Opening the library…

Home Bible Corpus Discover You

Search the Bible

An Address to Demetrianus

Cyprian of Carthage

Section 2

About this work

Author: Cyprian of Carthage

2. In consideration of this, I have frequently held my

‹ Section 1 Section 3 ›

tongue

,

and

overcome

an

impatient

man

with

patience

;

since

I

could

neither

teach

an

unteachable

man

,

nor

check

an

impious

one

with

religion

,

nor

restrain

a

frantic

man

with

gentleness

.

But

yet

,

when

you

say

that

very

many

are

complaining

that

to

us

it

is

ascribed

that

wars

arise

more

frequently

,

that

plague

,

that

famines

rage

,

and

that

long

droughts

are

suspending

the

showers

and

rains

,

it

is

not

fitting

that

I

should

be

silent

any

longer

,

lest

my

silence

should

begin

to

be

attributed

to

mistrust

rather

than

to

modesty

;

and

while

I

am

treating

the

false

charges

with

contempt

,

I

may

seem

to

be

acknowledging

the

crime

.

I

reply

,

therefore

,

as

well

to

you

,

Demetrianus

,

as

to

others

whom

perhaps

you

have

stirred

up

,

and

many

of

whom

,

by

sowing

hatred

against

us

with

malicious

words

,

you

have

made

your

own

partisans

,

from

the

budding

forth

of

your

own

root

and

origin

,

who

,

however

,

I

believe

,

will

admit

the

reasonableness

of

my

discourse

;

for

he

who

is

moved

to

evil

by

the

deception

of

a

lie

,

will

much

more

easily

be

moved

to

good

by

the

cogency

of

truth

.