1 Letter of Faustus to the presbyter Lucidus
Faustus to a Most Steadfast Lord and a Brother to be Venerated and Received by Me with Special Affection, the Presbyter Lucidus
It is a great charity to wish to cure the error of a brother who has been in sufficiently careful, rather than, as the greatest priests are considering, to suspend him from oneness. What can I say to Your Singlemindedness about this matter, as you wish, in correspondence, when in much sweet and humble discus sion I was unable to draw you to the road of truth? Therefore, speaking about the grace of God and the obedience of man, we must see to this in every way, that we walk along the royal road neither leaning toward the left nor inclined toward the right. [...] I therefore will discuss briefly [...] what you ought to believe along with the catholic church, that is, that you always must link the actions of a baptized servant with the grace of the Lord, and that, along with the teaching of Pelagius, you must detest the one who asserted predestination, to the exclusion of the labor of man.
Faustus presents the statements that Lucidus should reject.
I am keeping with me a copy of this letter to be presented, if such should be necessary, in the council of the holy bishops. If Your Fraternity thinks it should be acknowledged, you should either return it quickly signed by your own hand, or respond in a subsequent answer that you reject it altogether. But if you choose not to return it signed, as I said, you will attest with your very silence that you persist openly in your error and thus you will create the necessity for me of exposing your person to a public meeting. And therefore write back, ha ving removed equivocations, regarding those matters that I have sent, whether, you either acknowledge or reject them.
Then in another hand: I, Faustus, have read and subscribed to this copy of my letter.
(trans. R. Mathisen 1999, 249-50)
