Against Julian 5.15.53

Even if newborns could draw some evil from their parents, it would be cleansed by God’s hands, because he himself forms them in their mothers’ wombs.

God’s works are hidden (compare Sirach 3:22–23).

This pronouncement exposes the emptiness of those who think nature’s depths can be comprehended by some investigation.

‘I do not know how you appeared in my womb’ (2 Maccabees 7:22).

Why are children not cleansed by the very act of their making, so that the maker’s majesty purifies them from the alleged pollutions of their parents?