Augustine, Sermones 164-170 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

it is to remain in error out of animosity. Better indeed it would have been if we had never erred; but let us at least do what comes second, and at length correct our error. We deceived, because we had been deceived; we preached false things, we who believed those who preached false things. Let them say to their own people: Together we erred, together let us withdraw from error. We were your leaders to the pit, and you followed when we were leading you to the pit; and now follow when we lead you to the Church. They could say these things: they would be saying them to the indignant, they would be saying them to the angry, yet at some point those too would lay aside their indignation and would love unity, even if late.

15. Patience to be shown towards them. Yet let us, brothers, be patient towards them. The eyes we are treating are in fever and swelling. I do not say that we should stop treating them, but that we should not provoke them to greater bitterness with insults; let us give our reasons gently, and not exult proudly over a victory. For the servant of the Lord ought not to quarrel, the Apostle says, but to be gentle towards all, teachable, patient, in modesty correcting those who think otherwise, in case God may perhaps give them repentance, and they may recover from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive according to his will (2 Tim. 2:24–26). Bear patiently, then, if you are healthy; bear patiently, inasmuch as you are healthy. For who is perfectly healthy? When the just King sits on the throne, who will boast that he has a clean heart, or who will boast that he is clean from sin (Prov. 20:8–9)? So as long as we are such, this we owe ourselves: that we bear one another's burdens. Turning to the Lord, etc.

Sermon 165. On the words of the Apostle, Eph. 3:13-18, I ask not to be weakened in my tribulations for you, which is your glory, etc., and on grace and free will, against the Pelagians. Preached in the Basilica Majorum.

Chapter One. — 1. Hope is to be placed in God, not in the powers of free choice. The concurrence of grace and free choice. We have heard the Apostle, we have heard the Psalm, we have heard the Gospel; all the divine readings are in harmony, that we should place our hope not in ourselves but in the Lord. I ask, says the Apostle, not to be weakened in my tribulations for you, which is your glory. I ask, he says, not to be weakened, that is, that you may not be weakened when you hear that I suffer tribulations for you; because this is your glory. He asks them, then, not to be weakened; which he would not do unless he wished to rouse their will. For if they were to answer, Why do you ask of us what we do not have in our power? would they not seem to themselves to have given a just answer? And yet the Apostle, unless he knew that there was in them the consent of their own will, in which they too would do something, would not say,

I ask. And if he were to say, I command, unless he knew that they could bring their will to his command, this word would come forth from his mouth without cause. But again, knowing that without the help of God the will of man is weak, he said, I ask, not only so that they should not say, We do not have choice of the will; but also so that they should not say, Choice of the will suffices for us, see what he added: For this reason. For what reason, if not the one he had stated above: I ask that you not grow weak in my tribulations for you, which is your glory? Because, then, you have choice of the will, I ask. But because choice of the will does not suffice you to fulfil what I ask, For this reason I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from Whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. That He may give you. What, may He give you? What I ask of you, I pray that He may give you. For I ask it of you on account of the choice of the will; I pray that He may give it to you on account of the help of His majesty.

Chapter II. — 2. That very thing is asked of God which is demanded of man. But we have run ahead of the Apostle's words. Perhaps you are still waiting to hear, you who do not hold the text of this same reading in memory, whether the Apostle really bends his knees to the Father for them for this purpose, that He may give them what he had said to them, I ask. Remember, then, what he asked of them. I ask that you not grow weak in my tribulations for you: this he asks of them. Now see what he asks for them: I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power. What else is this but not to grow weak? To be strengthened with power, he says, through His Spirit. This is the Spirit of grace. See what he asks. He asks of God that which he demands of men: because, so that God may be willing to give, you too must adjust your will to receiving. How do you wish to receive the grace of the divine goodness, you who do not open the lap of your will? May He give, he says, to you. For you do not have it unless He gives it to you. May He give you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit. For if He has given you to be strengthened with power, therein He will give you not to grow weak. That Christ may dwell in the inner man through faith in your hearts. May He give you all this. Rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints. Comprehend what? May He give you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your inner man through faith, and so, rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints: what? What is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth. Now in the Latin language altitudo signifies both: both what is upwards bears the name of altitudo, and what is deep down bears the name of altitudo. Therefore the translator answered well in calling what is high upwards altitudo, and what is deep downwards profundum.

Chapter III. — 3. In the four dimensions, the mystery of the cross. What is it, then, my brothers? I will explain this to you. More easily, perhaps, if it be to anyone, what then?

because the breadth, length, height and depth, these four things of which the Apostle speaks, I am not fit enough either to comprehend or to set forth, shall I pass over this? Or shall I perhaps knock, and, so that I may set forth something wholesome for you, be helped by your prayers? Why do you travel in heart, Christian man, through the breadth of the earth, the length of the ages, the height of heaven, the depth of the abyss? When do you comprehend these things, either with the mind or with the body? That is, whether by thinking or by gazing with the eyes of the flesh, when do you comprehend these things? Hear the Apostle himself saying to you: But far be it from me to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14). Let us too glory in it, or because we lean upon it. In it let us all glory, O good brethren, in it let us glory. There perhaps we shall find both the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the depth. For by these words of the Apostle the cross is in a certain manner set before our eyes. For it has breadth, in which the hands are fixed; it has length, in that the wood is carried down from there to the ground; it has height too, in that it rises somewhat above the very crossbeam on which the hands are fixed, where the head of the crucified is placed; it has depth too, that is, the part which is fixed in the ground and is not seen. Behold a great mystery. From that depth which you do not see rises all that you see.

Chapter IV. — 4. The breadth, length and height of the cross. Where, then, is the breadth? Turn yourself to the life and conduct of the saints, who say, Far be it from me to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find in their conduct the breadth of charity; whence the Apostle himself admonishes them, saying, Be enlarged, do not be yoked together with unbelievers. And because he who was exhorting them to breadth was himself broad, hear what he says: Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians; our heart is enlarged (2 Cor. 6:11–14). Breadth, then, is charity, which alone works well. Breadth brings it about that God loves a cheerful giver (ibid. 9:7). For if he has suffered narrowness, he will give sadly; if he gives sadly, what he gives is lost. There is need, then, of the breadth of charity, so that whatever good you do may not be lost. But since the Lord says, Where iniquity shall abound, the charity of many shall grow cold, give me length also. What is length? He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved (Matt. 24:12–13). This is the length of the cross, where the whole body is stretched out: where in a certain manner one stands, and by standing one perseveres. If, then, you who glory in the cross seek to have the breadth of the cross, have the virtue of working well. If you wish to have the length of the cross, have the long-suffering of persevering. But if you wish to have the height of the cross, know what you hear, and where you hear it: Lift up the heart. What is "Lift up the heart"? There hope, there love: from there ask for strength, there await the reward. For if you work well and give cheerfully, you are seen to have breadth. If you persevere in these same good works to the end, you are seen to have length. But if you do all these things not for the sake of the heavenly reward, you will not have height; and then that will be neither breadth nor length. For what is it to have height,

except to think of God, to love God; and freely to love God Himself as helper, Himself as spectator, Himself as crowner, Himself as giver of the reward; lastly, to reckon Himself the reward, to expect nothing else from Him but Himself? If you love, love freely: if you truly love, let Him Whom you love be your wage. Or are all things dear to you, and is He cheap Who made all things?

Chapter V.—5. The depth of the cross. That we may be able to do these things, the Apostle bent his knees for us, surely to this end, that it may be given to us. For the Gospel too strikes terror: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom, but to them it is not given. For whoever has, to him it shall be given. Who has, to whom it shall be given, except one to whom it has been given? But whoever has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him (Matt. 13:11–12). Who has not, except one to whom it has not been given? Why then has it been given to this one, and not given to that one? I am not ashamed to say it: this is the depth of the cross. From some depth or other of the judgements of God, which we cannot search out and contemplate, proceeds all that we are able to do. From a profundity, I say, I know not what, of the judgements of God, which, being inscrutable, we cannot contemplate, we have not the strength to search out, proceeds all that we are able to do. What I am able to do, I see: whence I am able, I do not see; except that I see this much, that I know it to be from God. But why this one, and not that one: it is too much for me, it is an abyss, it is the depth of the cross; I can cry out in wonder, I cannot demonstrate it by argument. What can I cry out concerning this profundity? How magnified are Thy works, O Lord! The Gentiles are enlightened, the Jews are blinded. Some little ones are washed by the sacrament of Baptism, but some little ones are left in the death of the first man. How magnified are Thy works, O Lord! Exceedingly deep have Thy thoughts been made! And there follows: The imprudent man does not know, and the fool does not understand these things (Ps. 91:6–7). What is it that the fool and the imprudent man do not understand? That it is at least deep. For if the fool does not understand, and the wise man understands, it is not exceedingly deep. But if the wise man understands that it is deep, the fool does not understand that it is at least deep.

6. Whence the error concerning the sin of souls before the body. Therefore many, seeking to give an account of this depth, have gone off into fables of vanity. Some have said that souls sin up above in heaven, and according to their sins are directed to bodies in accordance with their deserts, and are shut up there as in fitting prisons. They have gone after their own thoughts; wishing to dispute about the depth of God, they have been sunk into the deep. For the Apostle confronts them, wishing to commend grace, and he chose those twins in the womb of Rebecca, and says: For when they were not yet born, nor had done anything good or evil (Rom. 9:11). See how he took away from vain men their fantasies of a life led by souls in heaven before the body. For if they had already led a life there, they had already done something good or evil, and had been thrust down into earthly bodies according to their deserts. If you please, let us contradict the Apostle, who said, When they were not yet born, nor had done anything good or evil. But because the catholic faith, on account of the Apostle's evident statement, rejects this, that souls

first live and dwell in heaven, and there take on the merits of the bodies they are to receive, these new men do not now dare to say.

Chapter VI. — 7. Death comes only from sin. The death of little ones comes from the sin of the first man. But what do they say? Some of them, as we have heard, argue thus: Clearly, they say, all men die for their own deserts, because they have sinned; for there would be no death, were it not coming from sin. Very well and truly is it said, There would be no death, were it not coming from sin. But I, when I hear this, praise it for this reason, that I look upon that first death and the sin of that first man. For I hear the Apostle: As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death; and so it passed through into all men, in whom all sinned (Rom. 5:12). For all were that one man. Do I hear you, then, saying that the death of man is from sin? No, he says. And what do you say? God now creates every man immortal. A wonderful novelty! What do you say? Clearly, he says, God creates every man immortal. Why then do little infants die? For if I were to say, Why do grown men die? you would say to me, They have sinned. Therefore I will not argue about the age of older people: I will cite the infancy of little ones as a witness against you. They do not speak, and they convict you: they are silent, and they prove what I say. Behold, infants are certainly innocent in their own works, having nothing with them except what they have drawn from the first man: for which reason the grace of Christ is necessary to them, that those who died in Adam may be made alive in Christ; that, since they were defiled by generation, they may be cleansed by regeneration. These, therefore, I will cite as witnesses. Answer me: Why do they die, if all men are born immortal, and die for this reason, that they sin? What do you suppose could have been said? What ears could bear it? They too have sinned. Where did they sin? I ask you, when did they sin? how did they sin? They do not know what good and evil are. Do they receive sin, who do not grasp a commandment? Prove to me that infants are sinners: what you have said, truly because you have forgotten what you were, prove to me the sins of infants. Is it because they cry that they sin? Is it because, with movements like those of dumb animals, they push away annoyances and take pleasures, that they therefore sin? If these movements are sins, they become greater sinners at Baptism; for when they are baptized, they struggle most vehemently. Why is sin not imputed to them in so great a struggle, unless because there is as yet no choice of the will?

8. Little ones who perished in the womb. But I say something else: These, because they were born, have sinned, as you suppose. For if they did not sin, you say, they would not die. What do you say of those who die in the womb? O what straits! They too, he says, have sinned, and therefore they die. Are you lying, or are you deceived? The Apostle contradicts you: When they were not yet born, nor had done anything good or evil. I listen to the Apostle rather than to you, I believe the Apostle rather than you. When they were not yet born, nor had done anything