5. On receiving the epistle,
then, Marcellus opened it, and read it in the presence of Archelaus,
the bishop of the place. And the following is a copy of what it
contained:1468
| 1468
This letter, along with the reply of Marcellus, is given by
Epiphanius in his Heresies, n. 6, from which the Greek text is
taken. |
—
Manichæus, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and all the
saints who are with me, and the virgins, to Marcellus, my beloved
son: Grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God the Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ; and may the right hand of light preserve
you safe from this present evil world, and from its calamities, and
from the snares of the wicked one. Amen.
I was exceedingly delighted to observe the love
cherished by you, which truly is of the largest measure. But I
was distressed at your faith, which is not in accordance with the right
standard. Wherefore, deputed as I am to seek the elevation of the
race of men, and sparing,1469
| 1469
φειδόμενος.
The Latin gives subveniens, relieving. |
as I do, those who have given themselves over to
deceit and error, I
have considered it needful to despatch this letter to you, with a view,
in the first place, to the
salvation of your own
soul, and in the
second place also to that of the
souls of those who are with you, so as
to
secure you against
1470
| 1470 The
Greek text of Epiphanius gave πρὸς τὸ
ἀδιάκριτον.
Petavius substituted πρὸς τὸ μή
ἀδιάκριτον;
and that reading is confirmed by the Latin, uti ne indiscretos
animos geras. |
dubious opinions, and specially against notions like those in which the
guides of the simpler class of minds indoctrinate their subjects, when
they allege that good and
evil have the same original
subsistence,
1471
| 1471
ἀπὸ τοῦ
αὐτοῦ
φέρεσθαι. |
and when they
posit the same beginning for them, without making any distinction or
discrimination between
light and
darkness, and between the good and
the
evil or worthless,
and between the inner man and the outer, as we have stated before, and
without ceasing to mix up and
confound together the one with the
other. But, O my son, refuse thou thus thoughtlessly to identify
these two things in the irrational and foolish fashion common to the
mass of men, and ascribe no such confusion to the
God of
goodness. For these men refer the beginning and the end and the
paternity of these ills to
God Himself,—“whose end is near
a
curse.”
1472
For
they do not believe the word spoken by our Saviour and
Lord Jesus
Christ Himself in the Gospels,
1473
| 1473 The
text gives ἐν τοῖς
εἰρημένοις
εὐαγγελίοις,
for which τοῖς
εἰρημένοις
ἐν τοῖς
εὐαγγελίοις
may be proposed. |
namely, that “a good
tree cannot
bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit.”
1474
And how
they can be
bold enough to call
God the
maker and contriver of
Satan
and his
wicked deeds, is a matter of great amazement to me. Yea,
would that even this had been all the length to which they had gone
with their
silly efforts, and that they had not declared that the
only-begotten
Christ, who has descended from the
bosom of the
Father,
1475
is the son of a
certain
woman,
Mary, and
born of
blood and
flesh and the varied
impurities proper to
women!
1476
| 1476
τῆς
ἄλλης
δυσωδίας τῶν
γυναικῶν. |
Howbeit, neither to
write too much
in this
epistle, nor to
trespass at too great length upon your good
nature,—and all the more so that I have no
natural gift of
eloquence,—I shall content myself with what I have said.
But you will have full knowledge of the whole subject when I am present
with you, if indeed you still continue to care for
1477
your own salvation. For I do not
“cast a snare upon any one,”
1478
as is done by the less thoughtful
among the mass of men. Think of what I say, most honourable
son.
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