04 Saint Augustine

The Theologian of Grace

SAINT AUGUSTINE

QUESTIONS

Who was Augustine and what made him “tick”?

What doctrines did he help clarify for the Church?

What are Sacraments and how do they work?

HIS INFLUENCESaint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430) is by far the most quoted person on the doctrines of the Church outside of the writers of the Bible

Some of the things that he is most remembered for in formulating for the Church are:

a more complete understanding of the Trinity

the way God governs His people

The “ontology” of God and the soul the efficacy of the Sacraments

how we know God predestination

the nature of love and (especially) loving God

the role of secular government and the Christian’s place in it

the nature of divine Grace Defining “the inner self”

“Just War” etc.

He was born on a small farm in Thagaste (in modern-day Algeria)

BIBLE BELT

Christianity had long since become established in that region of Roman Africa

His mother was a staunch Catholic

His father was a pagan (who was Saved sixteen years before his son)

In modern-American terms, he was born in

Hicksville in the middle of the Bible Belt

STEALING PEARS

At one point, he and his friends, in addition to a lot of other “normal” teenage pranks, went onto his neighbor’s property and stole pears from the neighbor’s tree

The adult Augustine, when remembering this in The Confessions, seems more torn up about this than many of his other sins (like heresy and fornication)

A MAJOR SIN?

Why, do you suppose, would he see stealing some pears to throw to the pigs as being so

bad?

SEARCHING FOR TRUTH

The fall into heresy was because he was searching for the truth, but going about it

in the wrong way

BASIC NEEDS/DESIRES

The fornication and the like were attempts to satisfy

basic needs/desires, though in the wrong way

THE THRILL OF SINStealing the pears was sin for sin’s own

sake

He was not hungry, he had a pear tree of his own, etc.

The thrill was in knowing that he was sinning for no other reason than to be

sinning

BIG EMPIRE DREAMS

Growing up, he was by far the smartest person around, and he knew it

Ambitious and arrogant, he went into the study of rhetoric

Rhetoric was a prerequisite for virtually any position of power in the Roman Empire

His studies take him to the major metropolitan city of Carthage

For historical context, the Council of Constantinople (381 AD) met while

he was in Carthage and finally finished the Nicene Creed

Manichaeanism was gnostic religion out of Persia that at its height “conquered” from Britain to China, and was Christianity’s chief rival when the Roman gods fell until the rise of Islam

Being both highly mystical and rational, they had answers for many of the questions about God that nobody else really had good responses for, such as a holy God creating evil

While in Carthage, Augustine became a Manichaean, finally finding answers to the questions that no one else he’d met could provide

LEARNING TO LOVE TRUTHWhile in Carthage he lead a rather hedonistic life, but he reads a great deal by Cicero, the famous Roman rhetoritician, which brought him to study philosophy

As he wrote later in the Confessions, Augustine says that the study of philosophy is what created that burning passion to know Truth

Growing up he had indulged in many “youthful indiscretions,” but now he started to settle down

He lived with his girlfriend and was faithful to her, and she soon bore him a son

GETTING ENGAGEDWhen his mother, Monica, joins him much later, she makes arrangements for Augustine to become engaged to a wealthy Christian girl

The girl was underage for marriage, but Augustine had to send away his “concubine” – whom he had loved and been faithful to for over 12 years – which broke his heart (read Confessions 6.15)

While waiting for his fiancé to be “of age” (thirteen), he could not stand being alone any more and took another lover for a while. He never reestablished his relationship with his fiancé.

After over a decade in Carthage, he moved to Milan as professor of rhetoric at the imperial court there

BOOKS OF THE PLATONISTS

Augustine read “books of the Platonists” and finally got the answers to some of the questions that had been plaguing him

This was good because it gave him many of the intellectual tools that he was able to use in defending the Christian Faith and made him the single most influential of the Church Fathers

The negative consequence was that Plotinus had a very allegorical way of reading the Bible, which Augustine also adopted, paving the way for over a thousand years of absolutely nonsensical interpretations of the Word

MEETING AMBROSE

He went to listen to Bishop Ambrose speak because Ambrose was one of the best living orators, and Augustine wanted to learn his techniques

While listening to Ambrose, Augustine heard an expression of Christian faith that wasn’t just for simpletons, but of a Christianity that answered the questions he had been asking all his life

AMBROSE OPENS THE BIBLE

From the influence of Ambrose he saw that what he recognized as Truth was also what the Christian Church taught

This caused him to take another look at the Bible

As he read the Bible and became increasingly convinced of its truths, he recognized an old and bitter conflict in his will:

““as a youth … I had prayed to you as a youth … I had prayed to you for chastity and said, ‘Give me for chastity and said, ‘Give me chastity and continence, but not chastity and continence, but not yet.’ For I was afraid that you yet.’ For I was afraid that you would answer my prayer at once would answer my prayer at once and cure me of the disease of and cure me of the disease of lust, which I wanted satisfied, not lust, which I wanted satisfied, not quelled.quelled.”” (Confessions 8.7) (Confessions 8.7)

““as a youth … I had prayed to you as a youth … I had prayed to you for chastity and said, ‘Give me for chastity and said, ‘Give me chastity and continence, but not chastity and continence, but not yet.’ For I was afraid that you yet.’ For I was afraid that you would answer my prayer at once would answer my prayer at once and cure me of the disease of and cure me of the disease of lust, which I wanted satisfied, not lust, which I wanted satisfied, not quelled.quelled.”” (Confessions 8.7) (Confessions 8.7)

It was very much the same with his conversion: even though he willed that he could turn himself over to God and become a Christian, he also willed that he wouldn’t

Without the grace of God, his sinful nature would always have won

Augustine later makes it clear, particularly in his writings against the Palagians, that even that part of his will that wanted to become Christian was entirely the gracious gift of God, not something inherent in himself

As he wrote later, the inner struggle was forcing him to the brink of madness, with his will tearing his mind and soul apart

While in a garden he heard a child’s voice repeatedly

saying, “Take up and read.”

He rushed and grabbed a Bible from his friend and read the first passage he came across:

Let us pass our time honorably, as by the light of Let us pass our time honorably, as by the light of day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust

and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature or Christ; spend no more thought on nature or

nature’s appetites. (Romans 13:13-14)nature’s appetites. (Romans 13:13-14)

That did it – that was when God had “flipped the switch” and Augustine finally became a Christian

He was baptized, along with his brilliant son and close friends, by Ambrose the following Easter

LOCAL BOY DONE GOODAfter his mother dies, he returned to Thagaste to found a monastic community

Monasticism was a new movement, and Augustine’s monastery became one of the principle developers of the movement in the Western Church

He is received very much as a “local boy done good,” and becomes tremendously popular with the Christian community

A few years later, while visiting Hippo, a priest begins talking in his sermon about how desperately the Church needs people like Augustine, and Augustine is grabbed by the parishioners and ordained – very much against his will – as a priest

Augustine wanted to live his life as a scholar; not having to spend his time worrying about all the “trivialities” involved in running a parish and trying to teach “simple” people the deep things of God

After only four years as a priest, he distinguished himself so

much as a man of God that he was made the Bishop of Hippo

Fifteen years after his appointment as Bishop, Rome falls for the first time in

her thousand year history

This sparked an enormous political and cultural crisis

The pagans blamed the Empire’s conversion to Christianity, saying

that it was the gods’ punishment on Rome for leaving her roots

This prompted Augustine to write “The City of God”, his most famous book alongside

“The Confessions”

He spelled-out the differences between the City of God and the City

of Man

In 430 A.D., as the Vandals are at the gates of Hippo, Augustine died

FREE WILL

“Free will” means that we are able to make own our choices

It is what makes us moral beings

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??

Does that mean that a pagan can choose to live a righteous life, pleasing to God, and therefore go

to Heaven?

Does it mean that a Christian can choose to live a wholly unrighteous life?

SOVEREIGN? ELECT PUPPETS?

When the Bible talks about God’s “elect,” is He reacting to the choice we make to believe

in Him? Or does He make it happen?

SOVEREIGN! PUPPETS?

Does He control every aspect of our lives, manipulating us like puppets?

If God makes the choice for us, doesn’t that override our freedom and therefore makes our choices – be they good or evil – out of our control?Then He’s cruel to condemn people that He essentially ordains to Hell

FREE! SOVEREIGN?

Does He leave us to our own devices, “hoping” that we come back to Him (or stay with Him once we’re His children)?

If He leaves the choice up to us, does it strip God of His power over His creation, making Him reliant upon us to shape our lives: the choices of Man being what controls history?

How we view free will defines not only how we see ourselves, but how we see

God

The Heart of the Church

Every time we say things like, “I was saved” or “I chose Christ” or even “I

have sinned,” we express the cor ecclesiae: the very heart of what we

believe, and how we view the grace of God

PELAGIANISM

That prayer Augustine published was an example of what really ignited a brilliant and

eloquent Celtic monk named Pelagius

““Grant what thou Grant what thou commandest, and command commandest, and command

what thou dost desire.”what thou dost desire.”

““Grant what thou Grant what thou commandest, and command commandest, and command

what thou dost desire.”what thou dost desire.”

He had no qualms with the second part as God has every right to command what He

desires; God is Lord, after all

Pelagius was, however, greatly distressed by Augustine’s implication that we need

God’s help to fulfill His commands

God is completely holy and perfectly just, he argued: God wouldn’t command us to do

something that He knows we don’t have the ability to do (e.g., “Be ye holy even as I am

holy,” for example)

For God to command us to do something that He knows we can’t do is simply cruel,

and the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that there’s no way you can attribute cruelty

with Jehovah

Pelagius rejected the idea of Original Sin, saying that God’s creation was good and His good creation can’t be anything other than

good

Our will is wholly free and can choose to give into the temptations of Satan or to rebuke him

Adam and Eve failed that test, but we are all born with the same opportunities as them

to choose holiness or perversion

Charles Finney, the father of modern evangelism (he was a direct influence on Dwight L.

Moody, J. Wilber Chapman, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham, among many others) was one of the most vocal voices of Pelagius’ teachings

in the modern Church

In short, if we are born sinful then we can’t be accused of committing a crime [sin] against God since we didn’t have any choice in the matter

It would be like condemning people for simply living

““I object to the doctrine of I object to the doctrine of constitutional sinfulness [Original Sin], constitutional sinfulness [Original Sin], that it makes all sin original and actual, that it makes all sin original and actual, and not a crime… If the nature is sinful, and not a crime… If the nature is sinful,

in such a sense that action must in such a sense that action must necessarily be sinful… then sin in necessarily be sinful… then sin in

action must be a calamity, and can be action must be a calamity, and can be no crime. It is the necessary effect of a no crime. It is the necessary effect of a sinful nature. This cannot be a crime, sinful nature. This cannot be a crime,

since the will has nothing to do with it.” since the will has nothing to do with it.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture

16}16}

““I object to the doctrine of I object to the doctrine of constitutional sinfulness [Original Sin], constitutional sinfulness [Original Sin], that it makes all sin original and actual, that it makes all sin original and actual, and not a crime… If the nature is sinful, and not a crime… If the nature is sinful,

in such a sense that action must in such a sense that action must necessarily be sinful… then sin in necessarily be sinful… then sin in

action must be a calamity, and can be action must be a calamity, and can be no crime. It is the necessary effect of a no crime. It is the necessary effect of a sinful nature. This cannot be a crime, sinful nature. This cannot be a crime,

since the will has nothing to do with it.” since the will has nothing to do with it.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture

16}16}

““The human will is free, therefore The human will is free, therefore men have power or ability to do all men have power or ability to do all

their duty. The moral government of their duty. The moral government of God everywhere assumes and implies God everywhere assumes and implies the liberty of the human will, and the the liberty of the human will, and the natural ability of men to obey God. natural ability of men to obey God. Every command, every threatening, Every command, every threatening,

every expostulation and denunciation every expostulation and denunciation in the Bible implies and assumes in the Bible implies and assumes

this.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, this.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture 20}lecture 20}

““The human will is free, therefore The human will is free, therefore men have power or ability to do all men have power or ability to do all

their duty. The moral government of their duty. The moral government of God everywhere assumes and implies God everywhere assumes and implies the liberty of the human will, and the the liberty of the human will, and the natural ability of men to obey God. natural ability of men to obey God. Every command, every threatening, Every command, every threatening,

every expostulation and denunciation every expostulation and denunciation in the Bible implies and assumes in the Bible implies and assumes

this.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, this.” {Finney, Systematic Theology, lecture 20}lecture 20}

Against these teachings of Pelagius and his followers, Augustine took his famous stand that earned him

his title as The Theologian of Grace

……it was by the evil use of his free-will that man it was by the evil use of his free-will that man destroyed both it and himself. For, as a man who destroyed both it and himself. For, as a man who

kills himself must, of course, be alive when he kills himself must, of course, be alive when he kills himself, but after he has killed himself ceases kills himself, but after he has killed himself ceases

to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin

being victorious over him, the freedom of his will being victorious over him, the freedom of his will was lost…was lost…

But whence comes this liberty to do right to the But whence comes this liberty to do right to the man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except he be redeemed by Him who has said, “He whom he be redeemed by Him who has said, “He whom

the Son has freed is free indeed.” [John 8:36]?the Son has freed is free indeed.” [John 8:36]?And before this redemption is wrought in a man, And before this redemption is wrought in a man, when he is not yet free to do what is right, how when he is not yet free to do what is right, how

can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride of boasting which the apostle restrains when he of boasting which the apostle restrains when he

says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith” [Eph. says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith” [Eph. 2:8]. {The Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope And Love; 2:8]. {The Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope And Love;

1:675}1:675}

……it was by the evil use of his free-will that man it was by the evil use of his free-will that man destroyed both it and himself. For, as a man who destroyed both it and himself. For, as a man who

kills himself must, of course, be alive when he kills himself must, of course, be alive when he kills himself, but after he has killed himself ceases kills himself, but after he has killed himself ceases

to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin

being victorious over him, the freedom of his will being victorious over him, the freedom of his will was lost…was lost…

But whence comes this liberty to do right to the But whence comes this liberty to do right to the man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except he be redeemed by Him who has said, “He whom he be redeemed by Him who has said, “He whom

the Son has freed is free indeed.” [John 8:36]?the Son has freed is free indeed.” [John 8:36]?And before this redemption is wrought in a man, And before this redemption is wrought in a man, when he is not yet free to do what is right, how when he is not yet free to do what is right, how

can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride of boasting which the apostle restrains when he of boasting which the apostle restrains when he

says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith” [Eph. says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith” [Eph. 2:8]. {The Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope And Love; 2:8]. {The Enchiridion: On Faith, Hope And Love;

1:675}1:675}

A Middle Ground?

With Pelagius and Augustine defining the polar opposites of the debate, a lot of people

came in seeking some compromise

The most famous was St. John Cassian, an abbot, who argued for “Semi-Pelagianism”

He asserted that the human soul was, indeed, corrupted by the Fall…

Semi-Pelagianism

However – contrary to the Augustinian position that we are dead in our sins, wholly against

God and His righteousness – we have a lingering piece of “life” in us

We can not come to God by ourselves, but when God extends His invitation of regenerating

grace, it’s up to us to assent to Him doing so

Some illustrations are that of a man drowning: the life-saver ring is tossed, but it’s up to that

person to grab a hold of the ring

Or the person dying of a disease, where the physician pours the medicine into his mouth – all they have to do is swallow – but the person

can choose to spit it out

God does 99% of the work, but there’s still the 1% that requires a work on our part

Most Popular Definition of “Free Will”

A strong emphasis on the need for God’s help in our salvation but

still very much keeps Man responsible for choosing good or

evil (and therefore worthy of salvation or damnation)

Who is the author of our faith?

Pelagian & Semi-Pelagian

Man is ultimately who reaches out and accepts God

God then responds to our good decision so that we are among

His elect

Augustinian

God reaches into our evil hearts that hate Him, and recreates them into hearts that

love Him

We have no claim on having “made a good decision,” but rest the credit of our

faith entirely on His love and grace

And now for something completely different…

(16)And the Lord spake, saying, “First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin.

(17)Then, shalt thou count to three; no more, no less.

(18)Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three.(19)Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to

three.(20)Five is right out!

(22)Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who,

being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.”

What makes that scene funny (besides the rabbit) is all the ways that he says the same thing, approaching it from every possible

direction; and that it’s VERY typical of how the Scriptures really do speak

While God has chosen to leave some things hidden from us, there are some things that He

repeats over and over and over again from numerous angles to make sure the message is communicated as clearly as possible, even to

sinful people like us who refuse to listen

At the Council of Carthage in 418, the bishops agreed that the Bible

was indeed very clear on the matter and issued several

statements against Pelagian teaching

Pope Zosimus (who had earlier endorsed Pelagius) retreated from

his earlier position and issued a statement requesting that all bishops refute Pelagianism

At the third ecumenical council in Ephesus in 431 (a year after Augustine’s death) Pelagianism was officially declared a heresy

This did not fully settle the issue between the Augustinians and the

Semi-Pelagians, though…

Over eleven hundred years later that controversy would be one of the focal points of the Reformation in debates

over “sola gratia”

(“Sola” means “alone” and “gratia” means “grace”)

Are we saved principally by grace, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches?

Are we saved by grace alone, as the Protestants (and Augustine) assert?

DONTATIST SCHISM

CAVING TO PERSECUTION

During the Roman persecution there were those

that caved to the pressure and made “compromises”

with the government

LEADERS FELL TOO

Included in the list of “not entirely faithful”

were many of the leaders in the Church

ONLY THE FAITHFUL

Because of their zeal for maintaining an “untainted” communion of believers, a group of Christians banded together, called Donatists

They, along with the Catholics, believed in Apostolic Succession – specifically, where new church leaders are ordained by God through current leaders, who in turn were ordained via their predecessors, etc. through to the Apostles (and ultimately Jesus)

UNFAITHFUL INFECTION

The problem was that the Catholic Church had been infected with unfaithful leaders, who, the Donatists argued, had rejected their Apostolic calling when they gave in, and therefore were not true leaders of the

Church – and therefore also could not ordain successors

CORRUPTED CHAIN

Any leader that had been “compromised” three hundred

years prior had likely ordained a number of successors, and they

had ordained successors, and so on

BROKEN LINKS?

But the Apostolic link had been broken with the first

leader, so none of the successors had a legitimate

ordination

A CANCER IN THE CHURCH?

By Augustine’s time, that effectively called most of

the Catholic Church illegitimate…

DONATIST ISSUES

There were three major issues that the Donatist schism presented the Church with:

PurityUnityBaptism

PURITY

Is the Church a gathering of the Pure, or something else?

UNITY

How does the Church stay one Church?

BAPTISM

The Donatists said that Baptism by an illegitimate

Catholic was not a real Baptism, and would

therefore rebaptize people that came to them

UNBAPTIZED CHRISTIANS?

It was Baptism that was the real kicker, because the “working” definition of a Christian held by the Church (East and West) is that you are a Christian if you’ve been baptized into the Christian Church

There are exceptions and clarifications, but that is the basic stance of all the “orthodox” churches

LEGITIMATE BAPTISM

So if you’re a Christian by your Baptism, and Donatists are the

only ones that can properly administer that Sacrament, then only those baptized by Donatists

are Christians...

DONATIST DILEMA

Everybody agreed in the vitality of a true Baptism,

which created a big problem for the Catholics…

DONTATIST BAPTISMS VALID?

If they regard the Donatist baptism as valid, then they are

essentially validating the legitimacy of the Donatists,

which puts a real crimp in trying to say that they should rejoin the

Catholic Church

DONATIST BAPTISM INVALID?

But if it is invalid, and they rebaptize people coming to

the Catholic Church from the Donatists, then they are by

their actions agreeing with the Donatist position on Baptism

WHAT IS A VALID BAPTISM?

Hopefully, the resolution to the problem is obvious to you, but that’s because we’ve all learned about Baptism as Augustine

defined it...

HAVING THE TOOLS

Augustine led the fight against the Donatists by providing the

philosophical tools needed to clarify the issues, as well as the rationale

used for the means used to suppress the Donatists

REASONS FOR SUPRESSION

We’ll talk about the way he dealt with the Sacramental issues later, so here we’ll talk about the reasoning he gives for suppression – and how to do it – since they would be used as the basis for doing so from that

time forward

ARGUING THE CASE

At the Conference of Carthage in 411 A.D., the Donatists and the Catholics debated before an Imperial official

Remember, this was after Christianity had become the official religion of the Empire, and the Empire desperately wanted a united Christendom

AUGUSTINE WINS

Augustine led the Catholic side and

trounced the Donatists quite neatly

CRIMINALS…

Donatism was then declared illegal, and Augustine

spelled-out how to get rid of the Donatists

ENCOURAGEMENT

Augustine knew well that you can’t force someone to

become a Christian (a.k.a., a Catholic), but you could

“encourage” and “discourage”

MAKING THE CASE

With his usual clarity and zeal he laid-out the theological reasons to fine the Donatists and confiscate their property so that they would be “discouraged” from staying with the Donatists and “encouraged” to join the Catholic Church

He was never so extreme as to propose torture or the like, which would be used for exactly the same reasons later – notably, during the various Inquisitions

IS INACTION AN ANSWER?

On the other side of that spectrum, we can’t not “encourage” or “discourage” because we are clearly called to do so – we do so every time we evangelize or build each other up, and when we exercise church disciplineThe “tough love” reasons we use for excommunication and the like are

the same reasons the Church fined the Donatists

TIME OF GRACE

Better to have people see the error of their ways during their

time of grace than to die in their sin and – at best – receive a

smaller inheritance, or – at worst – go to Hell

POWER OF THE SWORD

How hard to you “encourage” someone to follow Christ or “discourage” him from going to Hell – and possibly drag others along?

Enough to use the power of the state, along with its “power of the sword”? Where is the line?

MAJOR QUESTIONS

This still leaves open major questions about the purity of the Church, the unity of the Church, and the nature

of Baptism…

QUESTIONS: PURITY

How important is “purity” to the Church?

If a lack of purity can be accepted, how much impurity, and what kinds? Sinners? False

teachers?

QUESTIONS: UNITY

What is the basis for unity in the church?

Is there ever a reason for Christians to not be united?

If there is, then what is the effect such disunity has on the Christians involved, other Christians, and unbelievers?

Can you name modern Christian groups that have separated themselves from the rest of Christendom and the reasons why? Are they right in doing so, and why or why not?

QUESTIONS: BAPTISM

What is the nature of Baptism?

What gives it power?

WHAT ARE SACRAMENTS?

This gets into what any Sacrament is and what it

does...

SIGNS & SACRAMENTS

LEARNING FROM SIGNS

Signs, to Augustine, teach things and convey information, though they carry no power in themselves to teach

Words are the means by which we transfer knowledge, but you have to have knowledge of what those words mean already or those words are useless (as anybody that’s had to fight with different languages or technical jargon knows)

EXAMPLE OF A “SIGN”

If you see smoke, it acts as an indicator (sign) of fire, but you have to know that “where ther

e’s smoke there’s fire” before seeing the smoke can let you know there’s fire

The sight of smoke or the hearing of words don’t contain information, but they act as the

conduit through which information is conveyed

OUTWARD SIGN OF INWARD GIFT

The grace that grants faith, and therefore salvation, is an inward

gift

Sacraments are an outward sign that shows what God has done

NEED FOR INTERPRETATION

Symbols, since they themselves are not information, need to be

“interpreted”

The same symbols can mean dramatically different things to

different people

THE INTERPRETER

The principle “interpreter” of spiritual things for the Christian is the Holy Spirit, who translates the

symbols (words) of Scripture for our heart, and the symbols (rituals) of

the Sacraments for our soul

BAPTISM

DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDINGS

While every major Christian denomination agrees completely with Baptism being an outward sign that marks you as a Child of God, they

have very different understandings of it

DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDINGS OF BAPTISM

How do Catholics and Lutherans understand Baptism?

Calvinists (e.g. Presbyterians)?

Baptists?

CATHOLIC & LUTHERAN

The sign is an indication of the grace that God is working in the person, bringing them to faith at that moment (though the person

can then reject that grace)This view is known formally as “baptismal

regeneration”

CALVINIST: CIRCUMCISION

Calvinists view it more as a New Testament form of circumcision,

whereby God is marking the person as His own and part of

the Christian community

CALVINIST: PRESERVATION

The difference between it and baptismal regeneration is subtle,

but best understood in light of the Calvinist doctrine of

Preservation of the Saints(Once God has made you His own, He will ensure that you

never fall completely away from Him)

CALVINIST: SPECIAL BLESSING

God is probably infusing His grace into the person, but He may not be

Not every Jewish boy that was circumcised was automatically saved

At the very least He is granting the person His special protection and blessings

Every Jew was under the covenantal blessings that God gave to Abraham

BAPTIST

Baptism is a sign akin to a diploma, saying that you have confessed Jesus

as your Savior and acting as an outward “sealing” of that declaration

It is very much like the role that Confirmation serves in other denominations

REBAPTIZE?

In light of the different understandings of the symbolism

involved in Baptism, how does that explain why Catholics,

Lutherans, Calvinists and the like don’t rebaptize, but Baptists do?

REBAPTIZE? BAPTISTS

For Baptists, since it acts as a sign that you gave a proper confession, if you were not

baptized for having given the proper confession you need to receive a “proper” baptism for

your proper confession

REBAPTIZE? AUGUSTINIANS

For those following in the Augustinian tradition, Baptism is an indelible

mark on the soul placed there by God

Baptism caries with it power that is dependent upon what God has done for

the person, not what the person has said or done

In other words: The power comes from God, not us

LORD’S SUPPER

“THIS IS MY BLOOD…”

In light of this definition of signs and what we know about the major

sacramental division in the Church, how does this explain the differences

in understandings of the Lord’s Supper?

CATHOLIC & LUTHERAN

Christ is physically there and conveys the forgiveness of sins through the administration of

the body and bloodIt’s not a magical incantation or anything, but a medium through which God graciously promises to increase faith

CALVINIST: SYMBOLICLY

Christ’s body and blood are there symbolically (not

physically) and the blessings of the sacrament are conveyed

through that medium

CALVINIST: SYMBOLSOf course, saying that Christ’s body and blood

are “merely” there symbolically doesn’t diminish it in any way; most everything important we do – confirmation, weddings, naturalization, etc. – is

symbolism

The Bible itself is, of course, “merely” a collection of symbols

Symbols carry enormous power…

BAPTIST: MEMORIAL

The Lord’s Supper acts as a symbol along the lines of a

memorial

BAPTIST: IN REMEMBERENCE OF ME

Focus is less on “This is my body” and more on “Do this

in remembrance of me”

BAPTIST: REMEMBERENCES

Similar to how we celebrate Christmas and Easter and other church

“remembrances,” the Lord’s Supper serves the same purpose

It’s an extremely important symbol of what Christ has done for us and is

therefore should be practiced with the honor that is due such a memorial

LOVE

OUR HEARTS

Everything, to Augustine, revolved around love

Especially the love of God

““You have made us for yourself, You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” –they can find rest in you.” –ConfessionsConfessions

““You have made us for yourself, You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” –they can find rest in you.” –ConfessionsConfessions

GROW IN LOVE

For Augustine, the goal of all of our interpretations should

be to grow in our love for God (which then extends to

our neighbor)

SIGNS OF LOVE

All of the symbols that God gives us show His love for us (directly or indirectly), and when we interpret them we

must do so in that light so that we love Him more

MY WILL IS MY WEIGHT

Probably the best way to summarize how Augustine

approached everything is his statement, “my will is my

weight.” (Confessions 13.9)

GRAVITY

“My will [love] is my weight” means simply that I will

gravitate (to use Newtonian terms) toward what I love

THAT IS HIS GOD

An Augustinian monk, eleven hundred years later, said, “Whatever man

loves, that is his god. For he carries it in his heart; he goes about with it

night and day; he sleeps and wakes with it, be it what it may – wealth or

self, pleasure or renown.”

PERSPECTIVE OF LOVE

Everything in Augustine’s theology is seen from the

perspective of love – either God’s love, or our love

GOD’S LOVE

God created us that He may have us to love

Christ died on the cross that we may be with him through

all eternity

THE “LESS”

We love the things of this world (or ourselves) above God, which

shifts our focus from God to what is less than God – and so we gravitate toward (and get)

the “less”

CHANGE OF GRAVITY

Christ died on the cross that we may love Him again –

and therefore we gravitate toward Him

And now these three And now these three remain: faith, hope and remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of love. But the greatest of

these is love. (1Cor these is love. (1Cor 13:13)13:13)

EVEN LOVE

It’s important to notice how even something as

wonderful as love is, it can be perverted

EVIL

PERVERTED

“Perverted” means, literally, “twisted” or “bent,” and

carries the idea that something that was good

has now become “not good”

QUESTION OF EVIL

One of the classic posers is, “If God created everything,

did He create evil? If He didn’t create evil, then

where did evil come from?”

EVIL DOES NOT EXIST

Augustine said that while evil is real, it doesn’t exist

Again: evil is real, but it doesn’t exist

EVIL IS PERVERSION OF GOOD

Evil is a perversion or negation of the good (which does exist since it flows

from the ontology of God)

A broken stick, a gnarled limb, cancer, and a torn shirt are all examples in the

physical world of “ontological evil”

REAL? NOTHING?

The break is real, the tear is real, etc. but at the same time they are nothing

MORAL EVIL

When we turn (pervert) our love from God, we are engaging in “moral evil”

When we shape our will closer to the will of God because of our love for him

(as we are sanctified) the evil in our will is lessened as it becomes less perverse

BECOMING LESS

As the will turns further and further from God, we

become less and less than what we are meant to be

MODERN LITERATUREAll of C.S. Lewis’ stories wonderfully picture this idea. In “Peralandria,” the second

book of “The Space Trilogy,” one of the main characters gradually becomes the Unman as he tries to lead The Woman away from God. Or, to choose a more popular

work, think of the wasting away of Edward in “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”; or the glee of Wormwood in “The Screwtape Letters” as he describes the “unmaking” (literally) of the people they tempt away for The Enemy (God).

J.R.R. Tolkien’s books (like “The Lord of the Rings” saga) are packed with this imagery, and it’s hard to forget the images of Gollum degenerating throughout the

series; or the warping that Melkor did to the world in “The Silmarillion,” creating goblins and other monsters by corrupting the good elves and other good creatures.

Melkor (Lucifer) does not have the power to create out of nothing like Ilúvator (Jehovah), but only to shape, which he does in order to make the world in his image instead of Ilúvator’s. If Ilúvator is good, then the only “identity” that he – and that

which he shapes – can have to be different than Ilúvator is to be “not good.”

TRUTH

KNOWING TRUTH

Augustine was adamant that Truth could be known with certainty, but only

through the light of God’s love and grace

When we talk about “eyes of faith,” we’re often talking metaphorically, but

Augustine wasn’t quite so symbolic about it

OTHERS ECHOING HIM“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because, by it, I see everything else.” - C.S. Lewis

“Human things must be known to be loved: but Divine things must be loved to be known.” - Blaise Pascal

“[The purpose of science is to] think God’s thoughts after Him.” - Johannes Kepler

REASONABLE FAITH

A final remark to be made on Augustine’s legacy on Christian epistemology is

that true Godly faith is always a reasonable faith

NEVER OPPOSED TO REASON

That’s not to say that what is believed must “make

sense,” but it does mean that it must never be

opposed to reason

IMPIOUS PIETY

To believe a contradiction, no matter how “piously,” is

to be impious

CAN NOT BE TRUSTED

If you believe that God is not “limited” by logic, or that what He reveals through general revelation (nature/science) and

what He reveals through special revelation (Scripture) can contradict each other, then you are saying that God, quite simply, can not be trusted

USE WITH CARE

People with sinful and faulty understandings misuse logic just as

they misuse the Bible, but that simply means that we have to be extremely careful how we use the

things that God has given us to know Him

POWER FOR GOOD OR EVIL

The more powerful the tool for Good (e.g., Biblical

interpretation or science), the worse the damage when

its use is perverted