Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 1
Augustine — Confessions & Letters
SECTION 241
Letter LXXXII.
Letter LXXXII. (a.d. 405.) A Reply to Letters LXXII., LXXV., and LXXXI. To Jerome, My Lord Beloved and Honoured in the Bowels of Christ, My Holy Brother and Fellow-Presbyter, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. Long ago I sent to your Charity a long letter in reply to the one which you remember sending to me by your holy…
2,734 wordsSECTION 24210. For if he did in truth condemn these things in the way in which he was reported to have done, and undertook to perform these rites in or
10. For if he did in truth condemn these things in the way in which he was reported to have done, and undertook to perform these rites in order that he might, by dissembling, disguise his real sentiments, James would not have said to him, "and all shall know," but, "all shall think that those things whereof they were informed co…
2,350 wordsSECTION 24317. I acknowledge that in the statement contained in my letter, to the effect that the reason why Paul undertook (although he was an apostle
17. I acknowledge that in the statement contained in my letter, to the effect that the reason why Paul undertook (although he was an apostle of Christ) to perform certain rites, was that he might show that these ceremonies were not pernicious to those who desired to continue that which they had received by the Law from their fat…
2,438 wordsSECTION 244Chap. III.
Chap. III. 23. You call upon me to bring forward the name of even one whose opinion I have followed in this matter, and at the same time you have quoted the names of many who have held before you the opinion which you defend. [2054] You also say that if I censure you for an error in this, you beg to be allowed to remain in erro…
2,383 wordsSECTION 24532. Wherefore let us rather do our utmost to set before our beloved friends, who most cordially wish us well in our labours, such an example
32. Wherefore let us rather do our utmost to set before our beloved friends, who most cordially wish us well in our labours, such an example that they may know that it is possible for the most intimate friends to differ so much in opinion, that the views of the one may be contradicted by the other without any diminution of their…
2,041 wordsSECTION 246Letter LXXXIII.
Letter LXXXIII. (a.d. 405.) To My Lord Alypius Most Blessed, My Brother and Colleague, Beloved and Longed for With Sincere Veneration, and to the Brethren that are with Him, Augustin and the Brethren with Him Send Greeting in the Lord. 1. The sorrow of the members of the Church at Thiave prevents my heart from having any rest…
1,657 wordsSECTION 247Letter LXXXIV.
Letter LXXXIV. (a.d. 405.) To My Lord Novatus, Most Blessed, My Brother and Partner in the Priestly Office, Esteemed and Longed For, and to the Brethren Who are with Him, Augustin and the Brethren with Him Send Greeting in the Lord. 1. I myself feel how hard-hearted I must appear to you, and I can scarcely excuse to myself my…
1,437 wordsSECTION 248Letter LXXXVI.
Letter LXXXVI. (a.d. 405.) To My Noble Lord Cæcilianus, My Son Truly and Justly Honourable and Esteemed in the Love of Christ, Augustin, Bishop, Sends Greeting in the Lord. The renown of your administration and the fame of your virtues, as well as the praiseworthy zeal and faithful sincerity of your Christian piety,--gifts of…
2,415 wordsSECTION 2497. The civil powers defend their conduct in persecuting schismatics by the rule which the apostle laid down: "Whoso resisteth the power, res
7. The civil powers defend their conduct in persecuting schismatics by the rule which the apostle laid down: "Whoso resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?…
1,679 wordsSECTION 250Letter LXXXVIII.
Letter LXXXVIII. (a.d. 406.) To Januarius, [2098] the Catholic Clergy of the District of Hippo [2099] Send the Following. 1. Your clergy and your Circumcelliones are venting against us their rage in a persecution of a new kind, and of unparalleled atrocity. Were we to render evil for evil, we should be transgressing the law o…
2,213 wordsSECTION 2518. Not only, however, have you failed to do this, but your party go on inflicting yet greater injuries upon us. Not contented with beating u
8. Not only, however, have you failed to do this, but your party go on inflicting yet greater injuries upon us. Not contented with beating us with bludgeons and killing some with the sword, they even, with incredible ingenuity in crime, throw lime mixed with acid [? vitriol] into our people's eyes to blind them. For pillaging ou…
2,027 wordsSECTION 252Letter LXXXIX.
Letter LXXXIX. (a.d. 406.) To Festus, My Lord Well Beloved, My Son Honourable and Worthy of Esteem, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. If, on behalf of error and inexcusable dissension, and falsehoods which have been in every way possible disproved, men are so presumptuous as to persevere in boldly assailing and threaten…
2,293 wordsSECTION 253Letter XC.
I could have written much more briefly; but I wished you to have a letter from me, by which you might not only be yourself informed of the reason of my solicitude, but also be provided with an answer to any one who might dissuade you from earnestly devoting your energies to the correction of the people who belong to you, and mig…
2,220 wordsSECTION 2547. You have, in the exercise of your judgment, laid down the principles by which a bishop should be influenced; and after saying that your t
7. You have, in the exercise of your judgment, laid down the principles by which a bishop should be influenced; and after saying that your town has fallen disastrously by a grievous misdemeanour on the part of your citizens, which must be punished with great severity if they are dealt with according to the rigour of the civil la…
1,554 wordsSECTION 255Letter XCII.
Letter XCII. (a.d. 408.) To the Noble and Justly Distinguished Lady Italica, a Daughter Worthy of Honour in the Love of Christ, Bishop Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. I have learned, not only by your letter, but also by the statements of the person who brought it to me, that you earnestly solicit a letter from me, bel…
2,068 wordsSECTION 256Letter XCIII.
Letter XCIII. (a.d. 408.) To Vincentius, My Brother Dearly Beloved, Augustin Sends Greeting. Chap. I. 1. I have received a letter which I believe to be from you to me: at least I have not thought this incredible, for the person who brought it is one whom I know to be a Catholic Christian, and who, I think, would not dare to …
2,631 wordsSECTION 2578. If to suffer persecution were in all cases a praiseworthy thing, it would have sufficed for the Lord to say, "Blessed are they which are
8. If to suffer persecution were in all cases a praiseworthy thing, it would have sufficed for the Lord to say, "Blessed are they which are persecuted," without adding "for righteousness' sake." [2165] Moreover, if to inflict persecution were in all cases blameworthy, it would not have been written in the sacred books, "Whoso pr…
2,339 wordsSECTION 25815. It was an easy thing for you to have reflected on these things, and perhaps some time to have said to yourselves: Seeing that Cæcilianus
15. It was an easy thing for you to have reflected on these things, and perhaps some time to have said to yourselves: Seeing that Cæcilianus either was innocent, or at least could not be proved guilty, what sin has the Christian Church spread so far and wide through the world committed in this matter? On what ground could it be …
2,406 wordsSECTION 25921. You hear Christ speaking thus in the Gospel: "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets,
21. You hear Christ speaking thus in the Gospel: "All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer,…
2,355 wordsSECTION 260Chap. IX.
Chap. IX. 28. We, however, are certain that no one could ever have been warranted in separating himself from the communion of all nations, because every one of us looks for the marks of the Church not in his own righteousness, but in the Divine Scriptures, and beholds it actually in existence, according to the promises. For it …
2,301 wordsSECTION 26134. Therefore it is the same Church also which within the Lord's net is swimming along with the bad fishes, but is in heart and in life sepa
34. Therefore it is the same Church also which within the Lord's net is swimming along with the bad fishes, but is in heart and in life separated from them, and departs from them, that she may be presented to her Lord a "glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle." [2250] But the actual visible separation she looks for only on …
2,289 wordsSECTION 26243. If, now, I were disposed to quote anything against you from the writings of Tychonius, a man of your communion, who has written rather i
43. If, now, I were disposed to quote anything against you from the writings of Tychonius, a man of your communion, who has written rather in defence of the Church and against you than the reverse, in vain disowning the communion of African Christians as traditors (by which one thing Parmenianus silences him), what else can you …
2,517 wordsSECTION 263Chap. XII.
Chap. XII. 50. Listen to the testimony which through me is addressed to you by those who are the Lord's wheat, suffering meanwhile until the final winnowing, [2272] among the chaff in the Lord's threshing-floor, i.e. throughout the whole world, because "God hath called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down th…
1,906 wordsSECTION 264Letter XCIV.
Letter XCIV. (a.d. 408.) A letter to Augustin from Paulinus and Therasia, the substance of which is sufficiently stated in the next letter, which contains the reply of Augustin to his friend's questions concerning the present life, the nature of the bodies of the blessed in the life to come, and the functions of the members of…
2,385 wordsSECTION 2657. As to the resurrection of the body, and the future offices of its members in the incorruptible and immortal state, since you have, in ret
7. As to the resurrection of the body, and the future offices of its members in the incorruptible and immortal state, since you have, in return for the questions which I put to you, inquired my views on these matters, listen to a brief statement which, if it be not sufficient, may afterwards, with the Lord's help, be amplified b…
1,037 wordsSECTION 266Letter XCVI.
Letter XCVI. (a.d. 408.) To Olympius, My Lord Greatly Beloved, and My Son Worthy of Honour and Regard As a Member of Christ, Augustin Sends Greeting. 1. Whatever your rank may be in connection with the course of this world, I have the greatest confidence in addressing you as my much-loved, true-hearted Christian fellow-servan…
853 wordsSECTION 267Letter XCVII.
Letter XCVII. (a.d. 408.) To Olympius, My Excellent and Justly Distinguished Lord, and My Son Worthy of Much Honour in Christ, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. Although, when we heard recently of your having obtained merited promotion to the highest rank, we felt persuaded, however uncertain we still were in some degre…
1,065 wordsSECTION 268Letter XCVIII.
Letter XCVIII. (a.d. 408.) To Boniface, His Colleague in the Episcopal Office, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. You ask me to state "whether parents do harm to their baptized infant children, when they attempt to heal them in time of sickness by sacrifices to the false gods of the heathen." Also, "if they do thereby no…
2,404 wordsSECTION 2697. That which you have placed at the end of your series of questions you have judged to be the most difficult, because of the jealous care w
7. That which you have placed at the end of your series of questions you have judged to be the most difficult, because of the jealous care with which you are wont to avoid whatever is false. You state it thus: "If I place before you an infant, and ask, Will this child when he grows up be chaste?' or Will he not be a thief?' you …
1,535 wordsSECTION 270Letter XCIX.
Letter XCIX. (a.d. 408 or Beginning of 409.) To the Very Devout Italica, an Handmaid of God, Praised Justly and Piously by the Members of Christ, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. Up to the time of my writing this reply, I had received three letters from your Grace, of which the first asked urgently a letter from me, th…
883 wordsSECTION 271Letter C.
Letter C. (a.d. 409.) To Donatus His Noble and Deservedly Honourable Lord, and Eminently Praiseworthy Son, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. I would indeed that the African Church were not placed in such trying circumstances as to need the aid of any earthly power. But since, as the apostle says, "there is no power but …
923 wordsSECTION 272Letter CI.
Letter CI. (a.d. 409.) To Memor, [2323] My Lord Most Blessed, and with All Veneration Most Beloved, My Brother and Colleague Sincerely Longed For, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. I ought not to write any letter to your holy Charity, without sending at the same time those books which by the irresistible plea of holy lo…
1,546 wordsSECTION 273Letter CII.
Letter CII. (a.d. 409.) To Deogratias, My Brother in All Sincerity, and My Fellow-Presbyter, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. In choosing to refer to me questions which were submitted to yourself for solution, you have not done so, I suppose, from indolence, but because, loving me more than I deserve, you prefer to hea…
2,279 wordsSECTION 2749. To these statements we answer by requiring those who make them to tell us, in the first place, whether the sacred rites, which we know to
9. To these statements we answer by requiring those who make them to tell us, in the first place, whether the sacred rites, which we know to have been introduced into the worship of their gods at times which can be ascertained, were or were not profitable to men. If they say that these were of no service for the salvation of men…
2,424 wordsSECTION 27518. With all our desire, however, to be brief, this one thing we must by no means omit to remark, that the false gods, that is to say, the d
18. With all our desire, however, to be brief, this one thing we must by no means omit to remark, that the false gods, that is to say, the demons, which are lying angels, would never have required a temple, priesthood, sacrifice, and the other things connected with these from their worshippers, whom they deceive, had they not kn…
2,346 wordsSECTION 276The reason, moreover, why Christ uttered this saying is sufficiently plain from the immediately preceding context. "Judge not," He said, "th
The reason, moreover, why Christ uttered this saying is sufficiently plain from the immediately preceding context. "Judge not," He said, "that ye be not judged; for in the judgment in which ye judge ye shall be judged." Does this mean that if they have judged any one with injustice they shall themselves be unjustly judged? Of co…
2,389 wordsSECTION 27734. As to the question, What was prefigured by the sea monster restoring alive on the third day the prophet whom it swallowed? why is this a
34. As to the question, What was prefigured by the sea monster restoring alive on the third day the prophet whom it swallowed? why is this asked of us, when Christ Himself has given the answer, saying, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonas: …
2,151 wordsSECTION 278Letter CIII.
Letter CIII. (a.d. 409.) To My Lord and Brother, Augustin, Rightly and Justly Worthy of Esteem and of All Possible Honour, Nectarius Sends Greeting in the Lord. 1. In reading the letter of your Excellency, in which you have overthrown the worship of idols and the ritual of their temples, [2371] I seemed to myself to hear the …
1,329 wordsSECTION 279Letter CIV.
Letter CIV. (a.d. 409.) To Nectarius, My Noble Lord and Brother, Justly Worthy of All Honour and Esteem, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord. Chap. I. 1. I have read the letter which you kindly sent in answer to mine. Your reply comes at a very long interval after the time when I despatched my letter to you. For I had writte…
2,294 wordsSECTION 2807. When any one uses measures involving the infliction of some pain, in order to prevent an inconsiderate person from incurring the most dre
7. When any one uses measures involving the infliction of some pain, in order to prevent an inconsiderate person from incurring the most dreadful punishments by becoming accustomed to crimes which yield him no advantage, he is like one who pulls a boy's hair in order to prevent him from provoking serpents by clapping his hands a…
2,231 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.