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ST. AUGUSTINE' TEACHINGS AND PHILOSOPHY
Augustine refuting a heretic
St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) is the most important of the Latin Church Fathers. His work formed the foundation for much of what would become Western Christendom. He was born Tagaste in North Africa and became bishop of the city of Hippo. His writings include Confessions, the first autobiography in the West, and The City of God. Doctrinally, he helped clarify many divisive doctrinal issues and helped define what the Christian church is today.
Emmalon Davis of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library“In On Christian Doctrine, St. Augustine helps readers discover, teach, and defend the truths of Scripture. According to St. Augustine, in order for Christians to fully understand Scripture, it should be interpreted with faith, hope, and love. St. Augustine helps readers recognize and interpret figurative expressions and ambiguous language. St. Augustine suggests that readers consult original translations and commit difficult terms to memory. He also suggests we familiarize ourselves with the meaning of frequently used symbols, such as "shepherd" and "sheep." For those who teach the Scripture to others, St. Augustine says we must teach in honesty — not for self-seeking purposes. This text offers an impressive wealth of practical wisdom for reading the Bible. It is evident that St. Augustine earnestly wanted his readers to understand God's Word.
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “St. Augustine's groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy. He argues that skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge. In a proof for existence similar to one later made famous by René Descartes, Augustine says, “[Even] If I am mistaken, I am.” [Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu /~/]
“Augustine tries to reconcile his beliefs about freewill, especially the belief that humans are morally responsible for their actions, with his belief that one’s life is predestined. Though initially optimistic about the ability of humans to behave morally, at the end he is pessimistic, and thinks that original sin makes human moral behavior nearly impossible: if it were not for the rare appearance of an accidental and undeserved Grace of God, humans could not be moral. Augustine’s theological discussion of freewill is relevant to a non-religious discussion regardless of the religious-specific language he uses; one can switch Augustine’s “omnipotent being” and “original sin” explanation of predestination for the present day “biology” explanation of predestination; the latter tendency is apparent in modern slogans such as “biology is destiny.”1. /~/
See Separate Articles: ST. AUGUSTINE: HIS LIFE, CONFESSIONS AND CONVERSION factsanddetails.com ;
Books: “Augustine of Hippo” by Peter Brown, “History of Christianity” by Owen Chadwick; “The Faith: A History of Christianity” by Brian Moynahan.
Websites and Resources: Early Christianity: PBS Frontline, From Jesus to Christ, The First Christians pbs.org ; Elaine Pagels website elaine-pagels.com ; Sacred Texts website sacred-texts.com ; Gnostic Society Library gnosis.org ; Guide to Early Church Documents iclnet.org; Early Christian Writing earlychristianwritings.com ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC on Christianity bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity ; Candida Moss at the Daily Beast Daily Beast Christian Classics Ethereal Library www.ccel.org; Saints and Their Lives Today's Saints on the Calendar catholicsaints.info ; Saints' Books Library saintsbooks.net ; Saints and Their Legends: A Selection of Saints libmma.contentdm ; Saints engravings. Old Masters from the De Verda collection colecciondeverda.blogspot.com ; Lives of the Saints - Orthodox Church in America oca.org/saints/lives ; Lives of the Saints: Catholic.org catholicism.org
St. Augustine's Christian Beliefs and Influence on Christianity
St. Augustine's books “ Confessions” , “City of God” and “On the Trinity” had a profound impact on Catholicism that was equaled only by the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. As an avid student of Greek philosophy, Augustine introduced reason into his discussions of Christianity.
Augustine arguably transformed the theological formulation of Christianity more than anyone else. His impact was especially great on the Western Church (Catholicism). While the main orientations of the Eastern Orthodox church remained guided theologically by the Alexandrine Fathers, the Western Church, thanks to Augustine, built a new foundation, from which grew the whole Western development, including both Scholasticism — the system of theology and philosophy that dominated medieval Europe, based on Aristotelian logic and the writings of the early Christian Fathers and emphasizing tradition and dogma) and the Reformation. [Source: Talcott Parsons, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1960s, Encyclopedia.com]
St. Augustine's eloquently discussed the "divided soul," and the doubts one has about converting to Christianity. He argued that Genesis was not intended to be taken literally, defined a just war in Christian terms and introduced the notion of "original sin" at the Garden of Eden. His writing on communal living became “Rule of St. Augustine” , the basis of many religious orders. In a "City of God", Augustine imagined a world of divinity inhabited by people who had given up the pleasures of life in return for a promise of eternal bliss. The book was written in A.D. 410 as Rome fell, which he argued that was a kind of punishment to Romans for their paganism. In the Middle Ages, this book was used to support the belief that the church was above the state.
Augustine’s Doctrinal Emphasis
St. Augustine 1) The Church — Against the Donatists — embraces evil as well as good “therefore "invisible" — let wheat and tares grow together — "outside the church there is no salvation," referring to the "invisible church, the one known only to God made up of true believers. [Source: Carl A. Volz, late professor of church history at Luther Seminary, web.archive.org, martin.luthersem.edu, 1997]
2) Papacy — Peter is a figure of the unity of the church. Bishops (including the pope) may err, but the Sfriptures do not err. "Rock" of Mt 16 refers to Christ.
3) Sacraments — Gifts of God (against Donatists) and efficacious by God's promise. "One thing is seen but anbother is believed," or "the visible sign of an invisible grace." Dominical character imparted (Aug phrase). Distinguished between "validity" and "efficacy." "The Word of God comes to the element and it becomes a sacrament." "Visible Word."
4) The Word of God — Augustine is the first to formulate a doctrine of the spoken and written Word as a means of grace. The human action is accompanied by a divine or inward action by God.
5) Church and State — The church is the kingdom of God on earth. In the City of God he distinguishes between the City of God and of Man (or earth) — he uses the paradigm of Cain and Abel -Christianty vs. pagans / eternal vs,. temporal / God directed or human directed. When all citizens are Christians, the church may influence or instruct the state.This idea was crucial in the Middle Ages.
6) Sin and Grace — Against the Pelagians. All humanity was lost in the Fall. Salvation is by Grace alone. Before the Fall man had the possibility of sinning but not the necessity. After the Fall he has only the necessity.A) posse non peccare able not to sin before the Fall. B) non posse peccare not able to sin good angels. C) non posse non peccare not able not to sin humans today. D) Adam's defect has passed over to his posterity. All infants therefore possess Original Sin (sin of origins). E) Grace — "It goes before him when unwilling that he may will (prevenient). It follows him when willing that he may not will in vain." F) Grace is divine creative power in action. Grace is irresistable.
7) Predestination. If we are saved by God's initiative alone with absolutely no cooperation on our part, it follows that God decides who is to be saved. Yet no blame attaches to God, since those who are lost receive their just rewards. "He who falls, falls by his own will, and he who stands, stands by the will of God." To one God reveals justice, to the other mercy.
St. Augustine'Views on Sex
St. Augustine wrote of celibacy being the most blessed state. After his vow of abstinence he wrote, "Now was my soul free from the biting cares of canvassing and getting, and weltering in filth, and scratching off the itch of lust." Augustine viewed the sex organs as objects of temptation and orgasm was viewed as an abandonment of will and control to the flesh. He argued that sex was for procreation only and any form of sexual activity that didn't result in conception — masturbation, homosexuality and oral sex — was strictly forbidden.
Describing the crucifixion, St. Augustine wrote: "Like a bridegroom Christ went forth from his chamber, he went out with a presage of his nuptials...He came to the marriage bed of the cross, and there, in mounting it, consummated his marriage,...he lovingly gave himself up to the torment in place of his bride, and he joined himself to the woman for ever."
According to Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen: Augustine understood that marriage was part of God's plan. God created humankind as having two sexes, for the purpose of procreation. Having children necessitated raising them, and for this, marriage was the best way to accomplish the task. Within marriage, sexual intercourse for the purpose of having children is blameless. The carnal pleasure that the spouses experience represents God's manner of inducing a man and woman to have children and raise a family. Outside of this, however, sexual intercourse that takes place at any time when procreation is not possible, as when the woman is pregnant or the couple are old, is sinful. If one choses to engage in sexual intercourse primarily for the sake of pleasure, regardless of whether procreation is possible, this he considered to be a sin of lust, albeit a minor sin.
Augustine's reasoning here is that sin basically consists in adverting one's attention away from God. In the state of paradise, Adam and Eve would have been able to procreate children purely as a matter of intelligent choice. It was only after 'the fall' that they needed to be enticed to have intercourse by the promise of pleasure. However, because of concupiscence, an effect of original sin, they would not be able to control their pleasure and it would inevitably get out of hand. Thus, he taught that sexual intercourse is only legitimate for the purpose of having children (concubitus propter solam procreationem). Again, Augustine understood that violating this was a 'minor' sin that could be forgiven by prayer or by acts of charity. But later, more rigorist authors interpreted it much more strongly.
Augustine’s Anti-Pelagian Writings and Predestination
Augustine reading
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (c. 355 – c. 420 AD), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, taught that God could not command believers to do the impossible, and therefore it must be possible to satisfy all divine commandments. He also taught that it was unjust to punish one person for the sins of another; therefore, infants are born blameless. Pelagius accepted no excuse for sinful behaviour and taught that all Christians, regardless of their station in life, should live unimpeachable, sinless lives. [Source: Wikipedia]
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “ “It has been thought that Augustine's anti-Pelagian teaching grew out of his conception of the Church and its sacraments as a means of salvation; and attention was called to the fact that before the Pelagian controversy this aspect of the Church had, through the struggle with the Donatists, assumed special importance in his mind. But this conception should be denied. It is quite true that in 395 Augustine's views on sin and grace, freedom and predestination, were not what they afterward came to be. But the new trend was given to them before the time of his anti-Donatist activity, and so before he could have heard anything of Pelagius. [Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu /~/]
What we call Augustinianism was not a reaction against Pelagianism; it would be much truer to say that the latter was a reaction against Augustine's views. He himself names the beginning of his episcopate as the turning-point. Accordingly, in the first thing which he wrote after his consecration, the De diversis gucestionibus ad Simplicianum (396 or 397), we come already upon the new conception. In no other of his writings do we see as plainly the gradual attainment of conviction on any point; as he himself says in the Retractationes, he was laboring for the free choice of the will of man, but the grace of God won the day. So completely was it won, that we might set forth the specifically Augustinian teaching on grace, as against the Pelagians and the Massilians, by a series of quotations taken wholly from this treatise. It is true that much of his later teaching is still undeveloped here; the question of predestination (though the word is used) does not really come up; he is not clear as to the term " election"; and nothing is said of the " gift of perseverance."
"But what we get on these points later is nothing but the logical consequence of that which is expressed here, and so we have the actual genesis of Augustine's predestinarian teaching under our eyes. It is determined by no reference to the question of infant baptism — still less by any considerations connected with the conception of the Church. The impulse comes directly from Scripture, with the help, it is true, of those exegetical thoughts which he mentioned earlier as those of others and not his own. To be sure, Paul alone can not explain this doctrine of grace; this is evident from the fact that the very definition of grace is non-Pauline. Grace is for Augustine, is divine inspiration and an interne illumination.
Of course this Neoplatonic coloring must not be exaggerated; it is more consistent with itself in his earlier writings than in the later, and he would never have arrived at his predestinarian teaching without the New Testament. Augustine's anti-Pelagian writings set forth this doctrine of grace more clearly in some points, such as the terms " election," " predestination," " the gift of perseverance," and also more logically; but space forbids us to show this here, as the part taken in this controversy by Augustine is so fully detailed elsewhere.| /~/
Augustine’s Activity Against Donatism
Augustine with Saint William and Christ crowning Mary
Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province North Africa in present-day Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Mauretania and Morocco. Named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries and was especially popular among the indigenous Berber population, Donatists blended Christianity with many Berber local customs. [Source: Wikipedia]
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “In order to arrive at a decision as to what influence the Donatist controversy had upon Augustine's intellectual development, it is necessary to see how long and how intensely he was concerned with it. We have seen that even before he was a bishop he was defending the catholic Church against the Donatists; and after his consecration he took part directly or indirectly in all the important discussions of the matter, some of which have been already mentioned, and defended the cause of the Church in letters and sermons as well as in his more formal polemical writings. The first of these which belongs to the period of his episcopate, Contra partem Donati, has been lost; about 400 he wrote the two cognate treatises Contra epistulam Parmeniani (the Donatist bishop of Carthage) and De baptismo contra Donatistas. He was considered by the schismatics as their chief antagonist, and was obliged to defend himself against a libelous attack on their part in a rejoinder now lost. From the years 401 and 402 we have the reply to the Donatist bishop of Cirta, Contra epistulam Petiliani, and also the Epistula ad catholicos de unitate ecclesioe. The conflict was now reaching its most acute stage. After the Carthaginian synod of 403 had made preparations for a decisive debate with the Donatists, and the latter had declined to fall in with the plan, the bitterness on both sides increased. [Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu /~/]
“Another synod at Carthage the following year decided that the emperor should be asked for penal laws against the Donatists. Honorius granted the request; but the employment of force in matters of belief brought up a new point of discord between the two sides. When these laws were abrogated (409), the plan of a joint conference was tried once more in June, 411, under imperial authority, nearly 300 bishops being present from each side, with Augustine and Aurelius of Carthage as the chief representatives of the Catholic cause. In the following year, the Donatists proving insubordinate, Honorius issued a new and severer edict against them, which proved the beginning of the end for the schism. For these years from 405 to 412 we have twenty-one extant letters of Augustine's bearing on the controversy, and there were eight formal treatises, but four of these are lost. Those which we still have are: Contra Cresconium grammaticum (about 406); De unico baptismio (about 410 or 411), in answer to a work of the same name by Petilian; the brief report of the conference (end of 411); and the Liber contra Donatistas post collationem (probably 412).” /~/
Development of Augustine’s Views
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “The earliest of the extant works against the Donatists present the same views of the Church and its sacraments which Augustine developed later. The principles which he represented in this conflict are merely those which, in a simpler form, had either appeared in the anti-Donatist polemics before his time or had been part of his own earlier belief. What he did was to formulate them with more dogmatic precision,. and to permeate the ordinary controversial theses with his own deep thoughts on unitas, caritas, and inspiratio gratice in the Church, thoughts which again trace their origin back to his Neoplatonic foundations. In the course of the conflict he changed his opinion about the methods to be employed; he had at first been opposed to the employment of force, but later came to the " Compel them to come in " point of view. [Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, iep.utm.edu /~/]
Augustine with the boy who tries to empty the sea into a hole on the beach
“It may well be doubted, however, if the practical struggle with the schismatics had as much to do with Augustine's development as has been supposed. Far more weight must be attached to the fact that Augustine had become a presbyter and a bishop of the catholic Church, and as such worked continually deeper into the ecclesiastical habit of thought. This was not hard for the son of Monnica and the reverent admirer of Ambrose. His position as a bishop may fairly be said to be the only determining factor in his later views besides his Neoplatonist foundation, his earnest study of the Scripture, and the predestinarian conception of grace which he got from this. Everything else is merely secondary. Thus we find Augustine practically complete by the beginning of his episcopate-about the time when he wrote the Confessiones.
It would be too much to say that his development stood still after that; the Biblical and ecclesiastical coloring of his thoughts becomes more and more visible and even vivid; but such development as this is no more significant than the effect of the years seen upon a strong face; in fact, it is even less observable here-for while the characteristic features of his spiritual mind stand out more sharply as time goes on with Augustine, his mental force shows scarcely a sign of age at seventy. His health was uncertain after 386, and his body aged before the time; on Sept. 26, 426, he solemnly designated Eraclius (or Heraclius) as his successor, though without consecrating him bishop, and transferred to him such a portion of his duties as was possible. But his intellectual vigor remained unabated to the end. We see him, as Prosper depicts him in his chronicle, " answering the books of Julian in the very end of his days, while the on-rushing Vandals were at the gates, and gloriously persevering in the defense of Christian grace." In the third month of the siege of Hippo by the barbarian invaders, he fell ill of a fever and, after lingering more than ten days, died Aug. 28, 430. He was able to read on his sick-bed; he had the Penitential Psalms placed upon the wall of his room where he could see them. Meditating upon them, he fulfilled what he had often said before, that even Christians revered for the sanctity of their lives, even presbyters, ought not to leave the world without fitting thoughts of penitence.
St Augustine and Original Sin
According to the BBC:. Although Augustine didn't invent the doctrine of original sin, his ideas about it dominated Western Church teaching. Augustine's theory shows great understanding of human psychology. It provides an explanation for human suffering and guilt by teaching that those human beings somehow deserved these things. |::|
“Human beings deserve to suffer because the first parents sinned. And since humanity deserves the bad things it gets, humanity can comfort itself with the idea that it has a just rather than an unjust God.This made the presence of evil in the world easier to understand, and answered the question of why a benevolent God would allow such a state of affairs to exist. |::|
“Augustine developed his idea of original sin for several reasons: 1) to explain the almost irresistible pressure to behave badly that troubles even the most saintly people; 2) to justify the need to baptise babies as soon as possible after birth; 3) to demonstrate that human beings are totally reliant on God's grace and all-powerful goodness; 4) to defeat the ideas of Pelagius, an English theologian. [Source: September 17, 2009 BBC |::|]
Augustine saw original sin as working in two ways: 1) inherited guilt for a crime and 2) spiritual sickness or weakness. Augustine thought that humanity was originally perfect ("man's nature was created at first faultless and without any sin"), immortal and blessed with many talents, but that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and introduced sin and death to the world. |::|
See Separate Article: ORIGINAL SIN europe.factsanddetails.com
Augustine’s Works
The written after 395 and named in the Retractationes, are classified under three heads: 1) exegetical works; 2) minor dogmatic, polemical, and practical treatises; and 3) a separate class containing four more extensive works of special importance. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The earliest of the minor treatises is De catechizandis rudibus (about 400), interesting for its connection with the history of catechetical instruction and for many other reasons. A brief enumeration of the others will suffice; they are: De opera monachorum (about 400); De bono conjugali and De sancta virginitate (about 401), both directed against Jovinian's depreciation of virginity; De deviation damonum (between 406 and 411); De fide et operibus (413), a completion of the argument in the De spiritu et litera, useful for a study of the difference between the Augustinian and the Lutheran doctrines of grace; De cura pro mortuis, interesting as showing his attitude toward superstition within the Church; and a few others of less interest. We come now to the four works which have deserved placing in a special category. One is the De doctrina christiana (begun about 397, finished 426), important as giving his theory of scriptural interpretation and homiletics; another is the Enchiridion de fide, spe, et caritate (about 421), noteworthy as an attempt at a systematic collocation of his thoughts. There remain the two doctrinal masterpieces, the De trinitate (probably begun about 400 and finished about 416) and the De civitate Dei (begun about 413, finished about 426). The last-named, beginning with an apologetic purpose, takes on later the form of a history of the City of God from its beginnings.” /~/
“In his Retractions he tells us that he wrote 93 "Literary Works" and 232 "Books," not including sermons and letters. (N-PNF Series One, vols. 1-8). [Source: Carl A. Volz, late professor of church history at Luther Seminary, web.archive.org, martin.luthersem.edu, 1997]
1) Confessions (13 Books) 397-401. Something new in all literature including Christian. Autobiography but more accurately a spiritual and psychological journey, full of reflections and motivations. The entire book is constructed as a prayer to God.
2) De Civitate Dei (The City of God 22 Books) 413-426. The most valuable and complete apology of Christianity and offers the first grandiose outline of a theology (philosophy) of history. Its basic ideas largely determined the church's politics in the Middle Ages and are still alive in Christian thought today. Occasioned by Alaric's conquest of Rome to answer the pagan charges that it was the neglect of paganism which caused Rome's downfall.
3) Enchirdion (Catechism - To Laurentius) c. 423. Brief catechism of the Christian faith in the form of an explanation of the Creed. He wrote another such in "De Fide et Symbolo" and a sermon "Sermo de Symbolo ad Catechumenos."
4) De Trinitate (On The Trinity - 15 Books) is Augustine's chief dogmatic work on which he worked from 3990419, of which he himself said few readers would be able to follow his discussions. It essentially completed patristic speculation on the Trinity in the West.
5) De Haeresibus (On The Hertics) is especially against the Manicheans. Augustine writes that only the Good has existed from the beginning (creation), and that evil came later - God did not create it. Evil has no substance (Plato), it is the deprivation of good, therefore God could not have created it. Matter is not evil. Jesus had a human body. Against Docetism.
6) De Libero Arbitro (On Free Will). Also against the Manichean idea that we are all destined in our lives under the Fates. Augustine said we are not pre-programmed in every decision we make. Altogether Augustine wrote 15 Books against the Manichees.
7) Works Against The Pelagians: In these works Augustine clearly articulates salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ, Original Sin, and grace as an unearned gift.
On the Spirit and the Letter (De Spiritu et Littera)
On Nature and Grace (De Natura et Gratia)
On the Grace of Christ and Original Sin (De Gratia Christ et De Peccato Originali
On Grace and Free Will (De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio)
8) On Christian Learning (De Doctrina Christiana) (4 Books) In the study of Scripture secular and theological education is necessary. The doctrine of the church is the supreme Rule for the exegesis of Scripture.
9) On Catechizing the Uninstructed (De Catechizandis Rudibus); The earliest essay on a theory of catechesis. Two model examples of ideal method are given. The book refers primarily to instructing adults.
10) Epistle 211 - Rule of Augustine. In this letter he settles a dispute which had arisen in a women's convent of Hippo, and in it he offers suggestions on how their lives should be structured. From this there developed a Rule for priests who are living in community while doing pastoral work, unlike Benedictines who are cloistered and not involved in a parish. The Augustinians, which numbered M. Luther among them, lived in community but worked in various tasks (teaching or pastor ministry) in urban areas.
St. Augustine’s Confessions
One of the things that makes Christianity different from other religions is the emphasis on free will and the conversion process, and nobody expressed this more eloquently than St. Augustine. His “Confessions” describes the conversion process as a struggle between a person’s soul and his or her passions. Filled with irony, wit and insights that still make a compelling reading today, it is regarded as the first intimate autobiography in Western literature, and one that offers interesting insights into the self.
Describing his own conversion in Milan when he was 30, St. Augustine wrote: "So I was seeking and weeping...when, lo! I heard from a neighboring house a voice, as a boy or girl, I know not chanting...Take up and read; take up and read." Instantly my countenance altered...Checking the torrent of my tears, I arose...and read the first chapter I should find...my eyes first fell; Not in rioting or drunkenness, not in chambering or wantonness...but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ...No further would I read...for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away."
In “ Confessions” St. Augustine's described his sinful ways as both an offense against God and a manifestation of self-hatred. He wrote he "has no being of its own" and described his personal struggle against "the lying divinations and impious oaths of the astrologers.” He also expressed the great guilt he felt over stealing pears from a neighbor’s trees when he was a child and confessed the sinful things he did when was a young man.
Augustine’s City of God
<br/> Augustine began writing “The City of God” A.D. in 410, after Alaric and the Vandals had sacked Rome. Many pagans blamed the conversion of the empire to Christianity for this calamity. Augustine tried to defend the Church by tracing the history of two cities or states from the beginning of the world.
Talcott Parsons wrote in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: Augustine’s conception of the “City of God” was, in one of its two main references, a potentiality for human life on earth. It was not confined to the realm of eternal life after death. Although the emphasis on the basic metaphysical dualism between divine and human, spirit and flesh, remained as sharp as in the Alexandrian theology and was even sharpened in certain respects, salvation was conceived to be not only from the sinfulness of the flesh but also for participation in the divine mission that God had ordained for Christian man in and through the church. The use of the concept of city is particularly significant in that it emphasized the continuity of the conception of the church with that of the polis. This was indeed part of the larger framework within which Augustine produced a new level of cultural generalization in the synthesis of the Christian soteriological message and the main patterns of classical culture. [Source: Talcott Parsons, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1960s, Encyclopedia.com]
Augustine wrote in “The City of God”: Book XIV Chapter 28: Of The Nature Of The Two Cities, The Earthly And The Heavenly: “Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, "Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength." And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God "glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise," — that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride, — "they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, "and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, "that God may be all in all."
Book XV. Chapter 4: Of The Conflict And Peace Of The Earthly City: “But the earthly city, which shall not be everlasting (for it will no longer be a city when it has been committed to the extreme penalty), has its good in this world, and rejoices in it with such joy as such things can afford. But as this is not a good which can discharge its devotees of all distresses, this city is often divided against itself by litigations, wars, quarrels, and such victories as are either life-destroying or short-lived. For each part of it that arms against another part of it seeks to triumph over the nations through itself in bondage to vice. If, when it has conquered, it is inflated with pride, its victory is life-destroying; but if it turns its thoughts upon the common casualties of our mortal condition, and is rather anxious concerning the disasters that may befall it than elated with the successes already achieved, this victory, though of a higher kind, is still only shot-lived; for it cannot abidingly rule over those whom it has victoriously subjugated. But the things which this city desires cannot justly be said to be evil, for it is itself, in its own kind, better than all other human good. For it desires earthly peace for the sake of enjoying earthly goods, and it makes war in order to attain to this peace; since, if it has conquered, and there remains no one to resist it, it enjoys a peace which it had not while there were opposing parties who contested for the enjoyment of those things which were too small to satisfy both. This peace is purchased by toilsome wars; it is obtained by what they style a glorious victory. Now, when victory remains with the party which had the juster cause, who hesitates to congratulate the victor, and style it a desirable peace? These things, then, are good things, and without doubt the gifts of God. But if they neglect the better things of the heavenly city, which are secured by eternal victory and peace never-ending, and so inordinately covet these present good things that they believe them to be the only desirable things, or love them better than those things which are believed to be better, — if this be so, then it is necessary that misery follow and ever increase.
Augustine on Events in Genesis
Having treated in the four preceding books of the origin of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly, Augustine explains their growth and progress in the four books which follow; and, in order to do so, he explains the chief passages of the sacred history which bear upon this subject. In this fifteenth book he opens this part of his work by explaining the events recorded in Genesis from the time of Cain and Abel to the deluge.
Augustine wrote in “The City of God”: Book XV Chapter 1: Of the Two Lines of the Human Race Which from First to Last Divide It. “Of the bliss of Paradise, of Paradise itself, and of the life of our first parents there, and of their sin and punishment, many have thought much, spoken much, written much. We ourselves, too, have spoken of these things in the foregoing books, and have written either what we read in the Holy Scriptures, or what we could reasonably deduce from them. And were we to enter into a more detailed investigation of these matters, an endless number of endless questions would arise, which would involve us in a larger work than the present occasion admits. [Source: translation Marcus Dodds, in Augustine The City of God (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871)]
We cannot be expected to find room for replying to every question that may be started by unoccupied and captious men, who are ever more ready to ask questions than capable of understanding the answer. Yet I trust we have already done justice to these great and difficult questions regarding the beginning of the world, or of the soul, or of the human race itself. This race we have distributed into two parts, the one consisting of those who live according to man, the other of those who live according to God. And these we also mystically call the two cities, or the two communities of men, of which the one is predestined to reign eternally with God, and the other to suffer eternal punishment with the devil. This, however, is their end, and of it we are to speak afterwards. At present, as we have said enough about their origin, whether among the angels, whose numbers we know not, or in the two first human beings, it seems suitable to attempt an account of their career, from the time when our two first parents began to propagate the race until all human generation shall cease. For this whole time or world-age, in which the dying give place and those who are born succeed, is the career of these two cities concerning which we treat.
“Of these two first parents of the human race, then, Cain was the first-born, and he belonged to the city of men; after him was born Abel, who belonged to the city of God. For as in the individual the truth of the apostle's statement is discerned, "that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual,"(1) whence it comes to pass that each man, being derived from a condemned stock, is first of all born of Adam evil and carnal, and becomes good and spiritual only afterwards, when he is grafted into Christ by regeneration: so was it in the human race as a whole. When these two cities began to run their course by a series of deaths and births, the citizen of this world was the first-born, and after him the stranger in this world, the citizen of the city of God, predestinated by grace, elected by grace, by grace a stranger below, and by grace a citizen above. By grace, — for so far as regards himself he is sprung from the same mass, all of which is condemned in its origin: but God, like a potter (for this comparison is introduced by the apostle judiciously, and not without thought), of the same lump made one vessel to honor, another to dishonor.(1) But first the vessel to dishonor was made, and after it another to honor. For in each individual, as I have already said, there is first of all that which is reprobate, that from which we must begin, but in which we need not necessarily remain; afterwards is that which is well-approved, to which we may by advancing attain, and in which, when we have reached it we may abide. Not, indeed, that every wicked man shall be good, but that no one will be good who was not first of all wicked but the sooner any one becomes a good man, the more speedily does he receive this title, and abolish the old name in the new. Accordingly, it is recorded of Cain that he built a city,(2) but Abel, being a sojourner, built none. For the city of the saints is above, although here below it begets citizens, in whom it sojourns till the time of its reign arrives, when it shall gather together all in the day of the resurrection; and then shall the promised kingdom be given to them, in which they shall reign with their Prince, the King of the ages, time without end. ,
Augustine on Peace and What in The Heavenly And Earthly Cities
Augustine wrote in “The City of God”: Book XIX Chapter 17:What Produces Peace, And What Discord, Between The Heavenly And Earthly Cities; “But the families which do not live by faith seek their peace in the earthly advantages of this life; while the families which live by faith look for those eternal blessings which are promised, and use as pilgrims such advantages of time and of earth as do not fascinate and divert them from God, but rather aid them to endure with greater ease, and to keep down the number of those burdens of the corruptible body which weigh upon the soul. Thus the things necessary for this mortal life are used by both kinds of men and families alike, but each has its own peculiar and widely different aim in using them. [Source: translation Marcus Dodds, in Augustine The City of God (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871)]
The earthly city, which does not live by faith, seeks an earthly peace, and the end it proposes, in the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the combination of men's wills to attain the things which are helpful to this life. The heavenly city, or rather the part of it which sojourns on earth and lives by faith, makes use of this peace only because it must, until this mortal condition which necessitates it shall pass away. Consequently, so long as it lives like a captive and a stranger in the earthly city, though it has already received the promise of redemption, and the gift of the Spirit as the earnest of it, it makes no scruple to obey the laws of the earthly city, whereby the things necessary for the maintenance of this mortal life are administered; and thus, as this life is common to both cities, so there is a harmony between them in regard to what belongs to it. But, as the earthly city has had some philosophers whose doctrine is condemned by the divine teaching, and who, being deceived either by their own conjectures or by demons, supposed that many gods must be invited to take an interest in human affairs, and assigned to each a separate function and a separate department, — to one the body, to another the soul; and in the body itself, to one the head, to another the neck, and each of the other members to one of the gods; and in like manner, in the soul, to one god the natural capacity was assigned, to another education, to another anger, to another lust; and so the various affairs of life were assigned, — cattle to one, corn to another, wine to another, oil to another, the woods to another, money to another, navigation to another, wars and victories to another, marriages to another, births and fecundity to another, and other things to other god.
Ss the celestial city, on the other hand, knew that one God only was to be worshipped, and that to Him alone was due that service which the Greeks call latreia, and which can be given only to a god, it has come to pass that the two cities could not have common laws of religion, and that the heavenly city has been compelled in this matter to dissent, and to become obnoxious to those who think differently, and to stand the brunt of their anger and hatred and persecutions, except in so far as the minds of their enemies have been alarmed by the multitude of the Christians and quelled by the manifest protection of God accorded to them. This heavenly city, then, while it sojourns on earth, calls citizens out of all nations, and gathers together a society of pilgrims of all languages, not scrupling about diversities in the manners, laws, and institutions whereby earthly peace is secured and maintained, but recognizing that, however various these are, they all tend to one and the same end of earthly peace. It therefore is so far from rescinding and abolishing these diversities, that it even preserves and adopts them, so long only as no hindrance to the worship of the one supreme and true God is thus introduced.
Even the heavenly city, therefore, while in its state of pilgrimage, avails itself of the peace of earth, and, so far as it can without injuring faith and godliness, desires and maintains a common agreement among men regarding the acquisition of the necessaries of life, and makes this earthly peace bear upon the peace of heaven; for this alone can be truly called and esteemed the peace of the reasonable creatures, consisting as it does in the perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God and of one another in God. When we shall have reached that peace, this mortal life shall give place to one that is eternal, and our body shall be no more this animal body which by its corruption weighs down the soul, but a spiritual body feeling no want, and in all its members subjected to the will. In its pilgrim state the heavenly city possesses this peace by faith; and by this faith it lives righteously when it refers to the attainment of that peace every good action towards God and man; for the life of the city is a social life.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File); “ Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); King James Version of the Bible, gutenberg.org; New International Version (NIV) of The Bible, biblegateway.com; Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ccel.org , Frontline, PBS, Wikipedia, BBC, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Live Science, Encyclopedia.com, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider, AFP, Library of Congress, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated March 2024