§5Donatista dixit: Ezechiel quoque sic dicit: et uidebant quia plures sunt qui auerterunt aquam antiquae piscinae, et non aspexerunt ad eum qui fecit eam ab initio, et eum qui illam condidit non uiderunt. inaudita dementia perfidorum, nec diuinis uelle uocibus credere nec apostoli simplicem doctrinam erroris sui faucibus uelle seruare!
Catholicus respondit: Absit, absit ut aquam antiquae piscinae, sicut uos, in partem ducamus aut diuinis eloquiis non credamus.
Donatista dixit: Ezekiel also says thus: "And they saw that there are many who turned away the water of the old pool, and they did not look to Him who made it from the beginning, and Him who established it they did not see." O the unheard-of madness of the treacherous, neither wishing to believe the divine voices, nor wishing to keep the simple doctrine of the apostle in the jaws of their own error! Catholicus respondit: Far be it, far be it from us that we, like you, should draw the water of the old pool to our own part, or that we should not believe the divine utterances.
quod legimus credimus et quod credimus praedicamus.
What we read we believe, and what we believe we preach.
audi quae sit origo nostra et ubi eius aqua diffusa.
Listen to what is our origin and where its water is poured out.
in Zacharia sic habes: exibunt aquae uiuae de Hierusalem; medium earum ad mare (orientale et medium earum ad mare) nouissimum — hoc est ab Hierusalem usque ad fines terrae —; aestate et hieme erunt — id est omni tempore erunt -; et erit dominus rex super omnem terram, hoc est omni terrae Christus dominabitur, non Donatus.
In Zechariah you have it thus: "Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea" — that is, from Jerusalem even to the ends of the earth —; "they shall be in summer and in winter" — that is, they shall be at all times —; "and the Lord shall be king over all the earth," that is, Christ shall rule over all the earth, not Donatus.
haec est possessio, haec hereditas Christi quae a sanctis colitur et perenni fonte rigatur, de qua ei dictum est: dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae. qui in ipsa est, heres ascriptus est, qui in ipsa non est, iam damnatus est et morti destinatus est, scriptura dicente: qui egressus fuerit domus tuae fores, ipse sibi reus erit. §6Donatista dixit: Hinc sibi deus unicum baptismum esse proclamat, hinc apostolus unum cunctis dixisse confirmat, deo per Salomonem probante: hortus conclusus, soror mea sponsa mea, fons signatus, puteus aquae uiuae, paradisus cum fructu pomorum. Catholicus respondit: Recordare legem et aduerte diligenter et uide quod ex hoc paradiso, ex hoc horto concluso, ex hoc fonte signato etiam foris salutis unda decurrat, quae uadit contra Assyrios, contra uos uidelicet Donatistas.
This is the possession, this is the inheritance of Christ which is cultivated by the saints and watered by the perennial fountain, concerning which it was said to Him: "I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." He who is in it is registered as an heir, but he who is not in it is already condemned and destined for death, as the scripture says: "He who goes out of the doors of your house, his blood shall be upon his own head." Donatista dixit: Hence God proclaims to Himself that there is a unique baptism, hence the apostle confirms that he said "one" to all, as God proves through Solomon: "A garden enclosed, my sister my spouse, a fountain sealed, a well of living water, a paradise with the fruit of apples." Catholicus respondit: Remember the law and attend diligently and see that from this paradise, from this garden enclosed, from this fountain sealed, the wave of salvation flows even outside, which goes against the Assyrians, namely against you Donatists.
ex Assyriis enim Samaritani illi nascuntur qui uobis sunt comparati.
For from the Assyrians are born those Samaritans who are compared to you.
ipse est, inquit scriptura, fluuius qui uadit contra Assyrios, contra inimicam dei populo gentem.
"It is," says the scripture, "the river that goes against the Assyrians," against a nation enemy to the people of God.
non pro illis uadit, sed contra.
It does not go for them, but against them.
quibusdam enim-est odor mortis in morte, quibusdam uero odor uitae in uita.
For to some it is the odor of death unto death, but to others the odor of life unto life.
sicut enim, qui manducat et bibit sanguinem domini indigne, iudicium sibi manducat et bibit, sic et qui accipit indigne baptisma iudicium sibi accipit, non salutem.
For just as he who eats and drinks the blood of the Lord unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, so also he who receives baptism unworthily receives judgment, not salvation.
nam et ludas proditor bonum corpus et Simon magus bonum baptisma Christi percepit, sed quia bono bene non usi sunt, mali male utendo deleti sunt.
For both Judas the traitor received the good body and Simon Magus the good baptism of Christ, but because they did not use the good well, being evil they were destroyed by using it badly.
bonum est baptisma, bonum est Christi sanguis et corpus, bona est et lex, sed si quis ea legitime utatur.
Baptism is good, the blood and body of Christ is good, and the law is good, if anyone uses it lawfully.
neque quia et foris est diuina non est, aut quia ab alienis habetur aliena putabitur, aut quia a malis iniuste tractatur a nobis iuste damnabitur.
Nor, because it is also outside, is it not divine; or because it is held by strangers, shall it be thought to belong to strangers; or because it is unjustly treated by the evil, shall it be justly condemned by us.
aqua paradisi aqua trinitatis est.
The water of paradise is the water of the trinity.
hanc ubi agnoscimus, paradisi non negamus, hanc ubi non perspicimus, paradisi omnino non dicimus.
Where we recognize this, we do not deny it to be of paradise; where we do not perceive this, we do not call it of paradise at all.
quaecumque foris nata est, paradisi nullo modo dicenda est: ut puta Manicheus, quia numquam fuit in paradiso nec sicut uos de ecclesia foras egressus est, aqua paradisi putandus (non) est, quia foris exortus est.
Whatever is born outside is by no means to be said to be of paradise: as for instance, a Manichaean, because he was never in paradise, nor did he go outside from the church as you did, is not to be thought to have the water of paradise, because he arose outside.
hic opus habet ut uiuat, (ne) in aeternum moriatur, sed ut legitime uiuat in -ipsa uiuat, ne iudicium manducet et bibat.
He has need of this in order that he may live, lest he die eternally, but that he may live lawfully, let him live in it, lest he eat and drink judgment.
§7Donatista dixit: E contra apostolus dixisse testatur: unus deus, una fides, unum baptisma. nulla in diuina doctrina uarietas, per omnia dominum sequitur seruus, in nullo differt a magistro discipulus.
Donatista dixit: On the contrary, the apostle testifies that he said: "One God, one faith, one baptism." There is no variety in the divine doctrine; in all things the servant follows the Lord, in nothing does the disciple differ from the master.
Catholicus respondit: Quem sequeris, quem imitaris, quem huius flagitii arbitraris auctorem? da mihi aliquem sanctorum post trinitatem rebaptizare, quod facis.
Catholicus respondit: Whom do you follow, whom do you imitate, whom do you think is the author of this outrage? Show me one of the saints who rebaptized after the trinity, as you do.
lege mihi non illas scripturas, quarum auctoritate non teneor, sed noui et ueteris testamenti, quibus utrique subicimur.
Read to me not those scriptures whose authority I am not bound by, but those of the New and Old Testament, to which we are both subject.
si unum est baptisma, cur duplicas unum? non enim aliud iteras quam quod inuenis uerum.
If baptism is one, why do you double the one? For you do not repeat anything other than what you find to be true.
quoniam ergo quae destruxistis ea, sicut dixit, reaedificatis, praeuaricatores uos esse monstratis.
Since, therefore, you rebuild those things which you destroyed, as he said, you show yourselves to be transgressors.