To Florus · §3.180

To Florus 3.180

What does Mani say? ‘The devil creates bodies through desire. Through it he snares bodies, not souls. Remove the root of evil stock,’ he says, ‘and you will become spiritual. About this the apostle cries to the Romans: “I do not do the good I want, but I perform the evil I abhor”’ (Romans 7:19). He also calls us foolish for saying that this bodily formation belongs to God, although we acknowledge that it was generated through desire.

You see, then, how fully you and Mani agree in attacking us. You fight with his words, rely on his arguments, and call us liars for saying you not only were his disciple, as you yourself write, but still are. Yet even here he is more sensible. Believing this fleshly desire was introduced by the devil, he concluded that whatever appeared produced from diabolical desire must be acknowledged not to belong to God’s work.

Latin source witness