Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of…
Jerome’s Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus.
6. His followers object to me, (and
3. I will touch upon the other points, and set down the actual words of his letter:
6. Of the devil he thus frames his opinion:
8. But what follows about the condition of souls can by no means be excused. He says:
1. Thus far I have made answer about my crimes, and indeed in defence of my crimes, which my crafty encomiast formerly urged against me, and which his disciples still constantly press. I have done so not as well as I ought but as I was able, putting a check upon my complaints, for my object has been not so much to accuse others as to defend myself. I will now come to his Apology,82 See Ruf. Apol. i, 11. “I had grown dull in my Latinity through the disuse of nearly 30 years.” See this Apology translated above. by which he strives to justify himself to Anastasius, Bishop of the City of Rome, and, in order to defend himself, constructs a mass of calumnies against me. His love for me is like that which a man who has been carried away by the tempest and nearly drowned in deep water feels for the strong swimmer at whose foot he clutches: he is determined that I shall sink or swim with him.