From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain talk;
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Fulgentius of Ruspe
AD 533
In the ark and in the house, one and the same church was prefigured. As for those who perished outside the ark in the flood and in those who died by the sword outside that house, a twofold mystery can be considered: In the flood the baptism of Christians is prefigured. So it seems to me to apply now for the current time, and not unfittingly. Heretics, if they remain outside the church, by their baptism, deserve punishment, not life. Those who, denying Christ, leave the church catholic, will perish in eternal punishment. For blessed Peter expounds the mystery of the ark in these words, … “while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water: this prefigured baptism, which saves you now; it is not a removal of dust from the body but an appeal to God for a clean conscience.” With similar intent the apostle Paul teaches, “The aim of this instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sin...
What is this vain juggling with words? Is he aware that it is God of whom he speaks, Who was in the beginning and is in the Father, nor was there any time when he was not? He knows not what he says nor what he affirms, but he endeavors, as though he were constructing the pedigree of a mere man, to apply to the Lord of all creation the language which properly belongs to our nature here below.
He has well said, swerved, for it requires skill, to shoot straight and not beside the mark, to have the direction of the Spirit. For there are many things to turn us aside from the right course, and we should look but to one object.
