The Church Fathers · c. 421–422
Against Julian
Contra Iulianum
Augustine of Hippo · 354 – 430
What it is
Julian of Eclanum, a deposed Italian bishop and much the sharper logician, had accused Augustine of making God the author of evil and of importing Mani into the church. Augustine answers by assembling the fathers — Cyprian, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Basil — to show that original sin was taught before he was born.
Why it lasted
The first argument from patristic consensus rather than from scripture alone, which is a new move in Christian polemic and became a standard one. Augustine was still writing against Julian on the day he died.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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