Not conjugal — that is, licit and honorable — intercourse was prohibited, but the command was that the…

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Not conjugal — that is, licit and honorable — intercourse was prohibited, but the command was that the cause of this act be the will for offspring, not the pleasure of the flesh; and what cannot happen without desire should nevertheless happen not for the sake of desire.

O the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge (Romans 11:33)! Besides the future repayment of deeds, he willed free choice in large part to fulfill the form of judgment. Most justly, the good person and the evil person are each entrusted to themselves, so that the good person may enjoy himself and the evil person suffer himself.

Latin source witness

Latin

Non coniugalem, hoc est licitum honestumque concubitum, fuisse prohibitum, sed ut operis huius causa sit voluntas propaginis, non carnis voluptas; et quod sine libidine fieri non potest, sic tamen fiat, ut non propter libidinem fiat

O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! [n90] qui extra futuram operum retributionem ex multa parte liberum arbitrium formam voluit implere iudicii. Iustissime eum sibi bonus homo - inquis - malusque committitur, ut et bonus se fruatur, et malus se ipse patiatur

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About this text

Julian’s earlier work To Turbantius, in four books, survives only in the excerpts Augustine quotes in his six-book reply, Against Julian. The excerpts are grouped here by those six books. Latin source text 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 Julian’s words as Augustine excerpts them in Against Julian. This is not a recovered complete To Turbantius.

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Translated from Augustine, Against Julian (Latin · Excerpts arranged by Augustine’s books)

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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