Augustine, Sermones 138-145 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon 138. On the words of the Gospel of John, I am the good shepherd, etc., against the Donatists. Chapter 10, verses 11-16.

Chapter One. — 1. Why the good shepherd was commended in the singular. We have heard the Lord Jesus commending to us the office of the good shepherd. In this commendation He certainly admonished us, as is given to be understood, that there are good shepherds. And yet, lest a multitude of shepherds be understood in a perverse way: I, He says, am the good shepherd. And whence He is the good shepherd He shows next: The good shepherd, He says, lays down his life for the sheep. But the hireling, and he who is not the shepherd, sees the wolf coming, and flees: because he has no care for the sheep; for he is a hireling. The good shepherd, therefore, is Christ. What of Peter? Was he not a good shepherd? did not he too lay down his life for the sheep? What of Paul? What of the other Apostles? What of the blessed bishops and martyrs who followed their times? What also of this holy Cyprian? Were they not all good shepherds; not hirelings, of whom it is said, Amen I say to you, they have received their reward (Matt. 6:2). All these, therefore, [were] good shepherds, not only because they shed their blood,

but because they shed it for the sheep. For they did not shed it out of pride, but out of charity.

Chapter II. 2. Martyrdom without charity profits nothing. For among the heretics too, those who have suffered some troubles on account of their iniquities and errors boast themselves under the name of martyrdom, so that, whitened with this cloak, they may steal the more easily, because they are wolves. But if you wish to know in what number they are to be reckoned, hear the good shepherd Paul the apostle: for not all who in suffering hand over their bodies even to the flames are to be judged to have shed their blood for the sheep, but rather against the sheep. If I speak, he says, with the tongues of men and of Angels, but have not charity, I have become like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. If I know all mysteries, and have all prophecy, and all faith, so that I move mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. A great thing, then, is faith that moves mountains, last of all. Those things indeed are great: but if I have these without charity, he says, it is not they but I who am nothing. But he has not yet touched those who falsely glory in their sufferings under the name of martyrdom. Hear how he touches them, nay rather how he pierces them through. If I distribute, he says, all my goods to the poor, and hand over my body to be burned. Now these are they. But see what follows: But have not charity, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:1–3). Behold, one comes to suffering; behold, one comes even to the shedding of blood; one comes even to the burning of the body: and yet it profits nothing, because charity is lacking. Add charity, and all things profit: take away charity, and the rest profit nothing.

Chapter III. 3. How great a good charity is. What kind of good is this charity, brethren? What is more precious? what more luminous? what more firm? what more useful? what more secure? Many are the gifts of God which even the wicked nevertheless have, who are going to say, Lord, in Thy name we have prophesied, in Thy name we have cast out demons, in Thy name we have done many mighty works. Nor will He answer, You did not do them. For in the sight of so great a judge they will not dare to lie, or to boast of things they have not done. But because they did not have charity, He will answer them all: I do not know you (Matt. 7:22–23). But how does he have even a little charity who, even when convicted, does not love unity? Commending this unity to good shepherds, the Lord did not wish to speak of many shepherds. For it is not, as I have already said, that Peter was not a good shepherd, or Paul, or the other Apostles, or the later holy bishops, and the blessed Cyprian. All these were good shepherds: and yet to good shepherds He commended not good shepherds, but the good shepherd. I am, He says, the good shepherd.

Chapter IV. 4. That Peter and others are good shepherds. Let us question the Lord with whatever understanding we have, and let us converse with so great a householder in the humblest discussion. What is Thy word, Lord, O good Shepherd?

For Thou art the good shepherd, Who art the good lamb; the same [art] shepherd and pasture, the same lamb and lion. What dost Thou say? Let us hear, and help us to understand. I am, He says, the good shepherd. What of Peter? Is he either not a shepherd, or a bad one? Let us see whether he is not a shepherd. Do you love Me? Thou didst say to him, Lord, Do you love Me? and he answered, I love. And Thou [saidst] to him, Feed My sheep. Thou, Thou, Lord, by Thy questioning, by the firm assurance of Thy mouth, didst make the lover a shepherd. He is a shepherd, then, to whom Thou didst entrust sheep to be fed. Thou Thyself didst commend him; he is a shepherd. Let us now see whether he is not good. We find this by that very questioning and his answer. Thou didst ask whether he loved Thee: he answered, I love. Thou didst see his heart, that he answered truly. Is he not then good, who loves so great a good? Whence that answer brought forth from his inmost heart? Whence was that Peter, having Thine eyes as witnesses in his heart, saddened because Thou didst question him not only once, but a second and a third time, so that by a threefold confession of love he might blot out the threefold sin of denial; whence then was he saddened, because he had been questioned so often by Him Who knew what He was asking, and had Himself given what He was hearing; whence, being saddened, did he give back such words: Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou Thyself knowest that I love Thee (John 21:15–17)? Would he, confessing such things, nay professing them, be lying? Truly then did he answer his love for Thee, and from his inmost heart brought forth the voice of one who loves. But Thou didst say: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things (Matt. 12:35). Therefore he is both a shepherd and a good shepherd: nothing indeed in comparison with the power and goodness of the Shepherd of shepherds; but nevertheless he too is both a shepherd and good: and the others like him are good shepherds.

Chapter V. — 5. Yet Christ is the one good shepherd. What is it then, that to good shepherds Thou commendest one shepherd, unless that in one shepherd Thou teachest unity? And the Lord Himself explains it more openly through our ministry, reminding your Charity from the Gospel itself, and saying, Hear what I have commended: I am the good shepherd, I said, because all the others, all good shepherds, are My members. One head, one body, one Christ. Therefore both the Shepherd of shepherds, and the shepherds of the Shepherd, and the sheep with the shepherds under the Shepherd. What are these things, unless what the Apostle says: For as the body is one, and has many members; but all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body: so also is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12)? If, therefore, so also is Christ, rightly does Christ, having in Himself all good shepherds, commend one, saying, I am the good shepherd. I am, I am one; with Me all are one in unity. He who feeds outside Me, feeds against Me. He who gathers not with Me, scatters. Hear, therefore, unity itself commended more forcefully: I have, He says, other sheep, which are not of this fold. For He was speaking to the first fold, of the stock of the flesh of Israel. But there were others of the stock of the faith of that same Israel, and they were still outside, they were among the Gentiles, predestined, not yet gathered together. He Who had predestined them knew them:

He knew them, He Who had come to redeem them with His own blood poured out. He saw them, though they did not yet see Him; He knew them, though they did not yet believe in Him. I have, He says, other sheep, which are not of this fold: because they are not of the race of the flesh of Israel. But nevertheless they will not be outside this fold, because I must bring them, that there may be one flock and one shepherd.

Chapter VI. — 6. The affection of the bride towards Christ. Rightly does His beloved, His bride, His fair one, but made fair by Him, formerly foul with sins, afterwards beautiful through pardon and grace, speak to this Shepherd of shepherds, loving and burning towards Him, and say to Him, Where dost Thou pasture? And see how, with what affection, spiritual love is here raised up. Far better are they delighted by this affection who have tasted something of the sweetness of this love. Those hear this well who love Christ. For in them, and about them, the Church sings this in the Song of Songs: those who love Christ as though foul, and yet alone beautiful. For we saw Him, it says, and He had neither comeliness nor beauty (Isa. 53:2). Such He appeared on the cross, such He showed Himself when crowned with thorns, foul and without beauty, as though His power were lost; as though not the Son of God. Such He was seen by the blind. For it was in the person of the Jews that Isaiah said this, We saw Him, and He had neither comeliness nor beauty. When it was said, If He is the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross. He saved others, Himself He cannot save. And striking Him on the head with a reed, Prophesy to us, Christ, who struck Thee (Matt. 27:40–41; 26:68)? Because He had neither comeliness nor beauty. Such, O Jews, did you see Him. Because blindness has come upon Israel in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in (Rom. 11:25), until the other sheep should come. Because, then, blindness came about, therefore you saw the Beautiful One without beauty. For if you had known, you would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). But you did it, because you did not know. And yet He Who bore with you as foul, being beautiful, prayed for you: Father, He says, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). For if He was without beauty, what is it that she loves, she who says, Tell me, Thou Whom my soul has loved? What is it that she loves? What is it that she burns for, what is it that she so greatly fears to stray from? What is it in which she so greatly delights, she whose only punishment is to be without Him? What would there be for which He should be loved, unless He were beautiful? But how would she love Him so, if He appeared to her as He appeared to the blind who persecuted Him and did not know what they were doing? What kind of one, then, did she love? Beautiful in form beyond the sons of men. Beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, grace is poured out on Thy lips (Ps. 44:3). Therefore from Thy very lips tell me, Thou Whom my soul has loved. Tell me, she says, O Thou Whom not my flesh but my soul has loved. Tell me where Thou pasturest, where Thou liest down at noon: lest perhaps I become as one veiled over the flocks of Thy companions.

Chapter VII. — 7. How the words of the bride are to be understood. Companions (sodales), as it were those who eat together (simul edales). It seems obscure, and it is obscure: because it is the mystery of the sacred bridal chamber. For she herself

says, The king has brought me into his chamber. This is the secret of such a chamber. But you who are not strangers, uninitiated, to that chamber, hear what you are, and say it with her, if you love with her; and you love with her if you are in her. Say it, all of you, and yet let her say it as one, because unity says: Tell me, Thou Whom my soul has loved. For they had towards God one soul and one heart (Acts 4:32). Tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down at noon. What does noon signify? Great heat and great brightness. Therefore make known to me who are Thy wise ones, fervent in spirit and shining in doctrine. Make Thy right hand known to me, and those instructed in heart in wisdom (Ps. 89:12). To them let me cleave in Thy body, with them let me be joined in fellowship, with them let me enjoy Thee. Tell me, then, tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down at noon; lest I fall in among those who say one thing about Thee and think another about Thee, believe one thing about Thee and preach another about Thee: and they have their own flocks, and they are Thy companions, because they live from Thy table and handle the Sacraments of Thy table. For they are called sodales ['companions'] because they eat together, as though simul edales ['eaters-together']. Such men are reproached in the Psalm: For if my enemy had spoken great things against me, I would surely have hidden myself from him; and if he who hated me had spoken great things against me, I would surely have hidden myself from him. But you, my one in mind, my guide and my familiar, who together with me took sweet food, we walked in the house of God in agreement (Ps. 54:13–15). Why now in disagreement against the house of the Lord, unless because they went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John 2:19)? Therefore, O Thou Whom my soul has loved, let me not fall in among such men, Thy companions, but companions such as were the companions of Samson, not keeping faith with their friend, but wishing to corrupt his wife (Judg. 14). Therefore, lest I fall in among such men, lest I come upon them, that is, fall in among them, as one veiled, as one hidden and obscure, not as one set upon a mountain. Tell me then, O Thou Whom my soul has loved, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down at noon; who are the wise and faithful in whom Thou restest most of all: lest perchance, being hidden, I fall in among flocks that are not Thine but Thy companions'. For Thou didst not say to Peter, Feed your sheep; but, Feed My sheep (John 21:15).

Chapter VIII. — 8. The Bridegroom's answer. Let the good Shepherd, then, answer this beloved one, He Who is beautiful in form beyond the sons of men: let Him answer her whom He made beautiful out of the sons of men. Hear what He answers, understand; beware of what He threatens, love what He admonishes. What then does He answer? How unflatteringly! Rather, He renders severity for endearments. He rebukes in order to restrain, in order to preserve. Unless you know yourself, He says, O fair one among women: for however fair the others may be with the gifts of your husband, they are heresies; they are fair in adornment, not in their inmost parts, they shine outwardly and on the surface, they whiten themselves with the name of righteousness: But all the beauty of the king's daughter is within (Ps. 44:14). Unless therefore you know yourself, that you are one, that you are throughout all nations, that you are chaste, that you ought not to be corrupted by the perverse talk of evil companions. Unless you know yourself, that he rightly betrothed you to Me as a virgin

chaste, to present you to Christ; and rightly would you present yourself to Me, lest through evil conversations, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your senses too should be corrupted from My chastity (2 Cor. 11:2–3). Unless, therefore, you know yourself to be such, go out; go out. For to others I am going to say, Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23). To you I will not say, Enter, but, Go out; so that you may be among those who went out from us. Go out. But only if you do not know yourself, then go out. If, however, you know yourself, enter. But if you do not know [yourself], go out in the footsteps of the flocks, and feed your kids in the tents of the shepherds (Song 1:6–7). Go out in the footsteps, not of the flock, but of the flocks: and feed, not as Peter [fed] My sheep, but your kids: in the tents, not of the shepherd, but of the shepherds; not of unity, but of dissension; not placed there where there is one flock and one shepherd. She has been strengthened, she has been built up, being loved she has been made stronger, ready to die for her husband, and to live with her husband.

Chapter IX. — 9. The bride's words wrongly appropriated by the Donatists. These words which we have recalled from the holy Song of Songs come from a kind of marriage-song of the bridegroom and the bride: for it is a spiritual marriage, in which we must live with great chastity; because Christ granted to the Church in the spirit what His mother had in the body, that she should be both mother and virgin. These words, then, the Donatists take in a far different way, to suit their own perverse meaning. And how they do so I shall not pass over in silence, and what you should answer them I shall, with the Lord's help, briefly point out as far as I am able. When we have begun to press them with the light of the unity of the Church spread throughout the whole world, and have demanded that they themselves show some testimony from the Scriptures where God foretold that the Church would be in Africa, as though the other nations had perished, they are accustomed to have this testimony on their lips, and to say: Africa is in the south; so, they say, the Church asks the Lord where He feeds, where He lies down; He answers, In the south: so that it is, as it were, the voice of one asking, Tell me, Thou Whom my soul has loved, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down; and, as it were, the voice of one answering, In the south, that is, in Africa. If, then, she who asks is the Church, and the Lord answers where He feeds, in Africa, because the Church was in Africa, then she who asks was not in Africa. Tell me, she says, Thou Whom my soul has loved, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down; and He answers a certain Church outside Africa, In the south, in Africa I lie down, in Africa I feed, as though [to say], in you I do not feed. Further, if she who asks is the Church, which no one doubts, which not even they themselves contradict, and they hear something or other about Africa: then she who asks is outside Africa; and since she is the Church, there is a Church outside Africa.

Chapter X. — 10. The Donatists are refuted. Look, I accept that Africa is in the south: although Egypt is more in the south, under the midday sun, than Africa. But there in Egypt, how this Shepherd is [present], those who know acknowledge; those who do not know, let them inquire how great a flock He gathers there, how great a multitude