To Florus · §2.8

To Florus 2.8

Finally, in churches that enjoy great honor and large congregations, they preach that sin has such power that, before the limbs are formed and before the soul begins or arrives, it flies over the seed as it is deposited, invades the mother’s hidden chamber, and makes the unborn guilty. Guilt, older than birth itself, waits for the substance to exist. Then this law of sin, dwelling in the limbs, compels the captive human being to serve crimes—a person who, even in shameful conduct, deserves pity more than punishment. For what we call the faults of an evil will is called an inherited affliction in the church by men, women, and eminent bishops (allusion to Romans 7:23).

Latin source witness