Augustine of Hippo: The Relevance of His Life and Thought Today
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Augustine of Hippo: The Relevance of
His Life and Thought Today
Nick Needham
Nick Needham is Pastor of the Introduction traces of his existence. Though we
Reformed Baptist Church of Inverness, Traditionally, four of the Latin fathers find among them many rich and
powerful minds, yet we find in none
Scotland. He also serves as Lecturer of of the church have been given the illustri- the forces of personal character,
Church History at Highland Theological ous title “Doctor” (teacher)—Ambrose of mind, heart, and will, so largely
developed and so harmoniously
College in Dingwall, Scotland. Before Milan, Jerome, Augustine of Hippo, and
working. No one surpasses him in
this, he taught Systematic Theology at Gregory the Great. All four deserve our wealth of perceptions and dialecti-
the Scottish Baptist College in Glasgow. affectionate acquaintance; but the great- cal sharpness of thoughts, in depth
and fervor of religious sensibility,
Dr. Needham wrote his Ph.D. thesis on est of them must surely be Augustine, in greatness of aims and energy of
the nineteenth-century Scottish theolo- both for the sheer depth and richness action. He therefore also marks the
gian Thomas Erskine of Linlathen. of his thought, and for his unparalleled culmination of the patristic age, and
has been elevated by the acknowl-
influence on subsequent generations. edgment of succeeding times as
A. N. Whitehead once quipped that the the first and the universal church
history of Western philosophy was simply father.1
a series of footnotes to Plato. By a pardon-
able exaggeration, one might say that the Huber does not overstate. For we are
history of Western theology is simply a dealing in Augustine with one of the
series of footnotes to Augustine. The fifth truly seminal minds of human history,
century African father towers mightily and it is no self-depreciation on our part
over the succeeding centuries like some to entertain a due sense of modesty and
spiritual version of Shakespeare’s Julius humility. Few scientists will ever be
Caesar: Einstein; few theologians will ever be
Augustine. In the post-apostolic church,
Why, man, he doth bestride the nar- he has been to Christian piety what David
row world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men is in the Psalms, and to Christian theology
Walk under his huge legs, and peep what Paul is in his letters. The writings
about. of Augustine have proved a perpetual
stream of outstandingly fruitful influence
We are sometimes fond of saying that
on Christian spirituality and doctrine
we stand on the shoulders of the great
down through the ages. Many of the
Christians who went before us. In the case
noblest movements of church renewal
of Augustine, I suspect most of us may
have taken their inspiration from the
feel less a dwarf on his shoulders than
bishop of Hippo, notably the Lollards,
an ant on his ankle. In the words of the
the Hussites, the Protestant Reformation
“Old Catholic” scholar Johann Nepomuk
itself, the Puritans, and the Jansenists.
Huber,
Many of the most brilliant thinkers,
Augustine is a unique phenomenon preachers, and saints of Western church
in Christian history. No one of the
history have been devout disciples of
other fathers has left so luminous
Augustine; one has but to name the
38Venerable Bede, Anselm of Canterbury, squeezed into the mold of contemporary
Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, non-Christian culture.
John Wyclif, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Third, there is Augustine’s decisive role
Blaise Pascal, and B. B. Warfield. It seems, in the historical development of Chris-
then, that if Western Christians are to tian doctrine. The church’s theology has
understand their own heritage, they always been hammered out on the anvil
cannot escape engaging with the titanic of heresy. Where would our understand-
figure of Augustine. ing of the Trinity and the incarnation
There are other reasons for acquainting be, without the purgative storms of the
ourselves with the bishop of Hippo. Let Arian controversy? Men like Athanasius
me suggest three. First of all, there is no and the Cappadocian fathers forged a
personality of the ancient world, Chris- newly refined, more lucid and articulate
tian or Pagan, so intimately known to us conception of the Godhead and of deity
as Augustine. His Confessions more or less incarnate, in the context of the convul-
invented autobiography, and give us the sive dispute with Arius and his ilk. This
most entrancing and self-revealing por- refined theology was summed up in the
trait of a soul in all literature. The father great Nicene Creed. Augustine’s friend,
of the Renaissance, Francesco Petrarch, the celebrated Jerome, admitted that many
after his mid-life conversion to Christ, of the utterances of the orthodox fathers
carried with him a copy of Augustine’s prior to Arius did not quite come up to
Confessions wherever he went. Countless the standard of this more coherent Nicene
hosts have echoed Petrarch’s verdict. Can doctrine, wrought out in the furnace of the
we neglect this unique literary monument fourth century debate: “It must be admit-
of a soul’s journey, without succumbing to ted that before Arius arose in Alexandria
the charge of being spiritual and cultural as a demon of the south, things were said
ignoramuses? incautiously which cannot be defended
Second, Augustine wrestles endlessly against a malign criticism.”2
with the most fundamental questions Augustine likewise was the principal
of existence. What can the human mind theologian who wrought out a more
truly know? What is God? What is truth? articulate and coherent doctrine of human
What is beauty? What is time? What is his- nature, its fall and restoration, in the fifth
tory? What is the soul? What is memory? century setting of the Pelagian contro-
What is faith? What is reason? What is the versy. If we owe our developed Trinitarian
relationship between faith and reason? theology and Christology to Athanasius
What is justice? What is human destiny? and the Cappadocians, we owe our devel-
What are the proper limits of political oped anthropology and soteriology, our
action? Where does evil come from? How understanding of the Bible’s teaching on
can we reconcile evil and suffering with the relations between human sin and
a belief in a good and almighty God? divine grace, to Augustine. He carried
Augustine sets the example par excel- the Latin West with him on these matters
lence of a Christian thinker determined (although not the Greek East), embedding
to view the whole of life in the light of in the Western Christian consciousness
his faith, rather than give a little private a high, awesome, man-humbling, God-
corner of it to Christ, leaving the rest to be exalting vision of original sin, predestina-
39tion, and efficacious grace in regeneration, pretensions to a perfectly rational world-
which has renewed itself in every epoch view seemed hollow when compared
and endured to the present. If we would to the higher and deeper philosophy
grapple with these tremendous issues, of Plotinus, father of Neoplatonism—a
where better to go than the first and reinvention of Plato that transformed his
greatest “doctor of grace,” the bishop of teaching into a mystical religious faith
Hippo? in a Supreme Being, “the One.” Plotinus
introduced Augustine to a truer con-
Biographical Sketch ception of God as the absolute spiritual
Let us now offer a sketch of Augus- entity, exalted far above space, time, and
tine’s life, and then look in more detail matter, whose image was reflected in the
at some of these weighty themes. Briefly, human soul.
Aurelius Augustine was born in Tha- Intellectually liberating though this
gaste in Roman North Africa in 354, to a was, Neoplatonism did not challenge
Pagan father, Patricius, and a Christian Augustine’s moral lifestyle. This came
mother, Monnica. His mother, a spiritu- through the preaching of Ambrose,
ally minded lady, did her best to instill bishop of Milan, whose pulpit eloquence
the Christian faith into her son, but the captivated Augustine. Here was an ortho-
growing Augustine met moral shipwreck dox Christian preacher who both made
on the shoals of his burgeoning sexuality. the faith of the church seem credible, and
Abandoning the Christianity of his youth, lived it out in his own life of steely, shin-
he began living with a girl whom he never ing integrity, before which even emperors
married, by whom he had an illegitimate trembled (Milan was at that time the
son, Adeodatus. Western imperial capital).
To add to his mother’s anguish, Augus- Ambrose’s preaching soon induced
tine also joined the cult-like Gnostic sect a spiritual crisis in Augustine. Let us
of the Manichees. In desperation over hear him tell it in his own words. He is
her wayward child, Monnica turned to a in a garden in Milan, overwhelmed by
Catholic bishop who was himself a con- a consciousness of his sin, especially his
verted Manichee, and pled with him to bondage to sexual desire:
reason with Augustine. (By “Catholic” in
I flung myself down, I do not know
the early church period, we mean simply how, under a fig-tree, giving free
the mainstream orthodox church, distin- course to my tears. The streams of
my eyes gushed forth, an acceptable
guished from dissident groups like Mon-
sacrifice to You. And, not in these
tanists and Arians.) The bishop refused. very words, yet to this effect, I spoke
“Only prayer, not arguments, will bring much to You: “But You, O Lord, how
long? How long, Lord? Will You be
your son to Christ,” he insisted. When a
angry for ever? Oh, do not remem-
weeping Monnica persisted in beseeching ber against us our former iniqui-
his help, the bishop famously said, “Go. It ties!” For I felt that I was enslaved
by them. I sent up these sorrowful
cannot be that the son of such tears will cries: “How long, how long? Tomor-
perish.” row, tomorrow? Why not now? Why
The words were prophetic. Now a is there not this hour an end to my
uncleanness?”
teacher of rhetoric in Italy, Augustine I was saying these things and
began to lose his faith in Manichaeism. Its weeping in the most bitter contri-
tion of my heart, when I heard the
40voice of a boy or girl, I do not know changed the whole course of his life. He
which, coming from a neighbouring was worshipping in the Catholic church
house, chanting and repeating the
words, “Take up and read, take up in Hippo one Sunday, when the elderly
and read!” Immediately my attitude preacher, bishop Valerius, recognized
changed, and I began most earnestly him. Was this not Augustine, the recent
to consider whether it was usual
for children in any kind of game convert from Thagaste, whose writings
to sing words like this. I could not had already begun to make an impact on
remember ever hearing it before. So,
the Christians of the day? Valerius was
restraining the torrent of my tears,
I rose up, interpreting it as a com- a Greek, and could not speak Latin very
mand to me from Heaven to open well; he had prayed for a long time that
the Scripture, and to read the first
chapter my gaze fell on. For I had God would send him an assistant pastor.
heard of Antony [the great desert He began preaching on this very topic;
father of Egypt], that accidentally the congregation caught his meaning,
coming in to church while the gos-
pel was being read, he received the surrounded Augustine, and cried out that
exhortation as if the reading were here was the very man for the job!
addressed to him: “Go and sell
Augustine was horrified, but could
what you have, and give it to the
poor, and you shall have treasure in do nothing against the unanimous and
heaven; and come, follow Me.” And enthusiastic acclamations of the people.
by this oracle he was immediately
Like the child’s voice in Milan, “Take up
converted to You.
So I quickly returned to the place and read,” it seemed that through the
where Alypius [Augustine’s friend voice of the Christian people of Hippo,
and companion in the search for
truth] was sitting; for that is where God was once again intervening directly
I had put down the volume of the in Augustine’s life. He submitted, and
apostles, when I had risen from was ordained assistant bishop to Val-
that spot. I grasped it, opened it,
and in silence read that paragraph erius. When Valerius died five year later,
on which my eyes first fell: “Not Augustine became sole bishop of Hippo’s
in rioting and drunkenness, not in Catholic church, a position he filled until
lust and debauchery, not in strife
and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus his own death in 430.
Christ, and make no provision for Augustine soon exercised an intel-
the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.” I would
lectual and spiritual pre-eminence over
read no further, nor did I need to.
For instantly, as the sentence ended, the whole African Catholic Church, by
a light of assurance was infused into virtue of his preaching (he is commonly
my heart, and all the gloom of doubt
vanished away.3 regarded as one of the great preachers
of the Christian centuries), his endless
That was in 386. The following year, stream of superior writings, his role in
Augustine was baptised by Ambrose, the key controversies of the day, and his
along with his 15 year-old son Adeodatus, personal influence on the other Catholic
who had also been converted. (Adeodatus bishops of Africa. By the end of Augus-
died young, three years later.) Returning tine’s life, his distinguished French
to Thagaste, Augustine founded a pioneer disciple, Prosper of Aquitaine, could say
monastic community. In 391, however, he this of his master without any sense of
was on a visit to Hippo Regius, the second exaggeration,
greatest city of Roman North Africa (after
Augustine, at the time the first and
Carthage), when providence unexpectedly foremost among the bishops of the
41Lord…. Among many other divine spirituality by the Orthodox. Archbishop
gifts showered on him by the Spirit Philaret of Chernigov, for example, says
of Truth, he excelled particularly
in the gifts of knowledge and wis- this of Augustine:
dom flowing from his love of God,
which enabled him to slay with the The highest quality in him is the
invincible sword of the Word not profound, sincere piety with which
only the Pelagian heresy, but also all his works are filled… [especially
many other previous heresies. This the Confessions] which without
doctor, resplendent with the glory of doubt can strike anyone to the
so many honours and crowns which depths of his soul by the sincerity
he gained for the exaltation of the of their contrition, and warm one by
Church and the glory of Christ…. the warmth of the piety which is so
Augustine, the greatest man in the essential on the path of salvation.5
Church today.4
Closer to home, the great nineteenth cen-
The Relevance of Augustine for tury evangelical church historian Philip
Today Schaff says this:
How relevant, then, is Augustine for us
The Confessions are the most prof-
in the twenty-first century? Let me sug- itable, at least the most edifying,
gest three areas in which, though dead, product of his pen; indeed, we may
he yet speaks. say, the most edifying book in all
the patristic literature. They were
accordingly the most read even dur-
Spirituality ing his lifetime, and they have been
the most frequently published since.
First, the African father ranks as one
A more sincere and more earnest
of the classic spiritual writers of all time. book was never written… Certainly
Devotional literature holds few works no autobiography is superior to it
in true humility, spiritual depth,
comparable to Augustine’s Confessions, and universal interest. Augustine
while his Soliloquies have also awakened records his own experience, as a
and inspired many. We would have to heathen sensualist, a Manichean
heretic, an anxious inquirer, a sin-
place these writings in the same select cere penitent, and a grateful con-
league as Bernard of Clairvaux’s On Lov- vert. He finds a response in every
ing God, Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation human soul that struggles through
the temptations of nature and the
of Christ, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, labyrinth of error to the knowledge
and Henry Scougal’s The Life of God in the of truth and the beauty of holiness,
Soul of Man. and after many sighs and tears finds
rest and peace in the arms of a mer-
Testimonies to Augustine’s outstand- ciful Saviour.6
ing worth in this regard flood in from
all quarters, even the unlikeliest. Con- None of the writings of the early
sider, for example, the Eastern Ortho- church fathers have so quenched people’s
dox Church, which has never given a spiritual thirst down through the centu-
commanding place to Augustine as a ries as have the writings of the bishop of
theologian, partly because Orthodoxy Hippo. They offer a perennially needful
rejects the Augustinian view of human corrective to two equal and opposite
bondage to sin and the sovereign effi- errors faced by Christians in every age:
cacy of divine grace in salvation. Despite either to gravitate to a cold theological
this, Augustine’s Confessions have been orthodoxy devoid of heart, or to a sen-
warmly embraced as a classic of Christian timental spirituality that sits light to
42doctrine. Augustine is the antidote to cerning my God that you are not He.
both false tendencies. In him we discover Tell me something positive about
Him!” And with a loud voice they
heart and mind married in an intimate exclaimed: “He made us.”7
union where deep, thoughtful theology,
rooted in Scripture and never afraid of The Meaning of History
condemning error, nonetheless burns and Next, there is the longest and pro-
sings with a spiritual vibrancy that makes foundest theological work Augustine
most modern piety seem pale and sickly ever wrote, his City of God. Its overarching
by contrast. If we do nothing else over this message remains as pertinent today as
coming year in our Christian reading, we when Augustine first penned it. Schaff
could scarcely do better than read Augus- again says,
tine’s Confessions, either for the first time,
The City of God is the masterpiece of
or to rekindle our acquaintance with this the greatest genius among the Latin
universally recognized devotional classic. Fathers, and the best known and
most read of his works, except the
Here is a taster: Confessions. It embodies the result of
thirteen years of intellectual labour
What is it that I love in loving You? and study (from AD 413-426). It is a
Not physical beauty, nor the splen- vindication of Christianity against
dour of time, nor the radiance of the the attacks of the heathen in view
light, so pleasant to our eyes, nor the of the sacking of the city of Rome
sweet melodies of songs of all kinds, by the barbarians, at a time when
nor the flagrant smell of flowers, and the old Greco-Roman civilization
ointments, and spices, nor manna was approaching its downfall, and
and honey, nor limbs pleasant to the a new Christian civilization was
embraces of the flesh. I do not love
beginning to rise on its ruins. It is
these things when I love my God. the first attempt at a philosophy of
And yet I love a certain kind of light, history, under the aspect of two rival
sound, fragrance, food, and embrace cities or communities—the eternal
in loving my God; for He is the light, city of God and the perishing city
sound, fragrance, food, and embrace
of the world.8
of my inner man. There, a light
shines upon my soul which no place
can contain, and a sound is heard Essentially, the treatise is a meditation
which time cannot snatch away. on the meaning of history, which Augus-
There breathes a fragrance which no
tine interpreted as a conflict between two
breeze can disperse, a food which no
eating can diminish, and an embrace communities, which he called “the city
which no fullness of satisfaction can of God” and “the city of the world.” Ever
dissolve. This is what I love, when
I love my God. And what is He? I since the fall of Adam, Augustine argued,
asked the earth; and it answered, the human race had been divided into
“I am not He.” And everything on two spiritual societies: the unregenerate
earth made the same confession. I
asked the sea and the deeps, and the whose head was Satan, and the regen-
creeping things that lived, and they erate whose head was Christ. Human
replied, “We are not your God. Seek history was the unfolding of the story
higher than we.” I asked the breezy
air; and the universal atmosphere of how these two “cities” interacted. The
with its inhabitants answered, “I city of God, while not identical with the
am not God.” I asked the heavens,
visible church (she harbored tares along-
the sun, moon, and stars: “Neither,”
they said, “are we the God whom side wheat), was nonetheless nurtured in
you seek.” And I answered all these her bosom by the Word of God and the
things which crowd about the door
of my flesh, “You have told me con- sacraments; while the city of the world
43found its most concrete manifestation in interests of Rome and the interests of God,
the state, especially powerful states—the and all but inconceivable to contemplate
empires of man. the Empire’s fall (despite the fall of its
Arguably, the most important thing ancient capital city of Rome to Alaric the
Augustine does for us today in City Visigoth in 410—the Empire‘s functional
of God is to offer a piercing Christian capital by then was in fact Constanti-
critique of the pretensions of the city nople).
of man. The reality of original sin and Augustine dissented from this ideal-
human depravity, Augustine insisted, ization of the Roman Empire; no matter
are as applicable to human institutions how Christian it might profess itself, it
as to human individuals. He had no was just as fallible and mutable, as caught
time for Messianic posturings by any up in the flux of history and human sin,
state, whether the Christianized Roman as any other kingdom. There was nothing
Empire of his own day, or any successor sacrosanct about it. Its fall was perfectly
in the future. Whatever their rhetoric, conceivable. And when or if the Empire
Augustine had little doubt that earthly crumbled, the Christian would discern
kingdoms were ultimately based on the therein the righteous providence of God,
realpolitik of power. The only kind of unity which ever humbles the pretentious
they understood was the unity of force: and self-exalting cities of men. History
join with us in happy brotherhood, or else knew only one enduring city, Augustine
we shall kill you! affirmed—the city of God. And she was
Indeed, the bishop of Hippo pro- not a political entity, but a spiritual entity,
nounced pessimistically as he surveyed dwelling not in the swords of proud
history, all the kingdoms of this world armies but in the hearts of lowly believ-
were, at the end of the day, little better ers, outlasting the vanity of all earthly
than vast, organized conspiracies of kingdoms.
robbers. What were the most illustrious As a corollary to this critical level-
earthly rulers? What was Alexander the headedness about human states, Augus-
Great, that idol of Greek civilization? tine also rebuffed any romantic idea that
What Alexander did on a grand scale by Christianity would ever bring about
his supposedly glorious wars and con- global peace and prosperity. The gospel
quests, Augustine felt, was no different was not the means to a socio-political
in principle from what a pirate does in a paradise. This was not because Augus-
single ship. When earthly cities and king- tine doubted the relevance of the Bible to
doms fell, therefore, as they all eventually secular affairs: the Bible was a fountain
did, their punishment was just. For “all of wisdom for the whole of human life.
have sinned and fallen short of the glory Unfortunately, original sin meant that the
of God”—all men and all kingdoms. human mind, even in Christians, was a
This was a radical assertion in Augus- fountain of never-ending folly and sinful
tine’s context, because many Christians perversion. Therefore, Augustine advised,
regarded the Christianized Roman we must have an ice-cold realism in our
Empire of his day as tantamount to God’s expectations of what fallen and foolish
kingdom on earth. They found it all but human beings could achieve in the world.
impossible to distinguish between the Even the best and wisest Christians were
44still corrupted by sin, and capable of much relative, absolutely to the absolute.” The
that was evil and destructive. The quest soul-destroying error of utopian dreamers
for an earthly utopia was, in Augustine’s and imperialists is that they relate them-
view, the pursuit of a mirage, doomed to selves absolutely to the relative: they make
failure. Heaven was in heaven, and never an ultimate goal out of man’s earthly life
on earth. and secular well-being. In so doing, they
Yet Augustine did not recommend reveal that they love the creature more
political withdrawal and quietism on than the Creator. But true Christians,
the part of Christians, as we might pos- Augustine emphasized, would never
sibly have anticipated. On the contrary, confuse the relative good of the fading
he declared, the values pursued by the and fleeting city of this world, with the
city of man—peace and prosperity— absolute good of the eternal city of God.
were good in themselves, as far as they Indeed, it was precisely by turning their
went. Christians could cooperate in the backs on the city of God that unbelievers
endeavor to establish those values, even had made such a bloody and ruinous idol
though a faithful follower of Christ would of the earthly city:
not be driven by political utopianism in
They neglect the higher goods of
the venture. Augustine therefore repu- the heavenly city, which are secure
diated the notion that Christianity was through eternal victory and never-
incompatible with good citizenship. The ending peace, and thus they inordi-
nately covet the good things of the
citizens of the heavenly city could and present life, believing them to be the
should collaborate with the citizens of the only desirable things, or loving them
better than those things which faith
earthly city in seeking its earthly good.
reckons to be better. The inevitable
The values of the earthly city became false consequence is fresh misery and an
and evil, however, when made into the increase of the wretchedness that
was already there.9
ultimate goal of human life, and pursued
at the expense of justice. By striving for a secular heaven on
Does human political life not always earth, social engineers and empire-
need this Augustinian warning? We builders were more likely to turn earth
would surely do well to hear Augus- into hell. For Augustine, Christian faith
tine’s insistence that any exaltation of alone enabled people to pursue earthly
the earthly city and its values to absolute goals with a humble sense of realism, and
status is false and destructive. Man’s without the damning sins of idolatry (our
ultimate destiny lies beyond the earthly country or political party is an absolute
city, beyond this perishing life, in the value) or injustice (those who oppose us
transcendent God who created him; and have no value). If biblically informed, pru-
this supernatural destiny will be fulfilled dent, humble Christians of Augustine’s
only when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, stamp were to act as a leaven within the
returns at the close of history and creates politics of their country and their day, we
new heaven, new earth. might hopefully expect—not indeed the
Augustine’s position here was well building of Jerusalem in England’s (or
summed up by the nineteenth century America’s) green and pleasant land, but
Danish Lutheran thinker, Søren Kierkeg- at least the sabotaging of the building of
aard: “Relate yourself relatively to the Babylon. Such Christians are the state’s
45unsung heroes, putting crucial checks on to sinners, and the perseverance of the
its tendencies to idolatry and injustice. elect to the end of their earthly pilgrimage
There is much more that could be said and entrance into heaven at last. In many
about City of God, but perhaps enough of ways, Augustine’s discourses on grace are
an appetizer has been given to stimulate simply an extended meditation, profound
readers to drink from the fountainhead. and awe-inspiring, on the “golden chain”
In the words of Marcus Dodds, its nine- of Rom 8:29-30: foreknown, predestined,
teenth century translator, called, justified, glorified.
Prior to Augustine, we are hard pressed
[T]he interest attaching to the City
of God is not merely historical. It to find this developed theology of human
is the earnestness and ability with nature and divine grace in the writings
which [Augustine] develops his of the fathers. We discover scattered
own philosophical and theological
views which gradually fascinate utterances, hints, premonitions, embry-
the reader, and make him see why onic ideas: but no sustained or articulate
the world has set this among the
few greatest books of all time. The exposition. There is a good reason for this.
fundamental lines of the Augustin- As Augustine himself pointed out, prior
ian theology are here laid down in to Pelagius and his optimistic human-
a comprehensive and interesting
form. Never was thought so abstract ism masquerading as Christianity, the
expressed in language so popular … controversy over sin and grace had never
And though there are in the City of before arisen in that precise form, as the
God, as in all ancient books, things
that seem to us childish and barren, specific, conscious, and systematic focus
there are also the most surprising of theological reflection and disputation.
anticipations of modern specula- Referring to previous church fathers,
tion. There is an earnest grappling
with those problems which are Augustine said,
continually re-opened because they
underline man’s relation to God and What need is there to search into
the spiritual world—the problems their works, who before this heresy
which are not peculiar to any one arose were under no necessity of
century.10 troubling themselves to solve this
difficult question; which without
doubt they would have done, had
The Doctrine of Grace they been obliged to answer such
Finally, Augustine’s ongoing relevance things? Hence it is, that what they
to today’s church may be discovered in thought of the grace of God, they
have briefly and cursorily touched
the fabulous theological wealth of his on in some places of their writings,
anti-Pelagian treatises. If we are confes- whereas they dwelt at length on
sionally Lutheran or Reformed, we find those things in which they disputed
against the enemies of the church,
in these writings the first clear, coherent in exhortations to every virtue by
articulation of the biblical anthropology which to serve the living and true
God for the purpose of attaining
and soteriology so dear to our own hearts:
eternal life and true happiness.11
the total spiritual inability of unregener-
ate human nature to respond savingly to Augustine showed a critical awareness
God, the unconditional divine election of of the development of doctrine. As James
those who are to be saved, the manifesta- Orr argues in The Progress of Dogma,
tion of this grace in the mission of Christ
Every doctrine, I have urged, has its
the Savior, the sovereign efficacy of the “hour”—the period when it emerges
Holy Spirit in giving faith and repentance into individual prominence, and
46becomes the subject of exhaustive In particular, we should bear in mind
discussion.12 how the Catholics of North Africa were
practically as one man in their “Augustin-
The “hour” of the Trinity struck in the
ian” theology against Pelagius’s exaltation
fourth century; the “hour” of justification
of human free will. A very conservative
by faith struck in the sixteenth century;
body of men, those North Africans; and
and, Orr maintains, the “hour” of grace
they had no sense of adopting novelties
struck in the fifth century, with the Pela-
when they took up the sword of God’s
gian controversy. It is not surprising,
sovereign grace to split the skull of Pela-
therefore, that we do not (for example)
gian pride. This lends credence to Orr’s
observe the same kind of systematic clar-
judgment that predestination was “in the
ity in the articulation of the doctrine of the
air” breathed by Catholic theology, at least
Trinity in the ante-Nicene fathers that we
in North Africa, and needed only the heat
do find in the aftermath of Arianism, with
of the Pelagian controversy to condense
the linguistic and conceptual precision
into a distilled dew of explicit doctrine.
forged in the fires of controversy by Atha-
In the century after Augustine’s death,
nasius and the Cappadocian fathers.
a noble company of theologians arose
The same reasoning, both Augustine
to defend and enlarge his legacy, among
and Orr maintain, must be applied to the
them Prosper of Aquitaine, Fulgentius of
doctrine of grace before and after Pela-
Ruspe, Avitus of Vienne, and Caesarius of
gianism. To quote Orr again, regarding
Arles. Prosper’s treatises were translated
the fifth century:
into English in the 1950s in the Ancient
[T]hat the “hour” had come for them Christian Writers series, and make stirring
[the doctrines of sin and grace]—
and edifying reading.
that they were “in the air”, waiting
to be discussed—is seen in the Augustine’s anti-Pelagian writings are
simultaneous emergence of two men among the most accessible of his theo-
who represent the opposite poles of
logical works. They are full of thoughtful
doctrine on this subject—Augustine
and Pelagius. What Athanasius and exegesis; they burn with spiritual passion;
Arius were in the Arian controversy; they touch issues of salvation that reso-
what Anselm and Abelard were in
the Soteriological controversy; what nate in every Christian heart; and they lay
Calvin and Arminius were in the a solid biblical and theological foundation
post-Reformation controversy on for “the doctrine of grace” (as Augustine
the application of Redemption—that
Augustine and Pelagius were in this as his co-workers called it—we today tend
Anthropological controversy.13 to make it plural, “doctrines”), which has
been tried and found trustworthy in every
Augustine was the foremost figure succeeding age. Next after the apostles
of the early fifth century to explore as Paul and John, it is Augustine who has
never before the teaching of Scripture, bequeathed to the church a truly God-
especially the apostle Paul, on the extent centered vision of grace; and if we who
of sin and the sovereignty of grace. But hold this vision are to be named after any
Augustine was not alone, and we should post-apostolic man, we are Augustinians
not allow his towering stature to obscure
rather than Calvinists. (Calvin once said
the widespread support he received in the he would be happy to confess his faith
Latin West from fellow theologians. purely in the words of Augustine.) C. H.
47Spurgeon puts it in historical perspective to find a way of accounting for why so
like this: many regenerated infants failed to grow
up into credibly godly believers. He
The man who preaches the doctrines
of grace has an apostolic succession found it by postulating that regenerating
indeed. Can we not trace our pedi- grace could be lost. In other words, what
gree through a whole line of men distinguished God’s elect was not the
like Newton, and Whitefield, and
Owen and Bunyan, straight away on possession of regenerating grace alone,
till we come to Calvin, Luther, and but persevering grace.
Zwingli; and then we can go back
from them to Savonarola, to Jerome The African father’s problem here is,
of Prague, to Huss, and then back to however, rendered all but immaterial if
Augustine, the mighty preacher of we discard his belief in infant baptism,
Christianity; and from St. Augustine
to Paul is but one step. We need and affirm that the spiritual blessings of
not be ashamed of our pedigree; the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s
although Calvinists are now con- supper) always flow through the channel
sidered to be heterodox, we are and
ever must be orthodox. It is the old of saving faith. Consequently, rather than
doctrine.14 regenerate a person, whose regeneration
must then be reckoned lost if he finally
Perhaps the only real difference apostatizes, baptism instead imparts
between Augustine’s exposition and that strengthening grace to those who are
favored by mainstream Reformed theol- already regenerate believers. An unre-
ogy today lies in his understanding of generate unbeliever who receives bap-
perseverance. Both Augustine and mod- tism merely gets wet (not to put too fine
ern Reformed theology have a doctrine a point on it!). Arguably, then, the most
of “temporary faith”—those who profess robust and consistent Augustinianism
faith for a time, perhaps very credibly, is found among “Augustinian Baptists,”
but then fall away and are lost. Reformed whose understanding of perseverance
theology has tended to emphasize the is no longer burdened by Augustine’s
discernible difference between temporary moot conviction about infant baptismal
and saving faith; Augustine, by contrast, regeneration.
emphasized how similar they were. As a But let us not paint too critical a portrait
result, Augustine was notably less con- of Augustine’s doctrine of perseverance.
fident than Reformed theologians have When addressing himself in a pastoral
generally been in offering assurance of context to believers troubled by lack of
final salvation to the professing believer. assurance, he could sound very much like
Most of the time, the bishop of Hippo a Reformed pastor of today:
preferred warning people against pre-
sumption: you may profess faith today, You, therefore, ought to hope that
perseverance in obedience should
but the heart is deceitful, and rather than be given you by the Father of Lights,
presume on your final salvation, you from whom come down every
should continually cry to God for the excellent gift and every perfect gift
(James 1:17), and you should ask
salvation that endures. for it in your daily prayers. And in
Augustine’s position here was com- doing this, you ought to trust that
plicated (needlessly, in the view of main- you are not strangers to the predes-
tination of His people, because it is
stream Reformed thinking) by his belief He Himself who bestows even the
in infant baptismal regeneration. He had power of so praying. Far be it from
48you to despair of yourselves! For “Without me ye can do nothing,” is
you are bidden to put your hope the inscription on one side of it; on
in Him, not in yourselves. Indeed, the other stands written, “All things
cursed is every one who has hope in are yours.” Augustine held that he
man (Jeremiah 17:5); and it is good who builds on a human foundation
rather to trust in the Lord than to builds on sand, and founded all his
trust in man, because blessed are hope on the Rock itself. And there
all they that put their trust in Him also he founded his teaching; as he
(Psalm 2:12). Holding this hope, distrusted man in the matter of sal-
serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice vation, so he distrusted him in the
before Him with trembling (Psalm form of theology. No other of the
2:11). No one can be certain of the fathers so conscientiously wrought
life eternal which God who does not out his theology form the revealed
lie has promised to the children of Word; no other of them so sternly
promise before the times of eternity excluded human additions. The
(Titus 1:2) — no one, unless that life subjects of which theology treats,
of his, which is a state of trial upon he declares, are such as “we could
the earth, is completed. But God by no means find out unless we
will make us to persevere in Him- believed them on the testimony of
self to the end of that life, since we Holy Scripture.” “Where Scripture
daily say to Him, ‘Lead us not into gives no certain testimony,” he says,
temptation.’ “human presumption must beware
When these and similar things are how it decides in favor of either
said, whether to few Christians or to side.” “We must first bend our necks
the multitude of the church, why do to the authority of Scripture,” he
we fear to preach the predestination insists, “in order that we may arrive
of the saints and the true grace of at knowledge and understanding
God — that is, the grace which is through faith.” And this was not
not given according to our merits merely his theory, but his practice.
— as the Holy Scripture declares No theology was ever, it may be
it? Or must it be feared that a per- more broadly asserted, more con-
son should despair of his salvation, scientiously wrought out from the
when his hope is shown to be placed Scriptures. Is it without error? No;
in God? Should he not rather despair but its errors are on the surface, not
of his salvation, if in his excess of of the essence. It leads to God, and
pride and unhappiness, he should it came from God; and in the midst
place his hope in himself?15 of the controversies of so many ages
it has shown itself an edifice whose
The Christian, then, will find rich food solid core is built out of material
“which cannot be shaken.”16
for his soul in Augustine’s treatises on
grace. These are found gathered together Concluding Reflections
in volume 5 of Schaff’s Nicene and Post- Here, then, is Augustine, most eminent
Nicene Fathers, Series One, with a valuable of the Latin fathers of the church. Like all
introduction by B. B. Warfield. Augustine theologians and saints, he had his defects,
deals with these matters in other places and an essay on the defects of Augustine
too, e.g., in City of God and the Enchiridion would doubtless paint a somewhat differ-
(a sort of mini-handbook of doctrine). ent picture than this essay. Most of those
Warfield passes the following noble ver- who take the time to get acquainted with
dict on Augustine’s theology of grace: the bishop of Hippo, however, come to feel
Its central thought was the absolute that his faults were spots in a blazing and
dependence of the individual on beautiful sun. A trophy of grace both in
the grace of God in Jesus Christ. It his life and writings, may God then con-
made everything that concerned
salvation to be of God, and traced tinue to bless the example and the labors
the source of all good to Him. of his servant to us today, as we learn
49through Augustine to know Augustine’s in NPNF1, 5:lxxi.
God and to rejoice in the same mystery
of saving grace.
Endnote
1
From Johann Nepomuk Huber, Die Phi-
losophie der Kirchenväter (Munich, 1859),
312. Cited in Philip Schaff, “Prolegom-
ena” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
Series 1 (hereafter NPNF1) (ed. Philip
Schaff; 14 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerd-
mans, 1956), 1:9-10.
2
Jerome, Apology against Rufinus 2.17.
3
Augustine, Confessions 8.28-9 in vol. 1 of
NPNF1 (trans. J. G. Pilkington)
4
Prosper, Letter to Rufinus 3 and 18.
5
Quoted in Seraphim Rose, The Place of
Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church
(rev. ed.; Wildwood, CA: St. Xenia Skete,
1997), 80.
6
Schaff, “Prolegomena,” 11-12.
7
Augustine, Confessions 10.8-9.
8
Philip Schaff, “Editor’s Preface” in
NPNF1, 2:5.
9
Augustine, City of God 15.4 in vol. 2 of
NPNF1 (trans. Marcus Dods)
10
Marcus Dods, “Translator’s Preface” in
NPNF1, 2:xiii-xiv.
11
Augustine, On the Predestination of the
Saints 27 in vol. 5 of NPNF1 (trans. Peter
Holmes and Robert Ernest Wallis).
12
James Orr, The Progress of Dogma: Being
the Elliot Lectures, Delivered at the Western
Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Penna.,
U.S.A., 1897 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1952), 243.
13
Ibid., 136.
14
C. H. Surgeon, from the sermon “Sover-
eign Grace and Man’s Responsibility,” 1
August 1858.
15
Augustine, On the Gift of Perseverance 62
in vol. 5 of NPNF1.
16
B. B. Warfield, “Introductory Essay on
Augustin and the Pelagian Controversy”
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