Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 4
Augustine — Against the Manichaeans and Donatists
SECTION 161
Book XXXIII.
[1037] Gen. xvii. 14. [1038] Num. xv. 35. [1039] John xvi. 13, xiv. 26. [1040] Jer. xxxi. 31, 32. [1041] Gal. iii. 29. [1042] Col. ii. 16, 17. [1043] 1 Cor. x. 11. [1044] 1 Cor. iv. 15. [1045] 1 Cor. ii. 13. [1046] Eph. vi. 15. [1047] Isa. lii. 7. [1048] 1 Cor. v. 8. [1049] Matt. vii. 13. [1050] Ex. xix.-xxxi. [105…
2,308 wordsSECTION 1626. You are so hardened in your errors against the testimonies of Scripture, that nothing can be made of you; for whenever anything is quoted
6. You are so hardened in your errors against the testimonies of Scripture, that nothing can be made of you; for whenever anything is quoted against you, you have the boldness to say that it is written not by the apostle, but by some pretender under his name. The doctrine of demons which you preach is so opposed to Christian doc…
1,965 wordsSECTION 163St. AUGUSTIN:
St. AUGUSTIN: concerning the nature of good, against the manichæans. [de natura boni contra manichæos]. circa A.D. 495. translated by albert h. newman, d.d., ll.d., professor of church history and comparative religion, in toronto baptist (theological) college, toronto, canada. Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the …
810 wordsSECTION 164Chapter 4.--Evil is Corruption of Measure, Form, or Order.
Chapter 4.--Evil is Corruption of Measure, Form, or Order. When accordingly it is inquired, whence is evil, it must first be inquired, what is evil, which is nothing else than corruption, either of the measure, or the form, or the order, that belong to nature. Nature therefore which has been corrupted, is called evil, for assur…
808 wordsSECTION 165Chapter 10.--Natures Corruptible, Because Made of Nothing.
Chapter 10.--Natures Corruptible, Because Made of Nothing. All corruptible natures therefore are natures at all only so far as they are from God, nor would they be corruptible if they were of Him; because they would be what He himself is. Therefore of whatever measure, of whatever form, of whatever order, they are, they are so …
852 wordsSECTION 166Chapter 16.--Privations in Things are Fittingly Ordered by God.
Chapter 16.--Privations in Things are Fittingly Ordered by God. Yet even these privations of things are so ordered in the universe of nature, that to those wisely considering they not unfittingly have their vicissitudes. For by not illuminating certain places and times, God has also made the darkness as fittingly as the day. Fo…
962 wordsSECTION 167Chapter 21.--From Measure Things are Said to Be Moderate-Sized. [1093]
Chapter 21.--From Measure Things are Said to Be Moderate-Sized. [1093] Therefore now by common usage things small and mean are said to have measure, because some measure remains in them, without which they would no longer be moderate-sized, but would not exist at all. But those things that by reason of too much progress are cal…
881 wordsSECTION 168Chapter 25.--This Last Expression Misunderstood by Some.
Chapter 25.--This Last Expression Misunderstood by Some. For no attention should be paid to the ravings of men who think that nothing should be understood to mean something, and moreover think to compel any one to vanity of this kind on the ground that nothing is placed at the end of the sentence. Therefore, they say, it was ma…
762 wordsSECTION 169Chapter 28.--Sin Not From God, But From The Will of Those Sinning.
Chapter 28.--Sin Not From God, But From The Will of Those Sinning. But when we hear: "All things are from Him, and through Him, and in Him," we ought assuredly to understand all natures which naturally exist. For sins, which do not preserve but vitiate nature, are not from Him; which sins, Holy Scripture in many ways testifies,…
701 wordsSECTION 170Chapter 32.--From God Also is the Very Power to Be Hurtful.
Chapter 32.--From God Also is the Very Power to Be Hurtful. Likewise because the power even of those that are hurtful is from God alone, thus it stands written, Wisdom speaking: "Through me kings reign and tyrants hold the land through me." [1116] The apostle also says: "For there is no power but of God." [1117] But that it is …
721 wordsSECTION 171Chapter 35.--The Tree Was Forbidden to Adam Not Because It Was Evil, But Because It Was Good for Man to Be Subject to God.
Chapter 35.--The Tree Was Forbidden to Adam Not Because It Was Evil, But Because It Was Good for Man to Be Subject to God. For besides, He had made the prohibition, in order to show that the nature of the rational soul ought not to be in its own power, but in subjection to God, and that it guards the order of its salvation thro…
789 wordsSECTION 172Chapter 41.--How Great Good Things the Manichæans Put in the Nature of Evil, and How Great Evil Things in the Nature of Good.
Chapter 41.--How Great Good Things the Manichæans Put in the Nature of Evil, and How Great Evil Things in the Nature of Good. But if the Manichæans were willing, without pernicious zeal for defending their error, and with the fear of God, to think, they would not most criminally blaspheme by supposing two natures, the one good,…
773 wordsSECTION 173Chapter 42.--Manichæan Blasphemies Concerning the Nature of God.
Chapter 42.--Manichæan Blasphemies Concerning the Nature of God. What can be compared to those blasphemies? Absolutely nothing, unless the errors of other sectaries be considered; but if that error be compared with itself in another aspect, of which we have not yet spoken, it will be convicted of far worse and more execrable bl…
1,015 wordsSECTION 174Chapter 43.--Many Evils Before His Commingling with Evil are Attributed to the Nature of God by the Manichæans.
Chapter 43.--Many Evils Before His Commingling with Evil are Attributed to the Nature of God by the Manichæans. What if we should also show that before the commingling of evil, which stupid fable they have most madly believed, great evils were in what they call the nature of light? what will it seem possible to add to these bla…
1,479 wordsSECTION 175Chapter 45.--Certain Unspeakable Turpitudes Believed, Not Without Reason, Concerning the Manichæans Themselves.
Chapter 45.--Certain Unspeakable Turpitudes Believed, Not Without Reason, Concerning the Manichæans Themselves. But they say, that through their own Elect that same commingled part and nature of God is purged, by eating and drinking forsooth, (because they say that it is held fettered in all foods); that when they are taken up …
790 wordsSECTION 176Chapter 47.--He Compels to the Perpetration of Horrible Turpitudes.
Chapter 47.--He Compels to the Perpetration of Horrible Turpitudes. O abominable monster! O execrable perdition and ruin of deluded souls! I am not speaking of the blasphemy of saying these things about the nature of God which is thus fettered. Let the wretches deluded and hunted by deadly error give heed to this at least, that…
1,018 wordsSECTION 177Chapter I.--Bibliography.
Chapter I.--Bibliography. A. Sources. I. Of course all the Anti-Donatist writings of Augustin are found in the general editions from Amerbach, 1506, to Migne, 1861. A few are also collected in Du Pin's edd. of Optatus Mil. 1. In the Monumenta vetera ad Donatistarum Historiam pertinentia. 2. In the Gesta Collationis Carthagini …
1,330 wordsSECTION 178Chapter II.--An Analysis of Augustin's Writings Against the Donatists.
Chapter II.--An Analysis of Augustin's Writings Against the Donatists. The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronol…
2,256 wordsSECTION 179Apparently the letter led to nothing practical. A new turn was given to matters. A son had beaten his mother, and threatened her life; to av
Apparently the letter led to nothing practical. A new turn was given to matters. A son had beaten his mother, and threatened her life; to avoid Catholic discipline, he joined the Donatists and was rebaptized by them: as Augustin says, he wounded also his spiritual mother by contemning her sacrament. Public registration of the fa…
2,331 wordsSECTION 180In this same year one of his relatives, Severinus, who was a Donatist, sent a communication to him at Hippo by a special messenger, with a v
In this same year one of his relatives, Severinus, who was a Donatist, sent a communication to him at Hippo by a special messenger, with a view of reopening friendly intercourse with his kinsman; and Augustin seizes it as a way to reestablish as well the higher kinship in Christ (Ep. lii.). The Church is an unconcealable city se…
2,299 wordsSECTION 181The uppermost talk of those times was the extraordinary charity of the Donatists toward the Maximianists. One form of apology for such a see
The uppermost talk of those times was the extraordinary charity of the Donatists toward the Maximianists. One form of apology for such a seeming vacation of all their tenets was to say, e.g., of Felicianus of Musti, that he was ignorantly condemned when innocent and absent, so in his absence, he was reinstated. This statement wa…
2,203 wordsSECTION 182In the second sermon on Ps. cii. (ci.) preached about this time, when enlarging upon the unity he ridicules the Donatist assertion that the
In the second sermon on Ps. cii. (ci.) preached about this time, when enlarging upon the unity he ridicules the Donatist assertion that the Church which was among all the nations had perished, as the impudent voice of those who are not in it declares. So is their affirmation that Scripture prophecies about the spread of the king…
2,815 wordsSECTION 183Olympius had recently been elevated to the dignity of magister officiorum. He had written to Augustin soliciting his advice on the best way
Olympius had recently been elevated to the dignity of magister officiorum. He had written to Augustin soliciting his advice on the best way for the civil authority to help the Church. Augustin, c. 408 [Ep. xcvii.], welcomes his elevation, commends his devotion to the body of Christ, and is glad to have his own timidity relieved …
2,610 wordsSECTION 184After this book against Petilian just mentioned had been finished, he wrote another work of larger proportions and with more thoroughness, i
After this book against Petilian just mentioned had been finished, he wrote another work of larger proportions and with more thoroughness, in refutation of their schism, by the data of the Maximian schism, which he considered a full surrender of all their particularism. This has been styled: De Maximianistis contra Donatistas. I…
2,237 wordsSECTION 185Augustin, in 412, writes to Marcellinus [Ep. cxxxix.] expressing his delight that the proceedings connected with the trial are in preparatio
Augustin, in 412, writes to Marcellinus [Ep. cxxxix.] expressing his delight that the proceedings connected with the trial are in preparation, and for the intention of having them read in the churches of the city, and, if possible, in all the churches of his diocese. The crimes mentioned are the same as before, with added confes…
2,471 wordsSECTION 186The series of Tractatus on the Gospel of John, which are ascribed to 416 A.D., contain many reflections on Donatism. We can only notice the
The series of Tractatus on the Gospel of John, which are ascribed to 416 A.D., contain many reflections on Donatism. We can only notice the passages: Tractatus IV. in Jo. i. 19-33. Tractatus V. in Jo. i. 33. Tractatus VI. in Jo. i. 32, 33. Quite fully. Tractatus IX. in Jo. ii. 1-11. Tractatus X. in Jo. ii. 12-21. Tractatus…
2,481 wordsSECTION 187Felicia had been a Donatist originally and was converted by force. She had devoted herself to the virgin life and apparently had become head
Felicia had been a Donatist originally and was converted by force. She had devoted herself to the virgin life and apparently had become head of a religious house; but by reason of some wicked deeds of the clergy, possibly the extortion and rapacity of Antonius at Fussala, she was much disturbed and seemed inclined to relapse int…
1,024 wordsSECTION 188Preface
Preface ------------------------ The schism of the Donatists, with which the treatises in the present volume are concerned, arose indirectly out of the persecution under Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century. At that time Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, and his archdeacon Cæcilianus, had endeavored to check the fana…
1,755 wordsSECTION 189SEVEN BOOKS OF AUGUSTIN,
SEVEN BOOKS OF AUGUSTIN, BISHOP OF HIPPO, ON BAPTISM, AGAINST THE DONATISTS [DE BAPTISIMO CONTRA DONATISTAS.] CIRCA A.D. 400. translated by the rev. j. r. king, m.a., vicar of st. peter's in the east, oxford; and late fellow and tutor of mERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD The Seven Books of Augustin, Bishop of Hippo On Baptism, …
2,625 wordsSECTION 190Chapter 4.--5. Further, if any one fails to understand how it can be that we assert that the sacrament is not rightly conferred among the Do
Chapter 4.--5. Further, if any one fails to understand how it can be that we assert that the sacrament is not rightly conferred among the Donatists, while we confess that it exists among them, let him observe that we also deny that it exists rightly among them, just as they deny that it exists rightly among those who quit their …
2,255 wordsSECTION 191[1159] See below, on ii. 9.
[1159] See below, on ii. 9. [1160] Matt. xii. 30. [1161] Mark ix. 38, 39; Luke ix. 50. Chapter 8.--10. Nor indeed were the prayers of the Gentile Cornelius unheard, nor did his alms lack acceptance; nay, he was found worthy that an angel should be sent to him, and that he should behold the messenger, through whom he might ass…
2,347 wordsSECTION 19216. To these we reply, following the Scriptures, by asking them to answer themselves what they ask of us. For I beg them to tell us whether
16. To these we reply, following the Scriptures, by asking them to answer themselves what they ask of us. For I beg them to tell us whether there is any remission of sins where there is not charity; for sins are the darkness of the soul. For we find St. John saying, "He that hateth his brother is still in darkness." [1182] But n…
2,289 wordsSECTION 193Chapter 15.--23. For it is the Church that gives birth to all, either within her pale, of her own womb; or beyond it, of the seed of her bri
Chapter 15.--23. For it is the Church that gives birth to all, either within her pale, of her own womb; or beyond it, of the seed of her bridegroom,--(either of herself, or of her handmaid. [1187] ) But Esau, even though born of the lawful wife, was separated from the people of God because he quarrelled with his brother. And Ash…
2,505 wordsSECTION 194Book II.
[1197] 1 Pet. iv. 8. [1198] See below, ii. 9. [1199] Eph. iv. 2, 3. [1200] Ps. lxxiii. 18; cp. Hieron. [1201] 1 Cor. xii. 31, xiii. 1. [1202] John xv. 1, 2. [1203] John xiii. 34. [1204] Gal. v. 22, 23. [1205] Botrum. [1206] John xv. 2. Chapter 19.--29. But that I may not seem to be uttering these praises of the blessed…
2,364 wordsSECTION 195Chapter 4.--5. Wherefore the holy Cyprian, whose dignity is only increased by his humility, who so loved the pattern set by Peter as to use
Chapter 4.--5. Wherefore the holy Cyprian, whose dignity is only increased by his humility, who so loved the pattern set by Peter as to use the words, "Giving us thereby a pattern of concord and patience, that we should not pertinaciously love our own opinions, but should rather account as our own any true and rightful suggestio…
2,301 wordsSECTION 196[1228] Eph. iv. 3.
[1228] Eph. iv. 3. [1229] Traditores sanctorum librorum. [1230] Ex. xxxii. [1231] Jer. xxxvi. [1232] Num. xvi. [1233] Non convicti sed conficti traditores. Chapter 7.--10. Wherefore, then, have ye severed yourselves? If there is any sense left in you, you must surely see that you can find no possible answer to these argume…
2,232 wordsSECTION 197[1244] Cypr. Ep. lxxi. 4.
[1244] Cypr. Ep. lxxi. 4. [1245] Transmarinum vel universale Concilium. [1246] The plenary Council, on whose authority Augustin relies in many places in this work, was either that of Arles, in 314 A.D., or of Nicæa, in 325 A.D., both of them being before his birth, in 354 A.D. He quotes the decision of the same council, contra…
2,344 wordsSECTION 198Book III.
[1261] John xiii. 10. "Qui lotus est, non habet necessitatem iterum lavandi." The Latin, with the A.V., loses the distinction between ho leloumenos, "he that has bathed," and niptein, "to wash:" and further wrongfully introduces the idea of repetition. [1262] John iii. 5. Chapter 15.--20. Since the Catholic Church, both in the…
2,251 wordsSECTION 199[1265] See above, II. ii. 3.
[1265] See above, II. ii. 3. [1266] See above, II. ii. 3. [1267] Ecclus. iii. 18. [1268] See above, II. ii. 3. Chapter 4.--6. Next his colleagues proceed to deliver their several opinions. But first they listened to the letter written to Jubaianus; for it was read, as was mentioned in the preamble. Let it therefore be read a…
2,327 wordsSECTION 200[1285] Cypr. Ep. lxxiii. 3.
[1285] Cypr. Ep. lxxiii. 3. Chapter 13.--18. But as regards the remission of sins, whether it is granted through baptism at the hands of the heretics, I have already expressed my opinion on this point in a former book; [1286] but I will shortly recapitulate it here. If remission of sins is there conferred by the sacredness of b…
2,420 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.