“They do not notice that the good of marriage cannot be accused because of the original evil derived from…

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“They do not notice that the good of marriage cannot be accused because of the original evil derived from it, just as the evil of adultery and sexual immorality cannot be excused because of the natural good born from it. For just as sin, whether derived from the one or the other, is the devil’s work, so a human being, whether born from the one or the other, is God’s work.” (Genesis 1:28)

Latin source witness

Latin

Deinde alia mea verba subtexuit, ubi dixi: "Nec advertunt quod ita nuptiarum bonum malo originali, quod inde trahitur, non potest accusari; sicut adulteriorum et fornicationum malum bono naturali, quod inde nascitur, non potest excusari; nam sicut peccatum, sive hinc sive inde trahatur, opus est diaboli, sic homo, sive hinc sive inde nascatur, opus est Dei". Etiam hic ea praetermisit, in quibus aures catholicas timuit. Nam utad haec verba veniretur, supra dictum erat a nobis: "Hoc ergo quia dicimus, quod antiquissima atque firmissima catholicae fidei regula continetur, isti novelli et perversi dogmatis adsertores, qui nihil peccati esse in parvulis dicunt, quod lavacro regenerationis abluatur, tamquam damnemus nuptias et tamquam opus Dei, hoc est hominem qui ex illis nascitur opus diaboli esse dicamus, infideliter vel imperite calumniantur". His ergo nostris praetermissis sequuntur illa nostra quae posuit, sicut supra scriptum est. In his itaque quae praetermisit hoc timuit, quia cuncta Ecclesiae catholicae pectora convenit fidemque ipsam antiquitus traditam atque fundatam, clara quodam modo voce compellat et adversus eos vehementissime permovet quod diximus: "Quia nihil peccati esse in parvulis dicunt, quod lavacro regenerationis abluatur". Omnes enim ad ecclesiam non propter aliud cum parvulis currunt, nisi ut in eis originale peccatum generatione primae nativitatis adtractum, regeneratione secundae nativitatis expietur.

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About this text

Intermediary extracts Augustine answered in Book Two — compiler framing labeled where needed. Latin context is on each section when recovered.

Julian of Eclanum (c. 386–c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum in southern Italy until 418, when he was deposed and exiled for refusing to condemn Pelagius. The most learned Pelagian controversialist, he pursued Augustine across a decade of pamphlet war.

None of Julian's works survives directly; what remains is preserved in the long quotations of Augustine, who answered him book by book. Reconstructed from those hostile pages, Julian emerges as a formidable defender of free will, marriage, and the goodness of creation.

English follows the extracts Augustine answered in On Marriage and Concupiscence II. Compiler framing is labeled where needed.

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Translated from Augustine, On Marriage and Concupiscence II (Latin · Extracts of Julian)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Latin on any section, or the Latin source link, to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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