1. Since the letter your Grace sent by the hands of our holy brother, the priest Firmus, reached Hippo during my absence, and on my return I had the chance to read it only after the bearer of it had taken his departure, this first opportunity of replying (and it is a very welcome one too) is afforded by our well-beloved son, the acolyte Albinus. b Your letter, addressed to Alypius and myself together, came at a time when we were not together, so in consequence you receive a letter from each of us, not one in the common name of us both, for the bearer of this letter, having left me, will on his way pass by my revered brother and fellow-bishop, Alypius, so that he may write one for himself in reply to your Holiness; that letter of yours, after reading it, I sent on to him by the same bearer. As for the great joy with which your letter filled me, why should one attempt to utter feelings that defy utterance? Indeed, I am not sure that you have any adequate conception yourself of the amount of good you have done to us in writing as you did, but take our word for it; for just as you can bear witness to your own soul, so we can to ours, of the extent to which we have been moved by the very transparent sincerity of your letter. For if we transcribed with exulting joy and with great fervour read to all we could that very short letter of yours on this same problem that you sent by the acolyte Leo a to our most saintly Senior, Aurelius—a letter in which you expounded to us your views about that most pernicious doctrine, and, on the other hand, about the grace of God bestowed by Him upon small and great, to which that doctrine is violently opposed,—how great do you think was the exultation with which we read that lengthier statement from your pen, and how great the care with which we have had it read by all we could offer it to and can still offer it to? For what more welcome document could be read or heard than so faultless a defence of the grace of God against its enemies, uttered by one whom those same enemies boasted of as an influential supporter of their cause? Or is there anything that should make us more abundantly grateful to God than this, that His grace is so well defended by those to whom it is given, against those to whom it is either not given or by whom it is so ungraciously received when given, since by the secret and righteous judgement of God it is not given them to accept it graciously?
1. Ex quo Hipponem litterae benignitatis tuae per sanctum fratrem nostrum Firmum presbyterum directae me absente venerunt, posteaquam illas, cum remeassem, quamvis iam inde profecto earum perlatore legere potui, haec prima eademque gratissima rescribendi occurrit occasio per dilectissimum filium nostrum acolithum Albinum. Quod autem, quibus simul scripsisti, tunc non eramus simul, ideo factum est, ut singulorum singulas, non unam amborum epistulam sumeres. A me quippe digressus est perlator huius, per venerabilem fratrem et coepiscopum meum Alypium, qui tuae sanctitati aliam rescriberet, transiturus. Ad quem etiam ipsas quas ego iam legeram, litteras tuas ipse portavit. Quae nos quanta laetitia perfuderint, quid homo nitatur loqui quod non potest eloqui? Nec te ipsum satis nosse arbitror, sed nobis crede, quantum boni feceris talia nobis scripta mittendo. Sicut enim tu testis es animi tui, ita nos nostri, quem ad modum sit affectus illarum sinceritate luculentissima litterarum. Si enim brevissimam epistulam tuam, quam de hac ipsa re ad beatissimum senem Aurelium per Leonem acolithum direxisti, exultanti alacritate descripsimus et, quibus poteramus, magno studio legebamus, ubi nobis exposuisti quid de illo perniciosissimo dogmate vel quid contra de gratia dei, quam pusillis magnisque largitur, cui est illud inimicissimum, sentias, quanta nos putas ista tua prolixiora scripta vel exultatione legisse vel cura, ut legantur, quibus valuimus, aliis obtulisse atque adhuc, quibus valemus, offerre! Quid enim gratius legi vel audiri potest, quam gratiae dei tam pura defensio adversus inimicos eius ex ore eius, qui eorundem inimicorum magni momenti patronus antea iactabatur? Aut unde uberiores deo debemus agere gratias, quam quod eius sic defenditur gratia ab eis quibus datur, adversus eos quibus vel non datur vel ingratum est quod datur, quia, ut eis gratum sit, occulto et iusto iudicio dei non datur?
2. Wherefore, my venerable lord and holy brother cherished in the love of Christ, although you do an excellent service in writing on this question to the brethren before whom its supporters are in the habit of boasting of your friendship, yet this larger duty awaits you of not only having punishment of wholesome severity administered to those who dare with over-much freedom to rave about that error which is such a dangerous challenge to the name of Christ, but also for the sake of the Lord's weaker and more simple-minded sheep of employing with all the vigilance of a pastor the most careful safeguards against those who, though in a stealthier and more covert manner, still do not cease to whisper it, “creeping into houses,”a as the apostle says, and with practised ungodliness doing the other things that he goes on to mention. Nor should those be overlooked who under the restraint of fear conceal their opinions under the deepest silence, but yet do not cease to cherish the same perverted opinions. Some, indeed, of their party may have attracted your attention before that pestilence was denounced by the most explicit condemnation of the Apostolic See itself, and may now, as you can see, have suddenly become silent, so that it is impossible to ascertain whether they have been cured of it unless they not only refrain from uttering those false doctrines, but actually take up the defence of the contrary doctrines with the same fervour they showed in propounding error. These, however, surely call for milder treatment: what need is there to terrify them, when their very silence shows that they are terrified enough? At the same time, they are not to be passed over and spared remedial attention, as though they were quite sound, because their sore is hidden. For while they are not to be terrified, yet they ought to be taught, and, in my opinion, this process is easier while the fear they have of severe measures assists him who teaches them the truth. In this way, after they have learned through the Lord's assistance to understand and love His grace, they may by their utterance refute the errors which they no longer dare to utter.
2. Quapropter, domine venerabilis et in Christi caritate suscipiende sancte frater, quamvis optime facias cum de hac re scribis ad fratres, apud quos se illi de tua solent efferre amicitia, tamen haec cura maior tibi restat, ut non solum salubri severitate plectantur, qui errorem illum Christiano infestissimum nomini audent garrire liberius, sed etiam hi diligentissime caveantur vigilantia pastorali propter infirmiores et simpliciores dominicas oves, qui eum pressius quidem atque timidius, sed tamen insusurrare non cessant, penetrantes domos, sicut ait apostolus, et cetera quae sequuntur, exercitata impietate facientes. Nec illi neglegendi sunt, qui usque ad profundum silentium supprimunt timore quod sentiunt, sed tamen eandem perversitatem sentire non desinunt. Nonnulli quippe eorum, antequam ipsa pestilentia manifestissimo etiam sedis apostolicae iudicio damnaretur, vobis innotescere potuerunt, quos nunc repente reticuisse perspicitis nec, utrum sanati sint, sciri potest, nisi cum non solum dogmata illa falsa tacuerint, verum etiam illis vera contraria eo, quo illa solent, studio defensaverint. Qui tamen lenius sunt profecto tractandi; quid enim eos terreri opus est, quos satis territos ipsa taciturnitas monstrat? Nec ideo tamquam sani praetereundi sunt diligentia medicinae, quorum vulnus in abdito est. Etsi enim terrendi non sunt, tamen docendi sunt et, quantum existimo, facilius possunt, dum in eis timor severitatis doctorem adiuvat veritatis, ut opitulante domino gratia eius intellecta atque dilecta etiam loquendo expugnent, quod iam loqui non audent.