Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 94-106

once existed. Thus the new people of believers, keeping the commandments of the Lord, held fast their charity. The Scripture proves it, which says: But the multitude of those who had believed were of one soul and mind (Acts 4:32); and again: And they were all persevering with one accord in prayer, with the women and Mary who had been the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren (Acts 1:14). And therefore they prayed with effectual prayers, therefore they were able to obtain with confidence whatever they asked of the mercy of God.

5. The diminishing of charity, the failing of faith. But in us unanimity has so diminished that the generosity of good works too has been broken down. Then they sold houses, and, laying up treasures for themselves in heaven, they offered to the Apostles the proceeds to be distributed for the needs of the poor (Acts 2:45); but now we do not give even tithes from our patrimony; and though the Lord bids us sell, we rather buy and increase. Thus in us the vigour of faith has withered, thus the strength of believers has grown faint. And therefore the Lord, looking upon our times, says in His Gospel: When the Son of Man comes, do you think, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8). We see come to pass what He foretold. Faith lies in the fear of God, in the law of righteousness, in love, in deeds. No one gives thought to the fear of things to come. No one considers the day and wrath of the Lord, and the punishments to come upon unbelievers, and the eternal torments appointed for the faithless: things which our conscience would fear if it believed; because it does not believe, it does not fear at all: but if it believed, it would also take care; if it took care, it would also escape.

6. Watchfulness. Let us rouse ourselves, as much as we can, dearly beloved brethren, and, breaking off the sleep of our old sloth, let us keep watch for observing and carrying out the precepts of the Lord. Let us be such as He Himself commanded us to be, saying: Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning; and you like men waiting for their lord, when he returns from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him; and: Blessed are those servants whom the lord at his coming finds watching (Luke 12:35–37). We must be girded, lest, when the day of setting out comes, it should catch us hindered and entangled. Let our light shine and gleam in good works, so that that very light may lead us from this night of the world to the light of eternal charity, where with Christ, Who is the author of true peace, and with His holy angels, we may enjoy eternal peace and perpetual happiness: through the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God, for all ages of ages. Amen.

Sermon 99. On the words of the Acts, chapter 3:1-8, Peter and John went up into the temple, etc.

1. A commendation of evangelical poverty. After the resurrection of Christ, the reading which you have heard has set out by the support of what works the preaching of the Apostles was fortified. Peter and John, it says, going up into the temple, prepared by signs the matter for their discourse, that is, an entry for their preaching. For amazement had to go before, so that the explanation of the wondrous thing might follow. So the brilliance of the signs struck the hearts of the peoples. For there was a certain man lame from his birth, who was carried by hands, and he was begging, it says, at the Beautiful gate of the temple; who, when he had seen the Apostles going in, asked for alms as was his custom. But when they had turned their gaze upon him, the lame man, expecting nothing beyond his accustomed relief, believed that there would come flowing to him a paltry, from the Apostles'

hands, largesse. But Peter the apostle said to him, Look at us. And when he had looked at them, Silver, he said, and gold I have not; but what I have, this I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. We ought to expound carefully the order of these very words. For it was not to the purpose, when riches of powers were to follow, that poverty of means should be recounted, unless the Apostle had wished to bring forth that very power together with a testimony to himself. For lest you should marvel at the possessor of powers, he first declared his renunciation of riches. For it followed justly that he who had despised wealth should bestow signs. What is richer than this poverty? What is poorer than this power? The declaration of poverty, then, is to follow as a testimony of power. Hence the Apostle too said, As having nothing, and possessing all things (2 Cor. 6:10). What then is richer than this poverty? Silver and gold I have not. But what does he have who does not have silver? Vehement speech, speech purged by fire: he who does not have gold has faith.

2. The worthlessness of gold. Why it is so hidden away. Let us see what more gold glitters with, which is so placed in concealment that nature, providing for men, seems to have condemned it and not to have set out a thing that would inflame the eyes of the covetous: and so that poverty might be helped by the difficulty of acquiring riches, she made what she had not wished to be found be sought with toil. Let us see, then: he who does not have gold, what does he have? He has faith, he has virtue. Let us weigh what we have said, what more gold glitters with, which hardship searches out, which avarice desires, which anxiety guards; gold the material of toils, a dangerous thing for its possessors; gold the enfeebling of virtues, gold a bad master, a treacherous servant. So he who does not have gold, what does he have? He has faith. Let us see, as we have said, what more gold glitters with, which no one holds safely except he who always hides it; gold, which shines to the ruin of its master; gold, which is sought through darkness and guarded through darkness; gold, the search for which holds men condemned, the love of which made Judas, and, lest the name be unknown to anyone, made out of an apostle a traitor; gold, which in the avaricious mind is preferred even to Christ: concerning the craving for which the Teacher of the Gentiles thundered with fitting authority, saying, Avarice, which is the service of idols (Eph. 5:5). What more, then, does gold shine with, which a mean master holds; gold, which torments the more him with whom it is more abundant; gold, which permits its lover nothing of his own possession, pouring back upon him his own guilt, him to whom its burdensome acquisition and toilsome possession deny its use?

3. It is the use of gold that is condemned, not its nature. It is possessed dangerously; it is renounced fruitfully. Yet when we say these things, the creature of God is not condemned: but since, men's prudence being blinded, it has come to be held at a great price, whatever is undertaken from evil desire now redounds to the disgrace of the thing. That thing, therefore, is censured so that avarice may be condemned. Besides, the Lord says through the prophet, Gold and silver are Mine (Hag. 2:8). But if it were an evil thing in itself, it could not be God's. Rather, it furnishes material for mercy in good minds; and in a new manner it profits most when it is despised, so that by its very condition it testifies that the possession of a thing whose renunciation is fruitful is evil. It furnishes, then, material for giving aid: He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his justice remains for ever (Ps. 111:9). Do you wish, then, to know of how just a judge gold and silver are the things? From it the avaricious man is tormented; from it the merciful man is helped. Let contempt, then, be exercised of a thing that is useful through contempt. Not all are fit for its possession; all are fit for its contempt. No one, therefore, is unable to be reckoned among those who have dispersed and given to the poor, whose justice remains for ever: there is no one who cannot be reckoned among them who has truly wished to please God through disdain of fleeting things.

4. The value of poverty. Of great happiness is the condition of Christians, for whom the splendour of the kingdom in poverty

has been placed. To possess what is acquired with labour belongs to few; to despise what you despise with profit belongs to all. Great, therefore, is the happiness of Christians, to whom it has been granted to make poverty the price of the kingdom of heaven. Let not your poverty displease you: nothing richer than it can be found. Do you wish to know how wealthy it is? It buys heaven. With what treasures could that be compared which we see granted to poverty? In order that a rich man might come to the kingdom of heaven, he could not obtain it by his possessions: now he obtains that he arrives by contempt of them. Far more, then, does faith shine than gold. Gold, a friend to hiding places, grows dark; faith is conspicuous with its innate splendour: gold cannot safely be brought out in public; faith shines always for the public good, and confidence itself attests the dignity of faith: gold is not safe even among those who are in agreement; faith is secure even among those who fight.

5. The riches of the poor man. What, then, the Apostle gave, poor in means, rich in faith, the order of the reading declares. Gold and silver are not mine. But what does he have in place of these? But what I have, this I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. Let the values of things be assessed from their effects. Those who gave gold filled the poor man's belly, which would become a greater burden to weak feet; they consoled the infirmity, but they were not able to restore health. But he who did not possess gold gave health. He is rich towards God, destitute of gold. Gold and silver I do not have: for that reason, then, he displayed such wealth of powers. What I have, this I give to you; in the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. This was plainly held not in a purse, but in the soul. What did he give him? In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. The infirmity that binds kings and captives with equal law and equal power took fright at a poor man: ruling over kings, it could not withstand the command of a poor man. It is too little that we speak of infirmity; even nature did not endure the poor man's command. For he was lame from his mother's womb. And so the weakness which birth had brought upon him was driven out by the force of the poor man's command: which surely would not have happened, unless the poor Apostle had been full of that God Who is the author of nature. Nothing, then, is richer than this poverty. What does he give who has no money? He bestows power, he confers it freely. For what can he not do? In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. What came from necessity is made subject to obedience. To the man is said, Rise, which he had always wished for: but since he was hindered by the bonds of nature, he could not do what he wished. But now insensible things serve with such ease that at the nod of the one commanding that infirmity of the feet flew away. Rise and walk. And he rose, it says, at once and stood. The soul is commanded, and the feet serve: They will leap, says the prophet, like calves loosed from their bonds (Mal. 4:2).

6. The swiftness of the resurrection.— And the soles of his feet were made firm. Mark with what swiftness the thing is done. Scarcely had the word of the one commanding entered the ears of the weak man, and at once the force of health burst in, and with the infirmity driven out the limbs are restored to use. A testimony to the swift resurrection is the swiftness of one rising from weakness. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise again, and we shall be changed (1 Cor. 15:52). Measure things to come by things done. In how brief a moment the dead will be roused, believe from steps that were weak by nature. He rose: the soles of his feet, it says, were made firm. It was too little that the lame man was said to have returned to the use of them: strength is restored to him together with health. For it did not say, They were restored; but, The soles were made firm: they receive health so abundant that they can bear labour. Leaping up, it says, he walked. A leap is often hard even for the healthy. Those feet did not feel slow remedies, nor are the steps called back as though smeared in the manner of an ointment: in a moment the force of the medicine bursting in is shown, and the flight of the infirmity driven out is marked. So leaps he who is healed by a poor man.

7. The flesh is of a good nature, and from God. All vice lies in the will. The flesh, then, is healed by the Apostles: by this very fact showing what it merits from God its Creator. Refuted, therefore,

by all the signs are the Manichaeans: all the kinds of healing that are bestowed on the flesh are a testimony to its good nature. For those things are proved worthy of the divine work which are not believed unworthy of its benefits. The limbs recognize the name of their maker when it is said to them, In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. If the flesh were from the devil, it could have dreaded the name of Christ. The obedience of those who are healed is a testimony to the Creator. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. Nature had brought on weakness: to that very weakness, in a certain manner, the authority of the name invoked is directed. It recognizes Who has given the command, and it obeys its own Lord and resists the adversary. If the flesh is from the devil, it ought to be fought down by Christ's disciples, not cured. If you ask what reason says, whatever is hostile ought to be bound. I do not want you to trust this to your own thinking alone: let divine authority come to the aid of this meaning. The Lord says in the Gospel: No one enters the house of a strong man to plunder his vessels unless he has first bound the strong man (Matt. 12:29). So the devil ought to have been bound in his own works: but as it is, the devil is not bound but honoured, if his property is cured by means of signs. Christ is debtor to the flesh for a great benefit, if He has shown in its health what He is able to do. There would be no matter for speaking had not the healed flesh provided a testimony to mercy. The flesh lends its support to the preaching of Christ; in it the ministry of signs is carried out. The lame man rises so that the Apostles may speak. We have said that if the flesh were not the work of this God, that lame man was not to be healed in his feet but to be bound fast in his arms. But as it is, the lame man rises so that the Apostles may speak, and he becomes the forerunner of the preaching: that the Gospel of Christ may resound, the lame man leaps up. The Apostles acted shamelessly if the flesh is not the work of their God: but as it is, since to say that is sacrilege, the Apostles do not act shamelessly. The flesh therefore is the work of God: when it is formed, it is the work of God; when it is created, it is the work of God; when it is brought forth, it is God's work; when it is regenerated, it is the work of God; when it is signed, it is the work of God; when it is cured, it is the work of God. What does God's property owe the devil so many times over? Let the Manichaeans, then, be laughed to scorn, and for the honour of God let the nature of the flesh be praised; and let every fault be placed in the will, let the hope of amendment be held out to men, so that they understand that they sin not by the necessity of the flesh but only by the depravity of the will. We, however, ascribe the flesh to the divine work, the flesh which we see has attained, in the resurrection of Christ, the glory of fellowship with God, which it received from Christ its Creator, Who lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.

Sermon 100. On the words of Acts, chapter 4:32-35, No one said that anything of what he possessed was his own.

1. The fervent charity of the first believers. The brotherhood of charity is greater than that of blood. We read in the book which is entitled the Acts of the Apostles that under the men there mentioned the devotion of the people was so great, and the first fruits of the Christian people flourished so, that after receiving the faith no one defended a house as his own, and no one claimed anything as his; but by right of brotherhood all things were common to them: namely, so that those who were held in the same fellowship of religion might also enjoy the same fellowship of life; that is, that those who had one faith should have one property, and those who had Christ in common should also have their expenses in common. For these religious men thought it wrong not to take as a sharer in property one who was a sharer in grace; and therefore, by the brotherhood of charity, they used all things in common: except that the brotherhood of Christ is greater than that of blood. For the brotherhood of blood reproduces only a likeness of the body; but the brotherhood of Christ shows forth a oneness of heart and soul, as it is written, And the heart and soul of the believers was one. Truly, then, he is a brother

who is a brother as much in body as in unanimity: he, I say, is a true brother whose spirit and will are the same as are in his brother. Better therefore, as I have said, than the brotherhood of blood is the brotherhood of Christ: since the former is at times hostile to itself, but the brotherhood of Christ is peaceable without interruption: the former divides common things among its members with rivalry; the latter shares them even with rejoicing: the former, in a partnership, often despises a brother; the latter frequently takes in a stranger. So great, therefore, as I have said, was the devotion of the Christian people at that time, that no one called his house his own, no one claimed anything as his own, as Saint Luke says, saying: No one said that anything of what he possessed was his own. For, I say, there was not anyone needy among them. Blessed therefore the people which, while it has many rich in Christ, has no one needy in the world; and which, while it thinks of eternal riches, drove temporal poverty away from its brothers. For they sold, as Scripture says, their estates and their houses; and they laid the prices of the things sold before the feet of the Apostles, so that it might be distributed as each had need. See the faith of the holy men, how for Christ's sake they stripped themselves of their whole patrimony and left nothing remaining for themselves: for they did not fear that they themselves would go hungry, so long as they feared that another would go hungry.

2. Charity now growing cold. A truly rich man is now scarcely found. Such, then, was the devotion among the people under the Apostles. Now what do we find like it? And certainly the same Christ is in us; but not the same spirit in us: the same faith among the people; but the same generosity is not among the people. Thus one does not think of the other's want; so that there comes about what the Apostle says: One indeed is hungry, and another is drunk (1 Cor. 11:21). For most Christians not only do not distribute what is their own, but even plunder what belongs to others: not only, I say, do they not gather their money and bring it to the feet of the Apostles, but they even drag back their brothers who take refuge at the feet of the priests. Now is that time which the blessed apostle describes, saying: In the last days the iniquity of many will abound, and charity will grow cold (Matt. 24:12). For now avarice and iniquity abound, which formerly ceased through the goodness of generosity: and the charity of brotherhood grows cold, which before was fervent with the love of Christ. For so great was the love of brotherhood under the Apostles that then no want was found in their assembly: but so great is the pretence of Christianity now that in our gathering you scarcely find a rich man; and I say that a rich man is scarcely found, not so much in resources as in works. For the Apostle says, Let them be rich in good works (1 Tim. 6:18). For he wished him to be understood as rich in the Church who is rich in Christ. For in that place too, where he says that under the Apostles no one was needy, he certainly shows that they were endowed with faith by grace entire, so that all abounded in the bounty of heavenly riches. Rarely, therefore, at this time do we find a rich man among the Christian people; and though most are rich in gold in their houses, yet in the Church they are beggars in righteousness.

3. Ungenerous almsgiving. Ananias guilty of fraud and sacrilege. For while they do not act towards the poor in proportion to what they are able, neither is what they offer pleasing, nor is what they keep back able to satisfy. The Lord says to Cain, when he was offering gifts: But if you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, you have sinned; be still (Gen. 4:7, according to the Septuagint). So you too, Christian, do not divide rightly, who of all your gold keep a greater part for mammon than you bestow on the Lord. For so Ananias in the Acts of the Apostles, while he thinks that he is offering rightly and does not divide rightly, lost the money that he offered; and what he kept back at home he forfeited: he lost, I say, his money and his salvation alike. For since he withheld a part of what he had promised, he is condemned at once for sacrilege and for fraud: for sacrilege, because he deceived God in his promise; for fraud, because he thought that some portion should be withheld from gifts that were to be entire. For the apostle Peter says, You have not lied to men,