11.
If, then, you really intend to do an act of repentance for those evil
speeches of yours, if you are not merely mocking us by saying this, and
if you are not in your heart such a lover of strife and contention that
you are willing even to defame yourself on this sole condition that you
may be able thereby to besmirch another; if it is not in pretence but
in good faith that you repent of what you have said amiss, come and do
penance for this great and foul blasphemy; for it is indeed blasphemy
against God. For if a man oversteps the mark by speaking erroneously of
mere creatures, this is not such a very execrable crime, especially if
he does it, as you say, not with a set purpose of blasphemy, but in
seeking to vindicate the justice of God. But to lift up your mouth
against the heaven is a grave offence; to speak violence and blasphemy
against the Most High is worthy of death. Let us bestow our
lamentations upon that which is hard to cure; for what man is there who
has the jaundice,29582958 and is in
danger both of looks and life, who will complain loudly because of a
little hangnail on his foot or because a scratch made with his own
finger which easily yields to remedies, is not yet cured?
