The apostle emphasizes the power of habit. Through the good law and the holy commandment, the minds of the…

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

The apostle emphasizes the power of habit.

Through the good law and the holy commandment, the minds of the wicked had become more savage, because no instruction could instill virtue without their own willing participation.

The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has what is good, then, become death for me? Certainly not! But sin, so that it might appear as sin, worked death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment. (Romans 7:12–13)

Latin source witness

Latin

Exaggerat - inquis - Apostolus vim consuetudinis

Per legem - inquis - bonam et per mandatum sanctum pravorum animi ferocierant; quoniam sine voluntate propria nulla eruditio poterat inspirare virtutem

Report a mistake in this passage

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.

Report a mistake