The Political and Social Ideas of Saint Augustine

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THE POLITICAL and SOCIAL IDEAS ST.

AUGUSTINE

of

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(The

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AND

SOCIAL IDEAS OF

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POLITICAL

ST. By

AUGUSTINE HERBERT

A.

DEANE

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•H •H •H •H •H •H •H •H •H •H •H •H

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK AND LONDON

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************ ******************************

Copyright

©

1963 Columbia University Press

ISBN: 0-231-08569-9 Printed in the United States of America

987654

For Dave,

Ellie,

and Ted

PREFACE

For a number of

years, in teaching

undergraduate and graduate

courses in the history of political thought,

I

have found that

the problem of giving students an adequate grasp of the social

and

political ideas of St.

Augustine presents unusual

difficulties.

In no single work by Augustine, comparable to Plato's Republic, Aristotle's

Politics,

Hobbes's Leviathan, or Hegel's Rechtsphi-

losophie, can his leading ideas about

man,

and the

society,

be found.

Nor

expounds

his entire philosophy, including his teachings

state

can the student be sent to a work where Augustine

subjects.

He

Summa

Theologica of

on these

never produced a synthesis of his thought like the St.

Thomas, which contains

orderly, sys-

tematic treatments of such topics as law, justice, and obedience.

The

usual recourse for the teacher

read Augustine's

both too

The

much and

too

is

to ask the student to

City of God. This book, however, offers little;

too

much, because

it is

a very long,

discursive work, written over a period of thirteen years,

includes a great deal of material that to the student of social

and

is

which

of only peripheral interest

political ideas (e.g., the details of the

polemic against pagan religion, or the frequent, extended cussions of purely theological issues); too

little,

because a

dis-

num-

ber of crucial aspects of Augustine's thought, such as his views

on the question of using the power of the and schism,

The key

are not treated at to the

problem

is,

all,

state to

punish heresy

or are treated only partially.

of course, the realization that St.

Augustine, powerful and influential though his thought was, was

— PREFACE

Viii

He

not a system-builder. writings, such as

The

wrote a great deal, and

De

City of God, the

many

of his

Trinitate, the

Com-

mentaries on the Psalms, and the Commentaries on the Gospel

and

Epistle of St. John, are

major works. But

— whether

thing that Augustine wrote

work, a doctrinal piece.

Almost

treatise, a

virtually every-

a very long, complicated

sermon, or a

letter

—was an occasional

writings were polemical and controversial;

all his

soon as an erroneous interpretation of Scripture or an heretical

as

doctrine

came

to his attention,

criticism

and a

rebuttal. It

is

he immediately launched upon a

instructive to notice

works bear the word "Contra" ("Against") produced

treatises against the

how many

of his

he

in their titles;

Manichaeans, the Donatists, and

the Pelagians.

Never during the

seventy-six years of his life

period of quiet and security, when,

all

was there a

the enemies of the

having been vanquished, he could withdraw

to

Church

write a non-

polemical, systematic treatise expounding his theology as a whole

human

or his views about order.

nature and the social and political

However, even had such an opportunity presented

Augustine probably would not have produced a logica like that of St.

Thomas. Genius he had

but system-building and architectonic

he

is

skill

Summa

itself

Theo-

in full measure,

were not

his forte;

the master of the phrase or the sentence that embodies a

penetrating insight, a flash of lightning that illuminates the entire sky; he

is

the rhetorician, the epigrammist, the polemicist, but

not the patient, logical, systematic philosopher.

To

1

gain an adequate understanding of the social and political

doctrines of a discursive thinker like Augustine, the student

would have

to read

most of

his writings.

would be an impossible assignment.

It

For many students

this

would take months

to

read only the works that have been translated into English

about

fifty

treatises,

hundreds of

letters

and sermons

—to

say

PREFACE

ix

nothing of the important works for which there are no English translations.

Even

student of social

if

and

he were willing to undertake political

where

the long stretches of Augustine's writings relevant to his concerns

the

discussed.

is

reason for writing this book.

first

in a single

the student will find

volume most of the important passages from the

human

and the nature and functions of the

I

of quotations

and in the hope

from

work might

and the

state

even though he

book

is,

is

style

his writings

volume

is

To

hand acquaint-

of thinking, a large

have been included in

more than an anthology, however

be. Since

and markedly original

ciety,

this

state are discussed.

notes.

that the

useful such a ful

nature, the social

this need, as well as to give the reader a first

ance with Augustine's characteristic

Yet

is

Here

order,

the text

that

These

Augustinian corpus in which

number

little

difficulties constitute

entire

meet

this task, the

thought might easily lose his way in

Augustine possesses a power-

intelligence, his views about

into coherent

fall

and

not a systematic theorist.

man,

so-

consistent patterns,

The second aim

therefore, to organize the material

of

from Augustine's

writings and to elucidate the general point of view that permeates his reflections about social

in this

endeavor

systematic than

drawn

it

is

and

the temptation to

really

is.

The danger inherent make his thought more

political life.

Commentators have sometimes been

into this temptation by the striking

manner

in

which he

expresses his ideas; as a consequence, they have allowed themselves

to

reduce his complex insights to a simple, consistent

theory. Finally, this social

and

work

is

intended as a

critical essay

political doctrines. It seeks to

on Augustine's

demonstrate to the reader

the connections between those doctrines and the general frame-

work

of his thought, to assess the coherence

ideas,

and

and

validity of his

to call attention to the strengths as well as the limita-

PREFACE

X tions of the

Augustinian approach. As far

work

in English

social

and

which presents a

as I

know, there

is

examination of them.

political ideas or a critical

no

treatment of Augustine's

full

The

valuable bibliography appended to the third edition of fitienne 2 Gilson's Introduction a I'etude de saint Augustin,

the principal works written about Augustine in the section

on

and

social

which

to 1943, refers,

political doctrines, to

only one book

published in English, John Neville Figgis's 3

of S. Augustine's 'City of God,'

and

I

The

know

Political Aspects

volume

of no

has been published since that time on this subject.

Gilson describes trant,"

5

is

it

this

lists

up

work by Figgis

that

Although

as "excellent et tres pene-

summary and

quite inadequate as a

Augustine's political thought, since

4

it

analysis of

deals with only a single

work, The City of God. Moreover, of the book's one hundred

and nineteen pages only the State (Chapter III)

thirty are

devoted to the central topics,

and the Church (Chapter IV).

Probably the best-known twentieth-century treatment of Augustine's social

and

political doctrines

is

Gustave Combes's La

doctrine politique de saint Augustin? which Gilson describes as

"un le

repertoire systematique et detaille des idees d'Augustin sur

'gouvernement des

nations.' "

7

Combes's work

strikes the reader

gives references

at first glance as a highly useful study, since

it

to the entire corpus of Augustine's writings

and

deals with a

number

of important topics, such as authority, law, justice, war,

and the

relations

student

is

references.

between Church and

State. Its usefulness to the

many

inaccurate quotations and

marred, however, by 8

In addition,

I

find

it

difficult to

many of the ideas. The value

accept

author's principal interpretations of Augustine's

of Combes's book and of several other studies of Augustine's social

and

political ideas

seems to

me

to be

reduced because the

authors give a Thomistic interpretation to his doctrines; as a

PREFACE

they minimize or even disregard the differences between

result,

his philosophy

One

final

and that of

have occasionally called

I

and differences between Augustine's ideas

and those of other important that such comparisons I

Thomas.

St.

word should be added.

attention to similarities

often,

XI

political thinkers

might be illuminating

where

it

seemed

have noted the contemporary relevance, either for

political

theory or for practice, of one or another of his insights. readers

may

quently than

feel I

that

ought

I

and

social

Some

have pointed out, more

fre-

have, the places where Augustine's ideas conflict

with or are supported by modern the extent to

to

Less

to the reader.

and

social

which they are applicable

problems.

The

only excuse

to

political theories,

contemporary

can offer

I

and

political

the stubborn,

is

and possibly mistaken, conviction that we demonstrate an unwarranted "smugness of contemporaneity" when

we

a great thinker of another age

happen

if

his conclusions

with the ideas fashionable in our

him

day, or

for his failure to achieve the level of

tion that

be able

we

ourselves have attained.

litical life

comments

to

communicate

to agree

when we

wisdom and

chide

sophistica-

think that the reader will

—or irrelevance—of

to both the perennial

and the peculiar problems of our

cern, I freely admit, has

others.

I

to see for himself the relevance

of Augustine's

and

own

congratulate

most

dilemmas of po-

age.

My

chief con-

been to understand what Augustine said

that understanding, as far as

I

could, to

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My

fundamental obligation

fourteen years ago, the political

two teachers who, almost

to the

is

made me aware of Augustine—Dino

first

thought of

the significance of

Bigongiari,

St.

whose

are so great that

knowledge and love of Augustine's writings

it

becomes almost an impertinence for his students to say or write anything on

this subject,

and the

late

Franz Neumann, who was

profoundly impressed by Augustine's pessimistic realism

and lack

of sentimentality about politics.

This book would never have been written had the generous encouragement

and

Foundation, which by granting

demic year 1958-59 made basic research

and the

it

me

I

not enjoyed

The

assistance of

Rockefeller

a fellowship during the aca-

possible for

me

to

undertake the

and of the

early stages of the writing,

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, whose fellowship

award

for the year 1960-61 permitted

year to the completion of the work. ness to the

grant

me

to devote a full

acknowledge

my

indebted-

Stanwood Cockey Lodge Foundation, whose generous

made

One

I

this publication possible.

of the great advantages of academic

take for granted without realizing

its

life,

importance,

willingness of busy colleagues to devote time task of reading

and

criticizing other

and have given

and suggestions: Rosalie L.

me

is

the constant

and energy

people's

deeply grateful to those friends and colleagues the manuscript

which we often

writings.

who have

the benefit of their

Colie, Robert

to the I

am read

comments

D. Cumming, Julian

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

XIV

H. Franklin, Maurice M. Goldsmith, Moses Hadas, Reinhold Niebuhr, John Plamenatz, John B. Stewart, David B. Truman,

and Neal N. Wood. I

am

also indebted to the

Columbia University

my

of

in the year 1959-60.

preoccupation with Augustine but

tions

my

members

my

They not only

also,

and comments, contributed materially

ideas.

graduate seminar at tolerated

by thoughtful questo the clarification of

CONTENTS

A

Note on Texts and Translations

xvii

Introduction I.

i

The Theology

II.

of Fallen

The Psychology

Man

of Fallen

13

Man

39

III.

Morality and Justice, Natural and Remedial

IV.

The

V.

State:

War and

The Return

Relations

of Order

Among

States

upon Disorder

78 116 r

54

VI. Church, State, and Heresy

172

Conclusion

221

Abbreviations

245

Notes

247

Bibliography

333

Index

339

—

A NOTE ON TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

For the three works by Augustine recently appeared in the

new

for

which revised

texts

have

Latin Christian authors,

series of

the Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Turnholti, Typographi

Brepols editores Pontificii)

The Commentaries on

The

God (De

City of

Civitate Dei),

the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos),

and One Hundred and Twenty-jour Tractates on the Gospel John {In loannis Evangelium Tractatus

from and referred

CXXIV) —I

to the Latin texts in this series.

works by Augustine,

have used the Latin

I

Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Letters, 1866-

or in

)

J.-P.

For

Corpus

Academy

Migne, Patrologiae Latina

works

in the

Vienna

The

Augustinian corpus,

texts for the

I

have had to use and

works which have not

Series of

cite the

yet appeared in the

works

A

is

collection of English

found in the

Select Library of the

first

translations of

eight volumes of the First

Wm.

Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan,

B.

1956).

Eerdmans PublishI

have quoted and

referred to these translations in this book, except for the

below. For

The

City of God,

translation as published in

ing

Company,

New

I

works

have used the Marcus Dods

two volumes by the Hafner Publish-

York (1948);

pagination, this translation

Au-

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,

edited by Philip Schafl (reprinted by

listed

the

all

edition. largest single

gustine's

ing

of

(Paris,

1854-66); since the former series does not yet include

Migne

other

all

texts in the

(Vienna,

of

have quoted

is

aside

from differences

identical with the

Dods

in

translation

NOTE ON TEXT AND TRANSLATIONS

A

Xvili

found in Volume

De

of Schafr".

II

De Libero Arbitrio, the the De Diversis Quaestio-

For the

Vera Religione, and the sections of

nibus ad Simplicianum that are included, tions

by John H.

Christian Classics (Philadelphia,

For the Confessions and the Enchiridion tions

have used the transla-

Volume VI of The Library of The Westminster Press, 1953).

Burleigh in

S.

I

I

have used the

transla-

by Albert C. Outler in Volume VII of The Library of

The Westminster

Christian Classics (Philadelphia,

For the

De

Spiritu et Littera

and the

Press, 1955).

De

parts of the

and of the Tractates on the Epistle of John

Trinitate

that are included,

I

have used the translations by John Burnaby in Volume VIII of

The Library

Christian

of

(Philadelphia,

Classics

The West-

minster Press, 1955).

English translations of a number of Augustine's works have

appeared in the

series called

York, Cima Publishing Co.

Inc.,

1948-

of the

).

(New

Church

From

this collection

have used the translation of the Contra Academicos and the

I

De Ordine in

Volume

Volume

in 35,

1,

and the

of Letters constitute

to

them by

Volume

series,

12,

I

of Schaff

18,

30,

The Fathers

Where no English felt

I

and 32 of The

FCL

I

I

have referred

indicates

Volume

of the Church translation.

translation exists for a

seriously misleading, I have

the five volumes

and

work by Augustine

that the existing translation

Latin text; in each case,

;

Augustine

but they are also numbered as

these numbers, for example,

I

20,

of the Letters of St. Augustine

of the Letters in

or where

in

Volumes

Fathers of the Church

Volumes I-V

the translation of the Contra Julianum

translations of those letters of

which were not included

I

The Fathers

made my own

was incorrect or

translations of the

have added the phrase, "author's

transla-

tion," after the citation to the Latin text.

Wherever the numbering of chapters or paragraphs of Augustine's

works was

different in the Latin text

and

in the English

A

NOTE ON TEXT AND TRANSLATIONS

translation, I

have always given the numbering that

the Latin text; for example, in in

all

is

found

xix in

references to the Enarrationes

Psalmos the numbers of the Psalms and of the sections of each

Commentary

are those

found in the Latin

text,

and not the

changed numbers given in the abbreviated version of the work that appears in translation in

Volume VIII

of Schafr".

THE POLITICAL ST.

and

SOCIAL IDEAS

AUGUSTINE

of

INTRODUCTION

Important contributions to

political

and

been made more frequently in periods of

more

disturbance than in

peaceful times.

philosophy have

social

and

political

Our Western

social

tradition

of political thought begins with the efforts of Plato and Aristotle to

understand and to deal with the

and

in the other

during the

fifth

Greek

states,

the Athenian polls

crisis in

which resulted from the dissolution

century of what has been called "the Inherited

Conglomerate" of traditional

institutions

and

beliefs.

was brought into sharp focus by the increasingly between rich and poor in most of the Greek Peloponnesian War, in which finally defeated

the Athenians

by the Spartans and their

The

and by the

their allies

allies.

crisis

bitter conflicts

states

and

1

The

were

political

writings of Machiavelli not only mirror the chaos and instability of Renaissance Italy but seek to provide the key to the restoration

and

civil

war

called forth Hobbes's analysis of the foundations of society

and

of order

the state

and

security. In seventeenth-century

his prescription of the ideas

must be accepted and the

if

anarchy

satisfactions of

is

to

England,

and

institutions that

be banished in favor of peace

which peace

is

the condition precedent.

Rousseau's Discourses reflect the rejection and disgust which the last stages of the ancien regime in France evoked in in

many

him and

other observers, while his Social Contract seeks to dis-

cover the principles of political right, the only true bases for a just

and legitimate

When

a political

society.

and

social

system

is

running smoothly, and

INTRODUCTION

2

when

arrangements and ideas

traditional

quate to the problems that

on the whole, ade-

are,

arise, there is little incentive to

un-

dertake a fundamental analysis of the nature and functions of society

and the

ask basic questions about the grounds of

state, to

political obligation or the citizen's

commands

duty to obey the

men

of political authorities. In quiet times,

tend to take for

granted the state and the order and security that

provides.

it

After a period of stable government and security for

and order

property, they are tempted to regard peace

and "given" and

as "natural"

to forget that, to a great extent, they are the

results of elaborate, delicate contrivance.

about fundamental problems of

soon arrive

and

life

and

beliefs

they think at

If

and

political

at tolerably satisfactory

in terms of the values

2

all

social order, they

answers which are couched widely accepted as unques-

tionably true in their society.

When, however, men and

tional political conflicts

above

all,

become

when

mines the body values

system seems unable to solve,

when

classes, regions,

to suggest

age in

politic

of the most fundamental kind under-

because traditional

new answers which

St.

transition

beliefs, attitudes,

virtually automatic assent

men

examine the bases of

are once

social

and

more driven

political

order

to the questions of politics.

—the

and the

first

decades of the

a period of profound disturbances,

from the

and

from most

Augustine lived and wrote

part of the fourth century

century—was

or religious sects within

so intense that consensus evaporates, and, crisis

of the society, thoughtful

to the effort to

The

a

tradi-

no longer command

members and

social

between groups,

the society

which the

face serious difficulties

classical civilization of

last

fifth

marking the

Greece and

Rome

to

the Christian civilization of Western Europe. Augustine, heir to the classical tradition logian,

is

and great Christian philosopher and

theo-

the bridge between the thought of antiquity and that

INTRODUCTION of the

between

link

3

Middle Ages; indeed, he can be regarded

which, having dominated Europe from the

own

our

Of

may now

times,

course, there

be coming to

its

tian civilizations, since

many

fifth

century until

ignore the survival of the

Graeco-Roman

thousand years

know

elements of Graeco-Roman culture

after the

was sacked by

city

Roman Empire and

civilization

in

Byzantium

of

Even

many

for

elements

more than

when

the

the line of

Western Emperors expired with the deposition of Romulus 476.

Many

who

of the "barbarians"

Roman

and

culture

institutions

after they

there

had

was a

settled

until

it

down

in Italy, Gaul, or Spain.

Roman Emperor

The

of

Roman law the

Germanic

laws.

away with

difficulties in

conquerors

The

as well as

eighth and ninth

Roman

Roman

were con-

official titles as

Roman

as

m agister

bureaucracy

the decline in education

communication. The authority

continued to be recognized for the subject peoples,

although

Franks

into the

As long

in the West, their kings

barbarian rulers used the

gradually withered

and the increase of

moved

long before they

to

and they became much more Romanized

tented, even eager, to accept such

militum.

in

migrated into Western Europe

and created the "barbarian kingdoms" had been exposed heart of the Empire,

a

now

when

did not "fall" in 410

Alaric, the Visigoth, or

we

if

end of the Western Empire, we

Roman Empire

that the

and Chris-

classical

passed over into the civilization of Western Europe.

of

civilization

end.

no neat break between

is

an important

and the Christian

culture

classical

as

retained

for

themselves

sixth-century Merovingian

own

their

kingdom

of the

Charlemagne's Frankish empire in the centuries

institutions, ideas,

and culture survived

Germanic elements brought

late

demonstrate the extent to which in

union with the

in by the "barbarians."

Nevertheless, the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth

century

mark

a significant point in the political, economic,

INTRODUCTION

4

and

cultural disintegration of the for

century drew to a close,

life

institutions,

and

in increasing

Roman Empire

more than

which had been in process

in the West,

As

a century.

the fourth

ebbed away from the municipal

numbers the

curials fled

from the

impossible burden of imperial taxation intended to support the

army and

the bureaucracy. In

many

Western Empire,

areas of the

and

large landholders retired to their country estates

power

for themselves

positions that

the control of the imperial tianity

became the

of pagan religion

official

was

state.

were

built

up

virtually

immune from

when

Catholic Chris-

After 380,

religion of the

Empire, 3 the practice

and punishment of

subject to disabilities

4

various kinds. Although the triumph of Christianity was not im-

mediate, the principal resistance to the Church came not from the older pagan cults but rather from such Christian heresies as

Arianism, to which most of the Germanic invaders adhered, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, and, in Africa, Donatism. Both in thought

when

it

and

practice,

was subjected

paganism showed

vigor or tenacity

little

to state persecution; the

hold upon the popular mind was

made

weakness of

its

manifest by the ease

with which the victory of Christianity was generally accepted. Finally, the novel spectacle of the barbarians

—not

goths, Vandals

Western Empire but overrunning Spain, and North Africa

—and

its

heartland

Roman

—

Rome

the sack of

dramatic proof of the decline of the tive,

—Visigoths,

Ostro-

merely pressing across the frontiers of the Italy,

itself

political,

Gaul, offered

administra-

and military system.

The

collapse of established institutions

and

beliefs,

and continued violence and war, and the new tianity within the

Empire impelled Augustine

the fundamental issues of social and political

widespread

position of Christo

life.

examine anew

As

a Christian

philosopher and theologian, what materials did he have at hand to guide his reflections?

INTRODUCTION The

attitude of the early

5

Church toward

society

has been the subject of extensive controversy.

It

and the

state

has sometimes

been argued that primitive Christianity was radically hostile to the political

and economic

religious life of the

institutions as well as the cultural

Roman Empire;

Christianity,

said,

it is

a revolutionary protest of the underprivileged

essentially

and

was and

enslaved against the economic, social, and political oppression to

which they were

On

subject.

this

view the Church's gradual

ceptance of traditional institutions such as the

and slavery constituted an abandonment of

property,

opposition to the world and an accommodation of teachings to the imperatives of social I

am

convinced that

and

ac-

private

state,

original

its

ethical

its

political life.

this interpretation is so

oversimple as to

be seriously inadequate. Although the teachings of Jesus as

corded in the Gospels have relatively attitude for Christians to adopt state, certain

a

number

of His

little

to say

toward the

fundamental principles are

re-

about the proper

social order

and the

clearly established.

On

of occasions, Jesus warns His disciples against thinking

kingdom

revolt of the

as

an earthly kingdom,

Jews against

Roman

rule

be established by a

to

and maintained by

or-

dinary political instruments. This hope for the advent of a

Messiah state

who would

and

scatter its

appearing even

moment

reestablish the

independence of the Jewish

enemies was so deep-seated that

among

Jesus'

closest

not only insisted that His

who would

kingdom was not

of this world

Him

as a

re-

and

so

Messiah

be the temporal ruler of the Jewish people, but

endeavored to draw His followers' attention away from

terest in

He in-

worldly matters such as the attainment of wealth or

power over other men. Since His concern was the

kept

of His death and, indeed, after His resurrection. 5 Jesus

discouraged His followers from thinking of

also

it

followers until the very

kingdom

of

God which He

for their salvation,

urged them to seek was an

INTRODUCTION

6 eternal

kingdom based upon

minded and

total love of

He

fair to say that

—single-

the double law of love

God and

encouraged His

love of one's neighbor.

It

worldly concerns, including political power, but indifference a far cry litical

from

rebellion, anarchism, or

He

order.

tells

His

is

hostility to the po-

"The kings

of the Gentiles

them: and they that exercise authority

exercise lordship over

upon them

disciples:

even

is

be indifferent to

disciples to

But ye

are called benefactors.

shall not

be

so."

He

6

rebukes them for speculating about their relative precedence in the

kingdom

to be first

of heaven,

He

and

among them must

reminds them that he

who

seeks

follow His example by humbling

himself to become the servant of the others.

However, Jesus never encouraged or permitted His followers to ignore or resist the thorities.

authority,

don

He 7

commands

of the established political au-

Himself acknowledged the legitimacy of

He

and

ordered Peter and the other disciples to aban-

their plans for resisting the soldiers

Him. Of

central importance

is

who were

His famous reply

about the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar fore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, that are God's."

8

Pilate's

The

and

obvious meaning of this

sent to arrest

to the question

—"Render there-

God the things command is that

to

Christians are to obey the orders of the political authorities in

all

matters which do not involve neglect or disobedience of God's

commands;

as

Parker

says,

9

it is

clear that the

Church, from the

beginning, understood Christ's injunction in this sense.

The

Christian's conscientious duty to obey the

established

political

famous passages in

rulers St.

is

Paul's Epistle to the

First Epistle of St. Peter.

10

what the same depreciation of and

we have noted

Romans and

Although the Apostles maintain

political authority is divinely instituted, they

that

commands

of

repeated and underlined in the

demonstrate some-

disinterest in political

in Jesus' teachings.

11

the that

According

to

power

Paul and

INTRODUCTION

7

primary function

is

the preservation of order by

the punishment of evildoers. This

is

a limited

Peter, the ruler's

though not an insignificant one; further, the

and negative

task,

function

state's

is

not a matter of great concern to the Christian, since presumably

he will do good and avoid fellow

man and

and judges may

One

evil

because he loves

not because he fears

God and

his

the punishments that rulers

inflict.

other aspect of early Christian thought about the political

order deserves mention. In apocalyptic literature, and especially

Book

in the

the

of Revelation, a sharp contrast

kingdom

of

God and

the

kingdoms

drawn between

is

of this world,

and powers are

part of the realm of Satan. All earthly thrones

destined to be destroyed

when

the world comes to an end (an

event which most Christians of the to occur

within a short time) and

to destroy the

wicked and

which are

first

century probably expected

when

Christ returns in triumph

all their

works. This apocalyptic

atti-

tude can only have served to strengthen the tendency in the early

Church

to

be more or

less indifferent to

concerns and to regard the state

the state

and

political

as an instrument operated by

non-Christians for regulating and repressing the criminal actions of other nonbelievers.

teachings

is it

Nowhere

in the Gospels or in the Apostolic

ever suggested that Christians have any obligation

to participate in the operation of the political activities of the state

members

of the

have any

Church or

system or that the

real relevance to the

to their overriding concern

conduct of

—salvation

and participation in the kingdom of God.

The

Christian view that the principal function of the state

the repression and punishment of the wicked pole

from the

classical,

the purpose of the state

and educate

its

and is

is

is

at the opposite

especially the Greek, conception that

to

promote the good

citizens so that they

life

and

to train

become good and virtuous

men. 12 Once eternal salvation and man's right

relation to

God

INTRODUCTION

8

become the primary concerns, lectual, cultural,

and economic

pursuits,

become

intel-

clearly secondary

Rebirth and salvation come through Christ and the

interests.

Church

along with

political activities,

that

He

established,

and not through the

instrumentalities of the state. Christians

may

ent citizens of the state in which they live; they

Apostolic

injunctions

pray

to

for

their

activities

or

be good and obedi-

may

heathen

follow the

rulers;

but

throughout the course of history they remain "strangers" and "pilgrims" in the

whose primary whose

allegiance

closest ties are

Greek, bond or city or nation.

of this world,

cities

is

men

of "divided loyalties"

God and His commands and Roman or

to

with their Christian brethren,

free, rather

For good or

than with the fellow citizens of their evil,

the spread of Christianity

meant

the introduction of a dualism in Western civilization that pre-

vented a return to the conception of the

state as the central focus

of man's interests and activities or as the incarnation of man's

highest values.

Only with the

twentieth century has a all

aspects of

human

life

new

rise of totalitarian societies in the

general effort been

made

to bring

under the guidance and control of the

state or the totalitarian party.

The

persecutions of the Christian

Church by the Roman

which were carried on intermittently and with more or

from the time of the Emperor Nero in the

until the

middle of the third century and the

less

State,

vigor

Decian persecutions

final persecution, that

of Diocletian, at the beginning of the fourth century, did not

bring about any marked change in the Church's attitude toward the state.

13

On

the one hand, the persecutions and the efforts of

the state to compel Christians to renounce their faith in Christ

and

to

do homage

to the official divinities of the

Empire, includ-

ing the Emperor, kept alive during the second and third centuries the early Christian view that the state was a part of the "world," the devil's

kingdom, from which

as believers they

had been

set

INTRODUCTION free

9

by God's grace. Christians were not tempted to glorify a

which from time

to

time used

its

power and authority

state

in efTorts

His children. They

to destroy

God's Church and to harass or

had

incentive to modify the primitive view that the func-

little

kill

tions of the state, being primarily negative

positive value for the Christian. It

is,

and

repressive,

more

perhaps,

that the other aspect of Christian political doctrine

had no

surprising

—the

belief

that political authorities, as divinely ordained instruments for the

punishment of the wicked, must be obeyed and, indeed, honored

and never

resisted or subverted

—retained

its

vigor throughout the

period of state persecution. Although true Christians refused, of course, to obey the state's

commands

to

renounce their

belief in

Christ or to worship pagan deities, they continued to obey

all

other orders of the political authorities and to pay taxes, and they

accepted punishment, even martyrdom, at the hands of the state

without any attempt

Thus, despite

its

ing penetration of

at resistance or rebellion.

steady growth in all classes

membership and

of society, the

and third centuries was not compelled revision or clarification of

During the long was able

intervals

to maintain

political order,

its

its

to

its

increas-

in the second

undertake any major

earlier attitudes

toward the

state.

between the persecutions, the Church

original position of uninvolvement in the

combined with an acceptance of

necessary instrument in this sinful world. officials

Church

that order as a

As long

were pagans, Christians could retain

as rulers

their

and

traditional

stance of half-accepting, half-rejecting the state, while enjoying

the benefits of the peace

and order maintained by the

state with-

out their active participation.

The 312,

conversion to Christianity of the Emperor Constantine in

which came

less

than a decade after the Diocletian persecu-

tions (303-305), the support

and favor bestowed upon the Church

by the Emperor, and the great influx of

state officials

and military

INTRODUCTION

10

personnel into the Church brought to a sudden and dramatic

climax the steady penetration of Christianity into the pagan

When

world.

two

the

Constantine died in 337, Christianity was one of of the

official religions

were temporary setbacks

for the

Emperor Constantius, who was

Roman Empire;

although there

Church during the reign of the a partisan of Arianism, and dur-

ing the brief renascence of paganism under the Emperor Julian (361-363), the triumph of orthodox Christianity was finally recog-

nized in 380

when Theodosius

as the official religion of the

power of the

the

enemies

—

attitudes

and

and

upon the Church the need

toward the world, and

its political,

legal,

and military

tian writers as Tertullian

his successors

new

Its

to clarify

used

activities.

No

Empire could hardly

Athens

to

its

situation

and readjust

toward the

especially

state

longer was

it

and pacifism of such Chris-

and Lactantius, 15 and the

of the

official

say with Tertullian,

Church

"What

has

do with Jerusalem? [Quid Athenae Hierosolymis?\"

or "Nothing

It is

and

schismatics.

possible to retain the antimilitarism

State."

He

support the Church and to punish

pagans, heretics,

forced squarely its

state to

the Great proclaimed Christianity

Empire. 14

is

more

foreign to us [the Christians] than the

16

one of Augustine's great accomplishments that he formu-

lated the Church's

view of the

manner which took attitudes

state

and

political

power

in a

into account both the traditional Christian

which have been mentioned and the new

which the Church of the

fifth

century found

itself.

situation in

In his discus-

sions of politics his penetrating insights could be given almost free rein, since there

bound

his

clear Scriptural texts to

thought and since none of the

had undertaken a traditional

were only a few

earlier

Church Fathers

detailed examination of the political order.

view of the early Church that the

state

was an

The

essential

instrument for repressing the consequences of sin and that

it

was

INTRODUCTION men

not the vehicle by which

II

could attain to true

was thoroughly congenial

virtue, or true happiness

justice, true

to Augustine's

—the sinfulness of human nature, salva-

own

leading conceptions

tion

by unmerited divine grace, and the view that private prop-

erty, slavery,

and the

and remedies

political

and

legal systems are

for the depraved condition of

punishments

mankind

after the

Fall.

He

fine,

the traditional, but vaguely defined, beliefs of the Church.

was therefore

He made

able to accept,

and

definite

clear

and then elaborate and

re-

the sharp cleavage between the

Christian view of the nature and functions of the state and the classical doctrine

human for

its

and

to

make

existed to

possible the

form and educate them

human,

truly

was the highest and noblest form of

it

which

association,

citizens

become

that

that

is,

good

so that they

life

might

good and virtuous men who had

realized their fullest potentialities. Characteristically, this classical,

and

Augustine did not simply ignore or discard

particularly Platonic, vision of the

which embodies perfect citizens is

it is

no longer an

all

societies.

There

is

The

its

Platonic ideal

only one true republic

justice,

the citizens; that society

exists eternally in

society

ideal that can be realized or even

which perfect peace, harmony,

assured to

good

and harmony and which gives

complete happiness and fulfillment.

retained, but

approximated in earthly in

justice

God's heaven and

is

is

and

are

satisfaction

the civitas Dei,

which

the goal of God's elect

while they sojourn as pilgrims in this sin-ridden, wretched earthly life.

Only

in that city

mutual love the ruling

"whose founder and

ruler

principle, so that there

is

is

Christ"

no need for

coercion, punishment, or repression. In that city alone can realize the noble

and

Once

men

aims proclaimed by the philosophers of Greece

Rome—complete and unbroken

harmony, true

is

self-realization,

peace, perfect concord

and

and perpetual happiness.

the classical vision of the state

had been transferred

to

INTRODUCTION

12

the heavenly city earthly society

and the hope of embodying

had been

flatly rejected as

was

free to follow the lead suggested

and

to take a

in this

world

new, sharply

fact they

they cannot do, and

them. Let

ideals in

any

by the Christian tradition

look at the actual states found

—to examine what they

and what in set for

realistic

its

impossible, Augustine

are intended to accomplish

can accomplish, what they do and what

how

in fact they perform the tasks that are

us, in the chapters that follow,

examine

in detail

the results of this fresh look at the workings of actual political institutions.

17

CHAPTER

I

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

When we and the

consider St. Augustine's teachings about

state,

theologian or,

we must always remember more

seeking to turn

world and

them back

satisfying center of

was not

his

own

man's

to

Word

as the

one true and ultimately

The main theme

ideas about the

for the society, but the

of

was primarily a

themselves and the things of this

God,

life.

society,

and a preacher, who was

accurately, a pastor

men away from

to call

that he

man,

good

God

life

of his preaching

for the individual or

as revealed in the Scriptures.

In his view, the task of the preacher

is

to set forth this divine

message, to remind his hearers of God's commands, to explain

and

and

interpret the Scriptures,

defend the true doctrine

to

against enemies of the faith, whether pagans or heretics. sequently, almost

all

of Augustine's writings are, in one

another, commentaries

on the

Scriptures,

and there

Con-

form or

is

scarcely a

and thought

to such a

book in the Bible on which he did not comment.

God was

the focus of Augustine's

life

God in every event in the natural human action. The phrase applied to Spinoza —"a God-intoxicated man"—is perhaps even more apt as a

degree that he saw the hand of

world and in every

description of Augustine.

At

the

same

time, his sense of God's

omnipresence and omnipotence, of the universal sway of Divine Providence in every detail of the governance of the universe, does not lead

him

world drama.

to ignore or neglect the part that

He

is

a master psychologist,

subtlety of his insight into a

men

play in the

and the depth and

wide range of human

attitudes

and

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

14

him

motivations enable

he surveys man's

At

least a

summary

be extraordinarily perceptive

to

and

social

outline o£ certain aspects of Augustine's

theology must be given before an attempt social,

and

teachings about God, eternal

life,

moral,

psychological,

the

framework of

his thought,

we

made

is

deduce from them the state.

At

it

at

may

understood his religious teachings,

really

his views

Since his

relation to

God

are

cannot hope to understand his

understanding of that framework. Indeed,

we have

to discuss his

doctrines.

political

and man's

toward the secular world without

attitudes

when

political situation.

least

be argued that

we

some

if

can virtually

on the nature of man,

the least, an understanding of

a general

society,

and

of the major

elements of his theology can save us from the error of attributing

him

to

human

ideas about

nature and the social and political

order which are fundamentally incompatible with his central religious beliefs.*

For Augustine, in

it

as for all Christians, the

were created by God. The world

is

world and everything not eternal;

it

had

a

beginning, and the beginning of the world was also the beginning of time.

The world

heaven and earth

which the

in

will

—the Last Judgment—when

have an end

shall pass

away, and a

new heaven

saints will enjoy eternal peace

God and His the world and

angels. its

Between these two

destruction,

is

and happiness with

points, the creation of

played out the great drama of

man's career on earth. The climax of the drama, the *

The summary

shall appear,

moment

for

presented here of Augustine's doctrines of man's cre-

redemption makes no claim to being complete works have been written dealing with various and it does not pretend to reveal anything new, aspects of his theology although it is based directly on the writings of Augustine rather than on secondary works. The summary will serve its purpose if in a brief compass it gives the reader an outline of his views of the relations between God and man which does not do too grave an injustice to the subtleties and complexities of his teachings. ation,

—

and hundreds

his fall,

literally

his

of

—

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN which

all

that

Incarnation, the appearance

on earth of God

the birth of Jesus Christ; "the

among

in

human form

Word became

the

is

with

and dwelt

flesh

us." In order to understand the significance of the In-

carnation in the first act, to

beings,

15

went before was simply an anxious prelude,

drama

Adam

and Eve.

Like everything the seas, plants, in Genesis

God saw

of man's salvation,

the Garden of Eden and the

we

that

else that

God

and animals

created

—the

we must fall

was good. Everything

human

first

—the heavens, the earth, man was

first

created good;

are told that after viewing each of it

return to the

of the

that

He

His creatures

created

was

cre-

ated out of nothing, ex nihilo; there was no eternally existing

matter independent of

God

that

He

shaped or formed in the

process of creation. Obviously, then, there

is

a clear difference

between the Creator and the created. The Creator ably good, wise,

and all-powerful by His very

is

unchangeGod's

essence;

goodness, wisdom, and power are not accidents or attributes separable

from His being. Like

good but not is

mutable and changeable, but

dependence upon and

as

man

God,

manner

contrary to God's

or disobey. If he disobeys being, his

life

and

his Creator, 2

has been given the gift of free will, which no

other earthly creature possesses; he can, in a

is

He

1

long as he acknowledges his

his inferiority to

obeys His commands, he will be good and happy.

Moreover,

man

other created beings,

all

incorruptibly, absolutely, or necessarily good.

will be

if

he wishes

to

do

command. He can choose

so, act

to

obey

and turns away from the source of

warped and

his

stunted; the farther he re-

moves himself from God the more wretched, miserable, and imperfect

will

he become. 3 Augustine adopts the

doctrine that evil has no substantial reality of

simply the privation or

loss

inhere only in that which

is

its

neo-Platonic

own, that

it

is

of good. Consequently, evil can

good but not

perfectly good.

And

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

l6 since evil

God

is

is

not

not a substance or a nature, but merely a privation,

its

author or creator.

—becomes

A

evil insofar as

stance

created being

—a nature or sub-

away from

falls

it

its

essence or

nature and tends toward nonexistence, although by God's Provi-

dence nothing in the universe of nonexistence.

from God, who good and more

4

permitted to decline to the point

is

man

Therefore, to the extent that is

perfect being

The

evil.

choice

away

turns

and goodness, he becomes

is left

to

man,

but, as

the consequences of the choice are eternally fixed

we

less

shall see,

and determined

by God.

Man The

heaven because of

to disobey

fruit of the tree of the

Adam

and prideful

their perverse

God, tempted Eve suaded

God had granted to him. who had already fallen from

soon misused the free will that

devil, the chief of the angels

God's

rebellion against

command and

knowledge of good and

evil,

sin" of disobedience

and

rebellion against

root in man's pride

and

in his

fell

man becomes

and "original

sins, that

sin

is

less;

Him who

that "original

which

desire, to

God." "By craving

and by aspiring

to be

to be self-sufficing,

truly suffices him."

its

he

5

important to understand clearly what Augustine means by

It is

"sin"

per-

God, which had

presumptuous

the devil adroitly appealed, to "be like

away from

and Eve

to join her in this rebellion against the Creator

and Lord of the universe. Thus was committed

more,

to eat the

is,

sin."

Sin

is

to

be clearly distinguished from

particular acts that are

wrong, unjust, or immoral;

a pervasive attribute or character of

human

beings. Sin

is

—man's turning away from God and from

disobedience and revolt

His

will

and His commands, and making himself and

will

and

desires the center of his existence. Sin

is

his

own

man's refusal

to accept his status as a creature, superior to all other earthly

creatures but subordinate to falling

God. So the root cause of

away from God and from goodness and toward

sin,

of

evil, is

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN prideful self-centeredness. He attempts— although

man's

successfully

—to

ignore his Creator and his Ruler and to set up

own

himself, his

acknowledge

IJ

un-

hub

will, as the

and

his lacks

of the universe. Refusing to

limitations as a creature, he tries to

upset the whole order of the universe by his perverse imitation of

God. 6 In

his egoistic arrogance

seeks to dominate

and

From

all

who were created God—as instruments

other men,

—and

them

to use

and presumption,

even

that pride as a root

stem

all

man

vainly

as his peers,

of his will.

particular sins or violations of

God's law.

Whence doth will be

iniquity

no more

abound? From

Cure pride and there

pride.

iniquity. Consequently, that the cause of all diseases

might be cured, namely, pride, the Son of God came down and was low. Why art thou proud, O man? God, for thee, became low. 7

made

As

Adam

a result of the Fall of

and a punishment rebellion against creatures,

human

and Eve,

God and life

in

human

among men

nature as

man. They

ment

Paradise."

8

race

originally vitiated is

—

all

these

was created

proper status as

war

of the flesh against the

evils,

which had no place

—are the characteristics

are the necessary result

and the

its

totally just punish-

which was perpetrated

Adam

and Eve. In

their sin the

was condemned, and

dis-

good nature of

man

whole mass of the

in all their descendants the

has been and remains radically

and corrupted. Each man, from the moment he

infected with the original sin of pride

sin

in

necessary punishment were not confined to our

[massa peccati]"

Q

"But

as

man

is

born,

and the blasphemous

desire to place himself at the center of the universe; "all

mass of

in

of fallen

Moreover, the original sin of egoistic pride and

parents,

human

consequence of

world became penal. Mortality,

of that "outrageous wickedness

obedience and first

it

own

against their

this

death, misery, suffering, crimes, the spirit, conflict

as a

for their "original sin" of prideful, arrogant

the parent

men is,

are a

such

is

— THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

l8

man

the offspring.

ated, but far

so

when he

as

.

.

human

the end of the world. tainted root

is

and death

race .

."

.

is

"sick

n And

marked with

and

human

sore

.

.

.

as every child

original sin, so

being born of

10

are concerned."

misery on this earth, and death as the end of the lot of every

when

not

cre-

sinned and was punished, this he propagated,

the origin of sin

Augustine, the

man was made,

and what

.

from

Adam

born from

to

this

punishment

its

this

For

—

mortal

Adam. Through

life

is

his sin,

Adam subjected his descendants to the punishment of sin and damnation, for he

had

radically corrupted them, in himself, by his sinning.

a consequence of this,

all

those born through carnal

all

visited as for disobedience

Through

from him and his wife on whom the same penalty

those descended

—

all

lust,

.

As .

.

is

these entered into the inheritance of

involvement they were

led, through divers and sufferings (along with the rebel angels, their corrupters and possessors and companions), to that final stage of punishment

original sin.

this

errors

without end. 12

God did not entirely abandon his creature, man. Had He done so, man would have ceased to exist. Even in the misery of sinful existence, God continues to grant to all men the great blessings of His gifts —man's ability to live But, even after the Fall,

and

to propagate his kind, his senses

nature, food

and nourishment.

13

and

But

given to both the just and the unjust,

his reason, the

God

in

has conferred a priceless gift upon a small beings. Since is

no

God

is

and

all-wise

since, in

His

infinite

number

He

and would be condemned

to

result of his

own

free will.

man would

punishment. But His foreknowl-

edge of what would happen did not compel disobedience and his turning

mercy

human

knew, before

the creation of the world and before the Fall, that sin

of

His knowledge, there

an eternal present,

past or future but only

goods of

in addition to these gifts,

away from

man

the perfect

to sin.

14

Man's

good were the

However, once man chose

to sin rather

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

10.

than to remain subject to God, even his original freedom was

He was

no longer

was reduced Paul

as St.

bondage

says, in

eternity,

however,

God had men—a

This minority, the

elect,

sin,

and

between one or another

freedom was actually slavery these sinful, fallen

not to

able, of himself,

to the choice

his

sin.

15

lost.

freedom

He

was,

and what he thought was

to sin,

to the devil

and

his works.

From

all

determined to save a fixed number of small minority of the

were chosen

human

race.

16

to receive the gift of faith

and, as a consequence, salvation and exemption from the just

punishment of

sin,

without any regard to their future merits or

good works. 17 By the operation of unmerited grace, those

pre-

destined to salvation are released from the just penalty inflicted

on the whole mass of

fallen

mankind and

are promised a life of

God

after the Last

Judgment, the destruc-

eternal blessedness with tion of the world,

and the resurrection of the body. 18 In many of

and

especially in the bitter controversies with the

his writings,

Pelagians that occupied the

last

twenty years of his

life,

Augustine

insists

again and again on the completely gratuitous character of

God's

gift of salvation to the few.

19

human

condemned;

Hence

the whole mass of the

at first

gave entrance to sin has been punished with

race

is

for he

all his

who

posterity

who were

in him as in a root, so that no one is exempt from this and due punishment, unless delivered by mercy and undeserved grace; and the human race is so apportioned that in some is dis-

just

played the efficacy of merciful grace, in the rest the efficacy of just retribution.

.

.

delivered from to

all.

.

But many more are

it,

in order that

left

may

under punishment than are shown what was due

thus be

20

Augustine, like

St. Paul, insists that

with injustice because

number

God

it

is

sons of

of

men

the grace

perfectly just in

Adam

He

22

to

God

cannot be charged

chose to bestow upon only a small

which

is

the only

condemning

eternal

f

means of

salvation.

21

'the great majority" of the

punishment

as

a consequence of

20

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

original sin

and of the additional

burden while he been perfectly

from

this

ment

for a

just

had

He

few

spared none of the

The

punishment.

an

injustice

on repayment from most of

act of charity

pelled to repay

complaint.

24

owe have no

and

a

a creditor were to

his debtors, but

grace, not of injustice, those

were

to remit

would be

latter

who were combasis for

the other hand, those who, through no merit or

own, are freed from the

just

punishment that they

reason to glory in themselves or in their works. 25

versal penalty,

and they must

and

is

God who

only be grateful to the

Him

if

few of them. 23 Since the

Pride or a sense of superiority

be to

than

what they had borrowed would have no

On

desert of their

wipes out the punish-

an indication of His unfathomable goodness

is

payment due from

the

He

fact that

and mercy, and no more an insist

man adds to that God would have sinful human race

sins that every

world. Indeed,

lives in this

utterly out of place; they can

has spared them from the uni-

attribute all that they are

His incomprehensible mercy.

to

most frequently repeated

texts

in Augustine's

26

and

One

will

of the

writings

the

is

seventh verse of the fourth chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians: "For

and what hast thou receive

it,

why

ful

man

is

and

dost thou glory, as

now

most insidious form of pride

progress in spiritual

thou didst

thou hadst not received it?"

if

believe, his conviction that pride

attributes to himself

if

for Augustine's constant insistence that sin-

absolutely dependent for his salvation

is, I

that the

thee to differ from another?

that thou didst not receive?

The primary motive free grace

who maketh

and

to his

life. If

own

pride

is

upon God's

the root of sin,

that of the

efforts his

is

is

man who

good works or

the root of sin, sin can be

overcome only by complete humility and by attributing any good that

man

man; and

thus,

man,

to

God

is

"of a certainty

that

no one should

does. St. Paul's intention

sufficiently plain against the pride of

glory in

his

27 no one should glory in himself."

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN If

we

ask

why God

men

chose some

21

and

to be saved

the others in their deserved punishment, the answer for

Job and

tine, as for

the depths of there

is

no

quence of

Paul,

that

is

a purely gratuitous act,

is

their

such deeds. In

we

cannot hope to fathom

which

is

that

men

not the conse-

merits are the result rather than the

fact, their

God crown when He crowns

does

is

good deeds or even of God's foreknowledge of

cause of the grace that they have received. gifts

we know

purposes. All

with God, and that the election of some

injustice

to salvation

St.

God's mind and His

left all

Augus-

"What

else 28

our merits?"

that St. Paul's conceptions of salvation, election,

grace were definitive for Augustine's doctrine.

29

but His

It is clear

and unmerited

He

studied the

Pauline epistles even before his conversion, and certainly by 396

he had developed, in

all essentials,

destination presented here.

who

His

the views

bitter conflict

on grace and

pre-

with the Pelagians^

denied that man's salvation was completely dependent upon

God's grace, only led him to sharpen and intensify his earlier teachings.

Augustine's deep-rooted sense that

upon God St.

for his salvation

was

man was

also based

dependent

totally

upon

the events

Paul had experienced as well as the course of Augustine's

life.

What to

full

measure? All

be selected for the his

gift of

grace which he received in such

energy and

efforts

were devoted

cution of the followers of Christ and to attacks In the dramatic scene that took place

on His

on the road

to

become one of His

followers. Paul's strengths

and preacher of the

that blinding flash

conversion.

ing God;

He

God

Word

of

God were

chose

to

30

Damascus,

Him

and

and merits

as a

all

and the voice from heaven that

had not wanted

to perse-

doctrines.

Christ "compelled" Paul to abandon his crusade against

teacher

own

merits did Paul, or, rather, Saul, have that "entitled"

him

to

which

the result of effected his

be saved; he had not been seek-

him and poured down His

grace and power

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

22

upon him.

own

was

Similarly, Augustine

certain that nothing in his

before his conversion constituted a claim

life

salvation.

moral

31

32

For years he had been wandering

error, as

he graphically

tells

upon God

for

in intellectual

and

He

was

us in his Confessions.

God and was vainly seekwhen he was a Manichaean, or in

lost

because he had turned away from

ing

Him

in material form,

purely intellectual terms, during his Platonist period. Again, as in the case of St. Paul,

example of

totally

was an

it

act of

Divine Providence, an

unmerited and undeserved grace, that

effected,

As he

in highly dramatic fashion, Augustine's final conversion. lay prostrate in the garden,

weeping over

a child, "Tolle lege, tolle lege." ("Pick

had the

it.")

first

Rushing

down

laid

jealousy.

for him. felt

its

we must

Himself of

men,

ried out.

up, read

pick

it;

up the book

St. Paul's Epistles

"Not

in reveling

desires."

33

his

it

up,

that he

—and read

and drunken-

and

hesitation.

wandering soul

to

what

34

my summary

flesh

of Augustine's theological doc-

drama

of salvation,

and His appearance on earth in the form

woman and condemned

the vehicle by which

to die like all other

the salvation of sinful

man

is

car-

the point of view of the neo-Platonists, the philoso-

phers whose views of the Christians,

his

God, was accomplished with

For the Incarnation, the assumption by God

human

From

light,

The message was meant

return to the high point of the

man, born of is

its

true source

the Incarnation.

of a

his eye,

—

His conversion, the return of

was

this point in

trines,

and

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision

no further delay or

At

conquer

debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and

for the flesh, to gratify

he

it

into the house, he picked

a short time before

words that caught

ness, not in

flesh,

God, he heard the repeated chanting of

failure to give himself to

read

his inability to

hold of the pleasures of the

his irresolution, the

35

God and

of reality

came

closest to those of

the doctrine of the Incarnation, the assumption

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN by the Logos of

flesh

and mortality, was the

scandal and stumbling block.

36

The

neo-Platonist might find him-

agreement with the Logos doctrine

self in

chapter of

St.

John's Gospel, but

the fourteenth verse,

and dwelt among that pure Spirit

"And

us,"

set forth in

when he came

Word

the

23

greatest possible

he could only

to

[Logos] was feel

the

first

the words of

made

flesh,

horror at the thought

and pure Reason should be contaminated by

being incorporated into a material body and involved in suffering and death. Christianity.

bondage

And

yet the Incarnation

Mankind was

is

the central doctrine of

and held

irretrievably lost in sin

to the devil; for fallen

man

there

was no

possible

in

way

—that

back to God. Or, more accurately, there was only one way

God Himself

should come to man, should take upon Himself

the likeness of sinful flesh,

Mediator between

The depth

and should Himself become the

man and God. 37

of God's humility

and of His love

for sinful

men

is

indicated not simply by the Incarnation but by His willingness to

undergo of

all

of sin in

rebuffs,

punishment, and,

finally,

the most ignominious

deaths, death by crucifixion, in order to

and

error.

38

Christ, by

ransom the captives

His death, broke the

devil's

which men were held; when He, who was without

sin,

was made

leased

to suffer death, the penalty for sin,

from the ancient thralldom and

bonds,

trace of

men were

set free to

re-

become the

God and co-heirs with Christ of God's eternal kingdom. But here we must be careful to note a qualification. As we have seen, only a small minority of the human race is to be saved. While all those who are saved are saved only by virtue of Christ's mediatory sacrifice, not all men are destined for salvation. Not even the Incarnation and Crucifixion of God are, in the Augussons of

tinian theology, sufficient to accomplish the redemption of all

men, although they provide the only way for those

to rebirth

and

salvation

whom God has predestinated to receive grace and

eternal

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

24 life.

Augustine, in commenting on

will

have

does not .

.

men

all

mean

but by

.

to

be saved,"

that there

"all

is

39

Paul's statement,

St.

no one whose

men" we

"Who

explicitly says that this

salvation he doth not will

are to understand the whole of

kind, in every single group into which

man-

can be divided: kings and

it

subjects; nobility and plebeians; the high and the low; the learned and unlearned; the healthy and the sick; the bright, the dull, and the stupid; the rich, the poor, and the middle class; males, females, infants, children, the adolescent, young adults and middle-aged and very old; of every tongue and fashion, of all the arts, of all professions, with the countless variety of wills and minds and all the other

things that differentiate people. 40

So

it is

Augustine not

clear that for

who have

the time of the Incarnation or to be saved. Indeed, as

are Christians, that

we

41 mental Church, will be saved.

be introduced.

Among

lived since that time are

members

who have

those

of the visible, sacra-

been predestined and

who

believed, through God's grace, in the

future

coming of Christ and were saved by

cludes

some non-Jews, such

same

faith.

42

These two

the

human

Church Before

as

this faith;

Job the Idumean,

qualifications

sible to identify the City of

make

it

it

also in-

who had

the

absolutely impos-

God, which contains the minority of

race elected to salvation, with the visible Christian

in this world.

we examine

43

the careers of the

two

divisions of

the small minority destined for salvation and eternal vast

men who

This group includes the patriarchs

lived before the Incarnation. Israel,

who

another qualification must

Still

chosen for salvation by God's grace are a number of

and prophets of

alive at

shall see, only a minority of those

baptized

is,

men who were

all

majority

—the

eternal punishment,

fallen

mankind,

life

and the

and unredeemed men—doomed

we must

Augustine's doctrine of free

to

pause for a brief consideration of will. If

we

are to avoid misunder-

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN we must

standing,

25

distinguish carefully the various periods of

man's history and the kind of free will that

characteristic of

is

each period. Augustine sometimes confuses his readers because

he uses the same terms, "freedom" and "free

will," to refer to

quite different things. Free will in the classic sense of freedom of choice,

freedom

sin, is

something that existed only in the brief period between

to choose

man's creation and the misused his

liberty

to sin rather

man

Fall.

to sin, "for the is

From

Nor can man

law of

drawn and

utterly impossible for

lost

to follow the devil rather 44

that

him

sin

is

when man than God,

moment 45

on, fallen

his will

is

in

the tyranny of habit, by

held, even against

do good or

to

or not to

evil, to sin

But that freedom was

and chose

than to do good.

which the mind it is

do good or

to

by necessity rather than by free choice;

sins

bondage

and

recover his free will by his

its

will,"

46

and

to live righteously.

own

efforts; ".

.

.

47

the

God liberates men from the misery inflicted on sinners, man was able to fall of his own accord, that is, by free 48 will, but was not able to rise of his own accord." The mark of this servitude is delight in sinning, whereas liberty means that we

grace of

because

find our delight in not sinning;

49

"because the will has sinned,

the hard necessity of having sin has pursued the sinner, until his infirmity be wholly healed.

The

.

." 50

.

second important meaning of freedom of the will

fore, not the ability to

will to

choose between good and

do good, the will not to

ness.

This freedom of the will

man;

51

if

he has free will

that he has,

dom

We

of the

it is

a

do not say

it

there-

but the

taking pleasure in righteous-

is

completely lacking in fallen

and Augustine often

at all,

is

indicates

very different from the free-

will.

that by the sin of

nature of men; but that

is,

sin,

freedom which

good or righteous

evil,

Adam

free will perished out of the

avails for sinning in

men

subjected to the

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

26 devil; while

man

not of avail for good and pious living, unless the should be made free by God's grace, and assisted

good movement of

to every

When

is

it

will itself of

action, of speech, of thought. 52

Augustine argues that he

"perished out of the nature of that

among

he seems

to

not saying that free will

is

men" by Adam's

but rather

sin,

the unredeemed free will avails only "for sinning,"

have fallen into an equivocation in the course of

argument against the Pelagians.

Implicitly, at least,

he

man

is

free to sin

commit

or not to

and

to decide at

is

good despite

and

he

is

ob-

inclination, so

not "compelled" to sin by any force or power outside himself.

Certainly, fallen

man

had before the Fall assume,

this

does not have the "free will" that

—the

freedom

which

that "sin to

his will

fallen

is,

moment whether

this or that particular sin. Just as

viously not forced to do

he

any given

assign-

is

ing yet a third meaning to the term "free will"— that

his

arises

to

choice between good and evil;

which Augustine

be victor over the will and the free will

even more certainly, fallen

man

briefly,

is

is,

when he

I

says

free will turns out

destroyed."

53

And,

does not possess freedom of the

good or righteous

will in the second sense of the

matter

refers

from the action of the

Adam it

will.

To

put the

and perhaps somewhat oversimply, Augustine

man does on his own initiative own powers is sinful and wrong. He is anxious to fallen man has free will since he wishes to make it

asserts that everything that fallen

and with

his

insist that

clear that

he and he alone

in the world.

On

is

responsible for

all

the evil

and

the other hand, he insists that any good action

performed by any

human

being

is

to

be attributed not to his

unaided will or inclinations but to the grace and love of

working

who

is

in him.

sin

Only by holding

endeavoring to

live righteously

pride and self-congratulation.

Only those who

fast to this belief

can the

God man

be saved from the sin of

54

receive God's grace can be liberated

from the

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN bondage

and even

to sin,

27

they, while they live in this world, can-

not be said to have completely attained true freedom of the will, that

a truly

is,

good and righteous

between the law of to the

moment

God and

it.

55

The

pious, will

is

servant

still,

it

be

free.

and

Thou

often find that

sins."

is

attained

58

the

Those who

make you

when

man who

free,

a

in

is

life;

love those actions

that

is,

thou

if

man is

all.

.

if

thy

art a ." 57

.

takes pleasure

good and

bondage

that

to sin "this "If the Son, 59

freedom even while

they begin to perform in the spirit of

which other men do only because

indeed they do them at

are

then shall ye be free indeed."

receive grace begin to enjoy this

they are in this

to

devoted service in obedience to

"is also

To

we

"For only

wilt be free,

do right" comes only through God's grace:

therefore, shall

60

By

love, the gift of the

shed abroad in their hearts, the redeemed in

56

and does voluntarily that which

which God commands, righteous precept."

up

the good or pious will,

is

the servant of righteousness.

sin,

This true freedom, which

liberty to

we

to do,

truly free will

—free from

in righteousness

mind

the law of sin continues right

the will that "is not the slave of vices will

the

Even when we know what we ought

of death.

do and what, perhaps, we want not able to do

The war within

will.

move

which "a good work may be done not

of fear,

Holy

if

Spirit,

toward the state

for fear, but for love;

not for dread of punishment, but for love of righteousness. For this

is

true

and sound freedom."

However, he remains

Augustine is,

since alive,

calls

no one can say

61

that he

"the

first

pletely

is

—even

body. In the

without sin as long as

stage of liberty [prima libertas]" that

being free from crime or grievous

freedom"

is

even though he can and should attain to what

possessed only in hope.

by the

saints

—only

sin, It

62

this "true

and sound

will be possessed

com-

after the resurrection of the

bliss of eternal life, there will

be "on the one hand,

a permanent will to live happily, and, on the other hand, a volun-

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

28

and happy

tary

ning." in

63

and never

necessity of living virtuously,

Thus, the true freedom of the will that

is

to

sin-

be attained

—and even better than—the

first

That

first

heaven will be different from

freedom of the whereas the

God and

possessed before the Fall.

ability not to sin,

freedom of the

final

will,

but also an ability to

which

is

to

not a natural power, will be inability to

delight in not sinning.

But and

man

will that

freedom was a natural

be the

sin,

gift of

unfailing

sin,

64

in the future life he

[man]

will not have the

power

to will evil;

yet this will not thereby restrict his free will. Indeed, his will will

much

freer because he will then have no power whatever to serve For we surely ought not to find fault with such a will, nor say it is no will, or that it is not rightly called free, when we so desire happiness that we not only are unwilling to be miserable, but have no power whatsoever to will it. And, just as in our present state, our soul is unable to will unhappiness for ourselves, so then it will be

be

sin.

forever unable to will iniquity. 65

By God's

free grace a small minority of

mankind has been

chosen out of the mass of corruption and has been elected to eternal salvation.

who

never

at the

fell

66

These men, together with the good angels

away from God,

end of time,

God. devil

The

and

doomed

rest of

peace and happiness and in enjoyment of

mankind, the

City of

The

vast majority, together with the

his angels, are the citizens of the earthly city,

punishment.

to eternal

from the beginning of time relations

God, and

after the resurrection of the body, they will

live forever in perfect 67

constitute the City of

between

The

until the

careers of these

large

number

it is

Head and

all

Church. 69 The

identical with the

theme not only of The

is

part of the City of

68

the whole assembly of

Church of which Christ

the citizens are members, that

human

cities

of Augustine's other writings.

City of God, the true Jerusalem,

the saints;

two

is

end of the world and the

their citizens are the

God but of a

which

God

is,

is

is

the

the invisible

a single society

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN that extends throughout the

of different eras.

70

It is

whole world and

is

20.

made up

of crucial importance to recognize that

Christ explicitly stated that His kingdom, the City of God, of this world. all

men and

71

By

this

statement

it

He made it perfectly plain He had no intention

clear that

no

kingdom

because Christ's

eternally in institution.

heaven and

is

to

of

more important,

earthly state, city, or association can

God. Pre-

ever claim to be a part or a representative of the City of cisely

not

is

to their earthly rulers that

interfering with their temporal governance, and,

He made

men

of

is

the City of God,

not embodied in any

The commonwealth

human

exists

it

or earthly

of the Hebrews, although

it

was

direcdy established and ordained by God, was not a terrestrial incarnation of the City of

and fore-announce the

figure

ered from tains

God;

many

nations."

all

72

rather,

city of

Even

was intended

it

God which was

be gath-

the visible Church, which con-

of the reprobate along with the elect,

division of the City of

to

to "pre-

not an earthly

is

God, although, having been established by

Christ Himself as the vehicle through which the elect are to be

gathered together out of the world during the period from the Incarnation to the Last Judgment,

it is

more

closely related to that

City than any earthly state or society can ever be.

The

citizens of this

kingdom

73

of Christ pass through this world,

but they are here only as pilgrims or wayfarers [peregrini, viatores]

74 ;

the earth

their true country

and share

is

in the joys

and sorrows common

they live as sojourners in a strange land.

who, in liverance

and while they are on

in heaven,

75

their "toilsome pilgrimage" here

and

They

on

have been

sent, for the

members, God's Word,

King Himself

earth,

From

its

as set forth in the Scriptures, 76

who

that heavenly

guidance and solace of

in the person of Christ.

men,

long for de-

for a return to the society of the holy angels,

have never been deprived of God's presence. city

to all

are expatriates,

pilgrim

and the

The human members

of

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

30

the City of God, of Christ's Church, are those

men from Abel

to

the end of the world who, having been saved by God's grace, love

God and do His their actions.

certain that

eternal

God

will;

But no man,

he

a

is

member

and

the center of their affections

is

long as he

as

on the

lives

of this city or that he

can be

earth,

is

destined for

kingdom

of the devil,

77

life.

The members

of the earthly city, of the

men from Cain to the end of the 78 after the flesh," who place their affec-

are the fallen angels and the

world "who wish tions

and

honors.

79

They

who have

to live

in

interest

world and in temporal goods and

this

are the fallen

and unredeemed men, the

God

not been called back to

are fixed only

on material goods and

sinners,

by His grace; their hearts

and

earthly enjoyments,

at

the end of time they will be consigned to eternal punishment.

They

hoc mundo], but rested piness.

.

.

.

built, for in this

and

aspires."

world

the entire earth

fallen angels,

are

it,

it

too,

is

between Augustine's "earthly or

of

all

terrestrial

members

group.

and find

existence

its

it

aims

Adam

from

to the

nonhuman members,

the

led by the arch-demon, the

make an

and any

city"

together. city

Yet

identification

particular earthly it is

clear that the

and what we

between the City of

The members

of the City of

end towards which

difficult to

between the earthly

this earth; they are "at

their ends

has

them

far closer than the connection

temporal peace and hap-

the earthly city extends over

now demons,

reasons,

kingdom

its

finds the

and has an unbroken

who

For both

relationship

with

dedicated in this world in which

is

it

earth; the city built by

world [non peregrinantem in

^ Like the City of God,

end of the world; and

state or

this

satisfied

the earthly city

it is

devil.

on

are not strangers or pilgrims

Cain "was not from home in

call states is

God and any

of the earthly city, unlike the

God, are not pilgrims or sojourners on

home"

here,

and

their satisfactions.

it is

On

a

here that they seek

number

of occasions

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN Augustine speaks of the

states

and kingdoms of

He

divisions or parts of the earthly city.

31

this

world

as

identifies the earthly city

with "the society of mortals spread abroad through the earth everywhere, and in the most diverse places," and states that

among

many kingdoms

the very

of the earth into which, by earthly

{which we

interest or lust, society is divided

of the city of this world [ciuitatem

and kept

settled

mundi

name

by the general

call

we

huius]),

see that two,

from each other both in time and

distinct

have grown far more famous than the

place,

that of the Assyrians,

rest, first

then that of the Romans. First came the one, then the other.

former arose in the

east,

and, immediately on

its close,

The

the latter in

the west. 81

But even

if

the states of this world are in

as parts of the earthly city, the

members

members

sense regarded

of those states

of the earthly city are not always identical.

and even some of

of earthly states

their rulers

be members of the City of God. These two rated

and

lasts.

They

until the

some

members

their

are

earth result,

as individuals,

long as

and are not it

citizens

cannot be sepa-

cities

clearly identified as

commingled on

end of time. 82 As a

men

may,

and the

Some

to

this

world

be separated

sometimes happens that

Babylon [the earthly

city], do order occupy positions of authority in the Church], and again certain men belonging to Jerusalem, do order matters belonging to Babylon [i.e., good men, members of the City of God, occupy positions of power and authority

certain

belonging to the

city

matters belonging to Jerusalem

[i.e.,

sinful

men

83 in earthly states].

Nevertheless, throughout cities

all

time, the

of these

two

are always in opposition; "against each other mutually in

conflict,

the one for iniquity, the other for the truth."

is

a sharp line of division between the

is

not visible to our eyes.

ties; either all

members

the

God

mind

is

No is

cities,

all

loved.

the heart and

There

even though

one can be a member of both

loved with

or the world

two

84

all

it

socie-

the soul

and

;

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

32

For he cannot love that which is eternal, unless he shall cease to love that which is temporal. Consider a man's love; think of it as, so to say, the hand of the soul. If it is holding anything, it cannot hold anything else. But that it may be able to hold what is given to it, it must leave go what it holds already. 85

Between "the multitude of the impious," who are world" and, thus, "enemies of God,"

men who

86

"lovers of the

and the small number of

and serve the one true God there can only be

love

ir-

reconcilable opposition

even

if

they use the same tables and houses and

arising between them,

and

cities,

with no

strife

in frequent converse together with seem-

ing concord: notwithstanding, by the contrariety of their aims, they [the wicked] are enemies to those

who

turn unto God. For seeing that

the one love and desire this world, the others wish to be freed from this

world,

who

they can, they

From

sees not that the first are

enemies

to the last?

For

if

the others into punishment with them. 87

draw

the beginning of the world

—from

Cain and Abel

—to

the

end of time the wicked persecute and harass the pilgrims from heaven.

88

The members of in this world, who

the City of

God, the sojourners and wayfarers

build no earthly dwellings but live in tents as

vhey pass through the wilderness,

89

constitute the Jerusalem or

Sion that longs for liberation from

its

captivity to Babylon, the

90

To

these pilgrims Augustine

earthly city, the city of confusion. says:

Ah!

Christians, heavenly shoot, ye strangers

a city in heaven,

who

derstand that ye have

should soon depart.

on the

earth,

who

seek

long to be associated with the holy Angels; un-

Ye

come here on

this

condition only, that ye

are passing on through the world, endeavour-

Him who created it. Let not the lovers of the world, remain in the world, and yet, whether they will or no, are compelled to move from it; let them not disturb you, let them 91 not deceive nor seduce you. ing to reach

who wish

to

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN In this world the City of

man

not according to

God

is

the "society of

33

men, who

in contentment with earthly felicity, but

God in hope of everlasting felicity." 92 Every men is held together by some law, and this city

according to society of

together by the law of Love.

commandments, "You and with

heart,

is

Love,

full of

is full

it is

God

city of

is

"all

Apostles,

all

holy souls,

all

we

see

righteous

is

Love, he

This

95

And

God's dwelling,

is

...

all

the

holy

the holy Virtues, Powers, Thrones, Lordships, that

we

groan, and for

which we pray with longing; and there God dwelleth."

96

Since

dwells in His temple and the saints are His temple, the

kingdom is

94

with our eyes, for

souls.

heavenly Jerusalem, wanderers from whence

God

your

not a material city; the stones of

is

not the heaven that

is

held

full of love, con-

called Sion."

"heaven and earth will pass away." Heaven is,

all

built are living stones, the souls of the saints.

God's heaven

that

God

Since

God; and many,

of

is

your mind," and "You

all

93

city or

two great

the

Lord your God with

as yourself."

heavenly Sion or Jerusalem

which

members obey

and with

soul,

God. That

stitute a city full of

Its

shall love the

your

your neighbor

shall love

"who

all

live

of heaven

is

within us;

Christ Himself in thy heart."

97

"therefore thy faith in Christ

98

In this heavenly city are found everlasting peace and perfect

harmony among

the members, since self-love and self-will are

completely replaced by "a ministering love that rejoices in the

common

joy of

all,

of

many

hearts

secures a perfect concord [concors]."

contrary, there

the good but

is

makes one, 99

constant conflict and

among

that

In the earthly strife,

to say,

is

city,

on the

not only against

the wicked themselves, since each

man and

each group seeks a larger share of material goods than the others

and each this life

strives for

mastery and power over the

temporal goods and

evils are distributed

rest.

by

100

During

God

to the

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

34

men

of both cities in accordance with His plans for the world,

there

is

no correlation between

and

his earthly happiness

that the 101

ing.

prosperity. In fact,

good receive more than

The

and

man's goodness and piety and

a

it

sometimes seems

their share of misery

two types of man

difference between the

and

suffer-

resides not

in their fortunes or experiences in this life but in their attitudes

toward the good or

God

of the City of

them. 102

evil things that befall

are not elated or

The

pilgrims

made proud by

earthly

prosperity or success, nor are they shattered or broken by calami-

or sufferings, which they regard as punishments for their sins

ties

or

trials

of their virtues.

will

To

the citizens of the earthly city,

do anything that

is

necessary to obtain them.

and death

poverty, sickness, misfortune,

which they

will

ing prayers and

go

to

between these two

that they

may

may

enjoy

classes of

God:

man:

the wicked,

enjoy the world would fain use

" 103

God

As we come sin

They regard

absolute disasters,

demons. In a few words Augustine

use the world that they

on the contrary,

as

any lengths to escape or postpone, includ-

sacrifices to

states the essential difference

"The good

how-

and power are the highest goods, and they

ever, wealth, fame,

to the

end of

this outline of

and redemption, we must return

been mentioned world,

its

briefly

— the nature of the

membership, and

Church and Body

its

of Christ.

identifies the visible

Augustine's views on

to a subject that has already visible

We

on

in this

God, the true

have seen that Augustine never

Church with the City

distinguishes the church

Church

relation to the City of

earth, "this

of

God.

kingdom

He

clearly

militant," in

which both good and wicked men are found, and the church heaven, the

kingdom

permitted to enter.

with the Donatist that

it

was

104

of heaven, into

which only the good

in

will be

In the course of his long-continued struggle

sect in Africa,

105

he completely rejected the idea

possible or desirable to establish

on earth a "church of

— THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN made up

the pure,"

only of

men who,

35

having received salvation

through God's grace, were living blameless

The

lives.

Donatists

not only maintained that their sect was such a "church of the pure," but they insisted that the validity of the sacraments de-

pended on the moral righteousness of the them. Augustine,

who saw

priests

who performed

great dangers to the universal church

in this Puritan sectarianism, launched a vigorous attack

Donatist doctrines.

At

the heart of his polemic

that as long as this life continues,

no one, even

if

he has had the

—or anyone

experience of "conversion," can be sure that he is

else

saved or that he will persist in his salvation until his death;

on the other hand, we cannot say with

certainty that

longs to "the devil's party" as long as he

which

is

"a secret" to us, and

man who

seems to stand

lie shall rise

Although,

again."

is

"we cannot

shall fall, or

alive.

tell

any

This

member Church

be-

a fact

who

seems to

107

after the Incarnation,

no

man

of the visible Church,

can become a citizen

some men who

will not be in the City of

become

a

now in the God, and some who are now

the worst enemies of that City will at the 108

man is

106

whether even the

whether he

of the heavenly city unless, before his death, he has

it.

on the

the assertion

is

Because wicked, depraved men,

enemies of God, have often been

end be members of

who were converted

Church prays

for the salvation of all her

in this world.

109

And good men, who

are

blasphemers and to

enemies

Christ,

who

still

the live

were members of the

Church, have frequently lapsed from their faith and fallen away into sin

and wickedness.

According, then, to this divine foreknowledge and predestination,

how many many sheep

how many wolves within! and how how many wolves without! How many are now living in wantonness who will yet be chaste! how many are blaspheming Christ who will yet believe in Him! how many are giving themselves to drunkenness who will yet be sober! how many are sheep are outside,

are inside,

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

36

who

preying on other people's property

own. ... In

will yet freely give of their

manner, how many are praising within who

like

yet blaspheme; are chaste

who

will yet be fornicators; are sober

wallow hereafter in drink; are standing who These are not the sheep. 110

will fall!

we do

in this world,

If,

damned

are,

know who

composed only of

do

this is itself a great sin;

—arrogating to

example of the

sin of pride

and

and having the temerity

and unknowable

them

hearts

112

of his anti-Donatist sermons

and

make

from the

a palmary

unknown

to separate the

good and

Church before the end of the world and

the separation.

tares before the

to label

in the course

writings, Augustine repeats the

Judgment, when Christ Himself, from 113

whom

nothing

the Last

is

We must not try to separate the wheat

the chaff before winnowing. Another oft-repeated figure

are

until the nets are

many

hidden,

time of the harvest, or the grain from

of the good and bad fish

Lord

who swim

is

in the net, until

brought ashore. In

this

wicked world there

it is

swim

enclosed without distinction

brought ashore, when the wicked must be

separated from the good, that in the good, as in His temple,

be

all

in all."

Augustine For

now we

God

114

says,

are separated, not by place, but by character, affections,

desires, faith, hope, charity.

though the

that

together in the nets of the

reprobate mingled with the good in the Church, "and

in this world, as in a sea, both

may

111

oneself perfect virtue

to judge the

Over and over again

Gospel warnings against any attempt

will

it is

sinners.

and minds of other men and

as irremediably sinful.

the bad in the

the saved and the

and rigorously excluding

saints

effort to

sinlessness,

by and by

obviously impossible to set up a visible Church

it is

Moreover, any

not

will

will

who

life

of

all is

Now we

live together

not the same: in secret

in secret

we

are separated; as grain

granary.

On

the floor, grain

is

on the

we

floor,

with the unjust, are distinguished,

not as grain in the

both separated and mixed: separated,

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

37

because severed from the chaff; mixed, because not yet winnowed.

Then

there will be an open separation; a distinguishing of

life just

wisdom, so also will there be in bodies. They that have done well go to live with the angels of God; they that have done evil, to be tormented with the devil and his angels. 115 as of the character, a separation as there is in

Both good and

evil

ments and attend the

men

within the Church receive the sacra-

services;

nothing in their outward behavior

The

a sure sign of election or of damnation.

is

tion

God and

between the sons of

"only final distinc-

the sons of the devil"

is

love,

and no one can say with certainty whether or not another man's actions are motivated

may

All

love. all may may come to

sign themselves with the sign of Christ's cross;

Amen

answer

by

and sing Alleluia:

all

may

be baptized,

all

line the walls of our places of meeting. They that have charity, are born of God: they that have not charity are not.

church and

.

.

.

Charity

profits

.

that precious pearl, without

is

you nothing, and which

Augustine frequently visible

Church

are

tells

among

suffices

you

if

.

.

which all that you have you have nothing else. 116

us that few of the

members

the saved; most of those

who

of the

are found

within the Church are and always will be unredeemed and sinful.

117

And

as

difficult to find

the end of the world approaches,

even a handful of good

on earth; Scripture

tells

and the love of many

us that in those

will

wax

cold.

118

men last

it

will

within the Church

days sin will abound

Augustine notes that in

age there has been a great influx of people into the Church. the end of the persecutions the

official religion

into the

love of

Church

God and

of the

Roman

of

Empire,

have

His commands.

had rather please

men

I

as

many men have come

little if

anything to do with

"Now that

the Christian

has begun to be in such high dignity, hypocrisy, that has increased; of those,

his

With

and the adoption of Christianity

for reasons that

be

is

name

pretence,

mean, who by the Christian profession than God."

119

He

also refers

to "the

THE THEOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

38

enormous multitude discipline, gain

that,

almost to the entire subversion of

an entrance [into the Church], with

so utterly at variance with the

Many men come

to

pathway of the

Church only

Christ's

for

morals

their

saints."

120

the sake of

temporal advantages.

One

has a business on hand, he seeks the intercession of the clergy;

another

is

oppressed by one more powerful than himself, he

flies

to

the church. Another desires intervention in his behalf with one with

whom

he has

church

is

little

influence.

One

in this way, one in that, the

daily filled with such people. Jesus

is

scarcely sought after

121 for Jesus' sake.

This influx of

evil,

worldly

men

into the

Church has gone

so far

or dangerous to be a professing —now that no longer Christian—that men even have the temerity to ask their Bishop for it is

difficult

counsel and advice in their attempts to deprive others of their estates

In

and property by lying and fraud. 122

all

these statements Augustine demonstrates that he does

not assume that growth in church membership or influence can

be equated with an increase in the number of those truly love

God. Indeed,

as history

draws

to

its

men who

close, the

number

of true Christians in the world will decline rather than increase.

His words give no support

to

the hope that the world will

gradually be brought to belief in Christ and that earthly society

can be transformed, step by

step, into the

kingdom

of

God.

CHAPTER

II

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

men

Augustine believes that most

always been true in the past and

are will

it

unredeemed;

has

this

remain true until the

end of the world. Therefore, the psychology of

sinful or fallen

man is crucially important if we are to understand the institutions of human society — property, the family, slavery, and, above all, the political order. Only a small minority of men are, during by God's grace and changed from

their earthly lives, converted

sinful to

redeemed men, and

handful of saints cannot in

this

this

world be certainly distinguished from the crowd of sinners

among whom

they

live,

work, and

die. It is therefore absolutely

impossible to establish on earth a society or state saints or true Christians. social,

must

operate,

we have

dealing, for the set

Thus,

economic, and political

most

we wish

operate,

to

with

of

how

understand

and how, indeed, they

with the assumption that

to start

part,

if

life

made up

fallen, sinful

men.

the tone and fix the imperatives of earthly

life

It is

and

we are who

they its

institu-

tions.

One

of Augustine's favorite analogies involves a comparison of

the relation between the soul

and the

soul.

The

soul

is

energizing principle, even

and the body with

the

of the body,

life

if it is

that its

between

God

animating or

foolish or unrighteous,

and

"it

supplies vigor, comeliness, activity, the functions of the limbs to

the body, while life

of the soul,

it

exists in the

and while

He

body." is

in

it

*

In like manner,

"He

supplies to

God it

is

the

wisdom,

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

^O

God was the life of man's man was obedient to Him and lived according to His commands, and He quickens and revives the dead soul of man when He sends His grace and His word into the heart of a sinner and turns him back to the true light. When, however, man

godliness, righteousness, charity."

2

soul as long as

abandoned God, the source of

lives

God,

its

according to a true

life,

the

from Him. Instead

and

his happiness,

and not according

to live according to himself

"he

his life

lie."

more

The more

3

it

becomes unlike

of loving

God, who

unchangeable, all-good, and all-wise, objects that are temporal, mutable,

to

the soul

as a result,

alienated

is

Him

tried

from

and removed

incorporeal, eternal,

is

man

and

God;

he

finds himself loving

insubstantial.

is nearer to God the liker He is to Him, there is no other from God than unlikeness to Him. And the soul of man is unlike that incorporeal and unchangeable and eternal essence, in proportion as it craves things temporal and mutable.4

If,

then, one

distance

So we arrive

at the central principle of

Augustine follows Plato in the

human

energizing force of the

Symposium, regards

in the

different forms,

teaches that pelled by

gravity to

its

psyche or soul

am

carried."

loves.

Hold

6

is

soul

directs

move

the

dynamic or

psyche. Just as Plato, particularly

my

is

moved by

The

is

eros as the ultimate

moves and

"my weight

Augustinian psychology.

belief that love

power which,

in

men's actions, so Augustine

love."

5

Exactly as a body

is

im-

in a particular direction, so the

love.

"By

it I

am

carried wherever

moves toward and becomes

like

what

I it

7

to the love of

God, that you may stand

stands: for the being of every

man

is

fast for ever as

God

according to his love. Dost

thou love the earth? To earth thou shalt turn. Dost thou love God? I would not dare to say, A god thou shalt be; yet we have the word of Scripture, "I have said,

Most High."

8

Ye

are gods,

and ye are

all

the sons of the

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN If the soul is in its natural,

moves toward

Him

healthy condition,

and becomes more

like

sensible things as this life requires, but

course by

set its falls

of

its

Him;

God and

uses temporal,

it

does not love them or

When, however,

the soul

new

actions are directed by the

object

temporal goods, even though they are fleeting and

love,

its

unreal, I

desire for them.

its

away from God,

it

41

loves

it

and

so cannot provide

say that there

with true or lasting

no man who holds

is

who

to worship,

it

that there

is

satisfaction.

nothing he ought

not the slave of carnal pleasures, or seeks vain

is

madly delighted by some showy spectacle. So, without they love temporal things and hope for blessedness therefrom. Whether he will or no, a man is necessarily a slave to the things by means of which he see\s to be happy. He follows them whithersoever they lead, and fears anyone who seems to have the power to rob him of them. Now a spark of fire or a tiny animal can [T]ime itself must snatch away all transient things. do that. power, or

knowing

is

it,

.

Now to

.

.

world includes

since the

all

transient things, those

who

thin\

escape servitude by not worshipping anything are in fact the

slaves of all \inds of worldly things?

And just as desire or is

fears

soul flees

is

"a forward

"the flight of the mind";

so fear

what

it

love

—

sin, evil,

10

movement

the

good

and alienation from God

journeying in origin

soul flees

from

to escape

from

—and the wicked

from God and attempts, unsuccessfully,

temporal pain, misery, suffering, and death.

and

its

this

and pleasures of the journey, while

The

world and has departed from

destination,

soul

God

and becomes enmeshed

sights

of the mind,"

which forgets

in the

is its

charms

and sounds seen and heard on the

its

thoughts are diverted from that

We

home whose

delights

would make

have wandered far from God; and if we wish to return to our Father's home, this world must be used, not enjoyed that by means of what is material and temporary we may lay hold upon that which is spiritual and eternal. 11 us truly happy.

.

.

.

.

.

.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

42

The punishment imposed upon man as a result of his disobediGod is altogether appropriate. The natural situation was that as God ruled the soul, so the soul ruled the body, and the ence to

understanding, enlightened by the truth that

After the Fall, the soul

soul.

formerly exercised over

the

of God, ruled the

command

inferior, the body.

its

same thought

presses the

lost

is

in a

somewhat

12

that

had

it

Augustine ex-

different

manner when

he says that the punishment for man's disobedience

to

God was

man's "own disobedience to himself, so that in consequence of his not

what he cannot." of beasts

13

Only the

earthly, that

is

"immoderate of Angels

desires."

and of

"The he

if

fellowship of angels."

14

all

the

commands

of angels

of

life

man

is

men

is

midway between

men

the

man

on God and

of his soul,

it is

he often sinks below the

good man, the pilgrim on

home

in heaven,

do life

has

he

is

a

on

body no longer

since his clear that

who

on

set his love

he sinks

to the

and malice toward

level of the animals.

this earth

that

he joins in the

lives after the Spirit,

level of the beasts, and, indeed, in his ferocity

other

heavenly; the

lives after the flesh,

Since fallen

earthly things rather than

obeys

life

wills to

they seek only earthly pleasures, with

is,

beasts. If

with the beasts;

level

now

being willing to do what he could do, he

Even

yearns for his true

hardly able to live in this world without

is

seeking some tangible, material goods as a place wherein his soul

may

pause to

rest, if

The

innocent

man

only temporarily.

resteth in

children; in his poverty, his

own

family, his wife, his

farm, his orchard planted with his

hand, in some building fabricated with his

rest the innocent. life

his house, his

little

eternal,

terness, that

And

But

yet

God

own

study; in these

willing us not to have love but of

even with these, though innocent delights, mixeth even in these

even good

men

we may

suffer tribulation.

.

.

,

bit-

15

often abstain from reprimanding or correct-

ing the wicked because, loving this present

life

more than they

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

43

should, they are afraid of losing earthly possessions, safety, or reputation. If

16

even the pilgrims are not completely

of worldly goods as long as

weak among them

men abound

immune from

they sojourn here on

when

are troubled

and

in temporal goods

earth,

the love

and

if

the

many wicked

they see that

satisfactions, the sinful are

completely captivated by worldly possessions and honors; they

regard their attainment as the greatest possible good and their loss as the

God

worst possible

They "worship" and "reverence"

evil.

only because they hope to be rewarded with temporal goods,

which are

their real god.

They

the source of earthly goods

fail to see that

and

good and

indifferently to the

He

benefits,

shiped with a view to obtaining these

while

The

attaining eternal

by them. in

indeed

He

gives

with a view to

life

and heavenly

17

pilgrims should use the goods of this 18

is

not to be wor-

which

to the wicked, but

receiving His really important gift, eternal blessedness.

is

gifts,

God

for the sake of

and should not enjoy them or be entranced

life

Christ

life

came

to teach

men

temporal

to despise things

comparison with things eternal, "that they should not esteem

as a great matter

suffer

whatever

whatever object evil

men

fear."

evil

19

men

covet, that they should

However, Augustine does not

advocate a completely negative, ascetic attitude toward the world;

nor does he encourage the view that possessions and other earthly

goods are per se

evil.

He

frankly recognizes that, in addition to

eternal blessings, there are temporal blessings, such as health,

material possessions, honor, friends, a home, wife and children,

and peace and

quiet.

or shunned, but

it

20

is

Temporal happiness

is

not to be scorned

not to be regarded as the highest good or

even as necessarily good; temporal goods sometimes profit and

sometimes harm those

who

possess them.

never to be preferred to eternal blessings

21

Above

—eternal

all,

life

they are

with

God

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

44

and His

angels,

and blessed immortality of body and

they are to be cheerfully surrendered,

if it

soul

—and

necessary, for the

is

sake of these eternal goods, which can only profit and never

harm

their possessor.

Always, Augustine's teaching goods of

this

that the pilgrims

is

must not love them or become immersed

He who

God

loves

touched on

is

much

not

in love with

money much;

loves not

but not in a great degree. Oh, were should have no love at

means

all

if

we

they

money. And

He

money were

loving

have but

I

money

loves not

God

to be loved,

worthily,

money! Money then

we

be thy

will

of pilgrimage, not the stimulant of lust; something to use for

necessity, not to joy over as a let

for

as

is,

in or attached to them.

not venturing to say,

this infirmity,

He

at all, but,

must use the

world and must not be "used" by them, that

means

of delight.

Thou

not the world hold thee captive.

.

.

.

art passing

Use the world: on the journey

thou hast begun; thou hast come, again to depart, not to abide. Thou art passing on thy journey, and this life is but a wayside inn. Use

money

as the traveller at

an inn uses

table, cup, pitcher,

and couch,

with the purpose not of remaining, but of leaving them behind. 22

Augustine's view of the proper attitude for the pilgrims to adopt

toward earthly goods has been stated in some

make

clear the sharp contrast

between

look of the citizens of the earthly

detail in order to

their attitude

city. If

love (caritas)

of the actions of the redeemed, lust (libido)

is

all

earthly desires; he defines

mind by which preferred."

23

to eternal

lust for revenge, avarice the lust for 24

of the earthly city,

Augustine

calls

The common all

them,

is

as

the root

is

the generic

"an appetite of the

goods any temporal goods whatever are

Every earthly desire

the lust of ruling.

it

is

the fundamental

quality of the unregenerate. For Augustine, lust

term for

and the out-

is

a

form of

anger

money, and the urge quality

found in

the "embittered ones" that they share in the

temporal and earthly happiness.

lust;

It is this

all

to

is

the

power

members

(am aric antes),

as

same end,

is,

common

that

end, this single

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN motive which determines

all

that they do, that links

45

them

to-

gether in a single society, although the specific objects that they desire at different times are innumerable.

25

Cupidity or avarice, the inordinate and insatiable appetite for material possessions, especially wealth,

forms of

There

lust.

goods; his

means of one satisfied,

is

no

consists

life

limit to sinful

rises to

one of the three primary man's desire for material

in a restless quest for satisfaction by

object after another.

another

is

demand

The moment one

fulfillment; so there

or surcease for the anguished soul that

is

desire is

no

is

rest

seeking happiness in

material objects.

And

it [the world] does not make good what it promises, it is a and deceiveth. Therefore men never cease hoping in this world, and who attains to all he hopes for? But whereunto soever he attains, what he has attained to is forthwith disesteemed by him. Other things begin to be desired, other fond things are hoped for; and when they come, whatsoever it is that comes to thee, is disesteemed. For for this cause are these things disesteemed, because they cannot stand, because they are not what He is. For

liar,

.

nought,

O

.

.

soul, sufficeth thee, save

The needs and wants

of fallen

He who

man

created thee. 26

are countless,

he pursues one thing after another, and nothing remains permanently with him. So what with his corn and wine and oil, his needs are so multiplied that he cannot find the one thing needful, a single and unchangeable nature, seeking which he would not err, and attaining which he would cease from grief and pain. 27

for

By

its

very nature, this restless covetousness, this avarice, can

have no bounds or

Thou

limits.

first desire a farm; then thou wouldest possess an thou wouldest shut out thy neighbours; having shut them out, thou didst set thy heart on the possessions of other neighbours;

didst at

estate;

and didst extend thy covetous

desires

till

thou hadst reached the

shore: arriving at the shore, thou covetest the islands: having

the earth thine

own, thou wouldest haply

seize

upon heaven. 28

made

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

46

To

the

men engaged

in this fruitless quest for happiness through

number

the satisfaction of an infinite

ing and unlimited in scope, to these as

men

of desires, constantly chang-

men whom

judgment and prudence,

of great

all

the world regards

means,

all

devices,

goods and money are legitimate and

for accumulating

praise-

worthy. Like a shrewd man as you are, you leave nothing untried, whereby you may pile coin on coin, and may store it up more carefully in a place of secrecy. You plunder others; you guard against the plunderer; you are afraid lest you should yourself suffer the wrong, that you yourself do; and even what you suffer does not correct you. 29

Nor

is

boundless covetousness limited to the wealthy;

this

an artisan "who does not practice

rare to find

30

purposes of pecuniary gain."

from the and

sins of avarice

much

This picture of man's

their

their poverty,

as, if

own

not

more

they desire and love

than, the wealthy do.

restless striving for material satisfactions

one desire

entire life in the effort to satisfy

who

graphic description of the bellum

fierce

omnium

mind when Augustine

contra

satiable desires.

The

interests

and

whom

omnes inevitably

for none, or not for

world, that

is,

"where

like fishes

all,

is

divided against all

itself

is

because

not the very thing."

of perverse

is

it is

longed for either

compared

and depraved

devouring one another."

33

and

follow after their

while what

the earthly city,

men

self-

driven by infinite and in-

is

earthly society

lusts,

and

Hobbes's

depicts the consequences of the

the strongest oppress the others "because

sea,

And

competition for inevitably scarce goods carried on by

centered men, each one of

own

spends his

after another

never attains real repose or enduring satisfaction. 31

to

is

envy of the rich

reminds us of Hobbes's portrait of natural man,

comes

it

art for the

Most poor men are not immune

and cupidity; in

their bitterness about

temporal goods as

his

suffices 32

The

to the bitter,

stormy

appetites have

become

Each man,

as

he pursues

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN own

his

satisfaction

and

on every other man. all

the evil they

some men

If

would

ready to

profit, is

inflict loss

47

and injury

are too timorous to accomplish

like to perpetrate, they never cease to

that misfortune, failure, and even death will in the never-ending, ruthless struggle.

And

visit their

their

hope

enemies

enemies are

all

other men, including their relatives, their neighbors, and those

whom

they

Observe the

men

sort of

call their "friends."

evil sea, bitter sea,

Who

it is filled.

... By the fall of others how many men many, in order that they may buy, desire

the death of another?

wish to be exalted?

men

for other

with waves violent, observe with what

desireth an inheritance except through

How

goods ?

to sell their

34

In this struggle, success brings no real satisfaction and absolutely it

no assurance that the desired object can be

retained, once

35 has been acquired by fair means or foul. Hobbes's natural

man

is

never free from worry and anxiety; since he must guard

his possessions at every

one

else

and

moment

in a vain effort to prevent

from snatching them from him, he

to enjoy in quiet security

is

what he has come

men

Augustine's portrait of the condition of earthly

mentally similar and equally striking. press, fish

and how they

hath devoured, the greater the

some

greater."

36

"How

to possess. is

funda-

they mutually op-

do devour!

that are able

some-

never able to relax

And when

less, itself also is

one

devoured by

In another passage he varies the figures of

speech but presents the same picture:

What

then hast thou in hand? Gold. Keep

thou hast

it

in hand, let

it

it

in hand, therefore: if

away without thy consent. But where thou wishest not, and if

not be taken

through gold also thou art carried more powerful robber seeketh thee, because he findeth thee a less powerful robber; if a stronger eagle pursue thee, because thou

if

a

hast carried off a hare before him: the lesser

be a prey unto the greater.

by so

much

Men

was thy

see not these things in

avarice are they blinded. 37

prey, thou wilt

human

affairs:

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

48

But

men

at least these

harass

of obtaining the goods

and injure each other with the aim

and money

that they regard,

however

The depth of depravity is men whose desire to harm others no longer

mistakenly, as the highest good.

reached by those serves as a

means

become an end

in

to the

itself.

end of material enrichment, but has

These men pursue wickedness

for

its

own

sake with no external advantage in view; they are wantonly and senselessly cruel.

Whether they in the city

38

are

conduct of

more

more

or less cruel or

fundamental

their

men

bellum omnium, these

this

are completely selfish and egotistical. vice.

or less rational

A

of the earthly

senseless pride

Each man, regarding himself and

his

is

own

satisfaction as the center of the universe, struggles ceaselessly to

acquire the objects that he hopes will satisfy his boundless appetites

and

him

will bring

happiness.

However, the unbridled

egoism and insatiable cupidity of earthly self-defeating. In the cupidities,

very

men

are inevitably

midst of the clash of conflicting egoisms and satisfaction,

little

even of material

desires,

is

achieved; in fact, misery, suffering, and frustration are the usual lot of

men

the participants in the conflict.

live

ity, is

and

struggle, despite

its

an empty, shadowy realm,

true happiness

and true

The world

in

which these

appearance of solidity and far

real-

removed from the abode of

satisfaction.

For they that have their joys from without sink easily into emptiness and are spilled out on those things that are visible and temporal, and in

their

starving thoughts they

lick

their

very shadows. If only

would grow weary with their hunger and would say, "Who will show us any good?" And we would answer, and they would hear, "O Lord, the light of thy countenance shines bright upon us." 39 they

If selfishness in

possessions, his second

is

the

the

form of

first

cupidity, the lust for

money and

identifying characteristic of fallen

and equally important quality

is

man,

what Augustine

re-

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN peatecily

men

refers

or the lust for

power

also has

its

the

as

to

passion

power

for

49

domination over other

dominandt). This

(libido

lust for

root in the primal vice of pride, in the revolt

against God and the insane desire to "be like God." By nature, man was given power over all other earthly creatures, but no man was given the right to dominate other men. Men were created as equals, and God alone was the superior and the ruler of man40

kind.

But the soul of

fallen

terly intolerable," perversely

lord

it

even over those

fellow-men."

who was and so

41

the

who

man,

the

God

are by nature

its

first to

forsake

God

.

.

Not

—that

is, its

more

in

power

imitate the devil

proportion as they set their hearts on power, to

and

as they either re-

attainment of power, or are inflamed by the lust of

it.

power is to be shunned as though it were something but the order must be preserved, whereby righteousness is be-

.

evil;

fore

equals,

as a result of his lust for

Men

the neglect or even hatred of righteousness, joice in the

by aspiring "to

Actually, he succeeds only in imitating the devil,

his hatred of righteousness.

much

in "a reach of arrogance ut-

seeks to ape

it.

that

42

love of glory, honor, and fame,

men is associated with the which men "with vain elation

and pomp of arrogance" 43 seek

to achieve

This

lust for

others. is

domination over other

Like avarice,

this desire to exercise

not confined to a few men, although

free

from the love of

libido

cupiditas

dominandi

which

power and domination it

is

and the arrogant; "there

in the ambitious

who is The

by the subjection of

I

is

rule,

particularly strong is

hardly any one

and craves not human

glory."

44

not completely separate from the

have already discussed, since

men

often use

material possessions and wealth as weapons by which to secure

or to maintain power over other men, and, conversely, they fre-

quently utilize their power in order to plunder and steal the goods

and property they

covet.

But these two great passions of earthly

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

50

men

some individuals and some

are distinguishable;

exhibit

their

men and

while other

power and

lust for

zeal

greatest

societies

amassing wealth and property,

in

other societies are peculiarly ridden by the

even to the point of sacrificing material

rule,

comforts and satisfactions.

As Augustine minded and

ers.

desire of

45

power

However, there

For Hobbes, man's

impulse

—the

curity—and

are again re-

his "perpetual

power, that ceaseth only in

a difference between the

is

desire for glory

two think-

secondary to his basic

is

drive for self-preservation and, therefore, for

impulse which

to the acquisitive

by which

vehicles

after

we

man and

of Hobbes's portrait of natural

restless

death."

discusses the libido dominandi,

this basic drive

is

satisfied.

is

se-

one of the major

Augustine, on the

other hand, regards the lust for domination and for glory as an

independent drive,

power

this lust for

among

that rages

just as basic to intensifies

earthly

men. Even

which material goods are

in

egoistic

men

can be

satisfied

man

as cupidity. Naturally,

and exacerbates the helium omnium so

if

we

conjure up a situation

abundant that

without

conflict

all

—the

the desires of situation pre-

sumably envisioned by some Utopians

—

war would not disappear, and the

the instrument by

conflicts are

down and

For even

necessary. for

held

if all

drive

men

into personal

seeks for

world,

human

ruled by

ample of a

society of

dominandi and the

and

which

would never become un-

its

remain and would continue

societal struggles

condition

Augustine frequently

Romans,

and

still

is

mastery and attempts

"is itself

struggle,

material desires were satisfied, the lust

power and glory would

irony of the

state,

regulated,

conflict,

final

though

it

to enslave the nations of the

lust of rule."

refers to the

men whose

and wars. The

that the earthly city,

to

46

Romans

as the principal ex-

master passions were the libido

desire for glory.

The

intense zeal of the

especially of the great heroes of the early period, for

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN honor, praise, and glory was,

were motivated by

actions

51

speaking, a vice, since their

strictly

a desire to

win

the applause and

good

opinions of men, rather than God's blessing or the approval of conscience. But,

compared

Romans

of the

of other nacharacteristic

in the latter days of the Republic

and

Em-

in the

devotion and the love of glory of the ancient

pire, the patriotic

Roman

men

and love of luxury

to the vices of the

tions or to the avarice, profligacy,

heroes were at least quasi-virtuous, and indeed Augustine

sometimes describes their qualities as "virtues" or "civic tues."

47

For the sake of glory and love of

Romans

ancient

vir-

their country, these

suppressed their inferior egoistic impulses for

wealth, material goods, and pleasure. "Glory they most ardently

loved: for die.

they wished to

it

live, for it

they did not hesitate to

Every other desire was repressed by the strength of 48

passion for that one thing."

They even longed

for

their

wars so that

they might have occasions for displaying their valor and winning

renown. Augustine

recalls Virgil's great tribute to the

"Hae

Aeneid,

tibi

Romans'

poet extols as the ruling and nations."

50

erunt artes,

Romani

special

accomplishment "the

Romans conquered one

and gradually extended

included the entire civilized world.

sway of

this

in furtherance of

own

justice;

glory received their reward. despised their

own

The

arts of

purposes

great

and one na-

empire until

power and

it

uni-

to the

the lovers of dominion, power, and

They and for good of their country what their laws pro-

private affairs for the sake of the republic,

treasury resisted avarice, consulted for the spirit of

city

their

and

Romans by God and designs. 51 Thereby God

empire were granted

His

demonstrated His

with a

in the

which the

a result of their devotion to patriotism, glory,

the love of power, the

its

.

in

commanding, and of subjugating and vanquishing

As

tion after another

versal

.

.

Romans

," 49

freedom, addicted neither to

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

52

nounced

crime nor to

to be

By

lust.

all

these acts, as by the true way,

they pressed forward to honours, power, and glory; they were hon-

oured

among almost

upon many

pire

all

nations; they imposed the laws of their

God purposely granted men

as, for

this

almost

em-

day, both in literature and all

nations. 52

domination

this unparalleled

to

the sake of honour, and praise, and glory, consulted

well for their country, in

whose

at

among

history, they are glorious

such

and

nations;

whose glory they sought their own, and own, suppressing

safety they did not hesitate to prefer to their

and many other

die desire of wealth

vices for this

one

vice,

namely,

the love of praise. 53

national pride, military glory,

If

honor that far

men

and

a

consuming

above the ordinary vices of sinful man, they

gustine,

and

still

vices.

suffering,

He

for

are, for

Au-

never forgets the price of glory in misery

imposed on the bystanders even more than on the

struggling "heroes," and he

and

zeal for the

can confer have a magnificence that places them

is

aware that the

power can lead men

reminds us that the the earthly city,

fratricide

to

commit

lust for

domination

atrocious crimes.

He

committed by Cain, the founder of

was repeated by Romulus, the founder of Rome.

Both Romulus and Remus desired to have the glory of founding the

could not have as

much

glory as

if

Roman

republic, but both

one only claimed

it;

for he

who

have the glory of ruling would certainly rule less if his power were shared by a living consort. In order, therefore, that the whole glory might be enjoyed by one, his consort was removed;

wished

to

and by

this

crime the empire was made larger indeed, but inferior,

while otherwise

As we war,

55

shall

it

see

would have been

when

but better. 54

discussing Augustine's teachings about

he had no inclination

to forget the sufferings

less,

and

to glorify

war or

cruelties that are

military victory or

an inevitable part of

wars between nations or between groups or society.

classes

within a

His general verdict on the consequences of the

lust for

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN glory and power

is

that "this lust of sovereignty

dominandi\ disturbs and consumes the ful ills."

The

human

53

[libido ista

race with fright-

56

men who

worst crimes and atrocities are committed by

are

greedy for domination and power but do not possess that desire for glory that

other

he

makes one eager

to

be praised and honored by

is

greedy of domination, exceeds

men;

who

is

a despiser of glory, but

and luxuriousness. Such, indeed, were certain of the Romans, who wanting [i.e., lacking] the love of esteem, wanted not the thirst for domination. But it was Nero Caesar who was the first to reach the summit, and, as it were, the citadel of this vice; for so great was his luxuriousness, that one would have thought there was nothing manly to be dreaded in him, and such his cruelty, that, had not the contrary been known, no one would have thought there was anything effeminate in his character. 57 the beasts in the vices of cruelty

.

.

.

The extent and glory of the Roman empire were intended by God not simply as a reward to the patriotic Romans for their "virtues," but as a

of

"what

life eternal, if

citizens

reminder

a love they

owe

to the citizens of the heavenly city

to the supernal country

the terrestrial country

on account of human

glory."

was 58

so

much

When

on account of beloved by

its

the pilgrims recall

what the Romans endured, what great goods they despised, and what

desires they suppressed for the sake of

honor, which

is

human

vanity,

and

peril of ruin,"

60

of a transitory earthly empire, they should feel

good works they may have done or the endured

for the sake of

which they bled

and

if

will share.

more

are willing to

do

for the sake

no pride in the

sufferings they

may have

God's glory and His eternal kingdom

And

they should feel ashamed and

they see that the patriotic

to suffer

nothing but

and

"smoke which has no weight,"

"empty pride and

glory and

59

for the glory

Romans were

and grandeur of

for the glory of

God's eternal

hum-

willing to do

Rome

city.

61

than they

— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

54 If

covetousness and the lust for power are the two primary

man,

characteristics of fallen

his third drive

is

his sexual lust.

Like most of his contemporaries, Christian and non-Christian, Augustine

any positive good in sexual attraction or

sees little if

some twentieth-century

in sexual activity. If

a value

upon

seem

view sexual fulfillment

to

writers place so high

sometimes

satisfying sexual relationships that they as the

end of human

life,

many

of

the early Christians, as well as the neo-Platonists, Gnostics, and

Manichaeans, saw sexual

activity as utterly evil

and the sexual impulse

something

if

as

and degrading

be repressed and excised

to

happiness or salvation was to be achieved. Augustine's attitude

toward sex

undoubtedly negative, and

is

morbidly preoccupied with the subject.

and concupiscence and

of lust

marked by

his

at times

62

But

he seems to be

his denunciations

praise of chastity are not

and the resentment of other

the coldness

people's

pleasures that frequently are so evident in the ascetic. His sexual career before his conversion so

when he

misery that

fills

overpowering

the

life

force,

it

and

his

his experiences

upon

had been extended and turbulent;

speaks of the violence of sexual emotions and of the of the

is

man whose

memories of the bondage

to lust,

is

an

upon

and not

frustration or envy.

In any case, Augustine's asceticism of

sexual appetite

clear that his thoughts are based

many

completely sinful. His

such as the Nuptiis

et

De Bono

treatises

God's service

is

far less all

extreme than that

sexual activity

—make

it

De

Virginitate,

the highest state, marriage

activity

ing offspring.

63

is

He

intercourse between

and the

De

plain that while virginity in

and bearing children

are morally good, provided only that concupiscence

and sexual

was

on marriage and concupiscence

Coniugali, the

Concupiscentia

is

whom

of his contemporaries, for

is

restrained

engaged in only for the purpose of generat-

follows St. Paul in the concession that sexual

husband and

wife, even

if it is

not

strictly

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN limited to the purpose of procreation,

such sexual activity it

not a good, and indeed

And

sinful than adultery.

less

is

is

either of the marriage partners sent,

upon

is

a sin.

However,

might well follow

this

insisted,

55

permissible, although

is

if

without the other's con-

a strict limitation of sexual activity to the "proper"

purpose of conception.

Augustine discusses

64

at

length the question of

how

sexual inter-

course was carried on without lust or concupiscence before the

members operated under

Fall; the sexual

and without

One

resistance to

it,

the control of the will,

our hands and

as

now move. 65 God was con-

feet

of the punishments for man's disobedience to

members

cupiscence or lust; his sexual

and not by

will.

are

now moved

by

lust

While our other bodily organs are within our

power,

when

it

must come

dren, the

to

man's great function of the procreation of chilexpressly created for this purpose will

members which were

not obey the direction of the will, but lust has to be waited for to these

members

sometimes against

its

it

in motion, as if

Must not

freedom of the human

Commander, members? 66

when

refuses to act

will!

it

has

it

this

the

legal right over them,

mind

wills,

while often

it

set

and acts

bring the blush of shame over the

will, that

lost all

had

proper

by

its

contempt of God,

command

for itself over

its

its

own own

This domination of lust over the soul rages in the earthly man,

who

has not been redeemed by God's grace and aided to achieve

chastity or continence in

marriage. 67 Although lust and con-

cupiscence are never completely eradicated while a lives in this

world,

68

the good

man

man

still

does not allow these passions

to gain control over his actions, but restrains

and checks them by

the bridle of reason.

In earthly men, however, lust leads those ensnared by

it

is

an ever-present

into immoralities

and

drive,

evils of every

—adultery, promiscuity, abnormal sexual practices,

kind

which

bestiality.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

56

Some

men

earthly

are

dominated by

their sexual appetites; others

restrain or limit their lust in order to further their pursuit of

economic goods or of power and glory. Compared degraded of

to the lover of

"economic man," the sexual profligate

glory, or the

men and

brief

and

cease.

As we have

while his frustrations and sufferings never

violent,

seen, concupiscence

and the disobedience of

the sexual impulse to the control of the will

and of reason are the

consequence and punishment of Adam's original

commands;

bedience to God's

seem

the most

is

the most miserable; his satisfactions are

they do not, as

to think, constitute the original sin.

69

of diso-

sin

some moderns

Augustine does, how-

ever, link the transmission of original sin to all of

Adam's

de-

scendants with the fact that every child born after the Fall, with

who was

the sole exception of Christ,

immaculately conceived

the Virgin Mary by the operation of the Holy in sin, that

deemed.

is

in

conceived

no child can be conceived without the operations of

is,

and concupiscence, even

lust

Spirit,

his parents are

if

among

the re-

70

Augustine's picture of fallen man, ridden by avarice, lust for

power, and sexual desire,

which

mind

calls to

is

a

somber and pessimistic

the views of

human

portrait,

nature expressed by his

followers at the time of the Reformation, Luther and Calvin,

and by Machiavelli and Hobbes. Augustine's grim realism about

human

nature

is

not modified or softened

behavior of new-born infants; there

is

when he

considers the

no romantic coloring in

his picture of the "innocent" child. In the Confessions,

young

us a vivid description of the his inability to

communicate

his desires to those

around him,

cept by crying and by the unclear and feeble gestures of his as

arms and

an

legs.

With no

he gives

child's sense of frustration at

ex-

moving

trace of sentimentality he notes that,

infant, he, like every other

satisfaction of all his wants,

human

being, desired immediate

and reacted with

frustration, rage.

—

:

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN and aggression desires

and

and when

to

to his inability to

compel others

57

to minister to his

be subject to his libido dominandi;

—

was not obeyed either because I was not understood or I wanted was not good for me I became indignant with my elders for not submitting to me, with those who were not my slaves for not serving me; and I avenged myself on them by crying. That infants are like this, I have myself been able to learn by I

—

because what

watching them. 71

A few paragraphs ness

later

he returns

and jealousy of infants and

and obey

will not gratify

in the

young

weakness of

his

theme of the

their hostility

their every

shattering phrase, he destroys the

"purity" of the

to this

who

toward those

whim and

myth

willfull-

impulse. In a

and

of the "innocence"

child: "Thus, the infant's innocence lies

body and not in the infant mind."

72

He

continues

Nor was

it good, even in that time, to strive to get by crying what, had been given me, would have been hurtful; or to be bitterly indignant at those who, because they were older not slaves, either, but free and wiser than I, would not indulge my capricious desires. Was it a good thing for me to try, by struggling as hard as I could, to harm them for not obeying me, even when it would have done me harm to have been obeyed? ... I have myself observed a baby to be jealous, although it could not speak; it was livid as it watched an-

if it

—

—

other infant at the breast. 73

Thus, the basic sinfulness of

who

man

has just emerged from the

is

evident even in the infant

womb;

it

is

not simply a con-

sequence of "bad environment" or "inadequate training." "sinfulness" here total ter

means what

it

always means for Augustine

egoism and self-centeredness, regarding oneself

of the universe.

From

And

this basic "sin" of

as the cen-

unbounded egoism

follow the sins of cupidity, the unlimited desire for material

and sensual

gratifications, the lust to

the desire to injure anyone

who

dominate

refuses,

all

other men, and

even for our

own

good,

— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

58

to accept the role of a

means or instrument

our momentary and capricious

Nor

is

desires.

Augustine any more sentimental or

discusses the attitudes

and

desire to escape

from

idealistic

lessons

"work" and

and chores and

to

however, they

and

for their

spend their time

But these same grownups devote themselves

idling, which,

when he

actions of typical parents. Parents

teachers punish children for their failure to

at play.

for the satisfaction of

74

to play

and

call "business."

But the idling of our elders is called business; the idling of boys, though quite like it, is punished by those same elders, and no one pities either the boys or the men. For will any common sense observer agree that I was rightly punished as a boy for playing ball just because this hindered me from learning more quickly those lessons by means of which, as a man, I could play at more shameful games? And did he by whom I was beaten do anything different? When he was worsted in some small controversy with a fellow teacher, he was more tormented by anger and envy than I was when beaten by a playmate in the ball game. 75

Only those parents who have by God's grace been "converted" from

this universal

human

God

treat their children in this

way

new

life,

self-satisfaction.

But such

who

egoistic,

as

is

its

—that

men and

between; the true Christian

born sinful and

and

self-centeredness

based upon

to a

center is,

as

self-deification

and

means

focus,

do not

to their

own

such parents are few and far

a rare specimen. All children are

and most of them have

sinful parents

teach their impressionable offspring, by example even

more

than by precept, to become even more avaricious, vainglorious,

and

lustful.

and

to

Even

become

the infant

who

is

a citizen of the City of

born predestined

to

be saved

God,

but meanwhile a prisoner for a time, when learneth he to love ought, save what his parents have whispered into his ears? They teach him

and

train

idols

and

What

him

in avarice, robbery, daily lying, the worship of divers

unlawful remedies of enchantments and amulets. one yet an infant do, a tender soul, observing what its

devils, the

shall

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN elders do, save follow that

has persecuted us

up knowledge of

when

little,

59

them doing. Babylon then but God hath given us when grown

which

ourselves, that

it

we

seeth

should not follow the errors of

our parents. 76 It is

no wonder, then, that

Boys when born speak somewhat like this to their parents: "Now removing hence, let us too play our parts on the stage." For the whole life of temptation in the human race is a then, begin to think of stage play; for

The

it

outline

I

is

said,

—

self-love,

cupiscence.

I

man

living

is

altogether vanity." 77

have given of Augustine's discussions of the

psychology of fallen butes

"Every

man

has dealt only with his essential

cupidity, love of

have not referred

power and

to Augustine's

glory,

many

attri-

and con-

other anal-

human nature, such as his extraordinarily subtle discusmemory in the Confessions 78 or his intricate analyses of the relations among memory, understanding, and the will and of the analogies between those relations and the relations among yses of

sion of

the persons of the Trinity.

79

These discussions have been omitted,

fascinating though they often are, because the psychological questions treated in

them bear

little

direct relation to

terest,

the analysis of men's social, economic,

tivities

and

Any

thinker who, like Augustine, sees

power and

possibly be a cheerful optimist

human

similarities

and

in-

political ac-

institutions.

avaricious, ambitious for

the

our main

activities that

man

glory,

when he

go on in

it.

I

as essentially selfish,

and

lustful,

cannot

surveys the world and

have already noted the

between the Augustinian and Hobbesian analyses of

man's fundamental drives, as well

as

the agreement between

Augustine and Hobbes about the ruthless and never-ceasing conflict

that

is

the natural consequence of the clashing appetites

ambitions of these self-centered men. Let us

now go on

and

to sketch

in greater detail Augustine's grimly pessimistic picture of the

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN

60

and sufferings

evils live,

work, struggle, and die in

When able, or

he

wretched, he

this

the lives of

is

men

as they

world.

he often does, that the world

tells us, as

referring to the world of

and passions and not

actions

mark

that inevitably

is evil,

miser-

men and

their

world of nature, the physical

to the

universe.

The world

and yet it is loved as though it were world? For the heavens and the earth and the waters, and the things that are therein, the fish, and birds, and trees, are not evil. All these are good: but it is evil men who make is evil, lo, it is evil,

good. But what

this evil

world. 80

this evil

The world God;

is

of nature

is

a

good world, created by a

per se

evil,

perfectly

and animal or human

since material bodies

good

flesh are

net

the neo-Platonists and such Christian Platonists as

Origen are wrong when they say that the world was created order to restrain and punish

evil,

and

that bodies of

all

in

kinds are

the prison-houses of souls which have committed sins of various kinds.

81

It is

the

wills, that is the

upon

human

this earth has

found and

just

world, the world of men's misdirected

world of

sin,

and

as a

classes of sinners, "the

Even

one

life

of

regenerate,

demons and men,

in the air, the other

for the saints this life live

among and

is

a

on

earth,

the two is filled

82

time of sorrow and suffering.

suffer the persecutions of the un-

and they share with the wicked the burdens and

sufferings of mortality, sickness, ignorance, in this

life

become penal and wretched. By God's "pro-

judgment" the

with misery, calamities, and mistakes."

They must

consequence of sin

and temptation. Even

world the redeemed possess a kind of

damned have no knowledge

felicity of

or experience, but

it is

which the

a felicity en-

83 Real happiness joyed in hope rather than in present actuality.

will be the portion of the saints only after the corruptible body,

death,

and

sin

have passed away, and when eternal

felicity in

an

1

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FALLEN MAN body

incorruptible

granted to them by God.

is

"the land of the dead"; this

85

earth."

is

For

this life are the first install-

of their punishment, to be continued after the resurrection

punishment. For the good, the

in eternal

earthly existence are the just trial

6

This world

upon

life is "this hell

and misery of

the wicked, the evils

ment

84

and

test

of their faith

In the land of the dead

is

and of

and sufferings of

ills

punishment

and a

for their sins,

their virtues.

86

labour, grief, fear, tribulation, temptation,

groaning, sighing; here are false happy ones, true unhappy, because

happiness

false,

is

misery

in true misery, will also

true.

is

But he that owneth himself

be in true happiness: and yet

now

to be

because

thou art miserable, hear the Lord saying, "Blessed are they that s