Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Archelaus/Acts of Disputation/Chapter V

by Archelaus

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:^[1]—

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,^[2] 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^[3] 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,^[4] 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.”^[5] For they do not believe the word spoken by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the Gospels,^[6] namely, that “a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”^[7] 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,^[8] is the son of a certain woman, Mary, and born of blood and flesh and the varied impurities proper to women!^[9] 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^[10] your own salvation. For I do not “cast a snare upon any one,”^[11] as is done by the less thoughtful among the mass of men. Think of what I say, most honourable son.

Footnotes

1. This letter, along with the reply of Marcellus, is given by Epiphanius in his Heresies, n. 6, from which the Greek text is taken.
2. φειδόμενος. The Latin gives subveniens, relieving.
3. 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.
4. ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φέρεσθαι.
5. ὧν τὸ τέλος κατάρας ἐγγύς. Cf. Heb. vi. 8.
6. The text gives ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις εὐαγγελίοις, for which τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις may be proposed.
7. Matt. vii. 18.
8. John i. 18.
9. τῆς ἄλλης δυσωδίας τῶν γυναικῶν.
10. φείδῃ.
11. 1 Cor. vii. 35.