgression to
retain or to get back that which he vowed to God. Ananias
and Sapphira are an example whom, unfaithfully holding
back some part of the price obtained for their field, not only
the apostolic voice rebuked as usurpers of divine right but
also the severity of heavenly justice killed. The blessed Peter
not only said that the above-mentioned Ananias was guilty
because of the sin of fraud but also declared that his heart
had been filled by Satan, saying, “Ananias, why has Satan

20. Wis 1.5.

21. Sir 2.12.
288 FULGENTIUS

filled your heart so that you lied to the Holy Spirit and re-
tained part of the price of the land? While it remained un-
sold, did it not remain yours? And when it was sold, was it
still not under your control? Why did you contrive this deed?
You have lied, not to human beings, but to God.”22 There-
fore, if anyone, overcome by carnal enticement believes that
something already vowed to the Lord can again be sought,
he is not a legitimate possessor of his property but is de-
clared to be one who usurps what belongs to God. Not unde-
servedly does the impure violator of vowed continence now
hear what the swindler greedy for money heard.
18. Accordingly, with your conscience bearing witness to
you, think over carefully all the things which have been dis-
cussed above. And if you, with equal assent, have vowed con-
tinence, preserve the quality of your love together with the
fear of God, and, if any time, the weakness of the flesh trou-
bles your mind, let your spirit hasten to the assistance of the
divine pity and not give in to lust but as a believer pray to
God with all humility and not give in to the carnal desire
fighting against the soul but rather repel it. If, on the other
hand, one of you has made a vow of continence without the
agreement of the other, he knows that he has made the vow
rashly and, with a chaste sincerity, let him render the debt to
his spouse.
19. Nevertheless, in order that all of your actions may be
done rightly in rendering the conjugal debt, let the conjugal
practice set aside the weakness of the flesh in such a way that
the flesh is not enslaved to lust but let the power of the Spir-
it helped by God hold in the reins of carnal lust. The busi-
ness of begetting children ought to be done in such a way by
the spouses, that with the help of the sense of shame, when
the faithful spirit brings itself to the work of fecundity, with
God’s help, it keeps the modesty of natural decency. Espe-
cially, Christian spouses must be careful to flee those works
which the divine severity both forbids to be done and con-
demns when they are done. These things the apostolic

22. Acts 5.3–4.

 1. TO OPTATUS 289

teaching has not ceased to make known to the faithful so

that it might prudently instruct and salutarily frighten them
into keeping the rule of a good life.
20. Not to touch a woman is a great good which every
faithful man ought to observe from the start. Still, because
of fornications, anyone, whether married or free from a
spouse, if he has not vowed continence to God and sees that
he himself is incapable of fulfilling the continence (al-
though when the will to be continent is full and true humili-
ty of heart has not ceased from prayer and good works, he
who said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be opened to you,”23 because
he is the truth and cannot lie, and he gives to the one who
asks well and for the one seeking, prepares the one seeking
for his discoveries, and to the one who knocks, [the door]
opens so that [the one] may enter the inner places of a bet-
ter life), still if anyone up to this point is more worried
about his own weakness than secure in the power of the
Lord, if he has not known the continence of the flesh, let
him keep himself from iniquity and use his wife as is fitting.
Let him flee evil and greed and he will not be condemned if
he pays the debt to his spouse. Let him not be drunk, nor
envious, nor contentious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil, nor a
quarreller, nor proud, nor rapacious, nor greedy. Insofar as
he is able, let him seek peace with all; let him not hold fast
to destruction; let him detract from no one; let him keep
faith with friends; let him never be treacherous to enemies
or a perjurer; let him not steal what belongs to others; let
him not prefer money to justice; let him be just in business,
devout in works; meek in tolerating injuries, slow in aveng-
ing them; stable in faith, a lover of chastity and peace. Let
him hearken to the saying of the Savior in which he both
commands us as to what to do and shows us what we are to
accept; for he says: “Forgive and you will be forgiven; Give
and gifts will be given to you.”24 If, therefore, insofar as he is

23. Mt 7.7.
24. Lk 6.37–38.
290 FULGENTIUS

able, he is generous and cheerful in giving alms, and easy

and mild in forgiving sinners, and yet not think that forgive-
ness should be given to sinners in such a way that he believes
that the discipline of his house ought to be neglected, but,
retaining moderation in both force and mercy, let him main-
tain moderateness in correction and severity in forgiveness.
Let him criticize, warn, frighten, reprove, console, delight;
let him not do as much to sinners who are subject to him, as
the onset of rage urges, but as much as the method of
putting the question requires; and if a slave is to be flogged
for a sin, let not the lust for vengeance win out, but let Chris-
tian justice counsel mercy for him whom he is flogging; and
thus also when justice pursues guilt, let mercy not be lack-
ing, which knows how to attenuate punishment by modera-
tion.
21. Let children be nourished according to the com-
mandment of the Apostle, “with the training and instruction
of the Lord,”25 and let them not be allowed to live impiously
or in depravity, since Christian offspring ought to serve
chastity and temperance. And in that fearful scrutiny the
negligence of parents concerning the evil deeds of their
children will have to be judged since in this world Eli the
priest was reproved by the Lord and rejected, not because he
supported his sons in their wickedness, but because, albeit
with soft words, he admonished the sinners but he did not
forbid them with adequate severity. Parents who truly love
their children look after them by doing good deeds more
than by accumulating wealth, lest while money is steadily
piled up for the children, the opportunity for good works is
passed over.
22. Above all, let faithful spouses always remember that
they must stand firm in prayers and almsgiving; let them not
always wish to wallow in the weakness of the flesh, but let
them hasten to rise to the level of a more controlled life.
And in order that the spirit may attain the virtue of conti-
nence, let the excesses of carnal lust be more and more sup-

25. Eph 6.4.

 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 291

pressed so that while, with God’s help, they will have gone
beyond that level in which conjugal weakness asks for for-
giveness, they can praiseworthily reach a higher level, in
which the virtue of continence awaits the palm of a better
life.

LETTER 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA

This letter, which begins as a letter of consolation on the death of a

young husband, quickly (by section 8) turns into a letter seeking to
persuade the recipient to take up the life of a dedicated Christian
widow and ends as a general exhortation to the spiritual life. Galla, a
member of an illustrious Roman family, was the daughter of Quintus
Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, counsul in 485 under Odoacer. Her
sister, Rusticiana, was married to Boethius, consul in 510 and author
of The Consolation of Philosophy. According to Gregory the Great, Galla
became a holy woman who was favored with visions. See Dialogues
IV.14. See “Galla 5,” PLRE II.491.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the illustrious lady and, in
the fear of God, venerable daughter, Galla.
1. Several months ago, I found out from a reliable report
of my deacon returning from the city,1 not only of the death
of your spouse but also of the holy path of your resolution in
which you are already walking, with him leading who is the
“way, the truth and the life.”2 He knows how, after a passing
sorrow, to give to his faithful the gift of eternal happiness,
and he wishes for their salvation that they may pass from the
earthly to the heavens by the arrangement of his fatherly
kindness.
2. The Lord, whose incomprehensible judgments and in-
effable ways the Apostle Paul proclaims, did not swiftly trans-
fer to no purpose your husband, faithful with pure religion,
humble of heart, meek in sanctity, merciful in works, in his
inmost depths innocent of life, young in years from the pil-
1. Rome.
2. Jn 14.6.
292 FULGENTIUS

grimage of this life to the eternal dwelling of the heavenly

homeland, except that, he gave to him eternal joys and to
you the possibility of a higher life. He has given to him that,
freed from the body, he will live with Christ forever; to you
he has given that you may think of the things of the Lord
and, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, be “holy in
body and spirit.”3 Accordingly, believe without hesitation
what is said by God and with love hope for what is promised
that you may be able to do well what is commanded.
3. First, concerning the death of your husband, know
from the Apostle Paul what you must faithfully hold. For he
says, “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about
those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like
the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him
those who have fallen asleep.”4
So, if we hold on to the true faith, if we harbor no doubts
about the words of God, if we, with most certain hope,
progress toward the future life, if we love God and neighbor
worthily, if we do not await a vain glory from human beings
but the true glory of the Christian name from God, we must
not like the unbelievers have any sadness concerning the
faithful departed and, to speak more precisely, our people
who have fallen asleep. There must remain in our heart a
distinction between a salutary and a harmful sadness by
which it comes about that a spirit, given over to eternal
things, does not collapse because of the loss of temporal so-
lace and assumes a salutary sadness concerning these things
in which it considers that it did either something less or dif-
ferently than it should have. So Paul teaches that each type
of sadness is different no less in deed than in word. Finally,
he shows that in one there is progress toward salvation but
in the other, an ending in death, saying, “For godly sorrow
produces a salutary repentance without regret but worldly
sorrow produces death.”5

3. 1 Cor 7.34. 4. 1 Thes 4.13–14.

5. 2 Cor 7.10.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 293

4. Therefore, do not have an undifferentiated sadness

over the death of your husband beyond the way of the Chris-
tian faith. You should not think of him as lost but as sent on
ahead of you. You should not think of his youth as prema-
turely cut off but rather see him confirmed in an endless
eternity. To the faithful souls it is said: “Your youth shall be
renewed like the eagle’s.”6
5. Far be it from us, agreeing with the errors of the unbe-
lievers to think or to say that “A black day has carried off and
plunged in bitter death”7 that young Christian man. For
black day carries off those who, according to the saying of
the Apostle John, “are in darkness and walk in darkness and
do not know where they are going because the darkness has
blinded their eyes.”8 Black day has carried off those whom
the true light itself vehemently rebukes: “This is the verdict,”
he says, “that the light came into the world but people pre-
ferred darkness to light because their works were evil.”9 Such
are they who live in such a way that when they hear the voice
of the Son of God, they are called forth, not to life, but to
judgment, as the Lord says, “. . . The hour is coming in
which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will
come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrec-
tion of life, but those who have done wicked deeds, to the
resurrection of condemnation.”10 And since neither a short
nor a long life can avail these people, consequently in the
book of Wisdom, it is said of such people: “Even if they live
long, they will be held of no account and, finally, their old
age will be without honor. If they die young, they will have
no hope and no consolation on the day of judgment.”11
6. But what is the “great day” except the day on which the
Lord will come not to be judged but to judge? For when he
came in order that there might be judgment given on our
behalf, it was not the great day but a day of humiliation in
which he was made a little less than the angels; but there will

6. Ps 102.5 LXX; Ps 103.5. 7. Virgil Aeneid VI.429.

8. 1 Jn 2.11. 9. Jn 3.19.
10. Jn 5.28–29. 11. Wis 3.17–18.
294 FULGENTIUS

be the great day when, according to the testimony of the

blessed John, all the wicked will want to be hidden in the
caves in the mountains, crying to the mountains and the
rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who
sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb because
the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand
it?”12 On this great day, the wicked will not have consolation
but rebuke, for they will not hear: “Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.”13 But it will be said to
them: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the Devil and his angels.”14 Such people, howev-
er aged they may be when they die, are engulfed in a bitter
death and although their age in the body may seem ripe, the
deadly love of the world holds the bitterness of an immature
mind in the heart.
7. But the Christian who has lived in the fear of God, at
whatever age of the body he will have died, is not plunged in
a bitter death but, relying on God, he is transferred at a fit-
ting maturity. For in the same book of Wisdom we read that
“Old age is not honored for length of time or measured by
number of years but understanding is gray hair for anyone
and a blameless life is ripe old age. There were some who
pleased God and were loved by him. . . .”15
Then, in what follows, he says that one who lives a good
life and one that is pleasing to God is swiftly snatched away
for this reason, viz., that he might endure no change
brought about by the wickedness of the world nor his soul
be deceived by some guile.16 So it is said: “They were caught
up so that evil might not change their understanding nor
guile deceive their souls. For the fascination of wickedness
obscures what is good and roving desire perverts the inno-
cent mind. Being perfected in a short time, they fulfilled
long years; for their souls were pleasing to God. Therefore
12. Rev 6.16–17. 13. Mt 25.34.
14. Mt 25.41. 15. Wis 4.8–10.
16. The textual reading here, CCL XCI, p. 200, l. 99, I take to be “foret”
rather than “fovisset.”
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 295
he took them quickly from the midst of wickedness.”17 With
these words, Holy Scripture teaches us that in this world a
long life does not profit faithful Christians, but a good life;
and to know, insofar as it is possible, the merit of any de-
ceased person, one must see not how long he lived but how
each one lived. Just as an evil life, the longer it is prolonged
in time, so much the more does it increase the punishment
of those who go astray; so a good life, although ended here
after a brief time, acquires great and eternal glory for those
who lead good lives. But an evil life buries immature and bit-
ter elderly people in hell, but a good life brings the dead,
young and old, to the kingdom.
8. So, do not be sad that he has preceded you by a few
days, but be careful and proceed on the road of this mortal
life in such a way that you may be able to attain to eternal
life. Accordingly, it is necessary that you recall without ceas-
ing the word of the Apostle where he says, “An unmarried
woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.”18 Here he
calls a widow unmarried, not because she was never married
but because she has been freed from the marriage bond to a
dead husband. Concerning this he says in another text, “. . .
if her husband dies, she is released from the law in respect to
her husband.”19 He counsels this woman to be holy both in
body and in spirit. What is it to be holy in body and in spirit
except to preserve what is holy both in deed and in thought?
Still she who is held bound by a bodily marriage is permitted
to think of the things that are of the world, as the same
Apostle says, “A married woman, on the other hand, is anx-
ious about the things of the world, how she may please her
husband.”20 Thus where mortal flesh is carnally wedded to
one who is going to die, one must undergo the necessity of
thinking about things of this world. And because the very re-
quirements of the flesh hold them bound by harder chains,
for this reason, the Apostle says about them: “. . . Such peo-

17. Wis 4.11–14. 18. 1 Cor 7.34.

19. Rm 7.2. 20. 1 Cor 7.34.
296 FULGENTIUS

ple will experience affliction in their earthly life.”21 There-

fore, the unmarried woman, i.e., the widow, to whom the
command is given to be holy both in body and in spirit, just
as she ceases to serve her husband in the body, so she must
not think of carnal things in her heart.
9. The marriages of Christians are holy because in them
chastity is kept in the body and purity of faith is preserved in
the heart. For apostolic authority also says, “Let marriage be
honored among all and let the marriage bed be kept unde-
filed. . . .”22 For marriage does not come from the pollution
of sin but from the institution of God; and because the
spouses pay to each other the debt of the flesh, insofar as
they do it in modesty, they keep the commandments of
Christ because they depart in no way from conjugal charity
and chastity. But conjugal chastity abhors adulterous sexual
relations and tenaciously clinging to morality and modesty,
one man seeks it from one woman and one woman from one
man because each knows that he or she owes it legitimately
to only one. There the debt of the flesh is paid to the hus-
band; but conjugal chastity is owed more to Christ than to
the husband, because the body too is then truly chaste be-
cause it is not polluted by fleshly fornication when spiritual
integrity is preserved by the fear and love of Christ.
10. Nevertheless, the unmarried woman and the virgin
are distinguished from the married woman by not a small
degree of dignity. Inasmuch as the married woman is held
bound by worldly thoughts but the unmarried woman and
the virgin are not subject to carnal trials, because they are
not held by the bonds of carnal matrimony. There the free-
dom of bodily and spiritual continence is more certain be-
cause there is no necessity arising from conjugal servitude.
Therefore, each is a gift of God, both conjugal modesty and
a widow’s continence. “Each has a particular gift from
God,”23 and that, in itself, is praiseworthy because good; but
the latter is more praiseworthy because better. For the vile-

21. 1 Cor 7.28. 22. Heb 13.4.

23. 1 Cor 7.7.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 297

ness of fornication is overcome by conjugal servitude; but

the dignity of chastity increases with a widow’s freedom. In
the former case, faith counsels weakness lest it fall into vice;
in the latter case, the faithful spirit is stretched for the in-
crease of virtue. Concerning spouses, it is said: “. . . because
of cases of immorality, every man should have his own wife
and every woman her own husband.”24 But concerning the
widow, it is said: “She is more blessed if she remains as she
is.”25 Therefore, blessed is she who, out of horror of vice,
does not seek illicit sexual relations; but more blessed she
who, out of a greater love of purity, scorns licit sexual rela-
tions. Blessed she who lives bound to a husband in such a
way that she pays the debt of her flesh to her husband only;
but more blessed she who, now freed, remains unmarried
lest she owe the debt.
11. Accordingly, because having been a wife, you have be-
come a widow, think rather that God’s gift to you has been
increased, not taken away. For he who showed you the way to
be followed for a better life has not deserted you. The Lord
wanted you to climb to better things by degrees, so that at
first you might live faithfully married to one husband, that
afterwards you might remain apart from a husband without
difficulty. To this end, divine grace has nourished your spirit
with conjugal chastity so that you who had learned, while
your husband was living, not to seek another, would learn to
remain a widow apart from any man. Therefore, do not ne-
glect the grace which is in you, and you know how much bet-
ter it is to refrain always from sexual intercourse than to
have relations even out of conjugal requirements. The hus-
band that had been given to you for a time has departed in
time; for he had been given to you, not for the bliss of the
homeland, but for consolation on the journey.
12. There are other gifts of God, which God gives to his
faithful in the present time in such a way that the use of
them is considered necessary only in this life. By means of

24. 1 Cor 7.2.

25. 1 Cor 7.40.
298 FULGENTIUS

them merit is acquired for the future life. Such are belief,
holding the right faith, and works preserving justice and
mercy in order that correct faith be not deserted by the assis-
tance of charity which is recognized in works. Thus the
Apostle gives his approval to that faith “which works through
love.”26
13. Right faith and works of mercy will cease after this life,
when we shall see face to face that which when not seen is
believed. Among the blessed, there will not be anyone miser-
able to whom mercy is given in advance. But these two
things, i.e., faith and works, are not necessary after the end
of this life in such a way that before the end they may not in
any way be abandoned. Whoever before the end of this pre-
sent life will have departed from the right faith or good
works, even if he has worked at these vigorously and vigilant-
ly before, because of the fact that he has departed from the
right way, he loses the merit of the entire journey which he
has run.
14. Likewise there are other things which are given to
human beings in this time by divine piety in such a way that
not only in this life must they remain uninterruptedly with
human beings but they also grow in divine reward; such are
the cleansing of sins, the knowledge of the truth, the love of
God and neighbor. If anyone in this time will have persever-
ingly kept these in himself and, making progress by divine
gift, will take care to increase the things begun, in the future
he will have them remain with him with eternal perfection.
Then perfect cleansing will receive perfect knowledge of the
truth and perfect knowledge will allow nothing of perfect
charity to be lacking in us.
15. But there are other things which are given by God in
time in such a way that they are taken away in time, such as
the mating of spouses, procreation of children, abundance
of riches, health of bodies, and whatever things like these
which in themselves are able to make people neither miser-
able nor happy. Therefore, these things are given by the

26. Gal 5.6.

 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 299

Lord both to the good and to the evil and sometimes are
taken away by God from both the good and the evil.
16. Job was blessed when he lived justly in riches but more
blessed when he was more just in poverty. He was blessed
when he was surrounded by ten children but more blessed
when, struck by a loss of all of them at the same time, he re-
mained unmoved in the love of God. He was also blessed in
health of body but he became more blessed in his wounds.
He was more blessed on a heap of filth than in a marble
palace.
17. Also take note of the two men, one miserable in his
wealth and health, the other very blessed in his want and dis-
ease. That wealthy man, who “dressed in purple garments
and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day,”27 how
empty he was in those banquets, how poor in the greatness
of his riches, how naked in the beauty of his clothing, how
sick in the health of his body, how famished in the satiety of
his belly, how miserable in rejoicings, how forsaken amid the
conversations of his friends, how abject amid the sub-
servience of his slaves! Also observe Lazarus, rich in his
poverty, blessed in misery, cheerful in misfortune, healthy
amid sores, without home but not without the Lord; without
clothing but not without faith; with good health of body but
not without the strength of charity; without food but not
without Christ; exposed to the dogs but companion of an-
gels, he received nothing of the crumbs that fell from the
rich man’s table, but he ate the heavenly bread interiorly.
18. Therefore, these are things which are sometimes pos-
sessed for good, sometimes for ill; sometimes they are
scorned for good, sometimes for ill. They are possessed for
good when, in their use, the fear of God is preserved, but
they are scorned for the good when, in contempt of them,
glory is sought not from human beings but from the highest
God.
19. Such also is marriage which can be both taken up for
good and scorned for the good. How well did Susanna pre-

27. Lk 16.19.
300 FULGENTIUS

serve the work of marriage in conjugal chastity! How much

better did Judith and Anna scorn it in a widow’s continence!
How best of all did Mary know nothing of this in virginal in-
tegrity!
20. Therefore, marriage is not to be thought of as among
the outstanding gifts of God although it is not to be denied
that it is a divine gift; it must not be said that the gift of
blessedness, which can be held with good intent, can also be
scorned with a better intention. For if it is necessary that this
be reckoned among the outstanding gifts of God, they “who
have castrated themselves for the kingdom of heaven”28
would not be praised by the mouth of our Savior, nor would
the Savior himself have commanded that father, mother,
brothers, sisters, wife, children, fields, be left for his sake to-
gether with the one hundred-fold promise of reward and
eternal life, saying, “And everyone who has given up houses
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or
lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times
more and will inherit eternal life.”29 But saying this, Christ
commanded that there be no divorce but with a precise dis-
tinction showed that even among the gifts of God, temporal
things are to give way to eternal, those that pass to those that
remain, the small to the great, among his faithful. He does
not condemn good things but praises the better more; he
does not hate the former but loves the latter more. The gain
or the loss of the former is not a reward for faith but a test-
ing of it.
21. But our faith must be fixed not on temporal things
but on eternal. So, the vessel of election, exhorting us to the
toleration of present trials, commands us to turn away the
gaze of our inward heart from the contemplation of tempo-
ral things, saying, “For this momentary light affliction is pro-
ducing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all compari-
son; as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, for
what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.”30

28. Mt 19.12. 29. Mt 19.29.

30. 2 Cor 4.17–18.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 301

22. Therefore, walk, as it is written, “from strength to

strength”31 and may your spirit pass from attention to tempo-
ral things to contemplation of eternal things. Passing from
the virtue of conjugal modesty to the more powerful virtue
of the continence of a widow, you must be endowed with no
less continence of heart than of body, and after the death of
your temporal husband, all the remnants of worldly thought
in your heart must be extinguished.
23. Why would a Christian widow have a spirit bound by
the chain of any worldly thought, who, with her husband
dead, ought to think of the world as dead with him? Thus
since the reason for the worldly thought has ceased, worldly
thought itself should cease; and just as formerly you were
adorned bodily for your husband who delighted in the ap-
pearance of the body, so now you must be spiritually
adorned for Christ, who seeks in you only the beauty of the
mind.
24. Listen to what the blessed Peter commands even mar-
ried women to whom he forbids the adornment of outer
clothing, saying this: “Likewise your wives should be subordi-
nate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the
word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’
conduct when they observe your reverent and chaste behav-
ior. Your adornment should not be an external one, braid-
ing the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes
but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in
the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition
which is precious in the sight of God.32 The blessed Apostle
strengthened this commandment by the example of holy
women, saying, “For this is also how the holy women who
hoped in God once used to adorn themselves and were sub-
ordinate to their husbands.”33
25. Therefore, if holy women, even married ones, are not
to be provided with rings but with morals, and, for that rea-
son, they ought to be adorned more with humility than with

31. Cf. Ps 83.8 LXX; Ps 84.7. 32. 1 Pt 3.1–4.

33. 1 Pt 3.5.
302 FULGENTIUS

clothes, what ought the clothing and the manner of a widow

be who seeks to please not a human husband but Christ?
Ought she, released from the obligation of a bodily mar-
riage, to seek only spiritual adornments? Therefore, let your
clothing be such that it does not stir to lust but invites to
continence, which does not entice to lust but constrains to
fear, which does not inflame the concupiscence of the flesh
but extinguishes it, which does not seduce to sexual inter-
course but stirs up to progress, from which compunction of
heart, not lust of the flesh, is born, by means of which you
may please the Son of God, by means of which you may show
yourself as truly chaste to the gaze of the heavenly spouse.
For that spouse wishes to see your flesh worn down, not radi-
ant; he makes use of the marriage of the soul, not of the
flesh, but delights in the beauty of the soul. So, acquire
beauty of heart by chastising the body; let the flesh be
draped with cheap coverings and the soul endowed with pre-
cious clothing. Do not seek to please the eyes of human be-
ings but seek not to offend the eyes of Christ. Let him see in
you what he loves; let him find what he gave; let him recog-
nize that by which he is delighted. “The king will desire your
beauty” but, “all the glory of the king’s daughter is within.”34
26. The time for embracing is passing away; now is the
time to be far from embraces. Let those who are held bound
by the marriage bond cling to their husbands; to you it must
be said with the prophet: “But for me it is good to be near
God; I have made the Lord God my refuge.”35 So the Apostle
also says, “The real widow, who is all alone, has set her hope
in God and continues in supplication and prayers night and
day.”36 In your case, let prayer be frequent in petition, in holy
meditation and good works, unending. For in this way you
will be able to fulfill what the Apostle commands, that we
pray without ceasing. For in the sight of God every good
34. Ps 44.12 LXX; Ps 45.11–13. “All the glory of the king’s daughter is with-
in” is in the contemporary version: “The princess is decked in her chamber
with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes, she is led to the king.”
35. Ps 72.28 LXX; Ps 73.28.
36. 1 Tm 5.5.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 303

work is a prayer by which God, though needing nothing, is

delighted. And that we may recognize that good works share
the place of prayer in God’s sight, Holy Scripture thus ad-
monishes us: “Store up almsgiving in your treasury and it
will rescue you from every disaster.”37
27. Beware lest you be concerned for the flesh and its de-
sires, lest you always give in to gluttony as it demands. Let
not pleasure be satisfied when you eat but let weakness be
supported. You should share meals with people who are not
accustomed to praise the delights of the flesh but of the
heart; who avidly seek the bread of angels for the interior
person; who run after your spouse in the fragrance of his
ointments; who taste inwardly the sweetness of God; who
with pure love hunger and thirst for justice; who work for
food, not that which perishes but that which remains for
eternal life. Let your conversations and meals be held with
people like these so that while you feed them with bodily
foods, you may gain the merit of holy deeds and when you
are fed with their spiritual words, progress in a holy life may
accrue to you. Now you will not want to fill your table with
such delights as you once filled it when you were the slave of
carnal marriage. Hear the teacher of the nations who says of
the widow: “The one who is self-indulgent,” he says, “is dead
while she lives.”38
28. For in both the Old and New Testaments you have ex-
amples of holy widows by which you may be edified. In the
Old Testament, Judith. Let Anna be considered in the New,
of whom, if, with the help of the Lord, you are an imitator
and trample on both the delights of the flesh and worldly
boasting with true humility of heart, so that the love of that
spouse who is always alive, always lives in you; just as, when
he rises, he is confirmed by the witness of the angel’ s voice,
when it is said to the women: “Why do you seek the living
among the dead?”39 Concerning him the apostolic authority
also speaks as follows: “The Word of God is living and effec-
tive.”40 Therefore, he who is the Word of the Father is alive
37. Sir 29.12. 38. 1 Tm 5.6.
39. Lk 24.5. 40. Heb 4.12.
304 FULGENTIUS

and so he is the life of the faithful. Holy widows have sought

him with contrition of heart and chastising of the body. Most
devoutly they have served him with complete continence of
heart and body.
29. Concerning Judith it has been written: “Judith re-
mained a widow for three years and four months at home
where she set up a tent for herself on the roof of her house.
She put sackcloth around her waist and dressed in widow’s
clothing. She fasted all the days of her widowhood. . . .”41
And, lest anyone think that that holy widow fasted, not from
devotion of heart but from the necessity of poverty, hear
what is said of her in what follows: “She was beautiful in ap-
pearance and was very lovely to behold. Her husband Man-
asseh had left her gold and silver, men and women slaves,
livestock and fields.”42
Behold a widow, famous in family, wealthy in goods,
young in age, marvelous in appearance, who despised rich-
es, repudiated delights, trampled on the attractions of the
flesh, and, putting on virtue from on high, she did not seek
to be entangled in a second marriage. So, by the witness of
so brilliant a deed, it is apparent how beloved of God is a
widow’s continence. Then when Holofernes besieged Bethu-
lia in force and with an army and all the power of the Is-
raelites shaken, grew weak, chastity went forth to assault las-
civiousness and holy humility proceeded to the destruction
of pride. He fought with armies; she with fasts; he with
drunkenness, she with prayer. Therefore, what the entire
people of the Israelites was unable to do, the holy widow ac-
complished by the virtue of chastity. For one woman cut off
the head of the leader of so great an army and restored to
the people of God an unhoped for freedom.
30. Let us see also in the New Testament how the way of
life of St. Anna is revealed to us. Concerning her, St. Luke
speaks as follows: “There was also a prophetess, Anna, the
daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced
in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her

41. Jdt 8.4–5. 42. Jdt 8.7–8.

 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 305

marriage and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She

never left the Temple but worshipped night and day with
fasting and prayer.”43 These two widows, although they lived
in different periods, still both served the mystery of the one
faith; because Christ, whom Anna knew as born in the flesh,
Judith had known as one who was going to be born. How
God showed in each widow that continence pleases him
greatly! For Judith, girded with spiritual weapons, cut off the
head of the lustful brigand. But Anna, filled with the Holy
Spirit, knew the very head of the Church. The death of
Holofernes was given to Judith; to Anna was revealed the
coming of the Savior. To the former, God gave it to drive
away a plague from the people; to the latter, he gave it to rec-
ognize the remedy of the human race. And because the con-
tinence of the widow follows after virginal holiness as a lower
degree, therefore, after the Son of God was born of a virgin,
he deigned to be proclaimed by the office of a widow’s
tongue. Still it was not a widow given over to pleasure who
spoke about him, one who “is dead while she lives”44 but one
who “never left the Temple but worshipped night and day
with fasting and prayer.”45
31. This is not the time or the place for a lengthier discus-
sion of these fastings and prayers. For we are planning (if
the Lord wills and if we live) to write something on prayer
and fasting to your sister, the holy virgin of Christ, Proba,
whom the Lord especially at this time in the city of Rome
has deigned to give as an example of virginity and humility,
just as in the letter which I have recently given to her, my
promise is contained and her holy way of life ought to be im-
itated by you in all things. She, though she was born of a
grandfather and ancestors who were consuls and she was
nurtured with royal delights, so great was the humility in-
fused in her by the gift of heavenly grace that by her love of
subjection and experience of serving, she no longer knows
that she had once been a lady, since by her delight in holy

43. Lk 3.36–37. 44. 1 Tm 5.6.

45. Lk 2.37.
306 FULGENTIUS

servitude, she aspires to have all women as her mistresses.

For she knows that the humility of the form of a servant was
accepted for our liberation by the Lord to whom she vowed
virginity of both heart and body. For this reason, she de-
lights to please her spouse in the humility of this servitude,
so that, associated with the company of the five wise virgins,
she can reign with her spouse in eternal splendor. With what
great strength she has scorned the delights of the body and
how she makes her hunger be of service for feeding the
poor, nor is she covered with vile clothing for any other rea-
son than to fulfill the purpose of humility and accomplish
the unending care of holy devotion in clothing the poor, you
yourself know even more fully by seeing than you would wish
to hear from me what I am less able to explain by words.
32. Set her as a mirror for yourself and from considering
her, know what is already in you and what is still lacking in
holy zeal and works. Although she surpasses you in the out-
standing gift of virginity, she ought to have you as a compan-
ion in the other virtues. Therefore, learn to attribute to
yourself nothing because of nobility of lineage. And al-
though, along with your grandfather, father, father-in-law
and husband who were consuls, you were an illustrious per-
son in the world, know now that you are becoming illustri-
ous in him, insofar as the virtue of humility grows in you.
Learn from the Lord that he is meek and humble of heart
and in him you will find rest for your soul. Cast away nobility
of the flesh which is the kindling wood of pride and pursue
nobility of spirit by perfect humility of the heart. Work on
prayer, give yourself to fasts and whatever you take away from
yourself, confer on the needy. Let your voluntary fast relieve
the hunger of those who fast so that the fruitfulness of your
fasts may be seen in the fruit of mercy. May the cheapness of
your clothing be of use to you and may the nakedness of the
poor be clothed by you; for then to some purpose will you
flee the harmful splendor of expensive clothing if you clothe
the naked; so that not by the emptiness of words nor by de-
ceptive show, but by the witness of good works you may show
that you are truly a sharer with the poor of Christ.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 307

33. Do not believe that you are superior to those whom

you feed or clothe, or, because you give and they receive, es-
teem your merits above the poor of Christ, as if you were
greater because you scorned more things. In vain do you
scorn your property, if you hold on to the harmful riches of
boasting in your heart. For not only do they sin who, be-
cause of the riches which they possess, carry about some
boasting in the heart; they sin even more seriously who wish
to have boasting in their heart because of riches scorned, or
who wish to place themselves ahead of the poor, because
they seem to give many things to the poor. For the order is
not the same with God who does not pay attention to the
quantity of property scorned, but the quality of the will. Zac-
chaeus is said to have expended great riches for the poor on
behalf of Christ, for whom Peter the Apostle abandoned the
most humble tools of the fisherman’s trade. Still Zacchaeus
the rich man is not preferred by Christ to Peter the poor
man, but the poor man Peter is preferred to the rich man
Zacchaeus, so that among the rich people belonging to
Christ no boasting about riches should arise.
34. God forbid that you enrich yourself with anything on
earth, where you are not to leave children of the flesh, since
also they who have children of the flesh do not without sin
delight to enrich themselves in the world. Our Savior deigns
to warn all the faithful with one statement, saying, “Do not
store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and
decay destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up
treasures in heaven where neither moth nor decay destroys
nor thieves break in and steal.”46 Greatly to be feared is that
rebuke of the Lord which the foolish rich man heard at the
moment he was about to die: “You fool, this night your life
will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared,
to whom will they belong?”47 Therefore, send all your riches
ahead to Christ; set up for yourself treasure in heaven which
you cannot lose and you will be able to possess for eternity.

46. Mt 6.19–20.
47. Lk 12.20.
308 FULGENTIUS

35. In all good works, be careful lest you be stirred by de-

sire for human praise. You ought to be praised in your good
works, but insofar as you do them, you ought not to expect
human praises. The human tongue may praise you but de-
sire praise from God alone. And thus it may come about that
while you do not seek human praise, God may be praised in
your deeds. Recall how much the Lord forbids us to do our
righteous works to garner human praise, saying, “Take care
not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see
them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your
heavenly Father.”48 Therefore, when he says that we should
look out lest we do our righteous deeds before human be-
ings, that we may be seen by them and again he commands
that our light shine before human beings,49 is he not com-
manding contrary things? Certainly not, but he commands
that good deeds be done in such a way that we wish, not that
we ourselves, but that God be praised in our works. For the
Apostle too avoided human glory in his works but sought
God’s glory. So he says, writing to the Thessalonians, “Nor,
indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you
know, or with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did
we seek praise from human beings either from you or from
others.”50 And yet the same one, in the reports about his way
of life, thus recalls with exultation God glorified by the
churches: “And I was unknown personally to the churches of
Judea that are in Christ. They only kept hearing that ‘the
one who once was persecuting us is now preaching the faith
he once tried to destroy.’ So they glorified God because of
me.”51 Accordingly, let your hand not slacken from doing
good works, nor your spirit work in such a way that the re-
ward of good works be rendered useless by attention to
human praise. For the Apostle, as he bears witness, wants us
to be “pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with
the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.”52
48. Mt 6.1. 49. Mt 5.16.
50. 1 Thes 2.5–6. 51. Gal 1.22–24.
52. Phil 1.10–11.
 2. TO THE WIDOW GALLA 309

36. In your zeal for good works and your contempt of

human praise, be careful lest you wish to assign the good
that you do, not to the grace of God, but to your own
strength. Hold firmly that there can be no ability in you for
good will or good works unless you received it by the free
gift of divine mercy. Know, therefore, that it is God working
in you both to will and to do, for a good will. Accordingly,
work out your salvation in fear and trembling. Humble your-
self in the sight of God that he may exalt you. Ask from him
the beginning of a good will. Ask from him the effects of
good works. Seek from him the gift of perseverance. Do not
think at any time that you can either will or do anything
good, once his assistance has ceased. Ask him to turn away
your eyes lest they see vanity; ask him to show you the way in
which you should walk; petition him to direct your steps ac-
cording to his word and let no wickedness rule over you.
Pray to him that he direct the works of your hands for you.
“Be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the
Lord.”53
37. You should not lack confidence concerning the divine
power and devotion in anything because I said that you must
assign nothing to your own strength. For the “Lord is faith-
ful in all his words and gracious in all his deeds.”54 Neither
will he deny you help in this age nor will he withhold a re-
ward in the age to come. He has shown you the right way
and he is your guide to the homeland. “Trust in the Lord
and do good.”55 Do not think that you can fail if he will
deign to guard you. For it is written: “Has anyone trusted in
the Lord and been disappointed? Or has anyone persevered
in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken? Or has anyone
called upon him and been neglected?”56 Do not, therefore,
lose your confidence which has a great reward. Be stable and
unmoved, knowing that your work will not be useless in the
Lord. Always seek greater things and stretch your spirit to-
ward an increase of virtue. Never cease from the divine
53. Ps 26.14 LXX; Ps 27.14; Ps 54.23 LXX; Ps 55.22.
54. Ps 144.13 LXX; Ps 145.13. 55. Ps 36.3 LXX; Ps 37.3.
56. Sir 2.10.
310 FULGENTIUS

words and indulge all the pleasures of your heart in the Holy
Scriptures. Do not be held fast by the ties of worldly love and
you will be successful in triumphing over the Devil.
38. And in order that the present letter to you end with
the testimony and admonition of Holy Scripture, I shall add
this too to all the other things which have been said above:
“Perform your tasks with humility; then you will be loved by
those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you
must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of
the Lord.”57 May the Lord direct you in the way of his right-
eousness and bring you to the promises of the heavenly king-
dom, my Lady, illustrious daughter.

LETTER 3. TO PROBA

Similar in tone to letter 2, letter 3 is another offering of spiritual ad-

vice to an aristocratic Roman lady. Galla is a widow; Proba, a consecrat-
ed virgin. In the previous letter, Fulgentius referred to Proba as Galla’s
sister, a title which scholars have been unable to agree is a familial or
spiritual one. Proba, in any event, like Galla, comes from a prominent
family with ancient roots and several of her male relatives have held
the post of consul. See “Proba 1,” PLRE II. 907.
This is Fulgentius’s treatise on “virginity and humility.” As such trea-
tises go, it may be classified as a moderate one, reminiscent of Augus-
tine’s own treatment of the question. Marriage is good but virginity is
better. But humility is a basic prerequisite for the Christian virgin. Hu-
mility is the “interior virginity of virginity” (36). In several places in
this discussion, Augustine’s teachings of grace also clearly play an im-
portant role.
Letter 4, Fulgentius’s briefer reply to her answer to letter 3, contin-
ues the emphasis on the Augustinian doctrine of grace but stresses
prayer and penance as well.

e c au s e of your spiritual desire and your way of life,

Proba, holy servant of God, I would like to express
suitably in words how much I congratulate you and
rejoice with you, if my speech were able to match my
thoughts with equal capacity. Nor should it be thought evi-
57. Sir 3.17–18.
 3. TO PROBA 311

dence of a slight resolution that although it is clear that,

with him from whom is “all good giving and every perfect
gift”1 working in you, you are endowed with spiritual
strengths, you think that you are lacking as it were and must
be advised about the virtues. Therefore, I praisegreatly in
God, in whom your soul must be praised this zeal, with our
holy brother, a trusted servant of God, insisting with fre-
quent writings you strongly urge me to present you with in-
struction containing something on virginity and humility.
But as much as I ought to praise, I am unable to praise; and
as much as I perceive that I am unequal to this desire by giv-
ing worthy praise, so much the more am I afraid of offend-
ing God in you either by a callous refusal or by a lengthy
delay. Indeed Christ is offended whenever due service is de-
nied to his members, since he wished to free from the slav-
ery of sin those once free for evil for no other reason than to
teach us how to serve each other with a free charity. Those
whom he found oppressed by the yoke of the worst, servile
liberty, he uplifted by the gift of the best free servitude. Fi-
nally, in place of that harmful freedom, in which it is more
pleasing to serve sin than God, we have happiness an-
nounced to us by the apostolic word; for he says, “For when
you were slaves to sin, you were free from righteousness.”2
And he adds, “But what profit did you get from the things of
which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is
death.”3 That servitude, which when liberated we accepted
in order freely to serve God our liberator, we find in the
words of his teaching which follow when he says, “But now
that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of
God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification and its
end is eternal life.”4 Behold where this holy servitude leads
and goes, in which is the gift of true freedom; namely, to
eternal life, in which one lives and reigns forever, in which
no human being will live except the one who is mortified in
this world; in which no one will reign, except the one who
perseveres, humble in the Lord. For that life is promised to
1. Jas 1.17. 2. Rm 6.20.
3. Rm 6.21. 4. Rm 6.22.
312 FULGENTIUS

this mortification and that height is reserved for this humili-

ty by humility itself which you seek efficaciously and eagerly
and in which you keep holy virginity, with God as guardian.
You compel me as well to serve it devotedly and willingly.
2. And I, holy daughter, insofar as “the love of God,”
which “has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us,”5 urges me to serve the
members of Christ with delight as well as freely, I wish to ful-
fill suitably what you imposed on me; knowing that he serves
Christ who serves the members of Christ through that chari-
ty, through which Christ himself first served, in order that he
might become a member of the same Christ. So the Apostle,
that we might attain to eternal freedom, commands the
members of Christ that they must freely provide service for
one another, saying, “For you were called for freedom,
brothers; but do not use this freedom as an opportunity for
the flesh, rather, serve one another through love.”6
3. Therefore, the more that I am compelled to pay what
you demand by the command of this servitude, the more I
am discouraged by the consideration of my abilities. There is
such a union of each virtue concerning which I should have
something to say insofar as God will give it to me, so that in
the present life it is the perfecting of all and the peak of the
virtues because neither in the body is there anything better
than integrity nor in the soul is there anything loftier than
faithful humility. Still I have confidence in the divine assis-
tance, because I am aided by your prayers. Because of this,
God inspires his sons and daughters with the fervor of holy
desire so that when they press for a spiritual debt from their
fellow servants, they do not also rest from praying to the
Lord for them and demand the debt which is owed to them
by the duty of mutual charity in such a way that what they de-
mand, they pay to the debtors.
4. There is no one of the faithful who demands that chari-
ty be rendered to him in such a way that he must not render
it to his own debtor. This charity which, albeit in different
5. Rm 5.5.
6. Gal 5.13.
 3. TO PROBA 313

gifts according to the grace which has been given to us,

seems to be paid with different effect to different people,
still in the assistance of mutual prayer makes all sharers of
the one debt, in which it makes individuals debtors to all.
See how he who professes himself a debtor to the wise and
the foolish, both pays the debt of prayer to all and demands
it from all. To the Romans he says, repaying this debt, “God
is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in proclaiming the
gospel of his Son, that I remember you constantly, always
asking in my prayers. . . .”7 But see how the conscientious re-
payer of this debt is also its avid demander. He says again to
the same people, “I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus
Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the strug-
gle by your prayers to God on my behalf.”8
5. In this debt which you demand from us and you repay
do not doubt that I am assisted, so that God, who works in us
both to will and to bring to completion the work of the good
will, himself gives that I may worthily think and worthily
speak. For in good thoughts, “Not that of ourselves, we are
qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us;
rather our qualification comes from God.”9 And for this rea-
son we do not fail for want because by a free gift, our suffi-
ciency is from him in whom there is no want. Just as he does
not need our goods, so he always abounds in giving, nor
does he become needy by giving who gives that by which he
is always filled; nor is there any pleasing gift of thought,
word, or deed offered by us to him which he himself has not
given with free kindness. Wherefore the holy giving of God
is always free because no demand based on human merits
has ever preceded, because even if a human being has any
good merit, it comes from him from whom comes “every
good and perfect gift.”10 A human being cannot have it, un-
less it be given by him, nor does he have it steadfastly, unless
it be preserved with him as its guardian. Therefore, I ask
from him the ability to pay this debt, the very one from
whom I received the will to pay. Nor would I even will to pay
7. Rm 1.9–10. 8. Rm 15.30.
9. 2 Cor 3.5. 10. Jas 1.17.
314 FULGENTIUS

anything unless he mercifully gave that I might will. There-

fore, if in this work, I say anything that is pleasing and suffi-
cient or, if it is not sufficient, at least pleases your holy desire,
it does not come from my poverty but from God’s sufficien-
cy. If perchance I should say something so as to be able nei-
ther to be sufficient for your holy desire, nor to please, it
does not come from God’s sufficiency but from my poverty.
Accordingly, let Christian charity in both cases show the
parts of its work, so that it may both humbly recognize God’s
sufficiency and patiently make allowances for its servile lack.
6. By a free gift, he has made you a sacred virgin for him-
self, he who “does whatever he pleases”11 by whom grace is
given with no merits preceding, so that a pure act of thanks-
giving may always be given to him in humility of heart. He is
the only begotten Son of God, also the only-begotten son of
the virgin, the one spouse of all sacred virgins, the fruit of
holy virginity, its adornment and gift; whom holy virginity
bore corporeally; to whom holy virginity is wedded spiritual-
ly; by whom holy virginity is made fruitful so that it remains
intact; by whom it is decorated that it remain beautiful; by
whom it is crowned that it reign gloriously for eternity.
7. Wherefore, “guard what has been entrusted to you,”12
and the merit of so great a good which God gave that you
might have it and he brought it about that you might vow it
to God. Reflect on it from the significance of its very name;
for God willed that the good of virginity be so great that it
was not worthy to be named from anything other than the
word ‘virtue’. Therefore, if anyone is willing diligently to
consider the word ‘virgin’, he will find it derived from the
word ‘virtue’; for a virgin (virgo) is named as if ‘virago’. Holy
Scripture says that a virgin is called this for no other reason
than that she was taken from the male (vir). For this the
translation done by St. Jerome specifically from the Hebrew
text of the book of Genesis teaches it this way: “So the Lord
God sent a deep sleep to fall on Adam and when he slept, he
took one of his ribs and filled up flesh for it. And the rib that
11. Ps 113.11 LXX; Ps 115.3.
12. 1 Tm 6.20.
 3. TO PROBA 315

the Lord had taken from Adam, he made into a woman and
brought her to Adam. Then Adam said, ‘This at last is bone
of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called
woman (virago) for out of man (vir) this one was taken.”13
8. Therefore, since the word virago came from the word
vir, who will doubt that vir has been called after ‘virtue’? And
because as Paul teaches, “those things happened as exam-
ples for us,”14 undoubtedly in that virgin, who a rib from a
man became, the Church to come was prefigured. She truly
was taken from a male, and she was joined to the one from
whom she was taken. Hence, she has in truth virtue from
which she has the true name of virago. So, the virago, i.e., vir-
gin who has been taken from a male, Paul does not hesitate
to call by the name, not only of ‘virgin’ but also of ‘male’, for
he says to the faithful, “Since I betrothed you to one hus-
band to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”15 Christ in-
deed is the male from whom this virgin has been taken. The
same Apostle says again to the faithful, “Until we all attain to
the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to ma-
ture manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.”16
Through the holy David also, in common for men as well as
for women, this spiritual exhortation is put forward: “Be
strong (viriliter) and let your heart take courage, all who wait
for the Lord.”17
9. Through typology, therefore, the word ‘virgo’ is taken
from ‘vir’ because the name ‘Christian’ is taken from Christ.
For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, from
whom is the Church which, remaining a virgin in faith and
charity, possesses both wisdom and power (virtus); therefore,
neither is it misled by seduction nor overcome by violence
because it is supported by the integrity of virginity within. To
this virgin, Isaiah says, “For the Lord delights in you, and
your Lord shall be married. For as a young man marries a
young woman, so shall your builder marry you.”18 And in
order that he show that the young man is none other than
13. Gen 2.21–23. 14. 1 Cor 10.6.
15. 2 Cor 11.2. 16. Eph 4.13.
17. Ps 30.25 LXX; Ps 31.24. 18. Is 62.4–5.
316 FULGENTIUS

her spouse and that the virgin is none other than the spouse
and that the spouses are Christ and the Church, he added
immediately after, “. . . as the bridegroom rejoices over the
bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”19 The virgin moth-
er is the one to whom it is said: “Your sons shall live in you,”20
and this mother is the virgin about whom it is said: “A young
man shall live with a virgin.”21 This is the virgin spouse con-
cerning whom it is said: “And the husband will rejoice over
his wife.”22 Therefore, this Church is the one and true
Catholic spouse because it clings to Christ; it is a mother be-
cause it is inseminated by Christ; it is a virgin because uncor-
rupted, it perseveres in Christ. Neither is the virginity of this
spouse corrupted by fecundity; nor fecundity impeded by
virginity. For such is the marriage of this man and virgin that
this virgin is made fruitful by this man, because in this mar-
riage there can never be any corruption and so great is the
integrity of the virginity that remains in this mother that un-
less she always was a virgin, she could not be a mother. Isaiah
thus announces before the fact the new name of this mother
and virgin: “And you shall be called by a new name that the
mouth of the Lord will give.”23 Therefore, because Christ is
power (virtus), just as the Church has taken the word virgin
from virtue, so it has received the name Christian from
Christ.
10. She, though she has in her diverse members different
gifts, according to the grace which has been given to her,
still she has received the greater grace of a gift in those
members, in whom she is spiritually called a virgin so that
she also gains the integrity of bodily virginity. For in other
faithful members, who believe in God correctly according to
the rule of the Catholic faith and observe conjugal and
widow’s chastity, who are not splattered by any stain of any
act of fornication and remain exempt from any illicit sexual
act of infidelity, the Church gains a spiritual virginity only;
but in these members in whom he guards the correct faith
19. Is 62.5. 20. Is 62.4.
21. Ibid. 22. Is 62.5.
23. Is 62.2.
 3. TO PROBA 317

in such a way that they keep the flesh untouched by any sex-
ual intercourse, the more the Church has a fuller virginity,
the more fully and perfectly it possesses the name of the
same virginity. In the former it has nothing less of its life; in
the latter, however, it acquires something more for glory, be-
cause just as Paul says, “The brightness of the sun is one
kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the bright-
ness of the stars still another. For star differs from star in
brightness. So also is the resurrection of the dead.”24 Finally,
under the name of eunuchs (whom also in the gospel the
Lord affirms have castrated themselves for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven) the Lord through Isaiah again promises
virgins a better place in his house and within his walls. For so
it is written: “For thus says the Lord, ‘To the eunuchs who
keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and
hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my
walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daugh-
ters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be
cut off.’”25 Also in the Apocalypse of blessed John, they are
the ones who “follow the Lord wherever he goes”26 who have
remained virgins.
11. Therefore, it is clear that among the other gifts of the
Church, that is the principal gift of a spiritual charism,
where the very virtue of integrity deserves to be called by the
perfect name of virtue. Although there is “. . . prophecy, in
proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a
teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one
contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with dili-
gence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”27 These
different gifts are called by their own names. But the integri-
ty of the flesh faithfully consecrated to God and in virginity
of heart, preserved with God’s help and protection, this is
properly called virginity so that there the perfection of true
virtue is shown to be present within.
12. Therefore, unstained virginal holiness is better than
the other gifts, which by the grace of a divine gift seems to
24. 1Cor 15.41–42. 25. Is 56.4–5.
26. Rev 14.4. 27. Rm 12.6–8.
318 FULGENTIUS

take the origin of its name from virtue, so that from the
name itself it may always be aware that it is being warned
that it must preserve those things which are from virtue.
Whence not undeservedly does the vessel of election distin-
guish with such a definition the celibate and conjugal life so
that he cautions that the former is concerned about the
things of God to please God in the sanctification of body
and spirit; the latter is given over to worldly thoughts, being
eager to please a human being. “An unmarried man,” he
says, “is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may
please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the
things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is di-
vided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the
things of the Lord so that she may be holy in both body and
spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious
about the things of the world, how she may please her hus-
band.”28
13. Nevertheless, the Apostle, saying this, did not ascribe
sanctity of body and spirit to virgins in such a way as either to
take it away from the married or deny it to widows; especially
one who in an earlier text of the same letter, calls the bodies
of the faithful, members of Christ and a temple of the Holy
Spirit, for he says, “Do you not know that your bodies are
members of Christ?”29 And a little later: “Do you not know
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God and that you are not your own?
For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify
God in your body.”30 And in order that he might show that
he is also writing to married people, he immediately added,
“Now in regard to the matter about which you wrote: ‘It is a
good thing for a man not to touch a woman,’ but because of
cases of immorality, every man should have his own wife and
every woman her own husband.”31 In the letter to the Eph-
esians, he also spoke to spouses to whom he said, “Hus-
bands, love your wives even as Christ loved the Church. . . .”32
28. 1 Cor 7.32–34. 29. 1 Cor 6.15.
30. 1Cor 6.19–20. 31. 1 Cor 7.1–2.
32. Eph 5.25.
 3. TO PROBA 319

And a little later: “He who loves his wife, loves himself. For
no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherish-
es it even as Christ does the Church, because we are mem-
bers of his body.”33 Also Peter the Apostle does not hesitate
to call faithful spouses holy, saying, “For this is also how the
holy women who hoped in God once used to adorn them-
selves and were subordinate to their husbands, thus Sarah
obeyed Abraham, calling him ‘Lord’”34 Therefore, the Apos-
tle Paul does not separate the married faithful from the
sanctification of the body and the spirit, but he says that they
think of this, where he knows their thoughts are more fully
held. For who does not know that the thoughts of holy vir-
gins run more to spiritual things and the thoughts of holy
spouses serve more conjugal requirements?
14. Therefore, we know that marriages are not a sin but
the work and gift of God; the Lord himself has linked them
with the bond of faith, has graced them with the gift of bless-
ing, has multiplied them by the increase of propagation. We
know that “marriage is honored among all and the marriage
bed kept undefiled.”35 We know that, not marriages, but for-
nications and adulteries will be judged by God. “God will
judge the immoral and adulterers.”36 We say that the faith of
marriages, the charity of spouses, the fecundity of nature are
from God; but because “each has a particular gift from God,
one of one kind and one of another,”37 we also so distinguish
the importance of the gift of each person so that we do not
deny that each gift is given by God to the faithful. Therefore,
we are not reducing a lesser gift of God to a matter of blame
when we bring forward the grace of a greater gift; nor when
we prefer the gift of chastity as first, do we condemn the sec-
ond or third gift; nor because we acknowledge virginal in-
tegrity as the peak are we asserting that conjugal chastity is a
sin; nor do we set virginity among the grain in such a way
that we may assign marriage to the chaff. Marriage is not the
fruit of the one who sows at night because an envious sower

33. Eph 5.28–30. 34. 1 Pt 3.5–6.

35. Heb 13.4. 36. Ibid.
37. 1 Cor 7.7.
320 FULGENTIUS

has not sown this afterwards in the Lord’s field, but the
good Lord has established it.
15. Nevertheless, pondering the importance of each
thing with fitting distinctions, we say only that holy virginity
because of its more potent merit is as far above holy matri-
mony where they who are unable to restrain themselves
marry, as better things are far above good things, the exalted
from the low, the heavenly from the earthly, the more
blessed from the blessed, the holier from the holy, the more
pure from the pure, immortal marriage from mortal mar-
riage, the spirit from the flesh, strength from weakness, the
fruit of the offspring that will remain from the state of infan-
cy that will pass, safety from tribulation, tranquillity from dis-
turbance, the better which is eternal with happiness from
the good which is temporary with trials.
16. Nor do we have any qualms about saying that the sex-
ual intercourse of Christian spouses (albeit conceded by
God) of this weak and mortal flesh is as far from holy virgini-
ty of flesh and spirit as the likeness of livestock is distin-
guished from the imitation of the angels. In the one, the
spirit is brought down to earth by the earthly pleasure of the
flesh; in the other, the earthly flesh is raised up to the heav-
enly by the heavenly enjoyment of the spirit. To please car-
nal marriage, often worldly cares preoccupy the mind; but to
please spiritual marriage, the mind, intent on the sweetness
of heavenly thoughts, castigates its body, growing rich with
spiritual delight.
17. In the work of bodily marriage, virginity of the flesh is
lost so that fecundity of the flesh may be attained. Still when
at times human pleasure is defrauded of the fruit of uncer-
tain hope in such a way that she who has ceased to be a vir-
gin, is unable to become a mother, and forced by the obsta-
cle of sterility neither is able to undo what she lost in the
body nor is able to have what she wants from the body. Often
(which is more serious) offspring of the flesh which she car-
ried with great pain are lost with even greater pain; and car-
rying the pregnancy to this point, she puts up with danger
and groans, so that losing the one she had borne with
 3. TO PROBA 321

groans, she moans all the more. But in the union of spiritual
matrimony, the soul is joined with Christ the spouse in such
a way that the flesh is also preserved intact. The more that
virginal integrity thrives, the stronger is immortal fecundity.
There there is not mortal fruit from the body so that immor-
tal offspring are not lacking from the heart; there marital in-
tercourse does not corrupt the body because the spiritual
embrace of Christ preserves both soul and body. In such a
marriage, no efficacy is permitted to the heat of lust, be-
cause the fervor of holy charity is fed by spiritual refresh-
ment. O more than human strength in human beings for
imitating the angels! O the ineffable ornament of a supernal
and eternal gift! They who accept it, reflect on this in mortal
flesh, viz., that they are to be taken up in immortality. They
choose the good part which will not be taken away from
them but will be brought to completion in them. For what is
now preserved inviolate by them in deed, this, gathered to-
gether, will be paid them as a gift with the glory of immortal-
ity.
18. Wherefore, she who is not a virgin of the world but of
Christ, just as she ought not to be adorned with jewels,
ought to be adorned with virtues. The adornment of a virgin
is to preserve the good of virginity, not less in the mind than
in the flesh, so that she may always present herself as worthy
of so great a gift, and so hold to the way of the truth, that
she turns neither to the right nor to the left. The mob of
carnal vices besieges the left, the proud boasting about spiri-
tual virtues holds the right. The former strives to beguile the
flesh with manifest delights, the latter does not cease to
whisper in its own mind the praises of its own virtues. The
former soothingly tries to persuade the virgin that so long as
the integrity of the flesh is preserved, let the virgin love,
seek, and hold whatever pertains to the delights of food, the
splendor of clothes, the warmth of the baths, the softness of
rugs, the soothing of ointments, the hilarity of jokes, under
the guise of avoiding illness or guarding bodily health; and
as on an easy slope he points out the sloping descent of the
wide road to the one who is going along, by which she does
322 FULGENTIUS

not mount to heaven, but by which she falls down to hell; he

conveys to them that the hard work of the narrow way must
be avoided lest one arrive at rest.
19. But the other prepares a fall for the virgin more ob-
scurely as well as more dangerously all the while it cleverly
praises the upward path. Even if abstinence is observed in
the matter of food, your clothing is not bright but despica-
ble, fasts generate a boxwood paleness in your body, when
the ruddiness has been lost, contempt for washing beclouds
the whiteness of the flesh, sleep is given to the weary body
on harder bedding, the softness of the skin is made rougher
when ointments are rejected, a sadder face always resists
laughter and jokes, she does not refer all these things to the
divine help but attributes them to the strength of human
ability.
20. Accordingly, the virgin must always be on the alert
with concerned caution to preserve her virginity without
and within. Let the sacred virgin altogether flee the delights
of the flesh and the pleasures of the body which not so
much necessity as pleasure demands for itself. The spiritual
spouse of virgins does not seek in the virgin the flesh care-
fully prepared by delights but chastened by fasts. The
teacher of the nations when he says that he does this, is con-
veying that this should be done by us as well: “I drive,” he
says, “my body and I train it.”38 And again: “Through many
sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through fre-
quent fastings.”39 Concerning a widow, he says, “The one
who is self-indulgent is dead while she lives.”40 Therefore, let
not the virgin of Christ seek the delights of the flesh which
she sees are not granted to the widow. Living in the satiety of
food, Sodom deserved to become food for the fire; and the
people of Nineveh warded off the divine wrath which hung
over the necks of all by fasting and tears. Therefore, if visible
covetousness is overcome in the body, the invisible enemy
power does not rule in the heart. We happily conquer it if we

38. 1 Cor 9.27. 39. 2 Cor 11.27.

40. 1 Tm 5.6.
 3. TO PROBA 323

contend bravely with it and triumph over it comes when it is

trampled upon.
21. Nevertheless, moderation must be used in the matter
of fasts in such a way that neither satiety stirs up our body
nor immoderate lack of food weakens it. Let a meal of such a
kind follow a virgin’s fast that it neither entices the body
with its pleasantness nor inflames it with satiety. Alms for the
poor are diminished by pleasantness; the body is made belli-
cose by satiety. Then what is owed to brothers is devoured;
here assistance is furnished to the enemy. For us who wish to
seduce the lust of gluttony with a variety of flavors, pleasure
consumes what the poor man ought to receive. Accordingly,
let neither weakness usurp nor satiety do away with fasting.
Each one is at the service of our adversaries because one re-
moves the usefulness of the fast that precedes, the other ob-
structs the possibility of the subsequent fast. Satiety brings it
about that we fast to no purpose; weakness brings it about
that we are unable to fast.
22. Let the clothing of the sacred virgin be such that it
bears witness to an inner chastity. Let no glitter be sought in
the clothing of the external person lest the clothing of the
interior person be soiled. The virgin who affects splendor in
her bodily dress, strips her soul of the splendor of the
virtues; nor does she have true chastity who prepares allure-
ment for those who look at her; nor does she keep faith with
Christ who seeks to please men more than her spouse. Logi-
cally, it is necessary that she who sows lust in the eyes of men
reap wrath in the eyes of God. “The one who sows for his
flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who
sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.”41
23. But concerning these things and those like them
which pertain to the care of the flesh and, under the name
of virginity, make the soul negligent in matters of concupis-
cence, they rather ought to be warned, virgins who are de-
sirous of pleasure, vagabonds who are given over to joking.
But now we are speaking to the spiritual virgin concerning

41. Gal 6.8.

324 FULGENTIUS

those snares to be avoided, something must be called to

mind which the adversary holds out (so to speak) not in
earthly things but in heavenly things; nor does he seduce
from the path with obvious error but (as the prophet says,
“On the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for
me.”)42 where he sights people walking in good works, there
more vehemently and more dangerously, under the pretext
of a feigned peace, he fights with hidden snares; and, unable
to destroy the virginity of the flesh, he tries to carry off the
virginity of the spirit.
24. Wherefore, the virgins of Christ must not more negli-
gently consider how much virginity of heart surpasses virgin-
ity of the flesh. For if in this life, this will be kept by faithful
spouses and widows in the faith “which works through
love,”43 even if without bodily virginity, in the future she will
not be deprived of virginity of the flesh and she will enjoy
the bliss of the heavenly kingdom; for bodily virginity, even
dedicated to God, if it has not preserved virginity of the
heart, will be kept in the body to no avail if spiritual chastity
is corrupt in the mind.
25. The Devil attacks each one; he pursues each one with
insidious counsels. But he strives to ravish virginity of the
flesh in advance through a human being; he tries to carry
off virginity of the heart personally. For often he does not at-
tack the virginity of the flesh which is inferior, for this pur-
pose, so that he may undermine the foundations of that
which is superior. As with different siege engines, he makes
use of innumerable arguments; and when he openly with-
draws from the contest, he shows that he has been con-
quered to this purpose, viz., that he may conquer; he simu-
lates flight for this purpose, that he may kill his pursuer with
arrows shot from behind his back. He provokes with obvious
vices, while he attacks the virginity of the body in those into
whom, if he is openly overcome, he most perniciously hurls
pride; and the author of vices, because he cannot conquer

42. Ps 141.4 LXX; Ps 142.3.

43. Cf. Gal 5.6.
 3. TO PROBA 325

with his vices, rises to be conquered by the virtues of others,

by arms by which he is crushed and casts down by the virtue
by which he is cast down. He praises virtue by which he sees
himself being overcome so that when conquered, he can
capture the conqueror; he places boastfulness within the
heart so that he can cast down from a height with a more se-
rious lapse, if he sees some among the humble fighting with
a firmer step. To take an example, when he puts forward the
delights of gluttony, if it is taken up, he adds the stimulant of
lust; if it is rejected, he sows boasting about abstinence. He
introduces the love of money; if he gets assent, he stabs the
careless soul with the sword of avarice; but if he is repulsed,
the traps which he was unable to set out though tenacity, the
most wicked one sets out through liberty; and in a work of
mercy, he causes pride of heart to sprout so that because of
what he gave to the needy person, he seems to have greater
merits for himself. He does these things in many cases, and
he especially has been accustomed to attack men and
women who are the spiritual servants of God; so that if any-
one is not conquered by harmful and death-dealing things,
he is killed by life-giving remedies. He makes bad things
from good, harmful from healthful, unjust from just, and
produces unfavorable things from favorable. This he first ac-
complished in himself, he who did not have the origin of his
sin from his creation but from pride in virtue; he wanted to
hold on to the truth in injustice and, fallen through injus-
tice, he did not stand firm in the truth. For how could he
stand firm, who, because of his pride, resisted him who
never falls? “For the beginning of pride is sin. Wherefore
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”44
26. Thus this pride is said to be the beginning of all sin,
so that every sin is shown to sprout from it as from a root.
Bringing death to the wretched in many ways, it casts down
the carnal in a public contest; but the spiritual, if he finds
any, it brings down in a more obscure combat. For who does
not know that careless fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, boy

44. Sir 10.13.

326 FULGENTIUS

prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards,

slanderers, robbers raise their proud necks against God and
fight more for the Devil with their very evil works? There are
others whom, in the sight of human beings, pride shows as
his enemies and within he possesses them as his most wicked
soldiers. By these, wickedness is cleverly carried on so that to
human sight, righteousness is deceptively shown forth. Our
Lord thus rebukes them, “You justify yourselves in the sight
of others, but God knows your hearts.”45 That he might clear-
ly show them to be proud, he immediately added, “For what
is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”46
27. To those who live under the Christian profession and,
by sinning openly, scorn the commandments of Christ,
Christ himself speaks as follows: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord,
Lord’ but do not do what I command?”47 The teacher of the
nations rebukes such people with these words: “They claim
to know God but by their deeds they deny him; they are vile
and disobedient and unqualified for any good deed.”48 And
the blessed James also says, “What good is it, my brothers, if
someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that
faith save him?”49 Humility, which Christ taught, saying,
“Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart,”50 does
not consist in faith alone, but simultaneously in faith and
works. For it is written that “Even the demons believe and
tremble,”51 who, however, are not humble. Whence the Apos-
tle Paul asserts, “For the concern of the flesh is hostility to-
ward God; it does not submit to the Law of God, nor can
it.”52 Such wisdom, according to the statement of James, “. . .
does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual,
demonic.”53
28. Open pride is detected when there is open sin. But
when wickedness is covered with a disguise, that pestilence
of pride creeps in more venemously; it crawls in more dan-

45. Lk 16.15. 46. Ibid.

47. Lk 6.46. 48. Ti 1.16.
49. Jas 2.14. 50. Mt 11.29.
51. Jas 2.19. 52. Rm 8.7.
53. Jas 3.15.
 3. TO PROBA 327

gerously when either the life of others is despised as unwor-

thy or in good works something is attributed to human
strength by those who exercise a zeal for righteousness. Fi-
nally, that pride by which others are despised as sinners by
those who seem to themselves to be righteous, is con-
demned in the Pharisee just as the holy evangelist bears wit-
ness, saying, “He then addressed this parable to those who
were convinced of their own righteousness and despised
everyone else. Two people went up to the temple area to
pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The
Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to him-
self, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of hu-
manity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes on my whole in-
come.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and
would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast
and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you,
the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled and the one who hum-
bles himself will be exalted.”54 In the sight of the merciful
and just judge, proud boasting about good works is not ac-
cepted but rather a humble confession of sins. Those who
proudly strive to attribute the virtue of a good will or of
good works to their own strength are spoken of by the Apos-
tle in the following way: “. . . in their unawareness of the
righteousness that comes from God and their attempt to es-
tablish their own righteousness, they do not submit to the
righteousness of God.”55 Therefore, assuredly, he fails in his
unrighteousness who does not bow his proud neck to the
righteousness of God.
29. There are these four types of pride on which the Devil
travels as on a chariot drawn by four horses and with a
death-dealing fall is carried off to the hell of the wretched in
whom he dwells. With two kinds he oppresses souls whom he
sees wallowing in the flesh; with the two others, he casts

54. Lk 18.9–14.
55. Rm 10.3.
328 FULGENTIUS

down souls which he knows fly from the flesh. The former
he captures with the delights of the vices; the latter he tricks
with the pride of the virtues. He snatches away the virginity
of the former in such a way that they are in no doubt that
they are fornicating; the latter he violates and defiles in such
a way that they do not realize that they are being defiled.
30. Accordingly, in order that virginity dedicated to God
remain whole, just as the wholeness of the body is guarded,
much more must humility of heart be guarded. If any
woman is really a virgin of Christ, she cannot be joined to
Christ except by humility of heart. The nuptial bed of the
Son of God does not receive the proud, and the humble
spouse expels the proud from his marriage. Therefore, let
your zeal be to pursue righteousness, as befits a sacred vir-
gin, devotion, faith, charity, patience, mildness; not, howev-
er, that in your thoughts you look down on certain Christian
women even those placed in a lower state or, on the pre-
sumption of your own virtue, extol yourself by good works.
Whatever spiritual gifts you may have more of than others, it
is not a small loss of virtue if you do not excel others in the
very principal virtue which is humility, when you know that it
is written: “The greater you are, the more you must humble
yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.”56
Therefore, be attentive to the love of your spouse in you;
consider the devotion of the Lord. The Lord who has made
you his handmaid is faithful; the handsome spouse who has
sanctified you as his spouse. Still, the same one, because he
is the true Lord and the true spouse, accomplishes the parts
of each power. He requires humble service from his hand-
maid; in a spouse he seeks complete chastity. Serve the Lord
with fear and exult with the spouse with trembling. For, be-
cause he is the Lord, he frightens, and because he is a
spouse, he is jealous. Therefore, in fear guard the domain of
the Lord who terrifies and, trembling, love the affection of
the jealous spouse. In the handmaid of the Lord, let the
brigand find nothing of his own; in the spouse of Christ, let

56. Sir 3.18.

 3. TO PROBA 329

the adulterer find nothing of his own. Just as lust does not
rule in the body of a virgin, so let not pride rule in the heart
of a virgin. Work out your salvation in fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to carry out
in view of a good will.
31. As often as you think of the perfection of the virtues,
do not consider what others have less than you have but
what you have less than you ought to have. You should not
think that you are perfect in virtue if you see some other
women given over to sins; nor consequently should you cred-
it yourself with any greater speed if you see some women ei-
ther backsliding or walking feebly. Nor, therefore, must one
with watery eyes be proclaimed to have healthy eyes because
a blind man seems thoroughly closed off from the light, nor
must someone be declared healthy who lies half-dead with a
serious wound, if another is found dead because of a more
serious wound. Nor must anyone lay claim to glory as a vic-
tor who, although not killed by the enemy, still is being held
captive by the enemy.
32. Therefore, do not compare yourself to others but to
yourself. Hear the Apostle doing this and salutarily warning
us to do the same. For, writing to the Corinthians, he says,
“Not that we dare to class or compare ourselves with some of
those who recommend themselves. But when they measure
themselves by one another and compare themselves with
one another, they are without understanding.”57 Therefore,
let the virgin of Christ compare herself to herself, and, in
order that she attain perfect health, she must not be lulled
by the graver danger of others than herself, but let her take
care to be saddened by her own infirmity; concerning which
he was unendingly saddened who used to say, “All day long I
go around mourning. For my loins are filled with burning
and there is no soundness in my flesh.”58 And in order to
show that humility must be joined to this sadness, he imme-
diately added, “I am utterly spent and crushed.59 And to

57. 2 Cor 10.12. 58. Ps 37.7–8 LXX; Ps 38.6–7.

59. Ps 37.9 LXX; Ps 38.8.
330 FULGENTIUS

teach that this must be done by himself out of a desire for

health, he added, “I groan because of the tumult of my
heart,”60 and “O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my
sighing is not hidden from you.”61 But he who said this con-
fesses that sometimes he was proud of health as of virtue and
for this reason experienced the danger of very grave illness;
for he says in another psalm, “As for me, I said in my pros-
perity, I shall never be moved.”62 And because, saying this, he
was deserted by the assistance of divine grace and disturbed
by his weakness, he had succumbed, he spoke as follows: “By
your favor, Lord, you have established me as a strong moun-
tain; you hid your face, I was dismayed.”63 And that he might
show that the help of divine grace, even if it is now pos-
sessed, must be humbly asked for without ceasing, he also
adds this, “To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made
supplication.”64 No one prays and asks who does not know
that he has less of something or, that what he has, he can
preserve only by his own power.
33. Therefore, whoever both asks for a blessing and clam-
ors for assistance, it is necessary that he acknowledge both
the evidence of his own weakness and need. So our need
asks that it be given what it does not have, and our weakness
asks that what it has received be guarded for itself. Need
hears, “What do you possess that you have not received?”65
And “No one can receive anything except what has been
given him from heaven.”66 Weakness hears, “Commit your
way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act.”67 He also hears
from strength itself, “Without me, you can do nothing.”68 He
hears from the prophet, “Unless the Lord guard the city, the
guard keeps watch in vain.”69 Therefore, let need say to him
who “for your sake, became poor although he was rich, so
that by his poverty, you might become rich;”70 let him say,

60. Ibid. 61. Ps 37.10 LXX; Ps 38.9.

62. Ps 29.7 LXX; Ps 30.6. 63. Ps 29.8 LXX; Ps 30.7.
64. Ps 29.9 LXX; Ps 30.8. 65. 1 Cor 4.7.
66. Jn 3.27. 67. Ps 36.5 LXX; Ps 37.5.
68. Jn 15.5. 69. Ps 126.1 LXX; Ps 127.1.
70. 2 Cor 8.9.
 3. TO PROBA 331

“Give me understanding that I may learn your command-

ments.”71 Let weakness also say to him who for us “was cruci-
fied out of weakness but he lives by the power of God,”72 and
who was made so infirm because of our sins that he is always
himself the power of God and the wisdom of God, therefore,
let human weakness say to him, “Keep me, O Lord, as the
apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who despoil me. . . .”73
34. The souls of all, even those now justified and living by
faith are gravely afflicted here, but indeed only those souls
understand in what affliction they have been placed, into
which the true light is being poured, that light which en-
lightens every human being who comes into this world. For
they see that although they are freed from the contagion of
evil works by the gift of grace, still they are held captive by
the trickery of thoughts. “Who can say ‘I have made my
heart clean; I am pure from my sins’?”74 Let us see what and
how great a just person is who says, “We all fall short in many
respects,”75 and who said, “If we say, ‘We are without sin,’ we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”76 He who de-
lighted in the law of God according to his interior self saw
another law in his members, fighting against the law of his
mind and taking him captive in the law of sin which was in
his members, until the grace of God through Jesus Christ
our Lord freed him, conscious of his unhappiness, from the
body of this death.
35. From this law of sin which is in our members, not the
strength of any strong person, not the diligence of the wise
person, but only the grace of the Savior frees us, which grace
is given freely to none save the humble: “God resists the
proud, but gives grace to the humble.”77 Nevertheless, this
grace, just as it is not given except to the humble, so a per-
son cannot be humble unless it is given. For it is given that
they may begin to be humble and it is given that they do not

71. Ps 118.73 LXX; Ps 119.73. 72. 2 Cor 3.4.

73. Ps 16.8–9 LXX; Ps 17.8–9. 74. Prov 20.9.
75. Jas 3.2. 76. 1 Jn 1.8.
77. Jas 4.6.
332 FULGENTIUS

stop being humble. Therefore, the grace of God brings it

about both that we may be humble and that we are able to
stay humble. For he who was able to give what we did not
have is able to guard what we have received.
36. Accordingly, in order that you may have true humility,
which is the interior virginity of virginity, may you not be un-
aware of how much poverty of spirit must be in the sacred
virgin so that she may merit to receive the kingdom of heav-
en; how much mildness, that she may possess that land of
the living in which David with complete faith trusts that he
will see the good things of the Lord. With how great a care
must the distressing happiness of the present age be fled by
the virgin, who in this life, always awaiting the coming of her
heavenly spouse, must mourn more from spiritual desire
that she may obtain interior and certain consolation. How
much must the virgin of Christ experience hunger and thirst
for justice that she may merit to rejoice with a satiety, full of
eternal sweetness; with what depths of mercy must she also
be endowed that in the sight of God, she may be able to find
mercy; how much zeal for the cleansing of the heart must
the sacred virgin have that she, with blessed eyes, may merit
to see that spouse, handsome beyond human sons, to whom
virginity of the flesh cannot attain unless it is supported by a
humble heart, the virtue of interior virginity. How much of a
virtue of peaceful calm must the virgin of Christ possess in
order that she may subdue the wars of carnal desires, having
taken up spiritual weapons. Your spouse wishes you to use
and enjoy such jewels, who has espoused you to himself with
faith, confirmed it by hope, joined it with charity.
37. Nor would you, with the truth of faith and integrity of
the flesh, have spiritually wedded such a spouse, if you had
not loved him, having scorned the vanity of the world. You
would not be going to love him in any way, unless you had
first been visited by the free love of the spouse. I said that
you had been preceded not only by the love, with which he
loved you, but also by the love which he infused into you
freely that he might be loved by you. Everything and any-
thing of the holy love you have in you toward your spouse,
 4. TO PROBA 333

you indeed have in you, but you do not have it of yourself.

The very rich spouse has accepted you, a poor person. What-
ever good you have in you, you have not from yourself but
you have it from him, and whatever you do not yet have,
then you will have it if the spouse will give it, who, with free
generosity has already given all the good things you have.
Therefore, humbly give thanks to him for what you have re-
ceived, ask him humbly to receive more. You have such a
rich spouse that he does not miss the things he has given
and is eager to give much better things than he has already
given. With humble sorrow always meditate on these things
and preserve the virginity which you have vowed to God not
only by the integrity of the flesh but also with humility of
heart. Always ask from him the guardianship of your virgini-
ty and humility, him the guardian of Israel, who will neither
slumber nor sleep.
38. Behold, holy daughter, insofar as the Lord has given, I
have written to you a short booklet on virginity and humility;
choosing rather to transmit a few things to you who desire
them than to refuse the duty of due service to the spouse of
the Lord.

LETTER 4. TO PROBA

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the very venerable Lady in
Christ and Servant of God, to be named with all
honor, his daughter Proba.
1. I have taken up the letter of your holiness with all joy of
heart, a letter which displays with certain evidence not only
your zeal for good works but also the humility of your heart.
So, holy daughter, it is well that you are lifted up for the
praise of God, not by the wind of pride, over good works,
but you testify that you are infirm and weak in the matter of
fulfilling the commandments of the Lord. Thus should any-
one feel who desires to be “Not a hearer who forgets but a
334 FULGENTIUS

doer who acts,”1 one who does not expect to receive her re-
ward from human beings here but from God on the day of
retribution; who is not carried away by the vanity of empty
glory in the present time but who ascends by the holy fire of
divine love. This Christ has come to cast on the earth that it
may burn up every sprout of pride and may implant the fer-
vor of holy compunction in the humbler heart. Thus it
comes about that we truthfully accuse ourselves in our sins
and in our good works we praise God with true humility of
heart; let us attribute to him what his devotion gives to us; let
us impute to ourselves those matters in which our weakness
angers him.
2. And since he is frequently offended by us, it is neces-
sary that he be appeased by frequent prayer and uninter-
rupted compunction of heart. Compunction of the heart
stirs up love for prayer, humble prayer wins divine assistance;
compunction of the heart looks to its wounds, prayer asks
for the cure of health. And who is fitted for this? Who can
pray as is needed unless the physician himself instills the be-
ginning of spiritual desire? Or who is able to persevere in
prayer unless God increases in us that which he began, nour-
ishes what he sowed and that which, with mercy preceding,
he freely gave to the unworthy, with mercy following up, he
brings to final completion? For thus the merit of our good
works will be able not to perish if God, author and helper, is
always glorified in the works.2
3. Let us not think that the author of good works must be
viewed as if only at the very beginning of creation God gave
to human nature the ability to do good works in such a way
that, after his assistance ceased, human nature by itself was
able of itself to will or to do anything good. Not even the
very first human being was able to fulfill this by his own ef-
fort when human nature was not yet wounded by sin. There-
fore, how will infirm human nature be able to restore its own

1. Jas 1.25.
2. There is an error in the Latin text of CCL XCI, lines 31–32. There is one
‘a’ too many.
 4. TO PROBA 335

health without the assistance of a physician, since when it

was whole, it was unable to preserve its own health?
4. Therefore, let not earth and ashes glory because in its
life it has abandoned its inmost thoughts; wounded, let it
not exult as if healthy concerning that which it thinks
healthy in itself. But with the humility of an afflicted heart,
let it meditate on the rottenness of its wounds in order that,
crying out with the prophet, “My wounds grow foul and fes-
ter because of my foolishness,”3 it can receive healing from
the divine piety, not of its own merits, but by a free gift. For
what does a person have that he has not received? But if he
has received, why is he glorying as if he had not received?
Therefore, God alone can give to all to whom he wishes the
means by which true salvation can be acquired.4 He alone is
able to safeguard what he has given in the one receiving:
“Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in
vain.”5 Therefore, he will not permit the stealthy entry of the
most wicked brigand in that person to whom the assistance
of the vigilant Lord will not be lacking. For he “will neither
slumber nor sleep, he who guards Israel.”6
5. Just as one who returns to his homeland always has
more of the trail ahead of him until he arrives, so we also, as
long as we are in this mortal body, are away from the Lord.
For us the present life is a road in which we always have
room for being able to make progress, until, with God lead-
ing us, we are able to reach that eternal homeland of blessed
immortality. Therefore, it is a great blessing in the present
age to love in such a way that each member of the faithful
applies himself to spiritual progress but not, however, at any
time proudly attributing this to his own power. Rather, with
humble heart he asks God for a ceaseless guarding of the
gift received, from whom emanates not just the beginning
but also the perfecting of every good will.

3. Ps 37.6 LXX;Ps 38.5.

4. There is an error in line 52 of the Latin text. It should be ‘acquiri’ in-
stead of ‘acquirit’.
5. Ps 126.2 LXX; Ps 127.1.
6. Ps 120.4 LXX; Ps 121.4.
336 FULGENTIUS

6. The preaching of the Apostle James cannot be shaken

by any argumentation. He says, “All good giving and every
perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights.”7 Nor can any human being be fit either for thinking
or for doing anything good unless he is first helped by the
free gift of divine assistance. “For God is the one who, for his
own good purpose, works ‘in them’ both to desire and to
work,”8 as the vessel of election affirms; also by his teaching,
we know that “we of ourselves are not qualified to take credit
for anything as coming from us; rather our qualification
comes from God.”9 Therefore, he supplies us with all the suf-
ficiency of good and his fullness is not lessened when he
gives who kindly shares every good with us that we may have
them. In himself he remains full without any diminution
which neither angelic nor human nature—thus, although
spiritual, no created substance—can provide. Everything
which is created, just as before it was created it did not exist,
so before it receives, was unable to possess; and just as it can-
not subsist without the working of him who made it, so it is
unable to will or to do good unless God continuously deigns
to help. For from him is the beginning of a good will, from
him the ability to do good works, from him perseverance in
a good way of life, from him in the present age is given true
humility of heart and in the future, the happiness of eternal
reward, that they may without end be happy who now with-
out falsity are humble. They do not deceive themselves by
their pride, but they view the dangers of the present life with
fear and trembling. In this life there can be no total safety
for the good because hostility creeps in the more easily at
the moment prosperity deceptively puts in an appearance.
7. There is no period in this life in which the enemy does
not set a trap for people; no one can escape his snares with
his own strength except that one whom God has deigned to
free by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore,
the vessel of election when he knew that he was enslaved by
the law of sin, cried out, saying, “Miserable one that I am!
7. Jas 1.17. 8. Phil 2.13.
9. 2 Cor 3.5.
 4. TO PROBA 337

Who will deliver me from this mortal body? The grace of

God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”10 So the prophet too
proclaims that his feet will be freed from the snare, not by
his own power but by the divine gift, saying, “My eyes are
ever toward the Lord for he will pluck my feet out of the
net.”11 And in another text, in the person of the saints, liber-
ated from the snare of this age, whom the Lord has deigned
to transfer to safety and happiness for eternity, it is said:
“Our soul has escaped like a bird from the snare of the
fowlers; the snare has been broken and we have escaped.”12
8. Nevertheless, so that each one of us will know that his
soul lives among the adversities and snares of the enemy and
that in this world it may never grow slothful with a false
sense of security, the same prophet says, “All day long, I go
around mourning. For my soul has been filled with illusions
and there is no soundness in my flesh.”13 What is “to go
around mourning all the day long” except to be saddened
by the memory of sins in the time of this life? How is the
soul filled with illusions except that it is buffeted by frequent
temptations of carnal concupiscence? Although he does not
give in with consent at the time, he grows weary. Although
the Lord repeatedly grants assistance to his own in the strug-
gle lest they fall, still, burdened mortality is allowed to grow
weary by the weight of its own infirmity so that when it finds
in itself no firmness of strength, it may hasten quickly to ask
for the help of divine piety.
9. Here we overcome the adversary if we fight with tears
and prayers and continuing humility of heart. It is written
that “The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds . . . and it
will not desist until the Most High responds.”14 Therefore,
the weeping of the humble contributes greatly to the de-
struction of carnal concupiscence. The tears which come
from compunction of heart both conquer the enemy and
gain for us the gift of triumphal happiness. For those “who
go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come
10. Rm 7.24–25. 11. Ps 24.15 LXX; Ps 25.15.
12. Ps 123.7 LXX; Ps 124.7. 13. Ps 37.7–8 LXX; Ps 38.6–7.
14. Sir 35.21.
338 FULGENTIUS

home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.”15 How well

does the holy prophet teach that the seeds of good works
must be watered by a river of tears! No seeds germinate un-
less they are watered; nor does fruit come forth from the
seed if deprived of the aid of water. Accordingly, we too, if
we wish to keep the fruits of our seeds, let us not stop water-
ing our seeds with tears which must be poured out more
from the heart than from the body. Therefore it is said to us
through the prophet that we rend “our hearts and not our
clothing;”16 something we can do when we recall that we our-
selves, even if not in deed, frequently sin at least in thought.
Because the “earthly tent burdens the thoughtful mind”17
and our land does not cease to produce thorns and thistles
for us. We are unable to get to eating our bread, unless we
will have been worn out by weariness and the sweat of our
brow.
10. We are wearied by sweats when we fight against our
own lusts. In conquering them, the difficulty of the struggle
is greater because the adversary, carnal concupiscence, is
generated, not extrinsically from someone else, but interior-
ly, from within the struggling person himself. This instills
weariness in human weakness when it is born, although it is
conquered by the assistance of divine power. “For the flesh
has desires against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh;
these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do
what you want.”18 Hence it is that we are not yet altogether
subject to God because there is born from us something that
resists the divine command. For although by the grace of
God, there is in us a good will which makes us humble be-
fore God, still there is not lacking in us a source of depraved
desires which makes us recalcitrant.
11. Therefore, by the grace of God, we are now in part
subject to God; through our own fault, we are up until now
in part not submissive. So it is said to the Hebrews that all
things have not yet been subjected to Christ; for he says, “In
subjecting all things [to him], he left nothing not “subject to

15. Ps 125.6 LXX; Ps 126.6. 16. Jl 2.13.

17. Wis 9.15. 18. Gal 5.17.
 4. TO PROBA 339

him.” Yet at present we do not see all things subject to

him.”19 We are subjected to God in this way, that, with him at
work in us, we take pleasure in “the law of God, in my inner
self.”20 But we are not yet subjected in this, that we see “an-
other law in [our] members, at war with the law of [our]
mind and taking [us] captive to the law of sin, that dwells in
[our] members.”21 We are subjected to God because we are
snatched away from temptation because of his mercy; for we
sing to him, “He is a shield for all who take refuge in him,”22
but we are not yet altogether subjected because “Do not
human beings have a hard service on earth?”23 We are sub-
jected to God, in whom he keeps “our steps steady according
to [his] promise and never lets iniquity have dominion over
us.”24 But we are not altogether subjected because “we all of-
fend in many things.”25 We are subjected insofar as by his
gift, “walking in the flesh, we do not battle according to the
flesh,”26 but we are not yet altogether subjected because al-
though, by the gift of God, we have it that with our mind, we
serve the Law of God, still from the vestiges of sin, we have it
that we serve the law of sin with the flesh. So the Apostle
says, “Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of
God, with my flesh, the law of sin.”27
12. Everyone who now lives justly serves the law of sin
with the flesh, while he knows that carnal concupiscence is
born in him; but with his mind, he serves the law of God be-
cause he does not consent to the same carnal concupis-
cence. We serve the law of sin with the flesh when the chil-
dren of Babylon as they are born disturb our soul; but with
our mind we serve the law of God when the same children of
Babylon are smashed against the stone. For Babylon is inter-
preted as confusion whose daughter is all the carnal lust
which confusion of heart begets. As long as we are in the
body, away from the Lord, this confusion implants its off-
spring in us. From that confusion every depraved thought is
19. Heb 2.8. 20. Rm 7.22.
21. Rm 7.23. 22. Ps 17.30 LXX; Ps 18.30.
23. Jb 7.1. 24. Ps 118.133 LXX; Ps 119.133.
25. Jas 3.2. 26. 2 Cor 10.3.
27. Rm 7.25.
340 FULGENTIUS

born. This is the girl child which is then smashed against the
stone, when, overcome by a swift calling to mind and the as-
sistance of Christ, it is trampled underfoot.
13. Therefore, although we have reason to have to thank
God, because by his free mercy, he has subjected us to him-
self so that we are humble, still we have reason to have to be-
siege the divine ears with continuous prayers; because as
long as we are in this mortal body, just as we cannot be with-
out sin, so we are not yet able to show forth perfect humility
to the divine commands. So, thanks must be given to God
inasmuch as he gives us that we may do well, lest we be un-
grateful for his gifts; and we must exert ourselves that we
may make progress toward better things, lest we fall into
deadly pride if we think that our way of life is perfect in
every way.
14. Accordingly, let us sigh and weep before the Lord who
made us, that he may free us from “sensual lust and from en-
ticement for the eyes” and “a pretentious life [which is] not
from the Father but from the world,”28 and may he lead us to
that subjection in which nothing of the vice of mortality
fights against us but from the gift of immortality, everything
which is within us be submitted to God. Then there will truly
be in us the perfect and elevated humility when, both in the
flesh and in our mind, no depraved lust will remain in us;
nor will the spirit be wearied by thoughts nor the body tor-
mented by labors; there will be no worry about the struggle
but there will be perfect, peaceful security; there will be no
lack of righteousness for us but full satiety with enjoyment.
There we will be blessed with perfect grandeur because we
shall be subjected to God with perfect humility of flesh and
spirit. There our love will not be less than our praise, nor
our praise inferior to our love. Our praise will be full be-
cause then there will be in us perfect love of God and neigh-
bor. Then we shall praise and we shall possess; then we shall
possess and we shall love; then we will be sated with delight
and we shall be filled with delight to the point of satiety.

28. 1 Jn 2.16.
 5. TO THE ABBOT EUGIPPIUS 341

LETTER 5. TO THE ABBOT EUGIPPIUS

One of Fulgentius’s correspondents was Eugippius, abbot of Lucul-

lanum near Naples where a number of monks driven from Noricum by
barbarian incursions, had settled around the relics of St. Severinus, the
apostle of Noricum. Eugippius, the author of the Life of St. Severinus,
was in correspondence with many of the important figures of the day
in the Church. Charity is the main subject of the letter.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the most blessed and many
times venerable holy brother and fellow presbyter,
Eugippius,1 desired with all the affection of charity.
1. Would, holy brother, sufficiently great ability be given
to my speech so that I might find words capable of explain-
ing the spiritual sweetness which I received from reading
your letter. While I wish it, I am not up to it. Yet I know that
something wonderful has happened to me, seeing the joy
that I received from your words, something that cannot be
explained by my words. Namely, what you wrote to me, after
it was devised and formulated in thought, you so organized
with a letter that either you wrote it with your own hand or
dictated it as the author. How has it come about that my
mouth by composing is unable to produce the enjoyment
which my heart has conceived from the words of your
mouth? What is this destitute opulence or opulent destitu-
tion that more affection urges me on; and what I say because
I am delighted, I put into words insufficient to express the
degree of my delight? What is it, I ask, that I wish to express
by speech and am unable to do? Without a doubt, it is some-
thing which is expressed by physical eloquence and pen in
such a way that it is possessed not physically but spiritually.

1. Unlike some of Fulgentius’s other correspondents, Eugippius is not only

known but is himself an author. Born c. 460, he became the abbot of Lucul-
lanum near Naples after fleeing Noricum. His best known work is his life of St.
Severinus. A translation of this work as well as further information on the au-
thor can be found in FOTC 55 (1965.) See also The Encyclopedia of the Early
Church, I.296. Recently a new edition of the Life has appeared as vol. 374 of
Sources chretiennes (1991).
342 FULGENTIUS

2. Among the gifts of the Spirit, the first fruit is charity.

Hence the vessel of election was not improper when he put
it this way: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,”2 and
the rest. In another text, he wished to show the principal
among the heaven-sent charisms when he said, “Because
love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”3 This love which we re-
ceived by the gift of the Holy Spirit, though we were unwor-
thy, is so good, so holy, so infinite that even he who has it in
his heart is never able to explain it in words. O how excel-
lent a love, greatly to be wondered at, greatly to be praised
and greatly to be loved.
3. Nevertheless, not all those who admire and praise char-
ity immediately love charity; and therefore, unless someone
love it, the fact that he admires and praises it, is of no avail
to him. The admiration and praise of charity is fruitful,
then, if love is not lacking in the one who admires and prais-
es. But just as those who do not have it can admire and
praise it, can they love it who do not yet have it? Certainly
not. For charity itself is love. How does he who has not yet
begun to have love now love love? For we see many things
with our bodily vision, where this is not sight itself but is that
which we see, because the sense by which we see is one
thing, the sensible thing we see, another. When that which is
seen is removed from before our eyes, if the eyes are healthy
so that what was seen is removed from before the senses of
the one who sees, so that the sense itself is in no way taken
away from the one who sees, it happens in such a way that
the sense of sight remains in a human being although the
sight itself departs from that which was seen. When charity is
loved, because it is not loved except by love, a person is not
able to turn away the aim of the love like the eyes of the
body from some seeable thing so that it is able both not to
love charity and to have love. For charity, i.e., love, is never
loved unless love is possessed by which love itself is loved.
Therefore, love itself is loved because it is loved when it is
2. Gal 5.22.
3. Rm 5.5.
 5. TO THE ABBOT EUGIPPIUS 343

possessed, and it is not loved unless it is possessed. In truth,

it can be loved by us, also, when we ask that it be increased
in us, but he does not love its increase who does not have the
beginning.
4. Therefore, charity is not loved in the way a coin or
something like that is loved. A person may possess not even
one coin and still love and desire a pile of coins. Therefore,
this person loves a pile of coins although he possesses not
even one; he does not have one coin with him and he seeks
innumerable coins outside. We find this also in other mat-
ters of the body, that something of them can be loved in
such a way that the very thing which is loved is in no way pos-
sessed. Such is the case also with many spiritual gifts; just as
if someone loves (for example) to have the gift of prophecy
which no one denies is numbered among the spiritual gifts
in the apostolic letter: “To one is given through the Spirit
the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of
knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by
the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the same Spir-
it; . . . to another prophecy; to another discernment of spir-
its; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation
of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of
these, distributing them individually to each person as he
wishes.”4
5. Since, therefore, in order that we may keep silent about
the other spiritual gifts, prophecy can be loved and not pos-
sessed, but charity is not possessed if not loved and is not
loved if not possessed. Therefore, the other gifts of the Holy
Spirit, i.e., tongues, prophecy, the knowledge of mysteries,
faith, the distribution of goods to the poor, even the giving
of one’s body to be burned, these can be possessed without a
good will to this point, namely, that they may be a burden,
not an honor, to the one who has them; charity cannot be
possessed without a good will because it does not allow the
will in which charity exists to be a bad will; for “Love is not
jealous, does not think evil,” and “it does not rejoice over

4. 1 Cor 12.8–11.
344 FULGENTIUS

wrong-doing,” 5 it is necessary that in that in which it is, it

brings about a good will.
6. The malevolent spirit does not exercise charity toward
another because it does not have any in itself; but when it
starts to have the beginning, if I may so speak, of charity, it
cannot be malevolent or sterile. And because while he re-
mains in charity, he remains in God and God remains in
him, he will always have it, if he always expends it but when
he ceases to expend it, he will not have it. For it is the prop-
erty of charity, that as the course of the present life is con-
cerned, it increases in the one who expends it, but it departs
without delay from the one who wanted to have it only for
himself. Therefore, that person will have it the more, who
will have expended it freely; because, just as the malevolent
person can neither expend it nor have it, so someone who is
reluctant neither has it nor expends it. The benevolent per-
son is the dwelling place of charity. This word, i.e., benevo-
lent, is made up of two Latin words bene and velle (wish well);
therefore, if someone wishes another ill, insofar as he is an
ill-wisher, he is not benevolent and because of this is malevo-
lent. “Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul.”6 But not every
person who wishes for or seeks for something contrary ei-
ther for himself or for another is properly called malevolent,
but the person who carries out the will to do harm whether
what he wants can be either good or evil.
7. But that a will is either good or harmful not from the
doing of a thing, but from its purpose, is something that
should be weighed by anyone; because it is not from what he
does but from that on account of which he does it that a per-
son shows the nature of his will. For Paul also wished for
something contrary to himself when he asked that the sting
be taken away from him which, for his salvation, he had ac-
cepted against the sin of pride; nor did he have a malevolent
mind, although he exercised a will contrary to his own utili-
ty. In order that he ask that the sting by which he was ill-
treated be removed from him, he wished for the health of
5. 1 Cor 13.4–6.
6. Wis 1.4.
 5. TO THE ABBOT EUGIPPIUS 345

his body to be of use, more for his preaching than for him-
self, not seeking what would be useful to himself but what
would be useful to the many that they might be saved. For
he wished that his health be of use to them; for he knew that
his life was also useful for them. Finally, when he had the de-
sire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which would have
been much better, he knew that it was necessary for him to
remain in the flesh for the sake of those for whom he ful-
filled the ministry of Apostle. Therefore, the charity of
Christ urged him on, whether when he asked that the sting
be taken away from him or when he wished to remain in the
flesh, although desiring something else; for he was forced by
the depth of charity that he both desire to be with Christ
and wish to fulfill the duty of devout necessity; therefore, in
both instances, he loved charity which he always breathed in
a good will.
8. Therefore, whoever loves his brother according to char-
ity, which God is, loves charity itself in him as much as possi-
ble. When our savior deigned to renew his Apostles with a
new commandment, he said, “A new commandment I give
you, that you love one another,”7 ordering that fraternity be
loved in itself, through the Apostle Paul, he commands also
that charity itself of the fraternity be loved. When Christ
speaks in himself, the teacher of the nations wishes us to
have love without pretense: “Hate what is evil, hold on to
what is good; love one another with mutual affection.”8
9. Hence it is that in the eleventh book of the Confessions,
that outstanding doctor, the blessed Augustine, when he
confesses his love for God, which he had accepted from him
in order that he love him, he says, “I have already said it, and
I shall say it again; in the love of thy love am I doing this.”9
Also, expounding the 118th psalm, when he was explaining
the understanding of that text, where it is said, “I live in an
alien land; do not hide your commandments from me,”10
7. Jn 13.34.
8. Rm 12.9–10.
9. Augustine Confessiones XI.l. CCL 27.194. FOTC 21.327.
10. Ps 118.19 LXX; Ps 119.19.
346 FULGENTIUS

after which he says, “What is loved by loving if not love itself?

Whence consequently that alien on the earth, when he
prayed that God’s commandments not be hidden from him,
in which commandments, love is commanded, either alone
or the most, and he declares that he wants to have the love
of love itself, saying, ‘My soul is consumed with longing for
your ordinances at all times.’”11 Does not the statement of
the blessed Augustine with prophetic and apostolic words
deal12 openly with loving love?
10. So, the love of God and neighbor, which is the fullness
of the law and the purpose of the commandment, in God,
loves the charity which God is and, in the neighbor, loves
charity which is from God; thus God and neighbor are right-
ly loved, if love itself is loved both in God and in the neigh-
bor. Thus it comes about that without a doubt we love both
God himself in God and God in the neighbor. Nor is it in
vain that after the love of God, no other love has been com-
manded us except only the love of neighbor, viz., that we
recognize that we must love that creature where we can find
charity itself. For every irrational animal, just as it does not
have reason, so it does not have charity; nor does there ap-
pear to me to be a special reason other than that fitting and
ordered love which is owed by a human being only to God
and neighbor.
11. You see, holy brother, how prolix is the speech of your
fellow servant with you about charity. I love charity itself in
you too much, which you yourself also love in us. You are so
filled with that gift of God that you wish all those whom you
love to be filled with it in a similar way. Because you love us
purely, you deign to pray for us urgently so that God who
first loved us and gave us the charity by which it is loved by
us, just as he grants it to those who do not have it by his pre-
venient grace, so he may destroy in us all the remnants of
worldly desires and perfect us, fervent in the Spirit, in chari-
ty and make in that bliss in which just as there is no de-
11. Augustine Enarrationes in Psalmos CXVIII, s.8.3. CCL 40.1687.
12. Page 239, line 151 of the Latin text should read ‘tractat’ rather than
‘tracta’.
 6. TO THEODORE THE SENATOR 347

praved enjoyment, so death is not feared as a punishment

where no one experiences anything from the weakness of
the flesh, but all the saints reign in the always perfect charity
of God and neighbor.
12. May the divine mercy keep your holiness, praying for
us, as I wish, holy sir and most blessed brother. Januarius13
greets your holiness with all the affection of purity and ven-
eration; with great joy, I have received the blessing sent by
you. As you commanded, I have sent the book written to
Monimus in fascicles in which, if anything please you, would
that I know that it is of truth and not only of love! These are
the offering of my littleness which the purity of your heart
will cause to be accepted by you. When the suggestion of a
brother we have in common has been accepted, I ask that
diligence be present to assist your charity. I ask that the
books which we have need of, your servants make copies of
from your codices.

L E T T E R 6 . T O T H E O D O R E T H E S E N AT O R

Fulgentius sends words of spiritual encouragement to a prominent

Roman senator, Theodore, who, together with his wife, has decided to
lead a life of greater asceticism. Theodore had been consul in 505 and
in 526 was selected by the Gothic king Theodoric to accompany Pope
John I on a mission to Constantinople. As was the case with the letters
to the two aristocratic women, Fulgentius warns against the attractions
of worldly prestige. See PLRE II. “Theodorus 62,” 1097–98.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the illustrious and de-
servedly outstanding Lord and most excellent son,
Theodore.
1. That one unknown in body take the trouble to bring
my acquaintance to you in the words of a letter, I ask that
you not impute to impudence nor that you assign a work of
13. Januarius may be one of the African bishops living in exile in Sardinia
with Fulgentius. See “Januarius 38 or 39,” PCBE, 596.
348 FULGENTIUS

charity to lack of consideration. First, there was the lovely

letter of the holy brother Romulus,1 then the letter of the
brothers coming from there who were kindly received by you
in the Lord. The more suggestion compelled me to write,
the more gladly the knowledge of your spiritual resolve invit-
ed me to do so. For they reported that, compelled by the
love of Christ, you kindly made mention of our name in a
conversation, saying that you were delighted by our letter.
Therefore, I willingly did what I know you willingly wanted,
preferring to appear uncultivated in speech rather than be
cold in charity, O illustrious and deservedly outstanding
Lord and most excellent son.
2. I rejoice greatly that you are not held by the ties of
worldly love, and, scorning the world, you tread underfoot
that by which you were being trampled when you loved it.
Now you are being carried forward by the consulship, now
with happy triumph you are most certainly raised up not as
one whom the Roman people applaud but as one because of
whom the angelic choir rejoices, “Blessed are you. . . . For
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly
Father,”2 among which heavens, you also have become a
heaven. Into how much mourning do you think the Devil
has been plunged because he sees that the world has been
scorned by you and he knows that you have been converted
to Christ, because he sees that you are deserting the things
in which you seem to be and are moving in your heart from
the love of temporal and earthly things to those heavenly
and eternal things? Although Christ died equally for all the
faithful and expended the equal benefit of redemption for
all, as the Apostle says, “For all of you who were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is nei-
ther Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus,”3 still the conversion of the powerful of the world is of
great service to the acquisitions of Christ.

1. Romulus is otherwise unknown. 2. Mt 16.17.

3. Gal 3.27–28.
 6. TO THEODORE THE SENATOR 349

3. For just as many brothers and friends, clients and sub-

jects, equally known and unknown, are stirred to an ardor
for earthly love by the influence of such people, so they are
enkindled with the fire of worldly lust the more they see that
the lofty are willingly held captive by the worldly love of the
age. So just as often does he “look on the earth and it trem-
bles, who touches the mountains and they smoke,”4 while he
regards hearts taken up with earthly matters, mercifully and
by the consideration of his judgment, he compels them to
tremble and he touches the proud hearts of the lofty like the
tops of the mountains, so that they smoke with the confes-
sion of sins. By the shaking of such people, many begin to
fear, and in the conversion of such people, many flee to the
support of the divine pity. And so it happens that those who
find themselves in the highest positions in this world either
destroy many along with themselves or they take many with
them on the road to salvation. Either a great punishment
awaits such people if they provide the snare of bad example
for many or great glory if they show many the example of a
conversion to holiness. For who does not despise a small cell,
when a senator despises a home of marble? Who, scorning
earthly things, would not tell himself to seek the things of
heaven, when a consul of Rome, with the scorning of earthly
things, hastens to heaven?
4. Truly we see fulfilled in deed in your case what the
prophet sang of: “The right hand of the most High has
changed.”5 For who could have accomplished this in you, ex-
cept the one who knows how to rule the order of mutable
things according to the immutable and to dispense counsel?
Because in order that individual things may be changed ei-
ther for the worse or for the better according to the oppor-
tuneness of the times or for a variety of reasons, it comes
about by the immutable counsel of him who is changed nei-
ther by things better or worse. Nor does he have the possibil-
ity either of progressing for the better or falling into some-

4. Ps 103.32 LXX; Ps 104.32.

5. Ps 76.11 LXX; Ps 77.10.
350 FULGENTIUS

thing worse. He is what he always is and just as he is, that is

the way he is; he does not have it in himself not to be able to
be what he is because he does not have it in himself to be
able to be what he is not. And what he is was not preceded
by a beginning nor concluded by an end point; it does not
extend through time nor is it contained by places nor
changed by ages. Nothing is missing there because every-
thing is in him; nothing is left over there because there is
nothing beyond him.
5. Therefore, if they who, having contemned the love of
temporal and mutable things, change to the love of him,
they will be filled in him in whom nothing is lacking; safe in
him in whom there is nothing to be feared; truly and always
glorious in him whose true and eternal glory is neither
taken away nor diminished nor increased. Who would not
despise the present life by desire for that other life? Who
would regard with horror the riches of a time that is collaps-
ing because of the delights of his abundance? Who would
not disdain all earthly kingdoms for love of that kingdom?
6. Therefore, we shall then receive that life if we see our-
selves as dead to this life; and then we shall possess those
riches, if we live as poor in spirit here. Then we shall arrive
at the peak of that kingdom if with a true heart we hold on
to humility here which God the teacher taught. The blessed
Apostle says to those that are dead as follows: “For you have
died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ
your life appears, then you too will appear with him in
glory.”6 Concerning the poor of this sort, the Lord himself
speaks, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.”7 And concerning the humble of
this sort, he says, “Whoever humbles himself will be exalt-
ed;”8 and in another place, “Learn from me for I am meek
and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves.”9
7. They who love the world or they who attribute it to
their own strength when they scorn the things that are in
the world do not have this humility. These two types of pride
6. Col 3.3–4. 7. Mt 5.3.
8. Mt 23.12. 9. Mt 11.29.
 6. TO THEODORE THE SENATOR 351

the Holy Spirit has pointed out with one verse in a psalm
when David says, “Those who trust in their wealth and boast
of the abundance of their riches.”10 Those boast of the abun-
dance of their riches who love their riches in such a way that
they place their ultimate happiness in them. They trust in
their own strength who scorn riches in such a way that they
attribute this contempt to their own strength. For this rea-
son, both types are proud; the former, because they trust in
their wealth, not in God; the latter, because they wish to at-
tribute the fact that they spurn riches to themselves, not to
God; the former, because they love badly that which cannot
be loved well; the latter because they do not spurn well that
which can be spurned well; and for this reason, the former
do evil badly, the latter do good badly.
8. Accordingly, since, with the Lord working mercifully in
you, you have now learned not to boast of the abundance of
your riches, it remains that you do not trust in your strength,
i.e., that you do not assign to your own strength the fact that
you scorn the goods and riches of the age, that you consider
the honor of the world as nothing, that you are on fire with
desire for the heavenly kingdom, that you delight to run in
the path of God’s commandments. You would never have all
these things unless you had received them by a free gift from
God; not nature, but grace, gives this to a human being; this
is not possessed from the nature of the human condition but
is acquired from the kindness of divine enlightenment.
9. The human being has been made by God in such a way
as to be able to possess these things, but he cannot possess
them unless he receives them by the gift of a merciful God,
for the eye too was made in such a way so that it can see the
light but it is unable to see the light unless light penetrates
it. Therefore, that the eye sees is a benefit of the light but if
it is lacking, it will remain blind in the darkness. Not every-
thing which something can be is now that which it can be
unless by nature it has the possibility of being what it always
is. This is the one God, the Trinity itself, i.e., The Father and

10. Ps 48.7 LXX; Ps 49.6.

352 FULGENTIUS

the Son and the Holy Spirit, who alone is the Creator of all
things, because he alone has been created by no one. All
things, since they have been created by him, not from him,
by nature are subject to growth and loss. Therefore, in order
that some things not fall into worse things, his grace governs
them; and in order that some things may rise to better
things, his grace raises them; and in order that they may
abide forever, his grace gives life and preserves it.
10. The assistance of this grace must always be sought
from God by us, but we must not attribute the very thing we
seek to our own powers; nor can the very love of prayer at
least be possessed unless it is given us by God. That we desire
the assistance of grace is itself also the work of grace. For it
begins to be poured in, in order that it can begin to be asked
for; it is poured in more fully when it is given to those who
ask. For who can ask for grace unless he wanted it? But un-
less God worked the very will in him, he could never want to.
Wherefore the blessed Apostle bears witness that not only
does God work the good works of human beings but also the
good will, saying, “For God is the one who, for his good pur-
pose, works in you both to desire and to work.”11 That is, be-
cause recommending to the faithful concern and humility,
he first said, “Work out your salvation with fear and trem-
bling,”12 and then he added, “For God is the one who for his
good purpose works in you both to desire and to work.”13 We
run that we may come to God; and therefore we run because
we want to run. But lest we attribute either the will to run or
the running itself to our strength, the same Apostle informs
us, saying, “So it depends not upon a person’s will or exer-
tion but upon God who shows mercy.”14
11. So that you may abide and advance in these good
things which you have received from God; that you may nei-
ther remain on the road nor turn back, nor turn to the right
or to the left, whatever you have of good will or of good
works, attribute to God who gave it and humbly ask him

11. Phil 2.13. 12. Phil 2.12.

13. Phil 2.13. 14. Rm 9.16.
 6. TO THEODORE THE SENATOR 353

both to preserve and increase what he has given. Do not at-

tribute anything good to yourself as if it were yours, lest you
not receive what you were able to receive and you lose what
you did receive. The pride of the human heart is detestable
by which a human being does what God condemns in
human beings; but that is even more detestable by which a
human being attributes to himself what God gives to human
beings. That one is held to be guilty of the worse pride, the
more ungrateful he is for the better gifts. The one who uses
badly the substance of the world is damnable but even more
damnable is the one who is made proud by the spiritual
gifts.
12. Therefore, may humility of spirit grow in you. This is
the true and whole greatness of the Christian. And the more
the grace of God increases in you, all the more may you
seem to have humility of heart abound in you. Work out
your salvation in fear and trembling that you may always
have it and that you may keep advancing. Do not let reading
be absent from your good works nor good works be absent
from your zeal for reading. Provide good things before God
and human beings. Expend the zeal of your heart on the
Holy Scriptures; and in them know who you were, who you
are, and who you ought to be. If you approach them humbly
and meekly, there assuredly you will find both prevenient
grace by which the crushed person can rise and accompany-
ing grace by which one can run along the way of the right
route and subsequent grace by which one can arrive at the
blessedness of the heavenly kingdom.
13. I ask you to greet your holy mother, venerable in
Christ, who is at one with your spiritual zeal in both the
Christian faith and truly maternal charity and also the one
who now is your venerable sister in Christ, your wife. May
the inseparable Trinity keep you, as I wish, with the protec-
tion of its strength, illustrious son.
354 FULGENTIUS

LETTER 7. TO VENANTIA
Through Junillius, perhaps one of those living in Sardinia with him,
Fulgentius contacted Venantia, otherwise unknown. We do not have
her letter but it had obviously asked about the question of the forgive-
ness of sins, the sole topic of the letter. See “Venantia,” PLRE II.1152.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the illustrious and deserved-
ly venerable Lady, his daughter Venantia.
1. Just as the true light is never obscured, so eternal truth
never lies. God is truth and light. Concerning him it is writ-
ten: “The true light which enlightens everyone was coming
into the world.”1 The light and the truth itself says, “I am the
light of the world.”2 And again he says of himself, “I am the
way, the truth, and the life.”3 We are warned by his teaching
that “every good tree bears good fruit,”4 and that “a tree is
known by its fruit.”5 In him, illustrious lady and deservedly
venerable daughter, although you are unknown, I already
know you; in him, I rejoice with you, although you are so far
away.
2. Through the letter of my outstanding son, Junilius, I
have come to know your way of life and at the same time the
ardor of your Christianity. Insofar as he took care to men-
tion to me the grace which God has given you, in his letter
he gave me an indication of your greetings. Without a doubt
you would not have done this unless you loved Christ in his
servants with complete purity of mind nor would you have
greeted in the Lord an unknown servant so kindly unless
you put on the Lord with a devout heart. Thanks be to him
who multiplies our joy from the charity of the faithful. For it
is charity which leads believers to God because God is love it-
self. So John the Apostle says, “God is love and whoever re-
mains in love, remains in God and God in him.”6
3. Where this begins to dwell; it does not permit sin to

1. Jn 1.9. 2. Jn 8.12.
3. Jn 14.6. 4. Mt 7.17.
5. Mt 12.33. 6. 1 Jn 4.16.
 7. TO VENANTIA 355
dominate but “covers a multitude of sins”;7 nor does it cause
only present sins to be avoided but also it causes all past sins
to be loosed. The proud and recalcitrant who despair of the
forgiveness of sins repudiate it, and not only do they with
pitiable blindness reject the care for their own salvation but
also do not rest from upsetting faithful souls with deadly
words if they are unable to pervert them. Often, either the
frightfulness of their sins or the length of a wicked life takes
away from them the hope of salvation and drives them to
perpetrate even worse things in such a way that in such peo-
ple that statement of Holy Scripture is fulfilled: “When
wickedness comes, contempt comes also.”8 And truly the
depth of evils kills, if the despair of forgiveness does them in-
jury by a detestable hardening of the heart.
4. Who does not see how impious and how sacrilegious it
is if a person, who has been converted to good things
through penance for his past evils, believes that there can be
no forgiveness for any sin? What else is being done with
these words than that the hand of the all-powerful physician
is being pushed away by the vice of despair, from effecting
human salvation? For the physician himself says, “Those who
are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.”9 If our
physician is expert, he can cure all maladies. If God is merci-
ful, he can forgive all sins. A goodness which does not con-
quer every evil is not a perfect goodness nor is a medicine
perfect for which any disease is incurable. It is written in the
sacred writings: “. . . Against wisdom, evil does not prevail;”10
and the omnipotence of our physician is made known by
such words in the psalm: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all
that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your
iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life
from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”11 What, I ask, do we think

7. 1 Pt 4.8. 8. Prov 18.3.

9. Lk 5.31. 10. Wis 7.30.
11. Ps. 102.1–5 LXX; Ps 103.1–5.
356 FULGENTIUS

cannot be forgiven us when the Lord forgives all our iniqui-

ties? Or what do we think cannot be healed in us, when the
Lord heals all our diseases? Or how is there anything still
lacking to the healed and justified person whose desire is sat-
isfied with good things? Or how is he not believed to gain
the benefit of complete forgiveness to whom a crown is
given together with love and mercy? Therefore, let no one
despairing of the physician remain in his infirmity; let no
one, downplaying the mercy of God, waste away in iniquities.
The Apostle calls out that “Christ died for the ungodly.”12
5. But perhaps it is said that those sinners can be saved
who after their sins, deserve to be cleansed by the washing of
baptism; but from that point on, the sins which the baptized
person seems to commit, remain unforgivable. Was the
Apostle John speaking to the unbaptized, to whom he said,
“My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not
commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expia-
tion for our sins”?13
6. Whatever kind of sin it may be, it can be forgiven by
God to the converted person, but that person does not allow
it to be forgiven for himself who by despairing closes the
door of forgiveness against himself. Otherwise, the truth
does not lie which said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to
you.”14 Hence also the most holy prophet Isaiah exhorts sin-
ners and the wicked to the effect that the forgiveness of sins
is never to be despaired of, saying, “Seek the Lord while he
may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked
forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts; let
them return to the Lord that he may have mercy on them
and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.”15 Let the
wicked forsake his way, in which he sins; let the unrighteous
abandon his thoughts with which he despairs of the forgive-
ness of sins and according to the prophet’s statement, “re-

12. Rm 5.6. 13. 1 Jn 2.1–2.

14. Mt 7.7–8. 15. Is 55.1-7.
 7. TO VENANTIA 357
turn to the Lord for he will abundantly pardon.”16 In this
‘abundantly’, nothing is lacking. Here mercy is omnipotent
and omnipotence is merciful. For so great is the kindness of
omnipotence and the omnipotence of kindness in God that
there is nothing which he is unwilling or unable to loose for
the converted person.
7. A salutary conversion consists of two aspects: If neither
penance deserts the one who hopes nor hope deserts the
one who does penance, and through this, if with his whole
heart, someone renounces his sin and with his whole heart
places his hope of forgiveness in God. But sometimes, either
the Devil takes the hope away from a person doing penance,
or he removes the penance from the one who hopes; when
he burdens one, he crushes him; when he lifts up the other,
he casts him down. Judas who betrayed Christ did penance
for his sins but lost salvation because he did not hope for for-
giveness. The evangelist speaks about him in this way: “Then
Judas his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned,
deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have
sinned in betraying innocent blood.’ They said, ‘What is that
to us? Look to it yourself.’ Flinging the money into the Tem-
ple, he departed and went off and hanged himself.”17 He re-
pented worthily because he sinned, betraying innocent
blood, but he denied himself the fruit of his penance, be-
cause he did not hope that the sin of his betrayal was to be
washed away by the very blood which he had betrayed.
8. The Devil holds many in their sins by a vain hope for
forgiveness and forces them not to fear the justice of God,
and he persuades them foolishly to rejoice in God’s good-
ness. Such people say, according to the rebuke of the Apos-
tle, “Let us do evil that good may come of it. Their penalty is
what they deserve.”18
9. With these indications, we recognize clearly that a per-
son does penance in vain if, while penance is being done,

16. Is 55.7. 17. Mt 27.3–5.

18. Rm 3.8.
358 FULGENTIUS

forgiveness is despaired of and forgiveness is hoped for in

vain without penance for sins; and through this, neither
must anyone sin in security under the hope of forgiveness
nor, considering the multitude of his sins, remain bound by
the chain of despair. For Holy Scripture exhorts us to stop
sinning now and not to give up hope that what we have done
will be forgiven us; indeed he says, “Have you sinned, my
child? Do so no more but ask forgiveness for your past
sins.”19 Holy Scripture has forewarned each and shown that
neither ought we to remain in sin nor to doubt the forgive-
ness of any sin. Why is it ordered that we are not to add sins
to sins, if we are to remain in sin? Or why is it ordered that
we pray concerning past sins that they be forgiven us if there
are some which can never be forgiven to those who pray? Or
perhaps the length of time can foreclose someone’s case so
that just as, after a space of thirty years no one is permitted
to try to get possession of things appropriated under human
laws, so, under divine laws, after a long period of sinning, it
is not permitted to ask for forgiveness? Far be it that this be
the case with our God as the human condition has it in law-
suits. For our God is just as merciful and good as he is infi-
nite and unconquered. Accordingly, the goodness of the un-
conquered is not conquered and the mercy of the infinite
knows no bounds.
10. Finally, he demonstrates that the whole time of the
present life is most apt for conversions, saying, “But if the
wicked turn away from all their sins that they have commit-
ted and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right,
they shall surely live. They shall not die. None of the trans-
gressions that they have committed shall be remembered
against them; for the righteousness that they have done,
they shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the
wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should
turn away from their ways and live? But when the righteous
turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and
do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall

19. Sir 21.1.

 7. TO VENANTIA 359

they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done
shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are
guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die.”20 And
further on he says, “When the righteous turn away from
their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it;
for the iniquity that they have committed, they shall die.
Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they
have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall
save their life. Because they considered and turned away
from all the transgressions that they had committed, they
shall surely live. They shall not die.”21 Each statement is true
because each is divine, whether it be that the just person
when he will have turned away from his righteousness, all his
righteous deeds will be consigned to oblivion, or whether it
be that the wicked person when he will have been converted
from wickedness to righteousness, will be saved, and all his
wicked deeds will not be remembered.
11. Indeed, it is wicked if we think that the just person
can be condemned at whatever time he is turned away; and
let us think it wicked that he cannot be saved at whatever
time he is converted. God is just and merciful. Therefore,
just as he can through justice condemn the one who had
turned away, so he is always able through mercy to save the
one who has been converted. No length of time closes off ei-
ther the divine justice or mercy. Penance is never late with
God in whose sight things past as well as future things are al-
ways taken as present. If a long period of sinning were to
overcome the mercy of God, Christ would not have come in
the last age of the world to take away the sins of a perishing
world, concerning which John says, “Behold the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world,”22 and the Savior
says of himself, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to
save what was lost.”23
12. Our Samaritan would never have mercifully brought
the wounded man to the inn on his mule, if he had made

20. Ez 18.21–24. 21. Ez 18.26–28.

22. Jn 1.29. 23. Lk 19.10.
360 FULGENTIUS

the judgment that there was some incurable wound in him.

He would never have promised that he would pay the
innkeeper whatever he asked, beyond the two denarii given,
if he did not know beforehand that that generous offer
would not be useful for full restoration to health. For why
would the innkeeper ask for something more, if the injured
man had a wound which could not be healed? Just as there is
no illness that is incurable for our physician, so the heavenly
medicine cannot be powerless in any wound or for any
length of time. Therefore, the physician himself testifies that
he is always able to restore health to the one converted, say-
ing, “ In returning and rest, you shall be saved.”24 Wherefore
God through Jeremiah does not cease to reprove the hard-
heartedness of certain ones in this way: “When people fall,
do they not get up again? If they go astray, do they not turn
back? Why then has this people turned away in perpetual
backsliding? They have held fast to deceit; they have refused
to return.”25 God does not punish the sins in the sinner, if
the neck of the sinner is not stiffened.
13. Therefore, it is good for us if we flee to the mercy of
him whose justice we are incapable of escaping. The justice
of God is such that it condemns those who turn away, saves
those who turn to him. So he says, “Be converted to me and
I will save you.”26 He is always delighted by our conversion
nor has he set a time for a human being, so long as he is in
this life, at which time he cannot be merciful to the one who
turns to him; on the contrary, the whole time of the present
life is known to have been destined for our conversion. For
the blessed Peter says, “The Lord does not delay his promise
as some regard ‘delay’, but he is patient with you, not wish-
ing that any should perish but that all should come to repen-
tance.”27
14. If the Lord were to judge any age unfitting for the
remedy of conversion he would not have called the workers
to his vineyard at different times. Not unfittingly the differ-
ence of ages is seen in the difference of hours. In this way,
24. Is 30.15. 25. Jer 8.4–5.
26. Is 54.22. 27. 2 Pt 3.9.
 7. TO VENANTIA 361

the age of childhood is seen as the morning, adolescence in

the third hour, young adulthood in the sixth, the gravity of
declining age in the ninth and in the eleventh, the very last
age, old age. Therefore, in whatever age one is called, if he
does not scorn the kindness of the Lord who calls, it is nec-
essary that he receive the denarius of eternal life. He is al-
ways delighted by our conversion, concerning which the
prophet Joel cries out to us, “Yet even now, says the Lord, re-
turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping,
and with mourning; rend your hearts, not your clothing. Re-
turn to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relents
from punishing.”28
15. So the Apostle Paul rebukes hardness of heart in
those who neglect to do penance for their sins; for he says,
“Therefore, you are without excuse, everyone of you who
passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge an-
other, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the
very same things. We know that the judgment of God on
those who do such things is true. Do you suppose, then, you
who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them
yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do
you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience
in low esteem, unaware that the kingdom of God would lead
you to repentance? By your stubbornness and impenitent
heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of
wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God who will
repay everyone according to his works.”29 Also in another
text, he does not lament so much those who seemed to sin
gravely as those who were unwilling to do penance for their
sins. Then he says to the Corinthians, “I fear that when I
come again my God may humiliate me before you and I may
have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and
have not repented of the impurity, immorality and licen-
tiousness they practiced.”30 Not undeservedly does the Apos-
tle mourn over those who do not do penance for he knows
28. Jl 2.12–13. 29. Rm 2.1–6.
30. 2 Cor 12.21.
362 FULGENTIUS

that “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over the ninety-nine righteous people who
have no need of repentance.”31 Fittingly, therefore, does the
blessed Apostle mourn over them for their impenitence of
heart, those over whom the angelic choir does not rejoice.
16. The kindness of God leads us to penance; he afflicts
us with trials, he corrects us with infirmities, teaches us with
cares, so that we who have sinned in the health of the body
may learn to abstain from sins in infirmity. We who scorned
the mercy of God in frivolity, corrected by the lash of sad-
ness should fear his justice. Thus it comes about that we
who, by abusing health, have begotten infirmity for our-
selves, through that infirmity, may again procure the bene-
fits of health, and we, who through frivolity have fallen into
trials, through these trials, may regain happiness. Holy
Scripture bears witness that God’s love for us is shown more
by the lash and correction; for it says, “My child, do not de-
spise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproofs for the
Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom
he delights.”32 And the Savior himself says that he loves those
he reproves, saying, “Those whom I love, I reprove and chas-
tise.”33 And the teaching of the Apostles does not cease to
proclaim that “It is necessary for us to undergo many hard-
ships to enter the kingdom of God.”34 The Lord himself also
says that the road which leads to life is constricted and the
gate narrow.
17. That we may know that those who are beguiled by
temporal joys and scorn the divine commands must be
burned in eternal flames but that those who with the fear of
God patiently put up with temporal evils will gain eternal
rest, let us have a look at the rich man garbed in purple and
Lazarus, the poor man, the former delivered over to eternal
flames after his banqueting; the latter, after his afflictions, is
safe in the eternal peace of Abraham’s bosom. When the
rich man, burning up, asked that a drop of water bedew his
tongue by the finger of the blessed poor man, this answer
31. Lk 15.7. 32. Prov 2.11–12.
33. Rev 3.19. 34. Acts 24.22.
 7. TO VENANTIA 363

was given to him forthwith by the blessed Abraham: “My

child, remember that you received what was good during
your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.”35
There was no other reason why the rich man suffers punish-
ments and the poor man gains joy and rest, except that the
former received good things in this life and the latter, bad.
18. But not all who have the good things of the present
life receive the good things of the present life, nor do all
who suffer the evils of this life, receive bad things in this life;
but they receive good things in their life who exult in the joy
and delights of the present Life and believe for that reason
that they are blessed because they perceive that they are
struck by no adversity, but those receive bad things in their
Life who tolerate the pressures and trials of the present life
with the fear of God and with contrite and humbled heart,
they sigh for, not temporal joys, but eternal ones. They de-
sire, not the good things that pass, but those that abide.
19. Thus to those who wish to have happiness in the
goods of present things, the psalm says, “How long, you peo-
ple, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love
vain words and seek after lies?”36 And in another text, “Put
no confidence in extortion and set no vain hopes on rob-
bery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”37
The blessed James does not cease to reprove such people,
saying, “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your im-
pending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes
have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corrod-
ed, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will
devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for
the last days. Behold the wages you withheld from the work-
ers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries
of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fat-
tened your hearts for the day of slaughter.”38 He command-
ed that the laughter and the joy of such people be turned to
35. Lk 16.25. 36. Ps 4.3 LXX; Ps 4.2.
37. Ps 61.11 LXX; Ps 62.10. 38. Jas 5.1–5.
364 FULGENTIUS

mourning and dejection, saying, “Cleanse your hands, you

sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. Begin to
lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves
before the Lord and he will exalt you.”39
20. We should not think that the sadness of the humble
and the happiness of the proud, the mourning of the devout
and the joy of the impious can be deprived of future reward
and retribution. A fitting payment remains to be paid by the
divine judgment for both. This the judge himself is known to
have decreed by this declaration, “Woe to you who are filled
now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for
you will grieve and weep. . . .40 Blessed are you who are now
hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now
weeping, for you will laugh.”41 “Blessed are they who mourn
for they will be comforted.”42 David also speaks of people
who sow in tears but does not keep silent that they will reap
the harvest in joy and exultation; for he says, “May those
who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out
weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with
shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.”43 Also he asserts that
the Lord is now near to these people, saying, “The Lord is
near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”44
So useful are trials for Christians that through them, our
spirit becomes a sacrifice to God. For it is written in the
psalm: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”45
21. Enlightened by this and innumerable other texts of
this type, let us hasten as rapidly as possible to be converted
to God absolutely. For Scripture says, “Do not delay to turn
back to the Lord and do not postpone it from day to day; for
suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come upon you and at
the time of punishment, you will perish.”46 Converted, let us
never despair of the forgiveness of sins, holding on to the
39. Jas 4.8–10. 40. Lk 6.25.
41. Lk 6.21. 42. Mt 5.4.
43. Ps 125.5–6 LXX; Ps 126.5–6. 44. Ps 33.19 LXX; Ps 34.18.
45. Ps 50.19 LXX; Ps 51.17. 46. Sir 5.7.
 7. TO VENANTIA 365

faithful promise of the Lord who says, “In returning and

rest, you will be saved.”47 Let us put up with the pressures
and trials of the present time with patient courage and let us
never depart from the fear of the Lord. For the Apostle com-
mands us to “endure in affliction.”48 He bears witness that
the correction of the present time is of great avail to us for
avoiding the punishment of the future judgment, saying,
“But since we are being judged by the Lord, we are being dis-
ciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the
world.”49
22. But in the very trials, let us give thanks to the Lord
and that which the holy Azariah said in the furnace, let us
say in our trials: “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ances-
tors and worthy of praise; and glorious is your name forever!
For you are just in all you have done; all your works are true
and your ways right, and all your judgments are true. You
have executed true judgments in all you have brought upon
us and upon Jerusalem, the holy city of our ancestors; by a
true judgment you have brought all this upon us because of
our sins. For we have sinned and broken your law in turning
away from you; in all matters we have sinned grievously. We
have not obeyed your commandments; we have not kept
them or done what you have commanded us for our own
good. So that all you have brought upon us and all that you
have done to us, you have done by a true judgment.”50 A bit
later he says, “And now with all our heart we follow you; we
fear you and seek your presence. Do not put us to shame.”51

47. Is 30.15.
48. Rm 12.12.
49. 1 Cor 11.32.
50. Prayer of Azariah 3–8 (Dn 3.26–31).
51. Prayer of Azariah 18–19 (Dn 3.41–42).
366 FULGENTIUS

L E T T E R 8 . T O D O N AT U S

Donatus, a faithful Catholic of some learning though not versed in

Theology, asked Fulgentius to refute the Arians who had been asking
him questions he was unable to answer. Fulgentius obliged at length
and from section 20 on, quickly passed in review the heretics whose
ideas had helped to provoke the development of the classic Trinitarian
and Christological syntheses of the patristic period.

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of God, sends

greetings in the Lord to the outstanding Lord and,
in the charity of Christ, very much desired son, Do-
natus.
(I) 1. I bless the Lord greatly, my dearest son, because by
his grace you, although younger in age, do not crave for
fleshly things but for the things that are of the spirit. On fire
with fervor for the faith, you now praiseworthily begin to
meditate, not on those things by which pleasure damnably
nourishes the flesh, but on those things by which the truth,
recognized spiritually, feeds the soul. I do not doubt that
this came about by his inspiration so that although you are
accustomed to spend your time on the study of secular liter-
ature, now you expend your devotion on the divine words.
You wish to grasp more earnestly, not that from which
swollen eloquence is learned but that by which eternal life is
prepared. For whosoever holds the true faith, possesses life.
“The just man lives by faith.”1 And whoever wishes to be in-
structed in the mystery of the same faith, desires to gain the
knowledge of life. One grows in it the more one learns what
is true and salutary. The one who will hold without a doubt
the beginning of this knowledge will arrive at perfection,
and he who will not scorn to accept humbly the milk of the
Apostle’s words will deserve to rejoice in the reception of
solid food. Whether one is nourished by milk or fed by food
within the Catholic Church, only if he does not go away
from the lap of mother Church, will he remain a participant
in life, because, holding on to the righteousness of faith, he
1. Rm 1.17.
 8. TO DONATUS 367

will possess life as well. He who remains in unbelief will not

possess this life nor will he who perseveres in serious sin.
Each of them is convicted of being among those who, ac-
cording to the true statement of the blessed Paul, “live . . . in
the futility of their minds, darkened in understanding, alien-
ated from the life of God because of their ignorance, be-
cause of their hardness of heart”;2 for that blindness of heart
is unaware of what it believes and of what it does.
(II.) 2. You say that a question was proposed to you by cer-
tain Arians concerning the Father and the Son. They assert-
ed that the Father was greater and the Son less. But you, be-
cause of your ignorance of divine letters in which you have
been given less instruction, did not come up with anything
with which you might answer them in defense of the true
faith. In the name of the Lord, therefore, I first praise this in
you, that if you did not have much ability to answer, never-
theless there remained in your heart a firm faith in the
truth. For not all who are sharers in Christ have the ability to
defend what they believe by giving a response. But this is
also assuredly a part of victory that as long as one is unable
to defend the truth in word, still, with a faithful heart, he
avoids error. It is profitable that we follow the very salutary
words of Peter the Apostle commanding that we be “always
ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks for a reason
for the faith and hope which are in” us.3 Wishing to be bet-
ter prepared to answer, you ask that, instructed by our
words, armed with the divine words, you know how you may
be able to counter the heretics who wish to attack our faith.
3. Accordingly, I advise that first of all you hold on to this:
that the Holy Trinity, i.e., the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, are by nature God most high, true and good, of
one nature, of one essence, of one omnipotence, of one
goodness, of one eternity, of one infinity. So, when you hear
of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, understand one
nature of that most high Trinity. And when you hear of the
Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, recognize the three
2. Eph 4.17–18.
3. 1 Pt 3.15.
368 FULGENTIUS

persons of that one most high divinity. For there are three
persons, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; thus, it
is called the Trinity but there is one substance of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Trinity itself
is truly proclaimed as one God by the faithful.
(III.) 4. The words of Truth itself show that the three per-
sons are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Hence,
our Savior says, “. . . I am not alone but it is I and the Father
who sent me.”4 Concerning the Holy Spirit, he also says,
“And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advo-
cate . . . the Spirit of Truth.”5 He also commanded that the
nations be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.”6 With these and other testi-
monies of this sort, it is shown that the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit are three persons but that they are not
three natures. Hence that Holy Trinity is worthily believed in
the persons, but unity of nature does not permit them to be
called three gods, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spir-
it. And because in the one nature of the Trinity, there can be
no diversity, therefore, the property remains unconfused in
the three persons and equality of substance reigns un-
changeably in the unity of nature. So it is said of the Son:
“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God something to be grasped.” And “because
he not only broke the sabbath, but he also called God his
own Father, making himself equal to God.”7 To this equality
of nature and power, that also belongs of which the Son him-
self says, “What he does, his Son will also do,” and “For just
as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the
Son give life to whomever he wishes.”8 Therefore, in that na-
ture of the Trinity, it is all so much one that nothing there
can be either separated or divided; it is all so equal that
nothing there can be greater or less. Truthful authority
shows this one God of the New and Old Testament to us.
Concerning this one God, the blessed Moses says, “Hear, O
4. Jn 8.16. 5. Jn 14.16–17.
6. Mt 28.19. 7. Jn 5.18.
8. Jn 5.19,21.
 8. TO DONATUS 369

Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone . . . ,” and “the
Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve.”9 And the
Lord himself says concerning himself, “See now that I, even
I, am he; there is no god besides me.”10 Concerning this, the
blessed David also says, “For who is God except the Lord?
And who is a rock besides our God?”11 Also the holy James
the apostle, proclaiming this one God, says, “You believe
that God is one. You do well . . . ; even the demons believe
and tremble.”12
5. Nevertheless, we are not unaware that these testi-
monies or if there are any similar ones found in the divine
words by which God is asserted to be one and sole are as-
signed by heretics, not to the Holy Trinity itself, but only to
one person, i.e., to God the Father alone. Accordingly, inso-
far as we are able, with the Lord God himself giving, let us
seek understanding of those texts which we put forward, i.e.,
of the one where it is said: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your
God is one God,”13 and of the other one, where it is said:
“The Lord your God you shall adore and him alone you shall
serve.”14 We recall that the first text which we cited was the
one where it is said: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is
one God.”15 Therefore, we say this most firmly to each one in
such a way that no one think that he can depart in any way
from this text.
6. Accordingly, since the rule of this commandment in no
way permits that two gods be worshipped by the faithful, ei-
ther let them believe that the Father and the Son are by na-
ture one God, if they wish without transgressing this com-
mand, to worship one God in such a way that they neither
worship the Father without the Son nor the Son without the
Father. Or, because a greater God and a lesser God cannot
be one, it is necessary that either they say that the Father
alone is their Lord God and deny that the Son is in any way
their Lord God. Or, let them assert that only the Son is their
9. Dt 6.4,13. 10. Dt 32.39.
11. Ps 17.3 LXX; Ps 18.31. 12. Jas 2.19.
13. Dt 6.4. 14. Dt 6.13.
15. Dt 6.4.
370 FULGENTIUS

Lord God and let them depart from the worship of God the
Father. But they are unable to deny God the Father, the
Lord their God. While they confess that he is the Lord God
of all, they also strive to subordinate the divinity of the Son,
as of a lesser god, to him by the right of subjection. But, as
for the Son, if they wish to deny that he is the Lord their
God, they are immediately convicted by the voice of the Fa-
ther himself. For through the mouth of the prophet, in the
person of God the Father, it is said: “But I will have pity on
the house of Judah and I will save them by the Lord their
God.”16 The authority of the Gospel truth also points out
that the Lord himself is our God when the confession of the
blessed Thomas the Apostle assuredly contradicts heretical
depravity as he exclaims and says, “My Lord and my God.”17
7. Therefore, when they confess without a doubt that the
Father is the Lord God and are forced by prophetic and
Gospel truth to say that the Son is the Lord God, either let
them say that the Father and the Son, the properties of the
persons being preserved, are by nature one Lord God or,
confessing that the Father alone is the one Lord God, conse-
quently let them say that the Son is neither their Lord nor
their God. When they say this, they will never dare assert
that they are Christians, since indeed the Christian has re-
ceived his name from Christ. He can never be a Christian
who says that Christ is not his Lord God.
8. Therefore, let them say that the Father and the Son are
not two Lord Gods but their one Lord God, if they wish to
hold to the truth of the faith and they are unwilling to be
found in rebellion against the commandments of the Law
and the Gospel. For thus they will be able to preserve equal-
ly the understanding and the obligatory force of that text
where it is said: “The Lord your God you shall adore and
him alone shall you serve.”18 Nor is it right for anyone to
adore the Father as God in such a way that he does not
adore the Son as God, for indeed it has been written about
the Son himself in Deuteronomy: “Praise O heavens, his
16. Hos 1.7. 17. Jn 20.28.
18. Dt 6.13.
 8. TO DONATUS 371
people, worship him, all you gods.”19 Concerning him as
well, the blessed David says in the psalms, “May all kings fall
down before him, all nations give him service.”20
(IV.) 9. But if the Son were not, according to his divinity,
one God with the Father, he would not be of one nature
with him; and if he were of another nature, he would un-
doubtedly be a creature. If, however, he were a creature, the
authority of the Holy Scriptures would not order that he
must be served but rather would forbid it. In the first com-
mandment of the Decalogue, just as the worship and service
of the one Lord God is most clearly commanded, so for ado-
ration and service to be shown by the faithful to any creature
is most vehemently forbidden. For it is said there: “I am the
Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods be-
fore me.”21 If this is taken as spoken simultaneously by the
Father and the Son, the Father and the Son are believed to
be one Lord God; but if either the Father is believed to have
said this without the Son or the Son without the Father, it is
necessary that the Father or the Son be denied to be the
Lord God. Concerning this he said, “I am the Lord your
God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”
Concerning him, the holy Moses said, “Hear, O Israel, the
Lord your God is one God.”22 And because God himself,
commanding that only he be served and ordering that he be
adored by the faithful, in fact forbade that anyone adore a
creature and serve a creature. So, at the end of that first
commandment, he speaks as follows concerning everything
which he created: “You shall not bow down to them or wor-
ship them; for I am the Lord your God.”23
10. Knowing this, the blessed Apostle asserts that “the
19. Dt 32.43. LXX. This verse is not found in the Hebrew Bible. The Eng-
lish text given is from the New Revised Standard Version. The Latin is translat-
ed: “Rejoice, O heavens, together with him and let all the angels of God adore
him.” The LXX speaks of “Sons of God” which gives rise to the divergent trans-
lation of ‘angels’ or ‘gods’.
20. Ps 71.11 LXX; Ps 72.11. 21. Ex 20.2–3.
22. Dt 6.4. 23. Dt 20.5.
372 FULGENTIUS

wrath of God is being revealed . . . against every impiety and

wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wicked-
ness . . . , and they revered and worshipped the creature
rather than the Creator who is blessed forever.”24 To hold the
truth of God is to worship one God; to convert the truth of
God into a lie is to serve the creature. For true religion con-
sists in the service of the one true God. For the one God is
Truth itself and just as when one truth has been set aside,
there is not ‘another’ truth, so, apart from the one true
God, there is not another true God. For the one truth is that
by nature there is one true divinity. And so there cannot
truly be said to be two true gods, just as the one truth itself
cannot by nature be divided.
(V.) 11. Holy Scripture which truthfully and salutarily
points out to us that there is one Lord God, just as it makes
known to all the faithful that the Father is true God, so also
it makes known that the Son is true God. Concerning the Fa-
ther, the blessed Apostle says, writing to the Thessalonians,
“. . . You turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the coming
wrath.”25 Here Jesus Christ is not the Son of God the Father
in the way that we are; he is in the proper sense, we are re-
deemed; he is born, we are made; he is true, we are adopted.
He, who is the true Son, is also the true God, not generated
by adoption, but born from the Father by nature. In this
true God and true Son is the true divinity because the birth
from the Father is natural to him. So, the blessed John in his
letter declares that he is the true Son of the Father, true
God, saying, “We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.”26 Therefore, to worship
the true God and to serve the true God is not to change the
truth of God into a lie. That one, however, changes the truth

24. Rm 1.18,25. 25. 1 Thes 1.9–10.

26. 1 Jn 5.20.
 8. TO DONATUS 373

of God into a lie who thinks that the not-true God is to be

served; that one worships the not-true God and serves the
not-true God who serves a creature and worships a creature;
because where the not-true God is worshipped and the not-
true God is served, there the truth of God is changed into a
lie.
12. Therefore, since by the witness of words from heaven,
we know both that God the Father is true God and God the
Son is true God; either let them assert with the Catholics
that the Father and the Son are by nature the one true God;
or let them not be afraid to profess that they are worshipers
of a creature, so that they may know by the very clarity of
things that they have changed the truth of God into a lie.
The one truth of the one true God, indeed, one Truth, one
true God, does not permit the serving and worship of the
true God to be joined to that of a creature. The true religion
allows that the duty of worship and service be shown by the
faithful to no god, except to the one true God.
(VI.) However, every nature which is less than the nature
of God the Father is without a doubt a created nature. But
what is a created nature except a creature? But every crea-
ture, since it is a work of the truth, is a true creature; still it is
not the truth. That alone is by nature the truth which by na-
ture is the true divinity. Therefore, they do not change the
truth of God into a lie but hold the saving mystery of the
true faith who believe in their heart unto righteousness and
confess with their mouth to salvation that not the Father
alone, nor the Son alone, but the Father and the Son togeth-
er are their one Lord God. Because not only God the Father
but also God the Son by nature is truthful God, true God,
God the Truth, remaining by nature with the Father, one
Truthful, one True, and one Truth because the one truth
which alone is the true divinity, altogether forbids that two
gods be believed in or spoken of.
13. Thus, God the Son according to his divine nature is
not less than the Father but equal to the Father because the
Son is called true God in such a way that the Father is not
called a truer God. For the very recognition of the Truth al-
374 FULGENTIUS

lows that nothing in God be considered less. Therefore, the

one equality of true divinity remains in the Father and the
Son by nature and one immutable and eternal majesty. For
we truly say that the Son is equal to the Father in such a way
that we do not deny truly that he is less. For we know that
God the Son was born from the nature of God the Father,
born also from the nature of the virgin mother and through
this, true God from the truth of the nature of the Father,
truly human from the truth of the substance of the mother.
The eternity of the divinity shows that he was born without a
beginning and the taking of the flesh in time teaches with-
out a doubt that he is lessened. Therefore, the Son is equal
to the Father and the Son is less than the Father, equal in
true divinity, less in true humanity. Equal because “in the be-
ginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God”;27 less, however, because “The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us.”28 Equal because, “though he was
in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped”;29 but less because “he emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant.”30 The Son is equal to
the Father because as the Lord he was born from the Lord;
but the Son is less than the Father because he was made a
servant, born from the handmaid. Hence it is that he says,
“Since my mother bore me, you have been my God.”31 And
again: “O Lord, I am your servant, the child of your serving
girl.”32 The Son is equal to the Father because “All things
came to be through him and without him nothing came to
be.”33 The Son is less than the Father because “He was born
of a woman, born under the Law.”34 And so, just as the Son
of God is truly recognized as coeternal with God the Father,
so truly he is later than his mother.
14. The eternity of the Father in no way came before the
first birth of the Son but the birth in time of his mother pre-
ceded his second birth. In that nature of God the Father
27. Jn 1.1. 28. Jn 1.14.
29. Phil 2.6. 30. Phil 2.7.
31. Ps 21.11 LXX; Ps 22.10. 32. Ps 115.7 LXX; Ps 116.16.
33. Jn 1.3. 34. Gal 4.4.
 8. TO DONATUS 375

which had no beginning, the coeternal Son was inexpress-

ibly born from the eternal Father; in the nature of the virgin
which had a beginning in time, the same Son was mercifully
begotten in time by a temporal mother. Therefore, in one
nature, the Son of God is equal to the Father, the nature in
which before all things he is coeternal with the Father; and
in the other nature, the Son is less than the Father, in which
nature he is also later than his mother. In one nature, the
Son is equal to the Father, in which nature he is the Creator
of the angels, and in the other nature, the same Son is less
than the Father, in that nature he is the redeemer of the
human race. In the one nature, the Son is equal to the Fa-
ther; in that nature from the beginning of creation, he is
adored and praised by the angels. In the other nature, the
Son is less than the Father; in that nature he is a little less
than the angels.
(VII.) 15. Apostolic authority did not cease to give an ac-
count of the mystery of this lessening, saying, “We do not see
Jesus ‘crowned with glory and honor’ because he suffered
death, he who ‘for a little while’ was made ‘lower than the
angels’.”35 To which nature this lessening must be attributed
has been clearly shown above when that text of the prophet
was put forward, in which it is said: “What are human beings
that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for
them? Yet you have made them a little lower than the an-
gels.”36 Before the taking up of the flesh, the Son of God,
“though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality
with God something to be grasped,”37 because in that form
of God, the Son is equal to the Father; but if he were less, he
would not be in that same form of God; but apostolic au-
thority bears witness that the Son is in the form of God.
Therefore, for him, to be equal to God was not grasping but
nature; because, unless he were true God, he would not be
in the form of the true God and the very unity of the form
of God is the equality of nature of the one deity. Where the
unity of form was in nature, equality was not a grasping. It
35. Heb 2.9. 36. Ps 8.5–6 LXX; Ps 8.4–5.
37. Phil 2.6.
376 FULGENTIUS

was impossible to take away from the true God the equality
in nature of the divinity which was in the form of God.
16. Hence it is that, keeping the truth of the divinity and
accepting the truth of the flesh, the one and the same is Son
of God and Son of Man and has been made less than the Fa-
ther and remained equal to the Father. Therefore, the truth
itself has said of both that “The Father is greater than I,”38
and “The Father and I are one.”39 Truly, therefore, Christ is
less than God the Father because by nature he is from his fa-
ther’s according to the flesh; and truly the same Christ is
equal to God the Father because by nature he is God, above
all, blessed forever. Concerning the one Christ, the Son of
God, the blessed Apostle says, “Theirs the Patriarchs, and
from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who
is over all be blessed forever.”40 Accordingly, the true faith,
which believes in one and the same Christ, the Son of God
both made less according to the truth of the flesh and ac-
cording to the truth of the divinity believes and confesses
him equal to God the Father. So, in truth, the true faith
adores one God the Son with the Father and this faith knows
that the one God must be served by all creatures just as it
knows that the honor of divine service is not owed to any
creature.
(VIII.) 17. Hence it is that the true faith asserts that the
Holy Spirit as well is the Creator, not created. How is it to be
denied as Creator, by which the power of the heavens has
been strengthened, as David says, “By the word of the Lord
the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of
his mouth.”41 And in another text: “When you send forth
your spirit, they are created.”42 Indeed it is the Creator of all
things who is the maker of human beings. Concerning it,
the blessed Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me.”43 The
Holy Spirit, then, as it has created all things, so, as infinite, it
fills all things. And the one who fills all things is by nature
true God. It is written that: “. . . the Spirit of the Lord has
38. Jn 14.28. 39. Jn 10.30.
40. Rm 9.5. 41. Ps 32.6 LXX; Ps 33.6.
42. Ps 103.30 LXX; Ps 104.30. 43. Jb 33.4.
 8. TO DONATUS 377
filled the whole world.”44 The blessed David as well bears wit-
ness that the Spirit of God is everywhere, saying to God him-
self, “Where can I go from your Spirit? or where can I flee
from your presence?”45 How do the Arians deny that the
Holy Spirit is God since we are the Temple of the Holy Spir-
it, just as we are the Temple of the Father and the Son? For
the Apostle says, “Do you not know that you are the Temple
of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone
destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy that person; for the
Temple of God which you are is holy.”46 The Apostle asserts
that we are the Temple of God in such a way that in the same
letter he also says that we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
For he says, “Do you not know that your body is a Temple of
the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”47 And
in order that he may show that the Holy Spirit is God, he im-
mediately added, “Therefore glorify God in your body.”48
18. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and
the Son because it is the Creator of all things just as the Fa-
ther and the Son. The Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and
the Son because, infinite, it fill all things, just as the Father
and the Son. The Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the
Son because he holds the members of all the faithful as one
Temple, just as the Father and the Son. Who would dare to
deny that the divinity of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit is one, when the bodies of the faithful which are
the members of Christ, are themselves the Temple of the
Holy Spirit?
(IX.) 19. Therefore, the Trinity is God, the one, sole Cre-
ator of all things, the Trinity is one and alone infinite, God
by nature. The human being is recognized as having been
made according to the image of this Trinity; baptized in its
name, he is renewed a second time. Our Savior taught that
the nations are baptized “in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”49 so that just as we have re-
ceived the beginning of creation by the work of the Trinity,

44. Wis 1.7. 45. Ps 138.7 LXX; Ps 139.7.

46. 1 Cor 3.16–17. 47. 1 Cor 6.19.
48. 1 Cor 6.20. 49. Mt 28.19.
378 FULGENTIUS

so in the name of the Trinity, we assume the grace of divine

adoption. One, therefore, is the true God, Father and Son
and Holy Spirit, who by his most omnipotent goodness, cre-
ates human beings and by his free mercy, justifies sinners.
Other than this one true God, there is no God because
when he says, “See now that I, even I, am he; there is no God
besides me,”50 he teaches and warns us that it is a serious sin
if anyone believes that there is another God besides the one
God. Without a doubt, anyone believes this who thinks that
there is a difference in nature among the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit; since that God who alone has true
divinity in no way grants the possibility of worshipping an-
other God; nor in the mystery of human redemption ought
anyone to be named in any way who is alien to the nature of
the one true God. The mystery of human redemption is in
no way complete if, in baptism, the name of the Son or of
the Holy Spirit is left out.
(X.) 19 bis. Accordingly, since the form of a letter does
not allow the words of our discussion to be extended and
the beginnings of your enjoyment must not be wearied by
the length of the reading but rather, stirred by its brevity so
that while you may read a short work with pleasure, you may
be more ardently inflamed for a long reading. The few
things which I am about to say, read with attention, under-
stand with caution, and hold to without doubts that by
means of them you may be able to distinguish the true from
the false in statements of faith and may be able to retain the
Christian faith with the assistance of our enlightener him-
self.
(XI.) 20. The Holy Trinity is one God, the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. There is one nature of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit but not one person. Accord-
ingly, that, with the truth being retained, you may be able to
refute or certainly repudiate falsity, if you see anyone con-
fessing the one nature of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit in such a way that he wants to proclaim one per-

50. Dt 32.39.
 8. TO DONATUS 379

son, do not think him a Catholic Christian but recognize

him as a Sabellian heretic.51
(XII.) 21. If you hear anyone speaking of the three per-
sons of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in such a
way that they want to assert three natures of these three per-
sons, understand without a doubt that he is an Arian
heretic.52 It is true that the Sabellians believe in the one na-
ture of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; but it is
false because they do not believe in the three persons. It is
also true that Arians say that there are three persons of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; but it is false be-
cause they strive to persuade us that there are three natures
of these three persons. Therefore, perversely do the Arians
divide the nature of the Trinity and Sabellians confuse the
persons; since the nature of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit is one in such a way that there is one person of
the Father, another of the Son, and a third of the Holy Spir-
it.
(XIII.) 22. If you see anyone confessing the one nature
of the Father and the Son but proclaiming that the sub-
stance of the Holy Spirit is other, so that he says the Son is
equal to the Father and asserts that only the Holy Spirit is
less, that one does not hold the truth of the Catholic faith
but follows the error of faithlessness born from Macedo-
nius.53 Accordingly, because he is not a Catholic Christian

51. In the early Church, some were concerned that the worship of Christ
rendered Christian monotheism suspect. They stressed the oneness of God and
sought to support this by arguing that the persons of the Father and the Son
were not real but only a human attempt to understand the various facets of
God’s activity. Hence Sabellianism, Modalism, and Patripassianism. See EEC
II.748–49.
52. Arianism was a form of subordinationism which taught the inferiority of
the Son to the Father. The Logos was not coeternal with the Father but had
been created by him before the creation of the material universe. As such, he
was superior to all other creatures but a creature nonetheless. The council of
Nicea (325) taught the ontological equality of the Father and the Son (Homoou-
sia). See EEC I.76–78.
53. Macedonius was an early bishop of Constantinople. His name is associat-
ed with the denial of the divinity or the consubstantiality of the Holy Spirit. See
EEC I.516.
380 FULGENTIUS

but a Macedonian heretic, he must be repudiated by all the

faithful.
(XIV.) 23. Now turn to a few matters concerning the mys-
tery of the Lord’s Incarnation. Christ, the Son of God, who
truly proclaims himself the Truth, just as he is true God, so
he is truly a human being, in whom just as there is the full-
ness of divine nature is also the fullness of human substance.
For there is in him the natural truth of divinity, the natural
truth of a rational soul, and the natural truth of the flesh;
and through this, the natural divinity is common to him with
the Father; the natural humanity is common to him with the
virgin.
(XV.) 24. Therefore, if anyone proclaims that true divini-
ty is in Christ in such a way that he strives to deny his true
flesh, he is not a Catholic Christian but a Manichaean
heretic,54 since Christ himself said to his doubting disciples,
“Touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and
bones as you can see that I have.”55
(XVI.) 25. Again, if anyone proclaims the truth of the
soul and flesh in Christ in such a way that he is not willing to
accept the truth of the deity in him, i.e., anyone who speaks
of Christ as a human being in such a way that he denies the
God, he is not a Catholic but a Photinian heretic.56 For
Christ, in the manner in which according to true divinity, is
God the Creator of human beings, so according to his true
flesh, he is the mediator between God and human beings.
But he would in no way be mediator if either he did not have
a nature of divinity with the Father or he did not have a com-
mon substance of flesh and blood with human beings. In
this, the true mediator for human beings is Christ Jesus the
human being in that both by nature he has the form of God
from the Father (through which he saves us) and he re-
54. Manichaeism was a dualistic, quasi-gnostic movement which stressed the
equality and the eternal conflict of a good and an evil principle. See EEC
I.519–20.
55. Lk 24.39.
56. Photinus was bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia. His name is usually associ-
ated with those who denied the divinity of Christ, but his theology, related to
that of Marcellus of Ancyra, is somewhat more complex than that. See EEC
II.685–86.
 8. TO DONATUS 381

ceived from the virgin the form of a servant (which he saved

in us). For a human being would never receive the grace of
salvation from God if the communion of divine and human
nature did not remain in the one person in Christ.
(XVII.) 26. Therefore, the truth about Christ is that, just
as he has a true nature of divinity from the Father, so he has
the true nature of humanity from the virgin. For the only be-
gotten God deigned to become in the womb of the virgin, a
taker-on of human flesh and soul so that he might be the
savior of human flesh and soul. He is one in whom there is a
double inseparable and unmixable nature and one person
of both natures; in whom again two other heretics believing
contrary to each other are known to have initiated different
errors, namely Nestorius and Eutyches.57 Nestorius, because
he knew that there were two natures in Christ, tried to pro-
claim two persons in him. Thus having a heart blinded by
the darkness of falsity he did not hesitate to join the lie of
his faithlessness to the Christian faith. For the true faith, just
as it preaches that there are two natures in Christ, so it de-
nies that there are two persons in him. But Eutyches, believ-
ing correctly that there is one person in Christ perversely
strove to proclaim that there is one nature in him, when the
true faith knows that at the same time in Christ there is the
property of each nature and understands that there is one
person of the divinity and the humanity.
(XVIII.) 27. Indeed Christ is one who “in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was
God.”58 And also: “The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us.”59 Hence the Sabellian is conquered because, in-
sofar as “the Word was with God,” it is shown that there is
57. In the Christological controversies of the fifth century which culminated
in the councils of Ephesus, 431, and Chalcedon, 451, the names of Nestorius,
bishop of Constantinople, and Eutyches, a monk of Constantinople, are linked
as representatives of two extremes. Nestorius, a theologian of the tradition of
Antioch, was accused by Cyril of Alexandria of dividing the incarnate Christ
into two persons. Eutyches, on the other hand, a follower of Cyril, was accused
of blending the divine and the human in Christ into one nature. Such views
were later labeled Monophysitism. See EEC, Nestorius II.594; Eutyches
I.304–305; Monophysites I.569–70.
58. Jn 1.1. 59. Jn 1.16.
382 FULGENTIUS

one person of the Father and another of the Son. Hence

also the Arian is overcome because, insofar as “the Word was
God,” it is shown that there is one nature of the Father and
the Son. To show the property of the person, it suffices that
only the Son is called the Word; to show as well that there is
a communion of the one nature, it is relevant that just as
God is called Father, so also is God called the Son. Hence,
also both Mani and Photinus are confounded insofar as it is
said: “And the Word became flesh.”60 In the name of the
Word, true divinity is recognized, and in the name of the
flesh, true humanity is found; so that Christ, the Son of God,
both true God and truly human, may be known in the natur-
al truth of each name; and so, neither let Mani dare to pro-
claim a false flesh in him nor let Photinus be able to take the
natural deity away from him.
(XIX.) 28. Likewise, Nestorius and Eutyches are convict-
ed by the words of the Apostle; the former, that he may ac-
knowledge that the one person of Christ cannot be doubled;
the latter, that he may know that the two-fold nature of
Christ cannot be confused. For Christ himself is one, con-
cerning whom that which has already been cited above, the
Apostle says, “Theirs the Patriarchs, and from them, accord-
ing to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be
blessed forever.”61 Here, filled with the Holy Spirit, he has
shown both the one person of Christ and his double nature.
Saying indeed, “From them, according to the flesh, is the
Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever,” just as by
the name of God and the flesh, he undoubtedly shows us the
truth of each nature, so in the one name of Christ, he has
taught the one person of the divinity and the humanity. For
Christ who is “from the Patriarchs according to the flesh” is
“God over all, blessed forever.” The nature which the Son of
God has from the Father is not confused with that nature
which the same God assumed from the virgin. But neither
did Christ have at some time two persons because the same
only-begotten God both according to the divinity was born
60. There is a misprint in the Latin text, vol. XCI.272, line 465. “Et verbum
caro factum est.”
61. Rm 9.5.
 9. THE LETTER OF VICTOR 383

from the Father and according to the flesh came from the
virgin. And because God the Word was born of God, the
same Word became flesh “like a bridegroom coming out of
his wedding canopy.”62 He is one who, the property of each
nature being preserved, both “was crucified out of weak-
ness” and “lives by the power of God.”63
(XX.) 29. Most dear son, I am sending these things to you
for your holy desire and enjoyment, by means of which may
a taste for instruction be offered to you. From that taste may
the affection for a longer reading grow in you so that as
much as you will be able to make progress with God’s help,
so much the more diligently may you begin to seek the
words of the holy fathers and when found, may you study
them more frequently and attentively. So, from them, with
God’s help, may the grace of a fuller knowledge come to
you, by which you may be able not only to hold on to the
true faith but also to confute the deadly falsity of heretics,
believing and firmly holding onto one nature and three per-
sons in God the Trinity and one person and two natures in
the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

LETTER 9. THE LETTER OF VICTOR, THE

S E R M O N O F FA S T I D I O S U S T H E A R I A N , A N D T H E
BOOK OF FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR

The lengthy letter 9, entitled a ‘book’, was written in response to

the plea of Victor who was concerned about the sermon of an apostate
Catholic priest and monk, Fastidiosus. Since the latter’s text is includ-
ed, we have a rare example of an Arian sermon. Langlois places the let-
ter in the final period of Fulgentius’s life after the return from his sec-
ond exile in Sardinia.
Fulgentius’s explanations are more technical than in the previous
letter. If the three persons of the Trinity are inseparable and the work-
ings of the Trinity are of all three persons together, then why was not
the entire Trinity incarnated? Fulgentius argues, “. . . The entire Trini-

62. Ps 18.6 LXX; Ps 19.5.

63. 2 Cor 13.4.
384 FULGENTIUS

ty made the humanity of the Son of God but . . . only the Son, not the
entire Trinity, received it into his person.” (XIX.3) Once again, Ful-
gentius’s debt to Augustine’s theology, here the De Trinitate, is clear.

i c t o r 1 s e n d s g r e e t i n g s to the most blessed,

the holy Father, bishop Fulgentius, equal in merits to
the Apostles.
1. The time, divinely-appointed, for the desired matter
has arrived, the moment in which our petition obtains its ef-
fect. For it was wicked that I who had frequently asked your
blessedness to answer a clever attack, should put you off
though you were willing; something that among those with
the best morals often is considered a lie, when something
promised is put off. But because of this, as your blessedness
well recognizes is the case with us, it was not done by our
will, but preoccupation with various matters posed an obsta-
cle by which we were led this way and that to no purpose,
matters in which nothing is accomplished for salvation and
eternal life. Rather by various concerns, the mind is turned
away from seeking the usefulness of the future life, so that,
when it is time, at the prompting of diabolical envy, who of
us is allowed to do in the least something which would be of
profit for eternal salvation?
2. We are led astray by various lusts and desires of this
world which vanish suddenly like smoke. Insatiably because
of worldly allurements, our attention has melted away to the
extent that we live in this world as if we were here forever.
Concerning eternity to come, we think hardly at all about
the danger of life or death which exists on both sides. But
we are preoccupied by this alone, viz., what we know in the
present is coming because of our desires. However much
that is useful accrues to our will, we think it little, according
to the statement of the blessed Cyprian: “What else is carried
on daily in the world but the fight against the Devil?” And
a little later there follows: “If greed is cast down, lust arises;
if lust is repressed, ambition comes next; if ambition is
scorned, anger irritates, pride inflates, drunkenness beck-
1. For Victor, see PCBE, p.1183, “Victor 90.”
 9. THE LETTER OF VICTOR 385
ons, envy breaks harmony, jealousy destroys friendship,” etc.2
The venerable man sees the soul daily being wounded by so
many spears of the enemy, a situation from which, not our
own virtue, but the divine mercy alone can rescue us.
3. So in tears, we beg you, together with all those whom
you have acquired for the Lord and torn away from the filth
of this world, you have caused to be converted to the life of
the Spirit, to deign to obtain by prayer from his piety that
the light of his mercy shine on us, that he not inflict punish-
ment for our sins, that we not die in our sins, that we may be
extricated from the snares and traps of the enemy, that he
not rejoice that he has gained a soul which the Lord re-
deemed with his blood. We beg this most earnestly, that you
join our supplication to your just prayers and our groans to
your holy tears, that, by your intercession, we may merit to
bring back assistance for the life to come so that we who are
dead because of sin may rise again by your holy prayers. The
prophet Elisha could not raise a dead body in any other way
than, drawing in the contours of his members, he shaped
himself to the outline of that body.3 A large bulk lessened it-
self a little so that when the dead person was kissed, he
breathed in a soul and life to the child. One lay down and
two rose up. Suddenly, he who lived again by the spirit of an-
other is restored unharmed to his mother. And so I trust
that by your intercession, I am restored living to Mother
Church, I who, with my sins weighing me down, seem held
down by the sting of death. I know that in my youth many
years ago, you sought the salvation of my soul and for this
reason very often begged the Lord to snatch me from the
temptations of this life. And because up until now, bent over
by the mass of my own sins, I was not able to merit it, I ask
that you, with assiduous supplications, deign to pray to the
Lord for us, so that in some order or at some time, we may
gain the forgiveness of our sins.
4. And lest our plaintive and long-lasting prayer generate

2. Cyprian De mortalitate 4. CCL IIIA.18–19. FOTC 36.202.

3. The Elisha incident, see 2 Kgs 4.34.
386 FULGENTIUS

aversion (fastidium) in the senses of your Paternity, once

again we must ask that a prompt response follow from your
promises and to this evil work of one who disdainfully (fas-
tidiose) scorns the spiritual, and in the eyes of the world, as it
were, most vile, life of venerable monks, who, escaping,
boasted that he had gotten as far as the cedars of Lebanon.
Unless I am mistaken, I clearly seem to have written his
name in the order of words in a line above. I have sent a
copy of the treatise of one who, with words borrowed from
here and there, seems to bark against the right faith and
Catholic truth and, as if wounding with the spear of his ob-
jections the homoousians4 (as he called us) and the Do-
natists, afterward he laid claim to the Catholica for himself, as
your Paternity will note from your careful reading. Thus we
ask from the honeyed spring of your Paternity that the vanity
not only of this person but also of its author, the serpent, on
whose evil grasses this one has fed, who seems to have sent
forth a certain, as if new, error, be refuted. Yet there was an
excellent response, and all wickedness devised against God
should be crushed, lest those who read him think that he
said something right against the faith of true teaching. Let
the cunning of the ancient serpent be confounded who with
various allurements has gathered to himself such preachers
of seductions and pleasures. Destroy with your holy answers
his viper’s poisonous forked tongue. With your response
may the false scheme which he who for a time fulfilled the
office, not of teacher, but of flatterer, left behind to the
wicked, vanish from the minds of those who wish to fight
against the mystery of God. Wherefore, we ask that in this
part, with the help of the Lord, you may extend to all your
intelligence both famous and deserving its good reputation.
And since the present heat seeks some new things, I, pos-
sessed by a love of an old familiarity, have boldly expressed
the desire of my mind. And, just as you outshine other bish-
4. Since the key word of the council of Nicea (325) in the condemnation of
Arianism was ‘homoousios’, that the Son was equal or consubstantial with the Fa-
ther, the Arians used the term in a derogatory fashion as a sectarian label at-
tached to the supporters of Nicea.
 9. THE SERMON OF FASTIDIOSUS 387

ops in the eyes and minds of observers; so we frequently

want you to appear even more brilliant (fulgentiorem) with
your flowering works both to us and to all people.5
5. Confident because of this devout love, I, ignorant of
things, have written and, thirsting with too great ardor, I
have enthusiastically run to the font of knowledge and doc-
trine with my rustic speech. From it we wish to have our
thirst and ignorance satisfied so that I may merit to gain not
only the reward of the future life, just as at the beginning of
the letter I sought the aid of your prayers, but also that we
may rejoice that by this work we have been satisfied in all
things; so that not only we but also every religious sentiment
of our fellow servants, your children, who depend on you
with devout affection and together with us, await this from
you, I may give thanks with them for the divine grace. And
we seek that you overlook our rusticity since you yourself
have commanded that I dare this. And although it has im-
bued us with little or no knowledge of a teacher, it has also
happened that if we, entangled by other preoccupations, re-
tain anything conceived in the heart, we have almost lost the
use of Latin speech, according to that saying, “Your breasts
not admitting two cares.” But pray that the Lord grant and
do what we want. Therefore, direct and equip the servant
whom you have nursed and put forth the teaching which
you have taught so frequently. May the eternal Divinity keep
your blessedness praying for us, as we wish, sir.

T H E S E R M O N O F FA S T I D I O S U S 1 T H E A R I A N

o s t w i s e b r o t h e r s , we speak what the Divinity

itself deigns to grant our littleness. The God of jus-
tice and the author of life is himself our justice and
our life. He did not make the human being for sin or for

5. Victor plays with the names of Fastidiosus (‘scornful’) and Fulgentius

(‘fulgeo’: glisten or shine).
1. On Fastidiosus, see “Fastidiosus 2,” PCBE.382.
388 FULGENTIUS

death, as Scripture says, “God did not make death and he

does not delight in the death of the living.”2 Because death
did not happen to humankind which God had made, it is
not of God the Creator, but of the Devil, the deceiver. After-
wards, the human race was deceived by the Devil, though he
did evil willingly, unwillingly he incurred death. He trans-
gressed unjustly and was punished justly. God, when he saw
these two things in humankind, guilt and death, the one
which he did badly, the other which he bore justly, since hu-
mankind was held bound by these two most insidious chains,
he commanded that the Lord Christ take on flesh, not be-
cause he became a debtor to sin but so that without the debt
of sin, on behalf of debtors, he might endure death without
incurring debt. Not in order that the Son of God might be
bound by the chain of evil but in order that sinful hu-
mankind might be freed from the chain of evil. This is what
the Apostle says, “Undeniably great is the mystery of devo-
tion, Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spir-
it, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in
throughout the world, taken up in glory.”3
2. And, indeed, most learned Christians, what greater de-
votion could there have been than that the Son of God,
obeying his Father’s command, would take up human flesh
on behalf of carnal human beings, and life would endure
death for mortals? That he who was born before the ages,
created by the Father, in the last days would be born of a vir-
gin? That he who gives life to the world would lie dead in
the tomb? With how many tears must we now weep or with
what affliction of heart must we now mourn because most
from then on were not willing to abandon the persistence of
their most hard obstinacy while, without reflection, they
wish to devote themselves to the harmful assumption. They
who acquiesce with remedies that are not at all salutary and
reject the will to be corrected, holding up their hands
against the life-giving words, like surgical instruments, by

2. Wis 1.13.
3. 1 Tm 3.16.
 9. THE SERMON OF FASTIDIOSUS 389

means of which they wound themselves by the very means by

which they should have been cured and turn against them-
selves the strength of spiritual remedies, so that they in-
crease the rottenness of their words, by means of the source
from which they could have gained health. For a long time
now, a twofold error has penetrated. Until the present, bind-
ing the souls of the lost, it does not permit them to breathe
to seek the truth, with the homoousians asserting that the
Trinity is inseparable and undivided and that the Son was
not less than the Father or that the unbegotten Father is the
maker of his Son; with the Donatists4 preaching that the
good are polluted by communion with the evil while they
cast off the gift of Holy Scripture as a remedy of salvation.
3. Among them, holy Mother the Catholic Church knows
how to sing with Davidic sound, just as we have sung in the
present psalm, “Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness, be-
cause of my enemies.”5 For in your righteousness I am led
when I believe that you, the almighty God, unbegotten and
uncreated, are the maker of your Son, the Lord Christ; as
John the Baptist bears witness, “The one who is coming after
me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me,”6 and
with Peter the Apostle preaching and saying, “Therefore let
the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has
made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you cru-
cified”7; also with Solomon prophesying in the person of
Christ, “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,”
and a little later declaring, “Ages ago I was set up.”8 Behold

4. Donatism was a North African schism that had begun during the great
persecution under Diocetian at the beginning of the fourth century. It had
prospered under its first two leaders, Donatus and Parmenianus. With the com-
ing of Augustine and Aurelius of Carthage, the fortunes of the Catholics began
to change for the better. The great Conference of Carthage of June, 411
seemed to put an end to them but the remarks of the preacher show that they
still exist. However, note the remarks of Fulgentius to the effect that Fastidiosus
had stolen the material about the Donatists from Fulgentius’s own letter to
Stephania, a letter now lost. (X.l)
5. Ps 5.9 LXX; Ps 5.8. 6. Jn 1.15.
7. Acts 2.36.
8. Prov 8.22–23. A key proof-text for the Arians.
390 FULGENTIUS

Scripture bears witness that he has been made and created,

something which the sacrilegious refuse to believe. Likewise,
as was said above, they assert that the Trinity is inseparable
and undivided. And if the Son of God, concerning whom
the Evangelist says, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us,”9 the power of his Divinity hidden for a little
while, alone entered the bridal chamber of the virginal
womb, without a doubt he was separated from the Father
and the Holy Spirit. But the Trinity, which it is clear is in no
way divided, could never be separated from one, according
to this absurdity of theirs.
4. Did the entire Trinity take on flesh; did the entire Trin-
ity feel the sufferings of the injuries; did the entire Trinity lie
in the tomb; did the entire Trinity descend to Hell; did the
entire Trinity rise from the dead on the third day; did the
entire Trinity ascend to Heaven on the fortieth day? And at
whose right hand does the entire Trinity sit? And what Spirit
did the entire Trinity send on the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost? Or to what God in heaven was the entire Trinity
able to say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”10
or to what Father did the entire Trinity say, “Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit”?11 If they can, let them
speak up. And if they are unable to do that, let them kill
themselves with their own spears, they who claim that the
Trinity is inseparable. The Donatist vanity does not pay at-
tention to the fact that, because of this blessing of baptism
bestowed on humankind, they who from the origin are
weighed down with the burdens of others, once relieved by
the help of healing grace, henceforward bear only their own
burden. Communion in the sacrament does not condemn
anyone for sins, but consent does. Since, just as the Lord says
that he will repay the sins of the fathers to the third and
fourth generations to those who hate his name—because
the earthly and carnal birth is shown to be subject to the
original fault—so, in another text, he testifies that, just as
the soul of the father, the soul of the son is his own so that
9. Jn 1.14. 10. Ps 21.2 LXX; Ps 22.1.
11. Lk 23.46.
 9. THE SERMON OF FASTIDIOSUS 391

the second and heavenly birth is recognized as completely

free from the sins of others.
5. Immediately he concludes, “It is only the person who
sins that shall die.”12 With this view, the warning of Solomon
is in accord, and he shows that one is not burdened by the
sins of another, saying, “Son, if you are wise, you are wise for
yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.”13 Therefore, the
Catholic faith, fleeing the difficulties of each error, and with
the Lord leading, entering upon the path of the heavenly
way, with sober faith, singing, says, “Lead me O Lord, in your
righteousness because of my enemies.”14 And from there,
clamoring to the Holy Spirit from the Father through the
Son, with rightness of path, by whose free gift, it has ac-
quired the ability to make progress, just as it confesses that
those not yet baptized are subjected not only to their own
sins but also to the sins of others, who it knows were con-
ceived in iniquity, so it asserts that those washed in life-giving
waters are freed from the iniquity of others, if assent of the
will is not given in a sin.
6. John the Evangelist says, “But to those who did accept
him, he gave the power to become children of God, to those
who believe in his name, who were born not by natural gen-
eration nor by human choice, nor by a man’s decision, but
of God.”15 Therefore, just as those who spring from the will
of the flesh and from the will of a man bear the sins of oth-
ers, although they do not yet have any of their own, so those
born from God, if they have no guilt of their own will in
them, are splattered with no injury from the iniquity of an-
other. Since, just as the first birth, by bringing forth, has
fixed something that the one being born did not do, so the
second birth, when original sin16 has been washed away, im-
putes only the sin done by the will. Therefore, on this count,
we must be separated from the evil in which we “who have
the first fruits of the spirit, buried with Christ in baptism,”17
12. Ez 18.4. 13. Prov 9.12.
14. Ps 5.9. LXX; Ps 5.8. 15. Jn 1.12–13.
16. It is interesting to note the Arian’s acceptance of original sin. Is it due to
Augustine’s influence or the African tradition?
17. Rm 8.23; Col 2.12.
392 FULGENTIUS

have arisen. In him, with the grace of God going before and
accompanying, we lay aside the old person who is being cor-
rupted according to the desires of error, so that we may put
on the new person who has been created according to God
in righteousness and in the sanctity of charity.

THE BOOK OF SAINT FULGENTIUS THE BISHOP

TO VICTOR AGAINST THE SERMON OF
FA S T I D I O S U S T H E A R I A N .

e a r e s t s o n v i c t o r , when I read your letter,

containing the sweetest odor of faith and charity
with entire delight and enthusiasm of spirit, I found
appended the sermon of Fastidiosus which you sent to me
for refutation. When I read this, as much as I mourned for
one lost, so much the more was I compelled to shudder at
the blasphemer, someone whom we knew in the Christian
faith, in the profession of a monk, in the honor of the priest-
hood, which he received in the sight of human beings but
did not have before God. Turned away from the path of
truth and, indeed, forgetful of his own redemption, he be-
came the slave of fornication and excess, and for this reason
scorned the service of the divine majesty. So it is that becom-
ing a heretic after being a Catholic and bringing forth evil
things against the right faith from the evil treasury of his
heart, he, drunk with the poison of impiety, not without rea-
son vomits forth that sermon against the Catholic faith,
when he scorns the bread of life and fastidious, in accor-
dance with his name, he has rejected the saving food of the
true faith. In that profane sermon, calling us homoousians,
as the Arians are accustomed to call us, he used these words:
“. . . the homoousians assert,” he said “that the Trinity is in-
separable and indivisible, that the Son is not less than the
Father or the unbegotten Father the maker of his Son.”
2. Pay attention, I ask you, in these words of Fastidiosus,
to something so badly put that they can never be asserted in
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 393

an acceptable fashion; but something so impiously spoken

by him that they could be, if piety were present, equally both
spoken and listened to. For that by which he thought we
would be confuted, that we say that the Trinity is inseparable
and undivided, he expressed so badly and impiously in such
a way that no one could express this well. For who does not
see with what great impiety a separable Trinity is asserted by
the Arians? When the blessed Apostle says of us, “What will
separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the
sword?”1 And a little later: “For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present
things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”2
II. 1. Since the blessed Apostle trusts that through the
grace of God we cannot be separated from his love, how do
they not think that they are caught in a deadly trap of impi-
ety, they who do not hesitate to proclaim that the Holy Trini-
ty is separable, whose works they are unable to prove are sep-
arable in anyone? For in what the evangelist says of the Son
of God, “All things came to be through him; and without
him, nothing came to be,”3 and in what the blessed David
says, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you
have made them all,”4 the blessed Apostle professes that
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Con-
cerning him he says, “For in him were created all things in
heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things
were created through him and for him.”5 It is obvious that all
the works of the Father are the same as the works of the Son,
the same also are the works of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Trinity works inseparably; there is no work
which the Father has done and the Son has not done; or
which the Son has done and the Holy Spirit has not done.
1. Rm 8.35. 2. Rm 8.38–39.
3. Jn 1.3. 4. Ps 103.24 LXX; Ps 104.24.
5. Col 1.16.
394 FULGENTIUS

For it is written: “By the word of the Lord, the heavens were
made and all their host by the breath of his mouth.”6 Of wis-
dom also which we say was created in the angels, we read
written in the book of Ecclesiasticus: “Wisdom was created
before all other things and prudent understanding from
eternity.”7 Where it would show that also the angels were
made by the Word of God, by which all things were made,
Holy Scripture immediately added, “The font of Wisdom is
the Word of God on high and his entry eternal commands.”8
And a bit later, in order that angelic wisdom may be shown
to pertain to the works of the Holy Spirit, the following is
said: “There is but one who is wise, greatly to be feared, seat-
ed upon his throne—the Lord. It is he who created her.”9
3. Therefore, what will be denied to have been made by
the Holy Spirit by which the power of the heavens is de-
scribed as having been made firm and by whose work wis-
dom is declared to have been created? For also concerning
the divine gifts which God gave to his Church, when the
blessed Apostle spoke and said, “There are different kinds of
spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms
of service . . . but the Son of God who produces all of them
in everyone,”10 after the enumeration of the diversity of
heavenly gifts, he added, “But one and the same Spirit pro-
duces all of these, distributing them individually to each per-
son as he wishes.”11 But what in all creatures among which
wisdom “reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the
other, and she orders all things well”12 can be found apart
from the work of the Holy Spirit, since Christ, who is the
power of God and the wisdom of God, declares that he casts
out devils in the Spirit of God? For he himself has said, “But
if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the
Kingdom of God has come upon you.”13
4. How then does Fastidiosus deny that the Trinity is in-
separable when no Christian dare deny that the works of the
6. Ps 32.6 LXX; Ps 33.6. 7. Sir 1.4.
8. Sir 1.5 LXX; not in the text. 9. Sir 1.8–9.
10. 1 Cor 12.4–6. 11. 1 Cor 12.11.
12. Wis 8.1. 13. Mt 12.28.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 395

Trinity are the same and inseparable in all creatures? The

one God, i.e., the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
works inseparably. The only-begotten God himself declares
that his works are the same as those of the Father when he
says, “. . . a son cannot do anything on his own but only what
he sees his Father doing; for what he does, his son will do
also.”14 And yet what the Son does, he does in the Holy Spir-
it, in whom he casts out demons.
III. 1. But lest, because of what we said that the Son does
whatever he does in the Holy Spirit, the Arians wish to assert
some question of diversity, thinking that he in whom some-
thing is done must be considered as less than the one who
does them, let them listen to our Savior completely rejecting
this perversity when he says, “But whoever lives the truth,
comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as
done in God.”15 Here let the Arians choose whom they wish
to accept as the God named by the Son of God, whether the
Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit. If they think that here
the Father in whom good works are done by human beings
must be accepted, they will destroy what they propose, blas-
pheming the person of the Holy Spirit. Nor will they dare to
say that the Father is less to whom, according to his divinity,
they are unwilling to proclaim the Son equal. And for this
reason, since a human being does good works in the Father
and Christ casts out devils in the Holy Spirit, let them ac-
knowledge the equality of the Father and the Holy Spirit.
2. If they say that here the Son must be understood be-
cause good works are done in the Son and in the Holy Spirit,
not only will they be found to confess that the Son and the
Holy Spirit are equal, but also they will confess that the
works of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are the
same and inseparable: “But one and the same Spirit pro-
duces all of these,”16 as the blessed Apostle bears witness. But
if the Arians think that in this text the Holy Spirit must be
understood, it is necessary that from this text they are com-
pelled to confess that the Holy Spirit is God.
14. Jn 5.19. 15. Jn 3.21.
16. 1 Cor 12.11.
396 FULGENTIUS

3. For the Spirit of the Lord did not say, He who does the
truth, that his works be clearly seen as done in the Holy Spir-
it, but “as done in God”17 which we say are done not in the
Father alone, nor in the Son alone, nor in the Holy Spirit
alone. But we confess that the truth is done by a human
being in the Holy Trinity itself, which is one God, in whom
the blessed David indicates is the power of what is done by
the faithful, saying, “With God we shall do valiantly; it is he
who will tread down our foes.”18 For he is the one God con-
cerning whom the blessed Apostle says, “For from him and
through him and for him are all things. To him be glory for-
ever.”19
IV. 1. Therefore, how is the Holy Trinity said by the impi-
ous to be separable since it works inseparably? Insofar as it is
possible to understand, they do not think that, as the truth
of the matter demands, there is any separation in the Spirit,
as it is said. From our God, i.e., from the Holy Trinity itself,
nothing can be separated in a spatial sense, because the
same most high God, true and good, as he made all things,
as infinite, contains and fills all things. He is not corporeal
nor spatial and, therefore, corporeal things themselves can-
not be separated from God spatially because every body is in
some place and there is no place without God. For God is so
contained in no place that he contains every place; in whom
there is no mass and whose power is infinite. Therefore,
since bodies which cannot exist without a place, cannot be
spatially separated from God, without a doubt neither are
the spirits which God created spatially separated from God.
2. For every spirit which God created exists in some place
and God is there. Although he who is not in evil spirits
through grace by means of which he grants to whom he
wishes a holy life and blessedness, still he is always in all his
creatures through his natural power. Thus there is no crea-
ture that can be found in whom God is not present through
his power. Therefore, that nature can be separated from

17. Jn 3.21. 18. Ps 59.14 LXX; Ps 60.12.

19. Rm 11.36.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 397

God which was or is able to be subject to sin. There is no

other thing which can go away from God except that sub-
stance which is able or has been able to sin with its own will.
For Isaiah says, “See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear. Rather your iniquities have been
barriers between you and your God.”20
3. Also in the book of Wisdom, it is shown that human be-
ings are separated from God, not by places, but by wicked
thoughts and evil acts. For it is said there: “For perverse
thoughts separate people from God and when his power is
tested, it exposes the foolish; because wisdom will not enter
a deceitful soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin; for a holy
and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave fool-
ish thoughts behind.”21 Who does not see here the Trinity
announced by the properties of the persons? For it is said
that “perverse thoughts separate from God” by which name
the person of God the Father is recognized. Then it is added
that “wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul” by which name
Christ is shown, whom Paul calls the power of God and the
wisdom of God.
4. Then it is said that: “The Holy Spirit will flee from de-
ceit and will leave foolish thoughts behind.” Lest anyone
think that certain evil or impious people can be spatially sep-
arated from that Holy Trinity, which is the one, true, and
good God, a little later Scripture speaks thus: “For wisdom is
a kindly spirit but will not free blasphemers from the guilt of
their words; because God is witness of their inmost feelings
and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their
tongues. Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world.
. . .”22 The divine words do not cease to proclaim the infinity
of the Holy Trinity. The blessed David most certainly knew it
and so said to God, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or
where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven
you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.”23
Concerning wisdom also, i.e., the Son of God, Scripture says

20. Is 59.1–2. 21. Wis 1.3–5.

22. Wis 1.6–7. 23. Ps 138.7–8 LXX: Ps 139.7–8.
398 FULGENTIUS

that “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the
other.”24
5. Therefore, nothing can be spatially separated from the
Holy Trinity which is everywhere in its totality; only evils and
perverse thoughts separate from God, as we have just taught.
Whoever seeks to assert that the Trinity is separable must of
necessity be saying that either the Father or the Son or the
Holy Spirit can by nature be subject to wicked thoughts and
evils. Who catches himself in the trap of such impiety that he
thinks that there is some separation in that Trinity where
unity is natural, since, through grace received, just as it has
been shown by us above, the faithful Paul trusts that he can
never be separated from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord? The blessed John the Apostle confirms both
that love is from God and that God is love, with these words:
“Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love, does not know God, for God is
love.”25 This love, which is from God and God is, cannot be
separated from himself, because it is inseparable.
6. For since it, itself unseparated, not only possesses
human beings who can be separated from one another but
from many hearts and souls makes one heart and one soul,
what madness is it to say that love which is accustomed to
join separated minds in an inseparable love, is itself separa-
ble? Hence it is that Paul said, “For even if I am absent in the
flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I observe your
good order.”26 And in the Acts of the Apostles, it is written
that the “community of believers was of one heart and mind
. . . ,”27 something that was not brought about except by the
Spirit of faith and love. For “the love of God has been poured
out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.”28 Through the Holy Spirit itself it comes about
that all believers, as the Apostle says, are “one body and one
spirit.”29 Whence he says in another text, “For in one Spirit,
24. Wis 8.1. 25. 1 Jn 4.7–8.
26. Col 2.5. 27. Acts 4.32.
28. Rm 5.5. 29. Eph 4.4.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 399

we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek,

slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one
Spirit.”30 For the only-begotten Son of God with his own
mouth commanded that all nations be baptized in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
V. 1. Therefore, since baptism is given in the name of
the Trinity, it comes about that all the faithful are baptized
into one body and, for this reason, it makes all one body, as
the blessed Apostle says that “we are one body in Christ, and
individually parts of one another.”31 Since of the multitude
of believers there was one heart and one soul through the
love of God which has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us, assuredly
it is clear with how great impiety the Trinity itself is said to
be separable since any creature is separated from God nei-
ther by place nor by time but only by evils. Hence it is that
God says about certain ones: “This people honors me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”32 And when he
says, “Am I a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God far
off. Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?
says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth?”33 The blessed
David says to him, “Indeed, those who are far from you will
perish.” And in order to show what it is to be far from God,
he added, “You put an end to those who are false to you.”34
2. Therefore, one approaches God with the heart and
with the heart, one departs. For it is clear that God is totally
everywhere but is in no way spatially contained. For God is a
spirit, indeed the Creator, not created, the maker of all bod-
ies and all spirits, immutable, eternal, infinite, just, and
good. Through the infinity of his nature, he never departs
from all the things which he has made. Nor can it be that
God himself can be absent by his power from anything
which has its existence from God. And still through his
mercy and judgment, because of which the Church never
ceases to sing to him, it is not unfittingly said both that he is
30. 1 Cor 12.13. 31. Rm 12.5.
32. Mt 15.8. 33. Jer 23.23–24 .
34. Ps 72.27 LXX; Ps 73.27.
400 FULGENTIUS

present to the faithful and far away from non-believers. For

what concerns nature, the whole, whatever has been created,
whether corporal or spiritual, the Holy Trinity alone, i.e.,
one God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, with one
will, one operation, one power, one benevolence, and one
omnipotence, has made it. Just as the Father fills the whole
creature with power, not with mass, so the Son fills the
whole, so the Holy Spirit fills the whole.
3. Nor does the Trinity so fill the whole creature that the
Father fills part, the Son fills a part, and the Holy Spirit fills
a part nor yet that the whole is filled by the Father alone nor
by the Son alone nor by the Holy Spirit alone. Whoever
would dare to think of the Trinity, i.e., of the one God, in
this way, I do not call stupid but altogether sacrilegious;
since the power of God and his Divinity are necessarily infi-
nite by nature, just as he is by nature eternal. But human be-
ings given over to carnal feelings are unable to think of God
himself except carnally. And they think that the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit can thus be separated from one
another, just as human beings are separated from one anoth-
er, who, just as they are different because of the capacity and
quantity of each body, it is necessary that they also be distin-
guished by spatial location.
4. Such people, while they wrap their souls in the mud of
the flesh, blinded by their appearances and weighed down
by the weight of vanity, the more they are caught up with the
thought of those things which with bodily eyes they take in
bodily mass, so much the less are they able to rise to under-
standing the Godhead. Nor do they hear the command
being given by the Lord God through holy Isaiah that we do
not wish to think about him in such a way as about creatures
which we know were made by him, because he does not
think as we human beings think. So Isaiah says, “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,
says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts.”35
35. Is 55.8–9.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 401

VI. 1. Therefore, God the Father and his Word and his
Spirit, i.e., the Holy Trinity, the only one, true, and good
God, just as there is not thought in him which varies with
the passing of time (nor, like human beings, did he think
one way before he made the world, nor does he think anoth-
er way after he made the world, nor will he think still anoth-
er way after the appearance of this world has passed away;
for the “counsel of the Lord stands forever”36), so he is insep-
arable just as he is unchangeable. For the Trinity, one God,
is neither a body nor a created spirit; because a body is en-
closed in a space and every spirit which is created is circum-
scribed by the limitation of its nature. But the Trinity, one
God, just as it is eternal and no times are coeternal with it, so
it is infinite which no creature can enclose; and because infi-
nite, everywhere in its totality; because not contained in a
place, it is neither spread out nor compressed in space.
Therefore, God is wisdom, God is truth, God is love. This
the Father is, this the Son, this the Holy Spirit, this the Trini-
ty itself which is the one, true, and good God.
2. Therefore, if anyone is able to teach that there is any
division, whether in wisdom or in truth or in love, let him
dare, without hesitation, assert that the Trinity is divisible.
But from the fact that neither wisdom nor truth nor love is
divided in any way, let the indivisible and inseparable Trinity
be recognized. Therefore, the impiety of Fastidiosus appears
to have been great by which he thought that we were alto-
gether to be blamed for this, that we confess an inseparable
and undivided Trinity; since, as the preceding discussion has
taught, (which not only reason but also a sufficient group of
divine witnesses has strengthened) neither can the infinite
nature of the Trinity be contained in a place nor can any
person in the Trinity be subject to sin, because the Trinity it-
self is by nature eternal, perfect, and unchangeable in jus-
tice. Heretical depravity strains badly to assert that the Son is
less, which, when devotion has been saved, Catholic truth
well confesses that he is equal.
3. Heretics, not thinking of the incorporeal divinity ex-
36. Ps 32.11 LXX; Ps 33.11.
402 FULGENTIUS

cept in a corporeal way when they, under the appearance of

the Christian name which they mistakenly lay claim to, say
that according to the divine nature the Son is less, they are
enveloping themselves in the unspeakable crime of idolatry.
For what is speaking of a greater god and a lesser god in in-
dividual persons, except to set up idols of different nature
and different power, not on the walls, but, what is worse, in
hearts? Hence the Arians clearly show that they worship two
gods when they deny that the Son is equal to the Father; and
they assert that he is less, not because of the assumption of
the flesh (which the truth of faith teaches) but because of
the nature of infinite divinity, although it is said concerning
him who is the wisdom of God that “he is a reflection of eter-
nal light.”37 Concerning him also in the letter to the He-
brews it is said: “who is the refulgence of his glory, the very
imprint of his being.”38 Let them pay attention to the “reflec-
tion of eternal light” and let them recognize that, just as that
eternal light is also infinite, it so has its reflection as well and
is not in any way either inferior or lesser by nature; but eter-
nity has infinity, infinity has eternity equally.
VII. Therefore, the Christian faith which knows the only-
begotten God both alone born from the nature of the Fa-
ther and created from the virgin Mary, knowing that each
substance remains true of him, so confesses him truly and
piously equal to God the Father so that without the sin of
lying and impiety, it proclaims him also as less. For because
there is one divinity natural to him with the Father and one
natural humanity with the mother, in the one, he is Son,
equal to the Father, in which he is true God from the Father,
and in the other, the Father is greater than the Son in whom
the only-begotten God himself is truly human. This is the
true faith, this holy piety, this Christian belief in one and the
same Son of God; to believe in the nature of the Father’s di-
vinity and not to deny the substance of the mother’s human-
ity; nor to believe that the divinity of the Son is different

37. Wis 7.20.

38. Heb 1.3.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 403

from the divinity of God the Father, nor to separate the hu-
manity of the Son from the humanity of the virgin mother,
but to believe that the whole and true humanity of our race
is in the same true God, to believe that the true and full
deity of the Father’s nature is in the same true and complete
human being. Whoever denies the unity of the divinity in
the Father and the Son is polluted by Arian impiety; he who
denies the truth of the flesh in the only-begotten God is pro-
faned by the crime of the Manichaean plague; he who de-
nies that there is a human, i.e., rational, soul in the same
Son of God is immediately befouled with the sacrilege of the
Apollinarians.39
VIII. 1. Wherefore, because of the truth of the Father’s
and the mother’s nature in the only-begotten God, believed
to the fullest, and with the natural property of the double
substance being preserved in the one person of Christ, pi-
ously and truly the Son is said to be equal to and less than
the Father, devoutly and truly declared to be co-eternal and
later, devoutly and truly asserted both to be born from eter-
nity and born in time and forever immutable and changed
in time. Therefore, the Son is equal to the Father because
he always has this from the Father. He is also less than the
Father, because he received this in time from the virgin.
2. Wherefore, just as the Son is piously said to be equal to
the Father when the humanity in him by which he is less
than the Father is not recognized; so impiously the same
Son is said to be less when the unity and equality of divinity
with the Father in him by nature is denied. Therefore, we
say that the Son is equal by nature and less. We say that he is
born equal according to the form of God, but, according to
the form of a servant, lessened by his manner of being. We
say that he is equal to the Father, in whom we know that he
was born without a beginning from the Father; we say also

39. In order to solve the problem of the true unity of the divinity and hu-
manity in Christ, Apollinarianism suggested that the Logos united with a
human body and soul but not a human mind. The last named was supplied for
by the Logos. This was rejected and the aphorism was coined: “What is not as-
sumed, is not healed.” See EEC I, 58–59.
404 FULGENTIUS

less, because “When the fullness of time had come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”40 Accord-
ingly, just as without hesitation, we proclaim that he was
born, so likewise we also proclaim that he was made. We say
also that he was born from the heart of the Father without a
beginning; we say that he was made in time by the work of
the Trinity. The Father begot his own Son, both from his na-
ture and made him from the nature of the virgin.
3. But whatever he made, he made with the Son and the
Holy Spirit working with him. The Father alone begot his
Son but he did not make him alone. In the only begotten
Son is the eternal generation of the Father only and in the
same created Son, one work of the whole Trinity. The Cre-
ator of humanity, the only-begotten God, was created a
human being from a woman. Whence it appears that the tes-
timonies which Fastidiosus impiously brought forward from
the Gospel and from the Acts of the Apostles and Solomon
do not take away the unity of the Father’s nature from the
Son but show forth the mystery of the divine Incarnation.
Knowing most certainly of this, John the Baptist said, “This
was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me,
ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”41 Pro-
claiming the truth of this mystery, the Apostle Peter says,
“Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus
whom you crucified.”42
4. Well does he say “made” of the one whom he proclaims
as crucified, the only-begotten God, incomprehensible and
immortal, made by no one and eternal maker of all things,
deigned to become Christ by his own work, that he could be
crucified by the work of the Jews. The cross would never
have carried the betrayed redeemer of the world if the work
of the virgin had not given birth to the conceived maker of
the world. Through Solomon, pointing out the truth of his
generation and creation, he said, “The Lord created me at

40. Gal 4.4. 41. Jn 1.15.

42. Acts 2.36.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 405

the beginning of his work.” But before he said this, he first

gave clear evidence of the future incarnation, saying, “If I
shall announce to you what happens each day, I shall recall
what is from the ages.”43 Then, summing up, he added, “The
Lord created me at the beginning of his work.”44
5. This creation is from the ages, not before the ages. For
afterwards he says, “Ages ago I was set up,” and a little later,
“Before all the hills, he brought me forth.”45 Here because
he says “Before the ages” and “before the hills,” he wished
the eternity of his divine birth to be understood. For both
before the ages and after the age is eternity. And so the eter-
nity of the Son of God does not have a beginning before the
age, just as his eternity does not have an ending after the
age. So, taking time past for time future, Wisdom said, “The
Lord created me” for this: He is going to create me and so
he spoke of as having been made that which was to be made;
just as he said through blessed David: “My hands and my feet
have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and
gloat over me. They divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”46
6. Therefore, when he says, “The Lord created me,” he
showed how he would be made. Saying “My hands and my
feet are shriveled,” he shows how he will be crucified. Just as
this was to come, which as already done, the Son of God
through David says of his passion, so he who is the Wisdom
of God prophesied through Solomon what was to happen
concerning his Incarnation as if it were already done. For
Solomon himself says a little later, “Wisdom has built her
house; she has hewn her seven pillars,”47 which pertains to
the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation. Isaiah also speaks
thus of Christ’s passion so that he speaks of what he prophe-
sies as future as if it were past. For he says about Christ: “Like
a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that be-
43. Prov 8.21a LXX not in the text.
44. Prov 8.22.
45. Prov 8.25.
46. Ps 21.17–19 LXX; Ps 22.16–18.
47. Prov 9.1.
406 FULGENTIUS

fore its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”48

For he predicts the very birth of the only-begotten God ac-
cording to the flesh from the virgin, not only at times as fu-
ture but at other times, he also speaks of it as past. In a cer-
tain place, he says, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and
will bear a son. . . .”49 Still, in another text, pointing to it as
something over and done, he says, “For a child has been
born for us; a son given to us.”50
7. Therefore, who does not see that all of that which was
said concerning the human birth and passion of the only-
lbegotten God through the prophets, at that time was in the
future in truth, just as now it is in truth past. To show the im-
mutability of the divine counsel, it came about that prophet-
ic Scripture would in word speak of as past what in fact was
awaited as future. For God, concerning whom the prophet
says, “He who made the things that will be,”51 therefore, the
things that were to be done, he willed them to be spoken of
as if done, because these things which come about change-
ably in time, he has made firm with the unchangeable eter-
nity of his plan. Therefore, in those things as well, in which
the effect of the work has not yet come to be, the plan of the
Creator remains firm from eternity. So, therefore, the Son of
God, when he was to be created by his own work, said that
he had been created, just as he did not hesitate to say that he
had been crucified when he was going to be crucified.
IX. Still raving with perverse heart and sacrilegious
mouth, Fastidiosus for this reason wished to assert that the
Son was separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit be-
cause it is clear that he alone entered the wedding chamber
of the virgin’s womb. Concerning him in the book of the
Psalms, it is said: “[He] comes out like a bridegroom from
his wedding chamber.”52 Wishing to support the statement of
his perversity, he did not hesitate to assert even that blasphe-
my, saying that if the Trinity:

48. Is 53.7. 49. Is 7.14.

50. Is 9.6. 51. Is 45.11.
52. Ps 18.6 LXX; Ps 19.5.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 407

could in no way be separated, it is clear that it can in no way be di-

vided. Therefore, did the entire Trinity take on flesh, the entire
Trinity suffer the injuries of the passion, the entire Trinity lie in
the tomb, the entire Trinity descend to Hell, the entire Trinity rise
from the dead on the third day, the entire Trinity ascend to heaven
on the fortieth day? And at whose right hand does the entire Trini-
ty sit? Or what Spirit on the day of Pentecost did the entire Trinity
send on the Apostles? Or to what God, could the entire Trinity say
in heaven, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Or to
what Father did the entire Trinity say, “Father, into your hands, I
commend my spirit.”? If they are able, let them state it publicly. If
they are unable to speak, they destroy themselves with their own
weapons, they who argue that the Trinity is inseparable.
X. 1. These, then, are the words of Fastidiosus in that pro-
fane statement against the Catholic faith. With the excep-
tion of those which are a blasphemous affront to the Holy
Trinity, almost all his words, whether those that come before
or those that come after, he, most wicked as he is, has stolen
from the words of others. Finally, all the things which he said
against the Donatists, he stole from those two letters which
all of us exiled in Sardinia wrote to the religious daughter of
the Church, Stephania,53 against the Pelagians and Do-
natists. Indeed, the same very wicked person has fraudulent-
ly placed them there under his own name with the very
order of the words. That you may not lack knowledge of this
affair I have had appended to this little work the two letters
which the above-mentioned Stephania sent to us, and those
which we wrote back to her. You will recognize in that ser-
mon only those things which are from Fastidiosus, the words
in which, rushing to the attack against the Holy Trinity itself,
with blind heart, he attempted to assault Catholic truth.
XI. Now, therefore, with God’s help I reply to his blas-
phemies. For the entire Trinity did not take on flesh nor did
the entire Trinity feel the injuries of the passion, nor did the
entire Trinity lie in the tomb, nor did the entire Trinity de-
scend into Hell, nor did the entire Trinity rise from the dead
on the third day, and if there are any other things which are
53. Stephania. See PCBE, 1093.
408 FULGENTIUS

found in the mystery of his Incarnation, they belong to the

person of the Son alone. Those things with which Fastidio-
sus objected to the Catholic faith are full of falsity and per-
versity and cannot be put forward truthfully as objections ex-
cept by the Sabellians, i.e., the Patripassians in which,
indeed, painted into a corner and proved wrong, they col-
lapse, they who strive to claim that there is one person of the
Holy Trinity just as there is one nature. Their perversity as a
consequence forces them to this absurdity, that they in no
way believe in the divine birth; and so they assign to the Fa-
ther the birth according to the flesh, likewise, the suffering
and death, also the resurrection from the dead and ascen-
sion into heaven, and all those things which in the mystery
of the Incarnation belong to the person of the one Son. But
the Catholic Church, divinely-inspired, holding the truth of
the faith, just as it knows how to assert the one nature of the
Holy Trinity, so most carefully it attributes to each person its
own. Therefore, the Son of God, mercifully to redeem us,
for this reason is alone rightly believed to have assumed, be-
cause he did not take up human nature in such a way that
there would be in him one nature of divinity and flesh. In
Christ, the deity will not be able to be that which the flesh is
because, with each nature retaining its property, it could not
come about that either of them either cease to exist or
change into the other with total destruction. If this were to
happen, rightly would the flesh be said to have been taken
up by the entire Trinity when the Son would change his
flesh into that divinity which we profess remains common to
him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
XII. But now, because we say that in Christ there is a di-
vine and a human nature, so we believe and confess that the
human nature, i.e., the flesh and the rational soul were
taken up, not by the entire Trinity, but by the Son alone.
The only-begotten God took up the flesh and the soul into a
unity of person, not into a unity of nature; and thus the per-
son of the Son is not the same as that of the Father or of the
Holy Spirit. The unity of person, with the property of each
substance remaining, just as in Christ, he did not make a
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 409

two-fold person, so he did not make the taking up of human

nature common to the Holy Trinity. For not, as there is one
common nature for the Son of God with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, is there one common person.
XIII. 1. Therefore, it is proper to the Son alone mercifully
to have received the form of a servant. That taking up of the
form of a servant pertained to the person of God the Word,
which did not with resulting confusion pass into the divine
nature. Therefore, that taking up of the form of a servant,
according to which the Son of God who is the Lord of all
things and in whom dwells all the fullness of divinity, be-
came a true and complete human being, took away from
him nothing of his divine fullness. It took away nothing of
the power, because in that one person remained without
confusion a divine nature and a human nature. Hence it is
that in one and the same Christ both the truth of the
human nature shone forth and the eternal immutability of
the divine nature remained.
2. Neither was anything diminished in him at all or
changed which he had by nature from eternity, through that
which he received from time. In his exterior aspect, he be-
came a servant, but he did not cease to be by nature the
Lord of all things. According to the flesh, he became poor;
nonetheless, according to his divinity, he remained rich.
Hence it is that the blessed Apostle asserts that Christians
have been enriched by his poverty, saying, “For you know the
gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he
became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty
you might become rich.”54 He would in no way have made us
rich by his poverty if, having become poor, he did not have
in himself the riches of his divine nature. He became poor
according to the form of a servant; he remained rich accord-
ing to the form of God. Therefore, the poverty of the form
of a servant is not common to him with the Father and the
Holy Spirit because with the poverty of the human nature
having been taken up into unity, the divine substance in him
remained rich.
54. 2 Cor 8.9.
410 FULGENTIUS

3. What was the poverty of the rich Son of God except our
weakness and our mortality? Whatever in the weakness and
death according to the flesh the only-begotten God bore,
the divinity did not experience. For “God sent his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh,”55 in which was true flesh but
there was no pollution of sin. Therefore, that likeness of sin-
ful flesh was in the flesh of Christ, though that was not the
flesh of sin because it was weak, because it was passible and
mortal, because it was susceptible to wounds and subject to
pain.
4. Nevertheless, all these things were common to the di-
vinity and the humanity of Christ, not in the substance, but
in the person. For the person of Christ is altogether distin-
guished from the person of the Father and the person of the
Holy Spirit. This one person of the divinity and the humani-
ty in Christ so remains that it does not permit one nature to
be separated from the other, nor both to be confused.
Therefore, Christ who is the way, the truth, and the true life
is the way for us who in the truth of the flesh possessed true
weakness; and he is the true life for us because the true
strength remained in his true divinity. And the Apostle saw
this when he said, “For indeed, he was crucified out of weak-
ness, but he lives by the power of God.”56
XIV. 1. Therefore, in one and the same Christ, just as the
weakness of the human flesh could not either give or give
back life to himself because that power of laying down or
taking up again did not come from human weakness but
from divine power; thus, the eternity of the divine power, to
whom it is proper by nature to live immutably and without
tiring, could experience nothing of infirmity or death on
the cross. Therefore, the only-begotten Son of God in him
both born true God from the Father and made a true
human being from his mother is recognized both because
he showed evidence of the weakness in the truth of the flesh
and showed instances of his power in the truth of the divini-
ty; showing in the unity of the person that there were some
55. Rm 8.3.
56. 2 Cor 13.4.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 411

things common by nature with the Father and the Holy Spir-
it.
2. For Christ, communion of soul and flesh with us is nat-
ural; with the Father and the Holy Spirit, communion of
deity is natural for him. Therefore, how could the Son of
God have those things which are of the flesh as common
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he who in no way con-
fused his flesh with his divinity? This does no harm to the
Catholic faith that we believe that our nature was taken up
in the unity of person by the only-begotten Savior, when we
confess that there remains one divine substance of the Holy
Trinity. The entire Trinity made that humanity of the Son,
but, though it made it as a whole, the entire Trinity did not
take it up because that person which is not common to the
Son with the Father and the Holy Spirit is the one in Christ
for both the divinity and the flesh. Where there is any dis-
tinction either of persons or of substances, whatever there is
in the commonality of work is not always referred to the
communion of taking up. Because this seems obscure when
it is put forward by words alone, it is better that facility of un-
derstanding be provided by an apt example insofar as the
subject matter permits.
XV. 1. There is a likeness to knowledge readily available to
the faithful which God has placed in his image. This image is
the human mind. For one reads that the Lord said, “Let us
make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”57
In these words, the heretical Arians find much to sadden
them, they who read the Holy Scriptures but do not under-
stand them; and put to confusion by their blindness of
heart, they do not recognize the unity of nature in the Holy
Trinity in which they distinguish the persons of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in their preaching.
Since in that testimony which we cited above, the Trinity it-
self, which is the one God, true and good, both teaches the
unity of its divinity and clearly points out the evidence for
the three persons.

57. Gen 1.26.

412 FULGENTIUS

2. For he said, “Let us make humankind to our image, ac-

cording to our likeness,” lest unity of substance be denied in
the three persons. He did not say, “Let me make humankind
to my image and likeness,” lest in that divine nature there be
believed to be only one person, but he salutarily mixed the
plural with the singular number, and when we read that God
says, “Let us make humankind to our image, according to
our likeness”, that which is in the singular we say is in the na-
ture as we said that the plural is in the persons. Therefore,
this image, i.e., the interior person, is found to have by na-
ture three things within itself, i.e., memory, understanding,
and will.
3. The memory is the power of the soul by which we re-
member. The understanding is that by which what we con-
ceived in memory, we ponder in thought. The will is that by
which we either seek something or avoid it, i.e., by which we
either love something or hate it. Therefore, these three, al-
though they do not have their own persons in a human
being, still are distinguished one from another; and so in
these three, there is one person of a human being and one
substance of the human mind so that still in the very nature
of the rational soul in which it is clear there is the image of
God, we find that the memory is one thing, the understand-
ing another and likewise the will, a third.
4. For though we are unable either to think of anything
or to love or hate that which we do not have in the memory
because what forgetfulness has taken away from the heart,
neither thought nor will can in any way find there; still to
recognize the distinction of memory, thought, and will, we
remember much which we neither ponder in thought nor
seek by the will; likewise, we think of some things which we
do not love. Therefore, our thought, which is born from and
formed by memory, is well called an interior word. For what
is thought except a speaking within?
5. So it is written: “When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds and be silent.”58 Also in the Gospel,
58. Ps 4.5 LXX; Ps 4.4.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 413

when the Lord Jesus said to that paralytic whom he healed,

“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”59 Luke the evangelist
added, saying, “Then the Scribes and Pharisees began to ask
themselves, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but
God alone can forgive sins?’ Jesus knew their thoughts and
said to them in reply, ‘What are you thinking in your
hearts?’” Where Luke said, “The Scribes and Pharisees
began to ask themselves”, Matthew said this, “At that, some
of the Scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said: ‘Why do you
harbor evil thoughts?’”60 Also in the book of Wisdom, it is
said concerning certain people: “For they reasoned un-
soundly, saying to themselves.”61 Obviously therefore, this is
what thinking is, i.e., to speak within oneself. Thus, the word
will be spoken invisibly where it is thought invisibly. There-
fore, without any sound of a bodily voice, anyone speaks
what he thinks which does not come to the hearing of an-
other except by a physical speaking.
XVI. 1. Therefore, that word which was born from the
memory, according to nature alone, by which it is born from
memory, cannot be brought to the ears of any person with-
out a bodily voice. Accordingly, in order that it be able to be
brought to others, it is clothed with a bodily voice. To this
word a bodily voice from the mouth is joined. And thus it
comes about that that word which was wholly spiritually in
the mind comes to others through a bodily voice but does
not go away from the spirit from which and in which it re-
mains spiritual. It is necessary that it remain totally in the
mind, even when the totality is brought forth in the voice.
We are still not able to say that that bringing forth of the
word alone does not happen from the memory or from the
will. For everyone who speaks both remembers and thinks
what he speaks; and therefore he speaks because the will
equally together with the memory and thinking brings
about that speaking.

59. Lk 5.20. 60. Mt 9.3–4.

61. Wis 2.1.
414 FULGENTIUS

2. For insofar as whatever a person speaks knowingly, he

does not speak unless willing so that even whatever a person
is forced to say unwilling, he does not say as long as the will
is in no way disposed to speak. Hence, it is that not only
those who, blinded by their lust for temporal things, have
denied God, but also whoever, oppressed by the fear of
worldly trials or tortures or by sadness, abandoning the truth
of the Catholic faith, have gone over to impiety and infideli-
ty, they will be able to find no excuse so that they may say
that they denied the true faith unwillingly, when it appears
that they did this with their own will. Even if their spirit was
led to deny the faith because of trials or torture, still they did
not deny it unwillingly. To deny the faith, first he thought
and willed and so brought forth that denial; that this came
about, thought, together with the will, decreed.
XVII. 1. To return to that with which I was dealing; in the
very image of God, i.e., in the very mind of a human being,
the thinking which is born and formed from the memory
and is rightly called a word, receives a corporal voice only in
order to be heard by corporal ears. So, therefore, in that
holy and divine Trinity, only the Word of the Father, which is
a mirror without stain and the image of the goodness of
God, the refulgence of his glory and the very imprint of his
being, “who though he was in the form of God, did not re-
gard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he
emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.”62 Therefore,
only the Son of God took on flesh so that he could be seen
by bodily eyes and touched by bodily hands; alone he thus
received a human nature so that he might make it his own
and through it might mercifully instill in human beings the
knowledge of his divinity as well. Revealing himself, he also
revealed the Father also in himself.
2. Giving knowledge of his divinity, he gave knowledge of
the Father as well at the same time. The divinity which is one
for the Father and the Son, also brings it about that the Son
is not known without the Father and the Father is not known
62. Phil 2.6–7.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 415

without the Son. Hence it is that he says, “Have I been with

you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”63 Thus the Son,
who alone took up flesh, showed in himself the Father by
right of the one divine nature; just as our speech, when we
speak the truth which we recall, that which it points out by
bringing it forth, it shows that this was found within the
mind. That bodily voice with which the spiritual word is
clothed in order that it be brought to the attention of hear-
ers comes about simultaneously both from the memory and
from thought and from the will; but from thought alone,
i.e., it is taken up by the interior word in order that knowl-
edge of the interior thought may proceed to the bodily ears
of those who are in the vicinity. But that word, just as the
whole went forth to hearers, having received the external as-
pect of a bodily voice, so, in the heart, the whole exists spiri-
tually with the memory and the will.
3. Accordingly, whoever sees this image in the human
mind, will more quickly laugh at the foolishness of the
heretics who, thinking carnally about spiritual things, are
unwilling to believe that in that Holy Trinity anything done
by the three persons, that by divine arrangement, has been
taken up by only one person; although that human nature
was made by the working of the entire Trinity, it was taken
up into the unity of the person only by the Son. Just as it is
certain that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God and the Word was God,”64 so it is certain that
“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”65 What have
we received except that the Word is God, and who is the
God, with whom the Word was, except the Father and the
Son?
XVIII. 1. By the name of the Word is shown the different
person of the Father and the Son; but because the Word was
God, one substance of the Father and the Son is taught.
Therefore, not of the Father nor of the Holy Spirit, that
flesh is of the Word alone; because with God the Word there
63. Jn 14.9. 64. Jn 1.1.
65. Jn 1.14.
416 FULGENTIUS

is not a communion of one person with the Father and the

Holy Spirit. According to the working of the eternal divinity
in which there is a trinity of persons, just as the Father made
the humanity of the Son, so the Son made it, so also the
Holy Spirit made it, but not as the Son received it, did the
Father or the Holy Spirit receive it. It was fitting for that Son,
who according to divinity by nature alone was born from the
Father alone, that he according to the flesh by nature be
born from the virgin. But in that Trinity, just as there are not
two Fathers, nor two Holy Spirits, so there would not be also
two Sons. For that Trinity has in itself one Father, one Son,
one Holy Spirit. But one Father and one Holy Spirit accord-
ing to the divine nature but one Son according to divine and
human substance.
2. In the persons, the Trinity is divided, although in the
nature the one divinity of the Trinity is not divided or sepa-
rated. In the person of the Son alone, humanity is assumed.
Because of the nature, there is always one working of the
Holy Trinity; but on account of the persons, the taking up of
humanity belongs to the Son only. Nevertheless, while we
discuss these matters for the instruction of the faithful, we
must think also of the carnal and sensual heretics who for
this reason are incapable of spiritual matters. Concerning
them the Apostle says, “Now the natural person does not ac-
cept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is fool-
ishness and he cannot understand it, because it is judged
spiritually.”66
3. The apostolic authority testifies that heretics are carnal
or, above all, sensual. The blessed Paul also places heresies
among the works of the flesh. Also the Blessed Jude the
Apostle calls ‘natural’ those who separate themselves from
the Church, saying, “These are the ones who cause divisions;
they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.”67 This is
indeed what we have shown, and the blessed Paul said, “Now
the natural person does not accept what pertains to the Spir-
it of God.”68 Therefore, let it not be a wonder that those who
66. 1 Cor 2.14. 67. Jude 19.
68. 1 Cor 2.14.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 417

do not have the Spirit of God are not able to understand the
things of God. For it is written in the book of Wisdom: “Who
will learn your counsel unless you have given wisdom and
sent your Holy Spirit from on high?”69 Hence it is that also
the holy Apostle asserts that the things of God are not re-
vealed except by the Holy Spirit, saying, “This God has re-
vealed to us through the Spirit.”70 And a little later he says,
“We have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit
that is from God, so that we may understand the things
freely given us by God.”71 Nevertheless, it is good that we too,
insofar as we are aided by God, imitating the blessed Apos-
tle, are zealous to become all things to all people, that we
may gain all.
XIX. 1. Since the Arians do not grasp what we have said,
that in that one divine nature something has been made by
the entire Trinity which was not taken up by the entire Trini-
ty. And it is not believed possible that the entire Trinity
made that flesh which one person of the Trinity took up.
Therefore, let us become, as the Apostle says, like little chil-
dren in their midst, and let us propose this example to them
to foster broadening of their spiritual understanding, some-
thing that does not weary or trouble the narrowness of their
heretical heart. We know that that alone is the divine, insep-
arable and indivisible Trinity where neither can the one na-
ture be divided by the Trinity of persons nor can the three
persons be confused by the unity of the indivisible nature.
2. But if this is sought in any creature, it is nowhere
found. For even the very mind of the human being which
we said is the image of God, received it in such a way that
while it has in itself some trace of the Holy Trinity, it does
not have in itself a distinction of three persons. The divine
Trinity has saved this for itself alone. Whence, although
there is in the human mind, memory, understanding, and
will, there are these three but still they cannot be three per-
sons because in each human being in whose mind or whose
mind is the divine image, there is by nature one person, not
69. Wis 9.17. 70. 1 Cor 2.10.
71. 1 Cor 2.12.
418 FULGENTIUS

only of the mind itself but of the soul and the flesh together.
3. In the creature, insofar as the importance of so great a
thing about which we are speaking permits us to seek an ex-
ample, perhaps we find in natures some such thing, which
we cannot find in the persons. For we said that the entire
Trinity made the humanity of the Son of God but that only
the Son, not the entire Trinity, received it into his person.
That flesh was made by the entire Trinity, i.e., by the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit; but only the Word became
flesh. Since, as we said above, insofar as it pertains to the
creature, we are unable to find three persons in one mind or
in one flesh, we do not have to labor to be able to find at
least two natures in one person.
4. The person of each living human being consists of a ra-
tional soul and body. Yet many things are done by it in such
a way that although they are done together by the soul and
the body, they sometimes pertain only to the soul or only to
the body. For who is unaware that only the body is restored
and nourished by bodily food, though eating is a work com-
mon to the flesh and the soul? For the soul does it through
the body, indeed with the body, when the body eats; and still,
only the body receives it, which, in order that it be received,
the soul works together with the body. Therefore, in that eat-
ing, there is one work of the soul and the flesh, but the re-
ceiving is of the flesh alone. Insofar as the flesh alone is fed
by bodily food, so that it alone, if it receives it, becomes fat, it
alone, if it does not receive it, grows weak.
5. The feeding and fatness of the soul, however, consist
not in bodily bread but in spiritual bread. “One does not live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the
mouth of God.”72 In the receiving of this word in order that
the soul be fed with its food, the flesh is associated with it in
the work. This is done when either the soul moves the ears
of the body with words to hear or moves the eyes of the body
to read the Scriptures. See that here there is a working to-
gether of the flesh and of the soul, where there is a receiving
by the soul alone. Let the Arians see this in creatures and let
72. Mt 4.4.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 419

them not doubt that there is one divine nature of the Holy
Trinity and that what could have been done, indeed was
done, that that flesh was made by the one and inseparable
working of the entire Trinity, which in the mystery of the In-
carnation, would pertain only to the person of the only-be-
gotten God.
XX. 1. Therefore, the entire Trinity did not assume flesh,
nor did the entire Trinity suffer the injuries of the passion,
nor did the entire Trinity rise from the dead on the third
day, nor did the entire Trinity ascend into heaven on the for-
tieth day but, just as we have shown above, only the Son as-
sumed flesh. One in him, because as the property of each
nature remains unconfused, he is one and the same who
also remained according to his true divinity altogether inca-
pable of suffering. By nature, that divinity suffers nothing,
just as by nature, it is not changed. To be subject to suffer-
ings belongs to a changeable nature. Therefore, no suffering
could happen to that nature, in which change could not be
present by nature. Only the Son lay in the tomb, but that na-
ture of the only-begotten God which could die could be
buried. According to the nature of the flesh, therefore, the
only-begotten God lay buried in the rock, according to
which affixed by nails, he hung on the cross. How could his
divinity, which can be contained by neither the earth nor the
heavens, be confined in the tomb?
2. The unity in the person in Christ made that suffering
and that burial to be one of the divinity and of the flesh, but
the property of each substance in Christ made only the flesh
of Christ subject to suffering and death by nature, with the
impassibility and immortality of the divine and immutable
substance remaining. Therefore, Christ, who is not the Trin-
ity, but one person of the Trinity, according to the truth of
the flesh, truly hung on the cross and lay dead in the tomb,
as the Apostle says that “Christ died for our sins in accor-
dance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was
raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”73
All of this the whole Christ has done according to the unity
73. 1 Cor 15.3.
420 FULGENTIUS

of person; according to the property of the nature, they per-

tain only to the truth of the flesh. Thus, according to the
soul alone, he descended to Hell.
3. So at one and the same time, in the interval between
the death of Christ and his resurrection, one and the same
Christ, both according to the truth of the flesh, truly lay in
the tomb and according to the truth of the rational soul,
truly descended to Hell. And for this reason, according to
the truth of human nature, from the time Christ hung on
the cross, having lowered his head, gave up the spirit, up to
the time, having received the spirit back, he rose from the
dead, wherever he was according to the flesh, there he was
not according to the soul. According to the flesh, dead, he
lay in the tomb; but according to the rational soul, he de-
scended to Hell; according to his divinity, by which he is one
God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, infinite, he filled
the whole of creation.
4. Therefore, according to the flesh, he was in the tomb
only, so that according to the soul, he would have been only
in Hell, but according to the divinity, by which he is con-
fined in no place but is found everywhere complete ineffa-
bly, so that he did not abandon his flesh in the tomb nor did
he desert his soul in Hell, as he could not be absent from
earth or heaven at any time. Also the same Son of God who,
according to the flesh only lay in the tomb, and according to
the soul alone, descended to Hell, since he himself had said
of his soul, “I have the power to lay it down and power to
take it up again,”74 afterwards he lay down his soul and took
it up again, according to his entire humanity, he ascended
into heaven and sits at the right of the seat of God, as Mark
the evangelist bears witness, saying, “So then the Lord Jesus,
after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven, and took
his seat at the right hand of God.”75
5. All of these things, which happened in time in the only-
begotten God, partly according to the soul alone, partly ac-
cording to the flesh alone, partly according to soul and flesh
together, just as they are worthily referred to the one person
74. Jn 10.18.
75. Mk 16.19.
 9. FULGENTIUS TO VICTOR 421

of the divinity and humanity which is in the Son of God, so

in no way can they be referred to his divine substance. And
for this reason, none of these things can be assigned to the
person of the Father or of the Holy Spirit, because there is
not one person of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spir-
it.
6. Nor can anyone ascribe the assumption of the suffering
of the flesh to the Father or the Holy Spirit, because it is
wicked to proclaim the nature of the Word mutable in any-
thing or passible; according to which Christ also remained
without a beginning, always born from the Father when he
took a beginning of his conception and birth from his moth-
er, and incomprehensible when he permitted himself to be
comprehended; and impassible when he underwent the in-
juries of his passion and immortal when he submitted to
death; and undivided when according to the flesh, he lay in
the tomb and according to the soul, he descended into the
lower parts of the earth; and infinite, when he ascended to
the heights of heaven from the lowliness of this earth.
XXI. 1. If the wretched Fastidiosus did not deny this faith,
without a doubt, he would not perish. But since he has de-
nied it both in deeds and in words, it is no surprise that he
has become worst in deeds and now, perverse in speech and
walking in darkness, he has become an enemy of the light.
Bodily fornication, which first took possession of his mind
and flesh, consequently dragged him to the disaster of spiri-
tual fornication. For he took the members of Christ and
made them members of a prostitute. And, therefore, he did
not hesitate to destroy the chastity of faith because he did
not mourn losing chastity of the body. Behold how great an
evil is the sexual pleasure of the flesh which was able to lead
that wretch all the way to the denial of the truth! This was
the storm that snatched that chaff from the Lord’s threshing
floor and planted it among the thorn-bushes of heretical
impiety. This made him speak against his conscience and in-
deed, with false words, to be involved in a slanderous attack
against the Trinity itself.
2. He did not believe that what he said was true, but now
with double heart he preferred to speak differently from
422 FULGENTIUS

what he believed. Because possessed by despair and depriv-

ing himself of the hope of forgiveness, he wished more bold-
ly to fulfill the delights of lust. Therefore, from his own
mouth by which he ought to have been justified, he received
an increase of condemnation when his tongue, which ought
to have brought forth words of repentance, brought forth
words of blasphemy. To that place, therefore, the wretched
Fastidiosus preferred to move where he might bark against
God with sacrilegious impudence and in his fornications, he
who did not have fear of God would not fear human beings
as well. Woe to that wretch who wished to be deprived of the
Church’s communion to this point, that he can never lack
punishment; and he wished to sin without any fear to this
point, that he deserves to burn without end.
XXII. 1. Where now are those two, as it were, delightful
years which Fastidiosus had, because he used them up as he
wished, full of lust in fornicating? How quickly they passed!
And even if they had been, not just twenty, but even two
thousand, they would have passed rapidly. What will the
wretch do when he comes to the judgment seat of him
whom he denied? What will he receive for such deeds and
words? What will he receive, that one, lustful in body, blind
in heart, and blasphemous in mouth who first violated the
Temple of God in himself by fornication; then, separated
from the Church, left it in body? What will he receive from
that holy Trinity, he who preferred to be the slave of lust and
infidelity? What but eternal fire which it is clear has been
prepared for such works? And in this time, the fornication
of Fastidiosus has rapidly come to an end, but for him in
that fire the eternal burning will not be ended. Therefore,
let Christians flee both kinds of fornication, which the
wretched Fastidiosus has incurred; and guarding their souls,
let them preserve chastity of both heart and body.
2. Within the Church, let them hold the Catholic faith.
Let them believe in and confess the inseparable and undi-
vided Trinity, which in its divine nature has nothing made,
nothing begun in any way. By its one and inseparable work-
ing all things have been made in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible. Likewise let them believe in and confess
 10. SCARILA TO FULGENTIUS 423

the only-begotten God, alone according to his true divinity,

born from the Father, alone according to his true humanity,
created from the virgin. Let them further believe that the
flesh and soul of the only begotten God were made by the
work of the Trinity and that the same flesh and rational soul
in the unity of the person were taken up by the only-begot-
ten God alone for the salvation of the world. Holding on to
this most firmly, let them move forward and continue in
good works. For “in Christ Jesus,” the only thing that counts
is “the faith that works through love,”76 and if anyone depart
from it, he will be guilty of his own soul. But everyone who
will persevere in it to the end will be saved.

LETTER 10. THE LETTER OF SCARILA

TO FULGENTIUS AND THE BOOK OF
FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA

An unknown correspondent, Scarila, asked Fulgentius to enlighten

him about questions which had arisen at a dinner party. Once again, as
in letter 9, the relation of the Trinity to the Incarnation is a prominent
issue in the discussion as well as a lesser question that comes under the
general heading of the problem of evil. In the case of the latter ques-
tion, concerning the origin of flies and other vermin, Fulgentius sees
the danger of Manichaeism lurking behind the hypothesis that such
nuisances for the human race were not created by God. The reply is
very lengthy and is called not unfittingly a ‘book’. Its date is unknown.

THE LETTER OF SCARILA TO FULGENTIUS

o u r s e r va n t s c a r i l a 1 sends greetings to the

holy, most blessed Father, Fulgentius the bishop,
equal in merits to the Apostles.
1. The desires of the unlearned greatly desire the learn-
ing of your paternity because it has been written: “Ask your
father and he will inform you; your elders and they will tell
76. Gal 5.6.
1. Scarila. See PCBE, 1044.
424 FULGENTIUS

you,”2 and because that which we are unable to understand,

we desire to know from the learning of your holiness.
2. While at the table of your Christian son of the Catholic
Church, Eventus,3 a discussion arose about the Incarnation
of God, one of us asserting this about the Incarnation itself,
viz., that not God the Father but God the Son took on flesh.
And another said that God himself who is one in three
deigned to assume flesh in order that he might lead to free-
dom our servitude by which we were being held bound be-
cause of the transgression of our father Adam.
3. And we wish to know if God the Father himself de-
scended and took on flesh or, with himself remaining, he
commanded the Word who assumed flesh, since we know
that the Word became flesh that he might dwell among us?
But between the Word who is God and the Father who is
God, one majesty of both descended to take on flesh be-
cause we read, “This is our God; no other can be compared
to him . . . afterward he appeared on earth and lived with
humankind.”4 And when we brought this testimony to the
forefront, he, to the contrary, said this, “He said this about
the Son, not about God the Father.” At that moment, I said
to him, “Because we are equally ignorant, let us have re-
course to the holy father, Bishop Fulgentius, to whom God
has deigned to give knowledge of such power. Through the
disclosure of the divine Scriptures, he will show the way for
our ignorance with plain words.” Then, commending myself
to your holy prayers, I ask through him who gifted your sanc-
tity with such great grace, that you, as a good father, may
wish us to be instructed in what we do not know and that
you inundate us from that fountain from which all who thirst
are filled.
4. When that discussion was over, another of our number
said that flies, fleas, and scorpions and that kind of filthy ani-
mals which are called bed-bugs,5 God did not make but, after

2. Dt 32.7. 3. Eventus. See PCBE, 360.

4. Bar 3.35, 37.
5. Bizarre as the subject may seem at first sight, Fulgentius is not the only
one to discuss it. See, for example, Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem I.14, CCL
36.8.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 425

the fall of that angel, the unworthy Devil, all these things
were made by the Devil himself; and while we were saying
that God made all things, and these were very good, he said
that we ought to consult your holiness about this also, so
that you might wish to be satisfied concerning this also,
whether before the transgression, when God made all
things, then these things were made or after the transgres-
sion of Adam. Pray for us, holy Lord and most blessed father.

T H E B O O K O F S T. F U L G E N T I U S T H E
BISHOP TO SCARILA CONCERNING THE
I N C A R N AT I O N O F T H E S O N O F G O D A N D
THE AUTHOR OF VILE ANIMALS.

h e n t h e l e t t e r which you sent had been read,

my very dear son Scarila, I rejoiced in the Lord and
my heart exulted in God my Savior, because he has
endued you with a zeal for salvation and mercifully infused
your heart with a desire for righteousness by which you wish
to know the true faith. Through faith, abundance of life
comes to human beings, as God himself bears witness
through the prophet, saying, “My just man lives by faith.”1
That faith must be called true which is true, not feigned,
which the Apostle commends, saying, “The aim of this in-
struction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a
sincere faith.”2 Since the same blessed Apostle says that we
have been saved through faith by grace, which he asserts is
not from ourselves but is a gift of God, then indeed there
will be no true salvation where there is not the true faith,
since it is infused by God, without a doubt it is given by free
gift; and where through true faith, there is a profession of
true Christianity, the truth is accompanied by salvation.
Whoever will have deviated from the true faith will not have
the grace of true salvation. Accordingly, the faithful soul

1. Hab 2.4.
2. 1 Tm 1.5.
426 FULGENTIUS

must not be slow to ask questions if he perceives in his own

mind something uncertain in the mystery of faith, and,
above all in the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, through
which righteousness is given to the impious, life to the dead,
health to the sick, and the grace of true freedom to prison-
ers.
2. Therefore, you have written to us your words that, while
at the table of my Christian son of the Catholic Church,
Eventus, a discussion arose about the Incarnation of God,
one of you asserted this about the Incarnation itself, that not
God the Father but God the Son took on flesh. And another
said, “God himself who is one in three deigned to assume
flesh in order that he might lead to freedom our servitude
by which we were being held bound because of the trans-
gression of our father Adam.” Then you say that you wish to
know whether God the Father himself descended and took
on flesh or, with himself remaining, he commanded the
Word who assumed flesh. You say that you also know that the
Word became flesh that he might dwell among us. At that
point you add these words, saying, “But between the Word
who is God and the Father who is God, one majesty of both
descended to take on flesh, because we read,” you say, “‘This
is our God; no other can be compared to him . . . afterward
he appeared on earth and lived with humankind.’3” Then
you add and say that “When we brought this testimony to
the forefront, he, to the contrary, said this, ‘He said this con-
cerning the Son, not God the Father.’” And you, at that mo-
ment, said to him that because you are equally ignorant, you
will have recourse to us. With the gift and help of God, an
answer must be given now by us to this question which is
found in the first part of your letter; when that is finished, it
will not bother us to reply to the other question insofar as
God gives it to us to do so.
3. To start with, every Catholic Christian must know that
there is one God, the Holy Trinity, i.e., the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit; that the Trinity itself which is one God,

3. Bar 3.35, 37.

 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 427

is indeed one in nature, not, however, one in person. The

fact that it is said that the one God is the Trinity is a truth
and that he is not called the Father who is called the Son or
who is called the Holy Spirit is, nonetheless, true. The one
God is the Trinity because the Father does not have one na-
ture and the Son another and the Holy Spirit a third, but
the Trinity itself is one nature, God. Nor are the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit one person, but the person of
the Father is of the Father only, and the person of the Son is
of the Son only, and the person of the Holy Spirit is of the
Holy Spirit only. In person, therefore, the one who is the Fa-
ther is not the Son and the one who is the Son is not the
Holy Spirit. What the Father is by nature, this the Son is, this
the Holy Spirit is, because in nature the Trinity is one God;
where neither greater nor lesser is spoken of because none
is prior to another, nor found to be later. There the eternity
and immensity belong just as much to each person as they
do to the three persons in nature. It is the Father alone who
begot the Son; only the Son who is born of the Father; it is
only the Holy Spirit who is neither born of the Father nor
begot the Son but proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Therefore, the Father is Father only of the Son and the Son
is the Son only of the Father, but the Holy Spirit is not of the
Father only nor of the Son only, but the Holy Spirit is at the
same time one and common to the Father and the Son.
4. Therefore, in this Trinity, there are certain things prop-
er to the individual persons. By these properties, the persons
are shown but are not separated. The nature of these prop-
erties is this that, though they are inseparable, they cannot
be confused, but the individual properties remain in each of
the persons for this purpose, that they show forth both the
unity of nature of the true Trinity and the Trinity of persons
of true unity. It is the property of the Father alone that he
was not born but begat; it is the property of the Son that he
did not beget but was born; it is the property of the Holy
Spirit that he neither begat nor was born but proceeded
from the begetter and the begotten. Just as the eternal gen-
erating of the Father is without beginning, and the eternal
428 FULGENTIUS

birth of the Son without beginning, so naturally the eternal

procession of the Holy Spirit is without beginning. Like the
eternity of God the Father which remains without a begin-
ning, such is the birth of the Son and the procession of the
Holy Spirit, so that both that birth and that procession are
co-eternal with the origin, where a beginning can never be
found. Since, therefore, that truth of the Trinity in nature
has this in itself, that being born is proper to the Son alone,
the one who alone has in himself the true birth from the di-
vinity of the Father, is alone found to have the true birth in
humanity from the virgin. To him it was according to the
true flesh to have a mother by nature, who according to his
divinity has a true Father by nature. Accordingly, the one
who is begotten without beginning from the eternal Father,
the Son is born in time from a time-bound mother; there-
fore, not only in his divinity but also in the flesh is he truly
called the only-begotten Son of God, because he alone is be-
gotten both according to the divinity and according to the
flesh.
5. The property of the sole, only-begotten of God is each
birth, one from the truth of divine nature, the other from
the grace of humanity assumed. So the blessed evangelist
John asserts that the only-begotten of the Father is full of
grace and of truth. Accordingly, that death-dealing and in
all ways diabolical blasphemy must be feared by which it is
believed or said that the Trinity itself at the same time took
on flesh. This the Catholic faith does not accept but the
wickedness of the Sabellian error invented. For Sabellius
knew that it was preached, with the Scriptures bearing wit-
ness, that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not
three gods but one true God. He heard what was true so that
he might beget from himself what was false. Finally, because
he knew that there was one nature of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit, he did not scruple to preach one person
of the same nature. He was cast down by the madness of his
error to this point, that he asserted that the Father himself
was born of the virgin. Of necessity, it followed that as he at-
tributed to the one the truth of human birth, to the same he
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 429

assigned the truth of the passion and death. The Catholic

Church has named the followers of the same Sabellius, not
only Sabellians, but also Patripassians, and has condemned
them along with their author with the bond of anathema.
6. Let this perversity be far from the faithful, nor may
God permit anyone redeemed by the blood of his only-be-
gotten Son to be thus profaned by the death-dealing sense
of faithlessness. It is a matter of great impiety if anyone ei-
ther wishes to proclaim one person because of one nature in
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit or, because of
the three persons, asserts three natures as well. Inasmuch as
he who asserts that there is one person of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit is caught in the snare of the Sabel-
lian error; on the other hand, the one who confirms that
there are three natures of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit is entangled in the cords of Arian faithlessness.
And although the assertion of each form of infidelity seems
different, the condemnation for each type of impiety is one.
Because of the unity of nature, what is proper to the persons
is impiously confused; no less impiously is unity of nature
broken up because of the properties of the persons. The Fa-
ther has one true Son by nature and born of him without a
beginning and of the virgin in time. He sent him into the
world that the world might be saved through him. The Son
himself shows this when he says, “For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever be-
lieves in him will not be condemned but whoever does not
believe has already been condemned because he has not be-
lieved in the name of the only Son of God.”4
7. See how in this text our Savior himself says three times
that he is the Son and twice named the only-begotten. He as-
serted that he had been sent by the Father to save the world;
since, if the Trinity itself had come in the flesh as the same

4. Jn 3.16–18.
430 FULGENTIUS

time, the Son would not have said that he had been sent by
the Father. Because Christ could not lie, without a doubt
one person did the sending and the other was sent. The true
Father sent the Truth which he begot; he sent Wisdom in
which he made all things; he sent the Word which he wrote
in the heart. Accordingly, in that sending, the coming must
not be thought of as spatial, as if the Son of God had been
sent to earth from heaven, so that he was not on earth be-
fore he received flesh or deserted heaven when he took on
flesh for our salvation. Since he is the wisdom of God con-
cerning which it has been said: “It reaches mightily from one
end of the earth to the other and orders all things well,”5
that divinity which by nature is one of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, thus is not spatial, just as it is not
temporal; it is not confined in a space, just as it does not
change with time. That divinity by nature is infinite and eter-
nal; it did not begin at some initial point nor is it confined in
a space. Therefore, the one God, the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,6 fills up the whole, contains the whole;
as the whole is in each thing, so the whole is in everything;
as the whole is in small things, so the whole is in the largest
creatures. This is true of nature but not of grace. When it
creates human beings, it does not by the same act save them.
While it makes them, it does not by the same act remake
them. While it makes that sun to rise over the good and the
evil, it does not do the same when the sun of justice rises on
those on whom the light, not of the flesh but of the heart, is
poured by the gift of prevenient mercy. As it belongs to all to
be born through nature, it does not in the same way belong
to all to be reborn through grace. Since the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit by nature are one God, eternal and
infinite, there is nothing in heaven, nothing on earth, noth-
ing above the heavens, nothing in any nature which he
made that has not been made, where the same one God, Fa-
ther, Son, and Holy Spirit, could be missing. In God, just as

5. Wis 8.1.
6. There is a printing error in CCL XCI.317, line 160, ‘Spiritus’.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 431

there is no mutability of times, so there is no spatial capacity.

As Solomon truly said at the dedication of the Temple in
these words, “Even heaven and the highest heavens cannot
contain you, much less this house that I have built.”7
8. Therefore, the ineffable God, and altogether mar-
velous ineffably and marvelously, by the infinity of his na-
ture, both is wholly in individual things and not confined by
all things. Thus the Father alone, thus the Son alone, thus
the Holy Spirit alone, thus the Trinity all at once is one God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because neither is there the Fa-
ther alone without the Son or the Holy Spirit, nor the Son
alone without the Father or the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy
Spirit alone without the Father or the Son. Accordingly, it
must be very carefully thought out, how the Son could be
sent into the world, he who could not be lacking to the
world; or how he came into the world whence he never de-
parted, since the one to whom it is natural to fill up the
whole can neither withdraw for a while nor enter in. That
nature of infinite divinity neither is stretched to fill up what
was empty before nor is it contracted to empty what it had
filled. Such is the power of the Creator and such the condi-
tion of every creature that while, unless he created it, no
substance could exist, so, unless he sustained it, no sub-
stance could continue to exist. Accordingly, because accord-
ing to his divinity, God does not move from one place to an-
other, the truth of the Christian faith holds this, that as the
Son of God is believed to have come into the world, so it is
known that he accepted the form of a servant. For the Son
of God thus came into the world, when, preserving his
equality of nature with the Father, he deigned to become a
sharer in the substance of his mother; when he became
human, preserving his divinity; he came into time, preserv-
ing his eternity; he came into a certain place, preserving his
infinity; he became changeable, preserving his immutability;
he became mortal, preserving his immortality.
9. But the coming of the Son of God is not always to be

7. 1 Kgs 8.27.
432 FULGENTIUS

understood in one and the same way. For he comes in one

way with the Father sending him; in another way, he deigns
to come with the Father. Since he deigns to come as an
equal with the Father, when sent by the Father, he came, di-
minished, a little less than the angels; he is known to have
come once, sent by the Father; with the Father, he deigns to
come innumerable times. For he set neither the way nor the
number of his comings when he said, “Whoever loves me
will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will
come to him and make our dwelling with him.” 8 According-
ly, that coming by which the Son alone comes into the world
once sent by the Father was manifested not only to the good,
but also to the evil; to some that they might believe, to oth-
ers, that they might crucify him; to some, that they could be
freed from sin, to others, that they could not have any ex-
cuse to offer for their sins. The Apostle shows that believers
have been freed from sin, saying, “But now that you have
been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the
benefit that you have leads to sanctification and its end is
eternal life.”9 The Savior himself has shown that unbelievers
can have no excuse for their sin when he says, “If I had not
come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it
is, they have no excuse for their sins.”10 Nor would the Jews
have the sin of unbelief, if the presence of the Savior had
not been made known to them. Therefore, that coming by
which the Son was sent into the world once by the Father
was for the fall and rise of many. He, when he comes with
the Father, is concerned only with the rise of many because
the love which covers a multitude of sins merits him. At that
coming by which the Son was sent by the Father, he came
once in the fullness of time. But in the one when he is accus-
tomed to come with the Father, from the beginning to the
end of the world, he has not ceased nor does he cease now
to come to those to whom it was and still is fitting. Hence it
8. Jn 14.23. This is the key text for the doctrine of the divine indwelling. On
this see, DSp 7/2, cc.1735–67, ‘Inhabitation’.
9. Rm 6.22.
10. Jn 15.22.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 433

is that before he came in the flesh, the prophets asked for

his coming, saying, “Stir up your might and come to save
us.”11 They would never seek the future coming of the Son of
God, if they did not have within them the grace of the same
one who comes and abides.
10. They who do not believe in the equality of the Father
and the Son altogether reject for themselves that coming of
the Son and the Father. When they come, they construct
one dwelling within the one who loves them. But there can-
not be one simple dwelling for them, if the love is diverse.
But if they are unequal, it is necessary that they be loved un-
equally. In a simple heart, one single dwelling cannot be pre-
pared for the unequal. Scripture warns us when it says,
“Think of the Lord in goodness and seek him with sincerity
of heart.”12 How is God sought in simplicity of heart when a
difference of love is accepted in God the Father and God
the Son? Or how is there a simple love of a human being for
God if there is thought to be a diversity in the divinity itself?
That divinity which is believed to be simple in nature is
loved with a simple heart. But when a diverse divinity is wor-
shipped, not simplicity, then duplicity of heart is shown
forth. Therefore, that faith is not true but false. “For a holy
and a disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave
foolish thoughts behind.”13 A duplicitous heart is convicted
when someone thinks that not a single divinity must be wor-
shipped by the faithful or when he thinks that the nature of
the Son is not the same as that of the Father. So, if someone,
feigning goodness for his neighbor in words and doing evil
in his heart, is said to be a duplicitous heart, how is the one,
who under the guise of truth either believes or says false
things about God, not held by the sin of a duplicitous heart?
In that highest divinity, to divide what is by nature one and
to fashion a greater and a lesser God, it is most certain that
this belongs to the wickedness of a duplicitous heart. Holy
Scripture says, “Woe to the duplicitous of heart and to

11. Ps 79.3 LXX; Ps 80.2. 12. Wis 1.1.

13. Wis 1.5.
434 FULGENTIUS

wicked lips, and hands that do evil, and to the sinner who
walks the earth on double ways.”14 And because to think of a
difference in divinity for the Father and the Son is not to be-
lieve in God (because he worships one God who does not
worship another one altogether, and he believes in one God
who does not believe there is another God), therefore, the
same text of Scripture follows up by saying, “Woe to those
who do not believe in God because they are not protected by
him.”15 Hence it is that our Savior as well, pointing out one
divinity and sovereignty, says, “No one can serve two mas-
ters.”16 We read that “The Lord, he is God.”17 Whence it is
certain that with true faith and sincere love, no one can
serve either lords or gods. One is the God of gods and Lord
of lords; wherefore, he alone must be worshipped because
he alone is by nature the true Lord, who is the Trinity, Fa-
ther, Son, and Holy Spirit.
11. Therefore, that we may seek God in simplicity of
heart, let us not believe in our heart in any difference in di-
vinity in the Father and the Son. But in order that true sim-
plicity of heart can remain in us, let that faith remain in us
by which the oneness of the Holy Trinity is believed and di-
vinity without difference is preached. Thus will the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit deign to remain with us
when they come. For one is the coming of the Holy Trinity
to its lover because God comes invisibly and constructs his
dwelling invisibly. Remaining with his lover, he increases the
love because of which he makes his abode in the person. He
comes because he is loved and when he comes, he brings it
about that he is loved more.
12. I have said these things that you may know of the na-
ture of the coming of the Son when he was sent by the Fa-
ther and the nature of the coming of the Son when he
deigns to come with the Father. Because just as in the for-
mer coming, he was made a human being, he is acknowl-
edged as less than the Father; so in the latter coming, he re-

14. Sir 2.14. 15. Sir 2.15.

16. Mt 6.24. 17. Ps 99.3 LXX; Ps 100.3.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 435

mains God, equal to the Father. The Holy Spirit is also said
to come since it too is one God with the Father and the Son,
by nature, eternal and infinite, without whom neither can
the Father come nor the Son. He who has charity in his
heart can love the Father and the Son. “The love of God has
been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
that has been given to us.”18 Therefore, the Father and the
Son never come to their lover without the Holy Spirit; be-
cause, in order that they come, they are given the charity by
which they are loved by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The com-
ing in common of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spir-
it is always invisible; they do not move from one place to an-
other but because the Trinity itself, one God, deigns either
to give the grace of charity which it may increase or to in-
crease what it gives. The Son came in another way when the
only-begotten God became a human being for us. He who
did not receive the person of a human being into his own
person of his divinity but the nature of a human being. We
also know that the Holy Spirit has come visibly in the form
of a dove; but in a very different way, i.e., not in that way in
which the Father and the Son come to their lover, not with-
out the Holy Spirit, nor in that way in which the Son alone
came into the world, according to which he marvelously and
in a singular way took up our nature into the person of his
divinity. For the Holy Spirit did not take the form of a dove
in the way the Son took the form of a servant; nor was the
Holy Spirit made in the likeness of doves as the Son was
made in the likeness of human beings. Therefore, the Holy
Spirit came in the appearance of a dove, not, however, tak-
ing up a dove into a unity of person. Nor did the nature of
doves have to be redeemed thus through the Holy Spirit, as
the nature of human beings was redeemed through the Son.
For the Son took up this nature, which he was without a
doubt going to redeem, into the unity of his person. And
since his humanity is never separated from the Son of God,
consequently he rules over all angels and all human beings

18. Rm 5.5.
436 FULGENTIUS

in heaven or on earth. According to his human nature, the

Son of God “humbled himself, being obedient to death,
even death of a cross,”19 according to which nature, God “ex-
alted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of
those in heave and on earth and under the earth; and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.”20
Therefore, when the fullness of time had come, “God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”21 Why this
was done, the Apostle subsequently shows, saying, “To ran-
som those under the Law, so that we might receive the adop-
tion of sons.”22 Therefore, human nature was taken up by the
Son of God. The only-begotten God became a human being
so that divine adoption might be given to us through him, in
order that because that human being is true God by the nat-
ural truth of his divinity, we too, because we are his brothers,
might become children of God, not because of any merits of
ours, but because of his grace.
13. The Holy Spirit, coming in the form of a dove, did not
become a dove, as the Son became a human being; but,
through the form of a dove, he showed that love is to be
given to us by his gift. For “the love of God has been poured
out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been
given to us.”23 Later he also appeared in tongues of flame but
this too he did as a sign of that very charity which he granted
us. For because “the aim of this instruction is love from a
pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith,”24 and “For
in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
counts for anything, but only faith working through love,”25
this is that simplicity of heart which is signified in the dove,
by which that which we believe in the heart for justification,
we must in trust confess with the mouth for salvation. There-
fore, the dove shows simplicity of faith and charity that we
19. Phil 2.8. 20. Phil 2.9–11.
21. Gal 4.4. 22. Gal 4.5.
23. Rm 5.5. 24. 1 Tm 1.5.
25. Gal 5.6.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 437

may rightly believe in God and love God and neighbor pure-
ly. The fiery tongue signifies the confession of the true faith
and an admonition to holy charity. Therefore, that dove in
whose form the Holy Spirit came above the baptized Christ
was made to signify something and was immediately dis-
solved. Therefore, only the Son took up human flesh and a
soul. To him alone belonged the divine birth by nature. And
who alone was born of the Father, alone could be born of
the virgin as well. Unless he was a human being coming
from a human being, he was not a sharer in our nature.
Therefore, it came about that he received true flesh from
the flesh of the virgin, so that a true communion of nature
remained for us with him. For how could he take up either
the ancient fathers or human beings from any time into a
communion of his divinity, if he did not have a natural com-
munion of the flesh with them?
14. Therefore, the Son of God not only deigned to be-
come a human being but also to come from human beings.
Hence what the Apostle says, speaking of Christ, “Surely, he
did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham;
therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every way,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before
God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself
was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those
who are being tested. Therefore, holy brother, sharing in a
heavenly calling, reflect on Jesus, the apostle and high priest
of our confession who was faithful to the one who appointed
him.”26 Hence there is that which he says again in another
text of the same letter: “Every high priest is taken from
among men and made their representative before God, to
offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”27 Such was that high priest
in order that he offer himself up for us as an offering and
victim to God as a pleasant odor for the reconciliation of the
human race. Hence it is that “while we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.”28 In

26. Heb 2.16–18, 3.1–2. 27. Heb 5.1.

28. Rm 5.10.
438 FULGENTIUS

order that the blessed Apostle show that Christ, the Son of
God, took the origin of his flesh from that one man, from
whom the unity of nature has propagated all human beings,
he says in another place, “He who consecrates and those
who are being consecrated, all have one origin. Therefore,
he is not ashamed to call them ‘brothers’ saying I will pro-
claim your name to my brothers.”29 But he says this about us,
he who according to the flesh was both born and suffered
for us. He, who became a sharer in our nature so that he
might come into being from that one from whom we all
have come into being, took his origin in the flesh from that
one from whom we all take our origin. But if the Trinity had
taken up flesh for us, since through a communion of the
flesh we have become brothers of him who became incar-
nate, now we would be not only sons of God the Father but
also brothers of the entire Trinity; and the one whom we
have as a Father in heaven, a human birth would have made
a brother for us as well.
15. It is a great absurdity to imagine him as begotten in
time, to whom it is proper not to be born in eternity, but to
have begotten. Therefore, it befits the true faith to confess
not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit but the Son, just as he
alone was born of God the Father, so he alone is born of the
virgin Mary. Since, therefore, only the Son of God took on
flesh, he made us sons of God and, freed from the slavery to
sin, he gave us back to true freedom. And because only the
Son of God was born of the virgin, therefore, he alone was
handed over for us, as the Apostle bears witness that “God
did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all.”30
For concerning the Son himself, he says, “Insofar as I now
live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has
loved me and given himself up for me.”31 And in another
text, he also says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Fa-
ther and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins
that he might rescue us from the present evil age in accord

29. Heb 2.11–12. 30. Rm 8.32.

31. Gal 2.20.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 439

with the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for
ever and ever.”32 Therefore, just as the Father handed over
the son, so the Son handed himself over, and just as the Son
gave himself, so also the Father gave him, as the Son says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him might not perish but
might have eternal life.”33
16. Therefore, since all these things are known, things by
which it is clearly shown that the Son alone took on flesh for
our salvation and he alone was handed over for our sins and
bore the punishment of the passion and death, God forbid
that any of the faithful say that God the Father either was
born of the virgin or was handed over for us. These things
belong to the Son alone who, just as he deigned to be born
in time for us, so deigned to die for us. If anyone attributes
to God the Father the taking up of flesh, let him pay atten-
tion to that place in the Gospel especially, because God who
took on flesh most frequently calls himself not only the Son
of man but also the Son of God. He said to the man born
blind whom he had illuminated, “‘Do you believe in the Son
of God?’ He answered and said, ‘Who is he, sir, that I may
believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him and
the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘I do believe,
Lord’ and he worshipped him.”34 Also to the Jews, he speaks
as follows: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are
gods.’ If it calls them gods to whom the Word of God came
and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”35 Also in
another text, he called himself at the same time both the
Son of Man and the Son of God, saying, “And just as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have
eternal life.”36 When immediately that which has already

32. Gal 1.3–5. 33. Jn 3.16.

34. Jn 9. 35–38. 35. Jn 10.34–36.
36. Jn 3.14–15.
440 FULGENTIUS

been cited by us in this work, the Savior himself added con-

cerning himself, in which he called himself the Son of God,
saying, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world but that the world
might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will
not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has al-
ready been condemned, because he has not believed in the
name of the only Son of God.”37 And when he named him-
self the Son of Man, saying to his disciples, “Who do people
say that the Son of Man is?”38 And having heard the diversity
of human opinions, of those namely who, concerning truth
itself, fashioned for themselves of their own free will a death-
dealing lie, he said, “But who do you say that I am?”39 In an-
swer Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living
God,”40 for which he deserved to be called blessed, so, with
the Lord responding, “Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah,
for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my
heavenly Father.”41
17. Hence it is that he also bears witness that after the res-
urrection he is going to ascend to his Father in these words:
“I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.”42 If, therefore, the God who took on flesh is himself
claimed to be God the Father, it is necessary that another be
claimed to be the Father of the Father himself and hence
God the Father also had a Father, to whom he said, “Father
. . . give glory to your Son, so that your Son may glorify
you.”43 And from this sacrilegious interpretation full of blas-
phemies, one also falls back into this, that now there is
thought to be not one, but two Fathers, i.e., one the Father
of the Son, whom truth knows, and the other, the Father of
the Father, whom foolishness concocted. Here the Apostle
confesses that there is one God the Father: “For us there is
37. Jn 3.16–18. 38. Mt 16.13.
39. Mt 16.15. 40. Mt 16.16.
41. Mt 16.17. 42. Jn 20.17.
43. Jn 17.1.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 441

one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for
whom we exist.”44 And in another place: “One God and Fa-
ther of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”45 Al-
though the Son is by nature one God with him, still accord-
ing to the persons, one is the Father, the other is the Son.
The blessed John clearly shows these persons when he says,
“Everyone who loves the Father loves the one begotten by
him.”46 Likewise, he says, “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”47 And a
bit later, to show that flesh was taken up by the Word alone,
he says, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us.”48
18. God the Word became flesh, not God with whom the
Word was; because the only-begotten who is in the breast of
the Father, as he is flesh, is full of grace, and as he is the
Word, he is full of truth. This one is the Word become flesh
that dwelt among us. Concerning him the prophet also says,
“This is our God; no other can be compared to him. He
found the whole way to knowledge and gave her to his ser-
vant Jacob and to Israel whom he loved. Afterward she ap-
peared on earth and lived with humankind.”49 True faith ac-
cepts this testimony as spoken only of the Son. For he was
seen on earth according to the flesh, and lived among
human beings. Whence the holy evangelist Matthew with
words altogether befitting prophecy says that Jesus lived with
his disciples. He says this: “As they were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be handed over to
men, and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third
day.’”50 Therefore, he had come to be killed for us. How
would he be killed, if he were not handed over? Or how
would he be handed over, if he were not held? And how
would he be held, if he did not live with human beings, or
how would he live with human beings, if he is not seen on
earth? How would he be seen, if he were not born? But how
44. 1 Cor 8.6. 45. Eph 4.6.
46. 1 Jn 5.1. 47. Jn 1.1–2.
48. Jn 1.14. 49. Bar 3.36–38.
50. Mt 17.21–22.
442 FULGENTIUS

would he be born, if he were not conceived, flesh from

flesh? If all these things did not come to pass, the plan of the
Lord, which remains unto eternity, would never be carried
out. With that plan useless, no grace of salvation would be
conferred on us sinners. And how would that be a true name
in him, by which he is called Jesus? For this is interpreted as
Savior. Wherefore the angel, telling Joseph that Mary was to
give birth to a son, also added this: “You are to name him
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”51 To
Mary herself, the angel spoke as follows: “Behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name
him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most
High.”52 Therefore, God the Father is not born of the virgin
seeing that he whom the virgin bears will be called Son of
the Most High. Since the Father is one and the Son is anoth-
er and the Holy Spirit a third, so he who by nature is Son of
the Most High, from the eternal divinity of the Father, the
same Son of the Most High, according to the true faith is
called the one from the virgin.
19. Do not be upset by what the prophet said, speaking of
the Son alone, “This is our God, no other can be compared
to him.”53 From what he said about no other being com-
pared to him, no one should think that, as concerns the per-
son, the Father is the same as the Son. The blessed Jeremi-
ah, filled with the Holy Spirit, says, “This is our God. No
other can be compared to him.” Since he said first, “This is
our God” that in this we might know not to compare anoth-
er to him because there is no God apart from him. Thus by
nature there is no other God apart from the Father, thus
there is no other God apart from the Son, nor is there an-
other God apart from the Holy Spirit, because the Father is
not one God and the Son, a second God, and the Holy Spir-
it, a third God, and apart from this God of ours there is no
other God. Accordingly, the Father is our God in such a way
that there is no other in comparison to him; the Son as well

51. Mt 1.21. 52. Lk 1.31–32.

53. Bar 3.36.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 443

is our God in such a way that there is no other in compari-

son to him; no less the Holy Spirit as well is our God in such
a way that there is no other in comparison to it because
apart from this one God, there is no other God. Concerning
him, David says, “For who is God except the Lord? And who
is a rock besides our God?”54 And he says of himself: “See
now that I, even I, am he; there is no God besides me.”55
Concerning this the blessed James as well says, “You believe
that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that
and tremble.”56
20. Therefore, by nature no other God will be compared
to the Son because no other God will be compared to the Fa-
ther nor will any other God be compared to the Holy Spirit.
In their persons, however, the Father is one, the Son anoth-
er and the Holy Spirit, a third; nor is the Father himself the
one who is the Son nor the Holy Spirit himself the one who
is the Father or the Son; but one and the same God the Fa-
ther and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For the Son himself
shows that the Father is different in person and the Holy
Spirit is different also, saying, “But there is another who tes-
tifies on my behalf and I know that the testimony he gives on
my behalf is true.”57 And lest anyone think that this was said
about John, a bit later he says, “But I have testimony greater
than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accom-
plish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that
the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me
has testified on my behalf.”58 He also says that the Holy Spirit
is a different person when he says, “If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he
will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the
Spirit of Truth.”59 Concerning whom he also says in another
text, “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from
the Father, the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Fa-
ther, he will testify to me.”60 But the majesty of the Father
54. Ps 17. 32 LXX; Ps 18.31. 55. Dt 32.39.
56. Jas 2.19. 57. Jn 5.32.
58. Jn 5.36–37. 59. Jn 14.15–17.
60. Jn 15.26.
444 FULGENTIUS

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one which does not
move from one place to another. The highest and true divin-
ity cannot move from one place to another, because it is al-
ways totally present everywhere. The same one majesty of
the Trinity is by nature one infinite divinity. But, as I said
above, the Trinity is one nature in such a way that it is not
one person. Accordingly, the Son, with the infinity of his
majesty, which he has in common with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, remaining, has alone taken up human nature
into the unity of his person. Wherefore, for him, there is no
communion of the flesh taken up with the Father and the
Holy Spirit because the person is not common to the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
21. The Trinity as a whole made that form of a servant
which the Son alone took up into his person. For he alone is
the Word and the evangelist says truly, “The Word became
flesh.”61 And to that Word the Father gave the command to
become flesh, not to some other word. For the Father has
one Word through which he made and makes all things,
through which he said and says all things. This Word was
sent by the Father when the Word became flesh; but in
order that he be sent, the Father did not speak to him with
some transitory words. The eternal Word, born of the Fa-
ther, this is the eternal command of the Father because the
eternal generation of the Son is itself the eternal speaking of
the Father. This Word then is heard by each one, when the
truth of his divinity and Incarnation is recognized. For just
as each person has a word in his heart when he thinks and
this word is not expressed externally unless clothed in a
physical sound, so that when the sound is received, it can
come to the attention of others, although that word is mani-
fested by the sound of the speaker, it is never separated from
the interior of the heart. And so in a marvelous way, it hap-
pens that it all comes to others by means of a physical sound
and yet in a spiritual way it all remains in the heart of the
speaker. So also the Word of God the Father born from the

61. Jn 1.14.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 445

Father, remained in the Father; it would never have been

recognized by us if it had not been clothed with the sub-
stance of the flesh as with a physical sound. Therefore, while
the whole Word came to us when it became flesh, as a spirit,
it remained totally with the Father; equal to the Father from
whom he was born from eternity and, in order that he could
be received by us, lessened, thanks to the flesh accepted.
And through this, the Lord born from the Lord, the Lord
remained in the form of God, and, that he might come to
his servants, from a handmaid he received the true form of a
servant.
22. But certain people, with less understanding of the
mystery of the acceptance of this form of a servant, when
they hear from us that one essence of the Holy Trinity is pro-
claimed, they either deny or doubt that it could have hap-
pened that the Son who is proclaimed by God inseparable
from the Father and the Holy Spirit according to the deity
both alone accepted for us the true form of a servant and
also remained notwithstanding inseparable with the Father
and the Holy Spirit. But without a doubt this seems impossi-
ble to those who do not catch sight of the invisible things of
God through those things which have been made because
they do not understand them. If they were to pay attention
to the common use of human nature, they would find the
right lines of understanding also in that great mystery of
piety. Therefore, since one is the true divinity which in it-
self has three altogether inseparable persons because of
which the Trinity itself is one God, and in creatures there is
no nature inseparable in three persons, let us turn our atten-
tion to what is done in each human person in whom we do
not find three persons in one nature, but two natures in one
person. In a marvelous work of his power, God, from two na-
tures, i.e., from the rational soul and the flesh, has com-
posed the one nature of a human being and has command-
ed the one person of a human being to remain in the soul
and the flesh. Behold in a human being are two natures in
one person, as we say that the Trinity is three persons in one
nature.
446 FULGENTIUS

23. Here let us note that from these two natures remain-
ing in one person, certain things are done in common
which are neither accepted nor possessed in common.
Namely, we find in ourselves that something comes about in
one operation of flesh and soul which we still attribute ei-
ther to the flesh only or to the soul only. For most certainly,
as the flesh alone is fed with bodily foods, so the soul is nour-
ished spiritually by the word of God. And still in order that
the flesh which is made from the earth, be fed with earthly
foods, with the soul cooperating, inasmuch as life comes
from the soul, usefully having one function in itself of work-
ing and another of the soul cooperating with it. In this there
are present at the same time both from life that it may eat
and from foods that it may live. When food is consumed, it is
a work common to the flesh and the soul; although the food
belongs properly to the flesh only. In receiving the word of
God, by which spiritual food the soul alone is fed, in order
that it may attain to the same food, it makes use of the func-
tion either of the eyes or of the ears. An interior feeding is
not achieved without the working of the flesh. Therefore,
just as in this case is found the working of each nature, when
it is a question of receiving one thing, so we believe that the
human nature of the only-begotten God was made at the
same time by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
but, mercifully for our salvation, was taken up by the Son
alone.
24. You add that one of you at the banquet said after-
wards that God did not make flies, fleas, scorpions, and bed-
bugs, but after the fall of the angel, the unworthy Devil, all
these things were made by the Devil himself. And while you
were saying that God made all things and these were very
good, you said that you ought to consult me about this, so
that I might satisfy him about this, whether before the trans-
gression, when God made all things, then these things were
made or whether it was after the transgression of Adam.
These were the words with which you letter ends. There are
two parts to this question. You inquire whether God made
all these things and when he made them.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 447

25. First, therefore, I see that there must be a discussion

as to whether God made these things. Here the blessed John
the evangelist shows us what we ought to believe when he
says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with
God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came to be through him and without him,
nothing came to be.”62 See that the holy evangelist, filled
with the Holy Spirit, in a few words has taught us in a salu-
tary way not only about the Creator but also about the crea-
ture. For what he says, “In the beginning was the Word,” the
orthodox faith understands in two ways, i.e., either that the
Son was in the Father because by nature the Father and the
Son are one principle, or that not only the Father, but also
the Son, is without beginning. Most certainly this is called a
true beginning because it is preceded by no point of origin.
But whatever began to be in the beginning was made by the
work of God creating nor can it have one nature with the
Creator; for this is subject to a beginning, because God cre-
ated it from nothing.
Accordingly, that is rightly said to be in the beginning, to
which it is natural to exist always apart from any beginning
of existence; this eternity without a beginning is true divini-
ty. This is found by nature in the one Son, who was born
from the Father, and in the one Holy Spirit who proceeds
from the Father and the Son. This, therefore, is what the
evangelist is saying, “In the beginning was the Word,” just as
if he were to say, “The Word always was.” Whatever a person
wished to think of as a beginning, he does not find that that
Word began at some time to whom it is natural not to have
begun at some time at the beginning but always to exist in
the beginning. Then saying, “And the Word was with God,”
he shows the nature of the Word is neither temporal nor
spatial. For the Word which was in the beginning has noth-
ing from the beginning of time, it has nothing from a spatial
location, which was with God before every creature subject
to time and space. Then saying, “And the Word was God,” he

62. Jn 1.1–3.
448 FULGENTIUS

shows the one nature of the Father and the Son, while he
said that the Word which was with God was nothing other
than God by nature. The evangelist, speaking first of the
Word, uttered the name of a truly existing person which,
however, is not common to the Father and the Son. For the
Son alone is called the Word.
26. The natural significance demanded that just as the
name of a person, so also the name of the nature be shown
forth in the Word. Therefore, the blessed evangelist subse-
quently added: “And the Word was God,” and thus fulfilled
the duty of holy preaching by introducing not only the per-
son but also the nature of the only-begotten Son of God; so
that also calling the Word by the name of the person, he
might show forth the Son of the Father; and naming God by
the common name, he demonstrated that he was of a single
nature with the Father. Then, in order that from the unity of
the work, the unity of nature might be urged the more, the
blessed evangelist added, “All things were made through
him and without him nothing was made.” Who said this?
Namely, the one who, reclining on the breast of Wisdom it-
self and of the Truth, received the true knowledge of the in-
comprehensible majesty; who, just as he knew that the Fa-
ther and the Son are one God, so also knew that all things
were made by the Father through the Son. Whence, St. John
so universally understood all these things which were made
through the Word that he said, “All things were made
through him and without him, nothing was made.” There-
fore, whoever strives to deny that flies, fleas, scorpions, bed-
bugs, or whatever else by which mortal sensitivity is offended
were made by God so that he may say that they were alto-
gether not made, or if he says they were made but not by the
Father through the Son, what else remains except that he
say that John the evangelist lied in his preaching? For he
said “all things were made through him and without him,
nothing was made.”
27. Therefore, there is nothing which the Father, who
made all things, did not make; nor is there anything which
the Father did not make through the Son, without whom
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 449

nothing was made. Accordingly, whatever something is by

nature, it is necessary that it be assigned among the works of
him through whom all things were made and without whom
nothing was made. Full of the Truth, the evangelist bears
witness that in the teaching of the Holy Spirit, Paul as well,
the vessel of election and teacher of the nations in the faith
and the truth, did not cease to teach us, saying what we have
already cited above: “For us there is one God, the Father,
from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are and through
whom we exist.”63 He took care to explain all these same
things even more clearly in another text: “For in him were
created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers; all things were created through him and for him. He
is before all things and in him all things hold together.”64
Lest anyone, hearing that all things in heaven and on earth
were created through Christ and in Christ, because the sea is
not named here, and he think that those things which are in
the waters are alien to the work of the divine creation, first
of all, let him pay attention to the beginning of Genesis it-
self. There, with God commanding, the waters produce
swarms of living creatures and the birds which fly over the
earth and let him recognize that the creation of the fish and
birds in the waters is the same as the Creator on land of the
trees and grass, likewise in heaven the Creator of the lights
and stars. Just as he knows that God first made the heavens
in which he made the lights and stars, earlier made the
earth which, at his command, produced grass and trees, so
he made the waters from which, as he says, the fish and the
birds equally took their origin. Nor would he create some-
thing from the waters by the Word, if he had not before
made the same waters by the Word. Hence it is that David
was not silent about everything—heaven, earth, sea—with all
that are in them, having been made by God, when he says,

63. 1 Cor 8.6.

64. Col 1.16–17.
450 FULGENTIUS

“Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose

hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.”65 Since, therefore, the au-
thority of the prophet bears witness that the heaven, the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, have been made by
God, Paul the Apostle also asserts that all things in the heav-
ens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or dominions, principalities and powers, were created in the
heavens, by what reason or by what truth does someone not
wish to believe that flies and scorpions, fleas and bed-bugs
have not been created on earth, by the same one whom he
cannot deny the thrones, dominions, principalities, and
powers were created in Christ? Therefore, must that God
who, creating above the heavens, constituted legions of an-
gels, be denied on earth to make scorpions, on the same
earth where he made human beings, beasts and cattle, birds
and fish?
28. What, I ask you, is so displeasing about scorpions that
anyone should think that they are not made by God? For
there is nothing in the body of a scorpion which does not
suggest the praise of the Creator. First of all, that bodily
structure of members, put together and arranged harmo-
niously, the symmetry and equality of the parts, then the
soul giving life and feeling to the body; who would dispute
that these are all good things? Without question, that power
of poison, which is found to be harmful to human beings, is
regarded as something to be dreaded in the body of the
scorpion. Would that from it human beings might learn to
pay attention to the punishment for transgression and cease
lyingly assigning the good works of God to the Devil. For
they little notice how strong among the works of God is the
fittingness of nature, how profitable his way in individual
matters, or how harmful immoderate excess. In cases where
God does not permit a great deal of it, who does not also
praise the works of God in the very chastisements, when he
sees the sinner being punished by divine affliction? For, as it

65. Ps 145.5–6 LXX; Ps 146.5–6.

 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 451

is written, God made the human being straight, whom he

thus set as lord over all the things which he had created on
land and sea, so that he might subject everything to his
power. He demanded the obedience of due servanthood
from the one to whom he had given free choice of will. He
who served his Lord with fitting devotion, also received the
power of unshaken domination over those things to which
he himself was superior. He did not lose anything of those
things he had received so long as he himself paid what he
owed. But, offending the Lord by the transgression of a com-
mand, that recalcitrance which he, as a despiser, showed to
God, he immediately found in his own body, when he, after
he began to be evil, lost control over his own genital organs.
How could he remain the master of all those things which
he had received from God, who, scorning God, had first lost
the rights of mastery over his own bodv? Hence he came to
have a body subject to infirmities and death. From then on,
with just retribution following, it came about that he who
did not fear the death of the soul in sin, feared the death of
the body in pains. Having lost the peace which the blessed
one attained, he, very miserable, was pestered by the tiniest
animals.
29. And so it was that after the sin of the first human
being, because of which human nature is universally subject
to the reign of sin and death, the human being is still master
of camels, horses, cattle, elephants, and other large quad-
rupeds but is upset by the bite of a bed-bug and flea. Al-
though all these animals which are greater in body and have
greater strength, tamely serve the human race, these tiniest
animals which with the greatest of ease can be crushed, held
between only two fingers, can never be reduced to harmless-
ness. It is clear that this has been done by divine judgment,
so that from those animals over which the human race is
master, it might know how great a dignity it had before the
transgression; but from those animals by which it is upset
and harmed, it might know how low it had fallen because of
the transgression. Into our power God has delivered the
greater ones, withdrawn the lesser, at the same time showing
452 FULGENTIUS

what the goodness of the Creator has brought to human be-

ings and what their own wickedness has inflicted on sinners.
Therefore, through the transgression of the first human be-
ings, as the penalty for such a great crime, a severe weakness
of nature has come upon the human race. Not that human
beings might give in to certain evil natures, but that human
weakness might know the punishments and dangers result-
ing from the dysfunction of good natures. That a flea bother
a person and a scorpion kill, this is the result, not of the cre-
ation of evil beings, but of the dysfunction of good natures,
which followed from the justice of the judge, following upon
the wickedness of a recalcitrant person. God, whose true
works and right paths the holy Azariah very rightly confesses
in his prayer, because he is supremely good, all things what-
ever that he makes, he makes well.
30. So it is that by a marvelous work he fittingly makes use
of even the very dysfunction of natures, by which human sins
are punished. Immutable justice which gives to each one his
due, does this so that he causes the dysfunction of one to an-
other of whatever nature, to fit in with his works in every
case. Any nature while it fits in less with another nature for
salvation should not from that be thought evil because it is
harmful. For every nature-qua-nature is good. But often
when problems are brought upon one nature because of an-
other nature, it gives in to the contradiction and weakness
submits. For often even things themselves, i.e., the natures
themselves, only those in which there is usually undoubted
harm, if they are tempered by fitting moderation from the
others, they are changed from being a mortal danger to
remedies for health, something we find first of all in the poi-
sonous animals themselves. For certain people say that when
a sharp, fiery feeling arises in the body, it is rapidly extin-
guished by scorpions ground to a powder and applied. But
since some may think that this is perhaps uncertain or false,
certainly no one is permitted to deny this, that something re-
markable is found in snakes. No one is unaware that vipers
are poisonous by nature. By a poisonous bite, they kill much
more rapidly than scorpions kill with a poisonous sting; and
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 453

still, in order that it be shown that not evilness of natures but

dysfunction harms, we know that from the flesh of vipers,
tempered by some other fitting things, medicines are made
against the bite of vipers. They are usefully applied, not only
for those who are stung by scorpions but also for those who
will be bitten by vipers. Who would not admire the wisdom
of God in this? Who would not glorify his goodness and
praise his providence? He does not shut up66 his compassion
in anger for from the source from which he made dangers
arise for sinners, from the same source he made assistance
available for those exposed to danger, so that from the
source from which we believe there came misfortunes be-
cause of our iniquity, we know that there are gifts from his
goodness as well. Who may make known the praise of the
Creator with adequate words when he so created one and
the same viper that at the same time it bears in itself both
destruction and healing? While living, it brings death but
when dead, it restores health. Who, I ask, does these things,
except the one to whom the Church sings of mercy and
judgment?
31. Who is unaware of how bad the species called scam-
mony67 is for the healthy, if taken by itself, and how useful it
is for the sick if correctly mixed with other types? And in
order that I speak of these things which are always sought by
all and by whose daily use not only illness but even the very
health of human life is found to be in need of, let us speak
of bread and wine, of which neither one is right for the per-
son with a fever. For we observe that the drinking of wine
and sometimes even bread are forbidden by doctors to the
sick. This happens, not because bread and wine are bad, but
because they are not right for the sick person. For later on
when they begin to be appropriate, food contributes to the
strengthening and preservation of health; but their immod-
erate consumption takes away strength from the strong
66. In the Latin text of CCL XCI, 338, lines 846–47, I believe that ‘continet’
is to be preferred to ‘contineris’.
67. Scammony or convolvulus, some types of which produce a milky juice
which is used as a purgative.
454 FULGENTIUS

while it makes the healthy ill. See how important are God’s
way and the coherence of things, for his creatures for whom
lack of moderation and dysfunction are contraindicated.
When nature is damaged, there is not the malice of nature
but resulting illness for them as anyone will easily find, in
the case of almost all creatures, whoever thus considers that
they have been created good by the highest Good in such a
way that he recognizes in them the inexpressible and inde-
scribable goodness of the Creator. Because of this, he must
be loved before all else, he who is bound to be both merciful
and just even in those things we realize are punishments for
our wickedness. He raises up the weak from the same place
he crushes the recalcitrant. Because when pride goes before,
misery has immediately overtaken the person, the merciful
and just God, from the source from which he puts pressure
on pride, from the same source he brings to bear comfort
for wretchedness.
32. So, that son of the Church, who, as you say, proposed
these things, asserting that flies, scorpions, fleas, and bed-
bugs were made not by God but by the Devil, should be care-
ful lest he be deceived and seduced by the death-dealing
cleverness of the Manichees who, stuck in darkness as they
are, strive to bring in a god of light and a god of darkness
and to proclaim two principles by nature, contrary to each
other. Because they say that the nature of light is good and
the nature of darkness bad, they are led by their own error
to this, that they do not hesitate to assert that in all the
things that are in the world, some are good but some are
bad natures. They say that those are bad by which their sens-
es are offended and those good by which they are soothed
by enjoyment, “without understanding” as the Apostle says,
“what they are saying or what they assert.”68 To say something
about light and darkness, whose natures, in principle, they
think are contrary: Is not, first of all, their assertion about
these things false because darkness, which they say is con-
trary to light by nature, in fact has no nature? Light and

68. 1 Tm 1.7. On Manichaeism, see EEC I.519–20.

 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 455

darkness are not two natures. Where there is no light, there

the very absence of light is called darkness by name; just as
the absence of sound is called silence, just as the absence of
clothes is called nudity; just as a vessel into which no sub-
stance either of liquid or anything else is poured is called
empty; just as in ourselves, it is called hunger where there is
no food; it is called thirst where there is nothing to drink.
33. Therefore, all these things which I have recalled and
things similar to them, about which up to now I have re-
mained silent in order to keep a certain moderation in this
discussion, are indeed without a doubt, contraries, not, how-
ever, through their own natures but through presence and
absence, i.e., that contrariety by which either something is
possessed or something is not possessed. Accordingly, al-
though they are contraries, their effects are not always con-
trary; for that physical light which the Manichaeans think is
the principal good, because it is good, since it has been cre-
ated by the highest good, insofar as it is good, that the sub-
stance of life must naturally be given precedence over it. Al-
though it is good, sometimes it does not become salutary but
punishing for those who use it in an unfitting way. It
strengthens healthy eyes but causes pain to sick eyes; it re-
freshes those who are all right and assails those who suffer.
On the contrary, suffering eyes gain some rest from darkness
and when the doors and windows are closed they feel some
relief from that pain which they suffer because of the light
and are strengthened to see the light by a certain fittingness
of the darkness. See how the light is less fitting, the more it
damages; and the darkness is the more fitting, the more it is
helpful and just as the brightness of the light helps healthy
eyes, so the obscurity of the darkness has usually helped
those in pain. Because of this, when something is done in
the right way, the one effect of light and darkness is to help
the eyes. For just as the healthy are aided by the light, so the
ill are refreshed by the darkness. For when the weary are lost
in sleep, in some way they are aided by the darkness so that,
seeing again, by means of light, they are restored, vigorous,
and strong. As for sick and tired eyes, being removed from
456 FULGENTIUS

the good light restores health and strength, so it is for the

whole body, if when it is sick, it is kept from consuming its
usual nourishment. But these are not contrary to the sick
and harmful to them because they are evil by nature but be-
cause they are not right for their illness; for sickness does
not endure all the things which health takes. So often the in-
firmities of the body are made worse by those same things by
which a healthy body is refreshed. So that sometimes a
healthy body is helped by the use of these things which,
taken in excess, are harmful, and when some thing is taken
for reasons of preserving health in an unfitting way, illness
results. The very use of clothing as well, if used in an unfit-
ting way, will be able to harm, not help. Whether because of
some lack or by illness of body, who does not do harm to
himself by using either winter clothes when he feels hot or
summer clothes when it is cold.
34. It is tedious to point out indications of fittingness by
many examples when they cannot be missed by those who
are observant. Accordingly, all natures which exist, which
live, which are conscious, which understand, since they have
been made by God, i.e., by the supreme Good, are good. If
they were not made by the highest Good, they would not be
good; and if they were not good, they would not have any-
thing good in themselves. And first, because life is some-
thing good and such a good that it is loved by all living be-
ings, if there were any nature that was not made by the
supreme Good, it could never exist. I say this concerning an-
imals, i.e., concerning a substance which lives and feels; but
as for those natures which neither live nor feel, this itself—
that they exist—they have from the creation of him who is
good in the supreme degree, because not only to live but
also to exist is good, and what exists in the supreme degree
is the Supreme Good.
35. Therefore, there is no evil nature, whether living or
not living; and because of this, all natures, because they are
natures, are good. But certain of them, although they are
good from the creation of God, have become punishments
for human beings for the punishment of sin, not because of
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 457

their own nature, but because of human guilt. Whence it has

been shown to the person made in the image of God how
much evil he has brought on himself who has been brought
to this, so that the ruin of death is inflicted on him by small
animals. So, in all animals, in all plants, and in all creatures
generally, whatever a human being discerns is deadly for
himself, let him not say that there is an evil nature in them,
but let him recognize in them vengeance for his own wicked-
ness. For we have been brought low by fleas and bed-bugs,
after we were recalcitrant to God; and the sting of the scorpi-
on has become mortal for a human being, after, of his own
accord, he preferred to be wounded by the sting of death.
For “the sting of death is sin.”69 By that sting, the human
race first wounded itself unto death in such a way that he
made it also pass to and through his offspring. This hap-
pened in such a way that even in those in whom the grace of
God overcomes the reign of sin, frequent and multiple dan-
gers from the punishment for sin would not be lacking. So it
is that in this mortal life, even just people and those living
holy lives are not free from troubles and dangers of this kind
because as long as they live in this life, they are not free from
sin. So the blessed John says, “If we say we are without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”70 The holy
Apostle James also bears witness that “we all fall short in
many respects.”71
36. But the sins of the saints are not like those of the
wicked. For the sins of the saints are light; the sins of the
wicked are serious. Among the sins of the wicked, either
human perversity thinks wrongly about God or human lust
brings a person to the desires of the flesh or human cruelty
harms the neighbor. Concerning those who sin against God,
Wisdom says, “But those who miss me injure themselves; all
who hate me love death.”72 Concerning those who live in a
depraved way, the Apostle says, “If anyone destroys God’s
Temple, God will destroy that person; for the Temple of

69. 1 Cor 15.56. 70. 1 Jn 1.8.

71. Jas 3.2. 72. Prov 8.36.
458 FULGENTIUS

God, which you are, is holy. Let no one deceive himself.”73

Speaking about hatred for one’s brother, the blessed John
says, “Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is
still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in
the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. Whoev-
er hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and
does not know where he is going because the darkness has
blinded his eyes.”74
37. The sins of the wicked come about in three ways. Ei-
ther they are bound up with sacrileges or vices or crimes.
For they commit sacrilege when they do not believe rightly
concerning God and depart from the true faith either be-
cause of fear of temporal misfortunes or desire for temporal
advantages or by blindness or perversity of heart alone. They
sin by vice when unrestrained or obscene in themselves; they
live in a shameful fashion. Then they sin by crimes when
they cruelly harm others, either by damages or by some kind
of oppression. The blessed Apostle calls both of them repro-
bate whether sinning capitally in faith or in works, saying
about those who contradict the true faith, “Just as Jamnes
and Jambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose the truth,
people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith.”75 In a
similar way, rebuking those who under the profession of the
true faith live in evil deeds and crimes, he says, “To the
clean, all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and
unbelieving, nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and
their consciences are tainted. They claim to know God but
by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and disobedient
and unqualified for any good deed.”76 But when the saints
sin, they fall in some sin by human weakness or human plea-
sure in such a way that they neither contradict the true faith
in a pertinacious way nor do they pollute themselves with
vices nor do they harm their neighbors by crimes. The
blessed Apostle shows this when he says, “For the grace of
God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject god-

73. 1 Cor 3.17–18. 74. 1 Jn 2.9–11.

75. 2 Tm 3.8. 76. Ti 1.15–16.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 459

less ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly,

and devoutly in this age.”77 In another text, the same blessed
Apostle warns us “not to think more highly of ourselves than
one ought to think, but to think soberly.”78 And so in this tri-
partite division in which he says that we live soberly and just-
ly and devoutly, it seems to me that he lives soberly who does
not follow the pleasures of depravity; he lives justly who
never harms his neighbor and is beneficent toward him inso-
far as he is able; he lives devoutly who for no reason will de-
part the community of the unity of the Church and within
the Church without hesitation holds those things he knows
most certainly belong to the knowledge of the true faith. But
those things of which he is unaware, concerning which he
has doubts, he inquires into with humility and patience
until, if there is something about which he thinks otherwise,
he will come to know it with God revealing it to him.
38. But this sobriety, justice, and devotion which should
be in all the faithful are so linked among themselves that if
one of them is absent, the others which seem to be present
are useless. That sobriety by which anyone abstains from
vices does not save unless it be devout and just, i.e., that it
both believe rightly in God and freely expends on the neigh-
bor what charity demands. Justice, by which each one ex-
pends on his neighbor that which he delights to expend on
himself, is not fruitful if it is not sober and devout. Devotion,
by which there is right belief in God, is dead if either sobri-
ety of morals or charity toward the neighbor is not held.
Therefore, true salvation for the soul is acquired if both de-
votion in faith and justice in charity and sobriety in chastity
and frugality are held.
39. According to the divine words, it is one thing for the
saints to sin and another for the wicked. Hagar,79 the maid-
servant of Sarah, would not have been driven out unless she
had been proud, and Sarah herself would not have been
guilty unless she laughed. The former became proud, seeing

77. Ti 2.11–12. 78. Rm 12.3.

79. See Gen 21.10f.
460 FULGENTIUS

that she had conceived; the latter laughed, doubting that

she would conceive. Each sinned but the sins are not equal.
In one of them human weakness doubted; in the other,
human boldness exalted itself rebelliously. Therefore, Hagar
deserved to be driven out by command of the divine severity,
but Sarah deserved to be blamed by the calm leniency of the
divine voice. And because the sin in that doubting was light,
confirmed by the word of the divine promise, she put aside
the doubt and received most certain faith, through which
she also received the power to conceive, as the authority of
the Apostle bears witness, saying, “By faith, Sarah herself, re-
ceived the power to conceive, even though she was past the
normal age, for she thought that the one who had made the
promise was trustworthy.”80
40. In another text, we have found that the sins of the
saints and of the wicked are not equal. The sins of the for-
mer are light and need to be purged by correction in time;
but the sins of the latter are serious and deserve to be pun-
ished by the endless burning of eternal fire. For at the wa-
ters of contradiction, the sons of Israel sinned in one way,
rebels against God in every way; Moses, in another way, who
contradicted God, not through boldness but through weak-
ness, presumed too little about God’s workings; he became
like the blessed Peter who heard from the Lord: “O you of
little faith, why did you doubt?”81 So the rebelliousness of the
Israelites deserved to be condemned with eternal punish-
ment; but in Moses’s case, the punishment of his sin
amounted to this, that only entrance into the promised land
was denied him. Moses himself has borne witness that the
Lord was angry with him, not on account of his own sin, but
on account of them, saying in Deuteronomy, “Even with me
the Lord was angry, on your account, saying, ‘You also shall
not enter there.’”82 Holy David as well shows that Moses was
afflicted because of the sin of the people. “They angered the
Lord at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on
their account.”83 The people angered the Lord; Moses
80. Heb 11.11. 81. Mt 14.31.
82. Dt 1.37. 83. Ps 105.32 LXX; Ps 106.32.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 461

doubted about a work of the Lord; and because the sins of

anger and doubt were not equal, the holy Moses, although
he was afflicted on their behalf, still he was not condemned
with them to eternal punishment.
41. And in order that we may briefly take a look at some-
thing found in human day-to-day living, from which we may
the more easily take an example, let us have a look at the
souls of baptized men, as well as the women joined to them
in marriage. For the Apostle points out the great mystery of
marriage itself in Christ and in the Church. So a soul faith-
fully cleaving to Christ is just like a wife living faithfully with
her husband. In the very chastity of her marriage, she often
saddens the spirit of her husband but preserves the faith of
the marriage bed with pure chastity. She dispenses her hus-
band’s property prudently and temperately. In this, she both
sins against her husband and still lives chastely and faithfully
with her husband. As human weakness sometimes causes her
to sin in the eyes of her husband, conjugal chastity makes
her happy to remain attached to her husband. But that
woman who, whether leaving her husband’s house or, in the
very dwelling of her husband, becomes involved in adultery,
or wastes her husband’s property, is not judged worthy of
forgiveness, but is held liable to mortal guilt. So the soul
which, giving in to the Devil, is either brought down by infi-
delity or caught up in crimes.
42. Concerning these people, the Apostle says that “nei-
ther fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor boy prosti-
tutes, nor practicing homosexuals, nor thieves nor the
greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor robbers will in-
herit the kingdom of God.”84 But concerning those who sin
lightly, it is said: “for though they fall seven times, they will
rise again.”85 This one is said to sin and still is called truly a
just person. For he does not fall in such a way so as to cease
being a just person because it is written: “Though we stum-
ble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the
hand.”86 Therefore, the Lord is still present to the just per-
84. 1 Cor 6.9–10. 85. Prov 24.16.
86. Ps 36.24 LXX; Ps 37.24.
462 FULGENTIUS

son who falls because he does not sin in such a way that the
Lord departs from him. For the weakness of the flesh, he has
concupiscence, but he does not give in to the concupis-
cence, having been strengthened by the power of the grace
of the Spirit. Concupiscence itself is the law of sin, found
even in the members of the saints, from which, however, the
grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord frees the just
who are his own. Christ who “bore our sins in his body on
the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteous-
ness.”87 When the just person falls, he contracts debts; but
the debts of the just person are such as can be forgiven in
daily prayer, when he truthfully says, “Forgive us our debts as
we forgive our debtors.”88
43. Therefore, the sins of the saints are from necessity of
weakness; the sins of the wicked are from the intention of
the worst will. In the former, the birth of sin is such that the
effect does not follow. Because although it is born through
weakness, it is overcome by the grace of God. The bad will
drives those deprived of the help of grace wherever de-
praved lust leads. Therefore, the faults of the saints are
called sins, not crimes, for which they are corrected by a fa-
ther in such a way that they are not condemned by a judge.
This correction belongs to judgment but a fatherly one by
which God mercifully both judges and beats his children, so
that he snatches them away from the punishment of eternal
damnation. The blessed Apostle, showing this, says, “If we
discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but
since we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so
that we may not be condemned along with the world.”89 The
blessed Peter also affirms this, saying, “For it is time for the
judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins
with us, how will it end for those who fail to obey the Gospel
of God? And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will
the godless and the sinner appear?”90
44. No faithful and wise person calls the faith of the saints
weak, if he sees the distress of any adversity happen to them
87. 1 Pt 2.24. 88. Mt 6.12.
89. 1 Cor 11.31–32. 90. 1 Pt 4.17–18.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 463

in the time of this life. For bodily health and weakness are
found to be common to the faithful and the unfaithful, to
good and evil; and so the adversity of bodily illness touches
both in common, because sometimes health also is given in
time to both in common. The just are distinguished from
the wicked not by the state of their body but by faith and
life. Therefore, at the same time, they bear in the body the
troubles and dangers of the present life which they put up
with in fact with a different intention. They do not groan
equally in the evils of this life because they do not equally
love the good things of this life. The wicked want this: to
have a peaceful life now, without problems, so that they do
not lack transitory and temporal goods. The just hate the
dangers and troubles of the present life so that they may
enjoy God whom they love, seeking true rest in him, in
whom they hope to have eternal blessedness. Accordingly,
they do not love temporal goods, which they know will
quickly disappear. When they use them, they do not seek the
fulfillment of greed but the means whereby charity may be
restored and weakness kept from collapse; they do not seek
from them joy as from personal pleasure but some modest
consolation like provisions for the road when they are avail-
able.
45. And since we are currently discussing the view of that
person who does not believe that flies and scorpions, fleas
and bed-bugs could have been made by God, this also one
must be wary of, lest someone come up with this idea, alto-
gether foreign to the Catholic faith, not from the errors of
the Manichaeans, but from a reading of the divine Scrip-
tures: “. . . the law is good, provided that one uses it as law.”91
He does not use the law legitimately who, concerning the
words of the law, does not understand that which should be
understood. I say this because we read in Exodus that the
rod of Moses which Aaron carried was turned into a serpent
by God’s work; there it is also said that Pharaoh’s magicians,
whom the Apostle calls Jamnes and Mambres, did as much

91. 1 Tm 1.8.
464 FULGENTIUS

so that by magical incantations, their rods were turned into

serpents. Then, when Aaron struck the waters of the river
and they were turned into blood, Holy Scripture recalls that
they did the like by their incantations. Afterwards, when the
waters were struck, and Aaron brought forth frogs which
covered the land of Egypt at once, those sorcerers are said to
have done similar things, relying on their accursed arts. But
afterwards, it came about, that, when the earth was struck,
gnats were produced, the evil of the magical art was not able
to do anything like it. Where first the one who asserts that
flies were made by the Devil, knows that he is a liar, seeing
that the Devil and his angels, even when they were permit-
ted to do other things, failed when it came to flies. So, who
does not see that whether it be serpents from rods or frogs
produced from the waters, that the renegade angels made
them because God permitted it; but gnats, i.e., flies, they
were not able to make because God did not permit it?
46. Sometimes by the hidden and incomprehensible judg-
ment of God, the bad angels are permitted to make certain
things to test the good and seduce the evil. But they them-
selves do not create what they make but they are permitted
to bring forth something which we can see from the hidden
breast of the Creator God, which we cannot see. As the Devil
was not able to create serpents or frogs, although with God’s
permission he brought them forth, just as he was not the
creator of the fire when, to test Job he, with fire falling from
heaven, consumed his sheep together with the shepherds.
Nor was he the creator of the wind, when a wicked wind
blowing out of the desert, struck the four corners of the
house and crushed all the children of holy Job in one simul-
taneous ruin. The omnipotent God alone created the vari-
ous natures, i.e., the elements of this world. In secret and
hidden places, he sets certain seeds of things, hidden to us,
but visible to the angels, from which, as the opportuneness
of the work and time require, by the hidden counsel of his
wisdom, God either commands that certain things be
brought forth by the good angels or permits them to be
shown through the bad angels. By permitting these latter
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 465

things, God shows how much power he has given to the holy
angels when he has given the ability to do certain things in
the material creation even to the wicked angels. And so it is
that our Savior did not stop forewarning his faithful, saying,
“False Messiahs and false prophets will arise and they will
perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that
were possible, even the elect.”92 And the blessed Apostle,
speaking of the Antichrist, says, “And thus the lawless one
will be revealed when the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath
of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of
his coming, the one whose coming springs from the power
of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that
lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing
because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they
may be saved. Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving
power so that they may believe the lie, that all who have not
believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be
condemned.”93
47. By these testimonies and others of a similar nature, we
shall know that all natures have been created by God’s work.
Whenever we are harmed it is not nature that ought to be
declared evil but found unpleasant to us because of our
weakness. Hence the fitting admonition is applied to us so
that with a humble heart, we fear the justice of divine power.
No wise person either believes or says that not only the bad
but even the good angels are creators of natures. For God, as
we said above, made all things in wisdom, which wisdom
“reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and orders all things well.”94 Therefore, he orders all things
because in it the Father made all things. Therefore, just as
God in wisdom created the angels in heaven, so in it he cre-
ated maggots on earth; and he who placed thrones, domin-
ions, principalities, and powers on high, on earth made scor-
pions, fleas, and bed-bugs. He who created the hen, created
the fly as well; but he gave the latter by which the proud one

92. Mt 24.24. 93. 2 Thes 2.8–12.

94. Wis 8.1.
466 FULGENTIUS

is put to confusion; the former by which strength is restored

to the weak. Hence, it is that willingly one gets food from the
former, unwillingly one suffers a feeling of disgust from the
latter; so that at least this one receives not only comfort from
God from the former; but also is forced to recognize what
his sin deserves in the latter.
48. Accordingly, let that person see to it that he is not se-
duced by that name by which Beelzebub, the prince of
demons is called in the Gospel, which is interpreted as
‘Prince of the flies’. This has not been said because the Devil
could create flies; it is one thing to be a prince, another to
be a creator. For the angel, speaking to Daniel the prophet,
says “So, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help
me.”95 And a little later: “There is no one with me, who con-
tends against these princes except Michael, your prince.”96
We find that not only angels but human beings as well are
given the title ‘prince’. For it is written: “The princes of the
peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.”97 And
it is said to the Church: “In place of your ancestors, you, O
king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the
earth.”98 And in the books of Moses, we know they are called
“princes according to the tribes.”99 Even though human be-
ings or angels are called princes, they must not be called cre-
ators, not only of angels and human beings, but even of cer-
tain irrational animals or certain bodies. For even Beelzebub
himself, whose name is interpreted as prince of the flies, is
called prince of the demons; he rules over them as the first
author and instigator of wickedness, not as creator and
founder of their nature. For the evil angels have God as the
maker of their nature; but they have the Devil as the source
of their wickedness. The whole multitude of rebel angels was
made good by God, by whose free kindness they arose in
order to exist; by their own will, they adhered to the Devil,
that they might fall. Accordingly, he is called their prince
not because he created them but because he drew them with
95. Dn 10.13. 96. Dn 10.21.
97. Ps 46.10 LXX; Ps 47.9. 98. Ps 44.17 LXX; Ps 45.16.
99. Cf. Gen 25.16.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 467

him into the fall for their destruction. Therefore, what is

called the prince of flies is shown to be prince of the wicked;
another text of Scripture refers to him by saying, “Dead flies
destroy the perfumer’s sweet ointment.”100 Who destroy ex-
cept those who grieve the Holy Spirit either by the crime of
infidelity or by the filthy obscenity of unclean deeds, while
befouling themselves either with a false faith or an evil way
of life? With great concern, the Apostle forbids this, saying,
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you
were sealed for the day of redemption.”101
49. They destroy in themselves the oil of sweetness, they
who do not make use of the mystery of spiritual grace with
the right order of life. The oil cannot be destroyed by those
who destroy just as the Holy Spirit is unable to feel any sad-
ness when the same ones cause grief in accord with their bad
will. For, concerning the Son of God himself, it is said to the
Hebrews: “Do you not think that a much worse punishment
is due the one who has contempt for the Son of God?”102
Christ is the Son of God, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God, which is never trampled upon, because he is never
stained. Concerning it, it is said in the book of Wisdom: “. . .
because of her pureness, she pervades and penetrates all
things; . . . therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into
her. For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror
of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.”103
Therefore, the evil grieve the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit
cannot be grieved; the evil trample on the Son of God but
the Son of God is never trampled upon.
50. While the evil are said to grieve the Holy Spirit and
trample on the Son of God, the Son of God and the Holy
Spirit each remains ungrievable and untrampleable, just as
the Savior says in the Gospel, “Every one who looks at a
woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in
his heart.”104 If while he is committing adultery, she remains
chaste, how much more does the divine substance of the
100. Eccl 10.1. 101. Eph 4.30.
102. Heb 10.29. 103. Wis 7.24–26.
104. Mt 5.28.
468 FULGENTIUS

Son of God and of the Holy Spirit remain without sadness

and in bliss even though the evil try to cause grief and to
trample!
51. Let none of the faithful say that any nature could have
been created by the Devil at the beginning; lest, while he af-
firms that certain animals arose with the Devil as creator,
they consequently also ascribe those things from which they
take their origin to the workings of the Devil. For certain
types of flies originate either from the excrement of bodies
or from rotten plants or flesh. Often we see some flies born
even from vegetables. The corn weevil is accustomed to exist
in corn. Whoever asserts that animals of this sort were creat-
ed not by God, but by the Devil, why does he not also assert
that wood, grains, vegetables, plants, and flesh from which
they are born, have been made by the Devil? Consequently,
when he sees worms taking their origin, not only from
human cadavers, but also from living bodies, since some-
times the meaning of carnal human mortality is shown by
worms, he will claim without a doubt that the Devil is also
the author of human bodies. But when everyone who be-
lieves rightly and understands rightly, does not dare to as-
sign the origins of any creature to the good angels, how does
he assign the power or ability to create any kind of animal to
that angel cast down and excluded from his divinity by the
vice of his own corruption? This is what no one would dare
to assign to him even if he had remained in the angelic dig-
nity without any vice.
52. Not without purpose at the very beginning of Genesis,
does Scripture, speaking of all things which have been
made, confirm that God made all things, saying of each
thing, “And God made it and God saw that it was good.”105
And he finished all these things on the sixth day in which
nothing could be missing which he made afterwards. Be-
cause God, foreknowing what is to come, just as he knew
that human beings would sin, so, of all the things which he
made, he salutarily prepared not only consolations but also

105. Gen 1.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 469

scourges for him. For it is the same hand of the good father
which gave to his son both food and punishment; the first
that he may live, the second that he may live well; the first
lest he faint from weakness, the other that he, lacking disci-
pline, not scorn his father’s commandments, “for whom the
Lord loves, he disciplines . . . ; he scourges every son he ac-
knowledges.”106 The abundance of temporal goods is of no
avail, if someone, by an evil life, lacks eternal goods. If he
lacks them, it is necessary that he be given over to eternal
evils which he is unable to be without.
53. Therefore, let each one restrain the boldness of his
thought. Just as there are things in which he delights, so also
let him not doubt that these things by which he is offended
were also naturally made by God. His wisdom which reaches
mightily from one end of the earth to the other and orders
all things sweetly,107 shows the beauty of his creation even in
those things which corruption destroys; also, in the tiniest
animals, showing the splendor of each one of its kind. He
made the tiniest flies, however much smaller they are than
the great elephants, they are so much more agile. Although
there is in each such a difference in the size of the members,
there is no difference in the praise for the divine work. For
who is a sound thinker and seeing the invisible things of
God, understood through those things which have been cre-
ated, does not praise God the Creator in the maggot as he
praises him in the elephant? Or would not praise the same
in the flea whom he praises in the cow? For as much as the
spirit is accustomed to praise those markings which the dili-
gent activity of craftsmen accomplished in jewels, with how
much more wonder will the sight look upon even smaller
things?
54. It must be confessed, therefore, that God created all
things. But these things by which human transgression is af-
flicted by the divine will, when it is sought whether they were
created by God before Adam sinned or after he sinned, the

106. Heb 12.6.

107. Cf. Wis 8.1.
470 FULGENTIUS

appropriate answer is that these things, born either from the

waters or from the earth, were established when God creat-
ed them at the very beginning, by the Creator who not only
knew the nature of the human being which he made but
also marvelously foreknew that the same human beings
would sin. Nor did he make those things in such a way that
before sin, the human being would either recognize them as
harmful or fear them. So no touch of an earthly creature
could harm him since, by divine gift, he had been set up as
lord of all things. The transgression of the human being
himself, not the work of the Creator, made these things
harmful and ruinous for a human being. The kindness of
the one who created did not do this but the justice of the
one who judges.
55. Those things which we see arise from the rotting of
flesh or of fruits, we say that they did not arise when in those
six days, God made everything very good; but those things
were made in such a way that in time those other things
might later be born from them. Even human flesh has be-
come subject to that corruption when it is written: “Mortals
cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that
perish,”108 so that the necessity of corruption and death al-
ways dominate the body of the sinner. From those two evils,
the bodies of the just must be freed through the grace of
God; but not in this time in which, just as God “makes his
sun rise on the good and the bad, and causes rain to fall on
the just and the unjust . . . ,”109 so also he caused not only
Herod the unbeliever to be consumed by worms, but also he
permitted his servant Job to break out with sores and worms.
But in the future, the bodies of the just will feel no troubles
of corruption and mortality, when that in them which is cor-
ruptible will put on incorruptibility and that which is mortal
will put on immortality. In that life of the good and that mis-
ery of the evil, whatever will be, whether for the good or for
the evil, will be full and eternal. There consolations will not

108. Ps 48.13 LXX; Ps 49.12.

109. Mt 5.45.
 10. FULGENTIUS TO SCARILA 471

be mixed with sufferings nor will sufferings be added to the

consolations. There the eternity of joys and tortures will re-
main without end. The evil will not hope for joys nor the
good fear sadness. An eternal rejoicing of minds will always
continue in the good, and wailing and gnashing of teeth will
persist in the evil. The company of demons will hold the
wicked for eternity, but equality to the holy angels will take
up the blessed just forever.
56. Accordingly, singing to God of mercy and judgment,
let us not scorn the time of mercy, so that we may come to
the judgment without dread. Let us hope for a judge whom
we know as the Redeemer. Let our works be those for which
eternal rewards are given. Just as we fear and avoid the trou-
bles of the present time, so we must give thought to how
much we must flee eternal punishments. Let us keep away
from evils and do good things; in the time of divine retribu-
tion, everyone will find that which he desires from his works
here, as the Apostle says, “A person will reap only what he
sows because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corrup-
tion from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will
reap eternal life from the spirit.”110 So the same Apostle
warns us, saying, “For if you live according to the flesh, you
will die, but if by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live.”111 Therefore, let us here put to death in
spirit the deeds of the flesh and, dead to sin, let us live for
God. Let not the prosperity of the world corrupt us nor its
adversity break us. In heart, let us migrate from living in this
world, from which we are rapidly going to migrate in the
body; that that heavenly dwelling may receive us, concerning
which the Apostle says that we have an eternal dwelling from
God, a house not made by hands, in the heavens. Concern-
ing this dwelling it has been written: “Happy are those who
live in your house, ever singing your praise.”112 There, just as
there is an eternal dwelling, so there is eternal praise. Those
who live there always praise God because they are always ex-

110. Gal 6.7–8. 111. Rm 8.13.

112. Ps 83.5 LXX; Ps 84.4.
472 FULGENTIUS

ulting about God and in God; and just as for those who give
praise, there is the sweet eternity of a holy dwelling, so the
eternal sweetness of giving praise remains for those who
dwell there.

LETTERS 11 AND 12.

BETWEEN FERRANDUS AND FULGENTIUS

It is generally agreed that the two exchanges of letters between Ful-

gentius and Ferrandus date to the final period of the former’s life, the
time after his return to Africa from the second period of exile in Sar-
dinia. Langlois suggests that chronologically the second exchange (let-
ters 13 and 14) precedes the first (letters 11 and 12).
The main burden of Ferrandus’s question in letter 11 revolves
around the issue of a young man who was proceeding satisfactorily
through the stages of the catechumenate but who became seriously ill
and moribund before the actual conferral of the sacrament. Was his
baptism valid and efficacious? Could even the baptized be saved with-
out receiving the Eucharist?

LETTER 11. THE LETTER OF FERRANDUS

TO FULGENTIUS

e r r a n d u s t h e d e ac o n sends greetings in the

Lord to the most blessed and holy Father, Bishop
Fulgentius, to be received with all veneration.
1. Those who are lacking in earthly goods and who are
not fed by the continual labor of daily work or the industry
of honest artisanship, or perhaps by profitable business, are
accustomed, after hunger has eliminated shame, to seek
their sustenance before the gates of rich people, breathing
prayers, and to assault the kindly ears of noblemen with at
times relentless begging. For beggars know that silence will
get them nowhere. But I, who labor under shortage of the
poor person’s inventiveness and with few cares barking, am
permitted to work for the food of wisdom by daily medita-
tion on the divine text. In addition, being less able with my
 11. FERRANDUS TO FULGENTIUS 473

own strength, i.e., with my discussions or thoughts, to inves-

tigate doubtful things, to explain obscure things, to distin-
guish and define contrary things, I pound on the door of
the heavenly Father with repeated groans. But when again I,
to whom it is opened as quickly as I wish, convict myself of
being unworthy, then with suppliant voice I beseech those
who have received from the inner chambers of the king the
money of my Lord to dispense, that they may deign to re-
lieve our hunger with at least modest resources.
Because you desire to multiply the profits of one of those
talents entrusted to you and you share without consuming
envy the most precious pearl of the heavenly scribe which,
after having expended all you had, as a most faithful mer-
chant, you procured to be generally acquired, possessed,
and enjoyed, bring forth from your treasure, I beg you, out
standing dispenser, at the same time new things and old,
with which you may enrich the needy, feed the hungry,
teach the unlearned, show to the hesitant what road to fol-
low.
2. The slave of a certain religious man, an adolescent in
age, an Ethiopian in color, from, I believe, the furthest parts
of a barbarous province, where the dry parts of human be-
ings are blackened by the heat of the fiery sun, was brought
forward. He had not yet been cleansed by the sprinkling of
the saving bath or whitened by the glittering grace of Christ.
Therefore, because of the zeal of his Christian owner, he was
handed over to the Church to be initiated into the ecclesias-
tical sacraments, becoming, according to custom, a catechu-
men. After a very brief period, as the paschal solemnity was
approaching, he was presented, enrolled, and instructed
among the competentes.1 Knowing and grasping all the venera-
ble mysteries of the Catholic religion, when the scrutiny had
been solemnly celebrated, he was reclaimed from the Devil
by the exorcism. He renounced him without hesitation and,
as custom here required, was brought forward to hear the
Creed. Further, with clear voice, in the sight of the faithful
1. ‘Competentes’: Within the catechumenate, those chosen for baptism on the
next Easter vigil.
474 FULGENTIUS

people, pronouncing the words of the holy Creed from

memory, he received the pious rule of the Lord’s prayer.
Now understanding at the same time both what to believe
and what to say in prayer, he was being prepared for the
coming baptism, when suddenly he was overtaken by violent
fevers and was in agony as the deadly illness grew. The short-
ness of time persuaded us that he should be put off to be
washed at the fountain with the others or, rather, held back.
Why go on with more details? The hour wished for by all ar-
rived, in which the acquired people, buried with their Re-
deemer through baptism, laid aside the old life and, re-
newed, took up the new faith of the Resurrection. Then he,
at his last breath, without a word, without a movement, with-
out senses, unable to answer the priest posing the questions,
was brought forward by presenting hands. Totally absent in
mind, he received baptism, while we answered for him as for
an infant. Dying a little while later, as far as I can see, he
never realized that he had received it in this present life.
3. Now I ask whether the fact that his voice had been
taken away did him any harm as regards the gaining of eter-
nal happiness. For I greatly fear lest the Lord, to whom all
things are possible, denied him the ability to speak because
he judged him unworthy of the blessing of a second birth.
For I do not see how that age, capable of reason, could be
purified by someone else’s confession. Do we not believe
rightly that only children, who we know are damned only be-
cause of original sin, are saved by the faith of those who
bring them? With the divine justice doing this in marvelous
ways so that in some way where one’s own, i.e., actual, sin is
found not at all and one’s own will is not required; but
through the abundance of grace, through the faith of oth-
ers, salvation is given to those to whom guilt has been attrib-
uted. But this man lived by his own free will; beyond that
which he took from his roots, without a doubt he, overcome
by his own concupiscence, contracted many things. Bound
by the chains of many sins, he will not be saved except by his
own freely-willed faith which in that place of redemption, he
neither willed nor was able to confess. Knowing nothing, he
 11. FERRANDUS TO FULGENTIUS 475

was altogether unable to will anything. Or perhaps the past

confession when he was conscious merited the forgiveness of
sins when he was unconscious? But I hesitate to say this lest
someone say to me in truth: Therefore, he would have been
saved, even if he had not made it to the very washing of the
body; since, as you assert, he had deserved the merit of pu-
rification through the mysteries already accomplished.
4. Finally, why do we not also baptize the dead whom sud-
den death often carried away from sacred baptism, though
their will and faithful devotion were known to all? If I am
tempted to agree with someone giving such an answer, from
it the great absurdity follows that people will think that, if
those mysteries alone suffice for conferring the fullness of
salvation, one goes to the water of the eternal font not to be
reborn but already reborn. I see that in this question the
view of the canons can be brought forward. They command
that the sick, “if they are unable to answer for themselves,
but of their own will have spoken their own testimony in
their own danger, are to be baptized.”2 With this definition, I
think it a question more of a command of what the Church
ought to do rather than an indication of what he may re-
ceive. That is, that the minister of the word should be free of
the guilt of negligence, not that he be shown to be partner
and participant of justice. Most of all, because although I see
that many are moved by this matter, often still I am more agi-
tated, hesitating as to what kind of view should be held con-
cerning those who, even if they are legitimately baptized
with sound mind, with death very speedily intervening, are
not allowed to eat the flesh of the Lord and to drink his
blood. Note especially the words of the Savior to the faithful,
saying, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.”3 So we ask
that you instruct us with a swift response, whether it is detri-
mental, how much it is detrimental, or whether it is detri-
mental at all, if someone baptized in the name of the Holy

2. Breviarium Hipponense 32. CCL 149.42.

3. Jn 6.53.
476 FULGENTIUS

Trinity is deprived of the sacred food and drink. Please reply

at the same time to both questions which, by presumption of
charity, we believe must be asked and which, we suggest, will
be very useful for many. May our God deign to preserve your
Paternity for our edification, Sir, always a father to me.

LETTER 12. THE LETTER OF FULGENTIUS TO

FERRANDUS

u l g e n t i u s , servant of the servants of Christ, sends

greetings in the Lord to the venerable and in the
charity of Christ most desired, holy brother and fel-
low deacon, Ferrandus.
1. (I.) Holy brother, I rejoice that the flame of charity in
your heart which is spread through the Holy Spirit is nour-
ished by constantly growing grace; because of it I recognize
something clear in the letter among those many things
which seem doubtful; lest, while there is uncertainty in the
very sacrament of human salvation, it be thought that the
grace of the Savior is given to believers in vain.
2. Therefore, you say that the slave of a certain religious
man, an adolescent in age, an Ethiopian in color, by the zeal
of his Christian masters was handed over to the Church to
be initiated into the ecclesiastical sacraments, and, accord-
ing to the custom, was made a catechumen. Notwithstand-
ing, after a very brief period, as the paschal solemnity was
approaching, he was presented, registered, instructed
among the competentes, knowing and grasping all the venera-
ble mysteries of the Catholic religion. When the scrutiny
had been solemnly celebrated, he was reclaimed from the
Devil by the exorcism, whom he renounced without hesita-
tion, just as the custom of the Church of Carthage, where,
God willing you still serve as a deacon, demanded, he was to
hear the Creed he will profess. Further, with clear voice, in
the sight of the faithful people, pronouncing the words of
the holy Creed from memory, he received the pious rule of
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 477

the Lord’s Prayer. Now understanding at the same time,

both what to believe and what to say in prayer, he was being
prepared for the baptism to come. You say that he was over-
taken by violent fevers and was in agony as the deadly illness
grew. You add that the shortness of time persuaded you that
he should be put off to be washed at the fountain with the
others or, rather, held back. You also say that when the hour
wished for by all arrived in which the acquired people,
buried with their Redeemer through baptism, laid aside the
old life and, renewed, took up the new faith of the resurrec-
tion., then at his last breath, without a word, without move-
ment, without senses, unable to answer the priest posing the
question, he was brought forward by presenting hands. To-
tally absent in mind, he received baptism, with you answer-
ing for him as for an infant. Dying a little while later, as far as
you can see, he never knew that he had received it in this
life.
3. (II.) Therefore, when this story was completed, then
you ask whether the fact that his voice had been taken away
did him any harm as regards the gaining of eternal happi-
ness. Indeed, you testify that you are afraid lest the Lord, for
whom all things are possible, denied him the possibility of
speaking because he judged him unworthy of the blessing of
a second birth. You also say that you do not see how that age,
capable of reason, could be purified by someone else’s con-
fession, since we rightly believe that only small children,
whom we know are damned only because of original sin, are
saved by the faith of those who bring them. With the divine
justice doing this in marvelous ways so that somehow where
one’s own, i.e., actual, sin is found not at all nor is one’s own
will required; but through the abundance of grace, through
the faith of others, salvation is given to those to whom guilt
has been ascribed because of the sins of others. But this
man, as you assert, lived by his own free will, without a doubt
he, overcome by his own concupiscence, contracted many
things beyond that which he took from his own roots. Bound
by the chains of many sins, will he be saved except by his
own freely-willed faith which in that place of redemption, he
478 FULGENTIUS

neither willed nor was able to confess? Knowing nothing, he

was altogether unable to will anything.
4. With these words of yours, from fear of being asked
questions, you bring up other things again, saying that per-
haps the past confession when he was conscious merited the
forgiveness of sins when he was unconscious. But you say
that you hesitate to say this lest someone say to you in truth:
Therefore, he would have been saved even if he had not
made it to the very washing of the body since, as you assert,
he had deserved the merit of purification through the mys-
teries already accomplished. Finally, why do we not also bap-
tize the dead whom sudden death often carried away from
sacred baptism, but their will and faithful devotion were
known to all? Then you add that if you are tempted to assent
to someone proposing such answers, from it the great absur-
dity follows, that people think that if those mysteries alone
suffice to confer the fullness of salvation, then one came to
the waters of the eternal font, not to be reborn, but already
reborn.
5. Finally, lest anyone think that your most vigilant under-
standing and most devout concern were not posing enough
questions, you add that the view of the canons can be
brought forward, the canon which commands that the sick,
if they are unable to answer for themselves but have given
testimony to their will by speaking, in case of danger to
themselves, are to be baptized. But by this definition, you say
that you think that it is a question more of what the Church
must do rather than an indication of what he may receive.
That is, that the minister of the word be free of the guilt of
negligence, not that he be shown to be a partner or a partici-
pant in justice. Most of all, because although you see that
many are moved by this matter, as you say, often still you are
more agitated, hesitating as to what kind of view should be
held concerning those who, even if they are with sound
mind legitimately baptized, but with death very speedily in-
tervening, are not allowed to eat the flesh of the Lord and
drink his blood. Because of the words of the Savior which
are known to the faithful: “Unless you eat the flesh of the
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 479

Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in
you.”1 Then you ask that, with a swift response, I instruct you
whether it is detrimental, how detrimental it is, or whether it
is detrimental at all, if someone baptized in the name of the
Trinity is deprived of the sacred food and drink. Therefore,
since at the same time, charity commands us to reply to
both, it is worthy that charity freely obeys the charity that
gives the command. But we hope that, for paying the debt,
the grace of charity of him by whom charity itself is inspired
will deign to be present.
6. (III.) First of all, it is necessary for us to recall that dec-
laration which the free benevolence of the Savior has pro-
mulgated for all for the salvation of the human race; that de-
claration which the Lord himself, the more tenaciously he
wanted it to inhere in our minds, the more he deigned to
promulgate it at a later time in all his commandments. After
the resurrection, as he was about to ascend to heaven in his
body but would remain on earth with his own in his divinity,
he said these things to his disciples: “Go into the whole
world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not be-
lieve, will be condemned.”2 Well here did the Lord say that
he who believed and was baptized is saved, but he showed
that the one who does not believe must be condemned with-
out hesitation. But in the case of the nonbeliever, no men-
tion was made of baptism. For the one who does not believe,
whether he is baptized or is not baptized, without a doubt,
will be condemned.
7. This statement by which the Lord decided and defined
that every nonbeliever must be condemned with an everlast-
ing punishment, not only those whom the end of this life
finds foreign to the sacrament of baptism, but also there is
no doubt that all heretics must be condemned by divine de-
cision. For if faith, which the blessed Paul, filled with the di-
vine Spirit, asserts is one, it is faith which is true, not

1. Jn 6.53.
2. Mk 16.15–16.
480 FULGENTIUS

feigned, because “the aim of this instruction is love from a

pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith that is not
feigned.”3 How is one said to believe if he does not hold the
truth of the faith? Whatever the spirit of a believer contains
which is known to be foreign to the truth of the faith, of ne-
cessity is a lie. The Lord hates all who do iniquity and will de-
stroy those who tell lies. Wherefore, Wisdom as well says in
Proverbs, “For my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an
abomination to my lips.”4 Therefore, they who do not hold
the truth of the faith in heart and mouth do not receive sal-
vation in baptism. Because of this, although they have the
appearance of piety which consists in the sacrament of bap-
tism, by refusing the power of piety, they receive neither life
nor salvation. But what remains for such people except eter-
nal damnation which, not true, but feigned faith will bring
forth for them? In such people, there is no charity from a
pure heart, because, according to the statement of the
blessed Peter, the Lord purifies the hearts of his own by
faith; nor can there be purity of heart where there is no faith
because that must not be called faith where it is not true.
Since charity from a pure heart is there where faith is not
feigned but true (the heart is purified not by the feigning of
faith but by the truth), it is clear that with the heretics in
whom there is not the truth but the counterfeit of faith,
charity from a pure heart is never found. For how can they
have a good conscience in whom that prince of evil dwells
through unbelief? Therefore, they, unless they are converted
and saved by the truth of faith, will be condemned for the
crime of unbelief because they have not loved him in whom
they did not believe according to the truth of the faith.
There cannot be a good conscience in them where it is clear
a deadly lack of faith has held out against the true faith until
the end of their life.
8. Let no one be moved because the blessed Apostle
called something faith, albeit feigned, because in another

3. 1 Tm 1.5.
4. Prov 8.7.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 481

place, just as he preached one God, so also he preached one

faith. For the blessed Apostle called it that, not according to
the truth of the matter, but according to the opinion of the
nonbelievers. For that which was being preached by the
pseudo-Apostles, the same he also called ‘Gospel’, and the
blessed Paul confirms that it is not the Gospel. In his letter
which was written to the Galatians, this is contained in these
words: “I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the
one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different
Gospel (not that there is another).”5 For how is there anoth-
er Gospel, if not a different one, except that it is different ac-
cording to the error of the unfaithful but not “another” ac-
cording to the truth of the faith? So also faith is feigned by
those who lack faith according to their own opinion, by
whom the true faith which the Holy Spirit gives, is not pos-
sessed. Also the same blessed Apostle points out knowledge
by a false name, saying, “O Timothy, guard what has been
entrusted to you. Avoid profane babbling and the absurdi-
ties of so-called knowledge.”6 Just as that which is called false-
ly by the name of knowledge is not knowledge, so too faith
which the divine spirit has not poured in, but a human spirit
fashions for itself, is truly not faith; and because of this, that
which is called faith according to their own opinion still is
not faith. For we have found even some being called gods in
the sacred words, whom even the divine words themselves
indeed testify are not gods. For it is said in the psalms: “For
all the gods of the peoples are idols.”7 Jeremiah also says,
“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall
perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”8 In an-
other text, those whom he calls gods, he shows are not gods.
For he says, “Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to
Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been
such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though
they are no gods?”9

5. Gal 1.6–7. 6. 1 Tm 6.20.

7. Ps 95.5 LXX; Ps 96.5. 8. Jer 10.11.
9. Jer 2.10–11.
482 FULGENTIUS

9. We find the name of God in the Holy Scriptures, as

many as now come to mind, spoken of in four ways. For God
is spoken of according to the truth of nature, that the Holy
Trinity is one, true, and unchangeable God, who says, “See
now that I, even I, am he; there is no God besides me.”10 And
concerning whom David says, “For who is God except the
Lord? And who is a rock besides our God?”11 This is the one
and only God who alone is God by nature. From this one
true God, certain ones, in order that they might be gods, did
not have it by nature but received it by the gift of grace. Con-
cerning such gods, it was Moses to whom that one true God
said, “See, I have made you, like God to Pharaoh.”12 Of such
people are also those to whom it is said: “I said, ‘You are
gods, children of the most High, all of you.’”13 Therefore,
these gods received that grace to be gods which they re-
ceived to become the children of God. The evangelist says
that “to those who did accept him, he gave power to become
the children of God, to those who believe in his name, who
were born, not by natural generation, nor by human choice,
nor by a man’s decision, but of God.”14 Likewise, to them it is
said: “I said, ‘You are gods, children of the most High, all of
you.’”
10. Therefore, two of those ways of naming are praisewor-
thy; one by which he is called the true God by nature; the
other which, through grace, God has granted to whom he
willed. Still they are distinguished from each other by a great
difference. That way, by which in the name of God the truth
of nature is shown, shows one God by the truth of the name
of the nature in such a way that it never permits them to be
called gods in themselves. Hence it is that, just as the Father
alone or the Son alone or the Holy Spirit alone is truly
called God, so at the same time, the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit are truly named not three gods but one God.
That Trinity, one God, has this, that they are three persons

10. Dt 32.39. 11. Ps 17.32 LXX; Ps 18.31.

12. Ex 7.1. 13. Ps 81.6 LXX; Ps 82.6.
14. Jn 1.12–13.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 483

but are not three gods, because that Trinity is one true God.
Therefore, the Son of God, not only according to his true di-
vinity which he has from the nature of the Father, but also
according to the true flesh which he has by nature from the
body of his mother, is both believed and proclaimed as true
God by us. Since the eternal divinity of the Son with his full
humanity and the same full humanity of the Son with his
eternal divinity is one person in the Trinity; and he com-
pletely in his divinity and in his humanity, the only-begotten
Son together with the Father and the Holy Spirit is one God.
But the other way, which is not that of nature but of grace,
without any error in faith, accepts the name of gods in itself;
because it contains only the multitude of the adopted, to
whom, the Highest Trinity, the one true God, has given the
power to become the children of God. (IV.) Therefore, in
the former way, the clarity of nature is recognized; in the lat-
ter, there is the gift of grace.
11. The two remaining ways by which either some thing
or some person is called god are more worthy of condemna-
tion than praise. There is obvious blame in each case
because in neither of them can either nature or grace be
present. For one is according to a disposition for evil concu-
piscence; the other, according to erroneous opinion. For the
spirit, given over to carnal concupiscence makes that which
it loves above all else its god. Hence it is that the blessed
Apostle speaks without hesitation of certain ones who are
wise in the things of this world but whose belly is their god,
saying, “Their end is destruction. Their god is their stom-
ach. Their glory is their shame. Their minds are occupied
with earthly things.”15 Here I think that the Apostle has read
“occupied with earthly things,” instead of “love earthly
things.” Such a meaning I think is contained as well in that
text where the above-mentioned Apostle says, “If then you
were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not
of what is on earth.”16 Showing how they must not think of

15. Phil 3.19. 16. Col 3.1–2.

484 FULGENTIUS

these earthly things, a little later, he added, “Put to death,

then, the parts of you that are earthly; immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”17 When
he commanded that our members, which are on the earth
be put to death, he commands that the lust for earthly
things in us be put to death. For this reason he says in anoth-
er place, “Now those who belong to Christ have crucified
their flesh with its passions and desires.”18 He also wants us to
consider ourselves dead, saying, “Consequently, you too
must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in
Christ Jesus.”19 Each one lives for that thing which he loves
and shows himself dead to that the affection for which he
has put to death in himself. They who love earthly things are
preoccupied with earthly things; and they make their belly
their god who surrender the service of their heart to the se-
ductive pleasures of gluttony.
12. The opinion indeed of human error lyingly fashions
for itself the name of god to its own destruction in two ways.
This twin opinion of error punishes heretics no less than pa-
gans; while it subjects both the former and the latter to itself
by it, so that, at the same time, it binds all with different
bonds of varied falsity. The true God being left behind, pa-
gans serve the superstition of false gods; heretics, thinking
false things about the true God, resist the truth of the true
religion. It is clear, therefore, that heretics are bound by the
chain of deadly error and those whom the Church endures
as stubborn enemies must not be called ‘the faithful’, seeing
that he is guilty of infidelity, either by believing and not giv-
ing up false things about the true God, or by adoring a false
god under the name of the true God.
13. (V.) Therefore, since we have opened up the start of
the discussion concerning that statement of the Lord in
which he decreed that “Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved,”20 we believe that that boy has been saved. In
him, we find there was nothing lacking of those things which
pertain to the work and effect of baptism. The work of the
17. Col 3.5. 18. Gal 5.24.
19. Rm 6.11. 20. Mk 16.16.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 485

second birth consists in faith and confession, the effect in re-

generation. “But to those who did accept him, he gave
power to become children of God; to those who believe in
his name.”21 Therefore, they believe in order to become chil-
dren of God since, for this purpose, they receive the grace of
faith, that, believing, they may receive the grace of the sacra-
ment. For it is worthy that while “one believes with the heart
and so is justified and one confesses with the mouth and so
is saved,”22 it is clear, however, that, just as the work of faith
and confession pertain to the catechumen, so the effect of
baptism pertains to the minister; and while the confession of
the true faith is proclaimed by the former, it follows that the
grace of the saving mystery is completed when the latter
baptizes.
14. In the Acts of the Apostles, we see this rule observed
in the action of St. Philip. He was admonished by the Holy
Spirit to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ to the eunuch and
when, at that point, they came to some water, the eunuch
asked, saying, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my
being baptized?”23 First, he drew forth from him the act of
confessing, and then he rightly ministered the effect of holy
baptism to him. So he answered the eunuch, “If you believe
with all your heart, you may.”24 And because the eunuch’s
confession came before, subsequently, through the ministry
of Philip, there was fulfilled in him the effect of holy regen-
eration. By what justice will he who has accomplished the
work of faith and confessing not gain the effect of holy re-
generation? For if the order of work and reward is attended
to, the work is in the faith and confessing, the reward is in
baptism. When anyone is judged worthy of baptism because
the merit of faith and confession has preceded, to him the
sacrament of holy baptism must be given as a reward. “For
the laborer deserves his payment.”25 He who has accom-
plished the works of believing and confessing, divinely given
by devotion of heart and mouth, should not be deprived of
21. Jn 1.12. 22. Rm 10.10.
23. Acts 8.36. 24. Acts 8.37.
25. Lk 10.7.
486 FULGENTIUS

the reward of baptism. For he was to be questioned at the

hour of baptism about that which he had previously con-
fessed in the recital of the Creed. Therefore, the fact that his
voice was taken away did him no harm in the matter of gain-
ing eternal happiness since that voice, as long as it was able,
remained steadfast in the confession of faith. It was taken
away, not changed; nor was what it had said abolished when
it could no longer speak because as long as he was able to
know, he did not change his statement.
15. But you say, “I greatly fear lest the Lord, to whom all
things are possible, denied him the ability to speak because
he judged him unworthy of the blessing of a second birth.”
Here rather let us recognize that our God was not forgetful
of his mercy. If he took away the man’s voice, still he did not
take away his life so that what he sought, believing and con-
fessing, he received while still living.
16. But it is doubted “how that age, capable of reason,
could be purified by the confession of another.” On the con-
trary, it is purified by his own confession, for whom then the
subsequent confession by others could not have been of
avail, if his own confession had not preceded. Therefore, the
confession of others was without a doubt of avail for him be-
cause it did not come before him unwilling but subsequently
came to his aid as he weakened. What in him the illuminat-
ed will began by believing and confessing, this fraternal
charity completed on his behalf. (VI.) For we read that the
Lord said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I
will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”26 As long as he
had the ability to speak, that confession was not lacking.
Therefore, who will dare to say that that confession is unwor-
thy of salvation, which he saw not rejected by perversity of
will but silenced by necessity of infirmity? The tongue was
weakened but the conscience was not perverted. The Apos-
tle says, “Since then we have the same spirit of faith, accord-
ing to what is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we too
believe and therefore speak.”27 So he who believed when the
26. Mt 10.32.
27. 2 Cor 4.13.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 487

spirit of faith was accepted, and spoke, since the same Spirit
whom he had accepted in order to believe, could have been
lacking, if he denied. Since he did not deny, assuredly he did
not lack it. As a believer, he spoke by the very Spirit who re-
deemed him, though silent, since the second birth is accom-
plished by the same Spirit by which the second belief is
given. Accordingly, because the will to believe and confess
was not lacking to him when he was healthy, the necessity of
remaining silent did not tell against him when he was ill.
17. (VII.) But it is true that “we believe rightly that only
children whom we know are damned only because of origi-
nal sin are saved by the faith of those who bring them. With
the divine justice doing this in marvelous ways so that, in
some ways, where one’s own actual sin is found not at all and
one’s own will is not required; but through the abundance
of grace, through the faith of others, salvation is given to
those to whom guilt has been ascribed because of the sins of
others.” You add that “he lived by his own free will; beyond
that which he took from his roots, without a doubt he, over-
come by his own concupiscence, contracted many things.
Bound by the chains of many sins, he will not be saved ex-
cept by his own freely-willed faith which in that place of re-
demption, he neither willed nor was able to confess. Know-
ing nothing, he was altogether unable to will anything.”
These, dearest brother, are your words which are contained
in that letter which you sent.
18. Accordingly, first of all the nature of original sin must
be attended to, something which, committed by some, has
been spread to others by a defect in generation. In its cleans-
ing, if, when it is a question of that age in which there can be
no confession of one’s own, through the faith and confes-
sion of others, salvation is given to children to whom guilt
has been ascribed because of the sins of others. But when
there is question of ages with the use of reason, one’s own
confession is sought. By that reason, since they are alive and
understand, having derived from life original sin and from
their understanding a sin stemming from their own activity,
we say rightly and without hesitation that he has been saved,
488 FULGENTIUS

because he, when he understood, believed, and what he be-

lieved he confirmed with his own confession. And then, al-
though no longer understanding but still living, he received
the sacrament of holy regeneration. For through the sacra-
ment of holy baptism, that life is freed from the bonds of
original sin, which had been bound by the chains of the
same sin. And because the power of holy baptism is so great
that when it found life in which it loosed that chain of origi-
nal sin, it washed away as well by the blessing of the second
birth all those things which it found which had been added
later. The Apostle says, “For after one sin, there was the judg-
ment that brought condemnation; but the gift after many
transgressions brought acquittal.”28 Rightly then do we be-
lieve that he has been saved. Before baptism, belief and con-
fession from understanding were not lacking in him and at
the hour of baptism, life remained, although in a weak and
feverish man. The life which contracted original sin, because
when it was able, it gave testimony of its conscience and un-
derstanding, even when it was not able to confess, it received
the forgiveness of original sin by the merit of that confes-
sion. Above all, with the assistance of the fellowship of eccle-
siastical unity, by which it came about that the confession
given in time past, since he was not able to give it at the hour
of baptism because of the weakness of the body, he would
give it with the help of fraternal charity with the result that
he was assisted by the word of the members of that company
to which he was to be assigned. When that original sin had
been forgiven, none of the faithful doubts that all the sins
which he had contracted by his own will were forgiven. We
have no hesitation in saying that the confession of the past
when he was conscious merited the forgiveness of sins even
when he was unconscious.
19. (VIII.) The fear that someone might say that he
“would be saved, even if he never got to the baptism of the
body,” need not turn our spirit from this view, since we are
not saying that he could have been saved solely by his confes-
28. Rm 5.16.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 489

sion without the sacrament of baptism. For “whoever be-

lieves and is baptized will be saved.”29 So we affirm that that
adolescent, because we know that he believed and con-
fessed, was saved through the sacrament of baptism. If he
were not baptized, not only unconsciously but also con-
sciously, never would he be saved. The way to salvation lay in
confession, salvation in baptism. For at that age, not only
would confession without baptism have availed him nothing,
but not even baptism would have been of any use for salva-
tion to him if he did not believe and confess. Therefore,
God willed that his confession avail him because he pre-
served him in this life all the way to holy regeneration. Just
as he, because he wished it, sought the gift of holy regenera-
tion, so God, because he willed it, gave it.
20. (IX.) We do not, however, baptize the dead because
none of their sins, whether original or actual, because it is at
the same time common to the soul and flesh, is forgiven
them if the soul is separated from its flesh. “For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may receive recompense, according to what he did in the
body whether good or evil.”30 Therefore, the soul which
sinned in the body and did not believe when it was in the
body is never saved without the flesh. And for this reason, it
will receive the evil which it did in the body, not the good,
which it did not do, when it was in the body. The flesh with-
out a soul cannot be baptized because it will not receive the
forgiveness of sins. For a thing which is not living, just as it
cannot sin, so it cannot have penance for sins. How can the
sacrament of forgiveness be given where there is no life? Or
how is the flesh baptized for the forgiveness of sins where
there is no soul with which it was at the same time a partner
in sin? Even if there was a person with the will and faithful
devotion when alive, who still dies without the sacrament of
baptism, that person could not be baptized dead, because
the soul, whose will and devotion were faithful, had gone
forth from that body. And so, this man whose case we are
29. Mt 16.16.
30. 2 Cor 5.10.
490 FULGENTIUS

now discussing was worthily baptized since his soul, whose

faithful will and devotion were known to all, remained in his
flesh up to the hour of holy baptism. Those mysteries which
are performed in the Church before baptism cause a person
to be conceived spiritually, not reborn. Hence it is that he
will come to salvation if the second birth will bring him to
the light. For that light, a person is prepared by these mys-
teries but is brought forth by the sacrament of baptism. This
is what I spoke about above that in those mysteries is the
work of salvation, but the effect of salvation in baptism,
which, not the onset of illness but only a change of will, can
negate for him.
21. (X.) Accordingly, that statement of the canons of the
fathers must be most firmly held which commands that the
sick, “if they are not able to answer for themselves but have
expressed testimony of this will, in case of danger to them-
selves, be baptized.” For the holy fathers saw that the will is
not guilty which is known to be impeded but not changed,
and they must not refuse the sacrament of baptism where
the firmness of the will is known. Making this decision, the
holy fathers declared both what the Church must do and
what he receives. Nor would the Church have done this if he
had received no benefit from this action. For since the Apos-
tle bears witness that the Church of the living God is the
“pillar and foundation of Truth,”31 if it has some part among
the mysteries of faith, where it is not the firm truth, it is not
the “pillar and foundation of truth” in all the mysteries.
Whatever firmness is taken away from its sacraments, of ne-
cessity it is taken away from the Church itself. For the
Church is not truly called the “pillar and foundation of
truth,” if it is found unsound in the most basic mystery of
human salvation. But because it is truly called the “pillar and
foundation of truth” by the Apostle, whatever according to
the canons of the Church itself is given and received within
it, among the holy mysteries of human redemption and rec-
onciliation, is given with firm truth, is received with firm
truth.
31. 1 Tm 3.15.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 491

22. It is so commanded in Proverbs: “Hear, my child, your

father’s instruction and do not reject your mother’s teach-
ing,”32 so that we may never reject the general canons of holy
Mother the Church, i.e., those which the most harmonious
assent of all the bishops confirms. Therefore, who would
think that useless which he hears from God must never be
rejected? Therefore, if one who is baptized is not saved,
there is no culpability if this is neglected; nor will the minis-
ter of the word, if he has not done this, be held guilty of neg-
ligence if the one in whose case this happened, cannot be a
sharer in justification. For someone is accused of the guilt of
negligence where the effect of the action is not despaired of.
And just as one who does not do what is useful is justly ac-
cused of negligence, so rightly the labor of the one who de-
votes his work to superfluous matters is rejected as null and
useless. But if also in this matter, invalid labor is expended,
without a doubt, null as well will be the statement of the
Apostle Paul in which he said that “each one will receive his
wages in proportion to his labor.”33 Without a doubt he was
speaking of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the
mysteries of God just as the text of the same letter indicates.
For he had said before, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God
caused the growth.”34 What did it mean for Paul to plant or
Apollos to water except that Paul planted by preaching the
word of salvation, Apollos watered by administering the
sacrament of baptism? Therefore, when the Apostle said,
“Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who wa-
ters is anything, but only God who causes the growth,”35 that
he might show that the reward for that planting and water-
ing remains firm, he immediately added, “each will receive
wages in proportion to his labor.” Showing that the labor of
the divine work cannot be empty, in another text of the
same letter, he speaks as follows: “Therefore, my beloved
brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work
of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in
vain.”36
32. Prov 1.8. 33. 1 Cor 3.8.
34. 1 Cor 3.6. 35. 1 Cor 3.7.
36. 1 Cor 15.58.
492 FULGENTIUS

23. But that is the work of God which is so expended on

each living person that it can profit either the soul or the
body of the one who has received it. And those things which
are of use to the soul, it is necessary that they also be of use
to the body; but not all the things which are of advantage to
the body pertain to the advantage of souls, such as food,
drink, clothing, or shelter which are of avail to the soul, not
of the received, but of the giver. The sacrament of baptism is
given to a person for this, that the soul be saved with the
flesh. Assuredly what the minister gives is useless if he does
not give it for this purpose, viz., that he who is baptized may
receive the gift of eternal salvation. To no purpose is the
sacrament of redemption given if the one to whom it is given
is not redeemed. But if we single out one word of your letter
for attention, no doubt will remain in this matter. For you
said that this was ordered in the canons of the fathers “that
the minister of the word be free of the guilt of negligence.”
But how does the minister incur guilt in this negligence if
there is no advantage in zeal? For to no purpose does one
contract guilt for negligence, unless he did not do what he
should have done; but he ought to have done it, because if
he had done it, it could have been of some use. Therefore
he contracted the guilt of negligence because he did harm
by not doing something which, without a doubt, would have
been of use, if he had done it. So, therefore, according to
the canons of the fathers, that sick person, whose will does
not lack the attestation of his neighbors, must without a
doubt be baptized so that both the minister of the word is
free of the guilt of negligence, and he becomes a partner of
and sharer in justification.
24. (XI.) But none of the faithful ought to be surprised in
these things “who even if they are legitimately baptized with
sound mind, with death coming on more quickly, they are
not allowed to eat the flesh of the Lord or drink his blood,”
because of that statement of the Savior in which he said,
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you do not have life in you.”37 Anyone can consider
37. Jn 6.53.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 493

this not only according to the mystery of the truth but also
according to the truth of the mystery, and, doing so, he will
see that this comes about in the very washing of holy regen-
eration. For what is going on in the sacrament of holy bap-
tism, except that believers become the members of the Lord
Jesus Christ and belong to the structure of the body in the
unity of the Church? For the blessed Apostle says to them,
“Now you are Christ’s body and individually parts of it.”38 He
shows not only that they are sharers in the very sacrifice but
that they are the holy sacrifice itself, while he commands
them to show themselves humbly to be a living victim for
God, saying, “I urge you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God.”39 In a similar teaching, the holy Peter also
says, “. . . like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiri-
tual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”40 Whence blessed
Paul in a certain place had said, “The cup of blessing that we
bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of
Christ?”41 In order to show that we are the true bread itself
and the true body, he immediately added, “Because the loaf
of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all
partake of the one loaf.”42 Whence he says in another text,
“One body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one
hope of your call.”43 And again: “Rather living the truth in
love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head,
Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held togeth-
er by every supporting ligament, with the proper function-
ing of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds
itself up in love.”44 For, confirming again that we are the
flesh of the Lord, he says, “For no one hates his own flesh
but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does
the Church, because we are members of his body.”45 So,

38. 1 Cor 12.27. 39. Rm 12.1.

40. 1 Pt 2.5. 41. 1 Cor 10.16.
42. 1 Cor 10.17. 43. Eph 4.4.
44. Eph 4.15–16. 45. Eph 5.29–30.
494 FULGENTIUS

since “we though many are one bread and one body,”46 then
each one begins to be a participant of that one bread when
he begins to be a member of that one body, because in the
individual members when in baptism he is joined to Christ
the head, then already as a living victim, he is immolated for
God. As he becomes a sacrifice by that gift of birth, so also
he becomes a temple. As the blessed Apostle teaches, saying,
“Do you not know that you are the Temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you?”47 The one who becomes a
member of the body of Christ, how has he not received what
he himself is becoming? When he becomes a true member
of that body of him, whose body is the sacrament in the sac-
rifice. Therefore, by the regeneration of holy baptism, he be-
comes that which he is to receive from the sacrifice of the
altar. We know that the holy fathers without a doubt believed
and taught this. The blessed Augustine preached a sermon
on this matter, altogether splendid and apt for the edifica-
tion and instruction of the faithful. I have chosen to add the
whole of this sermon to this letter because it is not long and
in its very brevity is full of great instruction and sweetness.
25. A Sermon of the blessed Augustine, bishop48 (s.272):
What you behold now on the altar of God, you saw there
last night as well. But you have not yet heard what it is, what
it means, and of how great a reality it is the sacrament. What
you see then is bread and a cup. This is what your eyes re-
port to you. But your faith has need to be taught that the
bread is the body of Christ, the cup, the blood of Christ. Per-
haps this rather brief statement might be sufficient for be-
lief, but belief requires instruction, for the prophet says,
‘Unless you believe, you will not understand.’49 So now you
can say to me, ‘You have taught us to believe. Explain, so we
may understand.’
For the following thought may arise in someone’s mind:

46. 1 Cor 10.17.

47. 1 Cor 3.16.
48. Augustine Sermo 272. PL 38.1246–48. Trans. Daniel Sheerin, The Eu-
charist, Message of the Fathers of the Church, vol.7, 94–96.
49. Is 7.9.
 12. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 495

‘We know whence our Lord Jesus Christ took flesh, from the
Virgin Mary. As an infant he was nursed. He was brought up.
He grew. He attained manhood. He suffered persecution
from the Jews. He was hanged on the wood; he was killed on
the wood; he was taken down from the wood. He was buried.
He rose on the third day. When he willed, he ascended into
heaven; to there he lifted up his body. Thence will he come
to judge the living and the dead. Now he is there, enthroned
at the right hand of the Father. How is the bread his body?
And the cup, or what is in the cup, how is that his blood?
These things, my brothers, are called sacraments for the
reason that in them one thing is seen but another is under-
stood. That which is seen has physical appearance, that
which is understood has spiritual fruit. If, then, you wish to
understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle as he
says to the faithful, “You are the body of Christ, and his
members.”50 If, therefore, you are the body of Christ and his
members, your mystery has been placed on the Lord’s table,
you receive your mystery. You reply ‘Amen’ to that which you
are and by replying, you consent. For you hear ‘the Body of
Christ’ and you reply ‘Amen’. Be a member of the body of
Christ so that your ‘Amen’ may be true.
But why in bread? I provide nothing of my own at this
point; rather let us listen together to the Apostle who said,
when he was speaking about this sacrament, ‘We, though
many, are one bread, one body.’51 Understand and rejoice.
Unity! Verity! Piety! Charity! ‘One bread.’ What is this one
bread? ‘Many . . . one body.’ Remember that bread is not
made from one grain but from many. When you were exor-
cised you were, after a fashion, milled. When you were bap-
tized, you were moistened. When you received the fire of the
Holy Spirit, you were baked. Be what you see, and receive
what you are.
That is what the Apostle said about the bread, and he has
already indicated quite well what we are to understand of

50. 1 Cor 12.27.

51. 1 Cor 10.17.
496 FULGENTIUS

the cup, even though he did not say it. For just as in the
preparation of the bread which you see, many grains were
moistened into a unity, as if there were taking place what
Holy Scripture says about the faithful, “They had one mind,
one heart towards God,”52 so also in the case of the wine.
Brothers, recall whence wine comes. Many grapes hang in
the cluster, but the liquid of the grapes is mixed in unity. So
also did Christ the Lord portray us. He willed that we belong
to him. He consecrated the mystery of peace and unity upon
his table. He who receives the mystery of unity and does not
hold fast to the bond of peace receives not a mystery for
himself, but testimony against himself.53
26. I think, holy brother, that our discussion has been
confirmed by the sermon of the outstanding doctor, Augus-
tine. Up to a point, there should be no doubt for anyone
then that each one of the faithful becomes a sharer in the
body and blood of the Lord, when he is made a member of
the Body of Christ in baptism and is not alienated from the
fellowship of that bread and cup, even if, before he eats that
bread and drinks that cup, he leaves this world in the unity
of the Body of Christ. He is not deprived of the participation
in and benefit of that sacrament when he is that which the
sacrament signifies. Pray for us, always vigorous and strong
in Christ, holy and venerable brother.

LETTER 13. THE LETTER OF FERRANDUS

TO FULGENTIUS

Here Ferrandus poses a variety of questions for Fulgentius: Are the

persons of the Trinity separable or not? Is it necessary to affirm that
the divinity of Christ was born, was crucified, and died? Did the soul of
Christ have full knowledge of the Deity? If the three persons of the
Trinity reign together, why does the liturgical ending of prayers speak
of only the Father and the Son reigning? Finally, what is the signifi-
cance of the two cups in the Lukan account of the Last Supper? Ful-

52. Acts 4.32.

53. Augustine, The Eucharist.
 13. FERRANDUS TO FULGENTIUS 497

gentius’s response to these questions makes letter 14 the longest of the

letters translated in this volume.

e r r a n d u s t h e d e ac o n sends greetings in the

Lord to the most blessed and holy Father, Bishop
Fulgentius, to be received with all veneration.
1. I have often wanted to ask about many things out of a
desire to learn but the difficulty of finding someone to carry
the letters because of the length of the journey forbade call-
ing upon an absent teacher with frequent letters. So now,
taking advantage of the present occasion, I have gathered up
everything I could into one and, so that your answer may be
prolonged the more, I pose my questions briefly; asking and
begging you through Christ from whom you hear within
what you teach externally so that you may truthfully tell me:
2. Whether the Trinity, inseparable because of one and
the same nature, work and will, must be said to have separa-
ble persons or, rather, must be proclaimed to be altogether
inseparable in the persons. Or, whether God, the Son of
God, just as he is said to have been born, suffered, died, cru-
cified; so it is necessary that we affirm that his divinity was
born, suffered, died, crucified; although whether God or di-
vinity is named, only the flesh is understood to be mutable
and able to suffer, according to which God or divinity was
able to suffer what he could not in his own nature. Thirdly, I
ask whether the soul of Christ has altogether full knowledge
of the deity which assumes it and how the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit know each other; so does the same
Son know by the fact that he is human, in the same way
know himself as God, from each and in each substance whol-
ly comprehending the Father. Or perhaps, just as with bodily
eyes he does not see God as spirit, lest the dignity be at-
tached not to the human being, but the nature is believed to
be changed within, so the entire essence of the divinity is not
seen or comprehended by the rational soul, even with de-
vout understanding and perfectly clean heart, lest any crea-
ture capture the Creator.
Allow me, I beg you, to ask another question. For I want
to propose several things at once since there is no opportu-
498 FULGENTIUS

nity for asking about individual matters one by one. We be-

lieve and confess that there is one reign of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, knowing that they rule over
all creatures together. Therefore, why in priestly prayers
does the Catholic Church throughout almost all the regions
of Africa traditionally say, “Through Jesus Christ, your Son,
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the
Holy Spirit”? As if the Son alone possessed the Kingdom
with the Father, to be sure “in the unity of the Holy Spirit,”
so that, while uniting those who reign, the Holy Spirit is not
indicated as reigning at the same time. Answer these things,
I beg you, quickly, and with the pleasant honey of heavenly
words, feed the one who with rude words consults you about
matters unknown. Also with diligent exposition explain why
it is that as Luke the Evangelist is going to tell about the
Lord’s Supper, first he says that he took the cup and immedi-
ately gave it to the disciples to be shared among themselves
and then, when he took the bread, said, “This is my body.”
And then, after he had eaten, he likewise took the cup
again, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood
which will be shed for you.”1 Was the one cup given a second
time or one first and then another after? And whichever it is,
to what mystery does it belong concerning which the others
who wrote the Gospels have remained completely silent? I
beg of you, do not put off a reply nor by a long wait keep in
suspense a spirit that is ready. We ought to deserve at least a
part of your working time.
3. I ask as well that you have sent to us the book concern-
ing the rule of the true faith2 so that it can be reread, and
the letter to John, bishop of Thapsus,3 in which I recall there
was a full discussion concerning not yielding to a certain
wicked judge. I have taken two codices and given back to
young Hermias4 his own. Have as well a copy of the letter
concerning prayer sent here again, the letter which you were
1. Lk 22.17–20.
2. Presumably the treatise De fide ad Petrum translated in this volume.
3. John of Thapsus or Tharsis. See “ Johannes 4,” PCBE, 608.
4. Hermias. See PCBE, 553.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 499

gracious enough to send me here. For while many wish to

read it because of its brilliance, given my forgetfulness, we
are unaware of who has it now. As a suppliant, I greet the
holy priests, deacons, and their blessed congregation. May
our God graciously preserve your Paternity unharmed for
our edification, Father.

LETTER 14. THE LETTER OF FULGENTIUS

TO FERRANDUS

o ly fat h e r and fellow deacon, Ferrandus, your

letter has at the same time gladdened and stirred up
the affection of my heart, so that, certain of your sal-
vation, I might rejoice and carefully make inquiry about
what you seek, inquiry of him to whom also thanksgiving is
owed and from whom true knowledge of salvation matters is
to be awaited and sought. The same one who gives joy with a
favorable hearing also grants understanding with the infu-
sion of spiritual grace. Just as he enkindles the desire to seek
him, so he grants access to himself to those who knock. For
then we shall be able to enter into the joy of our Lord, if he
will here have deigned to bring us into that great mystery of
piety by the gift of spiritual grace. In order to avoid deviating
from this path, something that frequently happens imper-
ceptibly to us who are weak, may he grant us the bread of
spiritual understanding. Nor may he allow us to be subjected
to the old corruption of the outer self, but rather may he
cause the inner self to be renewed from one day to the next
by the heavenly light with a zeal for holy thoughts and work.
Therefore, let us now consider the words of your letter, that
as the Lord will grant, we may be able to answer your ques-
tions one by one.
2. For you demand that I tell you truthfully “whether the
Trinity, inseparable because of one and the same nature,
working and will, must be said to have separable persons or
whether in the persons as well, it must be proclaimed as alto-
500 FULGENTIUS

gether inseparable.” Doubtless you recognize these as the

words of your first question.
3. Where are we to start in our consideration that the
Trinity must not be called inseparable if those three persons
can be separated in some measure? For that is truly said to
be inseparable which can in no way be separated. For what is
not separated but can be separated is not inseparable. But if
anyone thinks that the persons in the Trinity can be separat-
ed, then the Trinity must not be said to be an inseparable
Trinity but a unity. For the Trinity is found in the persons,
the unity in the nature. But I do not know whether our asser-
tion can be supported by the truth when we say that the na-
ture is inseparable in such a way that we assert that persons
of the same nature are separable; since one nature, which
cannot be divided in the persons by its very inseparability,
does not show that the persons can be separated. For, not to
go on longer, we find the separation of nature apart from
the separation of person in human beings themselves. For
no one doubts that human flesh pertains to human nature;
but there can be a separation in it, if any member is cut off
from the body. Still this amputation cannot in itself bring
about a separation of the person. For when a hand or a foot
is cut off from the body, the person of the human being is
not also separated together with the same member, although
there may come about some separation in the nature a part
of which is cut off in the member. But that human being, if
he is still alive after he loses the member, will not be lacking
in the fullness of the definition of nature by which a human
being is called a mortal, rational animal. Having the true de-
finition, it is necessary that he also have his own person with
the nature, although he has a part of the nature, i.e., a part
of his flesh, separated from himself. But when human beings
are separated from their persons, they are also, without a
doubt, separated from their nature. A person is not separat-
ed when a hand or a foot is separated from the body; but a
nature is separated in the separation of persons, when
human being is separated from human being. Therefore,
the inseparable unity of nature cannot have separable per-
sons.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 501

4. Accordingly, we must consider that one and the same

nature of the Trinity fills the whole in such a way that there
is not something where it is not. So it is that it is everywhere
complete and in no way contained in a place; it is complete
in individual spirits and bodies and complete at the same
time in all creatures. Now we are not speaking about grace
by which God with a free gift of his mercy offers himself to
human beings for their salvation, but about nature by which
God both fills and contains all the things which he made; ac-
cording to this, he says, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”1
And according to this, the blessed David says to God himself,
“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from
your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I
make my bed in Sheol, you are there.”2 And concerning
Christ who is the Wisdom of God, it is said, “She reaches
mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she or-
ders all things well.”3 Concerning the Holy Spirit, too, di-
vinely-inspired Scripture puts it this way: “Because the Spirit
of the Lord has filled the world and that which holds all
things together knows what is said.”4 In this text, it is the
voice of the heart, not of the body, that is meant, namely the
voice, not of bodily speaking, but of interior thought. That
voice, which God alone hears calling when in secret he alone
sees it thinking. Therefore, he says the following, “There-
fore, those who utter unrighteous things will not escape no-
tice and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by.”5
Showing where this unrighteous speaking is, in order that it
may be recognized as pertaining more to the conscience
than to the tongue, this Holy Scripture subsequently re-
vealed, saying, “For inquiry will be made into the counsels of
the ungodly.”6 I have said this because it is said of the Holy
Spirit that “that which holds all things together knows what
is said.”7 Holding all things together, the Holy Spirit is not
less than the Father or the Son; and, having a knowledge of
1. Jer 23.24.
2. Ps 138.7–8 LXX; Ps 139.7–8.
3. Wis 8.1. 4. Wis 1.7.
5. Wis 1.8. 6. Wis 1.9.
7. Wis 1.7.
502 FULGENTIUS

inner thought, the true God is recognized as the one who

knows hidden things. The knowledge which grasps hidden
things without a doubt also grasps things to come, some-
thing which the true faith assigns to the true God with the
holy Susanna calling upon the true God in this fashion: “O
eternal God, you know what is secret and are aware of all
things before they come to be.”8 Therefore, the Trinity, i.e.,
our God, true and good, eternal, immutable and infinite, is
totally everywhere according to the infinity and omnipo-
tence of his nature, although he does not live in all accord-
ing to the largesse of his grace.
5. Hence it is that when God says through Jeremiah, “Am
I a God nearby . . . and not a God far off?”9, the aforemen-
tioned prophet says to the same God concerning certain
ones, “You are near in their mouths, yet far from their
hearts.”10 Therefore, God is close to the good both by nature
and by grace; by nature by which he creates; by grace, by
which he saves; by nature, he makes them human; by grace,
by which he justifies sinners; by nature, by which he causes
them to be born from human beings; by grace, by which he
gives them the power to become children of God; by nature,
by which he brings it about that they live; by grace, by which
he brings it about that they live soberly, justly, and piously;
by nature, by which he brings them to live for a short time in
this world; by grace, by which he brings them to reign in
heaven without end. In the evil, God is present only by his
natural infinity and omnipotence; by which he brings them
to existence, to live and to feel, to be rational, to have free
choice of the will; but free, not freed. For free will remains
even now in human beings by nature which those in whom
God willed it, he graciously frees by grace. For from this free
will, the first human being became a slave of sin. Thus
human freedom began to be evil because the goodness of
the will was taken away by free decision itself and so by the
very same human decision, freedom began to be evil. Be-

8. Dn 13.42. 9. Jer 23.23.

10. Jer 12.2.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 503

cause of this, for him and for all who would be born through
sexual intercourse, it would mean captivity by the enemy.
Therefore, God, as we said before, through the infinity of his
nature, both fills and contains his whole creation; and in this
way, the Father fills all, the Son fills all, the Holy Spirit fills
all because the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are
by nature one God. But the one nature of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, i.e., of these three persons, is
not like the human nature of three human beings. In the
case of the latter, there is one nature in such a way that both
their souls and their bodies are separated and although
there is a unity of nature in the three human beings, still in
no one of them is there a flesh and soul common with the
other two. Hence it is that any creatures, i.e., of the same na-
ture, can be separated from one another because each one
individually cannot be everywhere in its entirety; for when,
through the grace of faith it happens that they have “one
heart and soul of the multitude of believers,”11 still in their
persons they can be separated by being in different places
even though they are not separated by the affection of the
heart; and some of the faithful can become unbelievers and
be severed from the fellowship of that one soul. But the na-
ture of the Trinity, which alone is everywhere in its entirety,
just as it holds itself everywhere one and entire, so it cannot
undergo a separating of the persons.
6. At times those persons are given individual names, but
the Trinity willed to show itself inseparable in the persons in
such a way that there is no name thereby which any one per-
son is called that is not either fitting to the three by a unity
of nature or shows that one is referred to the other, even
with its individual name. For concerning those words by
which the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are prop-
erly spoken of in relation to themselves, in which, indeed,
not the individuality of each person but the communion of
one essence is shown, there is no name which can befit the
Father in such a way that it cannot befit either the Son or

11. Acts 4.32.

504 FULGENTIUS

the Holy Spirit. For by nature the Father is called God; but
by nature the Son is also God, by nature the Holy Spirit is
also God; still there are not three gods but by nature the one
God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Fa-
ther is omnipotent but the Son is omnipotent; the Holy Spir-
it is omnipotent but still there are not three omnipotent
gods but the one omnipotent God is the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. The Father is eternal, without begin-
ning; the Son is eternal, without beginning; the Holy Spirit
is eternal, without beginning; but still there are not three
eternal gods, but the one eternal God is the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is infinite but the Son is
also infinite; the Holy Spirit is also infinite; but still there are
not three infinite gods but the one infinite God is the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.12 Therefore, wherever any
one name is such that, at the same time, it can fit both the
three and the individual persons without making any differ-
ence and is singular in the nature in such a way that it can-
not be plural in the persons, how do we say that the persons
are separable when we do not see a plural number being ac-
cepted in the name? For whatever is said in the singular only
according to nature, it is necessary that it be communicated
as well in the persons inseparably and the truth itself shows
that the persons cannot be divided when whatever name, by
which still each person is spoken of in relation to itself, not
to another, just as it is spoken of in one in the singular, so
also it is named in the singular in the three. For in one per-
son, one angel is spoken of, one human being is spoken of;
but if there were three persons of angels or human beings,
neither one angel nor one human being could be named;
because in these three persons, which are found in either
angelic or human nature, there is not one angel or one
human being, but, without a doubt, it is necessary that three
angels or three human beings be named; otherwise, that
plurality of either angelic or human persons cannot be spo-

12. The wording is reminiscent of the Athanasian Creed. See J. N. D. Kelly,

The Athanasian Creed (London: 1964), esp. 33–34.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 505

ken of as either one angel or one human being; because

these three persons, either angels or human beings, can be
separated; therefore, the three persons themselves do not
receive at the same time the one singular denomination of
nature; but doubtless, they are called either three angels or
three human beings.
7. We are not unaware that through the grace of God it
can come about that many human beings can be called by
some name in the singular such as that which we spoke of
above: “There was one heart and one soul of the multitude
of believers,”13 still it is called one soul in such a way that
souls are spoken of, i.e., of the faithful, not of the impious.
For the Lord spoke to his faithful disciples to whom he said,
“By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.”14 The
blessed Peter also says to the faithful, “. . . believing in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy as you at-
tain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”15 Also
it is said in the book of Wisdom: “The souls of the righteous
are in the hand of God.”16 We know as well that the blessed
Apostle said to the Thessalonians whose election he knew of
from God, “May the God of peace himself make you perfect-
ly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be pre-
served blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”17
But also in the hymn of the three boys, one also reads, “Bless
the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous.”18 We know
through the grace of God that the holy Church is called a
virgin, as the Apostle says, “. . . I betrothed you to one hus-
band to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,”19 but in that
one virgin herself, virgins in the plural are also named. For
we read, “Virgins will be brought to the King after her.”20 Nor
is there any doubt that there is one Church which is spread
throughout the whole world which is called by the Apostle,
“the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of

13. Acts 4.32. 14. Lk 21.19.

15. 1 Pt 1.8. 16. Wis 3.1.
17. 1 Th 5.23. 18. Dn 3.86 LXX; Dn 3.64.
19. 2 Cor 11.2. 20. Ps 44.15 LXX; Ps 45.14.
506 FULGENTIUS

truth.”21 Still this is one Church in such a way that in it many

are called churches. For the blessed Apostle himself says,
“And I was unknown personally to the churches of Judea
that are in Christ.”22 But also he says that he sent a brother to
the Corinthians “who is praised in all the churches.”23 He re-
vealed in the beginning of the same letter that he had also
written to the churches of Galatia. Showing that his faithful
are a light, our Lord says to his disciples, “You are the light
of the world,”24 and yet the blessed James does not hesitate
to call the children of God lights, saying, “. . . All good giving
and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights. . . .”25 Therefore, in all of these we find the
word both in the singular and in the plural; the plural be-
cause the very quality of the nature shows that all creatures
are separable; but singular because in order that there be
one soul, one spirit, one virgin, one Church, one light, this
that one Trinity has brought about by its grace; this in na-
ture as well as in the persons is inseparable in such a way
that whatever there is said about the one as well as about the
three persons in the singular is not said in the plural. There-
fore, the persons of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit cannot be separated, for whom one name by nature is
so fitting that there cannot be a plural in the three persons;
with the exception of this by which they are called persons,
there can be no other name in the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit which is not given in the singular only. But
scarcely could the inadequacy of human speech find this
one so that at least it would say that there are three persons;
so that if even this were not said, that there is a Trinity would
not be believed and from that complete silence, a danger to
faith would be born.
8. Wherefore, according to the truth of the Christian
faith, we say that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
are by nature one God. It is necessary, however, that just as
we say that the Trinity is one God, we thus speak of one om-

21. 1 Tm 3.15. 22. Gal 1.22.

23. 2 Cor 8.18. 24. Mt 5.14.
25. Jas 1.17.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 507

nipotent, one eternal, one infinite, one great, one most

high; and whatever God, insofar as he has given to human
beings, not only in the individual persons, but also at the
same time in three is named in the singular in relation to it-
self. Lest, from the fact that Father is the name of one per-
son, the Son also is said to be only one person in the Trinity,
likewise, also, when the Holy Spirit is spoken of in its own
right, the individuality of one person is emphasized, anyone
might wish to assert and establish three separable persons,
in that one name from these three befitted each person in
such a way that there could be no common name for the
three persons. Whoever attempts to assert this as an objec-
tion, if his belief conforms to what he is saying and holds in
his conscience what he expresses with his tongue, he is not
paying enough attention to the fact that these names are,
without a doubt, relative. In any such relative name, it is cer-
tain that one person is meant in itself in such a way that
henceforward it is referred to another [person] and not
only in those things which are the same, just as brother is
spoken of in relation to brother, friend to friend, neighbor
to neighbor, but also in those things which are different, just
as father is spoken of in relation to son, son to father, beget-
ter to begotten or begotten to begetter; with any of these
names, two persons are normally to be understood. For in
these names, one person is not spoken of in the singular in
such a way that by its very name, it is not referred to anoth-
er; for by a relative name, any person is spoken of in itself in
such a way that it is not spoken of in relation to itself only.
Therefore, to declare the evidence of inseparability, that one
and true divinity willed to be named in an incommunicable
fashion in the individual persons in such a way that one per-
son could not be understood without the other. For when
the Father is referred to the Son or the Son to the Father,
even though the individual names can fit only individual
persons and what is proper to the persons altogether refuses
the communion of those two names, still the Father is not
recognized without the Son nor is the Son without the Fa-
ther. For that relation of a personal name forbids that the
508 FULGENTIUS

persons be separated which, even when it does not name

them at the same time, it makes them known at the same
time. No one can hear any one of these names without being
forced to understand the other as well. The blessed John
tells us this, saying, “No one who denies the Son has the Fa-
ther but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.”26
Consequently, as he said, the Father is referred inseparably
to the Son and the Son is referred inseparably to the Father.
Therefore, the person of the Father is not separated from
the person of the Son, however many times either the Fa-
ther alone is named or the Son, seeing that the Father is not
spoken of, unless he is referred to the Son; nor is the Son
spoken of unless he is referred to the Father. For in the
name of the Father, the begotten is recognized in such a way
that from it, he also who has been begotten is made known,
and the naming of the one begotten reminds us that the
person of the begetter is to be recognized. Hence it is that
just as the Father is possessed by the one who confesses the
Son, so he is not possessed by the one who has denied the
Son.
9. Therefore, whoever says that the person of the Father
and the Son are separable, let him show that in either of
them, there is some personal name that is of one person in
such a way that it cannot be referred to the other. But be-
cause this is not at all the case, without a doubt, this pertains
to the true faith that just as we do not confuse those three
persons of one and inseparable nature, so we do not dare
separate them in any way. Inasmuch as the Trinity itself has
deigned to show us this clearly in such a way that even in
these names, by which he willed persons to be recognized
one by one, he does not allow one to be understood without
the other. For, except that the Father and the Son are spo-
ken of in relation to each other, where it is necessary that
one be referred to the other inseparably, since these are in-
deed the names of persons, no less is every contradiction
lacking in that personal name of the Holy Spirit; it is not

26. 1 Jn 2.23.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 509

called any thing other than a person when the Holy Spirit is
spoken of than that which both the Father and the Son are
called by nature. For the Father too is a spirit by nature and
the Son is a spirit by nature; and the Father is holy by nature
and the Son is holy by nature. Therefore, how can the per-
son of the Holy Spirit be separated in any way from the per-
son of the Father or of the Son since the Holy Spirit has this
in its very name as a person which it is known to have in
common with the Father and the Son by unity of nature?
For by this name, it is not referred to the Father only like
the Son; nor to the Son only like the Father; but at the same
time, it is referred to both the Father and the Son when it is
called the Spirit of both the Father and the Son. And since
the Holy Spirit itself is called a gift, it is referred inseparably
to the giver. The blessed David, knowing of this inseparabili-
ty of persons, said to God, “Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heav-
en, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are
there.”27 Certainly, he would not have said this, if he knew
that the person of the Holy Spirit was separable from the
person of the Father. So he said that he could not go away
from the Spirit of God nor flee from God himself in any way
because he knew that God is in his Spirit and the Spirit of
God is in God inseparably. This is not just as a creature is in
God but just as his Spirit who is not of another nature than is
God himself in whom he is. The holy Apostle shows this in
that place where he said, “. . . This God has revealed to us
through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything,
even the depths of God.”28 He immediately brought in the
example of the human spirit, saying, “Among human beings,
who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the
person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains
to God except the Spirit of God.”29 Therefore, just as the
human spirit which is in him knows what is in a person, be-
cause it is of the same nature as the human being in whom it

27. Ps 138.7–8 LXX; Ps 139.7–8. 28. 1 Cor 2.10.

29. 1 Cor 2.11.
510 FULGENTIUS

is (where I think that rather the inner person should be un-

derstood), thus also no one knew the things of God except
the Spirit of God, because through unity of nature, he is in
God in such a way that there is nothing in God which the
Spirit cannot know because of its unity of nature.
10. Only unity of nature possesses this fullness of knowl-
edge; through it his Spirit is in God in such a way that by na-
ture he is one God with him. Still he is in God and is one
God with him in such a way that he does not have one per-
son with him, as the spirit who is in a human being has with
him. But that example of knowledge for unity of nature
which allows there to be no difference in knowledge in the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, it is most certain
that this is what the blessed Apostle meant; because that one
inseparable nature, all of it is in itself by nature, not differ-
ent but one, and it is clear that it is entirely in the three per-
sons just as in the individual persons. To indicate the proper
person of the Holy Spirit, in its teaching on the same Spirit,
apostolic authority was careful to state, “We have not re-
ceived the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from
God.”30 This can in no way be said of the spirit of a human
being which is said to be in a human being in such a way that
it is not said to be from a human being. But the Holy Spirit
that is in God by unity of nature is also from God by the
property of the person. Therefore, through that unity of na-
ture, through which no one knows the things of God except
the Spirit of God, this too is understood as the Son says, “No
one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes
to reveal him.”31 Through the same unity of inseparable na-
ture, the Son bears witness that he is in the Father and that
the Father is in him. For with the disciples he said, “If you
know me, then you will also know my Father.”32 When Philip
asked that the Father be shown to him, the Lord himself
replied in this way, “Have I been with you for so long a time

30. 1 Cor 2.12. 31. Mt 11.27.

32. Jn 14.7.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 511

and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me,
has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is
in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my
own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Be-
lieve me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or
else, believe because of the works themselves.”33 Therefore,
from the fact that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spir-
it are inseparable, it follows that they work inseparably. But if
that Trinity could have separable persons, there also would
be some separated works of the Trinity. For if we would pay
attention to what Holy Scripture says of Wisdom: “For she is
a reflection of eternal light,”34 just as we see the reflection in-
heres inseparably to the light, so must the Son be recog-
nized as impossible to separate from the Father. Apostolic
authority proclaims that he is “the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,”35 following which the blessed
Ambrose in his hymn for morning prayer proclaims that the
Son is the reflection of the Father’s glory.
11. With that example, it is fitting that we believe that the
persons of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are in-
separable by which the only-begotten God himself has
joined and united the divine and human nature in the unity
of his person in such a way that they cannot in any way be
separated from him. For in the one person of the only-be-
gotten God, who “like a bridegroom comes out from his
wedding canopy,”36 the union of each nature remains insepa-
rable. Nor, therefore, must anyone think that either nature
could have been broken apart from the other, because
through the taking up of death, both the lifeless flesh lay in
the tomb and the soul, with the flesh dying, descended into
Hell; seeing that, even when with death intervening, the
soul departed from the flesh, each nature remained insepa-
33. Jn 14.9–11.
34. Wis 7.26. Wisdom was long a figure of the Logos; since it is feminine,
the new RSV translates it as ‘she’.
35. Heb 1.3.
36. Ps 18.6 LXX; Ps 19.6.
512 FULGENTIUS

rable in Christ because the infinite divinity deserted neither

his soul in Hell nor his flesh in the tomb. To such an extent
is each nature inseparable in Christ that because of this, Eu-
tyches fell into error and, seeing one person in Christ, impi-
ously proclaimed one nature as well in him, wishing to con-
fuse what he says could not be separated. So, as this man
rushed into the crime of impiety in the matter of the two na-
tures which he knew were inseparable in the one person,
just so did Sabellius because of the blindness of deadly infi-
delity go astray in the case of the three persons on account
of the unity of nature, not understanding that the persons of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit exist without
confusion which he heard remain inseparable in fact by the
unity of nature. But the inseparable Trinity conquered both;
the unconfused unity trampled on both; each one, alienated
from the womb of Mother Church, went away; each one
wandered from the womb of the most pious mother and
buried himself and his accomplices in the pit of impiety. For
in God, the true Trinity, there is not only a unity of nature
but also the property of the persons remains unconfused
and inseparable and notwithstanding, just the same, in the
one person of Christ, the full truth of the two natures re-
mains unconfused and inseparable.
12. But if in Christ, on account of the unity of the person,
there is an inseparable union of the divine and human na-
ture (since neither eternity without a beginning, nor sim-
plicity without mutability, nor infinity without a boundary is
found to be common to both natures by nature; because, in
one and the same Christ, there is both the true divine na-
ture by which he is God born from the Father by nature
without a beginning and a true human nature by which, in
the fullness of time, God was created a human being by na-
ture from the virgin; in the former, co-eternal with the Fa-
ther, in the latter, later than his mother; according to the di-
vine nature, always everywhere in his entirety, nor ever or
anywhere confined to a place; according to the human na-
ture, on a certain day, he will come from heaven to judge the
living and the dead), how much inseparability must we be-
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 513

lieve there to be in those three persons, in whom is by na-

ture both unity and eternity and simplicity and infinity? The
blessed Ambrose truthfully proclaims and confirms this in
his first book on the Holy Spirit, writing as follows: “Who
then shall dare to say that the Holy Spirit is separated from
God the Father and Christ, when through him we merit to
be according to the image and likeness of God?”37 And, in
another place he says, “For who can separate the Holy Spirit
from the Father and the Son when, indeed, we cannot name
the Father and the Son without the Spirit? For no man can
say ‘the Lord Jesus’ but by the Holy Spirit.’ So if we cannot
name the Lord Jesus without the Holy Spirit, surely we can-
not proclaim him without the Spirit.”38 This inseparability of
the three persons is asserted without hesitation also by the
blessed Augustine. In the first book On the Trinity when he
said that the Son alone was born of the virgin Mary, and that
the Holy Spirit alone in the form of a dove [came] down on
Jesus who was being baptized, and on the day of Pentecost
came on the disciples in divided tongues as fire, and that the
Father alone was the voice which said, “You are my Son,”39
when the Son was baptized by John, and when the voice
sounded, saying, “I have glorified it and will glorify it
again,”40 showing once again that the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit are inseparable, brought forward this
statement, saying, “Although the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, as they are inseparable, so they work insepara-
bly.”41 You perceive how the blessed Augustine leaves no sus-
picion of separable persons here, when he asserts that the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as they are in-
separable, so they work inseparably. Confirming this state-
ment with such a conclusion, he says, “This is also my faith,
since it is the Catholic faith.”42

37. Ambrose, De spiritu sancto I.VI.80; CSEL 79.48; FOTC 44.63–64.

38. Ibid., I.XI.124; CSEL 79.68; FOTC 44.80.
39. Mk 1.11, Lk 3.22.
40. Jn 12.28.
41. Augustine, De Trinitate I.IV.7; CCL 50.36; FOTC 45.11.
42. Ibid.
514 FULGENTIUS

13. In another part of the same book, he says, “Finally, on

account of their very inseparability, it suffices at times to
name the Father alone, or the Son alone, as the one whose
countenance will fill us with joy. Nor is the Spirit of both of
them, i.e., the Spirit of the Father and the Son excluded
from this unity, and this Holy Spirit is properly called, ‘the
Spirit of Truth whom this world cannot receive.’43 For this is
the fullness of our joy than which there is nothing greater:
to enjoy God the Trinity in whose image we have been made.
On this account, the Holy Spirit is sometimes spoken of in
such a way as if he himself alone were sufficient for our
blessedness, and he alone does suffice, for this reason, be-
cause he cannot be separated from the Father and the Son,
just as the Father alone suffices for us because he cannot be
separated from the Son and the Holy Spirit, and accordingly
the Son alone suffices because he cannot be separated from
the Father and the Holy Spirit.”44 This is the view of the
blessed Augustine according to the truth of the Catholic
faith concerning the inseparability of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. In case someone should accept this
only in relation to the nature and not also according to the
persons, a little later in the same book he took care to show
this even more clearly and obviously, saying, “But in order to
intimate the Trinity, the names of the persons are also given
and while certain things are predicated of each one sepa-
rately, this is not to be understood as excluding the others,
on account of the unity of this same Trinity and the one sub-
stance and Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.”45 In another text of the aforementioned book, he dri-
ves this home even more fully, when he said concerning the
Son, “For inasmuch as he is less than the Father, he prays,
but inasmuch as he is equal to him, he listens with the Fa-
ther.” Showing the inseparability of the persons, he says,
“Therefore, he certainly does not exclude himself from that

43. Jn 14.17.
44. Augustine, De Trinitate I.VIII.17–18; CCL 50.52; FOTC 45.25–26.
45. Ibid., I.IX.19; CCL 50.55–56.; FOTC 45.29.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 515
which he said, ‘For the Father himself loves you,’46 but wants
it understood in the same sense as those statements that we
have mentioned above, and for which we have given a satis-
factory explanation: that as a general rule, each person in
the Trinity is mentioned by name in such a way that the oth-
ers are also understood to be there. Therefore, ‘the Father
himself loves you’ is so said as to be logically understood also
of the Son and the Holy Spirit.”47 Likewise, further on, the
same Saint Augustine speaks as follows: “From the many
modes of expression in the divine books, we have already
shown that what is said about each one in this Trinity is like-
wise said about all of them, on account of the inseparable ac-
tivity of the one and the same substance.”48 In the fifteenth
book of On the Trinity when, concerning this image that is
within us, he wished to put forward some lines for the un-
derstanding of the Trinity, among other things he says, “On
the contrary, the inseparability in that highest Trinity, which
incomparably surpasses all things, is so great that although a
trinity of men cannot be called one man, yet that Trinity is
called and is one God, nor is that Trinity in one God but it is
the one God. Nor again, as this image, which the man is who
has these three, is one person, so is that Trinity . . . but there
are three persons, the Father of the Son, the Son of the Fa-
ther, and the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.”49 In the
same fashion, after a bit, he says, “Yet we do not find that, as
in this image of the Trinity, these three are not the one man
but belong to the one man, so in the highest Trinity itself,
whose image this is, are those three of one God, but they are
the one God, and there are three persons, not one.”50 Saying
these things and understanding the inseparability of the
same three persons in the revelation of the Trinity itself, he
follows up by saying with admiration, “And what is indeed
wonderfully ineffable, or ineffably wonderful, is that, al-

46. Jn 16.27.
47. Augustine, De Trinitate I.X.21; CCL 50.59; FOTC 45.32.
48. Ibid., I.XII.25; CCL 50.64.; FOTC 45.37.
49. Ibid., XV.XXIII.43; CCL 50A.520–21; FOTC 45.509.
50. Ibid., FOTC 45.510.
516 FULGENTIUS

though this image of the Trinity is one person, while there

are three persons in the highest Trinity itself, yet this Trinity
of three persons is more inseparable than that trinity of one
person.”51
14. I have no doubt that these words of the blessed Augus-
tine which we have cited from the first and last book of On
the Trinity are completely sufficient; especially with your intel-
ligence and interest with which you very frequently and with
understanding read his words, so that you are able to find in
them many similar things which show the inseparability of
the Holy Trinity, not only in nature but also in the persons.
Therefore, these three persons are spoken of one by one
that they may be known, not that they may be separated, in
whom there is no separation, just as there can be no confu-
sion in them. Nor must those three persons because they
cannot be confused on that account be considered as separa-
ble since they are altogether inseparable both in what they
are and in what they do. And let no one dare to assert that
those three persons are separable since he is able to find
none either existing or acting before another, none after an-
other, none without another. Where just as by nature there
can be no separability of action, there by nature remains an
incomparable unity of will. Let us turn our attention to what
way either a human being or an angel is separated from God
that we may be able to understand without hesitation the in-
separable Trinity. For Holy Scripture says that “perverse
thoughts separate from God” and that “wisdom will not
enter a deceitful soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin” and
that “a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and
will leave foolish thoughts behind.”52 Isaiah too affirms that
iniquities come between God and human beings. The Holy
Trinity is itself the faithful God in whom there is no wicked-
ness. “The Son of God came to take away sins and in him
there is no sin, for sin is lawlessness.”53 Taking away sins, he
brought charity. Therefore, he removed that by which we

51. Ibid. 52. Wis 1.3–5.

53. 1 Jn 3.5,4.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 517

were separated from God and gave that by which we are in-
separably joined to the Holy Trinity. Therefore, the Apostle
cries out with confidence, “For I am convinced that neither
death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor present
things nor future things nor powers nor height nor depth
nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.”54 Therefore, if the
Trinity with charity being infused causes our souls to adhere
to itself inseparably, because “whoever is joined to the Lord
becomes one spirit with him,”55 how can the Trinity itself
have separable persons when the Trinity itself is one God
and, through this, is one charity because “God is love”?56
Charity never permits division, [charity] which from many
hearts and many souls makes one heart and one soul in it-
self.
15. Then comes this your second question, following in
due course: “Whether God, the Son of God, just as he is said
to have been born, to have suffered, died, been crucified; so
it is necessary that we affirm that his divinity was born, suf-
fered, died, was crucified; although whether God or divinity
is named, only the flesh is understood to be mutable and
able to suffer, according to which God or divinity was able to
suffer what he could not suffer in his own nature.”
16. To these words of yours, I respond briefly. Whatever is
said, there will be nothing prejudicial to the faith by which
the Catholic Church truthfully believes and proclaims that
by nature the divinity of the Son of God remains impassible
and immutable. For the blessed Apostle says, “We proclaim
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”57 See what
the Apostle says of the crucified Christ, that he is the power
of God and the wisdom of God. In another text, joining to-
gether power and divinity, he speaks of “his eternal power
and divinity.”58 If, therefore, the power of Christ is not un-

54. Rm 8.38–39. 55. 1 Cor 6.17.

56. 1 Jn 4.8. 57. 1 Cor 1.23–24.
58. Rm 1.20.
518 FULGENTIUS

worthily spoken of as crucified according to the flesh, why

cannot divinity be spoken of in the same way, as crucified ac-
cording to the flesh? When “according to the flesh” is
added, it was shown that it was not his divinity but his flesh
that was subjected to the passion. We also see this pointed
out by apostolic authority. For when the blessed Paul the
apostle said, “Christ crucified, the power of God and the wis-
dom of God,” lest the power itself and the wisdom be
thought of as capable of suffering by nature, he took care in
another text to open up salutarily the mystery of crucified
power and wisdom, saying of Christ, “For indeed he was cru-
cified out of weakness but he lives by the power of God.”59
We know that Christ the Son of God is truthfully called by
the words of the prophet ‘mighty God’ when Isaiah says,
“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; au-
thority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonder-
ful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.”60 Does not the Apostle in one text point out the eter-
nal power and divinity of this mighty God? Nor does the true
faith proclaim the eternal power and divinity of the Father
in such a way that it does not believe in the eternal power
and divinity of the Son or the Holy Spirit; since by nature
the eternal power and divinity of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit are one. Therefore, Christ, the mighty
God, is also truly God, just as divinity is truly mighty because
it is power. Therefore, it is the true faith which truly believes
and proclaims that Christ is the mighty God and knows that
Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God
as preached by the Apostle; just as, in faith, he knows and
says that, according to the flesh, the power is crucified, so he
does not hesitate to confess that, according to the flesh, the
divinity is crucified; for Christ the mighty God is God in
such a way that he is his divinity; while he is mighty is such a
way that he is his power.
You know that what I am speaking about has been dis-

59. 2 Cor 13.4.

60. Is 9.6.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 519

cussed most fully in the book On the Trinity by the blessed

Augustine; here he shows that each person in the Trinity, at
least in these names which are applied to it, not metaphori-
cally, but properly, that it is in itself that which it is pro-
claimed as having by nature. For we say that either the Fa-
ther or the Son or the Holy Spirit is the living God, great,
wise, mighty, good. In all of these things, each of which is ap-
plied to each person in the Trinity, that God is God by divin-
ity; great is great by greatness; wise is wise by wisdom; mighty
is mighty by power; good is good by goodness; indeed, he is
God in such a way that he is his divinity; he is great in such a
way that he is his greatness; he is wise in such a way that he is
his wisdom; he is mighty in such a way that he is his power;
he is good in such a way that he is his goodness. The same
holy Augustine frequently intimates this in the books men-
tioned above so that I have taken care to insert a certain text
from his fifth book in this little work. For when he speaks
about God and about his greatness, among other things, he
says the following: “He is great by that greatness which is
identical with himself. Hence, as we do not speak of these
essences, so we do not speak of these greatnesses, for in God
to be is the same as to be great. For the same reason we do
not speak of three greats, but of only one great, because God
is not great by a participation in greatness. He is great by
himself being great, for he himself is his own greatness. Let
the same also be said of the goodness, the eternity, the om-
nipotence of God, in fact of all those attributes which can be
predicated of God when he is referred to as he is in himself
and not in a metaphorical sense or by a comparison, if in-
deed the human mouth can say anything about him as he
properly is.”61 In the eighth book, putting forth the same
view from that natural simplicity of the Trinity, among other
things, he says, “Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the
Holy Spirit is God; the Father is good, the Son is good, the
Holy Spirit is good; and the Father is omnipotent, the Son is
omnipotent, and the Holy Spirit is omnipotent; but yet there

61. Augustine, De Trinitate V.X.11; CCL 50.218; FOTC 45.188–89.

520 FULGENTIUS

are not three gods, nor three goods, nor three omnipotents,
but one God, one good, and one omnipotent, the Trinity it-
self. And the same applies to anything else that may be said
of them, not in relation of one to another, but individually
in respect to themselves. These things are said according to
essence, for in them to be is the same as to be great, to be
good, to be wise, and whatever else is predicated of each per-
son therein with respect to themselves or of the Trinity it-
self.”62
17. From these words of the blessed Augustine, it is clear
that this is of Catholic truth, that when in God we name di-
vinity, greatness, goodness, power and whatever else in these
things which is properly said in respect to itself, we know
most certainly that in these different names there are not
different things (just as in a human being who is subject to
quality), but that one thing which is the essence or nature.
Hence it is that the blessed Augustine himself says in the
fifth book of On the Trinity that God must be understood “as
good without quality, as great without quantity,”63 because
the immutability of a simple and omnipotent essence can be
subject to no accidents, where the divinity is the same as the
eternity and majesty, the greatness is the same as the power
and the goodness. Therefore, from this rule of the truth we
know that whatever is being said truthfully concerning the
majesty, the eternity, the power of God according to the
flesh, we do not deny that it is said truthfully about his divin-
ity as well. The blessed Augustine himself in the first book of
On the Trinity, showing that God the Son according to the di-
vinity has what he is and is that which he has, speaks as fol-
lows: “For it is not, as with the creature, so with the Son of
God before the Incarnation and the created nature which
he assumed, the only-begotten through whom all things
have been made, that what he is, is one thing and what he
has, is another thing, but it is rather this: that which he is, is
at the same time that which he has. This is expressed more

62. Ibid., VIII.Intro.; CCL 50.268; FOTC 45.243.

63. Ibid., V.I.2; CCL 50.207; FOTC 45.176.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 521

clearly in that place if there is anyone capable of grasping it,

where it is said: ‘As the Father has life in himself, so he has
given to the Son to have life in himself.’64 For he has not
given to one already existing and not having life in order
that he may have life in himself, since by the very fact that
he is, he is life. Therefore, the sentence, ‘He has given to the
Son to have life in himself,’ means that he has begotten the
Son as unchangeable life, which is eternal life.65
The same blessed Augustine, in his exposition of the Gos-
pel of John, when he treats of the very words of the Lord,
speaks as follows: “But the Son of God was not as if at first
without life and [then] he received life. For, if he so received
it, he would not have it in himself. For what does ‘in himself’
mean? That he himself is life itself.”66 And a little later in the
same work, he confirms this, saying, “For the Apostle said,
‘You were once darkness, but now you are light in the
Lord.’67 When he said, ‘. . . but now you are light,’ he added
‘in the Lord.’ Therefore, there is darkness in you, ‘light in
the Lord.’ Why light? Because by participation in that light
you are light. But if you withdraw from the light by which
you are enlightened, you return to your darkness. Not so
Christ, not so the Word of God. But how? ‘As the Father has
life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in
himself,’ so that he does not live by participation, but he
lives without change and in every respect he himself is life.”68
And a little after this, the outstanding teacher, the holy Au-
gustine says, “Therefore, what is said ‘He has given to the
Son’ is such as if it were said ‘He begot a Son’; for he gave by
begetting. As [the Father] gave that he might be, as he gave
that he might be life, and so he gave that he might be life in
himself. What does it mean, he might be life in himself? He
would not need life from another source, but he would be

64. Jn 5.26.
65. Augustine, De Trinitate I.XII.26; CCL 50.66.; FOTC 45.39–40.
66. Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem XXII.9; CCL 36.228; FOTC 79.206.
67. Eph 5.8.
68. Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem XXII.10; CCL 36.229; FOTC 79.206–7.
522 FULGENTIUS

the fullness of life by which others, believing, might live

while they live.”69
18. Therefore, from these words of the well-known bishop
Augustine, with all the obscurities removed, we are taught
that saving the immutability, eternity, and impassibility of
the divinity of the Son of God, whatever is said of his majesty,
eternity, and power according to the taking up of the flesh,
is not incompatible if it is said of his divinity in the same way
according to the flesh. Therefore, what has been taken up by
the Son of God is proved to have been taken up by his divini-
ty, by his majesty, by his power, by his eternity. In order that
the truthful assertions of the holy Fathers may show this, we
first bring forward the letters of the most blessed Pope Leo,
glorious pontiff of the Apostolic See, writing to Flavian, bish-
op of the city of Constantinople. In this letter, because he
marvelously expressed the true faith concerning the Incar-
nation of the Lord, he destroyed every error of heretical de-
pravity. For in this letter, the same glorious bishop, no less
endowed with the truth of the apostolic faith than outstand-
ing because of the dignity of the Apostolic See, said this: “In
the preservation, then, of the real quality of both natures,
both being united in one person, lowliness was taken on by
majesty, weakness by strength, mortality by the immortal.
And in order to pay the debt of our fallen state, inviolable
nature was united to one capable of suffering so that (and
this is the sort of reparation we needed) one and the same
mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ,
could die in the one nature and not die in the other.”70 The
above-mentioned bishop of the Apostolic See follows up and
says, “In the whole and perfect nature of the true man, then,
the true God was born, complete in his own nature, com-
plete in ours. But by ‘our’ we mean that which the Creator
formed in us at the beginning and which he took upon him-
self to redeem it.”71 You perceive how that apostolic teacher

69. Ibid., FOTC 79.207.

70. Leo Epistola 28; N.Tanner, Decrees I.78b; FOTC 34.95–96.
71. Ibid., FOTC 34.96.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 523

says by this faith that God took upon himself to redeem the
things which he created in us in the beginning, by that same
faith he says that humility was taken up by majesty, weakness
by strength, mortality by eternity. When the maj-esty, power,
and eternity of the Son of God are spoken of, nothing other
than his divinity is being referred to. Therefore, let us not
doubt that the divinity of Christ took up whatever the
majesty of Christ, the power and eternity of Christ took up.
Hence it is that in the same letter a not-dissimilar statement
is contained a second time; since the same very blessed
leader of the Roman church affirms with a most clear decla-
ration the divinity and the humanity just as God and man.
For in the same letter he says, “From the mother the Lord
took his nature, but no fault, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
born from a virgin’s womb, does not have a nature different
from ours just because his birth was an unusual one. He who
is true God is also true man; there is no falsity in this union,
wherein the lowliness of man and the greatness of the divini-
ty are mutually united. Just as God is not changed by his
show of mercy, so the man is not changed by being swal-
lowed up in majesty.”72 In another text, the same very blessed
Pope Leo professes that the divinity is covered by a veil of
the flesh, saying, “Already when he came to be baptized by
John, the precursor, lest it be unknown that divinity was
being covered by a veil of flesh, the voice of the Father, thun-
dering from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I
am well-pleased.’”73 Here immediately he confidently names
that divinity, God, and that flesh he unhesitatingly calls a
human being, saying, “And so, he whom the cleverness of
the Devil tempts, as if he were a man, is accompanied by the
ministration of angels, as to God.”74 Again, in another text of
the same letter, he says, “Although in the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is one person of God and man, it is only from one of
these sources that contempt comes to both in common and

72. Ibid., Tanner, 79ab; FOTC 34.97.

73. Ibid., Mt 3.17. FOTC 34.98.
74. Ibid., Tanner, 79b, FOTC 34.99.
524 FULGENTIUS

from the other source that glory comes to both in common.

From us he has a humanity less than the Father; from the
Father, a divinity equal to the Father’s.”75 The firmness of
this declaration is made known to and impressed upon the
minds of all the faithful in such a way that he affirms that in
this faith the life and progress of the Catholic Church
stands, saying that the Catholic Church lives and progresses
by this faith so that it is believed that there is not a human-
ity without a true divinity nor a divinity without a true hu-
manity.
19. Here as well, Pope Gelasius of blessed memory, assur-
ing the continuity of teaching, treads the path of the true
faith and the apostolic confession with altogether similar
steps. For in that book, which the aforementioned venerable
bishop wrote against those who refuse to believe in the undi-
vided truth of the two natures in the Lord Jesus Christ but
confuse them by the profession of one nature, preserving
the continuity of the apostolic proclamation, he affirms that
the two natures in Christ are unconfused and inseparable,
saying, “It is necessary that these same be spoken of as exist-
ing undivided and inseparable in one and the same person
because of that union in such a way that they may remain
what they are.”76 And a little later: “When God alone is spo-
ken of, is the human being denied? When humanity is spo-
ken of, is the deity removed from there? When the Son of
Man is spoken of, is not the Son of God also adverted to as a
result? When the Word of God is spoken of, is not the flesh
which it became also understood at the same time? When
his flesh and body are brought up, is not the divinity without
a doubt also shown?”77 Likewise, in another text of the same
book, concerning those who try to assert that there is one
nature in Christ, he speaks as follows: “For also when they
say that there was one incarnate nature, wishing in this way
to present as it were a single [nature], in no way do they es-
75. Ibid., Tanner, 80a, FOTC 34.99.
76. Gelasius, De Duabus Naturis in Christo, ed. E. Schwartz (Munich: Publizis-
tische Sammlungen zum Acacianischen Schisma, 1934), 91.
77. Ibid.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 525

cape the reality of two. For while it is said that one nature of
the divinity was incarnated, with the ambiguities removed,
there will be one that was incarnated and the other is shown
as incarnate; since the nature of the deity which was incar-
nated will not be the same as the nature of the flesh by
which the incarnated is established; nor is the very nature of
the deity incarnated but the nature of the flesh is recog-
nized as incarnate; just as the very nature of the flesh did
not cause itself to come forth, elevated because of the deity,
because the divinity did not come forth from any other
source than that which came forth incarnate from the womb
of the virgin mother; and the flesh has not been united to
the deity except in that same womb, with the Holy Spirit
coming from above and the power of the Most High over-
shadowing.”78 Likewise, a little later, he says, “So, let them try
to escape from that pit of their own madness by which they
are imprisoned; and let them openly confess either that they
are among the number of those who impugn the true body
of Christ; or let them not dare to deny it, not unless it is true
for this reason without which it cannot be true. Just as when
we speak of the one God and we proclaim that we are speak-
ing or acting according to God, otherwise it cannot be true,
unless we confess that there is the true divinity and that
there is the nature of the deity remaining in the property of
his substance.”79
20. St. Ambrose, too, in the first book of On the Faith in
one and the same place, just as he professes that Christ is
God and a human being, so there he professes the divinity
and the flesh, saying, “The prophets proclaim, the Apostles
hear the voice of one God. In one God did the Magi believe,
and they brought in adoration gold, frankincense, and
myrrh to Christ’s cradle, confessing by the gift of gold his
royalty and with the incense worshipping him as God. For
gold is the sign of kingdom, incense of God, myrrh of burial.
What then was the meaning of the mystic offerings in the

78. Ibid., 92.

79. Ibid., 93.
526 FULGENTIUS

lowly cattle stalls, save that we should discern in Christ the

difference between the Godhead and the flesh? He is seen
as man; he is adored as Lord. He lies in swaddling-clothes
but shines amid the stars; the cradle shows his birth, the
stars his dominion; it is the flesh that is wrapped in clothes,
the Godhead that receives the ministry of angels. Thus the
dignity of his natural majesty is not lost, and his true assump-
tion of the flesh is proved.”80 All these things which were
written above the blessed Ambrose confirmed by this con-
clusion, saying, “This is our faith. Thus did God will that he
should be known by all. . . .”81 The blessed Ambrose brings
the previous discussion to a close with this statement in such
a way that he says that this is our faith, teaching very clearly
that as we speak of God and a human being, so we should
never hesitate to speak of divinity and flesh. Also in the sec-
ond book of the same work, he says this: “A truce then to
vain wranglings over words for the kingdom of God, as it is
written, does not consist in persuasive words but in power
plainly shown forth.”82 The same Saint Ambrose follows up
by saying, “Let us take heed to the distinction of the God-
head from the flesh. In each there speaks one and the same
Son of God for each nature is present in him.”83 And further
on: “This is he who came down from heaven, this he whom
the Father has sanctified and sent into this world. Even the
letter itself teaches us that not the Godhead but the flesh
needed sanctification.”84 The blessed Augustine also, in his
book on faith, hope, and charity which you know is called
the Enchiridion by many, speaks as follows: “Who could ex-
pound in words apt to their subject the single statement,
‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’ so that we
might believe in the only Son of God, the Father Almighty,
born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary? ‘The Word was
made flesh’; flesh was assumed by the divinity; divinity was
80. Ambrose, De Fide I.IV.31–32; CSEL 78.15–16; NPNF 10.205–06.
81. Ibid., I.IV.33; CSEL 78.16; NPNF 10.206.
82. Ibid., II.IX.77; CSEL 78.84; NPNF 10.233.
83. Ibid.
84. Ibid., II.IX.78; CSEL 78.85; NPNF, 10.234.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 527
not changed into flesh.”85 See that the blessed Augustine
shows the divinity capable of the taking up of flesh which he
bears witness is no less capable of the taking up of death as
well. For in the book on the presence of God, he speaks as
follows: “Through our head we are reconciled to God, be-
cause in him the divinity of the only-begotten Son shared in
our mortality, that we might be made sharers in his immor-
tal-ity.”86 Then, immediately pointing out the greatness of
this mystery, he added these words: “This mystery is far re-
moved from the hearts of the prideful wise; consequently,
not from the truly wise.”87
21. All these statements of the holy Fathers show that
what is said of the only-begotten God, is not unfittingly also
proclaimed of his divinity. We know in their defense of
Catholic truth, that there are either heretics given over to
perversity or Catholics less instructed in the mystery of cor-
rect belief; when they hear what is being said of the Son of
God, being said as well of his divinity, still they know that the
one divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is
no less proclaimed by us; in some measure, they must be per-
suaded that the communion of divinity brings about a com-
munion in the taking up of the human nature; and just as
from the communion of the flesh, let it be thought that
there is a communion of the human birth, suffering and
death in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There-
fore, in order that neither the former wickedly lay snares nor
the latter be deceived possibly from lack of care, both ought
to think that the one substance of the Trinity is proclaimed
by us in such a way that we do not say that there is one per-
son of the same Trinity. So the whole, which is the nature it-
self, is common to the three persons but in such a way that
there is still something by which each person is properly rec-
ognized, something still that is neither separable nor can be
common. For we say that it is proper to the Father that he

85. Augustine, Enchiridion X.34; CCL 46.68; FOTC 2.399.

86. Augustine, Epistolae 187.20; CSEL 57.99; FOTC 30.237.
87. Ibid., l87.21; CSEL 57.99; FOTC 30.237.
528 FULGENTIUS

beget; we say that it is proper to the Son that he alone was

born from the Father alone; proper to the Holy Spirit that it
proceeds from the Father and the Son. In these properties,
there is no separation of nature but a certain recognition of
the person. Although begetting is proper to the Father
alone, the Son is not separated by it, because with the Father
begetting, the Son is born. And although birth is proper to
the Son, he is not thereby separable from the Father who
begets, because the birth of the Son would not be true by na-
ture unless he had been begotten by the Father. Therefore,
although with the Son being born, the Father has begotten,
and with the Father begetting, the Son has been born, still
neither has the Son begotten with the Father nor has the Fa-
ther been born with the Son. The Son has been born from
the nature of the Father, and the Father has begotten the
nature of the Son from himself. That property of the per-
sons is inseparable in such a way that neither begetting nor
birth can be common to the two persons. Although, unless
there were by nature two persons of the Father and the Son,
neither could one beget or the other be begotten. But if
heretics seek to reject this in the case of God the Father and
God the Son, let them either be instructed or confounded
by the clear example of human generation. For a human fa-
ther precedes a human son in time because he himself also
began in time. The Son would not be born in time from him
unless the nature of the father was subject to a beginning in
time. From this, it appears very clearly that God the Son was
born from God the Father without a beginning because that
Father begot the Son from himself who did not begin to
exist just as he does not cease to exist; and still when a
human father is recognized as having preceded the birth of
his son by nature, in that same begetting of the son, the son
is not separated from the father nor the father from the son,
because with the father begetting, the son is begotten. And
since that begetting is the cause of the birth and the birth
cannot be separated from the begetting, that begetting is
not separated from the birth in such a way that in one and
the same nature, one begets and the other is born.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 529

22. Therefore, that begetting and birth are inseparable by

nature in such a way that communion neither of begetting
nor of being born can be present at the same time in both
persons. Because the property of the persons has this so that
neither does the Son beget himself with the Father from
whom he is begotten nor is the Father born with the Son
being born from him. Therefore, in the unity of nature
there remains the unconfused truth of the persons, in which
there is something which is found to be not common but
proper. Therefore, the unbegotten God who, together with
the Father and the Holy Spirit, has one and the same nature
in such a way that he has a person, not common altogether,
but proper, therefore, he did not have the receiving of the
form of a servant in common with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, because he received the truth and the fullness of the
form of a servant, not in the unity of nature but only in the
unity of his own person. For he who truly and fully is God,
the same became truly and fully human, when a rational
soul and flesh without sin was accepted by the only-begotten
God into the unity of his person. Therefore, human nature
was accepted by the only-begotten God in such a way that
there was only one person of the divinity and humanity, not
one nature. Accordingly, the Son, when he took up the full
nature of our humanity, was not separated from the Father
and the Holy Spirit. But he did not take up the same nature
at the same time with the Father and the Holy Spirit because
there did not come about in him one nature of divinity and
flesh so that from this one might believe that there was an
incarnation of the entire Trinity, but there is one person in
Christ, which the only-begotten God has inseparable from
the Father and the Holy Spirit but still one that he does not
have with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So Christ has his
own proper humanity with which his divinity does not have
one nature but has one person. Because this person of the
only-begotten God is not the person of the Father and of the
Holy Spirit, the form of a servant is rightly believed to have
been accepted by the Son alone, since there is one person of
his divinity and flesh, not one nature. For in Christ, there is
530 FULGENTIUS

not one person of the divinity and another of the humanity,

but there is one person for both natures, nevertheless, of
this one and the same person, there is a divine nature and a
human nature. Wherefore, because the working of the Trini-
ty is inseparable, the entire Trinity made the form of a ser-
vant which the only-begotten God received; it is certain that
this was made by the entire Trinity but pertains only to the
person of the Son of God. Just as there is in it one working
of the entire Trinity, there is not a common taking up by the
Trinity in it. The fact is that what is proper to the person (be-
cause the Father himself is not as the Son nor is the Holy
Spirit himself as Father or the Son) shows that there is some-
thing made by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
which still was received only by the Son.
23. No example of this sort of thing can be found in crea-
tures, because, with the exception of the Trinity which is by
nature the one true God, there is no nature which can have
three inseparable persons in it. Because in each human
being we find the flesh is not that which the soul is nor are
both of one nature, although from the two is formed and
constituted one human nature; still in each human being,
there is one person. Accordingly, in those two natures which
we know have one person, let us look for something similar,
so that we may find here something coming about by the
common working of the soul and the flesh which still per-
tains to the substance of the soul alone or to the substance
of the flesh alone. So let us try to figure it out and let us un-
derstand, to the extent that the Trinity grants, how some-
thing could be done at the same time by the same three per-
sons by one working, something which the entire Trinity
does inseparably but in such a way that what has been done
pertains to one person of the Trinity. So, when we eat, we
provide for the flesh, not the soul; and yet in the very taking
of food by which the flesh alone is fed, the soul is at work
equally with the flesh because the flesh without the soul, just
as it does not live, so it does not eat. So, in order that the
flesh alone take food, at the same time, there is one work for
both the flesh and the soul, and what the flesh alone re-
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 531

ceives by a natural property, through the unity of the person,

the soul is also at work together with the flesh. Therefore,
the work is common but the receiving is not common; nor
does the soul in the event desert the flesh when it eats. It still
combines the function of its working with the flesh in such a
way that, through the same communion of effort, the flesh
alone receives the life-giving support. There is something
like this in the same unity of the person, the very soul of the
human being affirming for itself if, when it assigns to the
function of divine reading the disposition of the heart, by
which, without a doubt, not the exterior but the interior per-
son is nourished; and most of the time the soul is well fed
rather than the fasting flesh. Is it not so that the soul may
take nourishment from the reading and it participates in a
function of the corporeal members? Reading is impossible
without the eyes of the body; what it reads with the eyes of
the body, it understands with the eyes of the heart; and in
this way, the soul works together with the flesh, from which
it alone is nourished and alone receives in itself what it does
not do alone. So on account of one person, two natures
work together inseparably and on account of their proper-
ties, one often receives what it alone does not do, indeed
what it in no way does without the other. And although this
altogether suffices for the complete line of knowledge, in
order that we may rise above what we see here in two natures
and one person to, insofar as the very Trinity deigns to
grant, the understanding of three persons in one nature;
even in the very person of our Redeemer, a clear and un-
doubted knowledge of this matter is demonstrated for us.
For he has joined and united each nature in the unity of his
person in such a way that in the one person of the only-be-
gotten God, neither can the divinity be separated from his
humanity nor the humanity from his divinity. For the indis-
soluble union of the Word and flesh came about when the
Word became flesh; in him, the unity of person has re-
mained in such a way that the property of each nature can
neither be divided nor confused. Accordingly, the functions
of each nature in the one Christ are common in such a way
532 FULGENTIUS

that, although Christ is not divided in strengths and weak-

nesses, still there is something that in the working of each
nature is not common to both natures.
24. For, in order that I may now keep silent about that in-
effable conception and birth, by which the eternal God was
conceived and born in time in such a way that still in the
very communion of the virginal conception and birth, it was
the property by nature solely of the flesh initially to exist
from the flesh of the mother, to be formed into members
and to be brought to the maturity of birth in the passing of
time and activity, then to grow with the going and coming of
the stages of life and to arrive at the perfect measure of
youth in his time. What shall we say concerning those works
and sufferings after that since there was in him by nature an
inseparable true flesh, a true rational soul, and a true divini-
ty? Nevertheless, those things which the truth of nature had
either deigned to suffer or to do in such a way that the
whole Christ remained inseparable in suffering or in work-
ing and what the union in the person showed as common to
the divinity and the humanity, still this the same Christ
demonstrated as proper to each nature in himself by the
truth of the nature. So, assuming the hunger of our weak-
ness, the whole Christ brought about that hunger of his,
and, in order that he take food, the whole Christ likewise
brought it about; still, by nature, just as the flesh alone bore
the hunger, so the flesh alone, by the working of the whole
Christ eating, received the food. Wearied by the journey,
Jesus sat by the well; divinity could not feel that weariness,
but neither, according to the soul, must Christ be said to
have felt that weariness in any way. That he sat pertained by
nature only to the restoring of the wearied flesh; still in that
restoration, the work was common to the deity and to the
soul. Thus in that time of the suffering and death, who does
not see that in one and the same Christ the properties of the
natures remain inseparably in the very communion of the
works? His soul was saddened unto death. But immutable di-
vinity cannot be a receiver of sadness nor can flesh ever feel
sadness. Therefore, sadness belongs solely to the rational
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 533

soul which cannot be present by nature either in the divinity

or in the flesh. In his person, the whole Christ deigned to
bring sadness upon himself. He brought about his own suf-
ferings, he who had nothing which could suffer unless he
willed it. Therefore, the whole Christ brought it about that
he be saddened; but by nature, only the rational soul re-
ceived that sadness in itself. So when Christ, at one and the
same time, both lay in the tomb and descended to Hell, who
does not see the inseparable work of each nature? And who
does not clearly recognize in that one and inseparable work
things proper to the flesh and the soul and the divinity? The
whole Christ brought it about that he could lie in the tomb
according to the flesh; but by nature the flesh alone was ca-
pable of burial. That Christ according to the soul descended
to Hell was the single work of both natures, that is, the di-
vine and the human; but that descent was natural to the soul
alone. Just as at that time, the whole Christ did not cease to
work in heaven and on earth, but it belonged to divinity
alone not to be contained in a place and those things which
pertained to the governing of the universe, to work naturally
and equally with the Father. Hence it is that in all those
works of suffering and death, apostolic authority assigns to
one person working what the whole Christ worked in him-
self in such a way that it shows without a doubt what belongs
to which nature. For the blessed Paul says of one and the
same Christ: “For indeed he was crucified out of weakness,
but he lives by the power of God.”88 And the blessed Peter ut-
tered prophetic words from the Psalms in such a way that he
said that the soul of Christ, which he knew had descended
into Hell, was not abandoned in Hell. The same Peter the
apostle says of the blessed David: “But since he was a
prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that
he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he
foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that
neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his
flesh see corruption.”89 Therefore, all these things the one
88. 2 Cor 13.4.
89. Acts 2.30–31.
534 FULGENTIUS

Christ has done according to the single person and the one
work of both natures is recognized in such a way that what
must be assigned to which nature is not denied. Therefore,
let each one be instructed by these examples, so that what
he here knows in the consideration of the natures, he may
understand there in the persons, and let him not doubt that
the human nature of Christ has been made by the working
of the whole Trinity but that it belongs only to the person of
the only-begotten God.
25. Your third questions is: “Does the soul of Christ have
altogether full knowledge of the deity which assumes it, and
how do the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit know
each other; so does the same Son know by the fact that he is
human, in the same way know himself as God; from each
and in each substance wholly comprehending the Father. Or
perhaps, just as with bodily eyes, he does not see God as spir-
it, lest the dignity be attached not to the human being, but
the nature is believed to be changed within; so the entire
essence of the divinity is not seen or comprehended by the
rational soul, even with devout understanding and perfectly
clean heart, lest any creature capture the Creator.”
26. Dear brother, when I read these words in your letter, I
confess that I was more pressed by the discussion because we
are being compelled to speak of something that we are not
able to think of sufficiently and worthily. For the distinction
being considered between Creator and creature demon-
strates the incomprehensible and inexplicable greatness of
the Creator to the created intellect. For the peace of God ex-
cels every intellect and the one who ascends above the
Cherubim flies on the wings of the winds.90 You know that
the ‘Cherubim’ are interpreted as the fullness of knowledge.
What, therefore, is “to ascend above the Cherubim” except
to go beyond every fullness of knowledge with incomprehen-
sible height? But confidently and without a doubt, we say
these things concerning the holy angels and holy people,
anyone of whom is called ‘god’ by the free gift of divine

90. Cf. Phil 4.7; Ps 17.11 LXX; Ps 18.10.

 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 535

adoption but in such fashion that the God of the angels or

the God of human beings is not being spoken of. But when
we speak of the soul of Christ, we are speaking about that ra-
tional spirit to whom not only God came by grace but whom
the divinity itself took up in the unity of the person. For by
that soul, Christ is one with the Word; by that soul, the only-
begotten God is one with the Word. And because the only-
begotten God is equal to the Father and he who does not
know the whole Father cannot know the whole Son, let us be
careful lest, since the soul of Christ is not believed to know
the whole Father, knowledge of not only the Father but also
of himself and of the Holy Spirit as well, be denied in some
part to the one Christ himself. It is extremely hard and thor-
oughly foreign to a healthy faith to say that the soul of
Christ, with which it is believed that he has by nature one
person, does not have full knowledge of his own deity.
27. If we believe this, it is necessary that that proclama-
tion of the blessed John the Baptist, in which he attributed
to Christ a singular gift of the Spirit and one without mea-
sure, be rendered meaningless. I refer to the statement:
“[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”91 Since our an-
cestors too in us receive a measure of this gift, they profess
that in Christ there abides the fullness of the Holy Spirit. For
the blessed Ambrose, in the first book on the Holy Spirit,
among other things, says, “I will pour out of my Spirit.”92 He
did not say, ‘my Spirit,’ but ‘of my Spirit,’ for we cannot take
the fullness of the Holy Spirit, but we receive so much as our
Master divides of his own according to his will.93 Therefore,
Saint Ambrose, showing that we receive not the fullness, but
of the fullness of the Spirit, that he may show that Christ has
received the entire fullness of the Spirit, a little while after
this, says, “. . . so too, the Father says that he pours out of the
Holy Spirit upon all flesh; for he did not pour him forth en-
tirely but what he poured forth abounded for all. Therefore,

91. Jn 3.34.
92. Joel 2.28.
93. Ambrose, De Spiritu Sancto I.VIII.92; CSEL 79.54–55; FOTC 44.69.
536 FULGENTIUS

it was poured upon us of the Spirit, but in truth, the Spirit

abode over the Lord Jesus, when he was in the form of man,
as it is written: ‘He upon whom you shall see the Spirit de-
scending and remaining on him, he it is that baptizes with
the Holy Spirit.’94 Around us from abundant provision is the
liberality of him who bestows; in him abides forever the full-
ness of the Spirit.”95 Of course, the blessed Ambrose clearly
and without a doubt shows that within the soul of Christ is
the full knowledge of his complete divinity, when he says
that around us is the liberality of the giver in abundant pro-
vision, in him abides forever the fullness of the whole Spirit.
That he may say this, he calls attention to these words of the
blessed John, where he says, speaking of the Son himself,
“[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”96 Also the
blessed Augustine, by the same illumination of the Holy
Spirit, perceiving and understanding this, affirms that it
must be accepted only in the case of the person of Christ.
For when he expounded the same text of the Gospel and
the very words of John the Baptist came up where he says,
“[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit,” the same
blessed Augustine added this: “What does this mean: ‘For
[God] does not ration his gift of the Spirit’? We find that
God does give the Spirit by measure. Hear the Apostle say-
ing, ‘. . . according to the measure of the giving of Christ.’97
He gives to men by measure; he does not give to the only
Son by measure.”98 Likewise, he says in the same homily, “. . .
So too there are various gifts of the faithful, distributed [to
them] as to members according to the measure proper to
each. But Christ, who gives, does not receive according to
measure. For hear further what follows, because he had said
about the Son, ‘For not according to measure does God give
the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has handed over all
things to him.’”99 Of course, the blessed Augustine shows by
94. Jn 1.33.
95. Ambrose, De Spiritu Sancto I.VIII.92–3; CSEL 79.55; FOTC 44.69.
96. Jn 3.34. 97. Eph 4.7.
98. Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem XIV.X.2; CCL 36.148; FOTC 79.74.
99. Jn 3.34–35; Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem XIV.X–XI; CCL 36.148–
49; FOTC 79.75.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 537

the testimony from the Gospel what we must think about the
soul of Christ when Christ himself, who gives the Spirit, has
not received according to measure. For he it is who gives, he
who receives; and because he is powerful enough to give ac-
cording to measure, therefore, he could not receive accord-
ing to measure. Remaining in the form of God, he gives the
Spirit; receiving the form of a servant, he has received the
Spirit. But because he gives according to measure, therefore,
he himself has not received according to measure; what he
gives according to measure, he has received the totality of;
for according to measure, he gives to many sons, but the
only Son has not received according to measure; because he
is truly human in such a way that he is true God.
28. In the two books which he wrote On the Lord’s Sermon
on the Mount,100 the blessed Augustine had once explained
this text of the Gospel in a different way. Yet in his Retracta-
tions, he corrected this interpretation, approving and con-
firming what he later understood in a better way, in that ex-
position of the Gospel, he confirmed what ought to be
accepted concerning Christ alone. Showing this in the first
book of his Retractations, he says, among other things, “In an-
other place, though I cited this text as a proof: ‘For not by
measure does God give the Spirit,’ I did not yet understand
that this is, more truly, to be understood in a proper sense
about Christ. For if the Spirit were not given to other men by
measure, Elisha would not have asked for twice as much
[Spirit] as was in Elijah.”101 Therefore, in these words of the
blessed Augustine, let us note above all what he says: viz.,
that it is given to other human beings according to measure.
So he said this, to show that he believed this not about the
divinity but about the humanity of Christ to which God did
not give the Spirit according to measure, since the Apostle
bears witness that grace is given to each one “according to
the measure of Christ’s gift.” So, therefore, the blessed Au-
gustine did not say “to human beings” but “to other human
100. Augustine, De Sermone Domini in Monte I.VI.17, CCL 35.17.
101. Augustine, Retractationes I.XVIII–3; CCL 57.56; FOTC 60.80; Eph 4.7;
2 Kgs 2.9.
538 FULGENTIUS

beings” except to show that it was given to that man in singu-

lar way, not according to measure, but that the whole full-
ness of the Spirit was in him. He was true man by nature in
such a way that the same was also true God by nature, receiv-
ing the whole in the truth of the flesh, which by the gift of
the deity he grants according to measure. Therefore, to the
one who gives grace according to the measure of his gift,
God has not given the Spirit according to measure. In
Christ, according to the truth of the Catholic faith, we con-
fess that in the unity of the person, there are at the same
time both divinity and a rational soul and the flesh, in whom
still the divinity could not receive the Spirit because, accord-
ing to divinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
are one God. As great as the Father alone is, he is just as
great with the Son and the Holy Spirit; and as great as the
Son alone is, just as great is he with the Father and the Holy
Spirit; and as great as the Holy Spirit alone is, just is great is
he with the Father and the Son. There no one of the three
persons has anything less than the two where in each person
the divinity is full in such a way that it is both one in the
three persons and full in each of them. Therefore, the divin-
ity of the Son could not receive the Holy Spirit since the
Holy Spirit itself proceeds from the Son just as it proceeds
from the Father and is given by the Son just as it is given by
the Father; nor could that nature whence the Spirit itself
takes its origin either expect or receive its gift. That Spirit is
completely of the Father; it is completely of the Son because
by nature it is the one Spirit of the Father and the Son. Ac-
cordingly, as a whole, it has proceeded from the Father and
the Son, it remains completely in the Father and the Son;
because it remains in such a way that it proceeds, it proceeds
in such a way that it remains. Whence by nature it has this
fullness of unity with the Father and the Son and the unity
of fullness so that it has the whole Father and the whole Son,
and it, as a whole, is possessed by the Father; as a whole, it is
possessed by the Son. Therefore, the divinity of the Son did
not receive the Holy Spirit with which the Holy Spirit is of
one nature and from which it has whatever it has, indeed,
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 539

from which it is that which it is; because what it has by na-

ture, that it is. Therefore, it remains that the soul of Christ
receives the Spirit which still it has not received according to
measure and so has received as a whole. For when a measure
is not spoken of, there is the fullness of perfection and the
perfection of fullness.
29. But who this Spirit is, whom Christ did not receive ac-
cording to measure, the prophet Isaiah shows us, who,
speaking about Christ, says, “A shoot shall come out from
the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spir-
it of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”102 Therefore,
Christ received the Spirit, but he did not receive it according
to measure. But if God did not give the Spirit to the soul of
Christ according to measure, it is necessary that he have no
lessening of wisdom or knowledge. For that Spirit is the Spir-
it of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of
knowledge and piety. And for this reason, this privilege of
perfection pertains not only to the divinity of Christ but also
to his soul which the blessed Apostle attributes to Christ
himself, saying, “. . . in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.”103 For if he has received the Spirit
of wisdom and knowledge not according to measure, it is
necessary that he have all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. But if something of this fullness be taken away
from him, it follows that he be proclaimed to have received
the Spirit according to measure. And who is it to whom God
has given the Spirit not according to measure if Christ has
received it according to measure? To the extent that the
Spirit is given, to that extent is knowledge of divinity re-
ceived. But where the Spirit is not according to measure, it is
necessary that there be full knowledge of the infinite divini-
ty. Complete fullness is given where the Spirit is not given ac-
cording to measure. But not fullness but “from his fullness
we have all received, grace in place of grace.”104 Where it is
102. Is 11.1–2. 103. Col 2.3.
104. Jn 1.16.
540 FULGENTIUS

shown that even in that grace of vision, which will be given

in place of the grace of faith, it is not the fullness itself but
from his fullness that we will receive grace in place of grace.
We will be filled with this itself, which we will receive from
his fullness insofar as through his grace we will have the ca-
pacity. The prophet shows us this when he says, “In your
presence there is fullness of joy.”105 And again: “Satisfy us in
the morning with your steadfast love.”106 And again: “We
shall be satisfied with the goodness of your home. . . .”107 But,
in order that we be filled, from his fullness, we shall receive.
Concerning Christ, Paul, the teacher of the nations, says,
“For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell.”108 Concern-
ing him, the same one says, “For in him dwells the whole
fullness of the deity bodily.”109 Therefore, I do not think that
full knowledge of divinity is lacking in anything to that soul,
who is one in person with the Word; Wisdom took him up in
such a way that the same person is Wisdom itself; it has be-
come master of all things to such an extent that with its di-
vinity itself it is one person in the Trinity, i.e., Christ cruci-
fied, whom the Apostle Paul proclaims as the power of God
and the wisdom of God.
30. But if the soul of Christ has a lesser knowledge of his
godhead in anything, he does not have in himself the whole
of wisdom and the whole of power. He has a participation in
Christ, he is not himself Christ, if he has a part of the knowl-
edge of his divinity. The Apostle asserts that we are partici-
pants in Christ, saying, “We have become partners of Christ.
. . .”110 Whence it is said to Christ himself: “Therefore, God,
your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond
your companions.”111 The oil of gladness with which Christ
was anointed is without a doubt the Holy Spirit, as blessed
Peter says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Spirit and power.”112 Him, therefore, “God anointed be-
yond his companions” to whom “He gave the Spirit, not ac-
105. Ps 15.11 LXX; Ps 16.11. 106. Ps 89.14 LXX; Ps 90.14.
107. Ps 64.5 LXX; Ps 65.4. 108. Col 1.19.
109. Col 2.9. 110. Heb 3.14.
111. Ps 44.8 LXX; Ps.45.7. 112. Acts 10.38.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 541

cording to measure,” in whom “dwells the whole fullness of

the deity bodily,” “in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.” The blessed Apostle marvels at the
depth of his wisdom and knowledge, saying, “Oh, the depths
of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”113 The
true faith confesses Christ as most high completely, not only
according to the divinity but also according to the humanity.
For Mother Zion says, “This one and that one were born in
it for the Most High himself will establish it.”114 And in fact
who would dare to deny him as Most High whom God not
only begot from himself who is the Most High but also “ex-
alted” the one born from the virgin “and bestowed on him
the name that is above every name that, at the name of
Jesus, every knee should bend of those in heaven and on
earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father?”115 But if
the soul of Christ does not have full knowledge of his divini-
ty, he will not attain to the full depth of the wisdom and
knowledge of God. Let Christ be proclaimed as most high,
not in full but in part, if his soul is proclaimed by the faithful
to be below the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God. For in whom does God exalt us if not in
the one who raises our souls to himself? To the extent that
he lifts our souls to himself, to that extent does he make
known to us the truth of his knowledge and love. For who
would say that the soul of Christ either perceives less of the
truth or has less charity? For Christ is himself Truth. There-
fore, how is that soul said to have less knowledge of truth in
itself which is in a unique way the soul of Truth itself? Thus,
one must not discuss the soul of Christ as one might discuss
some angelic or human spirit which can participate in the
true God but is not the true God as Christ is. He, receiving
perfect flesh and a perfect rational soul, i.e., a full human
nature, into that eternal person of his divinity, just as by na-
ture he is completely a true human being, so he is complete-
ly true God because just as in his divinity, he has the com-
113. Rm 11.33. 114. Ps 86.5 LXX; Ps 87.5.
115. Phil 2.9–11.
542 FULGENTIUS

plete nature of his humanity, so in his humanity, he has the

complete substance of his divinity, all the majesty, all the im-
mutability, all the power, all the wisdom, all the omnipo-
tence. For the only-begotten God deigned to take up human
nature in such a way that it is God himself who is a human
being and it is the same human being who is God. Accord-
ingly, the fullness of divinity is in the human being Christ
just as there is the fullness of humanity in God. Therefore,
just as Christ the human being has it in a unique way that he
is true God, so in a unique way he knows his full divinity.
31. We can say clearly that the soul of Christ has complete
knowledge of his godhead; still I do not know whether we
ought to say that the soul of Christ knew his deity in the way
that the very deity knows itself, or rather, that this should be
said that he knew as much as it knew but not in the way it
knows. For the deity knew itself in such a way that by nature
it found itself to be what it knew; but that soul knew its com-
plete deity in such a way that still the soul itself is not the
deity. Therefore, that deity itself is by nature its knowledge;
but that soul has received from the deity itself what it fully
knows that it may know; therefore, the deity of Christ by na-
ture is that which it knows; but that soul, in that it knows its
deity, does not find that it is what it knows. Not, therefore, as
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit know them-
selves, has Christ become known to his own soul according
to his divinity, since while it is true that that soul has a full
knowledge of the Trinity, still it does not have one nature
with the Trinity. For it is one thing for something to know
what it is by nature, another thing to know what it is not by
nature. God the Spirit does not see with bodily eyes. So,
when the blessed Augustine in the letter which he wrote to
Italica,116 albeit with few words, still with a sufficient re-
sponse, has convinced certain ones who wanted to believe
this about Christ, that he saw God the Father with his bodily
eyes. For the eyes of the body have this, that they see not
only bodies but they cannot see if, between themselves and

116. Augustine, Epistolae 92.5, CSEL 34.441, FOTC 18.52–53.

 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 543

those things which they see, there are not distances consist-
ing of some space in between. Hence it is that, although they
see many other things, they cannot see themselves nor do
they see in themselves when they see outside themselves; for
the vision itself is obscured if anything to be seen is brought
into contact with the eyes themselves. Therefore, whoever
thinks that God can be discerned with the eyes of the body,
it is our first duty to say that God is separated from the very
eyes by a corporeal space; whoever wishes to know by what
kind of eyes God is seen, let him think of the fact that God
himself is wisdom, he is truth, he is charity. Wherefore, with
whatever kind of eyes are wisdom, truth, and charity seen,
with the same kind of eyes is that wise, true, and loving di-
vinity seen. God does not promise the vision of himself to
the eyes of the body but to the eyes of the human soul to
which he gives a capacity for wisdom, truth, and love. There-
fore, the rational spirit has received from God that it see
God; it has received it through grace whom still it can see,
not outside itself, but in itself. For God is not contained in a
place but is perceived by love, and, therefore, is not seen by
the one in whom he does not live. God lives in the soul in a
much more inward fashion than the soul lives in the body,
since the former spirit is the Creator, the latter a created
spirit. Therefore, to the extent that any soul of a holy human
being has knowledge of that most high God, to that extent
has it received the grace of inward vision. So I do not know
how we receive the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace
and of truth, if either we say that something of the fullness
of grace is missing from that fullness of truth or we think
that the whole fullness of truth is not in that fullness of
grace; since, indeed, in him most certainly the only-begotten
of the Father is recognized as full of grace and of truth, if
not only in the one himself the full grace of humanity and
the full truth of divinity are recognized, but also the fullness
of truth has in itself the fullness of grace, by which the full
humanity is in his divinity; and the fullness of grace has in it-
self the fullness of truth by which the full divinity is in his
humanity; in such a way that fullness of truth has in itself the
544 FULGENTIUS

fullness of grace and the fullness of grace has in itself the

fullness of truth.
33. The whole fullness of truth is not possessed when
something is not known of the truth itself. May it be far from
us that we think about Christ in that way. For the whole full-
ness of grace is in that fullness of truth in such a way that
that full deity fills his whole humanity; and the fullness of
truth is in that fullness of grace in such a way that that full
humanity, just as it has a full and unique incorruption and
immortality of the flesh, so according to the soul, it has
uniquely a full knowledge of the deity. Therefore, Christ is
full of grace and truth in such a way that, just as in the divin-
ity there is a full reception of his humanity, so in his humani-
ty there is a full knowledge of the divinity. Let us not be
afraid to assert that the soul of Christ knows his complete
deity, lest from this it be said that he is of one nature with
the deity itself; since, indeed, if true reasoning requires this
that in the fullness of knowledge necessarily there is a unity
of nature; to begin with, God himself, because he knows
fully all the things which he has made, it will be said that he
is of that nature of which are those things which he made
and knows. The one who believes or asserts this is not pro-
vided with Catholic truth but is possessed by Manichaean
impiety. Then that is likewise to be considered, that the very
soul of Christ, from whatever part it is said to have knowl-
edge of its deity, immediately it is said that from that part it
has one nature with its deity. This is so much madness. For
we too, we hope that we, by the grace of God, will see God
but to the extent that we will see, to that extent, we will know
without a doubt; since the apostolic authority points out
both to us; for the blessed Paul says, “At present, I know par-
tially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.”117 and
John, beloved by Christ, asserts without hesitation that “. . .
when it is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as he is.”118 But that vision is not only of the flesh, according
to which alone, only the Son will be seen by the impious for
117. 1 Cor 13.12.
118. 1 Jn 3.2.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 545

their eternal condemnation; but there will be a vision of the

deity, according to which the Trinity itself will offer itself to
be seen by the just in such a way that that unending vision of
the deity is itself the inexhaustible fullness of blessedness.
Hence, blessed are the clean of heart for they will see
God.”119 Therefore, to the extent that we shall see the divini-
ty of the holy Trinity, to that extent we shall receive the gift
of the grace to be able to see. But still not to the extent that
we shall see, to that extent shall we be consubstantial with
the divinity itself. For we also see many things with the body
which are not of one and the same nature with our flesh.
Our eyes see light although they are of one nature and light
is of another. Indeed, the blessed John said, “. . . when he is
revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is.”120 But he said ‘like’, by imitation of justice, for example,
not by unity of nature. According to this imitation, the
blessed Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,”121
and the blessed John says, “Whoever claims to abide in him,
ought to live just as he lived.”122 Indeed the creature compre-
hends the Creator to the extent that the Creator allows him-
self to be comprehended.
34. Hence it is that the blessed Augustine does not refuse
these words but takes them up without hesitation. For in the
same homily in which he had expounded this text: “God
does not ration his gift of the Spirit,”123 then in a certain
place he speaks of the Son himself: “For as God, remaining
with the Father, among men he became a man so that,
through him who became a man for you, you might become
such as grasps God. For man could not grasp God; man
could see the man but could not grasp God. Why could he
not grasp God? Because he did not have the eye of the heart
by which he could grasp. Therefore, there was a thing with-
in, wounded, and a thing without, healthy; he had healthy
eyes of the body, he had wounded eyes of the heart. He be-
came man for the body’s eye so that, believing in him who
119. Mt 5.8. 120. 1 Jn 3.2.
121. 1 Cor 11.1. 122. 1 Jn 2.6.
123. Jn 3.34.
546 FULGENTIUS

could be seen bodily, you would be cured to see him himself

whom you could not see spiritually.”124 With these words, the
blessed Augustine shows that in spiritual things, to compre-
hend is to see, nor is to see anything other than to under-
stand, nor is to understand anything other than to know.
Hence it is that in the book on the presence of the Lord,
when he gives to the Son alone the full capacity for divinity,
he shows that the full knowledge of divinity is in him alone.
In the book mentioned above, he uses these words: “Thus
God, who is everywhere present and everywhere wholly pre-
sent, does not dwell everywhere but only in his Temple, to
which, by his grace, he is kind and gracious, but in his in-
dwelling he is received more fully by some, less by others.
Speaking of him as our head, the Apostle says, ‘For in him
dwells the whole fullness of the deity, bodily.’”125 Pay atten-
tion, I ask, in these words of the blessed Augustine to the
most certain distinction between the head and the mem-
bers. By those to whom God gives the Spirit according to
measure, in his indwelling he is received more fully by some,
less by others. What is “being received” except being under-
stood and known? When the same blessed Augustine wishes
to speak of Christ, see what he says, “Speaking of him as our
head, the Apostle says, ‘For in him dwells the whole fullness
of the deity, bodily.’”126 The blessed Augustine himself says
that God, indwelling, is received; wherefore, the fullness of
divinity is received by him without a doubt in whom dwells
the very fullness of divinity. But it is received in him in whom
it is known. Therefore, in him in whom dwells all fullness of
divinity, the full knowledge of that fullness cannot not be
present. Hence it is that the blessed Augustine a little fur-
ther on in the same book, says the following: “What then?
Are we to think there is this difference between the head
and the other members that divinity may dwell in any given
member however outstanding, as some great prophet or
124. Augustine, Tractatus in Johannem XIV.XII.2–3; CCL 36.149–50; FOTC
79.76.
125. Augustine, Epistolae 187.38–39; CSEL 57.116; Col 2.9; FOTC 30.252.
126. Col 2.9.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 547

apostle, yet not ‘all the fullness of the Godhead’ as in the

head which is Christ? In our body there also is sensation in-
nate in the individual members but not so much as in the
head, where it is clear that all the five senses are centered;
for there are located sight and hearing and smell and taste
and touch, but in the other members there is only touch.
But, perhaps, besides the fact that ‘all the fullness of the
Godhead’ is found in that body as in a temple, there is an-
other difference between that head and the perfection of
any of the members. There is, indeed, in the fact that by a
certain unique assumption of humanity, he became one per-
son with the Word. Of none of the saints has it been, is it, or
will it be possible to say, ‘The Word was made flesh’;127 none
of the saints by any supreme gift of grace received the name
of only- begotten Son, so as to be called by the name which
is that of the very Word of God himself before all ages, to-
gether with the humanity which he assumed. Therefore, that
act of becoming man cannot be shared with any holy men,
however eminent in wisdom and sanctity.”128 Therefore, it is
certain that the view of the holy Fathers fits with the heaven-
ly Scriptures which they most clearly bear witness to and pro-
claim to us as divinely inspired, i.e., to all the adopted that
this is a partial knowing and receiving of divinity infused by
grace, insofar as the will of the giver gives it; in Christ, how-
ever, i.e., in his soul, there is present a full knowledge of the
complete divinity.
35. The following section of your letter contains a fourth
question: “We believe and confess that there is one reign of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, knowing
that they rule over all creatures together. Therefore, why in
priestly prayers does the Catholic Church throughout al-
most all the regions of Africa traditionally say, ‘Through
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you in the unity of the Holy Spirit’? As if the Son alone pos-
sessed the Kingdom with the Father, to be sure ‘in the unity

127. Jn 1.14.
128. Augustine, Epistolae 187.40; CSEL 57.116–17; FOTC 30.253–54.
548 FULGENTIUS

of the Holy Spirit,’ so that, while uniting those who reign,

the Holy Spirit is not indicated as reigning together.”
36. I shall say candidly what I know about these words. As
often as I have subsequently thought about them, I know
that there was nothing there other than our ancestors’
building up a defense of the truth of the faith against many
heresies. First you should pay close attention to what we say
in the conclusion of the prayer: “through Jesus Christ, your
Son, our Lord.” We do not speak through the Holy Spirit.
This the Catholic Church does not celebrate together to no
purpose, on account of that mystery by which the mediator
between God and human beings, Christ Jesus, became a
human being, a priest forever according to the order of
Melchisedech, who entered once for all into the sanctuary
with his own blood, not through figures of the truth made
by hands but into heaven itself where he is at the right hand
of God and intercedes for us. The Apostle, seeing in him the
function of a high priest, says, “Through him then let us
continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, i.e., the fruit of
lips that confess his name.”129 Therefore, through him we
offer the sacrifice of praise and prayer, because through his
death we have been reconciled when we were enemies.
Through him, who deigned to become a sacrifice for us, our
sacrifice can be acceptable in the sight of God. Wherefore
the blessed Peter admonishes us, saying, “. . . and, like living
stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a
holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ.”130 For this reason, therefore, we
say to God the Father, “Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our
Lord.” For you know well that it is sometimes said: “Through
the eternal priest, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.” There-
fore, when there is mention of a priest, what is being shown
other than the mystery of the Lord’s incarnation, in which
the Son of God, “though he was in the form of God, emp-
tied himself, taking the form of a servant,”131 according to

129. Heb 13.15. 130. 1 Pt 2.5.

131. Phil 2.6–7.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 549
which “he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death,”132
“for a little while was made ‘lower than the angels’,”133 and
possessing the equality of unity with the Father? Even
though the Son, remaining equal to the Father, was made
less because he deigned to come in the likeness of human
beings. He made himself less, when he emptied himself, tak-
ing the form of a servant. The lessening of Christ is the very
self-emptying; nor is this self-emptying anything other than
the taking of the form of a servant.
37. Christ, remaining in the form of God, the only-begot-
ten God, to whom with the Father we offer sacrifices, taking
the form of a servant, has become a priest through whom we
are able to offer a living, holy sacrifice pleasing to God. Nor
could we have offered a sacrifice if Christ had not become a
sacrifice for us, in whom, the very nature of our race is a
true, saving sacrifice. In order that the only-begotten himself
who by nature is true God also become a true priest, he
deigned to receive in the person of his divinity, not the per-
son of our humanity but the nature. For if, in the mystery of
the Incarnation, he had received the nature of a human
being together with the person, there would not be one
Christ in two natures, God and human being, but in two per-
sons there would be one God and the other, a human being.
But Christ is one, true Son of God and human, because that
only-begotten Lord who always had his own person, received
into that person of his the truth of the nature of a servant.
Accordingly, Christ remains inseparable because, although
one of the natures in him is of the divinity and the other, the
nature of a servant, still in one and the same Christ, that per-
son of eternal divinity is also the person of the assumed hu-
manity. Therefore, Christ is one and the same whom the re-
ceiving of the form of a servant shows to be a little less than
the angels and the unity of nature proves to be equal to the
Father. The Arians stumble against this mystery in such a
way that, paying attention to the office of high priest in him,

132. Phil 2.8.

133. Heb 2.9.
550 FULGENTIUS

they are unwilling to take up the question of deity. Hence it

is that they also say, “Glory to the Father through the Son,”
so that they are unwilling to say, “Glory to the Father and to
the Son.” Therefore, since they are heretics who do not be-
lieve that the Son is of one divinity with the Father, likewise,
there are others who are not afraid to deny the truth of the
flesh in the Son of God; the most holy Fathers have treated
of this problem fittingly and usefully. For when we show that
we offer our prayers through the eternal Priest, the Lord
Christ, we confess that the true flesh of our race is in him;
according to what the Apostle says, “Every high priest is
taken from among men and made their representative be-
fore God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.”134 So when we
say, “your Son,” and we add “who lives and reigns in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,” we recall that unity which the Fa-
ther and the Son and the Holy Spirit have by nature, where
the same Christ himself is shown as having exercised a
priestly office for us, to whom there is a unity of nature with
the Father and the Holy Spirit. See, I ask, how many heretics
are convicted by this text. First of all, our faith is distin-
guished from the error of the Manichees, when we offer our
prayers through that priest who consequently is a true priest
because he has offered himself as a true sacrifice for us. Un-
hesitatingly, the Apostle affirms this, saying, “So be imitators
of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved
us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to
God for a fragrant aroma.”135 He would not offer a true sacri-
fice if the truth of the flesh were not in him. After he rose
from the dead, the high priest himself showed the truth of
this sacrifice to his disciples and offered to be touched, say-
ing, “Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have true
flesh and bones as you can see I have.”136
38. Hence our faith is also distinguished from the error of
Eutyches; although he did not dare deny the incarnate
Word, still when he does not confess that the very flesh of

134. Heb 5.1. 135. Eph 5.1–2.

136. Lk 24.39.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 551

the Word was taken from the flesh of the virgin, he in fact
empties the mystery of the high priest. In that statement
which I cited above, the Apostle contradicts him, saying,
“Every high priest is taken from among men and made their
representative before God.”137 And in another text: “Surely
he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abra-
ham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers in every
way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest be-
fore God to expiate the sins of the people.”138 Therefore, by
these words in which we show that we offer our prayers
through Jesus Christ, the true faith repulses every error,
which does not confess the truth of the human body in
Christ. But because Christ is not only a true human being,
but also by nature is true God and one God with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, justifiably we say to God the Father,
“who lives and reigns with you,” in that unity of nature which
he shows saying, “The Father and I are one.”139
When similarly our faith is distinguished not only from
the error of Arius and Sabellius but also from that of Nesto-
rius, in the very word ‘unity’, just as the substance of the Fa-
ther and the Son is known not to be different, so when we
say, “who lives and reigns with you,” it is shown that there is
not one person of the Father and the Son. It also is apparent
that the eternal priest is himself the true Son who reigns
with God the Father in the unity of nature. So when we say,
“in the unity of the Holy Spirit,” we show the one nature of
the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. Unity of nature,
what else does this show but the Trinity, one God, and from
this, that there is one reign? For difference in nature can
show difference of power in the kingdom. But where there is
unity of nature in the kingdom, there also remains one
power of reigning; but in that reign, they can have differ-
ence of power, they to whom the power itself is granted by
grace, not available from nature. There is not difference but
unity of power in the Trinity which grants the power itself to

137. Heb 5.1. 138. Heb 2.16–17.

139. Jn 10.30.
552 FULGENTIUS

anyone according to its will because it has ineffably a unity of

nature. See what the blessed Augustine thinks about the
Holy Spirit in the sixth book On the Trinity where he says,
“Therefore, the Son is equal to the Father in everything and
is of one and the same substance.”140 Immediately he added,
“Wherefore the Holy Spirit also subsists in this same unity
and equality of substance. For whether he is the unity be-
tween both of them, or their holiness, or their love, or
whether the unity, therefore, because he is the love, and the
love, therefore, because he is the holiness, it is obvious that
he is not one of the two. Through him, both are joined to-
gether; through him, the begotten is loved by the begetter
and in turn loves him who begot him; in him, they preserve
the unity of Spirit through the bond of peace, not by a par-
ticipation but by their own essence, not by the gift of anyone
superior to themselves but by their own gift.”141 And a little
later: “The Holy Spirit is, therefore, something common,
whatever it is, between the Father and the Son. But this com-
munion itself is consubstantial and co-eternal, and if this
communion itself can be appropriately designated as friend-
ship, let it be so called, but it is more aptly called love. And
this again is a substance, because God is a substance and
‘God is love’ as it is written.”142 Likewise, in another text of
the same book, he says, “And therefore, the Holy Spirit is
also equal, and, if he is equal, he is equal in everything on
account of the highest simplicity which is in that substance.
And, consequently, there are not more than three: the one
loving him who is of him, the one loving him of whom he is,
and the love itself. If love is nothing, how can it be said, ‘God
is love’? If it is not a substance, how is God a substance?”143
Therefore, with these words the blessed Augustine did not
hesitate to say that the Holy Spirit, like the love and holi-
ness, so also is the unity of the Father and the Son; to pro-
claim in faithful trust not only that he is something common
140. Augustine, De Trinitate VI.IV.6; CCL 50.235; FOTC 45.206.
141. Ibid., VI.V.7; CCL 50.235; FOTC 45.206.
142. Ibid., FOTC 45.207.
143. Ibid., VI.V.7; CCL 50.236; FOTC 45.207.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 553

between them but also that the communion is consubstan-

tial and co-eternal. Therefore, this is said by Catholics that
from the very name of unity, there is one essence and from
this one reign and in the same one reign, one power of the
Trinity and one majesty is recognized by the faithful; lest ei-
ther the Son or the Holy Spirit thus be thought to reign with
the Father according to divine nature in the manner in
which an inferior reigns with the more powerful; but that
unity of the Holy Spirit, which is the communion of the Fa-
ther and the Son, while it proves the unity of divinity in that
reign, teaches that there is one eternity of reigning, one
power, one majesty, and one rule of the highest Trinity.
39. The letter contains a fifth and last question in these
words: “Why is it that as Luke the evangelist is going to tell
about the Lord’s Supper, first he says that he took the cup
and immediately gave it to the disciples to be shared among
themselves and then, when he took the bread, said, ‘This is
my Body,’ and then, after he had eaten, he in the same man-
ner took the cup again, then said, ‘This cup is the new
covenant in my blood which will be shed for you.’”144 You
then follow with the question proposed with this, and you
say, “Was the one cup given a second time or one first and
then another after? And whatever it is” you say, “to what mys-
tery does it belong, concerning which the others who wrote
the gospels, have remained completely silent?”
40. Certain ones have wanted to understand this passage
in the Gospel in such a way that they assert that two cups
were not given by the Lord but rather they affirm that this
was said by anticipation; otherwise, there is one cup which is
remembered as given to the disciples, as passed around be-
fore and drunk afterwards. Certain ones affirm that a cup
was given a second time. But whether one thinks it is the for-
mer or the latter, each interpretation is such that it is in no
way foreign to the true faith. For those who think that a cup
was given a second time said that this was done symbolically.
Others, asserting that in the first cup, the Lord prefigured

144. Lk 22.17–20.
554 FULGENTIUS

his own suffering; in the second, the suffering of the faith-

ful. Others said that in each cup that is shown which was
commanded in the Old Testament, that he who did not cele-
brate the Pasch of the first month by eating the lamb, carries
it out in the second month by eating the goat. It seems to me
that here too there is some other mystery befitting the
Christian faith so that in each cup each covenant ought to
be understood. Especially since truth itself has shown this to
us in such a way that no difficulty remains for inquiries, for
the Lord himself deigned to call the cup which he gave to be
drunk the new covenant, as the content of the words of the
Gospel shows. This is attested to unhesitatingly by the three
evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These are the words
of Matthew: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said
the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take
and eat. This is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks,
and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this
is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of
many for the forgiveness of sins.’”145 Mark, to explain the
mystery of the Lord’s bread and cup, says this: “While they
were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and
gave it to them and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he
took a cup, gave thanks, gave it to them, and they all drank
from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant
which will be shed for many.’”146 The account of Luke who, it
is certain, spoke of the cup a second time, is put in order
and unfolded in these words: “Then he took a cup, gave
thanks, and said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves;
for I tell you that from this time on, I shall not drink of the
fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.’ Then he
took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to
them, saying, ‘This is my body which will be given for you;
do this in memory of me.’ And likewise the cup after they
had eaten, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my
blood, which will be shed for you.’”147 Hence it is that the

145. Mt 26.26–28. 146. Mk 14.22–24.

147. Lk 22.17–20.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 555

blessed Paul too, recalling the most sacred mystery of that

supper, makes known no other cup than the one called the
New Covenant by the Lord. For among other things, he says,
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took
bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said,
‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of
me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This
cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of me.’”148
41. Therefore, by the attestation of the words of the
Gospels and the apostolic writings on the word ‘cup’, at least
on that text, it is not permitted to understand the covenant
as anything other than divine. Nor is there any doubt that in
other texts the grace of suffering was intended by the Lord
when the word ‘cup’ is used. For what did he wish to be un-
derstood when he said to the sons of Zebedee, “Can you
drink the cup that I am going to drink?”149 And in the very
hour in which he willed to be taken captive by the hands of
wicked men, by these words, warning the blessed Peter to
put his sword back in its sheath, showed that the cup he
would drink was the cup of his suffering, saying, “Put your
sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Fa-
ther gave me?”150 In that situation he also showed that in that
cup suffering is to be understood, when, torn away a stone’s
throw from his disciples, to die for the sins of human beings,
he truly showed in himself feelings of human weakness; and,
in order that he might deign to take away despair from the
weaker members, power itself which willed to be our head,
did not refuse to express by divine love what his members
would afterwards express with human fear. Hence it is that
Luke the evangelist recalls that he said, “Father, if you are
willing, take this cup away from me.”151 Matthew also testifies
that these were his words: “My Father, if it is possible, let this
cup pass from me.”152 But Mark, to show what we ought to
148. 1 Cor 11.23–25. 149. Mt 20.22.
150. Jn 18.11. 151. Lk 22.42.
152. Mt 26.39.
556 FULGENTIUS

understand by that cup, says, “He advanced a little and fell

to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour
might pass by him.”153 What do we think might be meant
here by the holy evangelist by the term ‘hour’ except that
concerning what the Lord says, “My hour has not yet
come,”154 and about which the evangelist John says, “. . . no
one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet
come.”155 The hour, not of a coerced death but of a voluntary
suffering; that hour without a doubt in which he took up a
triumphal death and loosing the pains of Hell, he himself
became mercifully and marvelously the death of death, as he
had already said through the prophet, “O Death, where are
your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction?”156 This is
the hour the blessed evangelist subsequently showed was
called by the Lord in prayer by the name of ‘cup’ with the
prayer of the same Lord added, in which he said, “Abba, Fa-
ther, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from
me.”157 So it is clear that to pray that this hour pass from him
was the same as saying that the cup be taken from him.
Where, as I said, our head proved that the weakness of his
members was taken up in him, to whom he knew he would
give the power to suffer in order to teach that not for this
reason would the merit of suffering be lost, if to a person
who is going to suffer for the faith and love of Christ, a trepi-
dation of the will comes on from the weakness of the flesh
and strives to shake the willingness of the spirit, but rather
the human will must subject itself to the divine will and per-
fect strength by weakness with the gift of the grace of the
Spirit prevailing; retaining the ability given to itself by it,
there would be no uncertainty as to whose will should be
given priority over its own will, and thus the human being
would patiently overcome that which it wished for because
of human weakness and would happily attain to that which
the divine will helpfully called it.
42. Therefore, the will of Christ could not be different
153. Mk 14.35. 154. Jn 2.4.
155. Jn 7.30. 156. Hos 13.14.
157. Mk 14.36.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 557

from that of the Father since in the Father and the Son, the
unity of nature always preserves one will. But he who, taking
up human nature, came to save the nature which he made,
uttered as well the words of the same nature, not with a de-
ceitful but with a completely authentic taking up. With a
most merciful goodness, he also took up its feelings, feelings
indeed which the flesh had from fear of dying, not from a
lust for sinning; for he who did not know sin, without sin,
took up the feelings, not of wickedness, but of our weakness.
For concerning him, the blessed Peter says, “He committed
no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth.”158 Accordingly,
because he did no sin, he did not have a will different from
the will of the Father; and because there was no deceit
found in his mouth, so there was no hesitation in uttering
authentic words from feelings of human weakness. There-
fore, although in those words of our Savior in which he
spoke of a ‘cup’, suffering is to be understood, his own as
well as that of his saints (in which meaning the blessed David
also spoke of a ‘cup’, namely in that text where he says,
“What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I
will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the
Lord.”159 Showing that that cup is nothing other than the
death of the saints, he immediately added, “Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.”160) By the
word ‘cup’ is also to be understood the perfect grace of
charity by which the strength for undergoing suffering for
the name of Christ is infused. This is given in such a way that
even if the opportunity by which anyone may undergo suf-
fering for Christ is lacking, there is still such great strength
in the heart by a divine gift that nothing is lacking for
putting up with punishment, scorning life, and undergoing
death for the name of Christ. This is well understood in that
text in the Psalm where it is said: “My cup overflows,” and he
had just said before: “You anoint my head with oil.”161 What
158. 1 Pt 2.22.
159. Ps 115.12–13 LXX; Ps 116.12–13.
160. Ps 115.15 LXX; Ps 116.15.
161. Ps 22.5 LXX: Ps 23.5.
558 FULGENTIUS

must be understood by “head anointed with oil” except a

mind strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit? The shin-
ing quality of this oil is the unconquerable fortitude of spiri-
tual grace by which the holy drunkenness is poured into the
inner depths of the heart so that every affection of the
heart, overcome, is consigned to oblivion. Filled with this
drunkenness, the spirit learns to rejoice always in the Lord
and to consign to contempt whatever he loved in the world.
We drink this drunkenness when, having received the Holy
Spirit, we possess the grace of perfect charity which drives
out fear. Hence it is that the blessed Ambrose in his hymn
for morning prayer taught us to ask for the grace of this
drunkenness when we say, “In joy, let us drink the sober
drunkenness of the Spirit.”162
43. So, in other texts, the word ‘cup’ may be understood
in some other way according to the rule of the true faith,
but in this text of the Gospel, which we are now discussing,
we are not permitted to understand it other than what we
are taught by the words of the Lord himself, our teacher,
who says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”163
From this rule by which this cup is called the new covenant,
in that cup which he gave earlier is understood the old
covenant, not without reason. Therefore, the Lord himself,
who granted both covenants to his faithful, gave each cup.
So also in that same supper, he ate the Jewish Passover which
had to be taken away, and he gave the mystery of his body
and blood which had to be instituted for the salvation of the
faithful. He ate the Passover of the Jews in which Christ was
promised in order to come to our Pasch in which Christ is
immolated. Next, note what Luke the evangelist recalls that
he said to his disciples. For he spoke as follows: “When the
hour came, he took his place at table with the Apostles. He
said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer. . . .’”164 Before he voluntarily suffered for
162. Ambrose, Hymn 2.23–24, “Splendor paternae gloriae.” See Ambrose,
Hymni, ed. J. Fontaine (Paris, 1992), 186–87.
163. Lk 22.20.
164. Lk 22.14–15.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 559

them, he ate the Pasch by which it was signified that he was

to suffer. There is also something in the words of the Lord
which should be studied more attentively by the faithful in
which the distinction between the two covenants can be
seen. For the blessed Luke says concerning the cup which he
mentioned first, “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said,
‘Take this and share it among yourselves.’”165 Concerning the
bread and the cup given after, he says, “Then he took the
bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in mem-
ory of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, say-
ing, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be
shed for you.’”166 It does not seem to me to be without pur-
pose that here a certain distinction of wording has been
made by the very wisdom of God; seeing that he gave the
first cup to be received in such a way that he commanded
that it be shared, saying, “Take it and share it among your-
selves.”167 He did not say this at all in the case of that cup
which he gave with the bread. There he points out his body
and blood and asserts that the same cup is the new covenant
in his blood, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my
blood, which will be shed for you.”168 There is no mention of
sharing the cup, as there is likewise in the other two evange-
lists, viz., Matthew and Mark, just as their words, which we
cited above, clearly show. Therefore, the Lord commanded
that this cup, in which we have said that the Old Testament
is indicated, be taken and shared in order that the Apostles,
instructed by the gift of heavenly wisdom, would receive the
Scriptures of the old covenant with reverence but in such a
way that they, having received the spirit of discernment,
might know what was to be observed and what omitted
among those commandments. For this is to divide rightly so
that each one knows what he must omit and what he must
maintain according to the fittingness of the time.
44. Hence it is that the Church of the living God, which is

165. Lk 22.17. 166. Lk 22.19–20.

167. Lk 22.17. 168. Lk 22.20.
560 FULGENTIUS

the pillar and foundation of truth, distinguishes with a most

careful division the times of Christ to come and of Christ
coming. Omitting the sacrifice by which it was promised that
Christ would suffer, it offers this sacrifice in which Christ is
shown as already having suffered. For it divides the time for
celebrating circumcision from the time for receiving bap-
tism. Holy Church retains the most salutary way of this divid-
ing as well in the matter of the commandment of the feast of
the new moon, seeing that it does not pointlessly sound off
with the trumpets of the Jews, but it does not cease to pro-
claim that each one is renewed in the spirit of his mind and
puts on the new self. All these things it salutarily divides
which it now hears with veneration in the reading but no
longer celebrates in practice, turning the ear of the heart to
the words of the Apostle, with which the blessed Paul in-
structs all the faithful, saying, “Let no one, then, pass judg-
ment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a
festival or new moon or sabbath. These are shadows of
things to come. . . .”169 For, expounding the mystery of cir-
cumcision, he says, “See to it that no one captivates you with
an empty seductive philosophy according to human tradi-
tion, according to the elemental powers of the world and
not according to Christ. For in him dwells the whole fullness
of the deity bodily, and you share in the fullness in him who
is the head of every principality and power. In him you were
also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by
hand, but, stripping off the carnal body, with the circumci-
sion of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism. . . .”170
These and things like them, the Church has both received
wisely and divides; by receiving, it believes in the truth
promised; by dividing, it knows from God himself about the
truth already fulfilled; it does not await in figures for the
truth to be fulfilled but holds that it is fulfilled in the truth.
For the holy Church knows that God is faithful in his words
and holy in all his deeds. Whence, just as in the Old Testa-
ment, it understood as faithful the words of God who
169. Col 2.16–17.
170. Col 2.8–12.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 561

promised, so in the New Testament, it recognizes the holy

works of God who fulfills what he had promised. For certain
words of the God who promises were mysteries of the Old
Testament by which Christ was promised to us. These words
have passed but from it there came the fulfillment of those
things which were promised. Therefore, we begin with a giv-
ing of thanks in the very sacrifice of the body of Christ in
order to show the truth that Christ is not going to be given
but that he has been given for us in truth; and by the fact
that we give thanks to God in the offering of the body and
blood of Christ, let us recognize that Christ is not still to be
killed for our iniquities but that he has been killed; that we
are not going to be redeemed by that blood but that we have
been redeemed. For the proclamation of the blessed Peter is
true, when he says, “. . . you were ransomed from your futile
conduct handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable
things like silver and gold but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a spotless, unblemished lamb.”171
45. Therefore, the holy Church separates figures from the
truth, shadows from the body, as the holy Apostles taught,
who salutarily received from the Lord the cup to be shared
among themselves. So the Lord gave to the disciples the di-
viding up of this cup because from their teaching, the holy
Church has received the knowledge of this division. He says
that they may divide among themselves, i.e., that in the unity
of the Spirit and the bond of peace, they may distinguish the
mysteries of the New Testament from the cessation of the
old mysteries; something that he did not command be done
by the Apostles in the case of the cup of the new covenant.
For in the New Testament there is no division of the myster-
ies but of the gifts which are not within the ability of human
beings but in the power of the Holy Spirit. “There are differ-
ent kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are dif-
ferent forms of service but the same Lord; there are differ-
ent workings but the same God who produces all of them in
everyone.”172 Hence it is that when “to one is given through

171. 1 Pt 1.18–19. 172. 1 Cor 12.4–6.

562 FULGENTIUS

the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expres-

sion of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another,
faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the
one Spirit,”173 and the other things which the words of the
Apostle have woven together are not given to human beings
for dividing up, but “One and the same Spirit produces all
of these, distributing them individually to each person as he
wishes.”174 This dividing which he did not give to human be-
ings but which the Trinity has reserved to itself alone, in an-
other text, the blessed Apostle admonishes “not to think of
oneself more highly than one ought to think, but to think
soberly, each one according to the measure of faith that God
has appointed.”175 And because the division of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one, therefore, the Christ,
who is the wisdom of God, says in Proverbs, “I walk in the
way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, endowing
with wealth those who love me and filling their treasuries.”176
46. Therefore, each cup is given to the Apostles by the
Lord but it is not commanded that each be divided; a divid-
ing was necessary in that case in which a distinction had to
be attended to. Hence it is that we know of and we receive
with veneration that in the Old Testament certain mysteries
were properly celebrated as figures in that time; but we do
not celebrate them in the same way as they used to be cele-
brated because dividing the time of promise from the time
of the truth fulfilled, we now retain those mysteries handed
down to us by Christ, by which we recognize and hold that
Christ is not going to suffer but that he has suffered for us;
we show, not by our presumption, but by the tradition of the
fathers that by the word ‘cup’, the old covenant also ought
to be understood. For the holy Augustine in his exposition
of the seventy-fourth psalm, when he came to this text where
it is said: “For in the hand of the Lord, there is a cup with
foaming wine, well mixed; he will pour a draught from it
and all the wicked of the earth will drain it, down to the

173. 1 Cor 12.8–9. 174. 1 Cor 12.11.

175. Rm 12.3. 176. Prov 8.20–21.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 563
dregs.”177 Among other things he says, “The cup of pure wine
full of the mixed seems to me to be the Law which was given
to the Jews and all that Scripture of the Old Testament as it
is called; there are the weights of all manner of sentences.
For therein the New Testament lies concealed, as though in
the dreg of corporal sacraments.”178 And although the same
blessed Augustine distinguishes those mysteries of time past
from the commandments to be carried out in life, as it were,
dividing the cup, he afterwards recalled what was said: “You
shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery.”179 And a certain
number of things which are found in the text of the deca-
logue, these the holy Augustine himself appended, saying,
“All these things belong to the wine. But those things carnal
have as it were sunk down in order that they might remain
with them, and there might be poured forth from thence all
the spiritual understanding. But ‘the cup in the hand of the
Lord,’ that is, in the power of the Lord: ‘of pure wine,’ that
is, of the mere Law: ‘is full of mixed,’ that is, is together with
the dreg of corporal sacraments. And because he humbles
the one, the proud Jew, and the other he exalts, the pagan
who confesses, ‘He has inclined from this to this,’ i.e., from
the Jewish people to the people of the Gentiles. Inclined
what? The Law. A spiritual meaning has been distilled from
it. Nevertheless, the dregs have not been emptied out for all
the carnal mysteries have remained with the Jews.”180 From
these words of the blessed Augustine I think that the under-
standing of that ‘cup’ lies open by which the dividing of the
dregs and the wine can be known in the truth of the spiritu-
al mystery; but not in such a way that anyone would wish to
cast away the Old Testament because he sees that its myster-
ies have ceased. The New Testament must be held with ven-

177. Ps 74.9 LXX; Ps 75.8.

178. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, Ps 74.12; CCL 39.1033.; NPNF, ser.
1, 8–354.
179. Dt 5.17–18.
180. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, Ps 74.12; CCL 39.1034.; NPNF, ser.
1, 8–354.
564 FULGENTIUS

eration in such a way that the Old Testament is not aban-

doned in any way. This seems to me to be indicated under
the words ‘old’ and ‘new friend’ in the book of Ecclesiasticus
when it is said: “Do not abandon old friends, for new ones
cannot equal them.”181 The divine word announcing in ad-
vance this unlikeness which is in the mysteries of each
covenant says through the holy Jeremiah: “The days are sure-
ly coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not
be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors.”182 In
this way there comes the New Testament, not like the Old
Testament, brought to an end by the Lord, that one in which
the Lord gave the fulfillment of the commandments and,
with the old mysteries taken away, instituted the different
mysteries of revealed truth; and so what he promised in the
Old, he perfected in the New. Accordingly, since the knowl-
edge of the mysteries of the New Testament can be truly
salvific and sweet, if the promise which went before in the
mysteries of the Old Testament is recognized as true, as is
said with Scripture: “Do not abandon old friends, for new
ones cannot equal them,” he immediately added, “A new
friend is like new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it
with pleasure.”183 What is ‘aged’ except that the type of the
New Testament appears in the Old Testament? Thus this
new wine is drunk with pleasure, if its meaning and promise
are recognized in the Old Testament.
47. The Lord made this new wine age in the heart of the
disciples, when, approaching these two who were going to
the village of Emmaus, he accompanied them; and when
they told him of the things which had been done in his suf-
fering, as if he were unaware, then he said to them, “O how
foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets spoke!”184 See, I ask you, how the new wine ages
that it may be drunk with pleasure. Therefore, the Lord
added, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer

181. Sir 9.10. 182. Jer 31.31–32.

183. Sir 9.10. 184. Lk 24.25.
 14. FULGENTIUS TO FERRANDUS 565

these things and enter into his glory?”185 The holy evangelist,
as he aged the new wine to be drunk by them with pleasure,
says, “Then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he
interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scrip-
tures.”186 Then, they themselves showed the fire of newness
and sweetness conceived from the aging wine, saying, “Were
not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on
the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”187 He did it again,
saying, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was
still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of
Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scrip-
tures.”188 Thus did he make the new wine age sweetly when
without hesitating he showed that the promises of the New
Testament appear in the reading of the Old Testament; nor
should a new friend be prized in such a way that the old is
abandoned, because the new remains like in faith, although
it seems to be unlike in the celebration of the mysteries. But
the faith of the New and the Old Testaments is one. Among
the ancient fathers, faith believed in the promises which it
believes have now been fulfilled in us. The faith was
promised in our fathers; in us the faith itself of the truth
shown forth has been fulfilled; so, because that old friend
and the new one are joined indissolubly and one is not held
salutarily without the other, the new wine must age so that it
will be drunk with pleasure by the faithful.

185. Lk 24.26. 186. Lk 24.27.

187. Lk 24.32. 188. Lk 24.44–45.
INDICES
 GENERAL INDEX

Abragil, 42 body, temple of God, 151, 244, 377

Acacian schism, 23 n.27 Boethius, 291
Adam, and Eve, 99, 315 Boniface, bishop of Carthage, 49, 52
adoption, of man, 216, 372, 377, Breviarium Hipponense, 475 n.2
391, 482–83, 502, 534–35
adultery, 283–84, 319 Cassian, John, 21–22
Ambrose, St., 513, 525–26, 535, 558 Chalcedon, Council of, 23 n.27, 59
angels, 75, 78–80, 95, 98–99; fall of, n.1, 381 n.57
80–81, 210, 466–67; evil 464 charity, 132, 188, 341–47; good will
apollinarianism, 403 and, 344; love and, 342–43
Arianism, 17, 30, 38–40, 42, 139, Chifflet, Pierre-François, 3
234, 259–75, 359, 366–67, 379 children: raising of, 290; baptism
n.52, 387–92, 395, 401–2, 429, and, 282–83, 474, 487
403, 411, 417, 549–51 Christ: baptism of, 93, 513; birth of,
Augustine, St., 10, 59, 190, 191, 192– 525–26, 532; coming of, 432, 434–
94, 228–29, 253, 254–55, 256–58, 35; church and, 246–50, 315; cre-
494, 513–16, 519–21, 526, 536– ation and, 243, 448–49; divinity of,
37, 545–46, 552, 562; City of God, 65–66, 68, 71–74, 91–96, 260–65,
256–57, Confessions, 345, De Trini- 270, 272, 274–75, 303, 370–76,
tate, 384, Enarratio, 10, Enarrationes 379 n.52, 380–82, 392, 402–404,
in Psalmos CXVIII, 346 n.11, On the 409, 415–16, 420–21, 424, 429–
Perfection of Justice, 191, On the Pre- 48, 504, 510–13, 517–34; forgive-
destination of the Saints, 230–32 ness and, 114–15, 138; Holy Spirit
Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, 36 and, 535–47; humanity of, 65–66,
68–74, 95, 275, 375–76, 403–6,
baptism: adult, 474–80, 484–92; body 410, 436–38, 441, 523, 529, 532–
of Christ and, 493–96; church and, 47, 557; humbling of, 71–74, 96;
88–89, 103–104, 134–35, 140; cir- Judge, 81–82, 100, 106, 162; King,
cumcision and, 560; Eucharist 87; knowledge of, 497, 534–47;
and, 475–76, 478, 492; faith and, lamb of God, 100, 162, 254; medi-
485; formula for, 61, 240, 368, ator, 66–67, 74, 97, 380–82, 522,
377, 399; grace and, 249–50; need 548; passion of, 555–57; priest,
of, 88, 101–102, 104, 134; of chil- 548–52; savior, 162; one person,
dren, 282–83, 474, 487; of dead, 66, 95–96, 408, 419–35, 511–12,
489; rebaptism of heretics, 40, 517–34, 538, 541, 549; relation to
138, 253–54; salvation and, 479, the Father, 375–76, 402, 433–34;
484, 491–92; subsequent sins, 356; servant, 73, 94, 312, 374, 409,
lifegiving, 391 431, 444–45, 529, 548–49; spouse
beautific vision, 545 of virgins, 314, 328, 333; two
Beelzebub, 466 births of, 66, 94, 428; two natures,
birth, 528 67, 71, 73, 95–96, 375, 402–4,

569
570 GENERAL INDEX

(Christ continued) 293–94; of flesh, 145; of spirit,

408–11, 419–20, 431, 511–12, 145; sin and, 293, 391
517–34, 538, 541, 549; Truth, 91, despair, 86, 116–17, 119, 120,
271; Wisdom, 243, 270, 511 n.34; 173–74, 182, 355
see also incarnation Donatists, 386
Christian: name of, 370; dead to sin,
484; life of, 459 Ephesus, council of, 381 n.57
Church: Christ and, 133–34, 136, eternal life, 83, 200–201; see also re-
246–51, 315–16, 505, 546–47; ward
faith of, 517, 524; holy spirit and, Eucharist, 233; and Arian controver-
249; oneness of, 139, 251–52; sy, 234–59; spiritual sacrifice, 250,
nations of, 257; salvation and, and Abraham, 237–38; formula
88–89, 100, 104, 133–34, 136, for, 234, 237–41, 247–48
138, 178, 254–55; virginity of, Eugippius, Abbot of Lucullanum, 3,
315–17, 505; Noah’s Ark and, 341 n.1
135, 257; threshing ground, 105, Eulalius, Pope, 21–23
133; humanity as body, 318; Euthymius, 111
one, 139 Eutyches, 381–82, 512, 550–51
circumcision, 560 Eve, 71
Claudius (Fulgentius’s father), 7 evil: cause of, 167–68, 215, 221,
Claudius (Fulgentius’s brother), 14 424–25, 464; nature and, 465; na-
confession, 171–73 ture of, 454–56; persons, 457–62;
continence, vows of, 90, 105; see also privation and, 98, 130, 455–56;
virginity occurance of, 462–63, 470–71
contraries, medicinal purposes, exorcism, 473
455–56
conversion, 117, 119–21, 123–25, Fabianus, 52
129, 131, 143, 145, 152, 174; gift faith: catholic, 481–82; imperfect,
of, 127; forgiveness and, 129–30, 338–40; incarnation and, 87–88,
356; God’s desire for, 36; lack of, 116, 138, 162, 205; knowledge of
177–78; time for, 160, 170, God and, 203; lack of, 82; law and,
173–181, 358 209, 247; need for, 59–60, 100,
covenent, new and old, 553–65 114, 165, 298, 425, 479–80, 485;
creation, 74–77; Christ and, 68, 72; object of, 137–38; works and,
diversity of, 78–79; dysfunction of, 84–85, 116, 130, 131, 147, 165,
446–72; good of, 75–77, 98, 105, 177, 181, 297–98, 326
210–11, 450, 452, 456, 465; gover- fall: from church, 134; into sin,
nance of, 76, 87, 214, 219, 221– 158–60, 217–18; of creation,
22, 450–51, 469; grace of, 79–80; 451–54, 457; of man, 210, 388,
image of God, 63; purpose of, 79; 451–52
resurrection and, 166–67, 169; Fastidiosus, 387–92, 401, 406,
spiritual, 80 421–22
Cyprian, 135–36, 384 Faustus, bishop of Praesidium
Diolele, 11–13, 15, 28, 256–57
damnation, 100, 176, 293–94; see also Faustus, bishop of Gaul, 47
hell fear, of God, 199–22, 123, 161
Datianus, primate of Byzacena, 56 Felicianus, bishop of Ruspe, 4
death: eternal life and, 293; first and Felix, abbot, 15–16, 17–21, 28, 34,
second, 166–69, 195–96, 225–27; 50
grief over, 292–93; judgment and, Felix, Arian priest, 3, 17–20
 GENERAL INDEX 571

Felix, deacon of Ruspe, 30–32 n.38 Gabardilla, 17

Ferrandus, 3–4, 472–76 Gaiseric, King, 6
flesh, law of, 338 Gelasius, Pope, 524
flood, 135–36 glorification, 202, 207–9
foreknowledge, 102–3, 147–48, 179, God: attributes of, 504, 519–20; char-
193, 202, 210, 218, 220, 227–33; ity, 345; eternity, 92, 148, 447;
causation and, 210, 215 generosity of, 198, 218; goodness
forgiveness, 84–86, 111–87; conver- of, 98, 198, 211, 215; greatness of,
sion and, 358–59; despair and, 86, 519, 538; immutability, 203–4,
116–17, 119, 120, 173–74, 182; 270, 350, 401, 517–18; incorpore-
free will and, 356; penance and, al, 399–402; infinite, 94, 243–44,
147–48, 357–58; repentance and, 430; justice of, 196–97, 204, 212,
357; time for, 117, 140–43, 148, 219, 222, 360; knowledge of, 497,
157–58, 163, 178–80, 298 542–43; omnipotence, 76, 133,
fornication, 283–84, 297, 319 148, 204; omnipresence,
free will, 79–80, 127–28; cause of sin, 396–400, 501–3; omniscience,
217, 223–24, 232, 272, 502; for- 102, 144, 219, 326, 330, 501;
giveness and, 356; grace and, 502; truth, 372; allows evil, 167–68,
servitude and, 451 215, 221, 464; creator, 75–76, 92,
Fulgentius, St., life of: childhood, 98, 393, 399, 447–50, 463–69,
6–7; family, 6–8, 13–15; faith of, 534; judge, 152; physician,
21, 43; intelligence of, 5, 7, 22, 334–35, 355–56; source of all
36, 39–40; miracles of, 3, 17, good, 75, 309, 334–36; teacher,
43–44, 51; vocation of, 8–13; 194; name of, 236, 504–8, 520;
health, 13–14, 19, 31; mercy of, nature of, 39, 42, 61–64, 91–93,
20, 43, 45; sanctity of, 5, 12–14; 139, 241, 243–44, 251, 260, 264,
teacher, 5, 17, 40, 46, 52; poverty 367–73, 377–78, 416–19, 426–27,
of, 13–14, 23–25, 33, 36, 51; per- 430–34, 442–45, 499–517; three
secution of, 17–21, 29; esteem persons, 39, 61–63, 92–93, 368,
during life, 18–19, 22, 25–26, 416–17, 427, 443–45, 499–517;
28–29, 31–32, 40–41, 48–49, 52; relations between persons, 64,
virtues of, 5, 8, 13, 15–16, 24, 260–63, 427, 508, 525, 528; prop-
27–28, 31, 35–36, 43–44, 46, 50, erties of persons, 427–28, 527–28;
53–54, 341; Travels: 21–53; stay in works of, 64, 393–94; inseparabili-
Africa, 16–21; travels to Egypt, ty of persons, 240–41, 393–401,
21–24; stay in Medidi, 21; 415–16, 497, 503–17, 519–20,
Siracusa, 23; stay in Rome, 24–25; 527; equality of persons, 39, 62,
travels to Junca, 27; taken to 72, 91, 138, 263, 367–83, 448
Ruspe, 30–32; return to Carthage, goods: eternal, 298; temporal, 137,
48–49; travels to Cercina, 53; re- 298–9; giving up, 300; life, 459;
turn to Ruspe, 53; ordination, 28; ordering of, 211–12
made abbot, 15, 28; made bishop, Gordianus (Fulgentius’s grand-
31; Sardini: first exile, 35–37; sec- father), 6
ond exile, 42–47, 111, 187, 279, grace, 330–36; beginning, 87–88,
383, 472; monasteries of, 4, 6, 16, 113, 119–20, 148–49, 197–98,
21, 26–27, 34, 45; love of monasti- 200–202, 207, 209, 219, 314, 349;
cism, 8, 21–23, 26, 33–34, 38; ill- cause of, 102; debt and, 197–98,
ness and death, 53–54; burial, 55; 200; dependence on, 120–22,
other works: Against Pinta, 41, Ad- 200–202; free will and, 502; gift
monition, 42 of, 127, 200–202, 207–9, 215,
572 GENERAL INDEX

(grace continued) 12, 517–34, 538, 541, 549; mar-

223–24, 228, 298, 501; nature riage and, 249; trinity and, 406–8,
and, 336, 430; need for, 351–52; 416, 418–21, 424, 438–41, 527,
prayer and, 334, 338; sin and, 529–30
172; time for, 298; understanding Illustris, bishop, 37
and, 499 impiety, 126, 130–31, 146, 234
guilt, vessel of, 223–24 indwelling, 265–73, 502, 516–17,
521, 543
heart, hardness of, 85–86, 119, inheritance, eternal reward, 142–43,
122–24, 126, 129, 140–43, 160, 150, 158–59, 165, 177, 182, 200,
171, 175, 178 207, 209, 294, 340
hell, 82, 100–101, 106, 114, 145, insects, worms and, 464, 468, 450,
150, 156, 162, 167–69, 222, 225, 469–70
272, 294 Isola, Antonio, 3, 45 n.55
heresy: anger of God, 264, 371–72;
correction of, 260; idolotry, Januarius, bishop, 37, 347 n.13
372–73; piety and, 146, 234; salva- Jerome, St., 190, 314
tion and, 106, 136; sin of, 104, Jerusalem, 148
130–31, 137–38, 233–34, 421–22, John, bishop of Thapsus, 498
458; holy spirit and, 252–53 judgment, 141, 146, 149–50, 176,
heretics, avoidance of, 240, 247; 213, 228, 293–94; of angels, 80;
church and, 512; conversion of, punishment and, 81–82, 84, 100,
139–40, 142–43; separated from 127, 160–61, 164, 178–81, 213
church, 252–53; sensuality of, Juliatheus, 42
416–17 Junca, Council of, 51
Hilderic, King, 47 justification, gift of, 60, 83, 87, 100,
holy spirit: advocate, 244, 368; 128, 148, 202–3, 206–7, 216
annunciation and, 114; baptism
and, 93, 253; Christ and, 535–47; kingdom of God, 87, 106, 129, 182,
church and, 249; coming of, 93, 200
435–36; creator, 376–77; divinity knowledge, sin and, 127–28
of, 42, 91–93, 241–45, 372–95,
498, 501, 509–11, 513–16, 518, last supper, 498, 553–65
552–53; forgiveness and, 140–41; law: end of, 247; faith and, 209; new
gifts of, 114, 141–42, 245–47, 317, and old, 97; of flesh, 338–39, 462;
342–43, 394; good soul and, 268; sacrifices of, 74, 97, 100; salvation
grace and, 113; grief over sin and, and, 121–24, 152–56, 171; sin
467; heresy and, 252–53; love and, and, 196
254, 342–46; measure of, 534–47; Lazarus, 170
mission of, 241; omnipresence of, Leo the Great, Pope, 280, 522–523
94; procession of, 63, 64, 94, 538, liberty, 311–12
547–53; reign of, 551–53; sacrifice life, good, 145–46, 295, 311, 459;
and, 241–42 evil, 295; living in God, 273–74,
homoousia, 42, 379 n.52, 386, 392 502, 516–17, 521, 543
hope, 121, 208 light, grace and, 127, 136–38; truth
humility, 330 and, 194, 199
Hunneric, King, 11 n.14 Logos, 379 n.52, 511 n.34
love: of God, 211–13, 152, 312–13,
incarnation, 41, 64–70, 94, 96–97, 346; of neighbor, 132, 146,
380–83, 388, 429–41, 445, 511– 312–13, 346; of world, 152, 214;
 GENERAL INDEX 573

obedience and, 346; debt of, 159–64, 197, 215, 220, 223,
188–89, 312–13; of flesh, 326; ra- 359–60; vessel of, 223–24
tionality and, 211 merit, 84, 163, 298, 313; and
penance, 170–80
magi, 525 modalism, 379 n.51
macedonianism, 379–80 monasticism, 23
man: fickleness of, 78; image of God, monophysitism, 23 n.27, 381 n.57
212, 264, 377, 411–13, 417; Moors, invasions, 16 n.17
knowledge of God, 542–45; living Moses, 95, 236
in God, 273–74, 502, 516–17, mourning, for sin, 126, 133, 168,
521, 543; nature and person, 500, 337
510, 515; pilgrims, 335; recon-
ciled through Christ, 436–38; sin- nature, 465, 468; fall of, 451–54;
ful nature of, 331; sons of God, grace and, 336, 430; singular and
372, 377, 482–83; soul, 412; plural, 505–06
speech, 413–14; temple of holy Nestorius, 381–82, 551
spirit, 151, 244, 377; union of Nicea, Council of, 42 n. 51
body and soul, 271, 418, 445–46, Noah, 135–36, 236
500, 503, 530–31
manichaeanism, 130, 256, 380, 382, Old Testament: foretelling of Christ,
403, 454–55, 463, 544, 550 97, 256, 405–6; faith of patriarchs,
Marcellus, of Ancyra, 380 n.56 208–9, 235–36, 238–39; fulfill-
Mariana (Fulgentius’s mother), 7 ment of, 560–62; prefiguring bap-
marriage: anxiety and, 295–96, 301, tism, 135–36; prefiguring confes-
318; authority of spouse, 286; sion, 136–38; widows in, 303–4
chastity and, 90, 281, 296, 461; Optatus of Milevis, St., 255, 258
children and, 290; death and, order, 214
295; debt, 90, 281–82, 288, original sin, see sin
296–97; divorce and, 90, 105,
301; figure of church and Christ, Patripassianism, see Sabellianism
319; fruits of, 282; gift of, 297, Pelegianism, 47–48
299–300; holiness of, 105, 318; penance, 89, 170–80, 357–58; delay
incarnation and, 249; institution and, 85, 115–16, 147, 153;
of, 89, 105, 282; modesty and, forgiveness and, 125, 147–48;
288; of baptized persons, 461; time for, 84–85, 101, 115–16,
remedy for weakness, 89–90, 281, 147–48, 157
318; sin and, 90, 281–83; unity of, perseverance, 110, 112–13, 122, 134,
249, 286; virginity and, 317–20; 158–60, 309, 333–40
vows and, 91, 105, 279–81, Photinianism, 190, 380, 382
285–87 Pinta, bishop, 41
Martin of Tours, St., 3 poison, 450, 452–53
martyrdom, 88, 101 Pontianus, bishop of Thenae, 55
Mary, 70–71, 95, 114, 130, 247–48, prayer, 334, 338
315, 380–81; cp. to Eve, 71, 95, predestination, 87, 103, 112–14,
130; symbol of church, 315; 187–233; to death, 192, 195, 204;
annunciation and, 114, 247–48, of good and evil, 193, 196, 212–
442; cooperation of, 404 15, 219–25, 229–32; to punish-
medicine, 455–56 ment, 194, 204, 219, 221–22; of
mercy: gift of, 219, 223; justice and, works, 206, 225, 227–28, 230–31;
116–122, 146, 149, 153–55, foreknowledge and, 147–48, 179,
574 GENERAL INDEX

(predestination continued) rational soul and, 86–87, 99; sacra-

193, 202, 210, 218, 220, 227–33; ments and, 130
causality and, 210; of evil, 194, sanctity: degrees of, 317; works and,
204, 210, 214–16, 229, 232; to 115, 120, 143, 145–46, 147, 158,
glory, 204, 216, 221–22; justice 165, 169, 283, 298
and, 204, 212, 219, 222; limit of, Satan, 71, 80–81, 100, 104, 106, 114,
205, 212; of fall, 217–18; promise 446; power to create, 468; tricks of
and, 220–21, 228; prediction and, 116–19, 131, 210, 222, 324–325,
220–21; free will and, 204–6 337
pride, 210–12, 228–30, 325, Scripture, meaning of, 256–58, 553
325–27 second coming, Christ, 98, 106, 145,
Primasius, bishop of Cagliari, 45 162–63
privation, 455–56 self: hatred of, 156; love of, 211–13
Prosper, 231–32 sex, and sin, 128; and marriage, 90,
punishment, 144–45, 150–51, 156, 281–83, 296; illicit 283–84, 297,
165, 169, 194, 196–97, 204, 219, 319
221–22 sin: cause of, 217, 223–24, 232, 272,
502; death and, 161, 168, 200,
Quodvultdeus, bishop, 51–52 213, 227, 272, 325; effects of, 100,
128, 167, 334–35; forgiveness and,
rational soul, salvation and, 86–87, 461; grace and, 172; heresy and,
99 233–34, 416–17, 421–22, 458,
Redemptus, 21 480, 484; law and, 196; order and,
repentance, 143, 145, 152; 214; original sin, 69–71, 81–82,
confession and, 171–73; forgive- 99–100, 114, 128, 217–18, 220,
ness and, 357; time for, 177 457, 487–88; personal, 114, 224,
resurrection: general, 164–65; of 227, 232; pride and, 210–12,
wicked, 83, 87, 101, 165, 168; of 228–30, 325, 325–27; punish-
good, 164–65; first and second, ment, 80–81, 98, 129, 131, 144,
166–67; bodily, 82–83, 86–87, 195, 210; regret and, 337; respon-
101, 165; of animals, 86 sibility and, 161, 167, 334; separa-
riches, eternal, 362–64; worldly, tion from God, 397, 516–17
348–53, 362–64, 483–84 Sinai, Mount, 95
Romulus, 348 Son of God, 93, 372, 376, 429–39,
Rufinianus, bishop, 24 444, 518, 520–23, 526, 537, 548
Rusticiana, 291 Son of Man, 376, 441
soul, human, 265–67, 271; interior
Sabellianism, 139, 378–79, 428–29, life of, 267–68; thought and,
381, 512 264–65, 273–74; see also man
sacrament, 494–95 spiritual adornment, 301–302,
sacrilege, see heresy 307–308
saints: sins of, 457–62; perfection of, spouse, Christ as, 302, 306, 314, 328,
222; sufferings of, 553, 557, 559 333
salvation, 150–51; God’s desire for, Sufes, Council of, 51–52
122–23, 149, 195, 199, 226; grace
and, 334, 336, 349, 351–52; mar- tears, 337–38, 340
tyrdom and, 88, 101; faith and, Theoderic, King, 24–25
60, 87–88, 100, 114, 116, 138, Theodore, Senator, 347
162, 165, 205, 298; of children, theology, method, 256–58, 261
127–28; outside church, 106, 136; thought, 264–65, 273–74
 GENERAL INDEX 575

Thrasamund, King, 38–41, 47 warfare, spiritual, 338–39

Tome of Leo, 23 n.27 wicked, actions of, 457–62
Trinity, see God, Christ, Holy Spirit widowhood, 257–58, 291–310; mar-
riage and, 297; purpose of, 306;
understanding, sight and, 544–46 fasts and, 304–306; charity of,
307–8
vengence, see wrath wife, behavior of, 301
Victor, primate of Byzacena, 31 n.36 will, function of, 204; love and
vir, 315 343–45; predestination and, 206
virago, 315 within, existence, 265–73
virginity, 310–33; gift of, 314–17, word: breath and, 262; of God, 68,
church and, 315–16; anxiety and, 72, 74, 92, 94–96, 260–65, 270,
318; spouse of, 306, 314, 328, 333; 272, 303, 374, 382, 394, 415–16,
fasts and, 322–23; fruits of, 321; 418, 421, 424, 439, 441, 444–45,
good of, 255, 257–58, 283, 289, 447–48, 547, thought and,
296, 306; highest call, 317–20; hu- 264–65, 273–74
mility and, 328–29, 332; reward works: good, 84, 88–89; as prayer,
for, 317; spiritual and bodily, 316, 302–303; lack of, 169–70; merit
321, 324; spiritual combat and, and, 298; salvation and, 115, 120,
332–33; temptations and, 321–25; 143, 145–46, 147, 158, 165, 169,
virtue and, 314, 319; vows and, 283, 298; tears and, 337–38, 340
285–86, 288; weakness and, world, desire for, 483–84
288–89 wrath: of God, 85, 118–19, 121, 125,
viriliter, 315 144, 153, 161, 163, 205, 215, 219,
virtue, 214, 311–12 222–23, 264; vessel of, 223–25
Vitalis, prior, 34
vows, 90–91, 284–88
 I N D E X O F H O LY S C R I P T U R E

Old Testament

Genesis 32.39: 91, 369, 378, 5.8: 391

1: 468 443, 482 7.9: 171
1.26: 63, 411 43: 371 7.12–13: 122
1.27: 63 8.4–5: 375
1.31: 211 Joshua 10.16: 268, 269
2.21–23: 315 2: 136 11.5: 154, 156, 196
8.20: 236 11.6–7: 154
12.7–8: 235 Ruth 11.7: 117, 217
12.18: 204 3.15: 367 14.2: 193
13.2–4: 236 14.3: 192
21.10: 459 2 Samuel 16.11: 540
25.16: 466 12.13: 172 17.8–9: 331
26.23–25: 238 18.10: 534
35.1: 238 1 Kings 18.28: 194
35.6–7: 238 8.27: 431 18.30: 339
18.31: 369, 443, 482
Exodus 2 Kings 18.44: 31
3.14: 92 2.9: 537 19.5: 383, 406
3.15: 235 2.9–10: 245 19.6: 240, 248, 511
7.1: 482 4.34: 385 19.10: 218
20.2–3: 371 22.1: 390
20.5–6: 118 Judith 22.10: 374
34.6–7: 118 8.4–5: 304 22.16–18: 405
8.7–8: 304 23.1: 21
Leviticus 23.5: 557
4.21 [LXX]: 100 Job 23.6: 201
7.1: 339 25.7: 126
Deuteronomy 14.4: 70 25.10: 117, 231
1.37: 460 14.16–17 [LXX]: 25.15:337
5.17–18: 563 144 27.3:202
6.4: 61, 91, 369, 371 31.3: 144 27.14: 309
6.13: 61, 91, 369, 33.4: 376 30.6: 330
370 36.10–12: 143 30.7: 330
20.5: 371 30.8: 330
23.21–23: 285 Psalms 31.24: 315
32: 371 1.6: 226 32.1: 128
32.4: 213, 217, 268, 4.2: 363 32.9: 99
269 4.4: 265, 412 33.6: 376, 394
32.7: 424 4.5: 266 33.11: 401

576
 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 577

34.9: 218 76.11: 91 127.1: 330, 335

34.16: 227 77.10: 165, 349 127.4: 335
34.18: 364 80.2: 433 135.6: 148
36: 10 81.11–12: 168 139.7: 377
36.9: 270 82.6: 482 139.7–8: 94, 397,
37.3: 309 84.2: 117 501, 508, 509
37.5: 330 84.4: 471 139.7–10: 243
37.23: 198 84.7: 301 140.5: 32
37.24: 461 84.12: 214 142.3: 324
37.28: 206 85.8: 113 143.2: 220
37.39–40: 150 86.13: 272 145.13: 309
38.5: 335 86.15: 72, 117 145.18: 60, 143
38.6–7: 329, 337 87.5: 67, 541 146.5–6: 92, 450
38.8: 329 90.14: 540
38.9: 330 94.7–8: 85 Proverbs
39.13: 180 96.5: 481 1.8: 491
45.7: 540 100.3: 434 2.6: 192
45.11–13: 302 101.1: 117, 197 2.11–12: 362
45.14: 505 102.25–27: 92 2.17–18: 271
45.16: 466 103.1–5: 355 3.7–8: 143
47.9: 466 103.5: 293 4.27: 226
49.6: 351 103.8–13: 215 5.22–23: 144
49.12: 470 103.10: 216 8.7: 480
50.17: 152 103.10–12: 164 8.20–21: 562
51.1–2: 125 103.13: 216 8.21a [LXX]: 405
51.3: 125 104.24: 72, 393 8.22: 405
51.5: 70 104.30: 376 8.22–23: 389
51.8: 113 104.32: 349 8.23: 95
51.17: 364 106.32: 460 8.25: 95, 405
55.19: 167 109.20: 275 8.30: 270
55.20: 167 110.3: 96 8.35: 198, 199
55.22: 309 112.4: 206 8.36: 234, 457
59.10: 201 115.3: 204, 314 9.1: 405
60.12: 198, 396 115.5: 214, 220 9.12: 391
62.3: 281 116.2: 201 11.31: 126
62.10: 363 116.5: 117 18.3: 355
63.8: 249 116.8: 272 20.9: 331
65.4: 540 116.12–13: 557 24.16: 461
65.14: 284 116.15: 557
66.13–14: 284 116.16: 374 Ecclesiastes
68.28: 198 119.11: 137 5.4–5: 285
72.11: 371 119.19: 345 10.1: 467
73.1: 218 119.73: 331
73.18: 212 119.103: 218 Song of Songs
73.19: 213 119.133: 339 2.4: 155, 214
73.27: 212, 249, 399 119.175: 229
73.28: 302 124.7: 337 Wisdom
74.12: 92, 563 126.5–6: 364 1.1: 433
75.8: 563 126.6: 203, 338 1.3–5: 397, 516
578 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

(Wisdom continued) 5.7: 85, 153, 175, Jeremiah

1.4: 344 364 2.10–11: 481
1.5: 287, 433 6.5: 187 2.19: 218
1.6–7: 397 7.1–3: 144 2.21: 217
1.7: 94, 243, 377, 7.16: 145 8.4–5: 360
501 7.30: 556 10.11: 481
1.8: 501 9.10: 564 10.23–24: 229
1.9: 501 10.12: 212 12.2: 502
1.12–13: 195 10.13: 210, 315 23.23: 502
1.13: 217, 388 12.7: 145 23.23–24: 399
2.1: 264, 265, 271, 18.20: 146 23.24: 77, 94, 501
413 21.1: 85, 358 31.31–32: 564
2.24: 101, 195 21.1–2: 144
3.1: 505 21.9–10: 145 Baruch
3.11: 151 29.12: 303 3.25: 242
3.17–18: 293 30.24: 154 3.35: 424, 426
4.1: 267 34.30–31: 124 3.36: 442
4.8–10: 294 35.21: 337 3.36–38: 441
4.11–14: 295 3.37: 424, 426
5.1–5: 149 Isaiah
5.4: 150 1.16–20: 123 Ezekiel
5.5: 150 3.12: 271 18.4: 196, 391
7.20: 402 6.3: 64 18.20: 272
7.24–26: 467 7.9: 494 18.21–23: 122
7.26: 511 7.14: 406 18.21–24: 359
7.27: 267 9.6: 406, 518 18.24: 122
7.30: 355 11.1–2: 539 18.26: 160
8.1: 94, 243, 394, 11.4: 94 18.26–28: 359
398, 430, 465, 30.15: 84, 123, 124, 18.30–32: 195
469, 501 125, 360, 365 18.32: 226
8.17: 271 45.11: 203, 215, 33.11: 85
9.15: 208 230, 406 36.26–27: 198
9.17: 417 45.21–22: 118 36.27: 207
10.15–16: 267 48.16: 242
12.18: 204 49.8: 154, 156 Daniel
15.2: 274 52.13: 95 3.26–31: 365
53.7: 406 3.41–42: 365
Sirach 54.22: 360 3.64: 505
1.4: 394 55.1–7: 356 10.13: 466
1.5 [LXX]: 394 55.6–7: 179 10.21: 466
1.8–9: 394 55.7: 357 13.42: 102, 502
2.10: 309 55.8–9: 400
2.12: 287 56.4–5: 317 Hosea
2.14: 434 59.1–2: 397 1.7: 370
2.15: 434 62.2: 316 13.14: 556
3.17–18: 310 62.4: 316
3.18: 328 62.4–5: 315 Joel
3.19: 44 62.5: 316 2.12–13: 361
3.26: 143 65.13–14: 221 2.13: 338
5.5–6: 144 66.2: 113 2.28: 535
 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 579

Habbakkuk Zephaniah Malachi

2.4: 272, 425 3.8–10: 239 2.17: 213
3.11: 137 4.2: 137

New Testament

Matthew 12.35: 187, 266 14.36: 556

1.18: 114, 248 13.43: 209 16.15–16: 479
1.20: 248 14.31: 460 16.16: 484
1.20–21: 114 15.8: 399 16.19: 420
1.21: 442 15.19: 266
3.7: 205 15.19–20: 217 Luke
3.12: 106 16.13: 440 1.35: 248
3.17: 65, 93 16.15: 440 1.78–79: 137
4.4: 418 16.16: 489, 440 2.21: 96
5.3: 350 16.17: 348, 440 2.37: 305
5.4: 354 16.18–19: 134 2.51: 8
5.7: 155 16.19: 85, 141 3.7–9: 161
5.8: 545 16.27: 162 3.17: 161, 162
5.14: 506 17.21–22: 441 3.22: 513
5.16: 207, 308 19.6: 249 3.36–37: 305
5.25–26: 152 19.12 : 89, 300 4.18: 242
5.28: 467 19.17: 156 4.21: 242
5.44–45: 132 19.26: 272 5.20: 413
5.45: 470 19.29: 300 5.22: 266
6.1: 308 20.1–16: 177 5.31: 355
6.12: 89, 462 20.22: 555 5.31–32: 121
6.19–20: 307 23.3: 247 6.21: 364
6.24: 434 23.12: 350 6.25: 364
7.7: 289 23.37: 148 6.37–38: 289
7.7–8: 356 24.24: 465 6.46: 171, 326
7.12: 132 25.34: 163, 200, 7.29: 265
7.13–14: 152 222, 294 9.26: 116
7.17: 354 25.41: 104, 163, 10.7: 485
7.21: 143 222, 294 10.35: 189
8.22: 226 25.46: 106, 206, 221 11.19: 191
9.2–3: 266 26.26–28: 554 12.20: 307
9.3–4: 413 26.39: 555 12.47–48: 127
9.6: 179 26.41: 120 14.11: 211
10.28: 196 26.27–28: 115 15.7: 362
10.32: 486 27.3–5: 357 16.15: 326
10.32–33: 116, 138 28.19: 368, 377 16.19: 299
11.19: 212 16.25: 363
11.27: 510 Mark 16.25–26: 170
11.28: 163 1.11: 513 17.5: 245
11.29: 95, 326, 350 10.18: 218 18.9–14: 327
12.28: 394 14.22–24: 554 19.10: 162, 359
12.33: 354 14.35: 556 21.19: 505
580 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

(Luke continued) 5.17: 65 20.22–23: 142

22.14–15: 558 5.18: 368 20.28: 370
22.17: 559 5.19: 368, 395 23.24: 243
22.17–20: 498, 553, 5.21: 368
554 5.25: 163 Acts
22.19–20: 559 5.26: 521 1.11: 98
22.20: 558, 559 5.28–29: 87, 163, 2.30–31: 95, 533
22.42: 555 293 2.36: 389, 404
23.46: 390 5.30: 162 4.32: 252, 398, 496,
24.5: 303 5.32: 443 503, 505
24.25: 564 5.36–37: 443 5.3–4: 288
24.26: 565 5.44: 209 8.36: 485
24.27: 565 6.33: 191 8.37: 485
24.32: 565 6.38: 27 10.38: 540
24.39: 95, 380, 550 6.53: 475, 479, 492 17.28: 262, 274
24.44–45: 565 7.30: 556 20.28: 97
8.16: 368 20.34–35: 255
John 8.26: 162 24.22: 362
1.1: 72, 260, 262, 8.34: 129
270, 374, 381, 9.35–38: 439 Romans
415 10.17: 95 1.8: 207
1.1–2: 92, 441 10.18: 420 1.9–10: 313
1.1–3: 68, 447 10.30: 66, 96, 376, 1.17: 366
1.3: 263, 374, 393 551 1.18: 125, 372
1.9: 147, 354 10.34–36: 439 1.20: 92, 517
1.12: 216, 485 12.28: 513 1.24: 168
1.12–13: 482, 391 12.48: 162 1.25: 372
1.14: 68, 374, 390, 13.10: 103 1.26: 168
415, 441, 444, 13.34: 345 1.28: 168, 230
547 14.6: 91, 291, 354 1.36: 263
1.15: 389, 404 14.7: 510 2.1–6: 361
1.16: 200, 381, 539 14.9: 96, 415 2.4: 141
1.29: 100, 359 14.9–11: 511 2.4–6: 141
1.33: 536 14.10: 96, 272 3.5–6: 205, 223
2.4: 556 14.15: 165 3.8: 129, 151, 357
3.5: 88 14.15–17: 244, 3.26: 197
3.14–15: 439 268,443 4.4: 224
3.16: 93, 439 14.16–17: 368 4.20–21: 204
3.16–17: 65, 162 14.17: 514 4.21: 208
3.16–18: 429, 440 14.23: 242, 267, 432 5.2: 150
3.18: 93 14.26: 242 5.5: 140, 142, 189,
3.19: 293 14.28: 96, 376 245, 249, 251,
3.20–21: 199 15.5: 330 312, 342, 398,
3.21: 395, 396 15.22: 432 435, 436
3.27: 208, 330 15.26: 94, 242, 443 5.6: 97, 356
3.34: 535, 536, 545 16.27: 514 5.10: 97, 437
3.34–35: 536 17.1: 440 5.16: 488
3.36: 205 18.11: 555 5.20: 172
5.1: 65 20.17: 440 6.11: 484
5.14: 121 20.22: 94 6.20: 311
 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 581

6.21: 311 2.11: 271, 509 12.8–11: 343

6.22: 311, 432 2.12: 207, 417, 510 12.11: 394, 395, 562
6.23: 161, 200 2.13: 244, 256 12.12: 249
7.2: 295 2.14: 252, 416 12.13: 249, 399
7.22: 339 2.15: 107 12.27: 493, 495
7.23: 339 2.16: 209 13.1: 246
7.25: 339 3.6: 491 13.2: 104
7.24–25: 337 3.7: 102, 491 13.2–3: 246
8.3: 410 3.8: 160, 491 13.4–6: 344
8.7: 326 3.16: 151, 244, 494 13.12: 544
8.9: 93 3.16–17: 377 13.13: 251
8.12–13: 145 3.17–18a: 151 14.40: 214
8.13: 471 3.17–18: 458 15.3: 419
8.15: 244 4.7: 188, 208, 330 15.40: 155
8.18: 201 6.9–10: 82, 129, 15.41: 76
8.23: 391 284, 461 15.41–42: 317
8.29: 103, 148 6.15: 318 15.42–44: 101, 166
8.29–30: 202 6.17: 517 15.51: 83, 101, 164
8.30: 197, 203 6.19: 244, 377 15.52: 83, 101, 165
8.32: 65, 438 6.19–20: 92, 318 15.53: 83, 101, 165
8.35: 393 6.20: 377 15.54: 83
8.38–39: 393, 517 7.1: 281 15.56: 457
9.1–4a: 126 7.1–2: 318 15.58: 491
9.5: 96, 376, 382 7.2: 297
9.14: 268, 269 7.2–3: 281 2 Corinthians
9.16: 352 7.3: 90 3.4: 331
9.19: 148 7.4: 282, 286 3.5: 313, 336
9.22–23: 223 7.7: 296, 319 4.13: 269, 486
9.28: 60 7.9: 89 4.17: 201
10.3: 327 7.25: 189, 254 4.17–18: 300
10.10: 139, 485 7.28: 285, 296 4.18: 137
11.22–23: 121 7.32–34: 318 5.3: 178
11.33: 541 7.34: 292, 295 5.4: 67
11.36: 92, 199, 396 7.37: 90, 285 5.7: 202
12.1: 493 7.40: 297 5.10: 87, 154, 489
12.3: 459, 562 8.6: 262, 441, 449 6.1: 195
12.5: 399 9.9: 87 6.2: 154, 156, 157
12.6–8: 317 9.26–27: 160 6.2b: 154
12.9–10: 345 9.27: 322 7.10: 292
12.12: 365 10.6: 315 8.9: 330, 409
13.1: 282 10.12: 120 8.18: 506
13.8: 188 10.16: 493 9.10: 227
14.23c: 177 10.16–17: 257 10.3: 339
15.13: 142 10.17: 493, 494, 495 10.12: 329
15.30: 313 11.1: 545 11.2: 315, 505
11.23–25: 555 11.27: 322
1 Corinthians 11.31–32: 462 12.21: 126, 284, 361
1.23–24: 517 11.32: 365 13.4: 67, 383, 410,
2.5: 107 12.4–6: 394, 561 518, 533
2.10: 417, 509 12.8–9: 245, 562 13.13: 142
582 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

Galatians 4.13: 315 2.12: 391

1.3–5: 439 4.13–16: 250 2.16–17: 560
1.22: 506 4.15: 245 3.1–2: 483
1.22–24: 308 4.15–16: 493 3.3–4: 350
1.6–7: 481 4.17–18: 367 3.5: 484
2.20: 438 4.30: 467
3.14: 235 5.1–2: 550 1 Thessalonians
3.16: 235 5.2: 74, 254 1.9–10: 91, 205,
3.19: 246 5.8: 521 372
3.27–28: 348 5.23: 248 2.5–6: 308
4.4: 95, 374, 404, 5.25: 318 2.9: 255
436 5.28–30: 319 4.13–14: 292
4.4–5: 68 5.29–30: 493 5.3: 205, 225
4.5: 436 5.30–31: 249 5.23: 505
5.6: 141, 176, 298, 5.32: 249
324, 423, 436 6.4: 290 2 Thessalonians
5.13: 312 6.18: 244 2.8: 94, 465
5.17: 338
5.19–20: 82 Philippians 1 Timothy
5.19–21: 129 1.10–11: 308 1.5: 135, 247, 425,
5.21: 284 1.23: 208 436, 480
5.22: 342 1.29: 200 1.7: 454
5.24: 484 2.1: 251 1.8: 463
6.1: 120 2.6: 72, 374, 375 1.12–13: 127
6.7: 157 2.6–7: 414, 548 1.13: 224
6.7–8: 471 2.7: 73, 374 2.4: 148
6.7–10: 157 2.7–8: 71 3.15: 490, 506
6.8: 158, 227, 323 2.8: 436, 549 3.16: 388
6.9: 158 2.9–11: 436, 541 4.4–5: 89
6.10: 160 2.12: 352 5.5: 302
2.12–13: 120 5.6: 226, 303, 305,
Ephesians 2.13: 199, 206, 336, 322
1.3–4: 247 352 5.11–12: 285
1.3–5: 215 3.9: 209 6.20: 314, 481
1.4–5: 103 3.12: 202, 208
1.5: 103 3.15: 107, 208 2 Timothy
1.9–10: 203 3.19: 233, 483 2.19: 156
1.13–14: 142 3.20: 272 2.20: 133
1.14: 247 4.7: 534 2.25–26: 102, 149
2.1–5: 226 3.8: 131, 458
2.3: 100 Colossians 4.1: 82
2.7: 201, 218 1.16: 393 4.4: 111
2.8–10: 199 1.16–17: 243, 449
2.14–18: 248 1.18: 249 Titus
2.19–22: 250 1.19: 540 1.15–16: 458
3.17: 267 2.3: 539 1.16: 326
4.1–3: 142, 252 2.5: 214, 398 2.11–12: 459
4.4: 398, 493 2.8–9: 261 2.11–13: 145
4.6: 441 2.8–12: 560 2.12: 146
4.7: 536, 537 2.9: 540, 546 3.7: 67
 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 583

Hebrews 3.15: 326 2.23: 508

1.3: 96, 402, 511 4.4: 152 3.2: 274, 544, 545
2.8: 339 4.6: 212, 331 3.4: 196, 516
2.9: 375, 549 4.8–10: 364 3.4–6: 213
2.11–12: 438 5.1–5: 363 3.5: 196, 516
2.16–17: 551 3.7: 198
2.16–18: 437 1 Peter 3.15: 156
3.1–2: 437 1.8: 505 4.7–8: 398
3.12–13: 85 1.18–19: 561 4.8: 517
3.12–14: 160 2.5: 250, 493, 548 4.16: 354
3.14: 540 2.11–12: 151 4.18: 188
4.12: 303 2.22: 557 5.1: 441
5.1: 437, 550, 551 2.24: 462 5.4: 207
10.29: 467 3.1–4: 301 5.6: 92
11.6: 23, 60, 177 3.5: 301 5.20: 91, 372
11.11: 460 3.5–6: 319
11.39–40: 208 3.15: 367 Jude
12.6: 469 3.20–21: 135 19: 252, 253, 416
13.4: 89, 281, 284, 4.8: 140, 143, 355
319 4.17–18: 462 Revelation
13.15: 548 4.18: 126 1.7: 98
13.20–21: 199 5.5: 212 1.16: 94
13.21: 199, 207 2.11: 167
2 Peter 3.19: 362
James 2.4: 82 3.20: 267
1.14: 195, 196 3.9: 147, 149, 360 6.10: 153
1.15: 286 6.11: 153
1.17: 208, 270, 311, 1 John 6.16–17: 294
313, 336, 506 1.2: 270 14.4: 317
1.18: 274 1.8: 331, 457 20.6: 167
1.25: 334 2.1–2: 356 20.10: 225
2.13: 154, 155 2.6: 545 20.11: 167
2.14: 326 2.9–11: 458 20.14–15: 225
2.17: 177 2.11: 293 21.8: 226
2.19: 326, 369, 443 2.15–16: 214 22.11–15: 174
2.20: 177 2.16: 340 22.12: 176
3.2: 331, 339, 457 2.18: 176