VI. Against the alleged Donatist martyrs.
I am now compelled, against my will, to make mention of those men----whom I do not wish to mention----who are placed by you amongst the martyrs, by whom you swear, as the one thing which those of your communion hold sacred. I should indeed prefer to pass them over in silence, but this is forbidden me by considerations of truth. On account of the names of these men, a mad hatred yelps thoughtlessly against unity, and on account of them there are some who reject unity with contumely, thinking that it is something to be fled from or assailed, because Marculus and Donatus are said to have been slain and to be dead. As if no one at all ought ever to be killed in punishment of offences against God. No one ought to have been injured by the makers of unity, but neither ought the divine precepts to be despised by Bishops, to whom, the command was given:
'Seek peace, and thou shalt obtain it' ;
and once more:
'How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' |153
And again:
'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Sons of God.'
Whatever evils those persons who refused to hear these words willingly, or loyally to carry them out, may have endured, they have themselves----if to be killed is an evil----brought their own evil upon themselves.
VII. Macarius is defended from the Donatist calumnies.
But you contend that Macarius is to be blamed, because you think that his actions were not in accordance with the Will of God. Yet you will find men of old who were guilty of similar conduct. You should bring your charge first against Moses himself, the Lawgiver, who, coming down from Mount Sinai, when the Tables of the Law on which it had been written:
'Thou shalt not kill,'
had scarce been promulgated, ordered three thousand men to be killed in one instant.
Put Macarius aside for a little while. First appeal to Phineas, the priest's son, whom I mentioned just |154 now, to judge you----if indeed you know where to find any judge excepting God. For that which you blame has been praised by God in His own person, because it was done through zeal for God. Meanwhile suppress for the moment charges prompted by hatred against Macarius.
First give your mind to the Prophet Elias, who at the brook Cison, in obedience to the Will of God, slew four hundred and fifty men. But perhaps you will answer that these were slain deservedly----your partisans unjustly. Punishment never follows without due cause. Moses inflicted punishment (as we have said), and Elias, and Phineas----but you will not have it that Macarius punished with justice.
If those who are said to have been killed had in no way offended, it may be granted that Macarius was guilty in that which was done by him alone----a business of which we know nothing, but which was provoked by you.
Why is prejudice created against us for things that were done by somebody else? Moreover, you are the cause of that which is said to have occurred, |155 for it came about on your account, who were 'outside' (even as you are still outside), not on account of us, who dwell 'within,' and have never departed from the root.
But, since we have spoken concerning the above instances in order, let us now see why Moses commanded three thousand to be slain, why Phineas two, why Elias four hundred and fifty, why Macarius those two whose names you daily (as I have already said) fan with the fan of hatred.
It is clear that those were punished who despised a divine command; for
'Thou shalt not make a graven image'
is the Voice of God, and
'Thou shalt not commit adultery'
is the Voice of the same God. The same God has said
'Thou shalt not offer sacrifice to idols '
and
'Thou shalt not make a schism.'