Noah and his sons were blessed in the same way as Adam and Eve, when God said: “Increase and multiply,…

Noah and his sons were blessed in the same way as Adam and Eve, when God said: “Increase and multiply, fill the earth, and rule over it” (Genesis 9:1; Genesis 1:28) (Genesis 9:1).

Therefore this pleasure, which you wish to make appear diabolical, was already present in the couples mentioned above. Good in its institution, it also continued under the blessing. There is no doubt that “Increase and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1) was said to Noah and his sons about the union of bodies whose practice had already become established (Genesis 1:26–27) (Genesis 9:1).

Latin source witness

Latin

Quid est ergo quod iste adiungit et dicit de Noe et filiis eius, quod "similiter benedicti sint ut Adam et Eva dicente Deo: Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram et dominamini eius" 38? Quibus Dei verbis addit sua, dicens: "Voluptas ergo ista, quam tu diabolicam vis videri, iam in supradictis coniugibus habebatur, quae ut institutione bona, ita etiam benedictione permansit. Non enim dubitatur de hac ad Noe et filios eius corporum commixtione dictum, cuius iam usus inoleverat: Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram". Non opus est eadem multis verbis repetere. De vitio hic agitur, quo est depravata natura bona, cuius vitii auctor est diabolus, non de naturae ipsius bonitate, cuius auctor est Deus, qui neque ab ipsa vitiata depravataque natura suam abstinuit bonitatem, ut auferret hominum fecunditatem, vivacitatem, sanitatem ipsamque substantiam animi et corporis, sensus atque rationem, alimenta, nutrimenta, incrementa, qui etiam facit oriri solem suum super bonos et malos et pluit super iustos et iniustos 39, et quidquid boni est naturae humanae a Deo bono etiam in illis hominibus qui non liberabuntur a malo.

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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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