68. During nine full years that I attended you with great earnestness and assiduity, I could not hear of one of your elect who was not found transgressing these precepts, or at least was not suspected of doing so. Many were caught at wine and animal food, many at the baths; but this we only heard by report. Some were proved to have seduced other men's wives, so that in this case I could not douin the truth of the charge. But suppose this, too, a report rather than a fact. I myself saw, and not I only, but others who have either escaped from that superstition, or will, I hope, yet escape, — we saw, I say, in a square in Carthage, on a road much frequented, not one, but more than three of the elect walking behind us, and accosting some women with such indecent sounds and gestures as to outdo the boldness and insolence of all ordinary rascals. And it was clear that this was quite habitual, and that they behaved in this way to one another, for no one was deterred by the presence of a companion, — showing that most of them, if not all, were affected with this evil tendency. For they did not all come from one house, but lived in quite different places, and quite accidentally left together the place where they had met. It was a great shock to us, and we lodged a complaint about it. But who thought of inflicting punishment, — I say not by separation from the church, but even by severe rebuke in proportion to the heinousness of the offence?
69. All the excuse given for the impunity of those men was that, at that time, when their meetings were forbidden by law, it was feared that the persons suffering punishment might retaliate by giving information. What then of their assertion that they will always have persecution in this world, for which they suppose that they will be thought the more of? for this is the application they make of the words about the world hating them.'' And they will have it that truth must be sought for among them, because, in the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, it is said that the world cannot receive Him.^ This is not the place to discuss this question. But clearly.
= John xv. 18.
3 John xiv. 17.
[Chap. XIX.
it you are always to be persecuted, even to the end of the world, there will be no end to this laxity, and to the unchecked spread of all this iinmorality, from your fear of giving offence to men of this character.
70. This answer was also given to us, when we reported to the very highest authorities that a woman had complained to us that in a meeting, where she was along with other women, not doubting of the sanctity of these people, some of the elect came in, and when one of them had put out the lamp, one, whom she could not distinguish, tried to embrace her, and would have forced her into sin, had she not escaped by crying out. How common must we conclude the practice to have been which led to the misdeed on this occasion! And this was done on the night when you keep the feast of vigils. Forsooth, besides the fear of information being given, no one could bring the olYender before the bishop, as he had so well guarded against being recognized. As if all who entered along with him were not implicated in the crime; for in their indecent merriment they all wished the lamp to be put out.
7 1. Then what wide doors were opened for suspicions, when we saw them full of envy, full of covetousness, full of greed for costly foods, constantly at strife, easily excited about trifles! We concluded that they were not competent to abstain from the things they professed to abstain from, if they found an opportunity in secret or in the dark. Tliere were two of sufficiently good character, of active minds, and leaders in their debates, with whom we had a more particular and intimate acquaintance than with the rest. One of them was much associated with us, because he was also engaged in liberal studies; he is said to be now an elder there. These two were very jealous of one another, and one accused the other — not openly, but in conversation, as he had opportunity, and in whispers — of having made a criminal assault on the wife of one of the followers. He again, in clearing himself to us, brought the same charge against another of the elect, who lived with this follower as his most trusted friend. He had, going in suddenly, caught this man with the woman, and his enemv and rival had advised the woman and her paramour to raise this false report about him. that he might not be believed if he gave any information. We were much distressed, and took it greatly to heart, that although there was a doubt about the assault on the woman, the jealous feeling in those two men, than whom we found none better in the place, showed itself so keenly, and inevitably raised a suspicion of other things.'
72. Another thing was, that we very often saw in theatres men belonging to the elect, men of years and, it was supposed, of character, along with a hoary-headed elder We pass over the youths, whom we used to come upon quarrelling about the people connected with the stage and the races; from which we may safely conclude how they would be able to refrain in secret, w-hen they could not subdue the passion by which they were exposed in the eyes of their followers, bringing on them disgrace and flight. In the case of the saint, whose discussions we attended in the street of the fig-sellers, would his atrocious crime have been discovered if he had been able to make the- dedicated virgin his wife without making her pregnant? The swelling womb betrayed the secret and unthought-of iniquity. When her brother, a young man, heard of it from his mother, he felt keenly the injury, but refrained, from regard to religion, from a public accusation. He succeeded in getting the man expelled from that church, for such conduct cannot always be tolerated; and that the crime might not be wholly unpunished, he arranged with some of his friends to have the man well beaten and kicked. When he was thus assailed, he cried out that they should spare him, from regard to the authority of the opinion of Manich.neus, that Adam the first hero had sinned, and was a greater saint after his sin.
73. This, in fact, is your notion about Adam and Eve.- It is a long story; but I will touch only on what concerns the present matter. You say that Adam was produced from his parents, the abortive princes of darkness; that he had in his soul the most part of light, and very little of the opposite race. So while he lived a holy life, on account of the prevalence of good, still the opposite part in him was stirred up, so that he was led away into conjugal intercourse. Thus he fell and sinned, but afterwards lived in greater holiness. Now, my complaint is not so much about this wicked man, who, under the garb of an elect and holy man, brought such shame and reproach on a family of strangers by his shocking immorality. I do not charge you with this. Let it be attributed to the abandoned character of the man, ' and not to your habits. I blame the man for the atrocity, and not you. Still there is I "Doubtless Augustin exaggerates the immorality of the Manichecans; but ihere must have been a considerable basis of fact for his charges. — A. H. N.]
= Compare the account from the Fi/trist, in our Tntroduction, Chapter ] 1 1. — A. H. N.]
I Chai<. XX.]
S9 this in you all that cannot, as far as I can see, be admitted or tolerated, that while you hold the soul to be part of God, you still maintain that the mixture of a little evil prevailed over the superior force and quantity of good. Who that believes this, when incited by passion, will not find here an excuse, instead of checking and controlling his passion?
CHAP. 20. DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT DISCOVERED AT ROME.
74. What more shall I say of your customs? I have mentioned what I found myself when I was in the city when the things were done. To go through all that happened at Rome in my absence would take a long time. I will, however, give a short account of it; for the matter became so notorious, that even the absent could not remain in ignorance of it. And when I was afterwards in Rome, I ascertained the truth of all I had heard, although the story was told me by an eye-witness whom I knew so well and esteemed so highly, that I could not feel any doubt about it. One of your followers, then, quite equal to the elect in their far-famed abstinence, for he was both liberally educated, and was in the habit of defending your sect with L^reat zeal, took it very ill that he had cast in:iis teeth the viie conduct of the elect, who lived in all kinds of places, and went hither and thither for lodging of the worst description. He therefore desired, if possible, to assemble all who were willing to live according to the precepts into his own house, and to maintain them at his own expense; for he was above the average in carelessness as to -pending money, besides being above the average in the amount he had to spend. He complained that his efforts were hindered by the, remissness of the bishops, whose assistance he required for success. At last one of your bishops was found, — a man, as I know, very rude and unpolished, but somehow, from his very moroseness, the more inclined to strict observance of morality. The foltovver eagerly lays hold of this man as the l^erson he had long wished for and found at last, and relates his whole plan. He approves and assents, and agrees to be the first to take up his abode in the house. When this was done, all the elect who could be at Rome were assembled there. The rule of life in the epistle of Manichaeus was laid before them. Many thought it intolerable, and left; not a few felt ashamed, and stayed. They began to live as they had agreed, and as this high authority enjoined. The follower all the time was zealously enforcing everything on everybody, though never, in any case, what he did not undertake himself. Meanwhile quarrels constantly arose among the elect. They charged one another with crimes, all which he lamented to hear, and managed to make them unintentionally expose one another in their altercations. The revelations were vile beyond description. Thus appeared the true character of those who were unlike the rest in being willing to bend to the yoke of the precepts. What then is to be suspected, or rather, concluded, of the others? To come to a close, they gathered together on one occasion and complained that they could not keep the regulations. Then came rebellion. The follower stated his case most concisely, that either all must be kept, or the man who had given such a sanction to such precepts, which no one could fulfill, must be thought a great fool. But, as was inevitable, the wild clamor of the mob prevailed over the opinion of one man. The bishop himself gave way at last, and took to flight with great disgrace; and he was said to have got in provisions by stealth, contrary to rule, which were often discovered. He had a supply of money from his private purse, which he carefully kept concealed.
75. If you say these things are false, you contradict what is too clear and public. But you may say so if you like. For, as the things are certain, and easily known by those who wish to know them, those who deny that they are true show what their habit of telling the truth is. But you have other replies with which I do not find fault. For you either say that some do keep your precepts, and that they should not be mixed up with the guilty in condemning the others; or that the whole inquiry into the character of the members of your sect is wrong, for the question is of the character of the profession. Should I grant both of these (although you can neither point out those faithful observers of the precepts, nor clear your heresy of all those frivolities and iniquities), still I must insist on knowing why you heap reproaches on Christians of the Catholic name on seeing theTmmorai life of some, while you either have the effrontery to repel inquiry about your members, or the still greater effrontery not to repel it, wishing it to be understood that in your scanty membership there are some unknown individuals who keep the pvccepts they profess, but that among the multitudes in the Catholic Church there are none.
i( ON TWO SOULS, AGAINST THE MANICH/EANS.
[DE DUABUS ANIMABUS CONTRA MANICH^OS].
A.D. 391.
PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION, IN TORONTO BAPTIST (theological) COLLEGE, TORONTO, CANADA.
CONTENTS ON TWO SOULS AGAINST THE MANTCH.€ANS.
Chap. I. — By what course of reasoning the error of the Manichaeans concerning two souls, one of which is not from God, is refuted. Every soul, inasmuch as it is a certain life, can have its existence only from God, the source of life 95 ■Ai'. II. — If the light that is perceived by sense has God for its author, as the Manichaeans acknowledge, much more the soul which is perceived by intellect alone g5 lAP. III. — How it is proved that every body also is from God. That the soul which is called evil by the Manichaeans is better than light g6 (HAP. IV. — Even the soul of a fly is more excellent than the light 97 (HAP. V. — How vicious souls, however worthy of condemnation they may be, excel the light which is praiseworthy in its kind 97 i!AP. VI. — Whether even vices themselves as objects of intellectual apprehension are to be preferred to light as an object of sense perception, and are to be attributed to God as their author. Vice of the mind and certain defects are not rightly to be counted among intelligible things. Defects themselves even if they should be counted among intelligible things, should never be put before sensible things. If light is visible by God, much more is the soul, even if vicious, which in so far as it lives is an intelligible thing. Passages of Scripture are adduced by the Manichxans to the contrary.. 98 I iiAP. VII. — How evil men are of God, and not of God 99 ' HAP. VIII. — The Manichaeans inquire whence is evil, and by this question think they have triumphed. Let them first know, which is most easy to do, that nothing can live without God. Consummate evil cannot be known except by the knowledge of consummate good, which is God 100 ( iiAP. IX. — Augustin deceived by familiarity with the Manichaeans, and by the succession of victories over ignorant Christians reported by them. The Manichasans are likewise easily refuted from the knowledge of sin and the will loi iAP. X. — Sin is only from the will. His own life and will best known to each individual. What will is. lOl iiAi'. XL— What sin is I03 '.'AP. XII. — From the definitions given of sin and will, he overthrows the entire heresy of the Manichceans. Likewise from the just condemnation of evil souls, it follows that they are evil not by nature but by will. That souls are good by nature, to which the pardon of sins is granted...104 fAP. XIII. — From deliberation of the evil and on the good part it results that two classes of souls are not to be held to. A class of souls enticing to shameful deeds having been conceded, it does not follow that these are evil by nature, that the others are supreme good 105 '< IIAP. XIV. —.\gain it is shown from the utility of repenting that souls are not by nature evil. So sure a demonstration is not contradicted except from the habit of erring 106 iiAP. XV. — He prays for his friends whom he has had as associates in error 107 CONCERNING TWO SOULS, AGAINST THE MANICH.EANS.
[DE DUABUS ANIMABUS CONTRA MANICH^OS.] A.D. 391.'
ONE BOOK.
CHAP. r. — BY WHAT COURSE OF REASONING THE ERROR OF THE MANICH^EANS CONCERNING TWO SOULS, ONE OF WHICH IS NOT FROM GOD, IS REFUTED. EVERY SOUL, INASMUCH AS IT IS A CERTAIN LIFE, CAN HAVE ITS EXISTENCE ONLY FROM GOD THE SOURCE OF LIFE.
I. Through the assisthig mercy of God, the snares of the Manichaeans having been broken to pieces and left behind, naving been restored at length to the bosom of the Catholic Church, I am disposed now at least to consider and to deplore my recent wretchedness. For there were many things that I ought to have done to prevent the seeds of the most true religion wholesomely implanted in me from boyhood, from being banished from my mind, having been uprooted by the error and fraud of false and deceitful men. For, in the first place, if I had soberly and dili-"intly considered, with prayerful and pious aiind, those two kinds of souls to which they attributed natures and properties so distinct ' Scarcely any one of hisearlier treatises was more unsatisfactory i'> Aujjustin in his later Anti-Pelagian years than that Conceruing Two Souls. In his Retractations. Book I., chapter,xv., he recognizes the rashness of some of his statements and points out the sense in which they are tenable or the reverse. As regards the occasion of the writing, the following may be quoted: " After this book [Oe Utilitate Crcdcndi^ I wrote, while still a presbyter, against the Manichaeans Concerning Two Soiiis, of which they say that one part is of God, the other from the race of darkness, which God did not found, and which is coeternal with God, and they rave about both these souls, the one good, the other evil, being in one man, saying forsooth that the evil soul on the one hand belongs to the flesh, which flesh also they say is of the race of darkness; but that the good soul is from the part of Clod that came forth, combated the race of darkness, and mingled with the latter; and they attribute all good things in man to that good soul, and all evil things to that evil soul." — A. H. N.
that they wished one to be regarded as of the very substance of God, but were not even willing that God should be accepted as the author of the other; perhaps it would have appeared to me, intent on learning, that there is no life whatsoever, which, by the very fact of its being life and in so far as it is life at all, does not pertain to the supreme source and beginning of life,= which we must acknowledge to be nothing else than the supreme and only and true God. Wherefore there is no reason why we should not confess, that those souls which the Manichaeans call evil are either devoid of life and so not souls, neither will anything positively or negatively, neither follow after nor flee from anything; or, if they live so that they can be souls, and "act as the Manichasans suppose, in no way do they live unless by life, and if it be an established fact, as it is, that Christ has said: " I am the life," 3 that all souls seeing that they cannot be souls except by living were created and fashioned by Christ, that is, by the Life, CHAP. 2. IF THE LIGHT THAT IS PERCEIVED I5Y SENSE HAS GOD FOR ITS AUTHOR, AS THE MANICH.EANS ACKNOWLEDGE, MUCH MORE THE SOUL WHICH IS PERCEIVED BY INTELLECT ALONE.
2. But if at that time ''my thought was not able to bear and sustain tiie question concern- = In his RcfrnciationSy Augustin explains this proposition as follows: " I said this in the sense in which the creature is known to pertain to the Creator, but not in the sense that it is of Him, so as to be regarded as part of Him." — A. H. N.
3 John xiv. 6.
4 It will aid the reader in following the thread of Augustin'sargu- [Chap. III.
ing life and partaking of life, which is truly a great question, and one that requires much calm discussion among the learned, I might perchance have had power to discover that which to every man considering himself, without a study of the individual parts, is perfectly evident, namely, that everything we are said to know and to understand, we comprehend either by bodily sense or by mental operation. That the five bodily senses are commonly enumerated as sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, than all of which intellect is immeasurably more noble and excellent, who would have been so ungrateful and impious as not to concede to me; which being established and confirmed, we should have seen how it follows, that whatsoever things are perceived by touch or sight or in any bodily manner at all, are by so much inferior to those things that we comprehend intellectually as the senses are inferior to the intellect. Wherefore, since all life, and so every soul, can be perceived by no bodily sense, but by the intellect alone, whereas while yonder sun and moon and every luminary that is beheld by these mortal eyes, the Manichseans themselves also say must be attributed to the true and good God, it is the height of madness to claim that that belongs to God which we observe bodily; but, on the other hand, to think that what we receive not only by the mind, but by the highest form of mind,' namely, reason and intellect,^ that is life, whatsoever it may be called, nevertheless life, should be deprived and bereft of the same God as its author. For if having invoked God, I had asked myself what living is, how inscrutable it is to every bodily sense, how absolutely incorporeal it is, could not I have answered? Or would not the Manichaeans also confess not only that the souls they detest live, but that they live also immortally? and that Christ's saying: " Send the dead to bury their dead," ^ was uttered not with reference to those not living at all, but with reference to sinners, which is the only death of the immortal soul; as when Paul writes: " The widow that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth, ""he says that she at the same time is dead, and alive. Wherefore I should have directed attention not to ment, if he will bear in mind that throughout this treatise the writer considers the points of antagonism between Manichssism and Catholicism from the point of view of his early entanglement in Manicha;an error. Considering the opportunities that'he had for knowing the truth, the helps to have been expected from God in answer to prayer, the capacities of the unperverted intellect to arrive at truth, he inquires how he should have guarded himself from the insinuation of Manichaean error, how he should have defended the truth, and how he should have been the means of liberating others. — A. H. N.
I Suh'limitate aniini. 2 Mente atque intelligentia.
the great degree of contamination in which the sinful soul lives, but only to the fact itself that it lives. But if I cannot perceive except by an act of intelligence, I believe it would have come into the mind, that by as much as any mind whatever is to be preferred to the light which we see through these eyes, by so much we should give to intellect the preference over the eyestiiemselves.
CHAP, 3. HOW IT IS PROVED THAT EVERY BODY ALSO IS FROM GOD. THAT THE SOUL WHICH IS CALLED EVIL BY THE MANICH/EANS IS BET- TER THAN LIGHT.
They also affirm that the light is from the Father of Christ: should I then have doubted that every soul is from Him? But not even then, as a man forsooth so inexperienced and so youthful as I was, should I have been in doubt as to the derivation not only of the soul, but also of the body, nay of everything whatsoever, from Him, if I had reverently and cautiously reflected on what form is, or what has been formed, what shape is and what has been endued with shape.
3. But not to speak at present concerning the body, I lament concerning the soul, concerning spontaneous and vivid movement, concerning action, concerning life, concerning immortality; in fine, I lament that I, miserable, should have believed that anything could have all these properties apart from the goodness of God, which properties, great as they are, I sadly neglected to consider; this I think, should be to me a matter of groaning and of weeping. I should have inwardly pondered these things, I should have discussed them with myself, I should have referred them to others, I should have propounded the inquiry, what the power of knowing is, seeing there is nothing in man that we can compare to this excellency? And as men, if only they had been men, would have granted me this, I should have inquired whether seeing with these eyes is knowing ^ In case they had answered negatively, I should first have concluded, that mental intelligence is vastly inferior to ocular sensation; then I should have added, that what we perceive by means of a better thing must needs be judged to be itself better. Whowould not grant this? I should have gone on to inquire, whether that soul which they call evil is an object of ocular sensation or of mental intelligence? They would have acknowledged that the latter is the case. All which things having been agreed upon and confirmed between us, I should have shown how it follows, that that soul forsooth which they execrate, is better than that light which Chap. VI.]
TWO SOULS. AGAINST THE MANICH^.ANS.
they venerate, since the former is an object of mental knowledge, the latter an object of corporeal sense perception. But here perhaps they would have halted, and would have refused to follow the lead of reason, so great is the power of inveterate opinion and of falsehood long defended and believed. But I should have pressed yet more upon them halting, not harshly, not in puerile fashion, not obstinately; I should have repeated the things that had l^een conceded, and have shown how they must be conceded. I should have exhorted that they consult in common, that they may see clearly what must be denied to us; whether they think it false that intellectual perception is to be preferred to these carnal organs of sight, or that what is known by means of the excellency of the mind is more excellent than what is known bv vile corporeal sensation; whether they would be unwilling to confess that those souls which they think heterogenous, can be known only by intellectual perception, that is, by the excellency itself of the mind; whether they would wish to deny that the sun and the moon are made known to us only by means of these eyes. But if they had replied that no one of these things could be denied otherwise than most absurdly and most impudently, I should have urged that they ought not to doubt but that the light whose worthiness of worship they proclaim, is viler than that soul which they admonish men to flee.
CHAP. 4. — EVEN THE SOUL OF A FLV IS MORE EXCELLENT THAN THE LIGHT.
4. And here, if perchance in their confusion they had inquired of me whether I thought that the soul even of a fly' surpasses that light, I should have replied, yes, nor should it have troubled me that the fly is little, but it should have confirmed me that it is alive. For It is inquired, what causes those members so diminutive to grow, what leads so minute a body here and there according to its natural appetite, what moves its feet in numerical order when it is running, what regulates and gives vibration to its wings when flying? This thing whatever it is in so small a creature towers up so prominently to one well considering, that it excels any lightning flashing upon the eyes.
CHAP. 5. — HOW VICIOUS SOULS, HOWEVER WORTHY OF CONDEMNATION THEY MAY BE, EXCEL THE LIGHT WHICH IS PRAISEWORTHY I IN ITS KIND.
Certainly nobody doubts that whatever is ' Neither Aiigustin nor the Manichsans seem to have recoijan object of intellectual perception, by virtue of divine laws surpasses in excellence every sensible object and consequently also this light. For what, I ask, do we perceive by thought, if not that it is one thing to know with the mind, and another thing to experience bodily sensations, and "-hat the former is incomparably more sublime than the latter, and so that intelligible things must needs be preferred to sensible things, since the intellect itself is so highly exalted above the senses?
5. Hence this also I should perchance have known, which manifestly follows, since injustice and intemperance and other vices of the mind are not objects of sense, but of intellect, how it comes about that these too which we detest and consider condemnable, yet in as much as they are objects of intellect, can outrank this light however praiseworthy it may be in its kind. For it is borne in upon the mind subjecting itself well to God, that, first of all, not everything that we praise is to be preferred to everything that we find fault with. For in praising the purest lead, I do not therefore put a higher value upon it than upon the gold that I find fault with. For everything must be considered in its kind. I disapprove of a lawyer ignorant of many statutes, yet I so prefer him to the most approved tailor, that I should think him incomparably superior. But I praise the tailor because he is thoroughly skilled in his own craft, while I rightly blame the lawyer because he imperfectly fulfills the functions of his profession. Wherefore I should have found out that the light which in its own kind is perfect, is rightly to be praised; yet because it is included in the number of sensible things, which class must needs yield to the class of intelligible things, it must be ranked below unjust and intemperate souls, since these are intelligible; although we may without injustice judge these to be most worthy of condemnation. For in the case of these we ask that they be reconciled to God, not that they be preferred to that lightning. Wherefore, if any one had contended that this luminary is from God, I should not have opposed; but rather I should have said, that souls, even vicious ones, not in so far as they are vicious, but in so far as they are souls, must be acknowledged to be creatures of God.
CHAP. 6. WHETHKR EVEN VICES THEMSELVES AS OBJECTS OF INTELLECTUAL APPREHEN- SION ARE TO BE PREFERRED TO LIGHT AS AN OBJECT OF SENSE PERCEPTION, AND ARE TO VfE ATTRIBUTED TO GOD AS THEIR nized the distinction in kind between the human soul and animal hfe.— A. H. N.
[Chap. VI.
AUTHOR. VICE OF THK MIND AND CERTAIN DEFECTS ARE NOT RIGHTLY TO BE COUNTED AMONG INTELLIGIBLE THINGS. DEFECTS THEMSELVES EVEN IF THEY SHOULD BE COUNTED AMONG INTELLIGIBLE THINGS SHOULD NEVER BE PUT BEFORE SENSIBLE THINGS. IF LIGHT IS VISIBLE BY GOD, MUCH MORE IS THE SOUL, EVEN IF VICIOUS, WHICH IN SO FAR AS IT LIVES IS AN INTELLIGIBLE THING. PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE ARE AD- DUCED BY THE MANICHiEANS TO THE CON- TRARY.