Letter XXI. To Damasus In this letter Jerome, at the request of Damasus, gives a minutely detailed explanation of the parable of the prodigal son
Letter XXXV. From Pope Damasus
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Damasus addresses five questions to Jerome with a request for information concerning them. They are:
1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold"? (.)
2. If God has made all things good, how comes it that He gives charge to Noah concerning unclean animals, and says to Peter, "What God hath cleansed that call not thou common"? (.)
3. How is , "in the fourth generation they shall come hither again," to be reconciled with , LXX, "in the fifth generation the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt"?
4. Why did Abraham receive circumcision as a seal of his faith? (.)
5. Why was Isaac, a righteous man and dear to God, allowed by God to become the dupe of Jacob? () Written at Rome 384 a.d.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Volume 6, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (1890–1900). Public domain. Text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.