tie speaks of, "which worketh by love; " ' and if there is anything that it does not yet embrace in its love, asks that it may receive, seeks that it may find, and knocks that it may be opened unto it. 2 For faith obtains through prayer that which the law commands. For without the gift of God, that is, without the Holy Spirit, through whom love is shed abroad in our hearts, 3 the law can command, but it cannot assist; and, moreover, it makes a man a transgressor, for he can no longer excuse himself on the plea of ignorance. Now carnal lust reigns where there is not the love of God.
CHAP. Il8. THE FOUR STAGES OF THE CHRIS- TAIN'S LIFE, AND THE FOUR CORRESPONDING STAGES OF THE CHURCH'S HISTORY.
When, sunk in the darkest depths of ignorance, man lives according to the flesh, undisturbed by any struggle of reason or conscience, this is his first state. Afterwards, when through the law has come the knowledge of sin, and the Spirit of God has not yet interposed His aid, man, striving to live according to the law, is thwarted in his efforts and falls into conscious sin, and so, being overcome of sin, becomes its slave (" for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage " 4); and thus the effect produced by the knowledge of the commandment is this, that sin worketh in man all manner of concupiscence, and he is involved in the additional guilt of willful transgression, and that is fulfilled which is written: "The law entered that the offense might abound." 5 This is man's second state. But if God has regard to him, and inspires him with faith in God's help, and the Spirit of God begins to work in him, then the mightier power of love strives against the power of the flesh; and although there is still in the man's own nature a power that fights against him (for his disease is not completely cured), yet he lives the life of the just by faith, and lives in righteousness so far as he does not yield to evil lust, but conquers it by the love of holiness. This is the third state of a man of good hope; and he who by steadfast piety advances in this course, shall attain at last to peace, that peace which, after this life is over, shall be perfected in the repose of the spirit, and finally in the resurrection of the body. Of these four different stages the first is before the law, the second is under the law, the third is under grace, and the fourth is in full and perfect peace. Thus, too, has the history 3 Rom. v. 5.
of God's people been ordered according to His pleasure who disposeth all things in number, and measure, and weight. 6 For the church existed at first before the law; then under the law, which was given by Moses; then under grace, v/hich was first made manifest in the coming of the Mediator. Not, indeed, that this grace was absent previously, but, in harmony with the arrangements of the time, it was veiled and hidden. For none, even of the just men of old, could find salvation apart from the faith of Christ; nor unless He had been known to them could their ministry have been used to convey prophecies concerning Him to us, some more plain, and some more obscure.
CHAP. 119. THE GRACE OF REGENERATION WASHES AWAY ALL PAST SIN AND ALL ORIGI- NAL GUILT.
Now in whichever of these four stages (as we may call them) the grace of regeneration finds any particular man, all his past sins are there and then pardoned, and the guilt which he contracted in his birth is removed in his new birth; and so true is it that " the wind bloweth where it listeth,"7 that some have never known the second stage, that of slavery under the law, but have received the divine assistance as soon as they received the commandment.
CHAP. I20. DEATH CANNOT INJURE THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE GRACE OF REGEN- ERATION.
But before a man can receive the commandment, it is necessary that he should live according to the flesh. But if once he has received the grace of regeneration, death shall not injure him, even if he should forthwith depart from this life; " for to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living;" 8 nor shall death retain dominion over him for whom Christ freely died.
CHAP. 121. LOVE IS THE END OF ALL THE COM- MANDMENTS, AND GOD HIMSELF IS LOVE.
All the commandments of God, then, are embraced in love, of which the apostle says: " Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned."9 Thus the end of every commandment is charity, that is, every commandment has love for its aim. But whatever is done either through fear of 6 Comp. Wisd. xi. 20. 8 Rom. xiv. 9.
[Conclusion.
punishment or from some other carnal motive, and has not for its principle that love which the Spirit of God sheds abroad in the heart, is not done as it ought to be done, however it may appear to men. For this love embraces both the love of God and the love of our neighbor, and "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets," x we may add the Gospel and the apostles. For it is from these that we hear this voice: The end of the commandment is charity, and God is love. 2 Wherefore, all God's commandments, one of which is, " Thou shalt not commit adultery," 3 and all those precepts which are not commandments but special counsels, one of which is, " It is good for a man not to touch a woman,"4 are rightly carried out only when the motive principle of action is the love of God, and the love of our neighbor in God. And this applies both to the present and the future life. We love God now by faith, then we shall love Him through sight. Now we love even our neighbor by faith; for we who are ourselves mortal know not the hearts of mortal men. But in the future life, the Lord "both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God;" 5 for every man shall love and praise in his neighbor the virtue which, that it may not be hid, the Lord Himself shall bring to light. Moreover, lust diminishes as love grows, till the latter grows to such a height that it can grow no higher here. For "greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."6 Who then can tell how great love shall be in the future world, when there shall be no lust for it to restrain and conquer? for that will be the perfection of health when there shall be no struggle with death.
CHAP. 122.
-CONCLUSION.
1 Matt. xxii. 40; comp. Rom. v. 5.
3 Comp. Matt. v. 27 and Rom. xiii. 9.
4 1 Cor. vii. 1.
But now there must be an end at last to this volume. And it is for yourself to judge whether you should call it a hand-book, or should use it as such. I, however, thinking that your zeal in Christ ought not to be despised, and believing and hoping all good of you in dependence on our Redeemer's help, and loving you very much as one of the members of His body, have, to the best of my ability, written this book for you on Faith, Hope, and Love. May its value be equal to its length.
5 1 Cor. iv. 5.
6 John xv. 13.
ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED.
PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, ABERDEEN.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
In the fourteenth chapter of the second book of his Retractations, Augustin makes the following statement: " There is also a book of ours on the subject of the Catechising of the Uuinstructed, [or, for Instructing the Unlearned, De Catechizandis Rudibus\ that being, indeed, the express title by which it is designated. In this book, where I have said, ' Neither did the angel, who, in company with other spirits who were his satellites, forsook in pride the obedience of God, and became the devil, do any hurt to God, but to himself; for God knoweth how to dispose of souls that leave Him: ' it would be more appropriate to say, ' spirits that leave Him,' inasmuch as the question dealt with angels. This book commences in these terms: ' You have requested me, brother Deogr alias. ' ' ' The composition so described in the passage cited is reviewed by Augustin in connection with other works which he had in hand about the year 400 a.d., and may therefore be taken to belong to that date. It has been conjectured that the person to whom it is addressed may perhaps be the same with the presbyter Deogratias, to whom, as we read in the epistle which now ranks as the hundred and second, Augustin wrote about the year 406, in reply to some questions of the pagans which were forwarded to him from Carthage.
The Benedictine editors introduce the treatise in the following terms: "At the request of a deacon of Carthage, Augustin undertakes the task of teaching the art of catechising; and in the first place, he gives certain injunctions, to the effect that this kind of duty may be discharged not only in a settled method and an apt order, but also without tediousness, and in a spirit of cheerfulness. Thereafter reducing his injunctions to practical use, he gives an example of what he means by delivering two set discourses, presenting parallels to each other, the one being somewhat lengthened and the other very brief, but both suitable for the instruction of any individual whose desire is to be a Christian."
[This treatise shows what was thought in the age of Saint Augustin to be the most needful instruction in religion. The Latin text: De Catechizandis Rudibus, is in the sixth vol. of the Benedictine edition, and in the handy ed. of C. Marriott: S. Augustini Opuscula qucedam, Oxford and London (Parker & Co.) 4th ed. 1885. An earlier and closer English Version by Rev. C. L. Cornish, M. A., of Exeter College, Oxford, appeared in the Oxford " Library of the Fathers " (1847, pp. 187 sqq.,) under the title On Instructing the Unlearned. H. de Romestin reproduces the Oxford translation in the English version of Marriott's ed. of five treatises of St. Augustin, Oxford and London, 1885, pp. 1-71.-P. S.]
CONTENTS OF CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED.
Chap. I. — How Augustin writes in answer to a favor asked by a deacon of Carthage, „ 283 Chap. II. — How it often happens that a discourse which gives pleasure to the hearer is distasteful to the speaker; and what explanation is to be offered of that fact, 283 Chap. III. — Of the full narration to be employed in catechising, 285 Chap. IV. — That the great reason for the advent of Christ was the commendation of love 286 Chap. V. — That the person who comes for catechetical instruction is to be examined with respect to his views, on desiring to become a Christian, 288 Chap. VI. — Of the way to commence the catechetical instruction, and of the narration of facts from the history of the world's creation on to the present times of the Church, 288 Chap. VII. — Of the exposition of the Resurrection, the Judgment, and other subjects, which should follow this narration, 289 Chap. VIII. — Of the method to be pursued in catechising those who have had a liberal education,...290 Chap. IX. — Of the method in which grammarians and professional speakers are to be dealt with,...291 Chap. X. — Of the attainment of cheerfulness in the duty of catechising, and of various causes producing weariness in the catechumen, 292 Chap. XI. — Of the remedy for the second source of weariness, 294 Chap. XII. — Of the remedy for the third source of weariness, 295 Chap. XIII. — Of the remedy for the fourth source of weariness, 296 Chap. XIV. — Of the remedy against the fifth and sixth sources of weariness, 297 Chap. XV. — Of the method in which our address should be adapted to different classes of hearers,...298 Chap. XVI. — A specimen of a catechetical address; and first, the case of a catechumen with worthy views, 299 Chap. XVII. — The specimen of a catechetical discourse continued, in reference specially to the reproval of false aims on the catechumen's part, 301 Chap. XVIII. — Of what is to be believed on the subject of the creation of man and other objects,...302 Chap. XIX. — Of the co-existence of good and evil in the Church, and their final separation, 303 Chap. XX. — Of Israel's bondage in Egypt, their deliverance, and their passage through the Red Sea,.. 304 Chap. XXI. — Of the Babylonish captivity, and the things signified thereby, 305 Chap. XXII. — Of the six ages of the world, 307 Chap. XXIII. — Of the mission of the Holy Ghost fifty days after Christ's Resurrection 308 Chap. XXIV. — Of the Church in its likeness to a vine sprouting and suffering pruning 309 Chap. XXV. — Of constancy in the faith of the Resurrection, 310 Chap. XXVI. — Of the formal admission of the catechumen, and of the signs therein made use of,...312 Chap. XXVII. — Of the prophecies of the Old Testament in their visible fulfillment in the Church,...313 ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED.* IN ONE BOOK.
CHAP. I. — HOW AUGUSTIN WRITES IN ANSWER TO A FAVOR ASKED BY A DEACON OF CAR- THAGE.
i. You have requested me, brother Deogratias, to send you in writing something which might be of service to you in the matter of catechising the uninstructed. For you have informed me that in Carthage, where you hold the position of a deacon, persons, who have to be taught the Christian faith from its very rudiments, are frequently brought to you by reason of your enjoying the reputation of possessing a rich gift in catechising, due at once to an intimate acquaintance with the faith, and to an attractive method of discourse;2 but that you almost always find yourself in a difficulty as to the manner in which a suitable declaration is to be made of the precise doctrine, the belief of which constitutes us Christians: regarding the point at which our statement of the same ought to commence, and the limit to which it should be allowed to proceed: and with respect to the question whether, when our narration is concluded, we ought to make use of any kind of exhortation, or simply specify those precepts in the observance of which the person to whom we are discoursing may know the Christian life and profession to be maintained. 3 At the same time, you have made the confession and complaint that it has often befallen you that in the course of a lengthened and languid address you have become profitless and dis- 1 [The Oxford Library and H. de Romestin translate the title: On Instructing the Unlearned. — P. S.]
2 Reading et doctrina fidei et saavitate sermom's, instead of which, however, et doctrinam...suavitatem, etc. also occurs, = possessing at once a rich gift in catechising, and an intimate acquaintance with the faith, and an attractive method of discourse, [or, sweetness of language].
3 Reading retineri as in the mss. Some editions give retinere = know how to maintain the Christian life and profession.
tasteful even to yourself, not to speak of the learner whom you have been endeavoring to instruct by your utterance, and the other parties who have been present as hearers; and that you have been constrained by these straits to put upon me the constraint of that love which I owe to you, so that I may not feel it a burdensome thing among all my engagements to write you something on this subject.
2. As for myself then, if, in the exercise of those capacities which through the bounty of our Lord I am enabled to present, the same Lord requires me to offer any manner of aid to those whom He has made brethren to me, I feel constrained not only by that love and service which is due from me to you on the terms of familiar friendship, but also by that which I owe universally to my mother the Church, by no means to refuse the task, but rather to take it up with a prompt and devoted willingness. For the more extensively I desire to see the treasure of the Lord4 distributed, the more does it become my duty, if I ascertain that the stewards, who are my fellow-servants, find any difficulty in laying it out, to do all that lies in my power to the end that they may be able to accomplish easily and expeditiously what they sedulously and earnestly aim at.
CHAP. 2. HOW IT OFTEN HAPPENS THAT A DISCOURSE WHICH GIVES PLEASURE TO THE HEARER IS DISTASTEFUL TO THE SPEAKER; AND WHAT EXPLANATION IS TO BE OFFERED OF THAT FACT.
3. But as regards the idea thus privately entertained by yourself in such efforts, I 2 84 [Chap. II.
would not have you to be disturbed by the consideration that you have often appeared to yourself to be delivering a poor and wearisome discourse. For it may very well be the case that the matter has not so presented itself to the person whom you were trying to instruct, but that what you were uttering seemed to you to be unworthy of the ears of others, simply because it was your own earnest desire that there should be something better to listen to. Indeed with me, too, it is almost always the fact that my speech displeases myself. For I am covetous of something better, the possession of which I frequently enjoy within me before I commence to body it forth in intelligible words: * and then when my capacities of expression prove inferior to my inner apprehensions, I grieve over the inability which my tongue has betrayed in answering to my heart. For it is my wish that he who hears me should have the same complete understanding of the subject which I have myself; and I perceive that I fail to speak in a manner calculated to effect that, and that this arises mainly from the circumstance that the intellectual apprehension diffuses itself through the mind with something like a rapid flash, whereas the utterance is slow, and occupies time, and is of a vastly different nature, so that, while this latter is moving on, the intellectual apprehension has already withdrawn itself within its secret abodes. Yet, in consequence of its having stamped certain impressions of itself in a marvellous manner upon the memory, these prints endure with the brief pauses of the syllables; 2 and as the outcome of these same impressions we form intelligible signs, 3 which get the name of a certain language, either the Latin, or the Greek, or the Hebrew, or some other. And these signs may be objects of thought, or they may also be actually uttered by the voice. On the other hand, however, the impressions themselves are neither Latin, nor Greek, nor Hebrew, nor peculiar to any other race whatsoever, but are made good in the mind just as looks are in the body. For anger is designated by one word in Latin, by another in Greek, and by different terms in other languages, according to their several diversities. But the look of the angry man is neither (peculiarly) Latin nor (peculiarly) Greek. Thus it is that when a person says Iratus sum, * he is not understood by every nation, but only by the Latins; whereas, if the mood of his mind when it is kindling to wrath comes forth upon the face 1 Verbis sonantibus, — sounding words.
2 Perdurant illacuin syllabarum moru/is.
3 Sonantiu sign a, —vocal signs.
4 I am angry.
and affects the look, all who have the individual within their view understand that he is angry. But, again, it is not in our power to bring out those impressions which the intellectual apprehension stamps upon the memory, and to hold them forth, as it were, to the perception of the hearers by means of the sound of the voice, in any manner parallel to the clear and evident form in which the look appears. For those former are within in the mind, while this latter is without in the body. Wherefore we have to surmise how far the sound of our mouth must be from representing that stroke of the intelligence, seeing that it does not correspond even with the impression produced upon the memory. Now, it is a common occurrence with us that, in the ardent desire to effect what is of profit to our hearer, our aim is to express ourselves to him exactly as our intellectual apprehension is at the time, when, in the very effort, we are failing in the ability to speak; and then, because this does not succeed with us, we are vexed, and we pine in weariness as if we were applying ourselves to vain labors; and, as the result of this very weariness, our discourse becomes itself more languid and pointless even than it was when it first induced such a sense of tediousness.
4. But ofttimes the earnestness of those who are desirous of hearing me shows me that my utterance is not so frigid as it seems to myself to be. From the delight, too, which they exhibit, I gather that they derive some profit from it. And I occupy myself sedulously with the endeavor not to fail in putting before them a service in which I perceive them to take in such good part what is put before them. Even, so, on your side also, the very fact that persons who require to be instructed in the faith are brought so frequently to you, ought to help you to understand that your discourse is not displeasing to others as it is displeasing to yourself; and you ought not to consider yourself unfruitful, simply because you do not succeed in setting forth in such a manner as you desire the things which you discern; for, perchance, you may be just as little able to discern them in the way you wish. For in this life who sees except as " in an enigma and through a glass"?5 Neither is love itself of might sufficient to rend the darkness of the flesh, and penetrate into that eternal calm from which even things which pass away derive the light in which they shine. But inasmuch as day by day the good are making advances towards the vision of that day, in- S 1 Cor. xni. 12.
Chap. III.]
2S^ dependent of the rolling sky, ' and without the invasion of the night, fi which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man,"2 there is no greater reason why our discourse should become valueless in our own estimate, when we are engaged in teaching the uninstructed, than this, — namely, that it is a delight to us to discern in an extraordinary fashion, and a weariness to speak in an ordinary. And in reality we are listened to with much greater satisfaction, indeed, when we ourselves also have pleasure in the same work; for the thread of our address is affected by the very joy of which we ourselves are sensible, and it proceeds from us with greater ease and with more acceptance. Consequently, as regards those matters which are recommended as articles of belief, the task is not a difficult one to lay down injunctions, with respect to the points at which the narration should be commenced and ended, or with respect to the method in which the narration is to be varied, so that at one time it may be briefer, at another more lengthened, and yet at all times full and perfect; and, again, with respect to the particular occasions on which it may be right to use the shorter form, and those on which it will be proper to employ the longer. But as to the means by which all is to be done, so that every one may have pleasure in his work when he catechises (for the better he succeeds in this the more attractive will he be), — that is what requires the greatest consideration. And yet we have not far to seek for the precept which will rule in this sphere. For if, in the matter of carnal means, God loves a cheerful giver, 3 how much more so in that of the spiritual? But our security that this cheerfulness may be with us at the seasonable hour, is something dependent upon the mercy of Him who has given us such precepts. Therefore, in accordance with my understanding of what your own wish is, we shall discuss in the first place the subject of the method of narration, then that of the duty of delivering injunction and exhortation, and afterwards that of the attainment of the said cheerfulness, so far as God may furnish us with the ideas.
CHAP. 3. OF THE FULL NARRATION TO BE EM- PLOYED IN CATECHISING.
5. The narration is full when each person is catechised in the first instance from what is written in the text, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," 4 on to the 1 Sine volumine cceli. 3 2 Cor. ix. 7.
present times of the Church. This does not imply, however, either that we ought to repeat by memory the entire Pentateuch, and the entire Books of Judges, and Kings, and Esdras, 5 and the entire Gospel and Acts of the Apostles, if we have learned all these word for word; or that we should put all the matters which are contained in these volumes into our own words, and in that manner unfold and expound them as a whole. For neither does the time admit of that, nor does any necessity demand it. But what we ought to do is, to give a comprehensive statement of all things, summarily and generally, so that certain of the more wonderful facts may be selected which are listened to with superior gratification, and which have been ranked so remarkably among the exact turning-points (of the history);6 that, instead of exhibiting them to view only in their wrappings, if we may so speak, and then instantly snatching them from our sight, we ought to dwell on them for a certain space, and thus, as it were, unfold them and open them out to vision, and present them to the minds of the hearers as things to be examined and admired. But as for all other details, these should be passed over rapidly, and thus far introduced and woven into the narrative. The effect of pursuing this plan is, that the particular facts which we wish to see specially commended to attention obtain greater prominence in consequence of the others being made to yield to them; while, at the same time, neither does the learner, whose interest we are anxious to stimulate by our statement, come to these subjects with a mind already exhausted, nor is confusion induced upon the memory of the person whom we ought to be instructing by our teaching.
6. In all things, indeed, not only ought our own eye to be kept fixed upon the end of the commandment, which is " charity, out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned," 7 to which we should make all that we utter refer; but in like manner ought the gaze of the person whom we are instructing by our utterance to be moved 8 toward the same, and guided in that direction. And, in truth, for no other reason were all those things which we read in the Holy Scriptures written, previous to the Lord's advent, but for this, — namely, that His advent might be pressed upon the attention, and that the 5 In the mss. we also find the reading Ezm = Ezra.
6 In ipsis artzcniis = " among the very articles," or " connecting links." Reference is made to certain great epochs or articles of time in sections 6 and 39.
7 i Tim. i. 5.
8 Reading movendus, for which monendus = to be admonished, also occurs in the editions.