Augustine reports that Julian interprets the following words differently from him: ‘He forgives all your…

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Augustine reports that Julian interprets the following words differently from him: ‘He forgives all your iniquities; he heals all your illnesses.’ (Psalm 103:3; LXX/Vulgate Psalm 102:3)

Latin source witness

Latin

Si ergo nolis esse contentiosus, puto quod iam videas quam recte intellegatur, quod aliter conaris exponere, quod propheta cum dixisset: Qui propitius fit omnibus iniquitatibus tuis [n157] ; quod fit utique remissione omnium peccatorum; continuo subiecit: Qui sanat omnes languores tuos [n158] ; ea mala volens intellegi, cum quibus donec sanentur, vel quantum possunt in hac vita magis magisque minuantur, non quiescunt intestina bella sanctorum. Neque enim nullus est languor, quo caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, etiam manente virtute castitatis invicta. Si nullus languor est, non ergo adversus eum spiritus concupiscat. Ad hoc enim concupiscit, ut si potest non certandi, saltem non consentiendi obtineat sanitatem. Hoc quippe unde nunc agimus, quod nobis resistere sentimus in nobis, aut aliena est natura separanda, aut nostra sananda. Si alienam dicimus separandam, Manichaeis favemus. Fateamur ergo nostram esse sanandam, ut Manichaeos simul Pelagianosque vitemus.

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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.

Printed text used

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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