Selected Works

To Peter on the Faith

TO PETER ON THE FAITH Introduction This is probably the most popular of the works of Fulgentius, a relative term, to be sure. In the Middle Ages, it was widely attributed to St. Augustine. In the twentieth century, it has been translated into French, German, Italian, and Polish. Peter, probably a layman, intended to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But he found the same problem which had kept Fulgentius himself from journeying to Egypt to visit the monks there, namely, the growing reality of the divisions in the eastern Church brought about by the widespread rejection of the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Peter asked Fulgentius for a basic doctrinal guidebook. It dates probably to the time of his return from the second period of exile in Sardinia. In answer to Peter’s request, Fulgentius discusses the teachings of the Church on the Trinity, the Incarnation, Creation, the Fall, Redemption , the sacraments of Baptism and Penance, and Marriage and Virginity. While most believe that Fulgentius is the author of the entire work, there have been some who have posited a second author for the second half which constitutes a recapitulation of the first half with each section beginning: “Hold most firmly and never doubt. . . .” This is the first English translation of this work. y son peter,1 I have received a letter from your charity, in which you indicated your desire to travel to Jerusalem, and you requested instruction by a letter from me concerning the rule of the true faith you would have to hold in those parts so that no one could catch you unawares with some heretical falsity. I am glad indeed that you have such a concern for keeping the true faith with no shade of unbelief, a faith without which conversion not only would be of no use but would not really be conversion at all. 1. Peter. The identity of the one who requested this doctrinal guide from Fulgentius is uncertain. The majority of scholars views this Peter as a layman who intended to travel to Jerusalem and asked for instruction in view of the doctrinal dissidence there, especially that stemming from the rejection of the Council of Chalcedon after 451. 59 Indeed, apostolic authority tells us that, “without faith, it is impossible to please God.”2 For, faith is the foundation of all things. Faith is the beginning of human salvation. Without it, no one can belong to the number of the children of God, because, without it, neither will anyone gain the grace of justification in this world nor possess eternal life in the world to come. If anyone here will not walk by faith, he will not attain the vision. Without faith, all human effort is empty. A person , trying to please God through contempt for the world but without the true faith, is like someone striving toward the homeland where he knows he will live in blessedness but who leaves the path of righteousness and foolishly embarks on the path of error; such a person will never arrive at the blessed city but will fall into the abyss, that place where joy is not the lot of the one who arrives but death is inflicted on the one fallen. 2. Nevertheless, there is not a sufficient amount of time for an adequate treatment of the faith to be produced, since you want to have my answer quickly. So great is the work of this treatise that it can scarcely be fulfilled even by the great. You did not say that you had to be instructed concerning the faith in such a way that you designated one particular heresy against which our work should be especially vigilant. Rather, you seek a clarification of the faith without any further specification , and you ask for this to be done in such a short time that surely you see how impossible it is for us to encompass such a great matter in so brief a time and space. In any case, we ourselves are not adequate for such a task, even if there were a sufficient amount of time and our own mental capacity were greater so that we were able to write the many volumes on this subject you seek from us. But, because “the Lord is near to all who call on him in truth,”3 who “has executed sentence decisively and quickly on the earth,”4...