On Cornificius
I would openly call him by name and expose to the light of day the bloat of both his stomach and mind, the impurity of mouth, the rapacity of his hands, the levity of his gestures, the loathsomeness of his morals (which all about him spit upon), his obscene lust, ugliness of his body, shameful life, if I were not restrained by reverence for his Christian name. Mindful of our profession in the Lord, I believe the person must be indulged if not his error. I yield to God, sparing the nature which comes from his hand and attacking vice which is opposed to him; vice, which corrupts the nature which God has authored. Really, it’s like attacking the opinion without putting down the person; nothing is more shameful than when the thought or the opinion is distasteful to slander the name of the author; it is far better that a false opinion — as long as the error is tolerable — be overlooked for the sake of the person rather than the person be savaged because of his opinion.
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