Augustine, Sermones 266-275 (Classis II, de Tempore)

Sermon 266. On the vigil of Pentecost. On the verse of Psalm 140:5, "The just man shall correct me," etc. Against the Donatists.

1. A verse of the Psalm badly understood by the Donatists. Among the other divine utterances which we heard when the Psalm was being sung, it is my pleasure, with the Lord's help, to examine and treat thoroughly above all that saying in which it was said, The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall rebuke me; but the oil of the sinner shall not fatten my head. For some have believed that the oil of the sinner is the oil of man, because every man is a liar (Ps. 115:11). But the oil of Christ, since He had no sin at all, even if it is administered through a sinner, is not the oil of a sinner. Since three things present themselves to the mind to be considered, by whom it is given, to whom it is given, through whom it is given, let us not fear the oil of the sinner, because the minister in the middle does not intercept the benefit of the giver.

2. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The unity of the Catholic Church signified by the gift of tongues. For indeed we are now celebrating the solemnity of the coming of the Holy Spirit: for on the day of Pentecost, which day has already begun, there were in one place a hundred and twenty souls, among whom were the Apostles and the mother of the Lord and others of both sexes, praying and awaiting the promise of Christ, that is, the coming of the Holy Spirit. The hope of the one awaiting was not empty, because the promise of the One promising was not deceitful: what was awaited came, and found clean vessels by which it might be received. There appeared to them tongues divided as of fire, which also sat upon each one of them; and they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them to utter. Each single man spoke in all tongues, because the Church to come was being foretold in all tongues. One man was a sign of unity: all tongues in one man, all nations in unity. Those who were full spoke; and those who were empty marvelled; and, what is more blameworthy, they marvelled and slandered. For they said: These men are drunk and full of new wine. What a foolish and slanderous reproach! A drunken man does not learn another's tongue, but loses his own. Nevertheless, through the ignorant and the slanderers the truth was speaking. For those men were already full of new wine, because they had been made new wineskins (Matt. 9:17). But old wineskins marvelled at new wineskins, and by slandering were neither renewed nor filled. But when the slander had at last been checked, as soon as they lent their ears to the Apostles as they discoursed and gave an account and preached the grace of Christ, by hearing they were pierced to the heart, by compunction they were changed, being changed they believed; believing, they deserved to receive that which they marvelled at in others (Acts 2).

3. The Holy Spirit a gift, not of the human minister, but of God. The error of the Donatists, that the Holy Spirit is not given

except through holy ministers. Then the Holy Spirit began to be given through the ministry of the Apostles. They laid on hands, and He came. But this did not belong to men: let the minister not claim for himself more than what [belongs to him] as minister. One is the giver, another the one who administers. For the Spirit bore witness to this, so that men should not claim for themselves what was God's. It was from this, indeed, that Simon wished to be puffed up, who, thinking that this was to be attributed to men, promised money to the Apostles, so that at the laying on of his hands too the Holy Spirit might come. He did not know grace. For if he had recognized grace, he would have had it gratis. Therefore, because he wished to buy the Spirit, he did not deserve to be redeemed by the Spirit. What are you, man, that you wish to puff yourself up? It is enough for you to be filled, not to be puffed up. He who is filled is rich: he who is puffed up is empty. But it was given through men, they say. Was what was given therefore the possession of men? But it could not be given, they say, except through holy men. Had it come upon them themselves through men? The Apostles laid on hands, and the Holy Spirit came: when He came upon them, who laid hands on them?

4. The Holy Spirit sometimes given without the ministry of men. Receive and hold fast divine examples: but they are the utterances of God, the authority of Scripture, the trustworthiness of words, the truth of examples. We read the whole, let us believe the whole. Through the laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given to many: but those through whom He was given had received [Him]. When had they received [Him]? When a hundred and twenty men were in one room: each one of them was praying, no one was laying on a hand; He came upon them as they prayed, He filled them as they prayed, He made those He had filled ministers, and through them He gave what was His own. Hear further. Philip the evangelist, who preached the Gospel in Samaria, was one of the seven deacons: for in the need of the ministry seven deacons had been added to the twelve Apostles; of whom one, as I said, was Philip, who because of his ready eloquence in preaching deserved to be called properly an evangelist. Although all were doing this, he, as I said, preached the Gospel in Samaria: many in Samaria believed, and believing they were baptized. And when the Apostles heard, they sent Peter and John to them, to lay hands on the baptized, and by laying hands on them to obtain the Holy Spirit, invoking [Him]. Simon, marvelling at so great a grace of the Apostles, wished to give money, as though that which was invoked were put up for sale: but he was repulsed, and found unworthy of so great a grace. So those people received the Holy Spirit through the hands of the Apostles. Then, therefore, because that Simon had thought the gift of God to belong to men, lest this suspicion be strengthened among the weak, afterwards a certain eunuch of Queen Candace was coming from Jerusalem, where he had gone to pray, and sitting in his chariot he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Holy Spirit told Philip to go up to the chariot. He who had baptized in Samaria, and had laid a hand on no one, and had sent word to the Apostles, so that through their coming and the laying on of hands those baptized by him might be found worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, goes up to the chariot, asks the eunuch whether he understood

what he was reading. He replies that he could understand, if he had an expositor: he asks Philip to get up into the chariot; he got up, sat with him, found him reading in Isaiah the prophet what had been foretold of Christ, Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and the rest, which belong to the same context of the reading. Then, asking whether the Prophet was speaking of himself or of another, the door of opportunity being opened, he preached as gospel Christ, the door of salvation. While these things are going on along the way, they came to water, and the Eunuch says to Philip: Behold, water; who forbids me to be baptized? Philip says: If you believe, it can be done. And he: I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They went down into the water, Philip baptized him. After they had come up from the water, the Holy Spirit came upon the Eunuch (Acts 8). See, Philip was there, who had baptized in Samaria and had brought the Apostles to those who had been baptized; he baptized, and did not lay on hands: but the Spirit, to show that Simon had not supposed truly that the Spirit of God was a gift of men, came upon the man freely, and made him free. He came as God, and filled him; as the Lord He came, and redeemed him.

5. Philip the deacon is other than the apostle. Perhaps someone among the contentious may say that the Philip who had baptized in Samaria was not a deacon, but was an apostle; because a Philip is also named among the Apostles, and the one who is properly called the evangelist is one of the seven deacons. But let them suspect what they will; I quickly solve the question. Whether he was an apostle or a deacon, since the reading is silent about it, let this be uncertain. This, however, is written: that as soon as he came up from the water, the Holy Spirit came upon the eunuch. No one there mentions the laying on of hands. Perhaps this too is too little: for that man says, Someone certainly laid a hand on him, but Scripture was silent about it.

6. The Holy Spirit given to Cornelius without the laying on of hands and before Baptism. What then do you say? This, he says, I say: that upon those first hundred and twenty indeed, because the Holy Spirit was then coming for the first time, He arrived without the laying on of hands; but from then on He came upon no one unless a hand had been laid on him. You have forgotten Cornelius the centurion: read carefully, and understand prudently. Cornelius the centurion, as is read in the same book of the Acts of the Apostles, where the coming of the Holy Spirit is also proclaimed. To the centurion Cornelius an angel was sent; he announced to him that his alms had been accepted, his prayers heard: therefore that he ought to send to Peter, who was staying at Joppa in the house of Simon the tanner, and that he was to be summoned. Now at that time a great question was being debated between Jews and Gentiles, that is, between those who had believed from among the Jews and those from among the Gentiles, whether the Gospel was to be ministered to the uncircumcised. Hence there was great hesitation, when Cornelius sends. Meanwhile Peter is admonished; the business of the kingdom of heaven is being conducted, both here and there, by

Him Who is everywhere. For while these things are being done at Cornelius' house, meanwhile Peter too was hungry in Joppa; he went up to pray while a meal was being prepared for him; as he prayed his mind was carried out of itself, but from the lowest things to the highest; not that he might go astray, but that he might see. There came to him a dish let down from heaven, as it were a heavenly course for a hungry man. Now this dish was tied by four cords, holding all kinds of animals, clean and unclean, and the hungry man was struck by a voice from above: Peter, rise; kill, and eat. He looked closely, he saw in the dish unclean animals, which he was not accustomed to touch, and he answered the voice: Far be it from me, Lord: never has anything common and unclean entered into my mouth. And the voice to him: What God has cleansed, do not call unclean. It was not fleshly food that was being offered to Peter, but Cornelius cleansed that was being announced. Now this was done three times, and the vessel was taken back up into heaven. The mystery is evident. The dish is the world. The four cords holding the dish are the four quarters of the world, which Scripture mentions, saying: From the East and the West, and from the North and the Sea (Luke 13:29). The animals are all the nations. The dish let down three times is the commending of the Trinity. Peter is the Church; Peter hungering is the Church desiring the faith of the Gentiles. The heavenly voice is the holy Gospel. Kill, and eat: kill what they are, make [them] what you are. While Peter was at odds over the command, suddenly it was announced that certain soldiers sent by Cornelius wished to see him. And the Holy Spirit to Peter: Go with them; I have sent them. Peter goes on, now no longer hesitant about the vision, but certain: and, as one reads, it is announced to Cornelius; he comes to meet him humbly, he prostrates himself humbly: he is raised up more humbly. They arrive at the house; many others are found gathered there. Peter is told what the reason was for sending to him, and thanks are given that Peter has come. So, having opened his mouth, he began to proclaim to the uncircumcised Gentiles, over whom that great question was being debated, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were certain men with Peter who had believed from among the Jews, who might be disturbed if the uncircumcised were baptized: there Peter plainly says, You know, brothers, how abominable it is for a Jew to approach or be joined to a Gentile; but God has shown me to call no man common or unclean. That hungry man looked back to the dish.

7. From these things he refutes the Donatists. Where are those who used to say (for this is why I have narrated the whole, on account of what I wish to say), where are those who used to say that the Holy Spirit is given through the power of a man? While Peter was preaching the Gospel, Cornelius and all who were with him, a nation, that is, Gentiles, believed; and suddenly, before they were baptized, they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10)? What does human presumption answer here? Not only before hands were laid on, but before Baptism itself the Holy Spirit came; of [His] power, not of necessity. He came before the washing of baptism, so as to take away the controversy over circumcision. For it could have been said to Peter by slanderers or by those who did not understand: You did wrong to give