Chapter 92.—200. Petilianus said: "Where is the saying of the Lord Christ, ‘Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’?2219
Where is the
patience which He displayed when they spat upon His face, who Himself with His most holy spittle opened the
eyes of the
blind? Where is the saying of the
Apostle Paul, ‘If a man
smite you in the face?’ Where is that other saying of the same
apostle, ‘In
stripes above measure, in
prisons more
frequent, in
deaths oft’?
2220
He makes mention of the sufferings which he underwent, not of the
deeds which he performed. It had been enough for the
Christian faith that these things should be done by the
Jews: why do you,
wretched men, do these others in addition?"
201. Augustin answered: Is it then really so, that when men smite you on the one cheek, you turn to them the other? This is not the report that your furious bands won for you by wandering everywhere throughout the whole of Africa with dreadful wickedness. I would fain have it that men should make a bargain with you, that, in accordance with the old law, you should seek but "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,"
2221
instead of bringing out cudgels in return for the words which greet your ears.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
