GC 14

English

The argument of a heretic with a Catholic

Another trustworthy man reported that he had seen a Christian struggling with a heretic on behalf of our faith. After they had argued for a long time over the divine Scriptures, the heretic could not be persuaded to know the truth. Then the man of our religion said ‘If the evidence of the sacred Scriptures does not convince you to believe, then recognize the power of our indivisible Trinity in miracles. I have a gold ring on my finger; I will toss it into a fire, and you pick it up when it is glowing hot.’ He tossed the ring among the coals and allowed it to become so red-hot that it seemed to resemble the coals. He turned to the heretic and said: ‘If your exposition is true, take the ring from the fire.’ When the heretic was reluctant, the man said: ‘God, immeasurable Trinity, reveal whether I believe something that is unworthy of you. For indeed, if my faith is correct, let these fierce flames not have power over me.’ And after he took the ring from the fire he held it for a long time in his hand but was not harmed. More importantly, the heretic was upset, and this man strengthened the other Catholics with the intensity of his own faith. Enough on this matter.

Latin

Retulit alias vir fidelis, spectasse se christiano cum heretico pro fide nostra certante. Altercantesque diu de Divinis Scripturis, cum flecti non possit hereticus, ut cognosceret veritatem, ait vir nostrae religionis: 'Si Scripturarum Sacrarum testimonia te ad credendum minime movent, vel virtutem individuae Trinitatis miraculis experire. Est digito meo anulus aureus; ego eum in igne iaceo, tu candentem college'. Proiectumque inter prunas anulum, ita igniri permisit, ut eis similis cerneretur. Conversusque ad hereticum, ait: 'Si vera est prosecutio tua, sume eum ab igne'. Illo quoque resistente, ait vir: 'Inmensa Trinitas Deus, si aliquid indignum te credo, ostende. Certe, si recta est fides mea, nihil mihi praevaleant haec incendia saeva'. Et ablatum ab igne anulum diutissime palma sustenuit, et nihil est nocitus; sed magis, confuso heretico, catholicus reliquam fervore suae fidei roboravit. Actenus hinc.