Against Julian 3.26.64

In agreement with the holy Scriptures and the surest reason, we defend the absence of evil in nature in order to encourage people to strive for virtue. We insist that no height of virtue is so difficult that, with God’s help, a faithful mind cannot reach it. We therefore say that there is no necessity of evil in the flesh, so that everyone, created in a praiseworthy way, may be ashamed to live shamefully. In this way, praise of their inborn nobility brings a sense of shame to bear against disgraceful laziness.

There is no doubt that the overthrow of holiness, the pollution of chastity, and the ruin of morals fit [his] teachings—indeed, are inherent in them. He will not deny it: he turns the filth of bad conduct into an accusation against nature in order to remove sinners’ fear, and consoles their obscenities by insulting the apostles and all the saints. For he recalls that the apostle Paul, that golden vessel, often said: “I do not do the good that I want, but I do the evil that I hate” (Romans 7:15, 19), and similar things.