Writings of Augustine. On the Trinity, De Trinitate
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On the Catechising of the Uninstructed [1331]
In One Book.
Translated by Rev. S. D. F. Salmond, D.D.,
Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church College, Aberdeen.
Published in 1886 by Philip Schaff,
New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co.
Introductory Notice.
In the fourteenth chapter of the second book of his Retractations,
Augustin makes the following statement: "There is also a book of ours
on the subject of the Catechising of the Uninstructed, [or, for
Instructing the Unlearned, De Catechizandis Rudibus], that being,
indeed, the express title by which it is designated. In this book,
where I have said, `Neither did the angel, who, in company with other
spirits who were his satellites, forsook in pride the obedience of
God, and became the devil, do any hurt to God, but to himself; for God
knoweth how to dispose of souls that leave Him:' it would be more
appropriate to say, `spirits that leave Him,' inasmuch as the question
dealt with angels. This book commences in these terms: `You have
requested me, brother Deogratias.' "
The composition so described in the passage cited is reviewed by
Augustin in connection with other works which he had in hand about the
year 400 A.D., and may therefore be taken to belong to that date. It
has been conjectured that the person to whom it is addressed may
perhaps be the same with the presbyter Deogratias, to whom, as we read
in the epistle which now ranks as the hundred and second, Augustin
wrote about the year 406, in reply to some questions of the pagans
which were forwarded to him from Carthage.
The Benedictine editors introduce the treatise in the following terms:
"At the request of a deacon of Carthage, Augustin undertakes the task
of teaching the art of catechising; and in the first place, he gives
certain injunctions, to the effect that this kind of duty may be
discharged not only in a settled method and an apt order, but also
without tediousness, and in a spirit of cheerfulness. Thereafter
reducing his injunctions to practical use, he gives an example of what
he means by delivering two set discourses, presenting parallels to
each other, the one being somewhat lengthened and the other very
brief, but both suitable for the instruction of any individual whose
desire is to be a Christian."
[This treatise shows what was thought in the age of Saint Augustin to
be the most needful instruction in religion. The Latin text: De
Cactechizandis Rudibus, is in the sixth vol. of the Benedictine
edition, and in the handy ed. of C. Marriott: S. Augustini Opuscula
quædam, Oxford and London (Parker & Co.) 4th ed. 1885. An earlier and
closer English Version by Rev. C. L. Cornish, M. A., of Exeter
College, Oxford, appeared in the Oxford "Library of the Fathers"
(1847, pp. 187 sqq.,) under the title On Instructing the Unlearned. H.
De Romestin reproduces the Oxford translation in the English version
of Marriott's ed. of five treatises of St. Augustin, Oxford and
London, 1885, pp. 1-71.--P.S.]
Chapter 1.--How Augustin Writes in Answer to a Favor Asked by a Deacon
of Carthage.
1. You have requested me, brother Deogratias, to send you in writing
something which might be of service to you in the matter of
catechising the uninstructed. For you have informed me that in
Carthage, where you hold the position of a deacon, persons, who have
to be taught the Christian faith from its very rudiments, are
frequently brought to you by reason of your enjoying the reputation of
possessing a rich gift in catechising, due at once to an intimate
acquaintance with the faith, and to an attractive method of discourse;
[1332] but that you almost always find yourself in a difficulty as to
the manner in which a suitable declaration is to be made of the
precise doctrine, the belief of which constitutes us Christians:
regarding the point at which our statement of the same ought to
commence, and the limit to which it should be allowed to proceed: and
with respect to the question whether, when our narration is concluded,
we ought to make use of any kind of exhortation, or simply specify
those precepts in the observance of which the person to whom we are
discoursing may know the Christian life and profession to be
maintained. [1333] At the same time, you have made the confession and
complaint that it has often befallen you that in the course of a
lengthened and languid address you have become profitless and
distasteful even to yourself, not to speak of the learner whom you
have been endeavoring to instruct by your utterance, and the other
parties who have been present as hearers; and that you have been
constrained by these straits to put upon me the constraint of that
love which I owe to you, so that I may not feel it a burdensome thing
among all my engagements to write you something on this subject.
2. As for myself then, if, in the exercise of those capacities which
through the bounty of our Lord I am enabled to present, the same Lord
requires me to offer any manner of aid to those whom He has made
brethren to me, I feel constrained not only by that love and service
which is due from me to you on the terms of familiar friendship, but
also by that which I owe universally to my mother the Church, by no
means to refuse the task, but rather to take it up with a prompt and
devoted willingness. For the more extensively I desire to see the
treasure of the Lord [1334] distributed, the more does it become my
duty, if I ascertain that the stewards, who are my fellow-servants,
find any difficulty in laying it out, to do all that lies in my power
to the end that they may be able to accomplish easily and
expeditiously what they sedulously and earnestly aim at.
Footnotes
[1331] [The Oxford Library and H. de Romestin translate the title: On
Instructing the Unlearned.--P.S.]
[1332] Reading et doctrina fidei et suavitate sermonis, instead of
which, however, et doctrinam...suavitatem, etc. also occurs, =
possessing at once a rich gift in catechising, and an intimate
acquaintance with the faith, and an attractive method of discourse,
[or, sweetness of language].
[1333] Reading retineri as in the mss. Some editions give retinere =
know how to maintain the Christian life and profession.
[1334] Pecuniam Dominicam
Chapter 2.--How It Often Happens that a Discourse Which Gives Pleasure
to the Hearer is Distasteful to the Speaker; And What Explanation is
to Be Offered of that Fact.
3. But as regards the idea thus privately entertained by yourself in
such efforts, I would not have you to be disturbed by the
consideration that you have often appeared to yourself to be
delivering a poor and wearisome discourse. For it may very well be the
case that the matter has not so presented itself to the person whom
you were trying to instruct, but that what you were uttering seemed to
you to be unworthy of the ears of others, simply because it was your
own earnest desire that there should be something better to listen to.
Indeed with me, too, it is almost always the fact that my speech
displeases myself. For I am covetous of something better, the
possession of which I frequently enjoy within me before I commence to
body it forth in intelligible words: [1335] and then when my
capacities of expression prove inferior to my inner apprehensions, I
grieve over the inability which my tongue has betrayed in answering to
my heart. For it is my wish that he who hears me should have the same
complete understanding of the subject which I have myself; and I
perceive that I fail to speak in a manner calculated to effect that,
and that this arises mainly from the circumstance that the
intellectual apprehension diffuses itself through the mind with
something like a rapid flash, whereas the utterance is slow, and
occupies time, and is of a vastly different nature, so that, while
this latter is moving on, the intellectual apprehension has already
withdrawn itself within its secret abodes. Yet, in consequence of its
having stamped certain impressions of itself in a marvellous manner
upon the memory, these prints endure with the brief pauses of the
syllables; [1336] and as the outcome of these same impressions we form
intelligible signs, [1337] which get the name of a certain language,
either the Latin, or the Greek, or the Hebrew, or some other. And
these signs may be objects of thought, or they may also be actually
uttered by the voice. On the other hand however, the impressions
themselves are neither Latin, nor Greek, nor Hebrew, nor peculiar to
any other race whatsoever, but are made good in the mind just as looks
are in the body. For anger is designated by one word in Latin, by
another in Greek, and by different terms in other languages, according
to their several diversities. But the look of the angry man is neither
(peculiarly) Latin nor (peculiarly) Greek. Thus it is that when a
person says Iratus sum, [1338] he is not understood by every nation,
but only by the Latins; whereas, if the mood of his mind when it is
kindling to wrath comes forth upon the face and affects the look, all
who have the individual within their view understand that he is angry.
But, again, it is not in our power to bring out those impressions
which the intellectual apprehension stamps upon the memory, and to
hold them forth, as it were, to the perception of the hearers by means
of the sound of the voice, in any manner parallel to the clear and
evident form in which the look appears. For those former are within in
the mind, while this latter is without in the body. Wherefore we have
to surmise how far the sound of our mouth must be from representing
that stroke of the intelligence, seeing that it does not correspond
even with the impression produced upon the memory. Now, it is a common
occurrence with us that, in the ardent desire to effect what is of
profit to our hearer, our aim is to express ourselves to him exactly
as our intellectual apprehension is at the time, when, in the very
effort, we are failing in the ability to speak; and then, because this
does not succeed with us, we are vexed, and we pine in weariness as if
we were applying ourselves to vain labors; and, as the result of this
very weariness, our discourse becomes itself more languid and
pointless even than it was when it first induced such a sense of
tediousness.
4. But ofttimes the earnestness of those who are desirous of hearing
me shows me that my utterance is not so frigid as it seems to myself
to be. From the delight, too, which they exhibit, I gather that they
derive some profit from it. And I occupy myself sedulously with the
endeavor not to fail in putting before them a service in which I
perceive them to take in such good part what is put before them. Even,
so, on your side also, the very fact that persons who require to be
instructed in the faith are brought so frequently to you, ought to
help you to understand that your discourse is not displeasing to
others as it is displeasing to yourself; and you ought not to consider
yourself unfruitful, simply because you do not succeed in setting
forth in such a manner as you desire the things which you discern;
for, perchance, you may be just as little able to discern them in the
way you wish. For in this life who sees except as "in an enigma and
through a glass"? [1339] Neither is love itself of might sufficient to
rend the darkness of the flesh, and penetrate into that eternal calm
from which even things which pass away derive the light in which they
shine. But inasmuch as day by day the good are making advances towards
the vision of that day, independent of the rolling sky, [1340] and
without the invasion of the night, "which eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man," [1341] there is
no greater reason why our discourse should become valueless in our own
estimate, when we are engaged in teaching the uninstructed, than
this,--namely, that it is a delight to us to discern in an
extraordinary fashion, and a weariness to speak in an ordinary. And in
reality we are listened to with much greater satisfaction, indeed,
when we ourselves also have pleasure in the same work; for the thread
of our address is affected by the very joy of which we ourselves are
sensible, and it proceeds from us with greater ease and with more
acceptance. Consequently, as regards those matters which are
recommended as articles of belief, the task is not a difficult one to
lay down injunctions, with respect to the points at which the
narration should be commenced and ended, or with respect to the method
in which the narration is to be varied, so that at one time it may be
briefer, at another more lengthened, and yet at all times full and
perfect; and, again, with respect to the particular occasions on which
it may be right to use the shorter form, and those on which it will be
proper to employ the longer. But as to the means by which all is to be
done, so that every one may have pleasure in his work when he
catechises (for the better he succeeds in this the more attractive
will he be),--that is what requires the greatest consideration. And
yet we have not far to seek for the precept which will rule in this
sphere. For if, in the matter of carnal means, God loves a cheerful
giver, [1342] how much more so in that of the spiritual? But our
security that this cheerfulness may be with us at the seasonable hour,
is something dependent upon the mercy of Him who has given us such
precepts. Therefore, in accordance with my understanding of what your
own wish is, we shall discuss in the first place the subject of the
method of narration, then that of the duty of delivering injunction
and exhortation, and afterwards that of the attainment of the said
cheerfulness, so far as God may furnish us with the ideas.
Footnotes
[1335] Verbis sonantibus,--sounding words.
[1336] Perdurant illa cum syllabarum morulis
[1337] Sonantia signa,--vocal signs.
[1338] I am angry.
[1339] 1 Cor. xiii. 12
[1340] Sine volumine cæli
[1341] 1 Cor. ii. 9
[1342] 2 Cor. ix. 7
Chapter 3.--Of the Full Narration to Be Employed in Catechising.
5. The narration is full when each person is catechised in the first
instance from what is written in the text, "In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth," [1343] on to the present times of
the Church. This does not imply, however, either that we ought to
repeat by memory the entire Pentateuch, and the entire Books of
Judges, and Kings, and Esdras, [1344] and the entire Gospel and Acts
of the Apostles, if we have learned all these word for word; or that
we should put all the matters which are contained in these volumes
into our own words, and in that manner unfold and expound them as a
whole. For neither does the time admit of that, nor does any necessity
demand it. But what we ought to do is, to give a comprehensive
statement of all things, summarily and generally, so that certain of
the more wonderful facts may be selected which are listened to with
superior gratification, and which have been ranked so remarkably among
the exact turning-points (of the history); [1345] that, instead of
exhibiting them to view only in their wrappings, if we may so speak,
and then instantly snatching them from our sight, we ought to dwell on
them for a certain space, and thus, as it were, unfold them and open
them out to vision, and present them to the minds of the hearers as
things to be examined and admired. But as for all other details, these
should be passed over rapidly, and thus far introduced and woven into
the narrative. The effect of pursuing this plan is, that the
particular facts which we wish to see specially commended to attention
obtain greater prominence in consequence of the others being made to
yield to them; while, at the same time, neither does the learner,
whose interest we are anxious to stimulate by our statement, come to
these subjects with a mind already exhausted, nor is confusion induced
upon the memory of the person whom we ought to be instructing by our
teaching.
6. In all things, indeed, not only ought our own eye to be kept fixed
upon the end of the commandment, which is "charity, out of a pure
heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned," [1346] to which we
should make all that we utter refer; but in like manner ought the gaze
of the person whom we are instructing by our utterance to be moved
[1347] toward the same, and guided in that direction. And, in truth,
for no other reason were all those things which we read in the Holy
Scriptures written, previous to the Lord's advent, but for
this,--namely, that His advent might be pressed upon the attention,
and that the Church which was to be, should be intimated beforehand,
that is to say, the people of God throughout all nations; which Church
is His body, wherewith also are united and numbered all the saints who
lived in this world, even before His advent, and who believed then in
His future coming, just as we believe in His past coming. For (to use
an illustration) Jacob, at the time when he was being born, first put
forth from the womb a hand, with which also he held the foot of the
brother who was taking priority of him in the act of birth; and next
indeed the head followed, and thereafter, at last, and as matter of
course, the rest of the members: [1348] while, nevertheless the head
in point of dignity and power has precedence, not only of those
members which followed it then, but also of the very hand which
anticipated it in the process of the birth, and is really the first,
although not in the matter of the time of appearing, at least in the
order of nature. And in an analogous manner, the Lord Jesus Christ,
previous to His appearing in the flesh, and coming forth in a certain
manner out of the womb of His secrecy, before the eyes of men as Man,
the Mediator between God and men, [1349] "who is over all, God blessed
for ever," [1350] sent before Him, in the person of the holy
patriarchs and prophets, a certain portion of His body, wherewith, as
by a hand, He gave token beforetime of His own approaching birth, and
also supplanted [1351] the people who were prior to Him in their
pride, using for that purpose the bonds of the law, as if they were
His five fingers. For through five epochs of times [1352] there was no
cessation in the foretelling and prophesying of His own destined
coming; and in a manner consonant with this, he through whom the law
was given wrote five books; and proud men, who were carnally minded,
and sought to "establish their own righteousness," [1353] were not
filled with blessing by the open hand of Christ, but were debarred
from such good by the hand compressed and closed; and therefore their
feet were tied, and "they fell, while we are risen, and stand
upright." [1354] But although, as I have said, the Lord Christ did
thus send before Him a certain portion of His body, in the person of
those holy men who came before Him as regards the time of birth,
nevertheless He is Himself the Head of the body, the Church, [1355]
and all these have been attached to that same body of which He is the
head, in virtue of their believing in Him whom they announced
prophetically. For they were not sundered (from that body) in
consequence of fulfilling their course before Him, but rather were
they made one with the same by reason of their obedience. For although
the hand may be put forward away before the head, still it has its
connection beneath the head. Wherefore all things which were written
aforetime were written in order that we might be taught thereby,
[1356] and were our figures, and happened in a figure in the case of
these men. Moreover they were written for our sakes, upon whom the end
of the ages has come. [1357]
Footnotes
[1343] Gen. i. 1
[1344] In the mss. we also find the reading Ezræ = Ezra.
[1345] In ipsis articulis = "among the very articles," or "connecting
links." Reference is made to certain great epochs or articles of time
in sections 6 and 39.
[1346] 1 Tim. i. 5
[1347] Reading movendus, for which monendus = to be admonished, also
occurs in the editions.
[1348] Gen. xxv. 26
[1349] 1 Tim. ii. 5
[1350] Rom. ix. 5
[1351] Reading supplantavit. Some mss. give supplantaret = wherewith
also He might supplant, etc.
[1352] Temporum articulos
[1353] Rom. x. 3
[1354] Ps. xx. 8
[1355] Col. i. 18
[1356] Rom. xv. 4
[1357] 1 Cor. x. 11
Chapter 4.--That the Great Reason for the Advent of Christ Was the
Commendation of Love.
7. Moreover, what greater reason is apparent for the advent of the
Lord than that God might show His love in us, commending it
powerfully, inasmuch as "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us"? [1358] And furthermore, this is with the intent that, inasmuch as
charity is "the end of the commandment," [1359] and "the fulfilling of
the law," [1360] we also may love one another and lay down our life
for the brethren, even as He laid down His life for us. [1361] And
with regard to God Himself, its object is that, even if it were an
irksome task to love Him, it may now at least cease to be irksome for
us to return His love, seeing that "He first loved us," [1362] and
"spared not His own only Son, but delivered Him up for us all." [1363]
For there is no mightier invitation to love than to anticipate in
loving; and that soul is over hard which, supposing it unwilling
indeed to give love, is unwilling also to give the return of love. But
if, even in the case of criminal and sordid loves, we see how those
who desire to be loved in return make it their special and absorbing
business, by such proofs as are within their power, to render the
strength of the love which they themselves bear plain and patent; if
we also perceive how they affect to put forward an appearance of
justice in what they thus offer, such as may qualify them in some sort
to demand that a response be made in all fairness to them on the part
of those souls which they are laboring to beguile; if, further, their
own passion burns more vehemently when they observe that the minds
which they are eager to possess are also moved now by the same fire:
if thus, I say, it happens at once that the soul which before was
torpid is excited so soon as it feels itself to be loved, and that the
soul which was enkindled already becomes the more inflamed so soon as
it is made cognizant of the return of its own love, it is evident that
no greater reason is to be found why love should be either originated
or enlarged, than what appears in the occasion when one who as yet
loves not at all comes to know himself to be the object of love, or
when one who is already a lover either hopes that he may yet be loved
in turn, or has by this time the evidence of a response to his
affection. And if this holds good even in the case of base loves, how
much more [1364] in (true) friendship? For what else have we carefully
to attend to in this question touching the injuring of friendship than
to this, namely, not to give our friend cause to suppose either that
we do not love him at all, or that we love him less than he loves us?
If, indeed, he is led to entertain this belief, he will be cooler in
that love in which men enjoy the interchange of intimacies one with
another; and if he is not of that weak type of character to which such
an offense to affection will serve as a cause of freezing off from
love altogether, he yet confines himself to that kind of affection in
which he loves, not with the view of enjoyment to himself, but with
the idea of studying the good of others. But again it is worth our
while to notice how,--although superiors also have the wish to be
loved by their inferiors, and are gratified with the zealous attention
[1365] paid to them by such, and themselves cherish greater affection
towards these inferiors the more they become cognizant of that,--with
what might of love, nevertheless, the inferior kindles so soon as he
learns that he is beloved by his superior. For there have we love in
its more grateful aspect, where it does not consume itself [1366] in
the drought of want, but flows forth in the plenteousness of
beneficence. For the former type of love is of misery, the latter of
mercy. [1367] And furthermore, if the inferior was despairing even of
the possibility of his being loved by his superior, he will now be
inexpressibly moved to love if the superior has of his own will
condescended to show how much he loves this person who could by no
means be bold enough to promise himself so great a good. But what is
there superior to God in the character of Judge? and what more
desperate than man in the character of sinner?--than man, I ask, who
had given himself all the more unreservedly up to the wardship and
domination of proud powers which are unable to make him blessed, as he
had come more absolutely to despair of the possibility of his being an
object of interest to that power which wills not to be exalted in
wickedness, but is exalted in goodness.
8. If, therefore, it was mainly for this purpose that Christ came, to
wit, that man might learn how much God loves him; and that he might
learn this, to the intent that he might be kindled to the love of Him
by whom he was first loved, and might also love his neighbor at the
command and showing of Him who became our neighbor, in that He loved
man when, instead of being a neighbor to Him, he was sojourning far
apart: if, again, all divine Scripture, which was written aforetime,
was written with the view of presignifying the Lord's advent; and if
whatever has been committed to writing in times subsequent to these,
and established by divine authority, is a record of Christ, and
admonishes us of love, it is manifest that on those two commandments
of love to God and love to our neighbor [1368] hang not only all the
law and the prophets, which at the time when the Lord spoke to that
effect were as yet the only Holy Scripture, but also all those books
of the divine literature which have been written [1369] at a later
period for our health, and consigned to remembrance. Wherefore, in the
Old Testament there is a veiling of the New, and in the New Testament
there is a revealing of the Old. According to that veiling, carnal
men, understanding things in a carnal fashion, have been under the
dominion, both then and now, of a penal fear. According to this
revealing, on the other hand, spiritual men,--among whom we reckon at
once those then who knocked in piety and found even hidden things
opened to them, and others now who seek in no spirit of pride, lest
even things uncovered should be closed to them,--understanding in a
spiritual fashion, have been made free through the love wherewith they
have been gifted. Consequently, inasmuch as there is nothing more
adverse to love than envy, and as pride is the mother of envy, the
same Lord Jesus Christ, God-man, is both a manifestation of divine
love towards us, and an example of human humility with us, to the end
that our great swelling might be cured by a greater counteracting
remedy. For here is great misery, proud man! But there is greater
mercy, a humble God! Take this love, therefore, as the end that is set
before you, to which you are to refer all that you say, and, whatever
you narrate, narrate it in such a manner that he to whom you are
discoursing on hearing may believe, on believing may hope, on hoping
may love.
Footnotes
[1358] Rom. v. 8, 10
[1359] 1 Tim. i. 5
[1360] Rom. xiii. 10
[1361] 1 John iii. 16
[1362] 1 John iv. 10, 19
[1363] Rom. viii. 32
[1364] Reading quanto plus, for which some mss. give plurius, while in
a large number we find purius = with how much greater purity should it
hold good, etc.
[1365] Reading studioso...obsequio, for which studiose, etc., also
occurs in the editions = are earnestly gratified with the attention,
etc.
[1366] Æstuat= burn, heave.
[1367] Ex miseria...ex misericordia
[1368] Matt. xxii. 40
[1369] Reading conscripta, for which some mss. have consecuta = have
followed, and many give consecrata, dedicated.
Chapter 5.--That the Person Who Comes for Catechetical Instruction is
to Be Examined with Respect to His Views, on Desiring to Become a
Christian.
9. Moreover, it is on the gound of that very severity of God, [1370]
by which the hearts of mortals are agitated with a most wholesome
terror, that love is to be built up; so that, rejoicing that he is
loved by Him whom he fears, man may have boldness to love Him in
return, and yet at the same time be afraid to displease His love
toward himself, even should he be able to do so with impunity. For
certainly it very rarely happens, nay, I should rather say, never,
that any one approaches us with the wish to become a Christian who has
not been smitten with some sort of fear of God. For if it is in the
expectation of some advantage from men whom he deems himself unlikely
to please in any other way, or with the idea of escaping any
disadvantage at the hands of men of whose displeasure or hostility he
is seriously afraid, that a man wishes to become a Christian, then his
wish to become one is not so earnest as his desire to feign one.
[1371] For faith is not a matter of the body which does obeisance,
[1372] but of the mind which believes. But unmistakeably it is often
the case that the mercy of God comes to be present through the
ministry of the catechiser, so that, affected by the discourse, the
man now wishes to become in reality that which he had made up his mind
only to feign. And so soon as he begins to have this manner of desire,
we may judge him then to have made a genuine approach to us. It is
true, indeed, that the precise time when a man, whom we perceive to be
present with us already in the body, comes to us in reality with his
mind, [1373] is a thing hidden from us. But, notwithstanding that, we
ought to deal with him in such a manner that this wish may be made to
arise within him, even should it not be there at present. For no such
labor is lost, inasmuch as, if there is any wish at all, it is
assuredly strengthened by such action on our part, although we may be
ignorant of the time or the hour at which it began. It is useful
certainly, if it can be done, to get from those who know the man some
idea beforehand of the state of mind in which he is, or of the causes
which have induced him to come with the view of embracing religion.
But if there is no other person available from whom we may gather such
information, then, indeed, the man himself is to be interrogated, so
that from what he says in reply we may draw the beginning of our
discourse. Now if he has come with a false heart, desirous only of
human advantages or thinking to escape disadvantages, he will
certainly speak what is untrue. Nevertheless, the very untruth which
he utters should be made the point from which we start. This should
not be done, however, with the (open) intention of confuting his
falsehood, as if that were a settled matter with you; but, taking it
for granted that he has professed to have come with a purpose which is
really worthy of approbation (whether that profession be true or
false), it should rather be our aim to commend and praise such a
purpose as that with which, in his reply, he has declared himself to
have come; so that we may make him feel it a pleasure to be the kind
of man actually that he wishes to seem to be. On the other hand,
supposing him to have given a declaration of his views other than what
ought to be before the mind of one who is to be instructed in the
Christian faith, then by reproving him with more than usual kindness
and gentleness, as a person uninstructed and ignorant, by pointing out
and commending, concisely and in a grave spirit the end of Christian
doctrine in its genuine reality, and by doing all this in such a
manner as neither to anticipate the times of a narration, which should
be given subsequently, nor to venture to impose that kind of statement
upon a mind not previously set for it, you may bring him to desire
that which, either in mistake or in dissimulation, he has not been
desiring up to this stage.
Footnotes
[1370] De ipsa etiam severitate Dei...caritas ædificanda est
[1371] Non fieri vult potius quam fingere
[1372] Or = "signifying assent by its motions," adopting the reading
of the best mss., viz. salutantis corporis. Some editions give
salvandi, while certain mss. have salutis, and others saltantis.
[1373] Reading quando veniat animo, for which quo veniat animo also
occurs = the mind in which a man comes...is a matter hidden from us.
Chapter 6.--Of the Way to Commence the Catechetical Instruction, and
of the Narration of Facts from the History of the World's Creation on
to the Present Times of the Church.
10. But if it happens that his answer is to the effect that he has met
with some divine warning, or with some divine terror, prompting him to
become a Christian, this opens up the way most satisfactorily for a
commencement to our discourse, by suggesting the greatness of God's
interest in us. His thoughts, however, ought certainly to be turned
away from this line of things, whether miracles or dreams, and
directed to the more solid path and the surer oracles of the
Scriptures; so that he may also come to understand how mercifully that
warning was administered to him in advance, [1374] previous to his
giving himself to the Holy Scriptures. And assuredly it ought to be
pointed out to him, that the Lord Himself would neither thus have
admonished him and urged him on to become a Christian, and to be
incorporated into the Church, nor have taught him by such signs or
revelations, had it not been His will that, for his greater safety and
security, he should enter upon a pathway already prepared in the Holy
Scriptures, in which he should not seek after visible miracles, but
learn the habit of hoping for things invisible, and in which also he
should receive monitions not in sleep but in wakefulness. At this
point the narration ought now to be commenced, which should start with
the fact that God made all things very good, [1375] and which should
be continued, as we have said, on to the present times of the Church.
This should be done in such a manner as to give, for each of the
affairs and events which we relate, causes and reasons by which we may
refer them severally to that end of love from which neither the eye of
the man who is occupied in doing anything, nor that of the man who is
engaged in speaking, ought to be turned away. For if, even in handling
the fables of the poets, which are but fictitious creations and things
devised for the pleasure [1376] of minds whose food is found in
trifles, those grammarians who have the reputation and the name of
being good do nevertheless endeavor to bring them to bear upon some
kind of (assumed) use, although that use itself may be only something
vain and grossly bent upon the coarse nutriment of this world: [1377]
how much more careful does it become us to be, not to let those
genuine verities which we narrate, in consequence of any want of a
well-considered account of their causes, be accepted either with a
gratification which issues in no practical good, or, still less, with
a cupidity which may prove hurtful! At the same time, we are not to
set forth these causes in such a manner as to leave the proper course
of our narration, and let our heart and our tongue indulge in
digressions into the knotty questions of more intricate discussion.
But the simple truth of the explanation which we adduce [1378] ought
to be like the gold which binds together a row of gems, and yet does
not interfere with the choice symmetry of the ornament by any undue
intrusion of itself. [1379]
Footnotes
[1374] Prærogata sit
[1375] Gen. i. 31
[1376] Reading ad voluptatem. But many mss. give ad voluntatem =
according to the inclination, etc.
[1377] Avidam saginæ soecularis
[1378] Reading veritas adhibitoe rationis, for which we also find
adhibita rationis = the applied truth, etc.; and adhibita rationi =
the truth applied to our explanation.
[1379] Non tamen ornamenti seriem ulla immoderatione perturbans
Chapter 7.--Of the Exposition of the Resurrection, the Judgment, and
Other Subjects, Which Should Follow This Narration.
11. On the completion of this narration, the hope of the resurrection
should be set forth, and, so far as the capacity and strength of the
hearer will bear it, and so far also as the measure of time at our
disposal will allow, we ought to handle our arguments against the vain
scoffings of unbelievers on the subject of the resurrection of the
body, as well as on that of the future judgment, with its goodness in
relation to the good, its severity in relation to the evil, its truth
in relation to all. And after the penalties of the impious have thus
been declared with detestation and horror, then the kingdom of the
righteous and faithful, and that supernal city and its joy, should
form the next themes for our discourse. At this point, moreover, we
ought to equip and animate the weakness of man in withstanding
temptations and offenses, whether these emerge without or rise within
the church itself; without, as in opposition to Gentiles, or Jews, or
heretics; within, on the other hand, as in opposition to the chaff of
the Lord's threshing-floor. It is not meant, however, that we are to
dispute against each several type of perverse men, and that all their
wrong opinions are to be refuted by set arrays of argumentations: but,
in a manner suitable to a limited allowance of time, we ought to show
how all this was foretold, and to point out of what service
temptations are in the training of the faithful, and what relief
[1380] there is in the example of the patience of God, who has
resolved to permit them even to the end. But, again, while he is being
furnished against these (adversaries), whose perverse multitudes fill
the churches so far as bodily presence is concerned, the precepts of a
Christian and honorable manner of life should also be briefly and
befittingly detailed at the same time, to the intent that he may
neither allow himself to be easily led astray in this way, by any who
are drunkards, covetous, fraudulent, gamesters, adulterers,
fornicators, lovers of public spectacles, wearers of unholy charms,
sorcerers, astrologers, or diviners practising any sort of vain and
wicked arts, and all other parties of a similar character; nor to let
himself fancy that any such course may be followed with impunity on
his part, simply because he sees many who are called Christians loving
these things, and engaging themselves with them, and defending them,
and recommending them, and actually persuading others to their use.
For as to the end which is appointed for those who persist in such a
mode of life, and as to the method in which they are to be borne with
in the church itself, out of which they are destined to be separated
in the end,--these are subjects in which the learner ought to be
instructed by means of the testimonies of the divine books. He should
also, however, be informed beforehand that he will find in the church
many good Christians, most genuine citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem,
if he sets about being such himself. And, finally, he must be
sedulously warned against letting his hope rest on man. For it is not
a matter that can be easily judged by man, what man is righteous. And
even were this a matter which could be easily done, still the object
with which the examples of righteous men are set before us is not that
we may be justified by them, but that, as we imitate them, we may
understand how we ourselves also are justified by their Justifier. For
the issue of this will be something which must merit the highest
approval,--namely this, that when the person who is hearing us, or
rather, who is hearing God by us, has begun to make some progress in
moral qualities and in knowledge, and to enter upon the way of Christ
with ardor, he will not be so bold as to ascribe the change either to
us or to himself; but he will love both himself and us, and whatever
other persons he loves as friends, in Him, and for His sake who loved
him when he was an enemy, in order that He might justify him and make
him a friend. And now that we have advanced thus far, I do not think
that you need any preceptor to tell you how you should discuss matters
briefly, when either your own time or that of those who are hearing
you is occupied; and how, on the other hand, you should discourse at
greater length when there is more time at your command. For the very
necessity of the case recommends this, apart from the counsel of any
adviser.
Footnotes
[1380] Medicina
Chapter 8.--Of the Method to Be Pursued in Catechising Those Who Have
Had a Liberal Education.
12. But there is another case which evidently must not be overlooked.
I mean the case of one coming to you to receive catchetical
instruction who has cultivated the field of liberal studies, who has
already made up his mind to be a Christian, and who has betaken
himself to you for the express purpose of becoming one. It can
scarcely fail to be the fact that a person of this character has
already acquired a considerable knowledge of our Scriptures and
literature; and, furnished with this, he may have come now simply with
the view of being made a partaker in the sacraments. For it is
customary with men of this class to inquire carefully into all things,
not at the very time when they are made Christians, but previous to
that, and thus early also to communicate and reason, with any whom
they can reach, on the subject of the feelings of their own minds.
Consequently a brief method of procedure should be adopted with these,
so as not to inculcate on them, in an odious fashion [1381] things
which they know already, but to pass over these with a light and
modest touch. Thus we should say how we believe that they are already
familiar with this and the other subject, and that we therefore simply
reckon up in a cursory manner all those facts which require to be
formally urged upon the attention of the uninstructed and unlearned.
And we should endeavor so to proceed, that, supposing this man of
culture to have been previously acquainted with any one of our themes,
he may not hear it now as from a teacher; and that, in the event of
his being still ignorant of any of them, he may yet learn the same
while we are going over the things with which we understand him to be
already familiar. Moreover, it is certainly not without advantage to
interrogate the man himself as to the means by which he was induced to
desire to be a Christian; so that, if you discover him to have been
moved to that decision by books, whether they be the canonical
writings or the compositions of literary men worth the studying,
[1382] you may say something about these at the outset, expressing
your approbation of them in a manner which may suit the distinct
merits which they severally possess, in respect of canonical authority
and of skillfully applied diligence on the part of these expounders;
[1383] and, in the case of the canonical Scriptures, commending above
all the most salutary modesty (of language) displayed alongside their
wonderful loftiness (of subject); while, in those other productions
you notice, in accordance with the characteristic faculty of each
several writer, a style of a more sonorous and, as it were more
rounded eloquence adapted to minds that are prouder, and, by reason
thereof weaker. We should certainly also elicit from him some account
of himself, so that he may give us to understand what writer he
chiefly perused, and with what books he was more familiarly
conversant, as these were the means of moving him to wish to be
associated with the church. And when he has given us this information,
then if the said books are known to us, or if we have at least
ecclesiastical report as our warrant for taking them to have been
written by some catholic man of note, we should joyfully express our
approbation. But if, on the other hand, he has fallen upon the
productions of some heretic and in ignorance, it may be, has retained
in his mind anything which [1384] the true faith condemns, and yet
supposes it to be catholic doctrine, then we must set ourselves
sedulously to teach him, bringing before him (in its rightful
superiority) the authority of the Church universal, and of other most
learned men reputed both for their disputations and for their writings
in (the cause of) its truth. [1385] At the same time, it is to be
admitted that even those who have departed this life as genuine
catholics, and have left to posterity some Christian writings, in
certain passages of their small works, either in consequence of their
failing to be understood, or (as the way is with human infirmity)
because they lack ability to pierce into the deeper mysteries with the
eye of the mind, and in (pursuing) the semblance of what is true,
wander from the truth itself, have proved an occasion to the
presumptuous and audacious for constructing and generating some
heresy. This, however, is not to be wondered at, when, even in the
instance of the canonical writings themselves, where all things have
been expressed in the soundest manner, we see how it has
happened,--not indeed through merely taking certain passages in a
sense different from that which the writer had in view or which is
consistent with the truth itself, (for if this were all, who would not
gladly pardon human infirmity, when it exhibits a readiness to accept
correction?), but by persistently defending, with the bitterest
vehemence and in impudent arrogance, opinions which they have taken up
in perversity and error,--many have given birth to many pernicious
dogmas at the cost of rending the unity of the (Christian) communion.
All these subjects we should discuss in modest conference with the
individual who makes his approach to the society of the Christian
people, not in the character of an uneducated man, [1386] as they say,
but in that of one who has passed through a finished culture and
training in the books of the learned. And in enjoining him to guard
against the errors of presumption, we should assume only so much
authority as that humility of his, which induced him to come to us, is
now felt to admit of. As to other things, moreover, in accordance with
the rules of saving doctrine, which require to be narrated or
discussed, whether they be matters relating to the faith, or questions
bearing on the moral life, or others dealing with temptations, all
these should be gone through in the manner which I have indicated, and
ought therein to be referred to the more excellent way (already
noticed). [1387]
Footnotes
[1381] Reading odiose, for which several mss. give otiose = idly.
[1382] Utilium tractatorum
[1383] Reading exponentium. Various codices give ad exponendum = in
expounding.
[1384] Reading quod, with Marriott. But if we accept quod with the
Benedictine editors, the sense will = and in ignorance it may be that
the true faith condemns them, has retained them in his mind.
[1385] Aliorumque doctissimorum hominum et disputationibus et
scriptionibus in ejus veritate florentium. It may also be = bringing
before him the authority of the Church universal, as well as both the
disputations and the writings of other most learned men well reputed
in (the cause of) its truth.
[1386] Idiota
[1387] 1 Cor. xii. 31. See also above, § 9.
Chapter 9.--Of the Method in Which Grammarians and Professional
Speakers are to Be Dealt with.
13. There are also some who come from the commonest schools of the
grammarians and professional speakers, whom you may not venture to
reckon either among the uneducated or among those very learned classes
whose minds have been exercised in questions of real magnitude. When
such persons, therefore, who appear to be superior to the rest of
mankind, so far as the art of speaking is concerned, approach you with
the view of becoming Christians, it will be your duty in your
communications with them, in a higher degree than in your dealings
with those other illiterate hearers, to make it plain that they are to
be diligently admonished to clothe themselves with Christian humility,
and learn not to despise individuals whom they may discover keeping
themselves free from vices of conduct more carefully than from faults
of language; and also that they ought not to presume so much as to
compare with a pure heart the practised tongue which they were
accustomed even to put in preference. But above all, such persons
should be taught to listen to the divine Scriptures, so that they may
neither deem solid eloquence to be mean, merely because it is not
inflated, nor suppose that the words or deeds of men, of which we read
the accounts in those books, involved and covered as they are in
carnal wrappings, [1388] are not to be drawn forth and unfolded with a
view to an (adequate) understanding of them, but are to be taken
merely according to the sound of the letter. And as to this same
matter of the utility of the hidden meaning, the existence of which is
the reason why they are called also mysteries, the power wielded by
these intricacies of enigmatical utterances in the way of sharpening
our love for the truth, and shaking off the torpor of weariness, is a
thing which the persons in question must have made good to them by
actual experience, when some subject which failed to move them when it
was placed baldly before them, has its significance elicited by the
detailed working out of an allegorical sense. For it is in the highest
degree useful to such men to come to know how ideas are to be
preferred to words, just as the soul is preferred to the body. And
from this, too, it follows that they ought to have the desire to
listen to discourses remarkable for their truth, rather than to those
which are notable for their eloquence; just as they ought to be
anxious to have friends distinguished for their wisdom, rather than
those whose chief merit is their beauty. They should also understand
that there is no voice for the ears of God save the affection of the
soul. For thus they will not act the mocker if they happen to observe
any of the prelates and ministers of the Church either calling upon
God in language marked by barbarisms and solecisms, or failing in
understanding correctly the very words which they are pronouncing, and
making confused pauses. [1389] It is not meant, of course, that such
faults are not to be corrected, so that the people may say "Amen" to
something which they plainly understand; but what is intended is, that
such things should be piously borne with by those who have come to
understand how, as in the forum it is in the sound, so in the church
it is in the desire that the grace of speech resides. [1390] Therefore
that of the forum may sometimes be called good speech, but never
gracious speech. [1391] Moreover, with respect to the sacrament which
they are about to receive, it is enough for the more intelligent
simply to hear what the thing signifies. But with those of slower
intellect, it will be necessary to adopt a somewhat more detailed
explanation, together with the use of similitudes, to prevent them
from despising what they see.
Footnotes
[1388] Carnalibus integumentis involuta atque operta
[1389] Or = confusing the sense by false pauses: perturbateque
distinguere.
[1390] Ut sono in foro, sic voto in ecclesia benedici
[1391] Bona dictio, nunquam tamen benedictio
Chapter 10.--Of the Attainment of Cheerfulness in the Duty of
Catechising, and of Various Causes Producing Weariness in the
Catechumen.
14. At this point you perhaps desiderate some example of the kind of
discourse intended, so that I may show you by an actual instance how
the things which I have recommended are to be done. This indeed I
shall do, so far as by God's help I shall be able. But before
proceeding to that, it is my duty, in consistency with what I have
promised, to speak of the acquisition of the cheerfulness (to which I
have alluded). For as regards the matter of the rules in accordance
with which your discourse should be set forth, in the case of the
catechetical instruction of a person who comes with the express view
of being made a Christian, I have already made good, as far as has
appeared sufficient, the promise which I made. And surely I am under
no obligation at the same time to do myself in this volume that which
I enjoin as the right thing to be done. Consequently, if I do that, it
will have the value of an overplus. But how can the overplus be
super-added by me before I have filled up the measure of what is due?
Besides, one thing which I have heard you make the subject of your
complaint above all others, is the fact that your discourse seemed to
yourself to be poor and spiritless when you were instructing any one
in the Christian name. Now this, I know, results not so much from want
of matter to say, with which I am well aware you are sufficiently
provided and furnished, or from poverty of speech itself, as rather
from weariness of mind. And that may spring either from the cause of
which I have already spoken, namely, the fact that our intelligence is
better pleased and more thoroughly arrested by that which we perceive
in silence in the mind, and that we have no inclination to have our
attention called off from it to a noise of words coming far short of
representing it; or from the circumstance that even when discourse is
pleasant, we have more delight in hearing or reading things which have
been expressed in a superior manner, and which are set forth without
any care or anxiety on our part, than in putting together, with a view
to the comprehension of others, words suddenly conceived, and leaving
it an uncertain issue, on the one hand, whether such terms occur to us
as adequately represent the sense, and on the other, whether they be
accepted in such a manner as to profit; or yet again, from the
consideration that, in consequence of their being now thoroughly
familiar to ourselves, and no longer necessary to our own advancement,
it becomes irksome to us to be recurring very frequently to those
matters which are urged upon the uninstructed, and our mind, as being
by this time pretty well matured, moves with no manner of pleasure in
the circle of subjects so well-worn, and, as it were, so childish. A
sense of weariness is also induced upon the speaker when he has a
hearer who remains unmoved, either in that he is actually not stirred
by any feeling, or in that he does not indicate by any motion of the
body that he understands or that he is pleased with what is said.
[1392] Not that it is a becoming disposition in us to be greedy of the
praises of men, but that the things which we minister are of God; and
the more we love those to whom we discourse, the more desirous are we
that they should be pleased with the matters which are held forth for
their salvation: so that if we do not succeed in this, we are pained,
and we are weakened, and become broken-spirited in the midst of our
course, as if we were wasting our efforts to no purpose. Sometimes,
too, when we are drawn off from some matter which we are desirous to
go on with, and the transaction of which was a pleasure to us, or
appeared to be more than usually needful, and when we are compelled,
either by the command of a person whom we are unwilling to offend, or
by the importunity of some parties that we find it impossible to get
rid of, to instruct any one catechetically, in such circumstances we
approach a duty for which great calmness is indispensable with minds
already perturbed, and grieving at once that we are not permitted to
keep that order which we desire to observe in our actions, and that we
cannot possibly be competent for all things; and thus out of very
heaviness our discourse as it advances is less of an attraction,
because, starting from the arid soil of dejection, it goes on less
flowingly. Sometimes, too, sadness has taken possession of our heart
in consequence of some offense or other, and at that very time we are
addressed thus: "Come, speak with this person; he desires to become a
Christian." For they who thus address us do it in ignorance of the
hidden trouble which is consuming us within. So it happens that, if
they are not the persons to whom it befits us to open up our feelings,
we undertake with no sense of pleasure what they desire; and then,
certainly, the discourse will be languid and unenjoyable which is
transmitted through the agitated and fuming channel of a heart in that
condition. Consequently, seeing there are so many causes serving to
cloud the calm serenity of our minds, in accordance with God's will we
must seek remedies for them, such as may bring us relief from these
feelings of heaviness, and help us to rejoice in fervor of spirit, and
to be jocund in the tranquility of a good work. "For God loveth a
cheerful giver." [1393]
15. Now if the cause of our sadness lies in the circumstance that our
hearer does not apprehend what we mean, so that we have to come down
in a certain fashion from the elevation of our own conceptions, and
are under the necessity of dwelling long in the tedious processes of
syllables which come far beneath the standard of our ideas, and have
anxiously to consider how that which we ourselves take in with a most
rapid draught of mental apprehension is to be given forth by the mouth
of flesh in the long and perplexed intricacies of its method of
enunciation; and if the great dissimilarity thus felt (between our
utterance and our thought) makes it distasteful to us to speak, and a
pleasure to us to keep silence, then let us ponder what has been set
before us by Him who has "showed us an example that we should follow
His steps." [1394] For however much our articulate speech may differ
from the vivacity of our intelligence, much greater is the difference
of the flesh of mortality from the equality of God. And, neverless,
"although He was in the same form, He emptied Himself, taking the form
of a servant,"--and so on down to the words "the death of the cross."
[1395] What is the explanation of this but that He made Himself "weak
to the weak, in order that He might gain the weak?" [1396] Listen to
His follower as he expresses himself also in another place to this
effect: "For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether
we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge that He died for all." [1397] And how,
indeed, should one be ready to be spent for their souls, [1398] if he
should find it irksome to him to bend himself to their ears? For this
reason, therefore, He became a little child in the midst of us, (and)
like a nurse cherishing her children. [1399] For is it a pleasure to
lisp shortened and broken words, unless love invites us? And yet men
desire to have infants to whom they have to do that kind of service;
and it is a sweeter thing to a mother to put small morsels of
masticated food into her little son's mouth, than to eat up and devour
larger pieces herself. In like manner, accordingly, let not the
thought of the hen [1400] recede from your heart, who covers her
tender brood with her drooping feathers, and with broken voice calls
her chirping young ones to her, while they that turn away from her
fostering wings in their pride become a prey to birds. For if
intelligence brings delights in its purest recesses, it should also be
a delight to us to have an intelligent understanding of the manner in
which charity, the more complaisantly it descends to the lowest
objects, finds its way back, with all the greater vigor to those that
are most secret, along the course of a good conscience which witnesses
that it has sought nothing from those to whom it has descended except
their everlasting salvation.
Footnotes
[1392] The sentence, "either in that he is actually not stirred...by
what is said," is omitted in many mss.
[1393] 2 Cor. ix. 7
[1394] 1 Pet. ii. 21
[1395] Phil. ii. 17. The form in which the quotation is given above,
with the omission of the intermediate clauses, is due probably to the
copyist, and not to Augustin himself. The words left out are given
thus in the Serm. XLVII on Ezekiel xxxiv.: "Being made in the likeness
of men, and being found in the fashion of a man: He humbled Himself,
being made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." [See
R.V.]
[1396] Cf. 1 Cor. ix. 22
[1397] 2 Cor. v. 13, 14
[1398] Cf. 2 Cor. xii. 15
[1399] Cf. 1 Thess. ii. 7
[1400] Illius gallinoe,--in reference to Matt. xxiii. 37
Chapter 11.--Of the Remedy for the Second Source of Weariness.
16. If, however, it is rather our desire to read or hear such things
as are already prepared for our use and expressed in a superior style,
and if the consequence is that we feel it irksome to put together, at
the time and with an uncertain issue, the terms of discourse on our
own side, then, provided only that our mind does not wander off from
the truth of the facts themselves, it is an easy matter for the
hearer, if he is offended by anything in our language, to come to see
in that very circumstance how little value should be set, supposing
the subject itself to be rightly understood, upon the mere fact that
there may have been some imperfection or some inaccuracy in the
literal expressions, which were employed indeed simply with the view
of securing a correct apprehension of the subject-matter. But if the
bent of human infirmity has wandered off from the truth of the facts
themselves,--although in the catechetical instruction of the
unlearned, where we have to keep by the most beaten track, that cannot
occur very readily,--still, lest haply it should turn out that our
hearer finds cause of offence even in this direction, we ought not to
deem this to have come upon us in any other way than as the issue of
God's own wish to put us to the test with respect to our readiness to
receive correction in calmness of mind, so as not to rush headlong, in
the course of a still greater error, into the defense of our error.
But if, again, no one has told us of it, and if the thing has
altogether escaped our own notice, as well as the observation of our
hearers, then there is nothing to grieve over, provided only the same
thing does not occur a second time. For the most part, however, when
we recall what we have said, we ourselves discover something to find
fault with, and are ignorant of the manner in which it was received
when it was uttered; and so when charity is fervent within us, we are
the more vexed if the thing, while really false, has been received
with unquestioning acceptance. This being the case, then, whenever an
opportunity occurs, as we have been finding fault with ourselves in
silence, we ought in like manner to see to it that those persons be
also set right on the subject in a considerate method, who have fallen
into some sort of error, not by the words of God, but plainly by those
used by us. If, on the other hand, there are any who, blinded by
insensate spite, rejoice that we have committed a mistake, whisperers
as they are, and slanderers, and "hateful to God," [1401] such
characters should afford us matter for the exercise of patience with
pity, inasmuch as also the "patience of God leadeth them to
repentance." [1402] For what is more detestable, and what more likely
to "treasure up wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God," [1403] than to rejoice, after the evil
likeness and pattern of the devil, in the evil of another? At times,
too, even when all is correctly and truly spoken, either something
which has not been understood, or something which, as being opposed to
the idea and wont of an old error, seems harsh in its very novelty,
offends and disturbs the hearer. But if this becomes apparent, and if
the person shows himself capable of being set right, he should be set
right without any delay by the use of abundance of authorities and
reasons. On the other hand, if the offense is tacit and hidden, the
medicine of God is the effective remedy for it. And if, again, the
person starts back and declines to be cured, we should comfort
ourselves with that example of our Lord, who, when men were offended
at His word, and shrank from it as a hard saying, addressed Himself at
the same time to those who had remained, in these terms, "Will ye also
go away?" [1404] For it ought to be retained as a thoroughly "fixed
and immovable" position in our heart, that Jerusalem which is in
captivity is set free from the Babylon of this world when the times
have run their course, and that none belonging to her shall perish:
for whoever may perish was not of her. "For the foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His;
and, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity." [1405] If we ponder these things, and call upon the Lord to
come into our heart, we shall be less apprehensive of the uncertain
issues of our discourse, consequent on the uncertain feelings of our
hearers; and the very endurance of vexations in the cause of a work of
mercy will also be something pleasant to us, if we seek not our own
glory in the same. For then is a work truly good, when the aim of the
doer gets its impetus from charity, [1406] and, as if returning to its
own place, rests again in charity. Moreover, the reading which
delights us, or any listening to an eloquence superior to our own, the
effect of which is to make us inclined to set a greater value upon it
than upon the discourse which we ourselves have to deliver, and so to
lead us to speak with a reluctant or tedious utterance, will come upon
us in a happier spirit, and will be found to be more enjoyable after
labor. Then, too, with a stronger confidence shall we pray to God to
speak to us as we wish, if we cheerfully submit to let Him speak by us
as we are able. Thus is it brought about that all things come together
for good to them that love God. [1407]
Footnotes
[1401] Cf. Rom. i. 30
[1402] Rom. ii. 4. [See R.V.]
[1403] Rom. ii. 5
[1404] John vi. 67
[1405] 2 Tim. ii. 19
[1406] A caritate jaculatur
[1407] Concurrant in bonum Rom. viii. 28
Chapter 12.--Of the Remedy for the Third Source of Weariness.
17. Once more, however, we often feel it very wearisome to go over
repeatedly matters which are thoroughly familiar, and adapted (rather)
to children. If this is the case with us, then we should endeavor to
meet them with a brother's, a father's, and a mother's love; and, if
we are once united with them thus in heart, to us no less than to them
will these things seem new. For so great is the power of a sympathetic
disposition of mind, that, as they are affected while we are speaking,
and we are affected while they are learning, we have our dwelling in
each other; and thus, at one and the same time, they as it were in us
speak what they hear, and we in them learn after a certain fashion
what we teach. Is it not a common occurrence with us, that when we
show to persons, who have never seen them, certain spacious and
beautiful tracts, either in cities or in fields, which we have been in
the habit of passing by without any sense of pleasure, simply because
we have become so accustomed to the sight of them, we find our own
enjoyment renewed in their enjoyment of the novelty of the scene? And
this is so much the more our experience in proportion to the intimacy
of our friendship with them; because, just as we are in them in virtue
of the bond of love, in the same degree do things become new to us
which previously were old. But if we ourselves have made any
considerable progress in the contemplative study of things, it is not
our wish that those whom we love should simply be gratified and
astonished as they gaze upon the works of men's hands; but it becomes
our wish to lift them to (the contemplation of) the very skill [1408]
or wisdom of their author, and from this to (see them) rise to the
admiration and praise of the all-creating God, with whom [1409] is the
most fruitful end of love. How much more, then, ought we to be
delighted when men come to us with the purpose already formed of
obtaining the knowledge of God Himself, with a view to (the knowledge
of) whom all things should be learned which are to be learned! And how
ought we to feel ourselves renewed in their newness (of experience),
so that if our ordinary preaching is somewhat frigid, it may rise to
fresh warmth under (the stimulus of) their extraordinary hearing!
There is also this additional consideration to help us in the
attainment of gladness, namely, that we ponder and bear in mind out of
what death of error the man is passing over into the life of faith.
And if we walk through streets which are most familiar to us, with a
beneficent cheerfulness, when we happen to be pointing out the way to
some individual who had been in distress in consequence of missing his
direction, how much more should be the alacrity of spirit, and how
much greater the joy with which, in the matter of saving doctrine, we
ought to traverse again and again even those tracks which, so far as
we are ourselves concerned, there is no need to open up any more;
seeing that we are leading a miserable soul, and one worn out with the
devious courses of this world, through the paths of peace, at the
command of Him who made that peace [1410] good to us!
Footnotes
[1408] Some editions read arcem = stronghold, instead of artem.
[1409] Or = wherein: ubi.
[1410] Instead of eam, the reading ea = those things, also occurs.
Chapter 13.--Of the Remedy for the Fourth Source of Weariness.
18. But in good truth it is a serious demand to make upon us, to
continue discoursing on to the set limit when we fail to see our
hearer in any degree moved; whether it be that, under the restraints
of the awe of religion, he has not the boldness to signify his
approval by voice or by any movement of his body, or that he is kept
back by the modesty proper to man, [1411] or that he does not
understand our sayings, or that he counts them of no value. Since,
then, this must be a matter of uncertainty to us, as we cannot discern
his mind, it becomes our duty in our discourse to make trial of all
things which may be of any avail in stirring him up and drawing him
forth as it were from his place of concealment. For that sort of fear
which is excessive, and which obstructs the declaration of his
judgment, ought to be dispelled by the force of kindly exhortation;
and by bringing before him the consideration of our brotherly
affinity, we should temper his reverence for us; and by questioning
him, we should ascertain whether he understands what is addressed to
him; and we should impart to him a sense of confidence, so that he may
give free expression to any objection which suggests itself to him. We
should at the same time ask him whether he has already listened to
such themes on some previous occasion, and whether perchance they fail
to move him now in consequence of their being to him like things well
known and commonplace. And we ought to shape our course in accordance
with his answer, so as either to speak in a simpler style and with
greater detail of explanation, or to refute some antagonistic opinion,
or, instead of attempting any more diffuse exposition of the subjects
which are known to him, to give a brief summary of these, and to
select some of those matters which are handled in a mystical manner in
the holy books, and especially in the historical narrative, the
unfolding and setting forth of which may make our addresses more
attractive. But if the man is of a very sluggish disposition, and if
he is senseless, and without anything in common with all such sources
of pleasure, then we must simply bear with him in a compassionate
spirit; and, after briefly going over other points, we ought to
impress upon him, in a manner calculated to inspire him with awe, the
truths which are most indispensable on the subject of the unity of the
Catholic Church, [1412] on that of temptation, on that of a Christian
conversation in view of the future judgment; and we ought rather to
address ourselves to God for him than address much to him concerning
God.
19. It is likewise a frequent occurrence that one who at first
listened to us with all readiness, becomes exhausted either by the
effort of hearing or by standing, and now no longer commends what is
said, but gapes and yawns, and even unwillingly exhibits a disposition
to depart. When we observe that, it becomes our duty to refresh his
mind by saying something seasoned with an honest cheerfulness and
adapted to the matter which is being discussed, or something of a very
wonderful and amazing order, or even, it may be, something of a
painful and mournful nature. Whatever we thus say may be all the
better if it affects himself more immediately, so that the quick sense
of self-concern may keep his attention on the alert. At the same time,
however, it should not be of the kind to offend his spirit of
reverence by any harshness attaching to it; but it should be of a
nature fitted rather to conciliate him by the friendliness which it
breathes. Or else, we should relieve him by accommodating him with a
seat, although unquestionably matters will be better ordered if from
the outset, whenever that can be done with propriety, he sits and
listens. And indeed in certain of the churches beyond the sea, with a
far more considerate regard to the fitness of things, not only do the
prelates sit when they address the people, but they also themselves
put down seats for the people, lest any person of enfeebled strength
should become exhausted by standing, and thus have his mind diverted
from the most wholesome purport (of the discourse), or even be under
the necessity of departing. And yet it is one thing if it be simply
some one out of a great multitude who withdraws in order to recruit
his strength, he being also already under the obligations which result
from participation in the sacraments; and it is quite another thing if
the person withdrawing is one (inasmuch as it is usually the case in
these circumstances that the man is unavoidably urged to that course
by the fear that he should even fall, overcome by internal weakness)
who has to be initiated in the first sacraments; for a person in this
position is at once restrained by the sense of shame from stating the
reason of his going, and not permitted to stand through the force of
his weakness. This I speak from experience. For this was the case with
a certain individual, a man from the country, when I was instructing
him catechetically: and from his instance I have learned that this
kind of thing is carefully to be guarded against. For who can endure
our arrogance when we fail to make men who are our brethren, [1413] or
even those who are not yet in that relation to us (for our solicitude
then should be all the greater to get them to become our brethren), to
be seated in our presence, seeing that even a woman sat as she
listened to our Lord Himself, in whose service the angels stand alert?
[1414] Of course if the address is to be but short, or if the place is
not well adapted for sitting, they should listen standing. But that
should be the case only when there are many hearers, and when they are
not to be formally admitted [1415] at the time. For when the audience
consists only of one or two, or a few, who have come with the express
purpose of being made Christians, there is a risk in speaking to them
standing. Nevertheless, supposing that we have once begun in that
manner, we ought at least, whenever we observe signs of weariness on
the part of the hearer, to offer him the liberty of being seated; nay
more, we should urge him by all means to sit down, and we ought to
drop some remark calculated at once to refresh him and to banish from
his mind any anxiety which may have chanced to break in upon him and
draw off his attention. For inasmuch as the reasons why he remains
silent and declines to listen cannot be certainly known to us, now
that he is seated we may speak to some extent against the incidence of
thoughts about worldly affairs, delivering ourselves either in the
cheerful spirit to which I have already adverted, or in a serious
vein; so that, if these are the particular anxieties which have
occupied his mind, they may be made to give way as if indicted by
name: while, on the other hand, supposing them not to be the special
causes (of the loss of interest), and supposing him to be simply worn
out with listening, his attention will be relieved of the pressure of
weariness when we address to him some unexpected and extraordinary
strain of remark on these subjects, in the mode of which I have
spoken, as if they were the particular anxieties,--for indeed we are
simply ignorant (of the true causes). But let the remark thus made be
short, especially considering that it is thrown in out of order, lest
the very medicine even increase the malady of weariness which we
desire to relieve; and, at the same time, we should go on rapidly with
what remains, and promise and present the prospect of a conclusion
nearer than was looked for.
Footnotes
[1411] Or = by the reverence which he feels for the man: humana
verecundia.
[1412] The text gives simply Catholicæ. One ms. has Catholicæ fidei =
the Catholic faith. But it is most natural to supply Ecclesiæ.
[1413] Instead of viros fratres, some mss. read veros fratres = our
genuine brethren.
[1414] Luke x. 39
[1415] Initiandi = initiated.
Chapter 14.--Of the Remedy Against the Fifth and Sixth Sources of
Weariness.
20. If, again, your spirit has been broken by the necessity of giving
up some other employment, on which, as the more requisite, you were
now bent; and if the sadness caused by that constraint makes you
catechise in no pleasant mood, you ought to ponder the fact that,
excepting that we know it to be our duty, in all our dealings with
men, to act in a merciful manner, and in the exercise of the sincerest
charity,--with this one exception, I say, it is quite uncertain to us
what is the more profitable thing for us to do, and what the more
opportune thing for us either to pass by for a time or altogether to
omit. For inasmuch as we know not how the merits of men, on whose
behalf we are acting, stand with God, the question as to what is
expedient for them at a certain time is something which, instead of
being able to comprehend, we can rather only surmise, without the aid
of any (clear) inferences, or (at best) with the slenderest and the
most uncertain. Therefore we ought certainly to dispose the matters
with which we have to deal according to our intelligence; and then, if
we prove able to carry them out in the manner upon which we have
resolved, we should rejoice, not indeed that it was our will, but that
it was God's will, that they should thus be accomplished. But if
anything unavoidable happens, by which the disposition thus proposed
by us is interfered with, we should bend ourselves to it readily, lest
we be broken; so that the very disposition of affairs which God has
preferred to ours may also be made our own. For it is more in
accordance with propriety that we should follow His will than that He
should follow ours. Besides, as regards this order in the doing of
things, which we wish to keep in accordance with our own judgment,
surely that course is to be approved of in which objects that are
superior have the precedence. Why then are we aggrieved that the
precedence over men should be held by the Lord God in His vast
superiority to us men, so that in the said love which we entertain for
our own order, we should thus (exhibit the disposition to) despise
order? For "no one orders for the better" what he has to do, except
the man who is rather ready to leave undone what he is prohibited from
doing by the divine power, than desirous of doing that which he
meditates in his own human cogitations. For "there are many devices in
a man's heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord stands for ever."
[1416]
21. But if our mind is agitated by some cause of offense, so as not to
be capable of delivering a discourse of a calm and enjoyable strain,
our charity towards those for whom Christ died, desiring to redeem
them by the price of His own blood from the death of the errors of
this world, ought to be so great, that the very circumstance of
intelligence being brought us in our sadness, regarding the advent of
some person who longs to become a Christian, ought to be enough to
cheer us and dissipate that heaviness of spirit, just as the delights
of gain are wont to soften the pain of losses. For we are not (fairly)
oppressed by the offense of any individual, unless it be that of the
man whom we either perceive or believe to be perishing himself, or to
be the occasion of the undoing of some weak one. Accordingly, one who
comes to us with the view of being formally admitted, in that we
cherish the hope of his ability to go forward, should wipe away the
sorrow caused by one who fails us. For even if the dread that our
proselyte may become the child of hell [1417] comes into our thoughts,
as, there are many such before our eyes, from whom those offenses
arise by which we are distressed, this ought to operate, not in the
way of keeping us back, but rather in the way of stimulating us and
spurring us on. And in the same measure we ought to admonish him whom
we are instructing to be on his guard against imitating those who are
Christians only in name and not in very truth, and to take care not to
suffer himself to be so moved by their numbers as either to be
desirous of following them, or to be reluctant to follow Christ on
their account, and either to be unwilling to be in the Church of God,
where they are, or to wish to be there in such a character as they
bear. And somehow or other, in admonitions of this sort, that address
is the more glowing to which a present sense of grief supplies the
fuel; so that instead of being duller, we utter with greater fire and
vehemence under such feelings things which, in times of greater ease,
we would give forth in a colder and less energetic manner. And this
should make us rejoice that an opportunity is afforded us under which
the emotions of our mind pass not away without yielding some fruit.
22. If, however, grief has taken possession of us on account of
something in which we ourselves have erred or sinned, we should bear
in mind not only that a "broken spirit is a sacrifice to God," [1418]
but also the saying, "Like as water quencheth fire, so alms sin;"
[1419] and again, "I will have mercy," saith He, "rather than
sacrifice." [1420] Therefore, as in the event of our being in peril
from fire we would certainly run to the water in order to get the fire
extinguished, and we would be grateful if any person were to offer it
in the immediate vicinity; so, if some flame of sin has risen from our
own stack, [1421] and if we are troubled on that account, when an
opportunity has been given for a most merciful work, we should rejoice
in it, as if a fountain were offered us in order that by it the
conflagration which had burst forth might be extinguished. Unless
haply we are foolish enough to think that we ought to be readier in
running with bread, wherewith we may fill the belly of a hungry man,
than with the word of God, wherewith we may instruct the mind of the
man who feeds on it. [1422] There is this also to consider, namely,
that if it would only be of advantage to us to do this thing, and
entail no disadvantage to leave it undone, we might despise a remedy
offered in an unhappy fashion in the time of peril with a view to the
safety, not now of a neighbor, but of ourselves. But when from the
mouth of the Lord this so threatening sentence is heard, "Thou wicked
and slothful servant, thou oughtest to give my money to the
exchangers," [1423] what madness, I pray thee, is it thus, seeing that
our sin pains us, to be minded to sin again, by refusing to give the
Lord's money to one who desires it and asks it! When these and such
like considerations and reflections have succeeded in dispelling the
darkness of weary feelings, the bent of mind is rendered apt for the
duty of catechising, so that that is received in a pleasant manner
which breaks forth vigorously and cheerfully from the rich vein of
charity. For these things indeed which are uttered here are spoken,
not so much by me to you, as rather to us all by that very "love which
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given to us."
[1424]
Footnotes
[1416] Prov. xix. 21
[1417] Matt. xxiii. 15
[1418] Ps. li. 17
[1419] Ecclus. iii. 30
[1420] Hos. vi. 6
[1421] Fæno= hay.
[1422] Reading istud edentis; for which some editions give studentis =
of one who studies it.
[1423] Matt. xxv. 26, 27
[1424] Rom. v. 5
Chapter 15.--Of the Method in Which Our Address Should Be Adapted to
Different Classes of Hearers.
23. But now, perhaps, you also demand of me as a debt that which,
previous to the promise which I made, I was under no obligation to
give, namely, that I should not count it burdensome to unfold some
sort of example of the discourse intended, and to set it before you
for your study, just as if I were myself engaged in catechising some
individual. Before I do that, however, I wish you to keep in mind the
fact that the mental effort is of one kind in the case of a person who
dictates, with a future reader in his view, and that it is of quite
another kind in the case of a person who speaks with a present hearer
to whom to direct his attention. And further, it is to be remembered
that, in this latter instance in particular, the effort is of one kind
when one is admonishing in private, and when there is no other person
at hand to pronounce judgment on us; whereas it is of a different
order when one is conveying any instruction in public, and when there
stands around him an audience of persons holding dissimilar opinions;
and again, that in this exercise of teaching, the effort will be of
one sort when only a single individual is being instructed, while all
the rest listen, like persons judging or attesting things well known
to them, and that it will be different when all those who are present
wait for what we have to deliver to them; and once more, that, in this
same instance, the effort will be one thing when all are seated, as it
were, in private conference with a view to engaging in some
discussion, and that it will be quite another thing when the people
sit silent and intent on giving their attention to some single speaker
who is to address them from a higher position. It will likewise make a
considerable difference, even when we are discoursing in that style,
whether there are few present or many, whether they are learned or
unlearned, or made up of both classes combined; whether they are
city-bred or rustics, or both the one and the other together; or
whether, again, they are a people composed of all orders of men in due
proportion. For it is impossible but that they will affect in
different ways the person who has to speak to them and discourse with
them, and that the address which is delivered will both bear certain
features, as it were, expressive of the feelings of the mind from
which it proceeds, and also influence the hearers in different ways,
in accordance with that same difference (in the speaker's
disposition), while at the same time the hearers themselves will
influence one another in different ways by the simple force of their
presence with each other. But as we are dealing at present with the
matter of the instruction of the unlearned, I am a witness to you, as
regards my own experience, that I find myself variously moved,
according as I see before me, for the purposes of catechetical
instruction, a highly educated man, a dull fellow, a citizen, a
foreigner, a rich man, a poor man, a private individual, a man of
honors, a person occupying some position of authority, an individual
of this or the other nation, of this or the other age or sex, one
proceeding from this or the other sect, from this or the other common
error,--and ever in accordance with the difference of my feelings does
my discourse itself at once set out, go on, and reach its end. And
inasmuch as, although the same charity is due to all, yet the same
medicine is not to be administered to all, in like manner charity
itself travails with some, is made weak together with others; is at
pains to edify some, tremblingly apprehends being an offense to
others; bends to some, lifts itself erect to others; is gentle to
some, severe to others; to none an enemy, to all a mother. And when
one, who has not gone through the kind of experience to which I refer
in the same spirit of charity, sees us attaining, in virtue of some
gift which has been conferred upon us, and which carries the power of
pleasing, a certain repute of an eulogistic nature in the mouth of the
multitude, he counts us happy on that account. But may God, into whose
cognizance the "groaning of them that are bound enters," [1425] look
upon our humility, and our labor, and forgive us all our sins. [1426]
Wherefore, if anything in us has so far pleased you as to make you
desirous of hearing from us some remarks on the subject of the form of
discourse which you ought to follow, [1427] you should acquire a more
thorough understanding of the matter by contemplating us, and
listening to us when we are actually engaged with these topics, than
by a perusal when we are only dictating them.
Footnotes
[1425] Ps. lxxix. 11
[1426] Cf. Ps. xxv. 18
[1427] Ut aliquam observationem sermonis tui a nobis audire quæreres
Chapter 16.--A Specimen of a Catechetical Address; And First, the Case
of a Catechumen with Worthy Views.
24. Nevertheless, however that may be, let us here suppose that some
one has come to us who desires to be made a Christian, and who belongs
indeed to the order of private persons, [1428] and yet not to the
class of rustics, but to that of the city-bred, such as those whom you
cannot fail to come across in numbers in Carthage. Let us also suppose
that, on being asked whether the inducement leading him to desire to
be a Christian is any advantage looked for in the present life, or the
rest which is hoped for after this life, he has answered that his
inducement has been the rest that is yet to come. Then perchance such
a person might be instructed by us in some such strain of address as
the following: "Thanks be to God, my brother; cordially do I wish you
joy, and I am glad on your account that, amid all the storms of this
world, which are at once so great and so dangerous, you have bethought
yourself of some true and certain security. For even in this life men
go in quest of rest and security at the cost of heavy labors, but they
fail to find such in consequence of their wicked lusts. For their
thought is to find rest in things which are unquiet, and which endure
not. And these objects, inasmuch as they are withdrawn from them and
pass away in the course of time, agitate them by fears and griefs, and
suffer them not to enjoy tranquillity. For if it be that a man seeks
to find his rest in wealth, he is rendered proud rather than at ease.
Do we not see how many have lost their riches on a sudden,--how many,
too, have been undone by reason of them, either as they have been
coveting to possess them, or as they have been borne down and
despoiled of them by others more covetous than themselves? And even
should they remain with the man all his life long, and never leave
their lover, yet would he himself (have to) leave them at his death.
For of what measure is the life of man, even if he lives to old age?
Or when men desire for themselves old age, what else do they really
desire but long infirmity? So, too, with the honors of this
world,--what are they but empty pride and vanity, and peril of ruin?
For holy Scripture speaks in this wise: `All flesh is grass, and the
glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the
flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for
ever.' [1429] Consequently, if any man longs for true rest and true
felicity, he ought to lift his hope off things which are mortal and
transitory, and fix it on the word of the Lord; so that, cleaving to
that which endures for ever, he may himself together with it endure
for ever.
25. "There are also other men who neither crave to be rich nor go
about seeking the vain pomps of honors, but who nevertheless are
minded to find their pleasure and rest in dainty meats, and in
fornications, and in those theatres and spectacles which are at their
disposal in great cities for nothing. But it fares with these, too, in
the same way; or they waste their small means in luxury, and
subsequently, under pressure of want, break out into thefts and
burglaries, and at times even into highway robberies, and so they are
suddenly filled with fears both numerous and great; and men who a
little before were singing in the house of revelry, are now dreaming
of the sorrows of the prison. Moreover, in their eager devotion to the
public spectacles, they come to resemble demons, as they incite men by
their cries to wound each other, and instigate those who have done
them no hurt to engage in furious contests with each other, while they
seek to please an insane people. And if they perceive any such to be
peaceably disposed, they straightway hate them and persecute them, and
raise an outcry, asking that they should be beaten with clubs, as if
they had been in collusion to cheat them; and this iniquity they force
even the judge, who is the (appointed) avenger of iniquities, to
perpetrate. On the other hand, if they observe such men exerting
themselves in horrid hostilities against each other, whether they be
those who are called sintoe, [1430] or theatrical actors and players,
[1431] or charioteers, or hunters,--those wretched men whom they
engage in conflicts and struggles, not only men with men, but even men
with beasts,--then the fiercer the fury with which they perceive these
unhappy creatures rage against each other, the better they like them,
and the greater the enjoyment they have in them; and they favor them
when thus excited, [1432] and by so favoring them they excite them all
the more, the spectators themselves striving more madly with each
other, as they espouse the cause of different combatants, than is the
case even with those very men whose madness they madly provoke, while
at the same time they also long to be spectators of the same in their
mad frenzy. [1433] How then can that mind keep the soundness of peace
which feeds on strifes and contentions? For just as is the food which
is received, such is the health which results. In fine, although mad
pleasures are no pleasures, nevertheless let these things be taken as
they are, and it still remains the case that, whatever their nature
may be, and whatever the measure of enjoyment yielded by the boasts of
riches, and the inflation of honors, and the spendthrift pleasures of
the taverns, and the contests of the theatres, and the impurity of
fornications, and the pruriency of the baths, they are all things of
which one little fever deprives us, while, even from those who still
survive, it takes away the whole false happiness of their life. Then
there remains only a void and wounded conscience, destined to
apprehend that God as a Judge whom it refused to have as a Father, and
destined also to find a severe Lord in Him whom it scorned to seek and
love as a tender Father. But thou, inasmuch as thou seekest that true
rest which is promised to Christians after this life, wilt taste the
same sweet and pleasant rest even here among the bitterest troubles of
this life, if thou continuest to love the commandments of Him who hath
promised the same. For quickly wilt thou feel that the fruits of
righteousness are sweeter than those of unrighteousness, and that a
man finds a more genuine and pleasurable joy in the possession of a
good conscience in the midst of troubles than in that of an evil
conscience in the midst of delights. For thou hast not come to be
united to the Church of God with the idea of seeking from it any
temporal advantage.
Footnotes
[1428] Idiotarum
[1429] Isa. xl. 6, 8; 1 Pet. i. 24, 25
[1430] Reading sive sintoe qui appellantur, for which there occur such
varieties of reading as these: sint athletæ qui appellantur = those
who are called athletes; or sint æqui appellantur; or simply sint qui
appellantur = whatever name they bear, whether actors, etc. The term
sintæ, borrowed from the Greek Sintai = devourers, spoilers, may have
been a word in common use among the Africans, as the Benedictine
editors suggest, for designating some sort of coarse characters.
[1431] Thymelici, strictly = the musicians belonging to the thymele,
or orchestra.
[1432] Reading incitatis favent, for which some mss. give incitati =
excited themselves, they favor them; and others have incitantes =
exciting them, they favor them.
[1433] Compare a passage in the Confessions, vi. 13.
Chapter 17.--The Specimen of Catechetical Discourse Continued, in
Reference Specially to the Reproval of False Aims on the Catechumen's
Part.
26. "For there are some whose reason for desiring to become Christians
is either that they may gain the favor of men from whom they look for
temporal advantages, or that they are reluctant to offend those whom
they fear. But these are reprobate; and although the church bears them
for a time, as the threshing-floor bears the chaff until the period of
winnowing, yet if they fail to amend and begin to be Christians in
sincerity in view of the everlasting rest which is to come, they will
be separated from it in the end. And let not such flatter themselves,
because it is possible for them to be in the threshing-floor along
with the grain of God. For they will not be together with that in the
barn, but are destined for the fire, which is their due. There are
also others of better hope indeed, but nevertheless in no inferior
danger. I mean those who now fear God, and mock not the Christian
name, neither enter the church of God with an assumed heart, but still
look for their felicity in this life, expecting to have more felicity
in earthly things than those enjoy who refuse to worship God. And the
consequence of this false anticipation is, that when they see some
wicked and impious men strongly established and excelling in this
worldly prosperity, while they themselves either possess it in a
smaller degree or miss it altogether, they are troubled with the
thought that they are serving God without reason, and so they readily
fall away from the faith.
27. "But as to the man who has in view that everlasting blessedness
and perpetual rest which is promised as the lot destined for the
saints after this life, and who desires to become a Christian, in
order that he may not pass into eternal fire with the devil, but enter
into the eternal kingdom together with Christ, [1434] such an one is
truly a Christian; (and he will be) on his guard in every temptation,
so that he may neither be corrupted by prosperity nor be utterly
broken in spirit by adversity, but remain at once modest and temperate
when the good things of earth abound with him, and brave and patient
when tribulations overtake him. A person of this character will also
advance in attainments until he comes to that disposition of mind
which will make him love God more than he fears hell; so that even
were God to say to him, `Avail yourself of carnal pleasures for ever,
and sin as much as you are able, and you shall neither die nor be sent
into hell, but you will only not be with me, he would be terribly
dismayed, and would altogether abstain from sinning, not now (simply)
with the purpose of not falling into that of which he was wont to be
afraid, but with the wish not to offend Him whom he so greatly loves:
in whom alone also there is the rest which eye hath not seen, neither
hath ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man (to
conceive),--the rest which God hath prepared for them that love Him.
[1435]
28. "Now, on the subject of this rest Scripture is significant, and
refrains not to speak, when it tells us how at the beginning of the
world, and at the time when God made heaven and earth and all things
which are in them, He worked during six days, and rested on the
seventh day. [1436] For it was in the power of the Almighty to make
all things even in one moment of time. For He had not labored in the
view that He might enjoy (a needful) rest, since indeed "He spake, and
they were made; He commanded, and they were created;" [1437] but that
He might signify how, after six ages of this world, in a seventh age,
as on the seventh day, He will rest in His saints; inasmuch as these
same saints shall rest also in Him after all the good works in which
they have served Him,--which He Himself, indeed, works in them, who
calls them, and instructs them, and puts away the offenses that are
past, and justifies the man who previously was ungodly. For as, when
by His gift they work that which is good, He is Himself rightly said
to work (that in them), so, when they rest in Him, He is rightly said
to rest Himself. For, as regards Himself, He seeks no cessation,
because He feels no labor. Moreover He made all things by His Word;
and His Word is Christ Himself, in whom the angels and all those
purest spirits of heaven rest in holy silence. Man, however in that he
fell by sin, has lost the rest which he possessed in His divinity, and
receives it again (now) in His humanity; and for this purpose He
became man, and was born of a woman, at the seasonable time at which
He Himself knew it behoved it so to be fulfilled. And from the flesh
assuredly He could not sustain any contamination, being Himself rather
destined to purify the flesh. Of His future coming the ancient saints,
in the revelation of the Spirit, had knowledge, and prophesied. And
thus were they saved by believing that He was to come, even as we are
saved by believing that He has come. Hence ought we to love God who
has so loved us as to have sent His only Son, in order that He might
endue Himself with the lowliness [1438] of our mortality, and die both
at the hands of sinners and on behalf of sinners. For even in times of
old, and in the opening ages, the depth of this mystery ceases not to
be prefigured and prophetically announced.
Footnotes
[1434] Cf. Matt. xxv. 34, 41
[1435] 1 Cor. ii. 9
[1436] Gen. ii. 1-3
[1437] Ps. cxlviii. 5
[1438] Humanitate, = humanity, also occurs instead of humilitate.
Chapter 18.--Of What is to Be Believed on the Subject of the Creation
of Man and Other Objects.
29. "Whereas, then, the omnipotent God, who is also good and just and
merciful, who made all things,--whether they be great or small,
whether they be highest or lowest, whether they be things which are
seen, such as are the heavens and the earth and the sea, and in the
heavens, in particular, the sun and the moon and other luminaries, and
in the earth and the sea, again, trees and shrubs and animals each
after their kind, and all bodies celestial or terrestrial alike, or
whether they be things which are not seen, such as are those spirits
whereby bodies are animated and endowed with life,--made also man
after His own image, in order that, as He Himself, in virtue of His
omnipotence, presides over universal creation, so man, in virtue of
that intelligence of his by which he comes to know even his Creator
and worships Him, might preside over all the living creatures of
earth: Whereas, too, he made the woman to be an helpmeet for him: not
for carnal concupiscence,--since, indeed, they had not corruptible
bodies at that period, before the punishment of sin invaded them in
the form of mortality,--but for this purpose, that the man might at
once have glory of the woman in so far as he went before her to God,
and present in himself an example to her for imitation in holiness and
piety, even as he himself was to be the glory of God in so far as he
followed his wisdom:
30. "Therefore did he place them in a certain locality of perpetual
blessedness, which the Scripture designates Paradise: and he gave them
a commandment, on condition of not violating which they were to
continue for ever in that blessedness of immortality; while, on the
other hand, if they transgressed it, they were to sustain the
penalties of mortality. Now God knew beforehand that they would
trangress it. Nevertheless, in that He is the author and maker of
everything good, He chose rather to make them, as He also made the
beasts, in order that He might replenish the earth with the good
things proper to earth. And certainly man, even sinful man, is better
than a beast. And the commandment, which they were not to keep, He yet
preferred to give them, in order that they might be without excuse
when He should begin to vindicate Himself against them. For whatever
man may have done, he finds God worthy to be praised in all His
doings: if he shall have acted rightly, he finds Him worthy to be
praised for the righteousness of His rewards: if he shall have sinned,
he finds Him worthy to be praised for the righteousness of His
punishments: if he shall have confessed his sins and returned to an
upright life, he finds Him worthy to be praised for the mercy of His
pardoning favors. Why, then, should God not make man, although He
foreknew that he would sin, when He might crown him if he stood, and
set him right if he fell, and help him if he rose, Himself being
always and everywhere glorious in goodness, righteousness, and
clemency? Above all, why should He not do so, since He also foreknew
this, namely, that from the race of that mortality there would spring
saints, who should not seek their own, but give glory to their
Creator; and who, obtaining deliverance from every corruption by
worshipping Him, should be counted worthy to live for ever, and to
live in blessedness with the holy angels? For He who gave freedom of
will to men, in order that they might worship God not of slavish
necessity but with ingenuous inclination, gave it also to the angels;
and hence neither did the angel, who, in company with other spirits
who were his satellites, forsook in pride the obedience of God and
became the devil, do any hurt to God, but to himself. For God knoweth
how to dispose of souls [1439] that leave Him, and out of their
righteous misery to furnish the inferior sections of His creatures
with the most appropriate and befitting laws of His wonderful
dispensation. Consequently, neither did the devil in any manner harm
God, whether in falling himself, or in seducing man to death; nor did
man himself in any degree impair the truth, or power, or blessedness
[1440] of His Maker, in that, when his partner was seduced by the
devil, he of his own deliberate inclination consented unto her in the
doing of that which God had forbidden. For by the most righteous laws
of God all were condemned, God Himself being glorious in the equity of
retribution, while they were shamed through the degradation of
punishment: to the end that man, when he turned away from his Creator,
should be overcome by the devil and made his subject, and that the
devil might be set before man as an enemy to be conquered, when he
turned again to his Creator; so that whosoever should consent unto the
devil even to the end, might go with him into eternal punishments;
whereas those who should humble themselves to God, and by His grace
overcome the devil, might be counted worthy of eternal rewards.
Footnotes
[1439] Rather "spirits." See the correction made in the Retractations,
ii. 14, as given above in the Introductory Notice.
[1440] The beatitatem is omitted by several mss.
Chapter 19.--Of the Co-Existence of Good and Evil in the Church, and
Their Final Separation.
31. "Neither ought we to be moved by the consideration that many
consent unto the devil, and few follow God; for the grain, too, in
comparison with the chaff, has greatly the defect in number. But even
as the husbandman knows what to do with the mighty heap of chaff, so
the multitude of sinners is nothing to God, who knows what to do with
them, so as not to let the administration of His kingdom be disordered
and dishonored in any part. Nor is the devil to be supposed to have
proved victorious for the mere reason of his drawing away with him
more than the few by whom he may be overcome. In this way there are
two communities--one of the ungodly, and another of the holy--which
are carried down from the beginning of the human race even to the end
of the world, which are at present commingled in respect of bodies,
but separated in respect of wills, and which, moreover, are destined
to be separated also in respect of bodily presence in the day of
judgment. For all men who love pride and temporal power with vain
elation and pomp of arrogance, and all spirits who set their
affections on such things and seek their own glory in the subjection
of men, are bound fast together in one association; nay, even although
they frequently fight against each other on account of these things,
they are nevertheless precipitated by the like weight of lust into the
same abyss, and are united with each other by similarity of manners
and merits. And, again, all men and all spirits who humbly seek the
glory of God and not their own, and who follow Him in piety, belong to
one fellowship. And, notwithstanding this, God is most merciful and
patient with ungodly men, and offers them a place for penitence and
amendment.
32. "For with respect also to the fact that He destroyed all men in
the flood, with the exception of one righteous man together with his
house, whom He willed to be saved in the ark, He knew indeed that they
would not amend themselves; yet, nevertheless, as the building of the
ark went on for the space of a hundred years, the wrath of God which
was to come upon them was certainly preached to them: [1441] and if
they only would have turned to God, He would have spared them, as at a
later period He spared the city of Nineveh when it repented, after He
had announced to it, by means of a prophet, the destruction that was
about to overtake it. [1442] Thus, moreover, God acts, granting a
space for repentance even to those who He knows will persist in
wickedness, in order that He may exercise and instruct our patience by
His own example; whereby also we may know how greatly it befits us to
bear with the evil in long-suffering, when we know not what manner of
men they will prove hereafter, seeing that He, whose cognizance
nothing that is yet to be escapes, spares them and suffers them to
live. Under the sacramental sign of the flood, however, in which the
righteous were rescued by the wood, there was also a fore-announcement
of the Church which was to be, which Christ, its King and God, has
raised on high; by the mystery of His cross, in safety from the
submersion of this world. Moreover, God was not ignorant of the fact
that, even of those who had been saved in the ark, there would be born
wicked men, who would cover the face of the earth a second time with
iniquities. But, nevertheless, He both gave them a pattern of the
future judgment, and fore-announced the deliverance of the holy by the
mystery of the wood. For even after these things wickedness did not
cease to sprout forth again through pride, and lusts, and illicit
impieties, when men, forsaking their Creator, not only fell to the
(standard of the) creature which God made, so as to worship instead of
God that which God made, but even bowed their souls to the works of
the hands of men and to the contrivances of craftsmen, wherein a more
shameful triumph was to be won over them by the devil, and by those
evil spirits who rejoice in finding themselves adored and reverenced
in such false devices, while they feed [1443] their own errors with
the errors of men.
33. "But in truth there were not wanting in those times righteous men
also of the kind to seek God piously and to overcome the pride of the
devil, citizens of that holy community, who were made whole by the
humiliation of Christ, which was then only destined to enter, but was
revealed to them by the Spirit. From among these, Abraham, a pious and
faithful servant of God, was chosen, in order that to him might be
shown the sacrament of the Son of God, so that thus, in virtue of the
imitation of his faith, all the faithful of all nations might be
called his children in the future. Of him was born a people, by whom
the one true God who made heaven and earth should be worshipped when
all other nations did service to idols and evil spirits. In that
people, plainly, the future Church was much more evidently prefigured.
For in it there was a carnal multitude that worshipped God with a view
to visible benefits. But in it there were also a few who thought of
the future rest, and looked longingly for the heavenly fatherland, to
whom through prophecy was revealed the coming humiliation of God in
the person of our King and Lord Jesus Christ, in order that they might
be made whole of all pride and arrogance through that faith. And with
respect to these saints who in point of time had precedence of the
birth of the Lord, not only their speech, but also their life, and
their marriages, and their children, and their doings, constituted a
prophecy of this time, at which the Church is being gathered together
out of all nations through faith in the passion of Christ. By the
instrumentality of those holy patriarchs and prophets this carnal
people of Israel, who at a later period were also called Jews, had
ministered unto them at once those visible benefits which they eagerly
desired of the Lord in a carnal manner, and those chastisements, in
the form of bodily punishments, which were intended to terrify them
for the time, as was befitting for their obstinacy. And in all these,
nevertheless, there were also spiritual mysteries signified, such as
were meant to bear upon Christ and the Church; of which Church those
saints also were members, although they existed in this life previous
to the birth of Christ, the Lord, according to the flesh. For this
same Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, the Word of the Father,
equal and co-eternal with the Father, by whom all things were made,
was Himself also made man for our sakes, in order that of the whole
Church, as of His whole body, He might be the Head. But just as when
the whole man is in the process of being born, although he may put the
hand forth first in the act of birth, yet is that hand joined and
compacted together with the whole body under the head, even as also
among these same patriarchs some were born [1444] with the hand put
forth first as a sign of this very thing: so all the saints who lived
upon the earth previous to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
although they were born antecedently, were nevertheless united under
the Head with that universal body of which He is the Head.
Footnotes
[1441] Gen. vi. 7
[1442] Jonah iii
[1443] Instead of pascunt the reading miscent, = mix, is also found.
[1444] Gen. xxv. 26, xxxviii. 27-30
Chapter 20.--Of Israel's Bondage in Egypt, Their Deliverance, and
Their Passage Through the Red Sea.
34. "That people, then, having been brought down into Egypt, were in
bondage to the harshest of kings; and, taught by the most oppressive
labors, they sought their deliverer in God; and there was sent to them
one belonging to the people themselves, Moses, the holy servant of
God, who, in the might of God, terrified the impious nation of the
Egyptians in those days by great miracles, and led forth the people of
God out of that land through the Red Sea, where the water parted and
opened up a way for them as they crossed it, whereas, when the
Egyptians pressed on in pursuit, the waves returned to their channel
and overwhelmed them, so that they perished. Thus, then, just as the
earth through the agency of the flood was cleansed by the waters from
the wickedness of the sinners, who in those times were destroyed in
their inundation, while the righteous escaped by means of the wood; so
the people of God, when they went forth from Egypt, found a way
through the waters by which their enemies were devoured. Nor was the
sacrament of the wood wanting there. For Moses smote with his rod, in
order that that miracle might be effected. Both these are signs of
holy baptism, by which the faithful pass into the new life, while
their sins are done away with like enemies, and perish. But more
clearly was the passion of Christ prefigured in the case of that
people, when they were commanded to slay and eat the lamb, and to mark
their door-posts with its blood, and to celebrate this rite every
year, and to designate it the Lord's passover. For surely prophecy
speaks with the utmost plainness of the Lord Jesus Christ, when it
says that "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter." [1445] And with the
sign of His passion and cross, thou art this day to be marked on thy
forehead, as on the door-post, and all Christians are marked with the
same.
35. "Thereafter this people was conducted through the wilderness for
forty years. They also received the law written by the finger of God,
under which name the Holy Spirit is signified, as it is declared with
the utmost plainness in the Gospel. For God is not defined [1446] by
the form of a body, neither are members and fingers to be thought of
as existent in Him in the way in which we see them in ourselves. But,
inasmuch as it is through the Holy Spirit that God's gifts are divided
to His saints, in order that, although they vary in their capacities,
they may nevertheless not lapse from the concord of charity, and
inasmuch as it is especially in the fingers that there appears a
certain kind of division, while nevertheless there is no separation
from unity, this may be the explanation of the phrase. But whether
this may be the case, or whatever other reason may be assigned for the
Holy Spirit being called the finger of God, we ought not at any rate
to think of the form of a human body when we hear this expression
used. The people in question, then, received the law written by the
finger of God, and that in good sooth on tables of stone, to signify
the hardness of their heart in that they were not to fulfill the law.
For, as they eagerly sought from the Lord gifts meant for the uses of
the body, they were held by carnal fear rather than by spiritual
charity. But nothing fulfills the law save charity. Consequently, they
were burdened with many visible sacraments, to the intent that they
should feel the pressure of the yoke of bondage in the observances of
meats, and in the sacrifices of animals, and in other rites
innumerable; which things, at the same time, were signs of spiritual
matters relating to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Church; which,
furthermore, at that time were both understood by a few holy men to
the effect of yielding the fruit of salvation, and observed by them in
accordance with the fitness of the time, while by the multitude of
carnal men they were observed only and not understood.
36. "In this manner, then, through many varied signs of things to
come, which it would be tedious to enumerate in complete detail, and
which we now see in their fulfillment in the Church, that people were
brought to the land of promise, in which they were to reign in a
temporal and carnal way in accordance with their own longings: which
earthly kingdom, nevertheless, sustained the image of a spiritual
kingdom. There Jerusalem was founded, that most celebrated city of
God, which, while in bondage, served as a sign of the free city, which
is called the heavenly Jerusalem [1447] which latter term is a Hebrew
word, and signifies by interpretation the `vision of peace.' The
citizens thereof are all sanctified men, who have been, who are, and
who are yet to be; and all sanctified spirits, even as many as are
obedient to God with pious devotion in the exalted regions of heaven,
and imitate not the impious pride of the devil and his angels. The
King of this city is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, by whom
the highest angels are governed, and at the same time the Word that
took unto Himself human nature, [1448] in order that by Him men also
might be governed, who, in His fellowship, shall reign all together in
eternal peace. In the service of prefiguring this King in that earthly
kingdom of the people of Israel, King David stood forth pre-eminent,
[1449] of whose seed according to the flesh that truest King was to
come, to wit, our Lord Jesus Christ, `who is over all, God blessed for
ever.' [1450] In that land of promise many things were done, which
held good as figures of the Christ who was to come, and of the Church,
with which you will have it in your power to acquaint yourself by
degrees in the Holy Books.
Footnotes
[1445] Isa. liii. 7
[1446] Or = circumscribed, definitus.
[1447] Cf. Gal. iv. 26
[1448] Hominem.
[1449] 1 Kings xi. 13
[1450] Rom. ix. 5
Chapter 21.--Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified
Thereby.
37. "Howbeit, after the lapse of some generations, another type was
presented, which bears very emphatically on the matter in hand. For
that city [1451] was brought into captivity, and a large section of
the people were carried off into Babylonia. Now, as Jerusalem
signifies the city and fellowship of the saints, so Babylonia
signifies the city and fellowship of the wicked, seeing that by
interpretation it denotes confusion. On the subject of these two
cities, which have been running their courses, mingling the one with
the other, through all the changes of time from the beginning of the
human race, and which shall so move on together until the end of the
world, when they are destined to be separated at the last judgment, we
have spoken already a little ago. [1452] That captivity, then, of the
city of Jerusalem, and the people thus carried into Babylonia in
bondage, were ordained so to proceed by the Lord, by the voice of
Jeremiah, a prophet of that time. [1453] And there appeared kings
[1454] of Babylon, under whom they were in slavery, who on occasion of
the captivity of this people were so wrought upon by certain miracles
that they came to know the one true God who founded universal
creation, and worshipped Him, and commanded that He should be
worshipped. Moreover the people were ordered both to pray for those by
whom they were detained in captivity, and in their peace to hope for
peace, to the effect that they should beget children, and build
houses, and plant gardens and vineyards. [1455] But at the end of
seventy years, release from their captivity was promised to them.
[1456] All this, furthermore, signified in a figure that the Church of
Christ in all His saints, who are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem,
would have to do service under the kings of this world. For the
doctrine of the apostles speaks also in this wise, that `every soul
should be subject to the higher powers,' and that there `should be
rendered all things to all men, tribute to whom tribute (is due),
custom to whom custom,' [1457] and all other things in like manner
which, without detriment to the worship of our God, we render to the
rulers in the constitution of human society: for the Lord Himself
also, in order to set before us an example of this sound doctrine, did
not deem it unworthy of Him to pay tribute [1458] on account of that
human individuality [1459] wherewith He was invested. Again, Christian
servants and good believers are also commanded to serve their temporal
masters in equanimity and faithfulness; [1460] whom they will
hereafter judge, if even on to the end they find them wicked, or with
whom they will hereafter reign in equality, if they too shall have
been converted to the true God. Still all are enjoined to be subject
to the powers that are of man and of earth, even until, at the end of
the predetermined time which the seventy years signify, the Church
shall be delivered from the confusion of this world, like as Jerusalem
was to be set free from the captivity in Babylonia. By occasion of
that captivity, however, the kings of earth too have themselves been
led to forsake the idols on account of which they were wont to
persecute the Christians, and have come to know, and now worship, the
one true God and Christ the Lord; and it is on their behalf that the
Apostle Paul enjoins prayer to be made, even although they should
persecute the Church. For he speaks in these terms: `I entreat,
therefore, that first of all supplications, adorations, [1461]
intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for kings, for all men,
and all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
life, with all godliness and charity.' [1462] Accordingly peace has
been given to the Church by these same persons, although it be but of
a temporal sort,--a temporal quiet for the work of building houses
after a spiritual fashion, and planting gardens and vineyards. For
witness your own case, too,--at this very time we are engaged, by
means of this discourse, in building you up and planting you. And the
like process is going on throughout the whole circle of lands, in
virtue of the peace allowed by Christian kings, even as the same
apostle thus expresses himself: `Ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's
building.' [1463]
38. "And, indeed, after the lapse of the seventy years of which
Jeremiah had mystically prophesied, to the intent of prefiguring the
end of times, with a view still to the perfecting of that same figure,
no settled peace and liberty were conceded again to the Jews. Thus it
was that they were conquered subsequently by the Romans and made
tributary. From that period, in truth, at which they received the land
of promise and began to have kings, in order to preclude the
supposition that the promise of the Christ who was to be their
Liberator had met its complete fulfillment in the person of any one of
their kings, Christ was prophesied of with greater clearness in a
number of prophecies; not only by David himself in the book of Psalms,
but also by the rest of the great and holy prophets, even on to the
time of their conveyance into captivity in Babylonia; and in that same
captivity there were also prophets whose mission was to prophesy of
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Liberator of all. And after
the restoration of the temple, when the seventy years had passed, the
Jews sustained grievous oppressions and sufferings at the hands of the
kings of the Gentiles, fitted to make them understand that the
Liberator was not yet come, whom they failed to apprehend as one who
was to effect for them a spiritual deliverance, and whom they fondly
longed for on account of a carnal liberation.
Footnotes
[1451] Or = community, civitas.
[1452] See Chapter xix.
[1453] Jer. xxv. 18, xxix. 1
[1454] Dan. ii. 47, iii. 29, vi. 26; 1 Esdr. ii. 7; Bel. 41
[1455] Jer. xxix. 4-7
[1456] Jer. xxv. 12
[1457] Rom. xiii. 1, 7
[1458] Matt. xvii. 27
[1459] Pro capite hominis, literally = "on" account of that head of
man, etc.
[1460] Eph. vi. 5
[1461] Instead of orationes; the better authenticated reading is
adorationes.
[1462] 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2
[1463] 1 Cor. iii. 9; cf. Jer. xxv. 12, xxix. 10
Chapter 22.--Of the Six Ages of the World.
39. "Five ages of the world, accordingly, having been now completed
(there has entered the sixth). Of these ages the first is from the
beginning of the human race, that is, from Adam, who was the first man
that was made, down to Noah, who constructed the ark at the time of
the flood. [1464] Then the second extends from that period on to
Abraham, who was called [1465] the father indeed of all nations [1466]
which should follow the example of his faith, but who at the same time
in the way of natural descent from his own flesh was the father of the
destined people of the Jews; which people, previous to the entrance of
the Gentiles into the Christian faith, was the one people among all
the nations of all lands that worshipped the one true God: from which
people also Christ the Saviour was decreed to come according to the
flesh. For these turning-points [1467] of those two ages occupy an
eminent place in the ancient books. On the other hand, those of the
other three ages are also declared in the Gospel, [1468] where the
descent of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh is likewise
mentioned. For the third age extends from Abraham on to David the
king; the fourth from David on to that captivity whereby the people of
God passed over into Babylonia; and the fifth from that transmigration
down to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. With His coming the sixth
age has entered on its process; so that now the spiritual grace, which
in previous times was known to a few patriarchs and prophets, may be
made manifest to all nations; to the intent that no man should worship
God but freely, [1469] fondly desiring of Him not the visible rewards
of His services and the happiness of this present life, but that
eternal life alone in which he is to enjoy God Himself: in order that
in this sixth age the mind of man may be renewed after the image of
God, even as on the sixth day man was made after the image of God.
[1470] For then, too, is the law fulfilled, when all that it has
commanded is done, not in the strong desire for things temporal, but
in the love of Him who has given the commandment. Who is there,
moreover, who should not be earnestly disposed to give the return of
love to a God of supreme righteousness and also of supreme mercy, who
has first loved men of the greatest unrighteousness and the loftiest
pride, and that, too, so deeply as to have sent in their behalf His
only Son, by whom He made all things, and who being made man, not by
any change of Himself, but by the assumption of human nature, was
designed thus to become capable not only of living with them, but also
of dying at once for them and by their hands?
40. "Thus, then, showing forth the New Testament of our everlasting
inheritance, wherein man was to be renewed by the grace of God and
lead a new life, that is, a spiritual life; and with the view of
exhibiting the first one as an old dispensation, wherein a carnal
people acting out the old man (with the exception of a few patriarchs
and prophets, who had understanding, and some hidden saints), and
leading a carnal life, desiderated carnal rewards at the hands of the
Lord God, and received in that fashion but the figures of spiritual
blessings;--with this intent, I say, the Lord Christ, when made man,
despised all earthly good things, in order that He might show us how
these things ought to be despised; and He endured all earthly ills
which He was inculcating as things needful to be endured; so that
neither might our happiness be sought for in the former class, nor our
unhappiness be apprehended in the latter. For being born of a mother
who, although she conceived without being touched by man and always
remained thus untouched, in virginity conceiving, in virginity
bringing forth, in virginity dying, had nevertheless been espoused to
a handicraftsman, He extinguished all the inflated pride of carnal
nobility. Moreover, being born in the city of Bethlehem, which among
all the cities of Judæa was so insignificant that even in our own day
it is designated a village, He willed not that any one should glory in
the exalted position of any city of earth. He, too, whose are all
things and by whom all things were created, was made poor, in order
that no one, while believing in Him, might venture to boast himself in
earthly riches. He refused to be made by men a king, because He
displayed the pathway of humility to those unhappy ones whom pride had
separated from Him; [1471] and yet universal creation attests the fact
of His everlasting kingdom. An hungered was He who feeds all men;
athirst was He by whom is created whatsoever is drunk, and who in a
spiritual manner is the bread of the hungry and the fountain of the
thirsty; in journeying on earth, wearied was He who has made Himself
the way for us into heaven; as like one dumb and deaf in the presence
of His revilers was He by whom the dumb spoke and the deaf heard;
bound was He who freed us from the bonds of infirmities; scourged was
He who expelled from the bodies of man the scourges of all distresses;
crucified was He who put an end to our crucial pains; [1472] dead did
He become who raised the dead. But He also rose again, no more to die,
so that no one should from Him learn so to contemn death as if he were
never to live again.
Footnotes
[1464] Gen. vi. 22
[1465] Instead of dictus est the mss. give also electus est = was
chosen to be.
[1466] Gen. xvii. 4
[1467] articuli = articles.
[1468] Matt. i. 17
[1469] Gratis.
[1470] Gen. i. 27
[1471] Reading ab eo; for which some editions give ab ea = from that
humility.
[1472] There is a play in the words here: crucifixus est qui cruciatus
nostros finivit.
Chapter 23.--Of the Mission of the Holy Ghost Fifty Days After
Christ's Resurrection.
41. "Thereafter, having confirmed the disciples, and having sojourned
with them forty days, He ascended up into heaven, as these same
persons were beholding Him. And on the completion of fifty days from
His resurrection He sent to them the Holy Spirit (for so He had
promised), by whose agency they were to have love shed abroad in their
hearts, [1473] to the end that they might be able to fulfill the law,
not only without the sense of its being burdensome, but even with a
joyful mind. This law was given to the Jews in the ten commandments,
which they call the Decalogue. And these commandments, again, are
reduced to two, namely that we should love God with all our heart,
with all our soul, with all our mind; and that we should love our
neighbor as ourselves. [1474] For that on these two precepts hang all
the law and the prophets, the Lord Himself has at once declared in the
Gospel and shown in His own example. For thus it was likewise in the
instance of the people of Israel, that from the day on which they
first celebrated the passover in a form, [1475] slaying and eating the
sheep, with whose blood their door-posts were marked for the securing
of their safety, [1476] --from this day, I repeat, the fiftieth day in
succession was completed, and then they received the law written by
the finger of God, [1477] under which phrase we have already stated
that the Holy Spirit is signified. [1478] And in the same manner,
after the passion and resurrection of the Lord, who is the true
passover, the Holy Ghost was sent personally to the disciples on the
fiftieth day: not now, however, by tables of stone significant of the
hardness of their hearts; but, when they were gathered together in one
place at Jerusalem itself, suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as
if a violent blast were being borne onwards, and there appeared to
them tongues cloven like fire, and they began to speak with tongues,
in such a manner that all those who had come to them recognized each
his own language [1479] (for in that city the Jews were in the habit
of assembling from every country wheresoever they had been scattered
abroad, and had learned the diverse tongues of diverse nations); and
thereafter, preaching Christ with all boldness, they wrought many
signs in His name,--so much so, that as Peter was passing by, his
shadow touched a certain dead person, and the man rose in life again.
[1480]
42. "But when the Jews perceived so great signs to be wrought in the
name of Him, whom, partly through ill-will and partly in ignorance,
they crucified, some of them were provoked to persecute the apostles,
who were His preachers; while others, on the contrary, marvelling the
more at this very circumstance, that so great miracles were being
performed in the name of Him whom they had derided as one overborne
and conquered by themselves, repented, and were converted, so that
thousands of Jews believed on Him. For these parties were not bent now
on craving at the hand of God temporal benefits and an earthly
kingdom, neither did they look any more for Christ, the promised king,
in a carnal spirit; but they continued in immortal fashion to
apprehend and love Him, who in mortal fashion endured on their behalf
at their own hands sufferings so heavy, and imparted to them the gift
of forgiveness for all their sins, even down to the iniquity of His
own blood, and by the example of His own resurrection unfolded
immortality as the object which they should hope for and long for at
His hands. Accordingly, now mortifying the earthly cravings of the old
man, and inflamed with the new experience of the spiritual life, as
the Lord had enjoined in the Gospel, they sold all that they had, and
laid the price of their possessions at the feet of the apostles, in
order that these might distribute to every man according as each had
need; and living in Christian love harmoniously with each other, they
did not affirm anything to be their own, but they had all things in
common, and were one in soul and heart toward God. [1481] Afterwards
these same persons also themselves suffered persecution in their flesh
at the hands of the Jews, their carnal fellow-countrymen, and were
dispersed abroad, to the end that, in consequence of their dispersion,
Christ should be preached more extensively, and that they themselves
at the same time should be followers of the patience of their Lord.
For He who in meekness had endured them, [1482] enjoined them in
meekness to endure for His sake.
43. "Among those same persecutors of the saints the Apostle Paul had
once also ranked; and he raged with eminent violence against the
Christians. But, subsequently, he became a believer and an apostle,
and was sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, suffering (in that
ministry) things more grievous on behalf of the name of Christ than
were those which he had done against the name of Christ. Moreover, in
establishing churches throughout all the nations where he was sowing
the seed of the gospel, he was wont to give earnest injunction that,
as these converts (coming as they did from the worship of idols and
without experience in the worship of the one God) could not readily
serve God in the way of selling and distributing their possessions,
they should make offerings for the poor brethren among the saints who
were in the churches of Judea which had believed in Christ. In this
manner the doctrine of the apostle constituted some to be, as it were,
soldiers, and others to be, as it were, provincial tributaries, while
it set Christ in the centre of them like the corner-stone (in
accordance with what had been announced beforetime by the prophet),
[1483] in whom both parties, like walls advancing from different
sides, that is to say, from Jews and from Gentiles, might be joined
together in the affection of kinship. But at a later period heavier
and more frequent persecutions arose from the unbelieving Gentiles
against the Church of Christ, and day by day was fulfilled that
prophetic word which the Lord spake when He said, `Behold, I send you
as sheep in the midst of wolves.' [1484]
Footnotes
[1473] Cf. Rom. v. 5
[1474] Matt. xxii. 37-40
[1475] In imagine.
[1476] Ex. xii
[1477] Ex. xxxiv. 28
[1478] Luke xi. 20
[1479] Acts ii
[1480] The reference evidently is to Acts v. 15, where, however, it is
only the people's intention that is noticed, and that only in the
instance of the sick, and not of any individual actually dead.
[1481] Acts ii. 44, iv. 34
[1482] Adopting the Benedictine version, qui eos mansuetus passus
fuerat, and taking it as a parallel to Acts xiii. 18, Heb. xii. 3.
There is, however, great variety of reading here. Thus we find qui
ante eos, etc. = who had suffered in meekness before them: qui pro
eis, etc. = who had suffered in their stead: qui propter eos, etc. =
who had suffered on their account: and qui per eos, etc. = who had
suffered through them, etc. But the reading in the text appears best
authenticated.
[1483] Ps. cxviii. 22; Isa. xxviii. 16
[1484] Matt. x. 16
Chapter 24.--Of the Church in Its Likeness to a Vine Sprouting and
Suffering Pruning.
44. "But that vine, which was spreading forth its fruitful shoots
throughout the circle of lands, according as had been prophesied with
regard to it, and as had been foretold by the Lord Himself, sprouted
all the more luxuriantly in proportion as it was watered with richer
streams of the blood of martyrs. And as these died in behalf of the
truth of the faith in countless numbers throughout all lands, even the
persecuting kingdoms themselves desisted, and were converted to the
knowledge and worship of Christ, with the neck of their pride broken.
Moreover it behoved that this same vine should be pruned in accordance
with the Lord's repeated predictions, [1485] and that the unfruitful
twigs should be cut out of it, by which heresies and schisms were
occasioned in various localities, under the name of Christ, on the
part of men who sought not His glory but their own; whose oppositions,
however, also served more and more to discipline the Church, and to
test and illustrate both its doctrine and its patience.
45. "All these things, then, we now perceive to be realized precisely
as we read of them in predictions uttered so long before the event.
And as the first Christians, inasmuch as they did not see these things
literally made good in their own day, were moved by miracles to
believe them; so as regards ourselves, inasmuch as all these things
have now been brought to pass exactly as we read of them in those
books which were written a long time previous to the fulfillment of
the things in question, wherein they were all announced as matters yet
future, even as they are now seen to be actually present, we are built
up unto faith, so that, enduring and persevering in the Lord, we
believe without any hesitation in the destined accomplishment even of
those things which still remain to be realized. For, indeed, in the
same Scriptures, tribulations yet to come are still read of, as well
as the final day of judgment itself, when all the citizens of these
two states shall receive their bodies again, and rise and give account
of their life before the judgment-seat of Christ. For He will come in
the glory of His power, who of old condescended to come in the
lowliness of humanity; and He will separate all the godly from the
ungodly,--not only from those who have utterly refused to believe in
Him at all, but also from those who have believed in Him to no purpose
and without fruit. To the one class He will give an eternal kingdom
together with Himself, while to the other He will award eternal
punishment together with the devil. But as no joy yielded by things
temporal can be found in any measure comparable to the joy of life
eternal which the saints are destined to attain, so no torment of
temporal punishments can be compared to the everlasting torments of
the unrighteous.
Footnotes
[1485] John xv. 2
Chapter 25.--Of Constancy in the Faith of the Resurrection.
46. "Therefore, brother, confirm yourself in the name and help of Him
in whom you believe, so as to withstand the tongues of those who mock
at our faith, in whose case the devil speaks seductive words, bent
above all on making a mockery of the faith in a resurrection. But,
judging from your own history, [1486] believe that, seeing you have
been, you will also be hereafter, even as you perceive yourself now to
be, although previously you were not. For where was this great
structure of your body, and where this formation and compacted
connection of members a few years ago, before you were born, or even
before you were conceived in your mother's womb? Where, I repeat, was
then this structure and this stature of your body? Did it not come
forth to light from the hidden secrets of this creation, under the
invisible formative operations of the Lord God, and did it not rise to
its present magnitude and fashion by those fixed measures of increase
which come with the successive periods of life? [1487] Is it then in
any way a difficult thing for God, who also in a moment brings
together out of secrecy the masses of the clouds and veils the heavens
in an instant of time, to make this quantity of your body again what
it was, seeing that He was able to make it what formerly it was not?
[1488] Consequently, believe with a manful and unshaken spirit that
all those things which seem to be withdrawn from the eyes of men as if
to perish, are safe and exempt from loss in relation to the
omnipotence of God, who will restore them, without any delay or
difficulty, when He is so minded,--those of them at least, I should
say, that are judged by His justice to merit restoration; in order
that men may give account of their deeds in their very bodies in which
they have done them; and that in these they may be deemed worthy to
receive either the exchange of heavenly incorruption in accordance
with the deserts of their piety, or the corruptible condition of body
[1489] in accordance with the deserts of their wickedness,--and that,
too, not a condition such as may be done away with by death, but such
as shall furnish material for everlasting pains.
47. "Flee, therefore, by steadfast faith and good manners,--flee,
brother, those torments in which neither the torturers fail, nor do
the tortured die; to whom it is death without end, to be unable to die
in their pains. And be kindled with love and longing for the
everlasting life of the saints, in which neither will action be
toilsome nor will rest be indolent; in which the praise of God will be
without irksomeness and without defect; wherein there will be no
weariness in the mind, no exhaustion in the body; wherein, too, there
shall be no want, whether on your own part, so that you should crave
for relief, or on your neighbor's part, so that you should be in haste
to carry relief to him. God will be the whole enjoyment and
satisfaction [1490] of that holy city, which lives in Him and of Him,
in wisdom and beatitude. For as we hope and look for what has been
promised by Him, we shall be made equal to the angels of God, [1491]
and together with them we shall enjoy that Trinity now by sight,
wherein at present we walk by faith. [1492] For we believe that which
we see not, in order that through these very deserts of faith we may
be counted worthy also to see that which we believe, and to abide in
it; to the intent that these mysteries of the equality of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the unity of this same Trinity, and
the manner in which these three subsistences are one God, need no more
be uttered by us in words of faith and sounding syllables, but may be
drunk in in purest and most burning contemplation in that silence.
48. "These things hold fixed in your heart, and call upon the God in
whom you believe, to defend you against the temptations of the devil;
and be careful, lest that adversary come stealthily upon you from a
strange quarter, who, as a most malevolent solace for his own
damnation, seeks others whose companionship he may obtain in that
damnation. For he is bold enough not only to tempt Christian people
through the instrumentality of those who hate the Christian name, or
are pained to see the world taken possession of by that name, and
still fondly desire to do service to idols and to the curious rites of
evil spirits, but at times he also attempts the same through the
agency of such men as we have mentioned a little ago, to wit, persons
severed from the unity of the Church, like the twigs which are lopped
off when the vine is pruned, who are called heretics or schismatics.
Howbeit sometimes also he makes the same effort by means of the Jews,
seeking to tempt and seduce believers by their instrumentality.
Nevertheless, what ought above all things to be guarded against is,
that no individual may suffer himself to be tempted and deceived by
men who are within the Catholic Church itself, and who are borne by it
like the chaff that is sustained against the time of its winnowing.
For in being patient toward such persons, God has this end in view,
namely, to exercise and confirm the faith and prudence of His elect by
means of the perverseness of these others while at the same time He
also takes account of the fact that many of their number make an
advance, and are converted to the doing of the good pleasure of God
with a great impetus, when led to take pity upon their own souls.
[1493] For not all treasure up for themselves, through the patience of
God, wrath in the day of the wrath of His just judgment; [1494] but
many are brought by the same patience of the Almighty to the most
wholesome pain of repentance. [1495] And until that is effected, they
are made the means of exercising not only the forbearance, but also
the compassion of those who are already holding by the right way.
Accordingly, you will have to witness many drunkards, covetous men,
deceivers gamesters, adulterers, fornicators, men who bind upon their
persons sacrilegious charms and others given up to sorcerers and
astrologers, [1496] and diviners practised in all kinds of impious
arts. You will also have to observe how those very crowds which fill
the theatres on the festal days of the pagans also fill the churches
on the festal days of the Christians. And when you see these things
you will be tempted to imitate them. Nay, why should I use the
expression, you will see, in reference to what you assuredly are
acquainted with even already? For you are not ignorant of the fact
that many who are called Christians engage in all these evil things
which I have briefly mentioned. Neither are you ignorant that at
times, perchance, men whom you know to bear the name of Christians are
guilty of even more grievous offenses than these. But if you have come
with the notion that you may do such things as in a secured position,
you are greatly in error; neither will the name of Christ be of any
avail to you when He begins to judge in utmost strictness, who also of
old condescended in utmost mercy to come to man's relief. For He
Himself has foretold these things, and speaks to this effect in the
Gospel: `Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father.
Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, in thy name we have
eaten and drunken.' [1497] For all, therefore, who persevere in such
works the end is damnation. Consequently, when you see many not only
doing these things but also defending and recommending them, keep
yourself firmly by the law of God, and follow not its willful
transgressors. For it is not according to their mind, but according to
His [1498] truth that you will be judged.
49. "Associate with the good, whom you perceive to be at one with you
in loving your King. For there are many such for you to discover, if
you also begin to cultivate that character yourself. For if in the
public spectacles you wished to be in congenial company, and to attach
yourself closely [1499] to men who are united with you in a liking for
some charioteer, or some hunter, or some player or other, how much
more ought you to find pleasure in associating with those who are at
one with you in loving that God, with regard to whom no one that loves
Him shall ever have cause for the blush of shame, inasmuch as not only
is He Himself incapable of being overcome, but He will also render
those unconquerable who are affectionately disposed toward Him. At the
same time, not even on those same good men, who either anticipate you
or accompany you on the way to God, ought you to set your hope, seeing
that no more ought you to place it on yourself, however great may be
the progress you have made, but on Him who justifies both them and
you, and thus makes you what you are. For you are secure in God,
because He changes not; but in man no one prudently counts himself
secure. But if we ought to love those who are not righteous as yet,
with the view that they may be so, how much more warmly ought those to
be loved who already are righteous? At the same time, it is one thing
to love man, and another thing to set one's hope in man; and the
difference is so great, that God enjoins the one and forbids the
other. Moreover, if you have to sustain either any insults or any
sufferings in the cause of the name of Christ, and neither fall away
from the faith nor decline from the good way, [1500] you are certain
to receive the greater reward; whereas those who give way to the devil
in such circumstances, lose even the less reward. But be humble toward
God, in order that He may not permit you to be tempted beyond your
strength."
Footnotes
[1486] Sed ex te ipso crede. It may also = but, on your side, do you
believe.
[1487] Certisque ætatum incrementis, etc.
[1488] Reading sicut non erat; for which, however, cum non erat also
occurs = seeing He was able to make it when it was not.
[1489] Corruptibilem corporis conditionem. But corruptibilis also
occurs = the condition of a corruptible body.
[1490] Satietas. Some editions, however, give societas = the society.
[1491] Luke xx. 36
[1492] 2 Cor. v. 7
[1493] Ad placendum Deo miserati animas suas, etc. Instead of miserati
the reading miseranti also occurs = "to" the doing of the good
pleasure of the God who takes pity on their souls. The Benedictine
editors suggest that the whole clause is in reference to
Ecclesiasticus xxx. 24, (23), which in the Latin runs thus: miserere
animæ tuæ placens Deo.
[1494] Rom. ii. 5
[1495] Cf. Rom. ii. 4
[1496] Mathematicis
[1497] Matt. vii. 21, 22
[1498] Or = its (i.e. the law's) truth.
[1499] Adopting nam si in spectaculis cum illis esse cupiebas et eis
inhærere. Another, but less weightily supported reading, is, nam si in
spectaculis et vanitatibus insanorum certaminum illis cupiebas
inhærere = for if in the public spectacles and vanities of mad
struggles you wish to attach yourself closely to men, etc.
[1500] Bona via. Another and well authenticated rendering is, bona
vita = the good life.
Chapter 26.--Of the Formal Admission of the Catechumen, and of the
Signs Therein Made Use of.
50. At the conclusion of this address the person is to be asked
whether he believes these things and earnestly desires to observe
them. And on his replying to that effect then certainly he is to be
solemnly signed and dealt with in accordance with the custom of the
Church. On the subject of the sacrament, indeed, [1501] which he
receives, it is first to be well impressed upon his notice that the
signs of divine things are, it is true, things visible, but that the
invisible things themselves are also honored in them, and that that
species, [1502] which is then sanctified by the blessing, is therefore
not to be regarded merely in the way in which it is regarded in any
common use. And thereafter he ought to be told what is also signified
by the form of words to which he has listened, and what in him is
seasoned [1503] by that (spiritual grace) of which this material
substance presents the emblem. Next we should take occasion by that
ceremony to admonish him that, if he hears anything even in the
Scriptures which may carry a carnal sound, he should, even although he
fails to understand it, nevertheless believe that something spiritual
is signified thereby, which bears upon holiness of character and the
future life. Moreover, in this way he learns briefly that, whatever he
may hear in the canonical books of such a kind as to make him unable
to refer it to the love of eternity, and of truth, and of sanctity,
and to the love of our neighbor, he should believe that to have been
spoken or done with a figurative significance; and that, consequently,
he should endeavor to understand it in such a manner as to refer it to
that twofold (duty of) love. He should be further admonished, however,
not to take the term neighbor in a carnal sense, but to understand
under it every one who may ever be with him in that holy city, whether
there already or not yet apparent. And (he should finally be
counselled) not to despair of the amendment of any man whom he
perceives to be living under the patience of God for no other reason,
as the apostle [1504] says, than that he may be brought to repentance.
51. If this discourse, in which I have supposed myself to have been
teaching some uninstructed person in my presence, appears to you to be
too long, you are at liberty to expound these matters with greater
brevity. I do not think, however, that it ought to be longer than
this. At the same time, much depends on what the case itself, as it
goes on, may render advisable, and what the audience actually present
shows itself not only to bear, but also to desire. When, however,
rapid despatch is required, notice with what facility the whole matter
admits of being explained. Suppose once more that some one comes
before us who desires to be a Christian; and accordingly, suppose
further that he has been interrogated, and that he has returned the
answer which we have taken the former catechumen to have given; for,
even should he decline to make this reply, it must at least be said
that he ought to have given it;--then all that remains to be said to
him should be put together in the following manner:--
52. Of a truth, brother, that is great and true blessedness which is
promised to the saints in a future world. All visible things, on the
other hand, pass away, and all the pomp, and pleasure, and solicitude
[1505] of this world will perish, and (even now) they drag those who
love them along with them onward to destruction. The merciful God,
willing to deliver men from this destruction, that is to say, from
everlasting pains, if they should not prove enemies to themselves, and
if they should not withstand the mercy of their Creator, sent His
only-begotten Son, that is to say, His Word, equal with Himself, by
whom He made all things. And He, while abiding indeed in His divinity,
and neither receding from the Father nor being changed in anything,
did at the same time, by taking on Himself human nature, [1506] and
appearing to men in mortal flesh, come unto men; in order that, just
as death entered among the human race by one man, to wit, the first
that was made, that is to say, Adam, because he consented unto his
wife when she was seduced by the devil to the effect that they (both)
transgressed the commandment of God; even so by one man, Jesus Christ,
who is also God, the Son of God, all those who believe in Him might
have all their past sins done away with, and enter into eternal life.
Footnotes
[1501] It has been supposed by the Benedictine editors that sane may
be a misreading for salis. Whether that be or be not the case, the
sacramentum intended here appears to be the sacramentum salis, in
reference to which Neander (Church History iii. p. 458, Bohn's
Translation) states that "in the North African Church the bishop gave
to those whom he received as competentes, while signing the cross over
them as a symbol of consecration, a portion of salt over which a
blessing had been pronounced. This was to signify the divine word
imparted to the candidates as the true salt for human nature." There
is an allusion to the same in the Confessions (i. 11), where Augustin
says, "Even from my mother's womb who greatly hoped in thee, I was
signed with the sign of His cross, and seasoned with His salt."
[1502] Speciem = kind, in reference to the outward and sensible sign
of the salt.
[1503] Adopting condiat, which unquestionably is the reading most
accordant with the figure of the sacramental salt here dealt with.
Some editions give condatur = what is hidden in it, i.e. in the said
form of words.
[1504] Rom. ii . 4
[1505] Curiositas
[1506] Hominem
Chapter 27.--Of the Prophecies of the Old Testament in Their Visible
Fulfillment in the Church.
53. "For all those things, which at present you witness in the Church
of God, and which you see to be taking place under the name of Christ
throughout the whole world, were predicted long ages ago. And even as
we read of them, so also we now see them. And by means of these things
we are built up unto faith. Once of old there occurred a flood over
the whole earth, the object of which was that sinners might be
destroyed. And, nevertheless, those who escaped in the ark exhibited a
sacramental sign of the Church that was to be, which at present is
floating on the waves of the world, and is delivered from submersion
by the wood of the cross of Christ. It was predicted to Abraham, a
faithful servant of God, a single man, that of Him it was determined
that a people should be born who should worship one God in the midst
of all other nations which worshipped idols; and all things which were
prophesied of as destined to happen to that people have come to pass
exactly as they were foretold. Among that people Christ, the King of
all saints and their God, was also prophesied of as destined to come
of the seed of that same Abraham according to the flesh, which (flesh)
He took unto Himself, in order that all those also who became
followers of His faith might be sons of Abraham; and thus it has come
to pass: Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, who belonged to that
race. It was foretold by the prophets that He would suffer on the
cross at the hands of that same people of the Jews, of whose lineage,
according to the flesh, He came; and thus it has come to pass. It was
foretold that He would rise again: He has risen again; and, in
accordance with these same predictions of the prophets, He has
ascended into heaven and has sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples. It
was foretold not only by the prophets, but also by the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, that His Church would exist throughout the whole
world, extended by the martyrdoms and sufferings of the saints; and
this was foretold at a time when as yet His name was at once
undeclared to the Gentiles, and made a subject of derision where it
was known; and, nevertheless, in the power of His miracles, whether
those which He wrought by His own hand or those which he effected by
means of His servants, as these things are being reported and
believed, we already see the fulfillment of that which was predicted,
and behold the very kings of the earth, who formerly were wont to
persecute the Christians, even now brought into subjection to the name
of Christ. It was also foretold that schisms and heresies would arise
from His Church, and that under His name they would seek their own
glory instead of Christ's, in such places as they might be able to
command; and these predictions have been realized.
54. "Will those things, then, which yet remain fail to come to pass?
It is manifest that, just as the former class of things which were
foretold have come to pass, so will these latter also come to pass. I
refer to all the tribulations of the righteous, which yet wait for
fulfillment, and to the day of judgment, which will separate all the
wicked from the righteous in the resurrection of the dead;--and not
only will it thus separate those wicked men who are outside the
Church, but also it will set apart for the fire, which is due to such,
the chaff of the Church itself, which must be borne with in utmost
patience on to the last winnowing. Moreover, they who deride the
(doctrine of a) resurrection, because they think that this flesh,
inasmuch as it becomes corrupt, cannot rise again, will certainly rise
in the same unto punishment, and God will make it plain to such, that
He who was able to form these bodies when as yet they were not, is
able in a moment to restore them as they were. But all the faithful
who are destined to reign with Christ shall rise with the same body in
such wise that they may also be counted worthy to be changed into
angelic incorruption; so that they may be made equal unto the angels
of God, even as the Lord Himself has promised; [1507] and that they
may praise Him without any failure and without any weariness, ever
living in Him and of Him, with such joy and blessedness as can be
neither expressed nor conceived by man.
55. "Believe these things, therefore, and be on your guard against
temptations (for the devil seeks for others who may be brought to
perish along with himself); so that not only may that adversary fail
to seduce you by the help of those who are without the Church, whether
they be pagans, or Jews, or heretics; but you yourself also may
decline to follow the example of those within the Catholic Church
itself whom you see leading an evil life, either indulging in excess
in the pleasures of the belly and the throat, or unchaste, or given up
to the vain and unlawful observances of curious superstitions, whether
they be addicted to (the inanities of) public spectacles, or charms,
or divinations of devils, [1508] or be living in the pomp and inflated
arrogance of covetousness and pride, or be pursuing any sort of life
which the law condemns and punishes. But rather connect yourself with
the good, whom you will easily find out, if you yourself were once
become of that character; so that you may unite with each other in
worshipping and loving God for His own sake; [1509] for He himself
will be our complete reward to the intent that we may enjoy His
goodness and beauty [1510] in that life. He is to be loved, however,
not in the way in which any object that is seen with the eyes is
loved, but as wisdom is loved, and truth, and holiness, and
righteousness, and charity, [1511] and whatever else may be mentioned
as of kindred nature; and further, with a love conformable to these
things not as they are in men, but as they are in the very fountain of
incorruptible and unchangeable wisdom. Whomsoever, therefore, you may
observe to be loving these things, attach yourself to them, so that
through Christ, who became man in order that He might be the Mediator
between God and men, you may be reconciled to God. But as regards the
perverse, even if they find their way within the walls of the Church,
think not that they will find their way into the kingdom of heaven;
for in their own time they will be set apart, if they have not altered
to the better. Consequently, follow the example of good men, bear with
the wicked, love all; forasmuch as you know not what he will be
to-morrow who to-day is evil. Howbeit, love not the unrighteousness of
such; but love the persons themselves with the express intent that
they may apprehend righteousness; for not only is the love of God
enjoined upon us, but also the love of our neighbor, on which two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets. [1512] And this is
fulfilled by no one save the man who has received the (other) gift,
[1513] the Holy Spirit, who is indeed equal with the Father and with
the Son; for this same Trinity is God; and on this God every hope
ought to be placed. On man our hope ought not to be placed, of
whatsoever character he may be. For He, by whom we are justified, is
one thing; and they, together with whom we are justified, are another.
Moreover, it is not only by lusts that the devil tempts, but also by
the terrors of insults, and pains, and death itself. But whatever a
man shall have suffered on behalf of the name of Christ, and for the
sake of the hope of eternal life, and shall have endured in constancy,
(in accordance therewith) the greater reward shall be given him;
whereas, if he shall give way to the devil, he shall be damned along
with him. But works of mercy, conjoined with pious humility, meet with
this acknowledgment from God, to wit, that He will not suffer His
servants to be tempted more than they are able to bear." [1514]
Footnotes
[1507] Luke xx. 36
[1508] Remediorum aut divinationum diabolicarum. Some editions insert
sacrilegorum after remediorum = sacrilegious charms or divinations of
devils.
[1509] Gratis.
[1510] Cf. Zech. ix. 17
[1511] Many mss. omit the words: and holiness, and righteousness, and
charity.
[1512] Matt. xxii. 37, 39
[1513] One edition reads Dominum, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, etc.,
instead of donum.
[1514] 1 Cor. x. 13
.
A Treatise on Faith and the Creed.
[De Fide Et Symbolo.]
in One Book.
Translated by Rev. S. D. F. Salmond, D.D.,
Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church College, Aberdeen.
[A discourse delivered before a council of the whole North African
Episcopate assembled at Hippo-Regius.]
Introductory Notice.
The occasion and date of the composition of this treatise are
indicated in a statement which Augustin makes in the seventeenth
Chapter of the First Book of his Retractations.
From this we learn that, in its original form, it was a discourse
which Augustin, when only a presbyter, was requested to deliver in
public by the bishops assembled at the Council of Hippo-Regius, and
that it was subsequently issued as a book at the desire of friends.
The general assembly of the North African Church, which was thus
convened at what is now Bona, in the modern territory of Algiers, took
place in the year 393 A.D., and was otherwise one of some historical
importance, on account of the determined protest which it emitted
against the position elsewhere allowed to Patriarchs in the Church,
and against the admittance of any more authoritative or magisterial
title to the highest ecclesiastical official than that of simply
"Bishop of the first Church" (primæ sedis episcopus).
The work constitutes an exposition of the several clauses of the
so-called Apostles' Creed. The questions concerning the mutual
relations of the three Persons in the Godhead are handled with
greatest fullness; in connection with which, especially in the use
made of the analogies of Being, Knowledge, and Love, and in the
cautions thrown in against certain applications of these and other
illustrations taken from things of human experience, we come across
sentiments which are also repeated in the City of God, the books on
the Trinity, and others of his doctrinal writings.
The passage referred to in the Retractations is as follows: About the
same period, in presence of the bishops, who gave me orders to that
effect, and who were holding a plenary Council of the whole of Africa
at Hippo-Regius, I delivered, as presbyter, a discussion on the
subject of Faith and the Creed. This disputation, at the very pressing
request of some of those who were on terms of more than usual intimacy
and affection with us, I threw into the form of a book, in which the
themes themselves are made the subjects of discourse, although not in
a method involving the adoption of the particular connection of words
which is given to the competentes [1515] to be committed to memory. In
this book, when discussing the question of the resurrection of the
flesh, I say: [1516] `Rise again the body will, according to the
Christian faith, which is incapable of deceiving. And if this appears
incredible to any one, [it is because] he looks simply to what the
flesh is at present, while he fails to consider of what nature it
shall be hereafter. For at that time of angelic change it will no more
be flesh and blood, but only body;' and so on, through the other
statements which I have made there on the subject of the change of
bodies terrestrial into bodies celestial, as the apostle, when he
spake from the same point, said, `Flesh and blood shall not inherit
the kingdom of God.' [1517] But if any one takes these declarations in
a sense leading him to suppose that the earthly body, such as we now
have it, is changed in the resurrection into a celestial body, in any
such wise as that neither these members nor the substance of the flesh
will subsist any more, undoubtedly he must be set right, by being put
in mind of the body of the Lord, who subsequently to His resurrection
appeared in the same members, as One who was not only to be seen with
the eyes, but also handled with the hands; and made His possession of
the flesh likewise surer by the discourse which He spake, saying,
`Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see
me have.' [1518] Hence it is certain that the apostle did not deny
that the substance of the flesh will exist in the kingdom of God, but
that under the name of `flesh and blood' he designated either men who
live after the flesh, or the express corruption of the flesh, which
assuredly at that period shall subsist no more. For after he had said,
`Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' what he
proceeds to say next,--namely, `neither shall corruption inherit
incorruption,'--is rightly taken to have been added by way of
explaining his previous statement. And on this subject, which is one
on which it is difficult to convince unbelievers, any one who reads my
last book, On the City of God, will find that I have discoursed with
the utmost carefulness of which I am capable. [1519] The performance
in question commences thus: `Since it is written,' etc."
[Additional Note by the American Editor.]
[Another English edition of this treatise De Fide et Symbolo was
prepared by the Rev. Charles a. Heurtley, D.D., Margaret Professor of
Divinity and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and published by Parker &
Co., Oxford and London, 1886.
The following text of the Apostles' Creed may be collected from this
book of St. Augustin, and was current in North Africa towards the
close of the fourth century:
1.I Believe in God the Father Almighty. Chs. 2 and 3.
2.(And) In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten of the
Father, or, His Only Son, Our Lord. Ch. 3.
3.Who Was Born Through the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Ch. 4 (§
8.)
4.Who Under Pontius Pilate Was Crucified and Buried. Ch. 5 (§ 11.)
5.On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead. Ch. 5 (§ 12.)
6.He Ascended into Heaven. Ch. 6 (§ 13.)
7.He Sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father. Ch. 7 (§ 14.)
8.From Thence He Will Come and Judge the Living and the Dead. Ch. 8
(§ 15.)
9.(and I Believe) in the Holy Spirit. Ch. 9 (§ 16-19.)
10. I Believe the Holy Church (Catholic). Ch. 10 (§ 21.)
11. The Forgiveness of Sin. Ch. 10 (§ 23.)
12. The Resurrection of the Body. Ch. 10 (§ 23, 24.)
13. The Life Everlasting. Ch. 10 (§ 24.)]
Footnotes
[1515] i.e.the third order of catechumens, embracing those thoroughly
prepared for baptism.
[1516] Chap. x. § 24.
[1517] 1 Cor. xv. 50
[1518] Luke xxiv. 39
[1519] City of God, Bk. xxii. Ch. 21.
A Treatise on Faith and the Creed.
Chapter 1.--Of the Origin and Object of the Composition.
1. Inasmuch as it is a position, written and established on the most
solid foundation of apostolic teaching, "that the just lives of
faith;" [1520] and inasmuch also as this faith demands of us the duty
at once of heart and tongue,--for an apostle says, "With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation," [1521] --it becomes us to be mindful both of
righteousness and of salvation. For, destined as we are to reign
hereafter in everlasting righteousness, we certainly cannot secure our
salvation from the present evil world, unless at the same time, while
laboring for the salvation of our neighbors, we likewise with the
mouth make our own profession of the faith which we carry in our
heart. And it must be our aim, by pious and careful watchfulness, to
provide against the possibility of the said faith sustaining any
injury in us, on any side, through the fraudulent artifices [or,
cunning fraud] of the heretics.
We have, however, the catholic faith in the Creed, known to the
faithful and committed to memory, contained in a form of expression as
concise as has been rendered admissible by the circumstances of the
case; the purpose of which [compilation] was, that individuals who are
but beginners and sucklings among those who have been born again in
Christ, and who have not yet been strengthened by most diligent and
spiritual handling and understanding of the divine Scriptures, should
be furnished with a summary, expressed in few words, of those matters
of necessary belief which were subsequently to be explained to them in
many words, as they made progress and rose to [the height of] divine
doctrine, on the assured and steadfast basis of humility and charity.
It is underneath these few words, therefore, which are thus set in
order in the Creed, that most heretics have endeavored to conceal
their poisons; whom divine mercy has withstood, and still withstands,
by the instrumentality of spiritual men, who have been counted worthy
not only to accept and believe the catholic faith as expounded in
those terms, but also thoroughly to understand and apprehend it by the
enlightenment imparted by the Lord. For it is written, "Unless ye
believe, ye shall not understand." [1522] But the handling of the
faith is of service for the protection of the Creed; not, however, to
the intent that this should itself be given instead of the Creed, to
be committed to memory and repeated by those who are receiving the
grace of God, but that it may guard the matters which are retained in
the Creed against the insidious assaults of the heretics, by means of
catholic authority and a more entrenched defence.
Footnotes
[1520] Hab. ii. 4; Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. x. 38
[1521] Rom. x. 10
[1522] Isa. vii. 9, according to the rendering of the Septuagint.
Chapter 2.--Of God and His Exclusive Eternity.
2. For certain parties have attempted to gain acceptance for the
opinion that God the Father is not Almighty: not that they have been
bold enough expressly to affirm this, but in their traditions they are
convicted of entertaining and crediting such a notion. For when they
affirm that there is a nature [1523] which God Almighty did not
create, but of which at the same time He fashioned this world, which
they admit to have been disposed in beauty, [1524] they thereby deny
that God is almighty, to the effect of not believing that He could
have created the world without employing, for the purpose of its
construction, another nature, which had been in existence previously,
and which He Himself had not made. Thus, forsooth, [they reason] from
their carnal familiarity with the sight of craftsmen and
house-builders, and artisans of all descriptions, who have no power to
make good the effect of their own art unless they get the help of
materials already prepared. And so these parties in like manner
understand the Maker of the world not to be almighty, if [1525] thus
He could not fashion the said world without the help of some other
nature, not framed by Himself, which He had to use as His materials.
Or if indeed they do allow God, the Maker of the world, to be
almighty, it becomes matter of course that they must also acknowledge
that He made out of nothing the things which He did make. For,
granting that He is almighty, there cannot exist anything of which He
should not be the Creator. For although He made something out of
something, as man out of clay, [1526] nevertheless He certainly did
not make any object out of aught which He Himself had not made; for
the earth from which the clay comes He had made out of nothing. And
even if He had made out of some material the heavens and the earth
themselves, that is to say, the universe and all things which are in
it, according as it is written, "Thou who didst make the world out of
matter unseen," [1527] or also "without form," as some copies give it;
yet we are under no manner of necessity to believe that this very
material of which the universe was made, although it might be "without
form," although it might be "unseen," whatever might be the mode of
its subsistence, could possibly have subsisted of itself, as if it
were co-eternal and co-eval with God. But whatsoever that mode was
which it possessed to the effect of subsisting in some manner,
whatever that manner might be, and of being capable of taking on the
forms of distinct things, this it did not possess except by the hand
of Almighty God, by whose goodness it is that everything exists,--not
only every object which is already formed, but also every object which
is formable. This, moreover, is the difference between the formed and
the formable, that the formed has already taken on form, while the
formable is capable of taking the same. But the same Being who imparts
form to objects, also imparts the capability of being formed. For of
Him and in Him is the fairest figure [1528] of all things,
unchangeable; and therefore He Himself is One, who communicates to
everything its possibilities, not only that it be beautiful actually,
but also that it be capable of being beautiful. For which reason we do
most right to believe that God made all things of nothing. For, even
although the world was made of some sort of material, this self-same
material itself was made of nothing; so that, in accordance with the
most orderly gift of God, there was to enter first the capacity of
taking forms, and then that all things should be formed which have
been formed. This, however, we have said, in order that no one might
suppose that the utterances of the divine Scriptures are contrary the
one to the other, in so far as it is written at once that God made all
things of nothing, and that the world was made of matter without form.
3. As we believe, therefore, in God the Father Almighty, we ought to
uphold the opinion that there is no creature which has not been
created by the Almighty. And since He created all things by the Word,
[1529] which Word is also designated the Truth, and the Power, and the
Wisdom of God, [1530] --as also under many other appellations the Lord
Jesus Christ, who [1531] is commended to our faith, is presented
likewise to our mental apprehensions, to wit, our Deliverer and Ruler,
[1532] the Son of God; for that Word, by whose means all things were
founded, could not have been begotten by any other than by Him who
founded all things by His instrumentality;--
Footnotes
[1523] Naturam
[1524] Reading pulchre ordinatum. Some editions give pulchre ornatum =
beautifully adorned.
[1525] Si mundum fabricare non posset. For si some mss. give qui =
inasmuch as He could not, etc.
[1526] De limo = of mud.
[1527] Wisd. xi. 17
[1528] Speciosissima species = the seemliest semblance.
[1529] John i. 3
[1530] John xiv. 6; 1 Cor. i. 24
[1531] For qui several mss. give quibus here = "under" many other
appellations is the Lord Jesus Christ introduced to our mental
apprehensions, by which He is commended to our faith.
[1532] For Rector we also find Creator = Creator.
Chapter 3.--Of the Son of God, and His Peculiar Designation as the
Word.
--Since this is the case, I repeat, we believe also in Jesus Christ,
the Son of God the Only-Begotten of the Father, that is to say, His
Only Son, our Lord. This Word however, we ought not to apprehend
merely in the sense in which we think of our own words, which are
given forth by the voice and the mouth, and strike the air and pass
on, and subsist no longer than their sound continues. For that Word
remains unchangeably: for of this very Word was it spoken when of
Wisdom it was said, "Remaining in herself, she maketh all things new."
[1533] Moreover, the reason of His being named the Word of the Father,
is that the Father is made known by Him. Accordingly, just as it is
our intention, when we speak truth, that by means of our words our
mind should be made known to him who hears us, and that whatever we
carry in secrecy in our heart may be set forth by means of signs of
this sort for the intelligent understanding of another individual; so
this Wisdom that God the Father begot is most appropriately named His
Word, inasmuch as the most hidden Father is made known to worthy minds
by the same. [1534]
4. Now there is a very great difference between our mind and those
words of ours, by which we endeavor to set forth the said mind. We
indeed do not beget intelligible words, [1535] but we form them; and
in the forming of them the body is the underlying material. Between
mind and body, however, there is the greatest difference. But God,
when He begot the Word, begot that which He is Himself. Neither out of
nothing, nor of any material already made and founded did He then
beget; but He begot of Himself that which He is Himself. For we too
aim at this when we speak, (as we shall see) if we carefully consider
the inclination [1536] of our will; not when we lie, but when we speak
the truth. For to what else do we direct our efforts then, but to
bring our own very mind, if it can be done at all, in upon the mind of
the hearer, with the view of its being apprehended and thoroughly
discerned by him; so that we may indeed abide in our very selves, and
make no retreat from ourselves, and yet at the same time put forth a
sign of such a nature as that by it a knowledge of us [1537] may be
effected in another individual; that thus, so far as the faculty is
granted us, another mind may be, as it were, put forth by the mind,
whereby it may disclose itself? This we do, making the attempt [1538]
both by words, and by the simple sound of the voice, and by the
countenance, and by the gestures of the body,--by so many
contrivances, in sooth, desiring to make patent that which is within;
inasmuch as we are not able to put forth aught of this nature [in
itself completely]: and thus it is that the mind of the speaker cannot
become perfectly known; thus also it results that a place is open for
falsehoods. God the Father, on the other hand, who possessed both the
will and the power to declare Himself with the utmost truth to minds
designed to obtain knowledge of Him, with the purpose of thus
declaring Himself begot this [Word] which He Himself is who did beget;
which [Person] is likewise called His Power and Wisdom, [1539]
inasmuch as it is by Him that He has wrought all things, and in order
disposed them; of whom these words are for this reason spoken: "She
(Wisdom) reacheth from one end to another mightily, and sweetly doth
she order all things." [1540]
Footnotes
[1533] Wisd. vii. 27
[1534] Adopting the Benedictine version per ipsam innotescit dignis
animis secretissimus Pater. There is, however, great variety of
reading here. Some mss. give ignis for dignis = the most hidden fire
of the Father is made known to minds. Others give signis = the most
hidden Father is made known by signs to minds. Others have innotescit
animus secretissimus Patris, or innotescit signis secretissimus Pater
= the most hidden mind of the Father is made known by the same, or =
the most hidden Father is made known by the same in signs.
[1535] Sonantia verba = sounding, vocal words.
[1536] Appetitum
[1537] Nostra notitia = our knowledge.
[1538] Reading conantes et verbis, etc. Three good mss. give conante
fetu verbi = as the offspring of the word makes the attempt. The
Benedictine editors suggest conantes fetu verbi = making the attempt
by the offspring of the word.
[1539] 1 Cor. i. 24
[1540] Wisd. viii. 1
Chapter 4.--Of the Son of God as Neither Made by the Father Nor Less
Than the Father, and of His Incarnation.
5. Wherefore The Only-Begotten Son of God was neither made by the
Father; for, according to the word of an evangelist, "all things were
made by Him:" [1541] nor begotten instantaneously; [1542] since God,
who is eternally [1543] wise, has with Himself His eternal Wisdom: nor
unequal with the Father, that is to say, in anything less than He; for
an apostle also speaks in this wise, "Who, although He was constituted
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."
[1544] By this catholic faith, therefore, those are excluded, on the
one hand, who affirm that the Son is the same [Person] as the Father;
for [it is clear that] this Word could not possibly be with God, were
it not with God the Father, and [it is just as evident that] He who is
alone is equal to no one. And, on the other hand, those are equally
excluded who affirm that the Son is a creature, although not such an
one as the rest of the creatures are. For however great they declare
the creature to be, if it is a creature, it has been fashioned and
made. [1545] For the terms fashion and create [1546] mean one and the
same thing; although in the usage of the Latin tongue the phrase
create is employed at times instead of what would be the strictly
accurate word beget. But the Greek language makes a distinction. For
we call that creatura (creature) which they call ktisma or ktisis; and
when we desire to speak without ambiguity, we use not the word creare
(create), but the word condere (fashion, found). Consequently, if the
Son is a creature, however great that may be, He has been made. But we
believe in Him by whom all things (omnia) were made, not in Him by
whom the rest of things (cetera) were made. For here again we cannot
take this term all things in any other sense than as meaning
whatsoever things have been made.
6. But as "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," [1547] the
same Wisdom which was begotten of God condescended also to be created
among men. [1548] There is a reference to this in the word, "The Lord
created me in the beginning of His ways." [1549] For the beginning of
His ways is the Head of the Church, which is Christ [1550] endued with
human nature (homine indutus), by whom it was purposed that there
should be given to us a pattern of living, that is, a sure [1551] way
by which we might reach God. For by no other path was it possible for
us to return but by humility, who fell by pride, according as it was
said to our first creation, "Taste, and ye shall be as gods." [1552]
Of this humility, therefore, that is to say, of the way by which it
was needful for us to return, our Restorer Himself has deemed it meet
to exhibit an example in His own person, "who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
servant;" [1553] in order that He might be created Man in the
beginning of His ways, the Word by whom all things were made.
Wherefore, in so far as He is the Only-begotten, He has no brethren;
but in so far as He is the First-begotten, He has deemed it worthy of
Him to give the name of brethren to all those who, subsequently to and
by means of His pre-eminence, [1554] are born again into the grace of
God through the adoption of sons, according to the truth commended to
us by apostolic teaching. [1555] Thus, then, the Son according to
nature (naturalis filius) was born of the very substance of the
Father, the only one so born, subsisting as that which the Father is,
[1556] God of God, Light of Light. We, on the other hand, are not the
light by nature, but are enlightened by that Light, so that we may be
able to shine in wisdom. For, as one says, "that was the true Light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." [1557] Therefore
we add to the faith of things eternal likewise the temporal
dispensation [1558] of our Lord, which He deemed it worthy of Him to
bear for us and to minister in behalf of our salvation. For in so far
as He is the only-begotten Son of God, it cannot be said of Him that
He was and that He shall be, but only that He is; because, on the one
hand, that which was, now is not; and, on the other, that which shall
be, as yet is not. He, then, is unchangeable, independent of the
condition of times and variation. And it is my opinion that this is
the very consideration to which was due the circumstance that He
introduced to the apprehension of His servant Moses the kind of name
[which He then adopted]. For when he asked of Him by whom he should
say that he was sent, in the event of the people to whom he was being
sent despising him, he received his answer when He spake in this wise:
"I Am that I Am." Thereafter, too, He added this: "Thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, He that is (Qui est) has sent me unto
you." [1559]
7. From this, I trust, it is now made patent to spiritual minds that
there cannot possibly exist any nature contrary to God. For if He
is,--and this is a word which can be spoken with propriety only of God
(for that which truly is remains unchangeably; inasmuch as that which
is changed has been something which now it is not, and shall be
something which as yet it is not),--it follows that God has nothing
contrary to Himself. For if the question were put to us, What is
contrary to white? we would reply, black; if the question were, What
is contrary to hot? we would reply, cold; if the question were, What
is contrary to quick? we would reply, slow; and all similar
interrogations we would answer in like manner. When, however, it is
asked, What is contrary to that which is? the right reply to give is,
that which is not.
8. But whereas, in a temporal dispensation, as I have said, with a
view to our salvation and restoration, and with the goodness of God
acting therein, our changeable nature has been assumed by that
unchangeable Wisdom of God, we add the faith in temporal things which
have been done with salutary effect on our behalf, believing in that
Son of God Who Was Born Through the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. For
by the gift of God, that is, by the Holy Spirit, there was granted to
us so great humility on the part of so great a God, that He deemed it
worthy of Him to assume the entire nature of man (totum hominem) in
the womb of the Virgin, inhabiting the material body so that it
sustained no detriment (integrum), and leaving it [1560] without
detriment. This temporal dispensation is in many ways craftily
assailed by the heretics. But if any one shall have grasped the
catholic faith, so as to believe that the entire nature of man was
assumed by the Word of God, that is to say, body, soul, and spirit, he
has sufficient defense against those parties. For surely, since that
assumption was effected in behalf of our salvation, one must be on his
guard lest, as he believes that there is something belonging to our
nature which sustains no relation to that assumption, this something
may fail also to sustain any relation to the salvation. [1561] And
seeing that, with the exception of the form of the members, which has
been imparted to the varieties of living objects with differences
adapted to their different kinds, man is in nothing separated from the
cattle but in [the possession of] a rational spirit (rationali
spiritu), which is also named mind (mens), how is that faith sound,
according to which the belief is maintained, that the Wisdom of God
assumed that part of us which we hold in common with the cattle, while
He did not assume that which is brightly illumined by the light of
wisdom, and which is man's peculiar gift?
9. Moreover, those parties [1562] also are to be abhorred who deny
that our Lord Jesus Christ had in Mary a mother upon earth; while that
dispensation has honored both sexes, at once the male and the female,
and has made it plain that not only that sex which He assumed pertains
to God's care, but also that sex by which He did assume this other, in
that He bore [the nature of] the man (virum gerendo), [and] in that He
was born of the woman. Neither is there anything to compel us to a
denial of the mother of the Lord, in the circumstance that this word
was spoken by Him: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is
not yet come." [1563] But He rather admonishesus to understand that,
in respect of His being God, there was no mother for Him, the part of
whose personal majesty (cujus majestatis personam) He was preparing to
show forth in the turning of water into wine. But as regards His being
crucified, He was crucified in respect of his being man; and that was
the hour which had not come as yet, at the time when this word was
spoken, "What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come;" that
is, the hour at which I shall recognize thee. For at that period, when
He was crucified as man, He recognized His human mother (hominem
matrem), and committed her most humanely (humanissime) to the care of
the best beloved disciple. [1564] Nor, again, should we be moved by
the fact that, when the presence of His mother and His brethren was
announced to Him, He replied, "Who is my mother, or who my brethren?"
etc. [1565] But rather let it teach us, that when parents hinder our
ministry wherein we minister the word of God to our brethren, they
ought not to be recognized by us. For if, on the ground of His having
said, "Who is my mother?" every one should conclude that He had no
mother on earth, then each should as matter of course be also
compelled to deny that the apostles had fathers on earth; since He
gave them an injunction in these terms: "Call no man your father upon
the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven." [1566]
10. Neither should the thought of the woman's womb impair this faith
in us, to the effect that there should appear to be any necessity for
rejecting such a generation of our Lord for the mere reason that
worthless men consider it unworthy (sordidi sordidam putant). For most
true are these sayings of an apostle, both that "the foolishness of
God is wiser than men," [1567] and that "to the pure all things are
pure." [1568] Those, [1569] therefore, who entertain this opinion
ought to ponder the fact that the rays of this sun, which indeed they
do not praise as a creature of God, but adore as God, are diffused all
the world over, through the noisomenesses of sewers and every kind of
horrible thing, and that they operate in these according to their
nature, and yet never become debased by any defilement thence
contracted, albeit that the visible light is by nature in closer
conjunction with visible pollutions. How much less, therefore, could
the Word of God, who is neither corporeal nor visible, sustain
defilement from the female body, wherein He assumed human flesh
together with soul and spirit, through the incoming of which the
majesty of the Word dwells in a less immediate conjunction with the
frailty of a human body! [1570] Hence it is manifest that the Word of
God could in no way have been defiled by a human body, by which even
the human soul is not defiled. For not when it rules the body and
quickens it, but only when it lusts after the mortal good things
thereof, is the soul defiled by the body. But if these persons were to
desire to avoid the defilements of the soul, they would dread rather
these falsehoods and profanities.
Footnotes
[1541] John i. 3
[1542] According to the literal meaning of the phrase ex tempore. It
may, however, here be used as = under conditions of time, or in time.
[1543] Reading sempiterne: for which sempiternus = the eternal wise
God, is also given.
[1544] Phil. ii. 6
[1545] Condita et facta est
[1546] Condere and creare.
[1547] John i. 14
[1548] Adopting in hominibus creavi. One important ms. gives in
omnibus = amongst all.
[1549] Prov. viii. 22, with creavit me instead of the possessed me of
the English version.
[1550] Various editions give principium et caput Ecclesiæ est Christus
= the beginning of His ways and the Head of the Church is Christ.
[1551] For via certa others give via recta = a right way.
[1552] Gen. iii. 5
[1553] Phil. ii. 6, 7
[1554] Per ejus primatum = by means of His standing as the Firstborn.
We follow the Benedictine reading, qui post ejus et per ejus primatum
in Dei gratiam renascuntur. But there is another, although less
authoritative, version, viz. qui post ejus primitias in Dei gratia
nascimur = all of us who, subsequently to His first-fruits, are born
in the grace of God.
[1555] Luke viii. 21; Rom. viii. 15-17; Gal. iv. 5; Eph. i. 5; Heb.
ii. 11
[1556] Id existens quod Pater est, etc. Another version is, idem
existens quod Pater Deus = subsisting as the same that God the Father
is.
[1557] John i. 9
[1558] The term dispensatio occurs very frequently as the equivalent
of the Greek oikonomia = economy, designating the Incarnation.
[1559] Ex. iii. 14
[1560] Deserens. With less point, deferens has been suggested =
bearing it, or delivering it.
[1561] Or it may = he should fail to have any relation to the
salvation.
[1562] Referring to the Manicheans.
[1563] John ii. 4
[1564] John xix. 26, 27
[1565] Matt. xii. 48
[1566] Matt. xxiii. 9
[1567] 1 Cor. i. 25
[1568] Tit. i. 15
[1569] In reference to the Manicheans.
[1570] The Benedictine text gives, quibus intervenientibus habitat
majestas Verbi ab humani corporis fragilitate secretius. Another
well-supported version is, ad humani corporis fragilitatem, etc. =
more retired in relation to the frailty of the human body.
Chapter 5.--Of Christ's Passion, Burial, and Resurrection.
11. But little [comparatively] was the humiliation (humilitas) of our
Lord on our behalf in His being born: it was also added that He deemed
it meet to die in behalf of mortal men. For "He humbled Himself, being
made subject even unto death, yea, the death of the cross:" [1571]
lest any one of us, even were he able to have no fear of death [in
general], should yet shudder at some particular sort of death which
men reckon most shameful. Therefore do we believe in Him Who Under
Pontius Pilate Was Crucified and Buried. For it was requisite that the
name of the judge should be added, with a view to the cognizance of
the times. Moreover, when that burial is made an object of belief,
there enters also the recollection of the new tomb, [1572] which was
meant to present a testimony to Him in His destiny to rise again to
newness of life, even as the Virgin's womb did the same to Him in His
appointment to be born. For just as in that sepulchre no other dead
person was buried, [1573] whether before or after Him; so neither in
that womb, whether before or after, was anything mortal conceived.
12. We believe also, that On the Third Day He Rose Again from The
Dead, the first-begotten for brethren destined to come after Him, whom
He has called into the adoption of the sons of God, [1574] whom [also]
He has deemed it meet to make His own joint-partners and joint-heirs.
[1575]
Footnotes
[1571] Phil. ii. 8
[1572] For monumenti some editions give testamenti = testament.
[1573] John xix. 41
[1574] Eph. i. 5
[1575] Rom. viii. 17
Chapter 6.--Of Christ's Ascension into Heaven.
13. We believe that He Ascended into Heaven, which place of
blessedness He has likewise promised unto us, saying, "They shall be
as the angels in the heavens," [1576] in that city which is the mother
of us all, [1577] the Jerusalem eternal in the heavens. But it is wont
to give offense to certain parties, either impious Gentiles or
heretics, that we should believe in the assumption of an earthly body
into heaven. The Gentiles, however, for the most part, set themselves
diligently to ply us with the arguments of the philosophers, to the
effect of affirming that there cannot possibly be anything earthly in
heaven. For they know not our Scriptures, neither do they understand
how it has been said, "It is sown an animal body, it is raised a
spiritual body." [1578] For thus it has not been expressed, as if body
were turned into spirit and became spirit; inasmuch as at present,
too, our body, which is called animal (animale), has not been turned
into soul and become soul (anima). But by a spiritual body is meant
one which has been made subject to spirit in such wise [1579] that it
is adapted to a heavenly habitation, all frailty and every earthly
blemish having been changed and converted into heavenly purity and
stability. This is the change concerning which the apostle likewise
speaks thus: "We shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed."
[1580] And that this change is made not unto the worse, but unto the
better, the same [apostle] teaches, when he says, "And we shall be
changed." [1581] But the question as to where and in what manner the
Lord's body is in heaven, is one which it would be altogether
over-curious and superfluous to prosecute. Only we must believe that
it is in heaven. For it pertains not to our frailty to investigate the
secret things of heaven, but it does pertain to our faith to hold
elevated and honorable sentiments on the subject of the dignity of the
Lord's body.
Footnotes
[1576] Matt. xxii. 30
[1577] Gal. iv. 26
[1578] 1 Cor. xv. 44
[1579] Adopting the Benedictine reading, quod ita spiritui subditum
est. But several mss. give quia ita coaptandum est = it is understood
to be a spiritual body, in that it is to be so adapted as to suit a
heavenly habitation.
[1580] 1 Cor. xv. 51, according to the Vulgate's transposition of the
negative.
[1581] 1 Cor. xv. 52
Chapter 7.--Of Christ's Session at the Father's Right Hand.
14. We believe also that He Sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father.
This, however, is not to lead us to suppose that God the Father is, as
it were, circumscribed by a human form, so that, when we think of Him,
a right side or a left should suggest itself to the mind. Nor, again,
when it is thus said in express terms that the Father sitteth, are we
to fancy that this is done with bended knees; lest we should fall into
that profanity, in [dealing with] which an apostle execrates those who
"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of
corruptible man." [1582] For it is unlawful for a Christian to set up
any such image for God in a temple; much more nefarious is it,
[therefore], to set it up in the heart, in which truly is the temple
of God, provided it be purged of earthly lust and error. This
expression, "at the right hand," therefore, we must understand to
signify a position in supremest blessedness, where righteousness and
peace and joy are; just as the kids are set on the left hand, [1583]
that is to say, in misery, by reason of unrighteousness, labors, and
torments. [1584] And in accordance with this, when it is said that God
"sitteth," the expression indicates not a posture of the members, but
a judicial power, which that Majesty never fails to possess, as He is
always awarding deserts as men deserve them (digna dignis tribuendo);
although at the last judgment the unquestionable brightness of the
only-begotten Son of God, the Judge of the living and the dead, is
destined yet to be [1585] a thing much more manifest among men.
Footnotes
[1582] Rom. i. 23
[1583] Matt. xxv. 33
[1584] Reading propter iniquitates, labores atque cruciatus. Several
mss. give propter iniquitatis labores, etc. = by reason of the labors
and torments of unrighteousness.
[1585] Reading futura sit; for which fulsura sit also occurs = is
destined to shine much more manifestly, etc.
Chapter 8.--Of Christ's Coming to Judgment.
15. We believe also, that at the most seasonable time He Will Come
from Thence, and Will Judge the Quick and the Dead: whether by these
terms are signified the righteous and sinners, or whether it be the
case that those persons are here called the quick, whom at that period
He shall find, previous to [their] death, [1586] upon the earth, while
the dead denote those who shall rise again at His advent. This
temporal dispensation not only is, as holds good of that generation
which respects His being God, but also hath been and shall be. For our
Lord hath been upon the earth, and at present He is in heaven, and
[hereafter] He shall be in His brightness as the Judge of the quick
and the dead. For He shall yet come, even so as He has ascended,
according to the authority which is contained in the Acts of the
Apostles. [1587] It is in accordance with this temporal dispensation,
therefore, that He speaks in the Apocalypse, where it is written in
this wise: "These things saith He, who is, and who was, and who is to
come." [1588]
Footnotes
[1586] The text gives simply ante mortem. Some editions insert nostram
= previous to our death.
[1587] Acts i. 11
[1588] Rev. i. 8
Chapter 9.--Of the Holy Spirit and the Mystery of the Trinity.
16. The divine generation, therefore, of our Lord, and his human
dispensation, having both been thus systematically disposed and
commended to faith, [1589] there is added to our Confession, with a
view to the perfecting of the faith which we have regarding God, [the
doctrine of] The Holy Spirit, who is not of a nature inferior [1590]
to the Father and the Son, but, so to say, consubstantial and
co-eternal: for this Trinity is one God, not to the effect that the
Father is the same [Person] as the Son and the Holy Spirit, but to the
effect that the Father is the Father, and the Son is the Son, and the
Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit; and this Trinity is one God, according
as it is written, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God."
[1591] At the same time, if we be interrogated on the subject of each
separately, and if the question be put to us, "Is the Father God?" we
shall reply, "He is God." If it be asked whether the Son is God, we
shall answer to the same effect. Nor, if this kind of inquiry be
addressed to us with respect to the Holy Spirit, ought we to affirm in
reply that He is anything else than God; being earnestly on our guard,
[however], against an acceptance of this merely in the sense in which
it is applied to men, when it is said, "Ye are gods." [1592] For of
all those who have been made and fashioned of the Father, through the
Son, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, none are gods according to
nature. For it is this same Trinity that is signified when an apostle
says, "For of Him, and in Him, and through Him, are all things."
[1593] Consequently, although, when we are interrogated on the subject
of each [of these Persons] severally, we reply that that particular
one regarding whom the question is asked, whether it be the Father, or
the Son, or the Holy Spirit, is God, no one, notwithstanding this,
should suppose that three Gods are worshipped by us.
17. Neither is it strange that these things are said in reference to
an ineffable Nature, when even in those objects which we discern with
the bodily eyes, and judge of by the bodily sense, something similar
holds good. For take the instance of an interrogation on the subject
of a fountain, and consider how we are unable then to affirm that the
said fountain is itself the river; and how, when we are asked about
the river, we are as little able to call it the fountain; and, again,
how we are equally unable to designate the draught, which comes of the
fountain or the river, either river or fountain. Nevertheless, in the
case of this trinity we use the name water [for the whole]; and when
the question is put regarding each of these separately, we reply in
each several instance that the thing is water. For if I inquire
whether it is water in the fountain, the reply is given that it is
water; and if we ask whether it is water in the river, no different
response is returned; and in the case of the said draught, no other
answer can possibly be made: and yet, for all this, we do not speak of
these things as three waters, but as one water. At the same time, of
course, care must be taken that no one should conceive of the
ineffable substance of that Majesty merely as he might think of this
visible and material [1594] fountain, or river, or draught. For in the
case of these latter that water which is at present in the fountain
goes forth into the river, and does not abide in itself; and when it
passes from the river or from the fountain into the draught, it does
not continue permanently there where it is taken from. Therefore it is
possible here that the same water may be in view at one time under the
appellation of the fountain and at another under that of the river,
and at a third under that of the draught. But in the case of that
Trinity, we have affirmed it to be impossible that the Father should
be sometime the Son, and sometime the Holy Spirit: just as, in a tree,
the root is nothing else than the root, and the trunk (robur) is
nothing else than the trunk, and we cannot call the branches anything
else than branches; for, what is called the root cannot be called
trunk and branches; and the wood which belongs to the root cannot by
any sort of transference be now in the root, and again in the trunk,
and yet again in the branches, but only in the root; since this rule
of designation stands fast, so that the root is wood, and the trunk is
wood, and the branches are wood, while nevertheless it is not three
woods that are thus spoken of, but only one. Or, if these objects have
some sort of dissimilarity, so that on account of their difference in
strength they may be spoken of, without any absurdity, as three woods;
at least all parties admit the force of the former example,--namely,
that if three cups be filled out of one fountain, they may certainly
be called three cups, but cannot be spoken of as three waters, but
only as one all together. Yet, at the same time, when asked concerning
the several cups, one by one, we may answer that in each of them by
itself there is water; although in this case no such transference
takes place as we were speaking of as occurring from the fountain into
the river. But these examples in things material (corporalia exempla)
have been adduced not in virtue of their likeness to that divine
Nature, but in reference to the oneness which subsists even in things
visible, so that it may be understood to be quite a possibility for
three objects of some sort, not only severally, but also all together,
to obtain one single name; and that in this way no one may wonder and
think it absurd that we should call the Father God, the Son God, the
Holy Spirit God, and that nevertheless we should say that there are
not three Gods in that Trinity, but one God and one substance. [1595]
18. And, indeed, on this subject of the Father and the Son, learned
and spiritual [1596] men have conducted discussions in many books, in
which, so far as men could do with men, they have endeavored to
introduce an intelligible account as to how the Father was not one
personally with the Son, and yet the two were one substantially;
[1597] and as to what the Father was individually (proprie), and what
the Son: to wit, that the former was the Begetter, the latter the
Begotten; the former not of the Son, the latter of the Father: the
former the Beginning of the latter, whence also He is called the Head
of Christ, [1598] although Christ likewise is the Beginning, [1599]
but not of the Father; the latter, moreover, the Image [1600] of the
former, although in no respect dissimilar, and although absolutely and
without difference equal (omnino et indifferenter æqualis). These
questions are handled with greater breadth by those who, in less
narrow limits than ours are at present, seek to set forth the
profession of the Christian faith in its totality. Accordingly, in so
far as He is the Son, of the Father received He it that He is, while
that other [the Father] received not this of the Son; and in so far as
He, in unutterable mercy, in a temporal dispensation took upon Himself
the [nature of] man (hominem),--to wit, the changeable creature that
was thereby to be changed into something better,--many statements
concerning Him are discovered in the Scriptures, which are so
expressed as to have given occasion to error in the impious intellects
of heretics, with whom the desire to teach takes precedence of that to
understand, so that they have supposed Him to be neither equal with
the Father nor of the same substance. Such statements [are meant] as
the following: "For the Father is greater than I;" [1601] and, "The
head of the woman is the man, the Head of the man is Christ, and the
Head of Christ is God;" [1602] and, "Then shall He Himself be subject
unto Him that put all things under Him;" [1603] and, "I go to my
Father and your Father, my God and your God," [1604] together with
some others of like tenor. Now all these have had a place given them,
[certainly] not with the object of signifying an inequality of nature
and substance; for to take them so would be to falsify a different
class of statements, such as, "I and my Father are one" (unum); [1605]
and, "He that hath seen me hath seen my Father also;" [1606] and, "The
Word was God," [1607] for He was not made, inasmuch as "all things
were made by Him;" [1608] and, "He thought it not robbery to be equal
with God:" [1609] together with all the other passages of a similar
order. But these statements have had a place given them, partly with a
view to that administration of His assumption of human nature
(administrationem suscepti hominis), in accordance with which it is
said that "He emptied Himself:" not that that Wisdom was changed,
since it is absolutely unchangeable; but that it was His will to make
Himself known in such humble fashion to men. Partly then, I repeat, it
is with a view to this administration that those things have been thus
written which the heretics make the ground of their false allegations;
and partly it was with a view to the consideration that the Son owes
to the Father that which He is, [1610] --thereby also certainly owing
this in particular to the Father, to wit, that He is equal to the same
Father, or that He is His Peer (eidem Patri æqualis aut par est),
whereas the Father owes whatsoever He is to no one.
19. With respect to the Holy Spirit, however, there has not been as
yet, on the part of learned and distinguished investigators of the
Scriptures, a discussion of the subject full enough or careful enough
to make it possible for us to obtain an intelligent conception of what
also constitutes His special individuality (proprium): in virtue of
which special individuality it comes to be the case that we cannot
call Him either the Son or the Father, but only the Holy Spirit;
excepting that they predicate Him to be the Gift of God, so that we
may believe God not to give a gift inferior to Himself. At the same
time they hold by this position, namely, to predicate the Holy Spirit
neither as begotten, like the Son, of the Father; for Christ is the
only one [so begotten]: nor as [begotten] of the Son, like a Grandson
of the Supreme Father: while they do not affirm Him to owe that which
He is to no one, but [admit Him to owe it] to the Father, of whom are
all things; lest we should establish two Beginnings without beginning
(ne duo constituamus principia isne principio), which would be an
assertion at once most false and most absurd, and one proper not to
the catholic faith, but to the error of certain heretics. [1611] Some,
however, have gone so far as to believe that the communion of the
Father and the Son, and (so to speak) their Godhead (deitatem), which
the Greeks designate theotes, is the Holy Spirit; so that, inasmuch as
the Father is God and the Son God, the Godhead itself, in which they
are united with each other,--to wit, the former by begetting the Son,
and the latter by cleaving to the Father, [1612] --should [thereby] be
constituted equal with Him by whom He is begotten. This Godhead, then,
which they wish to be understood likewise as the love and charity
subsisting between these two [Persons], the one toward the other, they
affirm to have received the name of the Holy Spirit. And this opinion
of theirs they support by many proofs drawn from the Scriptures; among
which we might instance either the passage which says, "For the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who has been
given unto us," [1613] or many other proofs texts of a similar tenor:
while they ground their position also upon the express fact that it is
through the Holy Spirit that we are reconciled unto God; whence also,
when He is called the Gift of God, they will have it that sufficient
indication is offered of the love of God and the Holy Spirit being
identical. For we are not reconciled unto Him except through that love
in virtue of which we are also called sons: [1614] as we are no more
"under fear, like servants," [1615] because "love, when it is made
perfect, casteth out fear;" [1616] and [as] "we have received the
spirit of liberty, wherein we cry, Abba, Father." [1617] And inasmuch
as, being reconciled and called back into friendship through love, we
shall be able to become acquainted with all the secret things of God,
for this reason it is said of the Holy Spirit that "He shall lead you
into all truth." [1618] For the same reason also, that confidence in
preaching the truth, with which the apostles were filled at His
advent, [1619] is rightly ascribed to love; because diffidence also is
assigned to fear, which the perfecting of love excludes. Thus,
likewise, the same is called the Gift of God, [1620] because no one
enjoys that which he knows, unless he also love it. To enjoy the
Wisdom of God, however, implies nothing else than to cleave to the
same in love (ei dilectione cohærere). Neither does any one abide in
that which he apprehends, but by love; and accordingly the Holy Spirit
is called the Spirit of sanctity (Spiritus Sanctus), inasmuch as all
things that are sanctioned (sanciuntur) [1621] are sanctioned with a
view to their permanence, and there is no doubt that the term sanctity
(sanctitatem) is derived from sanction (a sanciendo). Above all,
however, that testimony is employed by the upholders of this opinion,
where it is thus written, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit;" [1622] "for God is a
Spirit." [1623] For here He speaks of our regeneration, [1624] which
is not, according to Adam, of the flesh, but, according to Christ, of
the Holy Spirit. Wherefore, if in this passage mention is made of the
Holy Spirit, when it is said, "For God is a Spirit," they maintain
that we must take note that it is not said, "for the Spirit is God,"
[1625] but, "for God is a Spirit;" so that the very Godhead of the
Father and the Son is in this passage called God, and that is the Holy
Spirit. To this is added another testimony which the Apostle John
offers, when he says, "For God is love." [1626] For here, in like
manner, what he says is not, "Love is God," [1627] but, "God is love;"
so that the very Godhead is taken to be love. And with respect to the
circumstance that, in that enumeration of mutually connected objects
which is given when it is said, "All things are yours, and ye are
Christ's, and Christ is God's," [1628] as also, "The head of the woman
is the man, the Head of the man is Christ, and the Head of Christ is
God," [1629] there is no mention of the Holy Spirit; this they affirm
to be but an application of the principle that, in general, the
connection itself is not wont to be enumerated among the things which
are connected with each other. Whence, also, those who read with
closer attention appear to recognize the express Trinity likewise in
that passage in which it is said, "For of Him, and through Him, and in
Him, are all things." [1630] "Of Him," as if it meant, of that One who
owes it to no one that He is: "through Him," as if the idea were,
through a Mediator; "in Him," as if it were, in that One who holds
together, that is, unites by connecting.
20. Those parties oppose this opinion who think that the said
communion, which we call either Godhead, or Love, or Charity, is not a
substance. Moreover, they require the Holy Spirit to be set forth to
them according to substance; neither do they take it to have been
otherwise impossible for the expression "God is Love" to have been
used, unless love were a substance. In this, indeed, they are
influenced by the wont of things of a bodily nature. For if two bodies
are connected with each other in such wise as to be placed in
juxtaposition one with the other, the connection itself is not a body:
inasmuch as when these bodies which had been connected are separated,
no such connection certainly is found [any more]; while, at the same
time, it is not understood to have departed, as it were, and migrated,
as is the case with those bodies themselves. But men like these should
make their heart pure, so far as they can, in order that they may have
power to see that in the substance of God there is not anything of
such a nature as would imply that therein substance is one thing, and
that which is accident to substance (aliud quod accidat subsantioe)
another thing, and not substance; whereas whatsoever can be taken to
be therein is substance. These things, however, can easily be spoken
and believed; but seen, so as to reveal how they are in themselves,
they absolutely cannot be, except by the pure heart. For which reason,
whether the opinion in question be true, or something else be the
case, the faith ought to be maintained unshaken, so that we should
call the Father God, the Son God, the Holy Spirit God, and yet not
affirm three Gods, but hold the said Trinity to be one God; and again,
not affirm these [Persons] to be different in nature, but hold them to
be of the same substance; and further uphold it, not as if the Father
were sometime the Son, and sometime the Holy Spirit, but in such wise
that the Father is always the Father, and the Son always the Son, and
the Holy Spirit always the Holy Spirit. Neither should we make any
affirmation on the subject of things unseen rashly, as if we had
knowledge, but [only modestly] as believing. For these things cannot
be seen except by the heart made pure; and [even] he who in this life
sees them "in part," as it has been said, and "in an enigma," [1631]
cannot secure it that the person to whom he speaks shall also see
them, if he is hampered by impurities of heart. "Blessed," however,
"are they of a pure heart, for they shall see God." [1632] This is the
faith on the subject of God our Maker and Renewer.
21. But inasmuch as love is enjoined upon us, not only toward God,
when it was said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;" [1633] but also
toward our neighbor, for "thou shalt love," saith He, "thy neighbor as
thyself;" [1634] and inasmuch, moreover, as the faith in question is
less fruitful, if it does not comprehend a congregation and society of
men, wherein brotherly charity may operate;--
Footnotes
[1589] Instead of fideique commendata et divina generatione, etc.,
another, but weakly supported, version is, fide atque commendata
divina, etc., which makes the sense = The faith, therefore, having
been systematically disposed, and our Lord's divine generation and
human dispensation having been commended to the understanding, etc.
[1590] Non minore natura quam Pater. The Benedictine editors suggest
minor for minore = not inferior in nature, etc.
[1591] Deut. vi. 4
[1592] Ps. lxxxii. 6
[1593] Rom. xi. 36
[1594] Corporeum = corporeal.
[1595] Many mss., however, insert colamus after Deum in the closing
sentence, sed unum Deum unamque substantiam. The sense then will be =
and that nevertheless we should worship in that Trinity not three
Gods, but one God and one substance.
[1596] Spiritales, for which religiosi = religious, is also sometimes
given.
[1597] Non unus esset Pater et Filius, sed unum essent = how the
Father and the Son were not one in person, but were one in essence.
[1598] 1 Cor. xi. 3
[1599] In reference probably to John viii. 25, where the Vulgate gives
principium qui et loquor vobis as the literal equivalent for the Greek
¢en archen ho, ti kai lalo huein
[1600] Col. i. 15
[1601] John xiv. 28
[1602] 1 Cor. xi. 3
[1603] 1 Cor. xv. 28
[1604] John xx. 17
[1605] John x. 30
[1606] John xiv. 9
[1607] John i. 1
[1608] John i. 3
[1609] Phil. ii. 9. [See R.V.]
[1610] Or it may be = that the Son owes it to the Father that He is.
[1611] In reference, again, to Manichean errorists.
[1612] Patri cohoerendo = by close connection with the Father.
[1613] Rom. v. 5
[1614] 1 John iii. 1. The word Dei = of God, is sometimes added here.
[1615] Rom. viii. 15
[1616] 1 John iv. 18
[1617] Rom. viii. 15
[1618] John xvi. 13
[1619] Acts ii. 4
[1620] Eph. iii. 7, 8
[1621] Instead of sanciuntur, which is the reading of the mss., some
editions give sanctificantur = all things that are sanctified are
sanctioned, etc.
[1622] John iii. 6
[1623] John iv. 24
[1624] Reading, with the mss. and the Benedictine editors, Hic enim
regenerationem nostram dicit. Some editions give Hoc for Hic, and
dicunt for dicit = for they say that this expresses our regeneration.
[1625] Quoniam Spiritus Deus est. But various editions and mss. give
Dei for Deus = for the Spirit is of God.
[1626] 1 John iv. 16
[1627] Here again, instead of dilectio Deus est, we also find dilectio
Dei est = love is of God.
[1628] 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23
[1629] 1 Cor. xi. 3
[1630] Rom. xi. 36
[1631] 1 Cor. xiii. 12
[1632] Matt. v. 8
[1633] Deut. vi. 5
[1634] Luke x. 27
Chapter 10.--Of the Catholic Church, the Remission of Sins, and the
Resurrection of the Flesh.
--Inasmuch, I repeat, as this is the case, we believe also in The Holy
Church, [intending thereby] assuredly the Catholic. For both heretics
and schismatics style their congregations churches. But heretics, in
holding false opinions regarding God, do injury to the faith itself;
while schismatics, on the other hand, in wicked separations break off
from brotherly charity, although they may believe just what we
believe. Wherefore neither do the heretics belong to the Church
catholic, which loves God; nor do the schismatics form a part of the
same, inasmuch as it loves the neighbor, and consequently readily
forgives the neighbor's sins, because it prays that forgiveness may be
extended to itself by Him who has reconciled us to Himself, doing away
with all past things, and calling us to a new life. And until we reach
the perfection of this new life, we cannot be without sins.
Nevertheless it is a matter of consequence of what sort those sins may
be.
22. Neither ought we only to treat of the difference between sins, but
we ought most thoroughly to believe that those things in which we sin
are in no way forgiven us, if we show ourselves severely unyielding in
the matter of forgiving the sins of others. [1635] Thus, then, we
believe also in The Remission of Sins.
23. And inasmuch as there are three things of which man
consists,--namely, spirit, soul, and body,--which again are spoken of
as two, because frequently the soul is named along with the spirit;
for a certain rational portion of the same, of which beasts are
devoid, is called spirit: the principal part in us is the spirit;
next, the life whereby we are united with the body is called the soul;
finally, the body itself, as it is visible, is the last part in us.
This "whole creation" (creatura), however, "groaneth and travaileth
until now." [1636] Nevertheless, He has given it the first-fruits of
the Spirit, in that it has believed God, and is now of a good will.
[1637] This spirit is also called the mind, regarding which an apostle
speaks thus: "With the mind I serve the law of God." [1638] Which
apostle likewise expresses himself thus in another passage: "For God
is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit." [1639] Moreover, the soul,
when as yet it lusts after carnal good things, is called the flesh.
For a certain part thereof resists [1640] the Spirit, not in virtue of
nature, but in virtue of the custom of sins; whence it is said, "With
the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
And this custom has been turned into a nature, according to mortal
generation, by the sin of the first man. Consequently it is also
written in this wise, "And we were sometime by nature the children of
wrath," [1641] that is, of vengeance, through which it has come to
pass that we serve the law of sin. The nature of the soul, however, is
perfect when it is made subject to its own spirit, and when it follows
that spirit as the same follows God. Therefore "the animal man [1642]
receiveth not the things which are of the Spirit of God." [1643] But
the soul is not so speedily subdued to the spirit unto good action, as
is the spirit to God unto true faith and goodwill; but sometimes its
impetus, whereby it moves downwards into things carnal and temporal,
is more tardily bridled. But inasmuch as this same soul is also made
pure, and receives the stability of its own nature, under the
dominance of the spirit, which is the head for it, which head of the
said soul has again its own head in Christ, we ought not to despair of
the restoration of the body also to its own proper nature. But this
certainly will not be effected so speedily as is the case with the
soul; just as the soul too, is not restored so speedily as the spirit.
Yet it will take place in the appropriate season, at the last trump,
when "the dead shall rise uncorrupted, and we shall be changed."
[1644] And accordingly we believe also in The Resurrection of the
Flesh, to wit, not merely that that soul, which at present by reason
of carnal affections is called the flesh, is restored; but that it
shall be so likewise with this visible flesh, which is the flesh
according to nature, the name of which has been received by the soul,
not in virtue of nature, but in reference to carnal affections: this
visible flesh, then, I say, which is the flesh properly so called,
must without doubt be believed to be destined to rise again. For the
Apostle Paul appears to point to this, as it were, with his finger,
when he says, "This corruptible must put on incorruption." [1645] For
when he says this, he, as it were, directs his finger toward it. Now
it is that which is visible that admits of being pointed out with the
finger; since the soul might also have been called corruptible, for it
is itself corrupted by vices of manners. And when it is read, "and
this mortal [must] put on immortality," the same visible flesh is
signified, inasmuch as at it ever and anon the finger is thus as it
were pointed. For the soul also may thus in like manner be called
mortal, even as it is designated corruptible in reference to vices of
manners. For assuredly it is "the death of the soul to apostatize from
God;" [1646] which is its first sin in Paradise, as it is contained in
the sacred writings.
24. Rise again, therefore, the body will, according to the Christian
faith, which is incapable of deceiving. And if this appears incredible
to any one, [it is because] he looks simply to what the flesh is at
present, while he fails to consider of what nature it shall be
hereafter. For at that time of angelic change it will no more be flesh
and blood, but only body. [1647] For when the apostle speaks of the
flesh, he says, "There is one flesh of cattle, another of birds,
another of fishes, another of creeping things: there are also both
celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies." [1648] Now what he has said
here is not "celestial flesh," but "both celestial bodies and
terrestrial bodies." For all flesh is also body; but every body is not
also flesh. In the first instance, [for example, this holds good] in
the case of those terrestrial bodies, inasmuch as wood is body, but
not flesh. In the case of man, again, or in that of cattle, we have
both body and flesh. In the case of celestial bodies, on the other
hand, there is no flesh, but only those simple and lucent bodies which
the apostle designates spiritual, while some call them ethereal. And
consequently, when he says, "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the
kingdom of God," [1649] that does not contradict the resurrection of
the flesh; but the sentence predicates what will be the nature of that
hereafter which at present is flesh and blood. And if any one refuses
to believe that the flesh is capable of being changed into the sort of
nature thus indicated, he must be led on, step by step, to this faith.
For if you require of him whether earth is capable of being changed
into water, the nearness of the thing will make it not seem incredible
to him. Again, if you inquire whether water is capable of being
changed into air, he replies that this also is not absurd, for the
elements are near each other. And if, on the subject of the air, it is
asked whether that can be changed into an ethereal, that is, a
celestial body, the simple fact of the nearness at once convinces him
of the possibility of the thing. But if, then, he concedes that
through such gradations it is quite a possible thing that earth should
be changed into an ethereal body, why does he refuse to believe, when
that will of God, too, enters in addition, whereby a human body had
power to walk upon the waters, that the same change is capable of
being effected with the utmost rapidity, precisely in accordance with
the saying, "in the twinkling of an eye," [1650] and without any such
gradations, even as, according to common wont, smoke is changed into
flame with marvellous quickness? For our flesh assuredly is of earth.
But philosophers, on the ground of whose arguments opposition is for
the most part offered to the resurrection of the flesh, so far as in
these they assert that no terrene body can possibly exist in heaven,
yet concede that any kind of body may be converted and changed into
every [other] sort of body. And when this resurrection of the body has
taken place, being set free then from the condition of time, we shall
fully enjoy Eternal Life in ineffable love and steadfastness, without
corruption. [1651] For "then shall be brought to pass the saying which
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Where is, O death, thy
sting? Where is, O death, thy contention?" [1652]
25. This is the faith which in few words is given in the Creed to
Christian novices, to be held by them. And these few words are known
to the faithful, to the end that in believing they may be made subject
to God; that being made subject, they may rightly live; that in
rightly living, they may make the heart pure; that with the heart made
pure, they may understand that which they believe.
Footnotes
[1635] Matt. vi. 15
[1636] Rom. viii. 22
[1637] Reading spiritus. Taking spiritus, the sense might be =
Nevertheless, the spirit hath imparted the first-fruits, in that it
has believed God, and is now of a good will.
[1638] Rom. vii. 25
[1639] Rom. i. 9
[1640] Instead of caro nominatur. Pars enim ejus quoedam resistit,
etc., some good mss. read caro nominatur et resistit, etc. = is called
the flesh, and resists, etc.
[1641] Eph. ii. 3
[1642] Animalis homo, literally = "the" soulish man.
[1643] 1 Cor. ii. 14
[1644] 1 Cor. xv. 52
[1645] 1 Cor. xv. 53
[1646] The text gives, Mors quippe animæ est apostatare a Deo. The
reference, perhaps, is to Ecclus. x. 12, where the Vulgate has,
initium superbioe hominis, apostatare a Deo.
[1647] Augustin refers to this statement in the passage quoted from
the Retractations in the Introductory Notice above.
[1648] 1 Cor. xv. 39, 40
[1649] 1 Cor. xv. 50
[1650] 1 Cor. xv. 52
[1651] Instead of a temporis conditione liberati, æterna vita
ineffabili caritate atque stabilitate sine corruptione per fruemur,
several mss. read, corpus a temporis conditione liberatum æterna vita
ineffabili caritate per fruetur = the body, set free from the
condition of time, shall fully enjoy eternal life in ineffable love.
[1652] 1 Cor. xv. 54, 55
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