sum, et ad hoc veni," etc.; and in reference to the wcwds,
296 ST. AUGUSTINE balanced that He neither denies Himself to be a king (for He is a king whose kingdom is not of this world), nor does He confess that He is such a king as to warrant the supposition that His kingdom is of this world. For as this was the very idea in Pilate's mind when he said, "Art thou a king then?" so the answer he got was, "Thou sayest that I am a king." For it was said, "Thou sayest," as if it had been said, Carnal thyself, thou sayest it carnally. Thereafter He adds, "To this end was I bom, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." * * ^ Whence it is evident that He here referred to His own temporal nativity, when by becoming incarnate He came into the world, and not to that which had no beginning, whereby He was God through whom the Father created the world. For this, then, that is, on this account. He declared that He was bom, and to this end He came into the world, to wit, by being bom of the Virgin, that He might bear witness imto the tmth. But because all men have not faith,* He still further said, "Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
8. The verse quoted reads in Latin, "Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni," etc.; and in reference to the wcwds, "in hoc," Augustine goes on to say, in the passage marked * : "We are not to lengthen the syllable [vowel] of this pronoun when He says, In hoc natus sum, as if He meant to say. In this thing was I born; but to shorten it, as if He had said. Ad hanc rem natus sum, vel ad hoc natus sum (for this thing was I born), just as He says. Ad hoc veni in mundum (for this came I into the world). For in the Greek Gospel there is no ambiguity in this expression," the Greek having elt TovTo. This passage is interesting only to Latin scholars, as showing that in ordinary parlance they marked, in Augustine's time, the distinction between hdc of the abl. and hoc of the nom. or ace.—^Tr.
9. 2 Thess. iii. 2.