Sententiarum Ex Operibus Augustini Delibatarum Liber Unus

S. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE, ONE BOOK OF SENTENCES GATHERED FROM THE WORKS OF S. AUGUSTINE.

I. What true innocence is.

True innocence is that which harms neither itself nor another, since he who loves iniquity hates his own soul. And no one sins against another before he sins against himself (Aug. on Ps. 100, 2; Prosp. on the same psalm).

II. On loving men.

Men are to be loved in such a way that their errors are not loved; for it is one thing to love what they have been made, and another to hate what they do (Aug. on Ps. 100, 5; Prosp. on the same psalm).

III. On true eternity.

True eternity and true immutability exist only in the Godhead of the Trinity, to which to be is perpetual, because the divine nature, lacking a beginning and needing no increase, admits no mutability, just as it admits no end. But creatures, even those to which God has given or will give eternity, are not wholly free of every end, because they are not outside change, since an end belongs to them, and a temporal institution, and local motion, and that very change which is made for their increase (Prosp. on Ps. 101, 18).

IV. On the patience of God.

The patience of God, by which He spares those who despise Him, spares even those who deny Him, and wills rather the life of the sinner than his death, is an invitation to repentance and an offer of correction; nor are any of His works devoid of mercy, since He provides both by kindness and by indulgence, and by the scourge (Aug. on Ps. CII, 8; Prosp. on the same psalm).

V. On the vengeance of God.

The divine goodness is for this reason most especially angry in this world, that it may not be angry in the next; and it mercifully applies temporal severity, lest it justly bring in eternal vengeance (Prosp. on Ps. CII, 9).

VI. On the true praise of God.

True is the confession of one who blesses, when the same sound is of the mouth and of the heart. But to speak well and to live badly is nothing other than to condemn oneself by one's own voice (Prosp. on Ps. CII, 21).

VII. On the virtue of charity.

The love of God and of neighbor is the proper and special virtue of the pious and the saints, whereas the other virtues can be common to both good and bad (Aug. on Ps. CIII, 5; Prosp. on the same psalm).

VIII. On the apostolic doctrine.

The apostolic doctrine is so salutary and so life-giving that, according to the capacity of those who use it, it leaves no one without a share in it: for whether little ones or great, whether weak or strong, they have in it that whereby they may be nourished and whereby they may be satisfied.

IX. On seeking God.

He who seeks God seeks joy. Let him therefore seek in such a way that he rejoices not in himself but in the Lord. For by drawing near to God, his ignorance is enlightened and his weakness is strengthened, since there is given to him both understanding, whereby he may see, and charity, whereby he may burn.

X. On spiritual loathing.

Just as it is harmful to the body to be unable to receive bodily food, so it is perilous to the soul to loathe spiritual delicacies.

XI. On the ends of the good and the wicked.

Never are those many who tend toward non-being. For what is so subject to fewness as that which is owed to perdition?

XII. On the Tranquility of God's Vengeance.

God does not desire the punishment of the guilty as though wishing to be satiated by vengeance; but what is just he decrees with tranquility, and by a right will he orders it, so that even the wicked are not left in disorder (Prosper on Psalm 108, 5).

XIII. On Good Understanding.

He has good understanding who rightly understands what must be done and does it. Otherwise such understanding without works is as wisdom without fear, since it is written: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prosper on Psalm 110, 10).

XIV. On the Rest of Those Still Living in the Flesh.

The soul also has its rest in this life, which has been exempted from the death of unbelief and abstains not from the works of righteousness but from the action of iniquity: so that, living to God and dead to the world, it may rest in the placid tranquility of humility and gentleness (Prosper on Psalm 114, 8).

XV. On Vowing to God.

Whoever thinks well about what he should vow to God and what he should pay by vowing, let him vow and render himself. This is required, this is owed. Let the image of Caesar be rendered to Caesar, the image of God be rendered to God (Luke 20:25). But just as one must consider what you offer and to whom you offer it, so also one must consider where you offer it: because there is no place for true sacrifice outside the catholic Church (Prosper on Psalm 115:8).

XVI. On Justice and Grace.

There are two retributions of justice, when either good things are repaid for good things, or evil things for evil things. The third is the retribution of grace, when through regeneration evil things are forgiven and good things are repaid. And in this way it is shown that in every way the way of the Lord is mercy and truth. But that retribution of the impious by which evil things are repaid for good things, God does not know; for unless he repaid good things for evil things, there would be none to whom he might repay good things for good things (Augustine, Sermon on Psalm 118; Prosper on the same Psalm 17).

XVII. On the Citizens of the Heavenly Fatherland.

Everyone who belongs to the heavenly city is a stranger to the world, and while he uses this temporal life he lives in a foreign country, where amid many enticements and many deceits it is granted to few to know and love God—those to whom the Lord's commandment is clear, enlightening the eyes, so that they are not deceived in the love of God or of neighbor.

XVIII. On Overcoming the Desire of the Flesh.

There is no one whose soul the corruptible body and earthly dwelling do not weigh down. But we must strive that the desires of the flesh be overcome by the vigor of the spirit, and that the inner man, who always feels resistance against himself, may always expect to be helped by divine aid.

XIX. On the Narrow Way of Life.

Narrow is the way that leads to life; and yet it cannot be run along unless the heart is enlarged, because the path of the virtues, along which the poor of Christ walk, is broad to the hope of the faithful, even if it is narrow to the vanity of the faithless.

XX. On the Reward of the Christian Religion.

God is to be worshipped with this disposition and desire, that His worship itself be its own reward; for whoever worships God in order to obtain something else rather than God Himself does not worship God, but that which he desires to attain.

XXI. On Not Judging Hidden Things.

It is a sin to judge rashly the hidden things of another's heart, and it is unjust to reproach a man whose works are seen to be only good on the basis of suspicion; since of those things which are unknown to man, God alone is the just judge, who is also the true examiner.

XXII. On the Help of God.

It is a gift of God when we both think rightly and keep our feet from falsehood and injustice. For as often as we do good, God works in us and with us, that we may work.

XXIII. On the Sufferings of the Saints.

By the just judgment of God, power is often granted to sinners, by which they persecute His saints, so that those who are helped and guided by the Spirit of God may become more illustrious through the exercise of labors (Prosper on Psalm 118, 62).

XXIV. On the Knowledge of the Good.

There is no true knowledge of the good unless it is comprehended for the purpose of being done; for he meditates on the law of God unprofitably who labors to retain in memory what he does not fulfill in action (Prosper on Psalm 118, 71, 77).

XXV. On the Love of the Law.

He who loves the law of God proves that in wicked men he hates that which is contrary to the law, not the men themselves (Prosper on Psalm 118, 113).

XXVI. On Searching Out the Commandments of God.

The commandments of God cannot be searched out except by a quiet mind. Therefore, that religious study may be exercised, the quarrels of the malicious must be driven away (Prosper on Psalm 118, 115).

XXVII. On Making Progress.

No one is so learned, no one so taught, that he does not need illumination from above; for the increases of divine goods are never so complete that there does not always remain something for the rational mind both to desire to understand and to carry out.

XXVIII. On the twofold work of God.

If we consider all men together, of whom some are saved by mercy and others are truly condemned, all the ways of the Lord, that is, mercy and truth, are distinguished by their own end. But if we look upon the saints alone, these ways of the Lord are not separated. For there truth is inseparable from mercy, and mercy from truth, because the blessedness of the saints is both from the gift of grace and from the recompense of justice.

XXIX. On the observance of peace.

It belongs to Christian perfection to be peaceable even with the enemies of peace, in the hope of their correction, not in consent to their wickedness: so that even if they follow neither the example nor the exhortation of love, they may still have no grounds on which they ought to hate us.

XXX. On the custody of God.

The Lord guards us from every evil, not so that we suffer no adversity, but so that the soul is not defiled by adversities themselves. For when temptation is at hand, there is a certain entrance into that which attacks us; and when the temptation is consummated with a good end, that is, without wounding of the soul, one exits from the depth of temporal labor into eternal rest.

XXXI. On the help of God.

They do not ascend to the fellowship of the heavenly Jerusalem except those who confess with their whole heart that their ascending is not of their own work but a gift of God.

XXXII. On the hatreds of the world against Christians.

All who wish to live piously in Christ must necessarily suffer reproaches from the impious and the dissembling, and be despised as foolish and insane, since they lose present goods and promise themselves things invisible and future. But this contempt and mockery will be turned back upon the impious, when both their abundance has passed into want and their pride into confusion.

XXXIII. On the patience of the faithful.

The whole salvation of the faithful, the whole strength of patience, must be referred to him who is wonderful in his saints: because unless the Lord were in them, human frailty would succumb to the fury of the impious.

XXXIV. On the obedience due to the weak.

Thus both princes are to be borne with by the peoples, and masters by their servants, so that under the exercise of forbearance temporal things may be endured and eternal things hoped for. For it increases the merits of virtue that one's purpose does not violate religion.

XXXV. On enduring the variety of the world.

The upright of heart do not murmur against the precepts and ordinances of God: because it is just that all things be accepted with equanimity which he, who will judge, willed to be endured.

XXXVI. On the building up of the house of God.

The whole condition of the holy building, as it advances with God's help, so it stands firm with God as its guardian. For the watch of those set over others is then useful, when the Spirit of God presides over his people, and deigns to guard not only the flocks but also the shepherds themselves.

XXXVII. On eternal joys.

The joys of the eternal city are eternal, and the unending infinity of its abiding days will neither change nor waver, because those who enjoy it will possess it in unchangeable peace, and the good of all will be the good of each individually as well.

XXXVIII. On the law of love.

The law of Christ is the perfection of love, by which God and neighbor are loved, and through which the Lawgiver is addressed: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For he rightly awaits God's promise who carries out his commandments; nor does he hope in vain that his own sins will be spared, who forgives the sins of others.

XXXIX. On God's commands.

God commands nothing that benefits himself, but only the one to whom he gives the command. Therefore the Lord is truly Lord, who has no need of the servant, and is what the servant needs.

XL. On God's timeless knowledge.

What is new in time is not new with God, who created the times and holds without time all the things that he distributes to each in their own times, according to their variety.

XLI. On the providence of God.

The unchangeable reason holds the ordering of mutable things, where those things are together without time which do not happen together in time, because the times do not run together.

XLII. On the impunity of those who sin.

Nothing is more wretched than the felicity of those who sin, by which penal impunity is nourished, and the evil will is strengthened as if by an inner enemy.

XLIII. On the letter of the law.

The letter of the law, which teaches that one must not sin, kills if the life-giving Spirit is absent. For it makes sin known rather than guarded against, and therefore it is increased rather than diminished, because to evil desires there is added even the transgression of the law.

XLIV. On the law and grace.

The law was given so that grace might be sought; grace was given so that the law might be fulfilled. For it was not by its own fault that it was not fulfilled, but by the fault of the wisdom of the flesh; and that fault had to be shown through the law and healed through grace (Aug., ibid., c. 19).

XLV. On the promise of God.

What God promises, he himself does. For it is not that he promises and another does it; that would no longer be a promise, but a prediction. Therefore it is not from works, but from him who calls (Rom. 9:12; and 4:4); so that it may not be of themselves, but of God; and so that the reward may not be reckoned according to grace, but according to debt; and thus grace would no longer be grace (Aug., ibid., c. 24).

XLVI. On the faults of the faithful and the good works of the unfaithful.

Just as certain venial sins, without which this life is not lived, do not keep the righteous from eternal life, so some good works, without which the life of even the worst man is found with the greatest difficulty, profit the ungodly nothing unto eternal salvation (Aug., ibid., c. 27).

XLVII. On the effect of an evil will.

When an evil will receives the power to accomplish what it desires, this comes from the judgment of God, with whom there is no iniquity. For He punishes even in this way; nor is it therefore unjust because it is hidden. Otherwise the wicked man does not know that he is being punished, unless, when he has felt manifest punishment against his will, he perceives how great an evil it is that he committed willingly.

XLVIII. On pride.

All vices have force only in evil deeds; pride alone must be guarded against even in right deeds.

XLIX. On the unequal use of fortune.

It matters greatly what the use is, whether of those things that are called prosperous or of those that are called adverse. For the good man is neither lifted up by good temporal things nor broken by evil ones; but the evil man is brought to this kind of unhappiness because he is corrupted by happiness.

L. On the death of the saints.

That death is not to be thought evil which a good life has preceded. For nothing makes death evil except what follows death. And so it is not greatly to be cared for by those who must necessarily die, what happens to them so that they may deserve, but whither they are compelled to go by dying.

XLVIII. On the purity that one does not lose unwillingly.

Thus the holiness of the body is not lost when the holiness of the mind remains, even if the body is oppressed; just as the holiness of the body is lost when the purity of the mind is violated, even if the body is left untouched (Aug. ibid., c. 18).

LII. On the strength of endurance.

That mind is rightly to be called greater which chooses to bear a life of hardship rather than to flee it, and to despise human judgment, especially the common judgment, which is for the most part wrapped in the darkness of error, in comparison with the light and purity of conscience (Aug. ibid., c. 22).

LIII. On free servitude and servile dominion.

For the just, whatever evils are inflicted by unjust masters are not the punishment of a crime but the test of virtue. For the good man, even if he serves, is free; but the evil man, even if he reigns, is a slave; and not of one man, but—what is worse—of as many masters as he has vices (Aug. lib. iv de Civ. v. 5).

LIV. On the offering of vows.

No one would rightly vow anything to the Lord unless he received from him what he would vow.

LV. On the essence of the Godhead.

Every substance that is not God is a creature, and what is not a creature is God. There is therefore no difference in the Godhead of the Trinity, since what is less than God is not God.

LVI. Such as God loves us.

God loves us as we shall be by his gift, not as we are by our own merit.

LVII. On the timeless work of God.

The order of times in the eternal wisdom of God is without time, nor are any things new with him who made the things that were to be.

LVIII. On the chief cause of all things.

The will of God is the first and highest cause of all things, both corporeal and spiritual. For nothing is done visibly and sensibly that is not either commanded or permitted from the invisible and intelligible court of the supreme ruler, according to the ineffable justice of rewards and punishments, of graces and retributions, in this most vast and immense commonwealth of the whole creation.

LIX. On the pride of the devil and the humility of Christ.

The proud devil led proud man to death; the humble Christ led obedient man back to life. For just as that one, being lifted up, fell and cast down the one consenting to him, so this one, being humbled, rose and raised up the one believing in him.

LX. On spiritual increase.

In spiritual things, when the lesser cleaves to the greater, as the creature to the Creator, the former becomes greater than it was, not the latter; and this is to be greater, which is to be better, because the creature cleaving to the Creator is made greater not in bulk but in virtue.

LXI. On the ineffable excellence of the Godhead.

The supereminence of the Godhead exceeds not only the range of our speech but even the capacity of our understanding. For God is thought more truly than he is spoken, and is more truly than he is thought. And it is no small part of knowledge if, before we can know what God is, we can know what he is not.

LXII. On true blessedness.

All the blessed have what they will, although not all who have what they will are immediately blessed. But those are immediately wretched who either do not have what they will, or have what they do not rightly will. Therefore a right will is closer to blessedness, even if it has not obtained what it desires, than a depraved will, even if it has obtained what it desires (Aug., On the Trinity XIII, c. 5).

LXIII. What it is to be with God.

It is a great misery of man not to be with him without whom he cannot be. For in whatever he is, he is without doubt not without him; and yet if he does not remember him, and does not understand him, and does not love him, he is not with him (Aug., On the Trinity XIV, c. 12).

LXIV. On the incarnation of the Word of God.

The divinity of the Word, equal to the Father, has been made a partaker of our mortality, not from its own, but from ours: so that we too might be made partakers of his divinity, not from our own, but from his (Aug., On Psalm CXVIII, sermon 16, n. 6; and sermon 19, n. 6).

LXV. On the hatred with which the wicked are to be hated.

Perfect hatred is that which lacks neither justice nor knowledge: that is, so that you neither hate men because of their vices, nor love vices because of the men. Rightly, therefore, in the wicked we hate the malice and love the creature: so that neither is nature condemned because of vice, nor vice loved because of nature.

LXVI. On the labor of those who fashion lies.

The inventions of lying are difficult and laborious. But he who wishes to speak the truth does not labor; for the good are more at peace than the wicked; and the words of the truthful are more absolving than the fabrications of the deceitful.

LXVII. On the divine Scriptures.

Good are the depths of the mysteries in the holy Scriptures, which are covered for this reason, lest they become cheap; sought for this reason, that they may exercise us; and opened for this reason, that they may feed us.

LXVIII. On the prayer of the Lord.

When the Lord Jesus Christ prayed with a sweat of blood, he signified that from his whole body, which is the Church, the sufferings of the martyrs would flow forth.

LXIX. On the reception of the sacraments.

The unworthy man takes the sacrament of piety to his own judgment. For it cannot be well with him who receives badly what is good.

LXX. On praising God.

He who praises God in the miracles of his benefits also praises him in the terrors of his vengeance. For he both entices and threatens. If he did not entice, there would be no exhortation; if he did not threaten, there would be no correction.

LXXI. On hastening conversion.

The remedies of conversion to God are not to be deferred by any delays, lest the time of correction be lost through slowness. For he who promised pardon to the penitent did not promise tomorrow to the one who puts it off.

LXXII. On humility in prayer.

He is upright and calls upon God well who, in all the evils he suffers, accuses himself and not God; and in the good things he does, praises not himself but God. For just as God repels the one who defends his sins, so he receives the one who confesses them.

LXXIII. On admiration of created things.

The fabric of the world is wonderful, but more wonderful is its fabricator. And he is badly occupied with created things who departs from the Creator; for if he clings to the higher, he will tread underfoot the lower, lest what he has loved against nature be turned into punishment for him.

LXXIV. On the disordered soul.

The rational soul, preferring lower things to higher, cannot rule what it used to rule, because it refused to be ruled by him by whom it was ruled.

LXXV. On the punishment of sin.

The body of our flesh was an ornament to us; we sinned, and from it we received fetters, so that by the bonds of mortality the whole course of human actions is hindered.

LXXVI. On the manner of singing psalms.

He sings rightly in praise of God whose works agree with his voice. For when the song is finished, the voice falls silent; but the life that persists in good deeds never falls silent about the glory of him whom it rejoices to have working within it (Aug. on Ps. CXLVI, n. 2).

LXXVII. On fear.

All things that are feared are reasonably avoided; God is to be feared in such a way that one takes refuge from him to him (Aug. ibid., n. 20).

LXXVIII. On right solicitude.

Just as perverse security drives one into danger, so ordered solicitude gives birth to security (Aug. on Ps. CXLVII, n. 5).

LXXIX. On virginity.

Virginity of the flesh is a body untouched; virginity of the soul is faith uncorrupted (Aug. ibid., n. 10).

LXXX. On the manner of possessing.

We will be shown to have many superfluous things in our possessions if we keep only what is necessary. For to those who seek vain things nothing suffices, and he is in a certain manner a retainer of others' goods who keeps uselessly what would benefit the poor (Aug. sermon on Ps. CXLVII, n. 12; Prosp. on Ps. CXLIV, 5).

LXXXI. On thoughts.

As our ears are to our words, so are God's ears to our thoughts. But it cannot happen that good thoughts proceed to evil deeds, since action brings forth only what the heart has conceived (Aug. on Ps. CXLVIII, n. 2).

LXXXII. On the new song.

As the old song of the old man pertains to temporal things, so the new song of the new man pertains to eternal things; and each one sings as he lives. But the new song is the song of faith, which works through love (Aug. on Ps. CXLIX, n. 1).

LXXXIII. On true humility.

True humility of the faithful is this: to be proud in nothing, to murmur at nothing; neither to be ungrateful nor complaining, but in all God's judgments to give thanks to God and to praise God, all of whose works are either just or kind.

LXXXIV. On those who despair.

He is exceedingly wretched who does not hope in God, and promises himself favorable things from himself, since from the very fact that he does not seek God's help, he falls away from every hope of true salvation (Aug. on Ps. XXXIII, enarrat. n. 13).

LXXXV. On riches.

Those who are rich from iniquity are in great want; they do not have the riches of justice and the treasures of wisdom. But those who serve the Lord acquire those goods which cannot perish (Aug. ibid., 15).

LXXXVI. On true goodness.

It is not enough to abstain from evil unless what is good is done; and it is little to harm no one unless you strive to benefit many (Aug. ibid., 19).

LXXXVII. On the impunity of the wicked.

The sinner who sins is not therefore unseen by the Lord because the punishment of the evildoer is deferred; but it is decreed more heavily against him to whom even correction itself is denied (Aug. ibid., 21).

LXXXVIII. On the good of humility.

One does not approach the height of God except through humility; and the submissive draws near to him, while the proud withdraws far from him (Aug. ibid., 23).

LXXXIX. On burial.

Just as sumptuous funerals profit the rich sinner nothing, so neither do the funerals of the holy poor, whether cheap or none at all, harm them (Aug. ibid., 25).

XC. On right joy.

He whose joy is Christ can never be defrauded of his delights. For that is eternal exultation which rejoices in the eternal good.

XCI. What unites man to God.

To God, who is everywhere, we are near or far not by places but by actions, since just as dissimilarity separates us, so imitation joins us to him (Aug. in Ps. XXXIV, n. 6).

XCII. On the good battle.

It belongs to human sickness to take delight in sinning in mortal flesh. But the disciple and lover of virtues ought not to grant peace to this desire, but to declare war upon it (Aug. in Ps. XXXV, n. 6).

XCIII. On the hope of the faithful.

Let it not frighten you, Christian, that what has been promised is delayed; although the promise lies hidden, let prayer nevertheless persevere in hope. Exercise yourself in works, grow in virtues. While my constancy is being tested, the glory of the reward is increased.

XCIV. On the times of the wicked.

All the time of evils is short. For what is so brief as that which hastens to the end that it may not be?

XCV. On the increase of charity.

The capacity of charity always grows, while by use it becomes greater and by generosity it becomes richer.

XCVI. On the destruction of evils.

The impiety of the wicked must perish, either by its own judgment or by the sentence of God. For no iniquity remains to which either correction or condemnation puts an end.

XCVII. On how one adheres to God.

He who adheres to God and always does His will is never forsaken by his indweller; and if he suffers certain harsh and adverse things, he is not abandoned but tested.

XCVIII. On justice.

The whole principle of justice is that evils be shunned and goods be done; the form of this observance must be preserved amid whatever adversities, because that alone is never lost which is spent on the work of piety.

XCIX. On endurance.

Present evils are to be endured until the promised blessedness comes. Unbelievers are to be borne by the faithful, and the uprooting of the tares from among the wheat is to be deferred. However much the impious rage, even in this time the cause of the just is better, for the more sharply they are assailed, the more gloriously they are crowned (Aug. serm. in ps. XXXVI, n. 17).

C. What the cry to God is.

The cry to God is the intent of the heart and the fervor of love, because that is always asked for which is always desired. But this is not hidden from God, since what proceeded from him returns to him.

CI. On confessing sin.

The confession of sin is good if healing follows. For what does it profit to uncover the wound and not apply the medicine?

CII. On perfection.

In this life, which is wholly a trial, even in the most exalted saints that perfection is not attained which has no ascent still remaining to it.

CIII. On the labors of the present life.

While the course of the present life is being run, even if one makes great progress, while the outer man is corrupted and the inner is renewed, it is nonetheless necessary that, as long as one is subject to the condition of death, one endure the labors of the old nature.

CIV. That man, who is the image of God, is now subject to vanity.

Indeed man is the image of God; and he who walks through the ways of justice also tends toward the likeness of his own Author; and yet, while he lives in this life, he incurs the disturbances of vanity (Aug. ibid., n. 11).

CV. On divine instruction.

The first grace of the divine gift is that it instructs us to the confession of our own humility, and makes us acknowledge that, if we do any good, we can do it through him without whom we can do nothing (Aug. ibid., n. 18).

CVI. That the whole life of unbelievers is sin.

The whole life of unbelievers is sin, and nothing is good without the highest good. For where the acknowledgment of eternal and unchangeable truth is lacking, there is false virtue, even in the best morals.

CVII. On the spiritual foundation.

Just as the foundation of a bodily structure is at the bottom, so the foundation of a spiritual structure is at the top. Earthly building begins from the earth; heavenly construction grows from a supernal beginning.

CVIII. That recollection or forgetfulness does not fall upon God.

God is said to remember when he acts; to forget when he does not act. For neither does forgetfulness fall upon God, because he is in no way changed; nor recollection, because he forgets nothing (Aug. enar. in ps. LXXXVII. n.5).

CIX. Who see the miracles of God.

Those see the miracles of God to whom they are of benefit. For what is not understood, or from which no profit comes, is not seen (Aug. ibid., n. 10).

CX. On joining mercy and truth.

Let not truth take away mercy, nor mercy hinder truth. For if you judge for mercy against truth, or as if by rigid truth forget mercy, you will not walk in the way of the Lord, in which mercy and truth have met together (Aug. serm. in ps. LXXXVIII, n. 25).

CXI. On the temptation and imitation of Christ.

The temptation of Christ is the instruction of the Christian. For disciples ought to be imitators of their master, not in working miracles, which no one demands; but in keeping humility and patience, to which the Lord invited us by his example (Aug. serm. i in ps. XC).

CXII. On covetousness and charity.

Just as covetousness is the root of all evils, so charity is the root of all goods (Aug., ibid., n. 8).

CXIII. On the joy of a Christian.

For a Christian the cause of right rejoicing is not the present age but the future: and temporal things must be so used that they do not harm eternal things; so that on the way by which pilgrims walk, that which leads to the fatherland may be pleasing.

CXIV. On the Sabbath.

He celebrates the Sabbath badly who is free from good works. But leisure from iniquity ought to be perpetual, because a good conscience makes one not restless but tranquil (Aug., enarr. in ps. XCI, n. 2).

From V. That good should be done with joy. When you do good, do it cheerfully. For if you do something good sadly, it happens from you rather than you do it (Aug., enarr. in ps. XCI, n. 5).

From VI. That not men but the perversity of men is to be shunned.

If good people do not pass over into the ways of the wicked, even among those who live together there is a great division. Therefore not men, who can be corrected by the example of better people, but the iniquity of men is to be shunned.

CXVII. That sins are to be avoided not out of fear of punishment, but out of love of justice.

God approves that innocence in which a man becomes innocent not from fear of punishment, but from love of justice. For he who does not sin out of fear, though he does no harm to the one he wishes to harm, nevertheless harms himself most of all; and though he abstains from the wicked deed, he is nonetheless guilty in will alone (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. XCIII, II. 1).

CXVIII. On humble confession and the proud boasting of one who vaunts himself.

Better is confession in evil deeds than proud glorying in good ones (Aug., ibid., n. 15).

CXIX. That the malice of the wicked profits the good.

By the malice of the wicked the good man is scourged; and by the servant the son is corrected (Aug., ibid., n. 25).

CXX. On the perseverance of the faithful.

As night does not extinguish the stars of heaven, so worldly iniquity does not obscure the minds of the faithful, who cleave to the firmament of Holy Scripture (Zephyrinus, ep.; Aug., Enarr. in Ps. XCIII, n. 29).

CXXI. On man's own faculty.

To sin, one has abundant ability from his own resources; but to do good he is not sufficient for himself, unless he is justified by him who alone is just.

CXXII. On contrary habits.

It is a great labor for the good to tolerate contrary habits; he who is not offended by them profits little. For the iniquity of another torments the just man to the extent that he recedes from his own.

CXXIII. How one draws near to God, or recedes from God.

One does not draw near to God or recede from him by intervals of places; but likeness makes one near, unlikeness makes one far off. And it is extreme misery to be far from that good which is everywhere.

CXXIV. On true freedom.

Service is always free in the sight of God, to which not necessity but charity is subject.

CXXV. On tolerance.

He who for this reason wishes to tolerate no man, because he profits much, as he thinks; by this very fact that he does not tolerate others, he shows that he rather does not profit.

CXXVI. Whence our good comes.

The whole good that we have, we have from our Maker. But if what is in us is what we ourselves have made, we shall be condemned on that account; if, however, it is what God has made, we shall be crowned on that account.

CXXVII. On the Incarnation of the Word.

The Word of God, through whom all things were made, preordained the time at which he would take up flesh; he did not submit to time so as to be turned into flesh. For man came near to God, not God withdrew from himself.

CXXVIII. On faith and understanding.

Faith opens the way to understanding; faithlessness closes it.

CXXIX. On pride.

By the vice by which man was first overcome, by this he conquers last. For when he has overcome all sins, the danger remains that the mind, conscious of its good, may glory in itself rather than in the Lord.

CXXX. On the perfection of desires.

The end of cares is the perfection of desires; and each person strives and presses toward that end, that he may arrive at that in which he delights. It belongs to the wise man, therefore, to desire this, which makes him good, not to love that which deceives.

CXXXI. On the two gifts of grace.

Just as there are two offices of medicine, one by which infirmity is healed, the other by which health is preserved, so there are two gifts of grace, one which takes away the lust of the flesh, the other which makes the virtue of the soul persevere (Aug. ibid., n. 10).

CXXXII. On the end of labor.

A man's labor cannot be ended unless he loves that which cannot be taken from him (Aug. ibid., n. 16).

CXXXIII. On the injury of iniquity.

It is impossible that iniquity should first injure the just man against whom it is directed, rather than the unjust heart from which it proceeds (Aug. ibid., n. 17).

CXXXIV. On miracles visible and invisible.

A visible miracle calls to illumination; but an invisible one illuminates him who, having been called, has come. Therefore he recounts all the wonderful works of God who, believing the visible things, has made a transition to understanding the invisible things (Aug. enar. in ps. ix, n. 2).

CXXXV. On those who flee the devil.

The cause of those who flee the pursuing devil is better than that of those who follow him as he goes before, because it is more profitable to have him as an enemy than as a leader.

CXXXVI. On depraved desires.

All depraved desires are the gates of hell, through which one goes to death; he submits to its dominion who rejoices that he has obtained what he desired, to enjoy it through sin.

CXXXVII. On flattery.

The tongues of flatterers bind souls in sins; for it delights them to do those things in which not only is no reprover feared, but even a praiser is heard.

CXXXVIII. On a mind with an evil conscience.

A mind with an evil conscience, while it seems to itself to suffer no punishment, believes that God does not judge, since to abuse the patience of God and not to understand the kindness of one who spares is already a great condemnation.

CXXXIX. That nature is prior to vice.

in a creature that sins by its own will, nature is prior to vice, which is so contrary to nature that it cannot but harm nature. And so it would not be a vice to withdraw from God, unless it belonged to the nature whose vice this is that it be able to be with God.

CXL. On evil angels and men.

God would not create any angel or man whom he foreknew would be evil, unless he likewise knew for what good uses he would turn them to account, and so adorn the order of the ages, like a most beautiful song, even with certain antitheses.

CXLI. On the condition of the creature.

Three things above all ought to have been made known to us concerning the condition of the creature: who made it, by what means he made it, and why he made it. God said, it says, Let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light that it was good. If, then, we ask who made it: it is God. If by what means he made it: he spoke, and it was made. If why he made it: because it is good. Nor is there any author more excellent than God, nor any art more efficacious than the word of God, nor any cause better than that a good thing should be created by one who is good.

CXLII. On good and evil love.

There is a love by which is loved even what ought not to be loved; and the one who loves what ought to be loved hates this love in himself. For both can be in one man, and it is good for man that, as that love by which we live well increases, this love by which we live badly may decrease, until he is healed to perfection and all that we live is changed into good.

CXLIII. On the good of the creature.

The good of a rational or intellectual creature, by which it is blessed, is none other than God: which it does not have from itself, because it was created from nothing, but from him by whom it was created. For having attained this, it is made blessed; having lost it, it is made miserable.

CXLIV. On the vice of nature.

Vice can exist neither in the highest good nor except in some good. Therefore only good things can exist somewhere, but only evil things nowhere. For even those natures which have been corrupted from the beginning of an evil will, insofar as they are vicious, are evil; but insofar as they are natures, they are good.

CXLV. That there is in God neither slothful inactivity nor laborious industry.

It is not lawful to believe that God is affected in one way when He is at rest and in another way when He works, since He is not even to be said to be affected, as though something were coming to be in His nature that was not there before. For whatever is affected suffers, and everything that suffers is mutable. Therefore in God let neither slothful inactivity nor laborious industry be conceived, because He knows how both to act while at rest and to rest while acting; and whatever in His works is either earlier or later must be referred not to His making but to the things made. For His will is eternal and immutable, nor is it varied by alternating counsel; in it there is at once whatever in the creating or ordering of things either precedes or follows (Aug., ibid., c. 17).

CLVI. That God alone is the creator.

It is not lawful for anyone to believe or to say that any nature, however small, has a creator other than God. For even if angels, commanded or permitted, apply their operation to the things that are begotten in the world, they are no more creators of animals than farmers are creators of crops and trees (Aug., ibid., c. 24).

CXLVII. On the first and second death of the body. Of the first death of the body it may be said that it is good for the good and evil for the evil. But the second death, without doubt, as it is the portion of no good persons, so is it good for no one (Augustine, City of God, Book XIII, ch. 2).

CXLVIII. On the death of the pious.

The death even of the pious is the penalty of sin. But it is therefore called good for them, because they use it well, since it is the end of temporal evils and a passage to eternal life. For just as injustice makes evil use not only of evils but also of goods, so also justice makes good use not only of goods but also of evils (Augustine, ibid., ch. 5).

CXLIX. On martyrs not baptized.

Those who die for the confession of Christ even without having received the washing of regeneration—it avails them for the abolishing of sins as much as if they were washed in the font of baptism (Augustine, ibid., ch. 7).

CL. That one must live not according to man but according to God.

CXLVIII. When a man lives according to himself, not according to God, he is like the devil, because the angel too ought to have lived not according to himself but according to God, so that he might stand in the truth and speak the truth from God, not a lie from himself. Hence it is not without reason that every sin is said to be a lie, since one does not sin except by that will which is contrary to the truth, that is, to God (Aug., City of God, Book XIV, ch. 4).

CXLIX. On the diversity of human affection.

The diversity of human affection arises from the diversity of the will: if the will is depraved, the affection will be restless through perverse habits; but if it is upright, the affection of man will be not only not blameworthy but even praiseworthy (Aug., ibid., ch. 6).

CL. On the true freedom of the will.

The choice of the will is then truly free when it does not serve vices and sins. Such a gift was given by God, and once lost it cannot be restored except by him by whom it could be given. Hence the Truth says, If the Son has set you free, then you will be truly free (Aug., ibid., ch. 11).

CLIII. That the heart is to be held toward God.

It is good to have the heart on high, yet not toward oneself, which is [the mark] of pride, but toward God, which is [the mark] of obedience. But by desiring more he is less, who, while he trusts that he is sufficient for himself, falls short of him who truly is sufficient for him (Aug., ibid., ch. 13).

CLIV. On the blessed life.

If the blessed life is not loved, it is not possessed. Further, if it is loved, it is also possessed; and it must of necessity be loved more excellently than all other things, since for the sake of loving it, whatever else is to be loved is to be loved. But since no one can be blessed except the one who loves it as it is worthy, it follows that he wishes it to be eternal; and it will then truly be blessed when it has no end (Aug., ibid., ch. 25).

CLV. That no one becomes good except from evil.

Not all the evil, indeed, advance to this, that they be good; yet no one is good except from evil (Aug., bk. XV of The City of God, ch. 1).

CLVI. On the citizens of the earthly city and the heavenly. The earthly city gives birth to citizens from a nature corrupted by sin, who are vessels of wrath. But the heavenly fatherland gives birth to citizens by grace, freeing nature from sin, who are vessels of mercy (Aug., ibid., ch. 2).

CLVII. On the wrath of God.

The wrath of God is not a disturbance of his mind, but the judgment by which punishment is inflicted on sin. But his thought and reconsideration of things to be changed is his unchangeable reason. For God does not, as a man does, repent of any deed of his (1 Samuel 15:29), since his decision concerning all things whatsoever is as fixed as his foreknowledge is certain (Augustine, ibid., ch. 100).

CLVIII. On those who persecute the Church.

The enemies of the Church, blinded by whatever error or depraved by malice, if they receive the power to afflict her bodily, exercise her patience; if they oppose her only by thinking wrongly, they exercise her wisdom; and so that even enemies may be loved, they exercise her benevolence: because God works all things together for good for those who love him (Augustine, City of God XVIII, ch. 1).

CLIX. On the end of good and evil.

The end of good is not that by which it is consumed so as not to exist, but that by which it is perfected so as to be full. And the end of evil is not that by which it ceases to be, but that to which it leads by harming. Hence one is the highest good, and another the highest evil; the former is that for the sake of which other goods are to be desired, while it is desired for its own sake; the latter is that for the sake of which other evils are to be avoided, while it is avoided for its own sake (Augustine, City of God XVI, ch. 11).

CLX. i On nature.

There is a nature in which there is no evil, or in which no evil can exist. But a nature in which there is no good cannot exist (Aug., ibid., c. 13).

CLXI. On equanimity of mind.

Equanimity of mind is better than health of body; and it is more fitting that the unjust man grieve in punishment than that he rejoiced in sin (Aug., ibid.).

CLXII. On the precept of charity.

In the precept of charity a man finds three things to love: God, himself, and his neighbor. And because he does not err in love of himself who loves God, it follows that he should counsel his neighbor to love God, whom he is commanded to love as himself (Aug., ibid., c. 14).

CLXIII. On concord and obedience.

Domestic peace is the ordered concord of those dwelling together in commanding and obeying. For those command who take counsel; as a husband for his wife, parents for their children, masters for their servants. And those obey who are counseled; as wives their husbands, children their parents, servants their masters. But in the house of a just man living by faith, and still a stranger to that city, even those who command serve those whom they seem to command. Because they command not from a desire to dominate, but from the duty of counseling; nor from pride in ruling, but from the beneficence of providing (Aug., ibid.).

CLXIV. On the condition of slavery.

The name and condition of slavery were brought forth by fault, not by nature; and the first cause of this subjection is sin; for as it is written: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Hence better is the status of him who serves a man than of him who is enslaved to his own desire (Aug., ibid., c. 15).

CLXV. On those in authority.

True heads of households consult the good of their subjects, as of sons, for the worship and appeasement of God, desiring to come to the heavenly home, where the office of ruling is not necessary: until one comes there, fathers ought more to bear what they dominate than servants to endure what they serve (Aug., ibid., c. 16).

CLXVI. On the governance of a people.

A higher place, without which a people cannot be governed, even if it is to be held and administered as is fitting, is nevertheless indecently sought after. Hence let the love of truth seek holy leisure, and let the necessity of love undertake just business (Aug., l. xvi of the City [of God], c. 19).

CLXVII. On the life of the soul.

Just as it is not from the flesh but above the flesh that which makes it live, so it is not from the soul but above the soul that which makes it live blessedly; for as the soul is the life of the body, so God is the blessed life of man (Aug. ibid., c. 25).

CLXVIII. On the righteousness of men.

Our righteousness, although it be true, because of the true end of the good to which it is referred, is nevertheless so great in this life that it consists rather in the remission of sins than in the perfection of virtues (Aug. ibid., c. ).

CLXIX. On full peace.

As long as we fight against vices, full peace is not [ours], because those things which resist are battled in perilous warfare; and those things which have been conquered are not yet triumphed over in secure ease, but are still pressed down under anxious rule (Aug. ibid.).

CLXX. On the first and second death.

The first death drives the unwilling soul from the body; the second death holds the unwilling soul in the body. From both deaths this is held in common, that what the soul does not will, it suffers from its own body (Aug. l. XXI of the City of God, c. 3).

CLXXI. On the unknown causes of God's works.

Even in the unknown causes of divine works we know something, since we know that the Almighty does nothing without reason, though the weak human mind cannot give the reason (Aug., ibid., ch. 5).

CLXXII. On false confidence.

In vain does a man promise himself after this body what he neglected to obtain in this body (Aug., Enchir., ch. 110).

CLXXIII. That it profits a man nothing if he does good unwillingly.

No one does good unwillingly, even if the good he does is good, because nothing profits the spirit of fear, where there is not the spirit of love (Aug., Confessions, Book I, ch. 12).

CLXXIV [otherwise CLXXIII]. On obedience.

Just as in the powers of human society a greater power is set before a lesser for obedience, so God is set before all (Aug., Confessions, Book III, ch. 28).

CLXXV. On true love.

Blessed is he who loves God, and a friend in God, and an enemy for God's sake. For he alone loses no one dear to him, to whom all are dear in him who is never lost by one who does not forsake him (Aug., Confessions, Book VI, ch. 9).

CLXXVI.1 On things not to be corrupted.

It is manifest that the things which are corrupted are good; for if they were supremely good, they could not be corrupted, since if they were supremely good they would be incorruptible; but if they were not good at all, there would be nothing in them to be corrupted (Aug. Confessions VII, c. 12).

CLXXVII. That God made all creatures good.

Since God, who is unchangeably good, made all creatures good, and no nature at all exists except that which was created by Him, there is no substance of evil; for what does not have God as its author does not exist. And so the defect of corruption is nothing other than the disordered desire or action of the will (Aug. ibid.).

CLXXVIII [otherwise CLXXVII]. That justice is hateful to the wicked.

As to an unhealthy palate the food that is sweet to a healthy one is a punishment, and to sick eyes the light is hateful in which a sound gaze rejoices, so the justice of God displeases the wicked; and if they subjected themselves to it, they would not be troubled (Aug. ibid., c. ).

CLXXIX. On the sickness of the soul.

The sickness of the rational soul is when, delighting in lower goods, it desires higher things in part and in part does not desire them. And therefore it is divided into two wills; and when it is one, it is not whole: and what is present to one is lacking to the other (Aug. Confessions VIII, ch. 9).

CLXXX. On the man who is kind.

For a kind man it ought to be too little not to stir up or increase the enmities of others by speaking ill; unless he has also striven to extinguish them by speaking well (Aug. Confessions IX, ch. 9; Caelestinus, epistle 1).

CLXXXI. On the truth that is hateful.

The blessed life is joy in the truth, which is God; but to many the truth is hateful, which they are unwilling to hear when it teaches; and, unwilling to be deceived, they wish their lies to seem the truth. To whom it is justly repaid that they themselves do not lie hidden from the truth, but the truth lies hidden from them (Aug. Confessions, ch. 23).

CLXXXII. On tolerance.

No one loves what he endures, even if he loves to endure it; for strong patience is one thing, and secure felicity is another; nor do the toil of battle and the blessedness of victory belong to the same time.

CLXXXIII. On the poverty of human understanding.

Therefore the poverty of human understanding is often abundant in speech, because inquiry speaks more than discovery; and petition is longer than obtaining.

CLXXXIV. On the true eternity of God.

The true eternity of God is that he alone has immortality, since he is changed by no appearance or motion, nor is he of a temporal will. For that will is not immortal which is now one thing and now another.

CLXXXV. That sinners are not to be despaired of.

We must not despair of the wicked, but on their behalf, that they may become good, we must pray the more earnestly, because the number of the saints has always been increased from the number of the ungodly.

CLXXXVI [otherwise CLXXXV]. How peace is to be sought from God.

Let the one who seeks peace from God be at peace with himself, so that one thing is not in the profession of his mouth and another in the secret of his heart. For it profits nothing that what is true be in the heart while with the voice is said what is false, because truth is both to be believed and to be spoken (Aug. ibid., n. 16). CLXXXVII.1 That one who is justly scourged should not grieve. Let a man not complain when in the things he justly possesses he suffers some adversities; for through the bitterness of lower things he is taught to love better things, lest the traveler hastening to his homeland love the stable as if it were his home (Aug. enar. in ps. XL, n. 5).

CLXXXVIII. That the sinner should be displeasing to himself.

He runs well toward the remission of sins who is displeasing to himself. For before a judge who is just and merciful, the one who accuses himself excuses himself (Aug. enar. in ps. XLI, n. 12).

CLXXXIX. On seeking defenses in peace.

In the tranquility of peace the teaching of wisdom is to be grasped, which amid the whirlwinds of tribulations is with difficulty recognized. Nor are defenses easily found in adversity which were not sought in peace (Aug. ibid., n. 16).

CXC. On the twofold altar of God.

He reaches the invisible altar of God, to which the unjust does not draw near, who draws near to it justified in this present life. For there he will find his life, who here has discerned his cause (Aug. enar. in ps. XLII, n. 5).

CXCI. On the end of the Law.

The end of the Law is Christ, in whom the law of justice is not consumed but fulfilled. For every perfection is in him, beyond whom there is nothing to which the hope of faith and charity may extend itself (Aug. enar. in ps. XLV, n. 1).

CXCII. On the punishment of a bad conscience.

No punishments are graver than those of a bad conscience: in which, since God is not held, no consolation is found: and therefore the liberator must be invoked, so that the one whom tribulation has exercised unto confession, confession may lead unto pardon (Aug. ibid., n. 2).

CXCIII. On the true remission of sins.

What sin of the sick man is graver than the killing of the physician? But when this is forgiven in baptism, what is not forgiven (Aug. ibid., n. 4)?

CXCIV. On the one who ruminates the word of God.

The hearer of the word ought to be like the animals which are called clean for this reason, that they ruminate: so that he not be sluggish in thinking over what he has received in the belly of the heart; and when he hears, let him be like one eating; but when he recalls what he has heard into memory, let him be like one ruminating.

CXCV. On the dominion of the soul.

The rational soul is the mistress of its own body; and it will not rule well over what is lower unless it has served God, who is higher, with the whole submission of charity.

CXCVI. On the mercy of God.

As the earth awaits rain and light from heaven, so man ought to await mercy and truth from God.

CXCVII. On the discernment of the good and the evil.

The good children of the Church are to rejoice that divine justice is not deceived in its discernment of them. But let them not rashly divide those who are gathered together: for it is theirs to will to gather, but the Lord's to separate.

CXCVIII. On earthly love.

He is master of the things he has who is entangled by no desire. For he who is bound by the love of earthly things does not possess, but is possessed (Aug. enar. in ps. XLVIII, ser. 1, n. 1).

CXCIX. On the eternal inheritance.

The inheritance in which we are co-heirs with Christ is not diminished by the multitude of sons, nor made narrower by the number of co-heirs: but it is as great for many as for few; as great for individuals as for all (Aug. enar. in ps. XLIX, n. 2).

CC [Otherwise CXCIX]. On happiness.

Happiness ought never to be secure; because prosperity is more dangerous to the mind than adversity is to the body; for prosperous things corrupt first, so that they may find adverse things to break (Aug. enar. in ps. L, n. 4).

CCI. On the remedies of penitence.

The first health is to turn away from sin; the second is not to despair of pardon. For he destroys himself forever who does not have recourse to the remedies of penitence before the merciful judge (Aug. ibid., n. 5).

CCII. On the good things of the saints, which are hidden. The good are hidden because their good is in secret; for what they love is neither visible nor corporeal, and their merits are established in concealment just as their rewards are (Aug. enar. in ps. LIII, a. 3).

CCIII. On the enemies of the good.

No one of the good has an enemy except evil: which is permitted to exist so that it may either be corrected, or that through it the good man may be exercised. Therefore prayer must be made for enemies, that either their conversion may be obtained, or that in us an imitation of the divine goodness may be found (Aug. enar. in ps. LIV, n. 4, and Cælestin. I, ep. 1).

CCIV. P On the vigor of the Christian faith.

The vigor of the Christian faith is initiated at three times: evening, morning, and midday. For in the evening the Lord was on the cross, in the morning in the resurrection, at midday in the ascension. The one pertains to the patience of the slain, another to the life of the resurrected, the third to the glory of majesty seated at the Father's right hand (Aug. ibid., n. 18).

CCV. On the cleansing of the elect.

For this purpose men are harassed by tribulations, that the vessels of election may be emptied of wickedness and filled with grace (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LV, n. 13).

CCVI. On the good things which no one loses against his will.

A man can lose temporal goods against his will; but he never loses eternal goods except by willing it (Aug., ibid., n. 19).

CCVII. On the end of the faithful.

The end of the faithful is Christ: when the intention of the one who runs has reached him, it has nothing further that it can find, but it has that in which it ought to remain (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LVI, n. 2).

CCVIII. On sorrow.

Better is the sorrow of one who suffers iniquity than the joy of one who does iniquity (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LVI, n. 14).

CCIX. On past sins.

The mind must be recalled from remembering past sins with a certain delight, lest, with concupiscence creeping in, we return in heart to Egypt (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LVII, n. 10).

CCX [Alis. CCIX]. On truth.

It is good to be conquered by the truth. Let truth prevail over the willing for their correction; for it will prevail even over the unwilling (Aug., ibid., n. 20).

CCXI. On the impunity of sins.

Sins, whether small or great, cannot be unpunished, because they are either chastised by the light of repentance or punished by God as avenger. But divine vengeance ceases if human conversion comes first. For God loves to spare those who confess; and those who judge themselves, He does not judge (Aug., in Ps. LVIII, serm. 1, n. 13).

CCXII. On the prevenient mercy of God.

No wretched person is freed from any misery whatever except the one who is prevented by God's mercy (Aug., in Ps. LVIII, serm. 2, n. 11; can. conc. Arausic. n).

CCXIII. On the effect of supplication.

One who faithfully supplicates God for the necessities of this life is both mercifully heard and mercifully not heard. For the physician knows better than the sick man what is useful for the weak. But if you ask for what God both commands and promises, what you ask will certainly be done; because charity receives what truth prepares (Aug., enar. in Ps. LII, n. 7).

CCXI. On the progress of the good through temptations.

The progress of the faithful does not come about without temptation; nor does anyone become known to himself except through the test of trial; nor will anyone be crowned except he who has conquered; nor will he conquer except he who has striven. But who strives, unless he has an enemy and resists temptation (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LIX, n. 2)?

CCXV. On the fulfillment of the prophecies.

Foolish is he who does not believe the declarations of the prophets in the few things that remain, when he sees so many things fulfilled which did not exist at the time when they were foretold to be fulfilled (Aug., Enarr. in Ps. LXII, n. 1).

CCXVI. On idols.

Those who worship idols are like those who see vain things in dreams. But if their soul awakens, it understands by whom it was made, and does not worship what it has itself made (Aug., ibid., n. 4).

CCXVII. On human bodies.

All the parts of our body, whether torn apart, or rotted, or even burned to ashes, cannot perish to God. For they pass into those elements of the world from which they were taken by the hand that holds all things (Aug., ibid., n. 6).

CCXVIII. On good thirst.

Those who thirst for God ought to thirst with their whole substance, that is, both in soul and in body, because God gives His bread to the soul, that is, the word of truth, and God provides what is necessary for the body, since He feeds both, who made both.

CCXIX. On the meditation of the faithful in leisure and in action.

He who, being at leisure and at rest, does not think of God, how will he be able to think of Him amid many activities and laborious affairs? Let the faithful therefore meditate on the things that are God's when he has leisure, and let him seek the substance of doing good, lest he fail in action.

CCXX. On the evil of pretense.

Feigned innocence is not innocence; feigned righteousness is not righteousness; but the sin is doubled, in which there is both iniquity and pretense.

CCXXI. The punishment of the soul that abandons righteousness.

The soul that withdraws from the light of righteousness, the more it seeks what it may find against righteousness, the more is it driven back from the light of truth, and is plunged into darkness.

CCXXII. On the two cities.

Two loves make two cities in the whole world: the love of God makes Jerusalem; the love of the world makes Babylon. Let each one therefore ask himself what he loves, and he will find of which city he is a citizen.

CCXXIII [Others CCXXII]. That the commandment of God is light to one who loves.

Every commandment of God is light to one who loves: nor is it understood that it was said for any other reason, My burden is light, except that He gives the Holy Spirit, through whom charity is poured into our hearts, so that by loving we may do freely what he who does it out of fear does servilely: nor is he a friend of the right, when he would prefer, if it could be done, that what is right had not been commanded.

CCXXIV. On charity.

The fullness of the law is charity: because through charity the law is fulfilled, not through fear. For the commandments of justice are fulfilled to the extent that the spirit of grace assists.

CCXXV. On good works.

Works are not good unless they are done through faith and love, because the one without the other brings forth no fruit of any virtue (Aug. ibid., n. 41; and On the Grace of Christ, ch. 26).

CCXXVI. On the fall of Adam and the conversion of the faithful.

From what God formed him, Adam was changed, but for the worse, through his own iniquity; from what iniquity wrought, the faithful are changed, but for the better, through the grace of God. That change, then, was the first transgressor's; this change is the right hand of the Most High (Aug. on Ps. LXVIII, sermon 1, n. 2; and the canon of the Council of Orange II).

CCXXVII. On temporal delights and punishments.

In the present life both temporal delights are sweet and temporal tribulations are bitter; but who does not drink the cup of tribulation, fearing the fire of hell? And who does not despise the sweetness of the world, longing for the goods of eternal life (Aug. on Ps. LXVIII, sermon n. 3)?

CCXXVIII. On the Trinity.

In the divine Trinity the unity of substance is so great that it holds equality and does not admit plurality (Aug. ibid., n. 5).

CCXXIX. That there is no nature of evil.

All things were made through the Word, and without him was made nothing (John 1:5). Since, therefore, all natures were made through the Word of God, iniquity was not made through him, because iniquity is no substance; and sin is not a nature, but a defect of nature, desiring what is not of its own order (Aug. ibid.).

CCXXX. What has been taken away from the devil.

What has been taken away from the devil is what he held bound by his own iniquity—not what was properly his own, but what he had seized from another. For in taking away the things that had perished from his great house, Christ did not commit theft, but recovered what had been stolen (Aug. ibid., n. 9).

CCXXXI (otherwise CCXXIX). On the depth of iniquity.

Then the depth of iniquity closes in upon a man, when he not only lies submerged in sins, but even, wishing to defend them, loses the way of confession (Aug. on Ps. 68, sermon 2, n. 1).

CCXXXII. That God is merciful in tribulations.

When God permits or brings it about that we are vexed by some tribulation, even then He is merciful: because by stirring up faith and delaying help, He does not deny aid, but rather awakens desire (Aug. ibid.).

CCXXXIII. On rich Christians.

Rich Christians, if they are true Christians, are utterly poor; and in comparison with the heavenly goods they hope for, they reckon all their gold as sand, because each person has his riches there where he has his delight (Aug. ibid., n. 14).

CCXXXIV. On the faith of Abraham.

The faith of Abraham is the seed of Abraham. Accordingly, those who belong to the likeness of his believing belong to the promise of the heirs (Aug. ibid., n. 21).

CCXXXV. On perseverance in good.

Let no one of the faithful, however much he has advanced, say, "It is enough for me." For whoever has said this has remained behind and stuck fast on the way before the end; for he will not persevere to the end (Aug. enar. in ps. LXIX, n. 8).

CCXXXVI. That every place is in God.

There is no place in God, nor is there anywhere to flee from Him except to Him. Whoever wishes to escape the offended God, let him flee for refuge to the appeased God (Augustine, On Psalm 70, Sermon 1, no. 5).

CCXXXVII. P On the two lives.

There are two lives: one is of the body, the other of the soul. As the life of the body is the soul, so the life of the soul is God; and just as, if the soul departs, the body dies, so the soul dies if God departs (Augustine, On Psalm 70, Sermon 1, no. 3).

CCXXXVIII. From whom it is well with man.

From Him by whom man has it that he exists, he has it that it is well with him (Augustine, ibid., no. 6).

CCXXXIX. On obedience.

God showed perfectly and clearly how great a good obedience is, when He forbade the man placed in paradise from that thing which was not evil. There obedience alone could hold the palm; disobedience alone fell into punishment (Augustine, ibid., no. 7).

CCXL. On the instruction of the good through the wicked.

Sometimes God instructs the good through the wicked, and through the temporal power of those who are to be condemned He exercises discipline over those who are to be set free (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXIII, n. 8).

CCXLI. On confession.

Before the mercy of God the confession of the penitent avails very much; by confessing, the sinner makes Him favorable, whom by denying he does not make ignorant (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXIV, n. 3).

CCXLII. That one should not glory in knowledge.

It is the virtue of the humble not to glory in knowledge, because it is common to all; like the use of light, so is the participation of truth (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXV, n. 17).

CCXLIII. How bodies are to be ruled.

He does not lack kingly power who knows how to command his own body rationally. He is truly a master of the earth who rules his own flesh by the laws of discipline (Augustine, ibid., n. 18).

CCXLIV. On the one who fears punishment and the one who loves justice.

As far as the works that are done outwardly are concerned, both the one who fears punishment and the one who loves justice do not act contrary to the commandment; and therefore they are equal in hand, but different in heart; similar in action, dissimilar in will (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXVII, n. 11).

CCXLV. What is worshiped.

A person worships what he loves. Therefore, since God is found to be greater and better than all things, He is to be loved above all things, so that He may be worshiped (Augustine, ibid., n. 20).

CCXLVI. On the upright heart.

The heart is upright with God when God is sought for God's sake (Augustine, ibid., n. 21).

CCXLVII. On the goodwill of the righteous toward the wicked.

It is from goodwill, not from malice, that the righteous man rejoices when vengeance has fallen upon the wicked, because the destruction of the sinner does not please him—for he wished him to be corrected—but the justice of God, by which He knows that many can be converted (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXVIII, n. 14).

CCXLVIII. On the pretense of peace with an enemy.

He does not overcome evil with good who is good on the surface and evil within, sparing in deed, raging in heart, gentle in hand, cruel in will (Augustine, ibid.).

CCXLIX. On love and fear.

Love and the fear of God lead to every good work; love and the fear of the world lead to every sin. Therefore, in order to grasp the good and turn away from evil, one must discern what ought both to be loved and to be feared (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXIX, n. 13).

CCL. That misfortune does not break him.

No misfortune breaks the man whom no prosperity corrupts (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXXIII, n. 3).

CCLI. How the rich man is poor for God.

The man who is rich in such a way that he despises in himself whatever it is that usually puffs him up with pride is poor for God (Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos LXXXV, n. 3).

CCLII. On the steps of piety.

The steps of ascent to God are the affections of piety. Your path is your will; by loving you draw near, by neglecting you withdraw; set on earth, you are joined to God if you love the things that are dear to God (Augustine, ibid., n. 6).

CCLIII [otherwise CCLII]. On petitions contrary to God.

When something is asked for wickedly, God is angered by giving and shows mercy by not giving (Augustine, ibid., n. 8 and 9).

CCLIV. On lying.

It is incredible that a man does not lie so as not to be deceived, when he lies in order to deceive (Augustine, De Mendacio, ch. 4).

CCLV. Likewise on lying.

Although everyone who lies wishes to conceal what is true, not everyone who wishes to conceal the truth lies. For often we conceal true things not by deceiving but by keeping silent. Nor did the Lord lie when He said (John 16:12), "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (Augustine, ibid., ch. 10).

CCLVI. Concerning the first and the second man.

In the first man it became clear what man's free will could do toward death; in the second, however, what God's help could do toward life. For the first man was nothing but man; the second man, however, is God and man. Sin, therefore, was committed by forsaking God; righteousness is not accomplished without God (Augustine, epistle to Dardanus, ch. 9, n. 30).

CCLVII. Concerning the letter of the law.

The letter of the law, which teaches that one must not sin, kills if the life-giving Spirit is absent. For it makes one know sin rather than guard against it; and therefore it is increased rather than diminished, because to evil desires there is added even the transgression of the law (Augustine, book On the Spirit and the Letter, ch. 5).

CCLVIII. On the commandment of God and fear.

If the commandment of God is kept out of fear of punishment, not out of love of justice, it is kept in a servile manner, not a free one; and therefore it is not kept at all. For that is not good fruit which does not proceed from the root of charity (Aug., ibid., ch. 14).

CCLIX. That the law of God is according to nature.

The law of God is according to nature, and when men do the things that are of the law, they do them naturally, once vice has been overcome—vice which the aid of the law had not removed. Therefore, when through grace the law of God is written in their hearts (Rom 2:14), the things that are of the law are done naturally; not because grace was preceded by nature, but because nature has been restored by grace (Aug., ibid., ch. 27).

CCLX. On glorying in nothing except in God.

Let no one glory in what he seems to have, as though he had not received it; nor let him think that he has received it because the letter appeared outwardly, either to be read or to sound forth and be heard. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing (1 Cor 4:7; Gal 2:21). But if He did not die for nothing, then, ascending on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Ps 68:19). From that source whoever has, has it. But whoever denies that he has it from that source either does not have it, or what he has will be taken away from him (Aug., ibid., ch. 29; canon of the Council of Orange II).

CCLXI. What man lost through disobedience.

Man had been made immortal; he wished to be God: he did not lose what he was as man, but he lost what he was as immortal; and from the pride of disobedience the penalty of nature was contracted.

CCLXII. On the praise and reward of faith.

The praise of faith is to believe what is not seen: the reward will be to rejoice in the attainment of what has been believed.

CCLXIII. Why the Wisdom of God came to men through the flesh.

Just as milk does not pass except through flesh, so that it may feed the little one who cannot eat bread; so unless the Wisdom of God, which is the bread of angels, deigned to come to men through the flesh, no one could approach to contemplate the divinity of the Word. Therefore, because the light could not be comprehended by the darkness, that very light underwent the mortality of darkness, and through the likeness of sinful flesh gave a participation in the true light.

CCLXIV. On good reputation.

A good odor is a good reputation; whoever has it through the works of a good life, while he follows the footsteps of Christ, as it were pours a precious ointment of fragrant odor upon his feet (Aug., On Christian Doctrine, Book I, ch. 12).

CCLXV. What should rightly be loved.

There is no difficulty in being without a thing, except when there is desire in having it; and therefore that alone is rightly loved which is never well lost (Aug., ibid., ch. 18).

CCLXVI. On the eloquence of the foolish.

Whoever overflows with foolish eloquence is all the more to be avoided, the more the hearer is delighted by him in those things which it is useless to hear, and thinks that the one whom he hears speak ornamented words also speaks truly (Aug., On Christian Doctrine, Book IV, ch. 5).

CCLXVII. On the character of good minds.

The character of good minds is clear: in the words of those who discourse, to love the truth, not the words. For what does a golden key profit, if it cannot open what we wish? Or what harm does a wooden one do, if it can do this? Since we seek nothing except that what is closed be opened (Aug., ibid., ch. 11).

CCLXVIII. On loving and not loving the sinner.

Every sinner, insofar as he is a sinner, is not to be loved; and every man, insofar as he is a man, is to be loved on account of God, but God on account of Himself: from whom all who love Him have both that they are and that they love Him (Aug., On Christian Doctrine, Book I, ch. 27).

CCLXIX. That the first way to God is Christ.

The Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That is, through me one comes, to me one arrives, in me one remains. For when one arrives at Him, one arrives also at the Father, because through the One who is equal to Him, He to whom He is equal is known; the Holy Spirit binding and gluing us together, so that we may remain in the highest and unchangeable good without end (Aug., ibid., ch. 34).

CCLXX. That he who is deceived is better than he who lies.

We find many who wish to deceive, but no one who wishes to be deceived. But when one man does this knowingly and another suffers it unknowingly, it is sufficiently clear that in one and the same matter, he who is deceived is better than he who lies; since indeed it is better to suffer iniquity than to do it (Aug., ibid., ch. 36).

CCLXXI. On the love of eternal or temporal goods.

This is the difference between temporal and eternal things: something temporal is loved more before it is obtained, but becomes worthless once it has come; for it does not satisfy the soul except the true and certain eternity of incorruptible joy. But an eternal thing, once attained, is loved more ardently than it was desired. For no one esteems it more highly than it actually is, so that it should become cheaper because it was hoped for more; but such is the excellence there that charity will obtain far more than either faith believed or hope desired (Aug., ibid., c. 38).

CCLXXII. On spiritual hunger and loathing.

Those who do not find in the Holy Scriptures the truth they seek labor under hunger; but those who do not seek what they have at hand waste away with the sickness of loathing; and the danger of both is equal, since blindness withholds the food of wisdom from the former, and fasting from the latter (Aug., lib. II de Doct. Christ., c. 6).

CCLXXIII. On the labors of the godly.

The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us. Let the world rage and roar, let it clamor with tongues, let it flash with arms: whatever it does, O how great will that be in comparison with what we are to receive? I weigh what I suffer against what I hope for; the one I indeed feel, the other I hope for: and yet what is hoped for is incomparably greater than what is endured. Whatever rages against the name of Christ, if it can be overcome, it is tolerable; if it cannot, it profits by obtaining the reward more quickly, and the end of temporal evil passes over into the receiving of eternal good.

CCLXXIV. On charity.

Since the whole Law and the Prophets hang upon the two commandments of charity, how much more does the Gospel, by which the Law is not destroyed but fulfilled, and of which the Lord says, A new commandment I give you, that you love one another? For charity makes men new; and as malice makes men old, so love makes them new.

CCLXXV. On the scourge of God.

When God corrects the human race and stirs it up with the scourges of a fatherly chastisement, He is exercising discipline before the judgment, and for the most part He loves the one whom He scourges (Prov. 3:12), not wishing to find a man to condemn. But He scourges both the just and the unjust at once, because there is no one who can boast that he has a pure heart or that he is clean from sin (Prov. 20:9). Thus even the crowns of the just come from the grace of His mercy.

CCLXXVI. On the sufferings of the faithful.

The labor of the godly is a training, not a condemnation. Nor ought we to be disturbed when some holy man endures grievous and undeserved things, if we have not forgotten what the Just One of the just and the Holy One of the holy endured; whose passion surpasses all passions, because with the Author of the universe no creature can be compared.

CCLXXVII. On original sin.

The misery of the human race, no summit of which we see free from it from birth even to death, would not belong to the just judgment of the Almighty if there were no original sin.

CCLXXVIII. From On the Providence of God Who Works.

The omnipotence of the all-holding Creator is the cause of subsistence for every creature; and if this power should ever cease from ruling the things it has made, at once the appearance and nature of all things would collapse. Accordingly, what the Lord says, "My Father works even until now," shows a certain continuation of His work, by which He at once holds together and administers all things. In this work His wisdom also persists, of which it is said, "She reaches mightily from end to end, and orders all things sweetly." The Apostle likewise holds this, when, preaching the God to the Athenians, he says, "In Him we live and move and are." For if He should withdraw His work from created things, we could neither live, nor move, nor be. And therefore God must be understood to have rested from all His works in such a way that He would now create no further nature, not in such a way that He ceased to hold together and govern the things He had created (Aug., Book IV of The Literal Meaning of Genesis, ch. 12).

CCLXXIX. On the observance of the sabbath.

With the observance of the sabbath, which was prefigured by the rest of one day, having been taken away, he observes a perpetual sabbath who, in hope of the future rest, is intent upon holy works; nor does he glory in his own good acts as though they were his own, and in things he has not received, knowing that he is working in him who at once works and is at rest (Aug., ibid., c. 13).

CCLXXX. On the rest of God.

The rest of God, for those who understand rightly, is that by which he needs no one's good. And therefore our true rest is also in him, because we are made blessed by the good that he is, not he by the good that we are. For we too are some good from him, who made all things very good, among which he also made us. Furthermore, there is no other good thing besides him which he did not make; and through this he needs no alien good, who does not need the good that he made (Aug., ibid., c. 16).

CCLXXXI. On the beginning of times.

Times began to run by the motions of created things. Hence times are sought in vain before creation, as if times could be found before times. For if there were no motion, whether spiritual or corporeal, of a creature, by which the present succeeds the past and the future succeeds the present, there would be no time at all. But a creature could certainly not be moved if it did not exist. Therefore time began from a creature, rather than a creature from time. Yet both are from God. For from him and through him and in him are all things (Rom. 11:36).

CCLXXXII. That even the most abject things are ruled by divine Providence.

When the Savior says that not one sparrow falls to the ground without the will of God, and that the grass of the field, soon to be cast into the oven, is nevertheless formed and clothed by him (Matt. 10:29; 6:30), does he not confirm that not only this whole part of the world assigned to mortal and corruptible things, but even its vilest and most abject particles are ruled by divine Providence, lest we judge that those things whose causes we cannot comprehend are thrown into confusion by random motions?

283. That the rational soul ought to be raised up to spiritual things.

The rational soul ought to be raised up to those things which excel most in the nature of spiritual beings: so that it may savor the things that are above, not the things that are on the earth.

284. That nothing in miracles is done against nature.

God, the creator of natures, does nothing in miracles against nature, nor is what is new contrary to custom repugnant to reason. To us, therefore, unusual things seem against nature, to whom the course of nature has become known otherwise; but not to God, to whom that is nature which he has made.

285. On the unchangeable reason of God's works.

It is credible that every body can be changed into every body; but that any body whatsoever can be converted into a rational soul is absurd to believe. For God is so almighty that he never overturns the ordinances of his own reason.

286. Another [previously omitted]. That it is natural for us to will to live, but not to live badly.

It is natural for us to will to live; but to live badly is no longer of nature, but of a perverse will, which follows upon it as a punishment (Aug., ibid., c. 27).

287. In what manner man is enlightened by the presence of God.

As the air is not made luminous by the presence of light, but becomes luminous; for if it had been made luminous, and did not become so, it would remain luminous even when the light is absent: so man is enlightened when God is present, but is straightway darkened when God is absent; from whom one departs not by intervals of place, but by the turning away of the will (Aug., Book VIII of Genesis Literally Interpreted, c. 12).

288. That God must be obeyed.

It is a great benefit to man to serve God when he commands, even when the reason for the command is unknown. For by commanding, God makes useful whatever he has willed to command; concerning whom it is not to be feared that he may enjoin things that will not profit; nor can it happen that a man's own will does not fall upon him with the great weight of ruin, if by exalting it he prefers it to the will of a superior (Aug., ibid., c. 13).

289. On the excellence of human nature.

How great a good human nature is appears most of all from this, that it has been granted to it that it can cleave to the nature of the highest and unchangeable good. But if it has been unwilling, it deprives itself of the good, and this is evil to it; whence also the torments of God's justice follow. For what is so unjust as that it should go well with the deserter of the good? Sometimes, however, the evil of the higher good that has been lost is not felt, so long as the lower good that is at hand is possessed. But it is divine justice that he who by his will has lost what he ought to love should lose with grief what he loved, and that the Creator of natures should be praised everywhere. For even yet it is a good, that one grieves for a good that has been lost. For unless some good had remained in nature, there would be no grief in punishment for any good that has been lost (Aug., ibid., c. 14).

290. On the power of doing harm.

The desire to do harm can be from each one's own soul, being perverse. But power is not except from God, and this by His hidden and deep justice; since there is no iniquity with God (Aug., bk. xi of Genesis Literally, c. 4).

291. How great and of what kind a good God is.

That God is a good, and how great a good, is shown evidently even from this: that it is well for no one who recedes from him, since even those who rejoice in deadly pleasures cannot be without the fear of pain; and those who do not at all perceive the evil of their own desertion through the greater stupor of their pride, it appears to others who have known how to discern these things, with how great misery they are oppressed: so that if they are unwilling to receive the medicine for avoiding such things, they may serve as an example, from which such things can be avoided.

292. That no creature is evil in its nature.

Just as true reason teaches that the creature is better than one which illicit pleasure does not please at all, so the same reason teaches also that that creature is good which has it in its power so to restrain illicit pleasure that it rejoices not only in other lawful and rightly done things, but even in the restraining of that depraved pleasure itself.

293. On the great works of the Lord.

The works of the Lord are great, sought out according to all his wills. He foresees that some will be good, and creates them; he foresees that some will be evil, and creates them; presenting himself to the good for their enjoyment, and lavishing many of his gifts even on the wicked; mercifully pardoning, justly avenging; and likewise mercifully avenging, justly pardoning; fearing nothing from anyone's malice; needing nothing from anyone's righteousness; consulting nothing for himself from the works of the good, and consulting for the good even from the evils of the wicked (Aug., ibid., c. 11).

294. On pride and envy.

Since pride is the love of one's own excellence, and envy is hatred of another's happiness, what arises from what is at hand. For by loving his own excellence, each person envies either his equals, because they are made equal to him; or his inferiors, lest they be made equal to him; or his superiors, because he is not made equal to them. Therefore by being proud each person is envious, not by being envious is he proud (Aug., ibid., c. 14).

295. How the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily.

The fullness of the Godhead is said to dwell in Christ bodily, not because the Godhead is a body, but because the sacraments of the Old Testament are called shadows of what was to come; by comparison with those shadows, the fullness of the Godhead is said to dwell in Christ bodily, because in him all things are fulfilled which were figured in those shadows, and thus in a certain manner he himself is the body of the preceding shadows, that is, he himself is the truth of those figures and significations (Aug., On Genesis Literally, book XII, ch. 7).

296. On conquering vices.

The pious action in this life is to worship God and by his grace to fight against internal vices, and not to yield to them when they instigate or compel us to unlawful things; and where one yields, to seek pardon, and to seek God's help that one may not yield, with the affection of religious piety. But in paradise, if no one had sinned, there would be no action of piety in conquering vices, because it would belong to the permanence of felicity to have no vices (Aug., Against Julian, book I, ch. 70).

297. On the courage of the Gentiles and of Christians.

The courage of the Gentiles is produced by worldly desire, but the courage of Christians by the love of God, which has been poured into our hearts, not through the free choice of the will, which is from ourselves, but through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

298. That no evil exists except in some good.

No evil can exist except in some good, because it cannot exist except in some nature; but every nature, insofar as it is a nature, is good.

299 (otherwise 297). That grace comes before any merits.

A reward is owed to good works, if they are done; but grace, which is not owed, comes first so that they may be done.

300. On circumcision and baptism.

Circumcision of the flesh was commanded by the law, because nothing could better signify that original sin is taken away through Christ, the author of regeneration. For every man is born with the foreskin, just as he is born with original sin. And the law commanded the flesh to be circumcised on the eighth day, because Christ rose on the Lord's day, which is the eighth after the seventh, the Sabbath. And the circumcised man begets a son with a foreskin, passing on to him what he himself has already lost; just as the baptized man, in the son whom he begets according to the flesh, still passes on the guilt of origin, from which he himself is already free.

301. On the first and second man.

The first man Adam died long ago in such a way that nevertheless after him the second man is Christ, though so many thousands of men have arisen between him and this one; and therefore it is manifest that all who are born from that succession of offspring belong to him, just as all who are reborn in him by the largess of grace belong to the latter. Whence it comes about that the whole human race is in a certain manner two men, the first and the second.

302. On the judgments of God.

In no way are the judgments of God to be compared with the judgments of men: He is not to be doubted to be just even when He does what seems unjust to men.

303. On the birth of the just.

The just man is born of God, not of men: since by being reborn, not by being born, he becomes just. Whence also the regenerated are called sons of God.

304. On the quality of human nature.

Although human nature is evil because it is corrupted, it is not evil because it is a nature. For no nature, insofar as it is a nature, is evil; rather it is altogether good, and without this good no evil can exist, because a fault cannot exist in any nature unless there is a nature, although a nature can be without fault, either never having been corrupted or having been healed (Aug., ibid., n. 206).

305 [otherwise 303]. On the death of sinners.

It is the just judgment of God that each person perishes by his own sin, since God does not make sin, just as he did not make death, and yet he kills the one whom he judges worthy of death. Hence it is read, God did not make death; and it is read, Death and life are from God. That these two are not contrary to each other anyone surely sees who distinguishes divine judgments from divine works, because it is one thing not to have established a mortal being in creating, and another to punish a sinner in judging (Aug., bk. IV, Op. Imp., n. 32).

306. On the punishment of sin.

God indeed made the world, and absolutely all bodies. But that a corruptible body should weigh down the soul, and that the flesh should lust against the spirit (Wisdom 9:15), is not the prior nature of man as established, but the consequent punishment of man as condemned (Aug., ibid., n. 67). 307. Another. 306. On the good constitution of man.

However many vices may defile any nature whatsoever, its constitution is always good. For just as the constitution of the body is good even when one is born diseased, and the constitution of the soul is good even when one is born foolish, so the constitution of man himself is good when he is born liable to original sin (Aug., ibid., n. ).

308. On the abolition of sin.

Just as certain parents aggravate original sin, so certain ones relieve it; but no one takes it away except he of whom it is said, Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world: for whom no good of man is impossible, no evil is incurable (Aug., ibid., n. 132).

309. On the grace of God.

It belongs not to the merits of men but to the mercy of God that anyone is freed from that mass of the first man, to which death is owed by desert. For there is no iniquity with God, since neither in remitting nor in exacting what is owed is he unjust; and indulgence is gratuitous there where vengeance could justly be exacted.

310. That no one is saved unless God has mercy.

Human nature, even if it remained in that integrity in which it was created, would in no way preserve itself without the help of its Creator. Hence, since without the grace of God it cannot keep the salvation it has received, how can it without the grace of God recover what it has lost?

311. That no excuse is available to the sinner.

Every sinner is inexcusable, whether by the guilt of origin or by the addition of his own will also: whether he knows or does not know, whether he judges or does not judge. For ignorance itself is without doubt a sin in those who were unwilling to understand, but in those who were unable, it is the punishment of sin. Therefore in both there is no excuse, but just condemnation.

312. On those who are led by the Spirit of God.

To be led is beyond doubt more than to be ruled. For he who is ruled does something, and is ruled for this reason, that he may act rightly; but he who is led is not understood himself to do anything. And yet the grace of the Savior grants so much to our wills that the Apostle does not hesitate to say, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Nor can the free will in us do anything better than to commend itself to him who cannot do evil. (Augustine, On the Proceedings of Pelagius, ch. 3.)

313. What it is to be delivered from the body of this death.

To be delivered from the body of this death, with every sickness of the concupiscence of the flesh healed, is to receive the body not for punishment but for glory. (Augustine, Against the Two Letters of the Pelagians, Book I, ch. .)

314. That man can do nothing without God.

God does many good things in man which man does not do; but man does nothing which God does not cause him to do. (Augustine, Against the Two Letters of the Pelagians, Book II, ch. 8; and the Council of Orange.)

315 (otherwise 313). On true righteousness.

The righteousness by which the just man lives by faith, since it is in man from God through the Spirit of grace, is true righteousness. Although it is rightly called perfect in some just men according to the capacity of this life, it is nevertheless small compared with that great righteousness which the equality of the angels possesses. He who did not yet have that righteousness, and who called himself perfect on account of the righteousness that was already in him, and imperfect on account of that which was still lacking, said so. But clearly this lesser righteousness produces merit; that greater righteousness produces reward. Hence he who does not follow the former does not attain the latter (Augustine, Against the Two Epistles of the Pelagians, Book III, ch. 7).

316. That Christ alone underwent the penalty of sin without sin.

Concerning the one and only mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, the catholic faith knows that for us he deigned to undergo death, that is, the penalty of sin, without sin. For just as he alone was therefore made a son of man, that we through him might be made sons of God, so he alone received the penalty without evil merits, just as we through him receive grace without good merits. For just as no good was owed to us, so no evil was owed to him. Therefore, commending his love toward those to whom he was to give unowed life, he willed to suffer for them an unowed death (Augustine, Against the Two Epistles of the Pelagians, Book IV, ch. 4; canon of the Council of Orange II).

317 (otherwise 315). i That grace is not from nature.

As the Apostle says most truly to those who, wishing to be justified in the law, have fallen away from grace, If righteousness is from the law, then Christ died for nothing (Gal 2:21): so too it is said most truly to those who think that the grace which the faith of Christ commends and receives is nature, If righteousness is through nature, then Christ died for nothing. For here already was the law, and it did not justify; here already was nature too, and it did not justify. Therefore Christ did not die for nothing: so that both the law might be fulfilled through him who said, I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Mt 5:17); and nature, lost through Adam, might be restored through him who said that he had come to seek and to save what had perished.

318. i On mercy and judgment.

To be able to have faith, just as to be able to have love, belongs to the nature of men; but to have faith, just as to have love, belongs to the grace of the faithful. Yet since the will to believe is prepared in some by the Lord and not prepared in others, one must discern what comes from his mercy and what from his judgment. For all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth (Ps 24:10). But his ways are unsearchable (Rom 11:33). Unsearchable, therefore, are the mercy by which he freely liberates, and the truth by which he justly judges.

319. On raising up the fallen.

No one raises another up to that state in which he himself is, unless he descends to some degree to that state in which the other is (Augustine, Letter 2 to Nebridius, n. 4).

320. On despising the glory of the world.

What power for harm the love of human glory has, no one perceives except the one who has declared war upon it. For if it is easy for anyone not to desire praise while it is denied, it is difficult not to be delighted by it when it is offered (Augustine, Letter 22 to Aurelius, n. ).

321. On forsaking temporal goods.

He despises all the wealth of the world who despises it not only as far as he was able, but also as far as he was willing, to possess it. In this one must beware lest pride creep in. For it is more profitable to hold earthly wealth humbly than to abandon it proudly (Augustine, Letter 31 to Paulinus, n. 5).

322. On restraining anger.

To no one who is angry does his anger seem unjust. Therefore from every indignation one must quickly return to the gentleness of meekness. For a stubborn emotion easily passes into hatred of the one who is not quickly forgiven (Augustine, Letter 38 to Profuturus, n. 2).

323. On the law and grace.

He who gave the law also gave grace: but he sent the law through a servant, whereas grace he brought down himself; so that, since the law shows sins but does not take them away, those who wish to fulfill the law by their own strength and are unable, may be compelled to grace, which removes both the disease of impossibility and the guilt of disobedience (Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, n. 2).

324. On the Sabbath.

The Christian observes the true Sabbath, abstaining from servile work, that is, from sin: since whoever commits sin (John 8:34) is a slave of sin (Augustine, ibid., n. 19).

325. On the things that are man's own.

No one has anything of his own except lying and sin. But if a man has anything of truth and justice, it is from that fountain which we ought to thirst for in this desert; so that, sprinkled as it were with certain drops from it, we may not fail on the way (Augustine, Tractates on John, n.; canon of the Council of Orange II).

326. On the inseparable work of the Father and the Son.

What the Father does with Christ, Christ does; and what Christ does with the Father, the Father does; nor does that inseparable charity, majesty, and power act anything separately, as the Lord himself says (John 10:30), I and the Father are one (Augustine, ibid.).

327. To whom the sacrament of baptism profits.

Even those who do not keep its gifts do not diminish the grace of regeneration, just as unclean places do not pollute the brightness of light. You, therefore, who rejoice in the reception of baptism, live in the holiness of the new man; and holding the faith that works through love, have the good that you do not yet have, so that the good that you have may profit you (Augustine, tract. in Joan., n. 16).

328. How Christ is the truth.

Christ is truth in such a way that the whole truth is received in Christ: the true Word of God, God equal to the Father; a true soul, true flesh, true man, true God, a true nativity, a true passion, a true death, a true resurrection. If you call any of these false, rot enters, and from the serpent's venom are born the worms of lies, and nothing will remain whole; because where there is corruption of any falsehood, there the integrity of truth will not be (Augustine, tract. in Joan., n. 5).

329. On charity.

How great is charity! If it is lacking, all other things are possessed in vain; if it is present, all things are possessed (Aug., tract. in Joan., n. 8).

330. How Christ left father and mother.

Christ left the Father: because, though He was in the form of God, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6). For this is what it means that He left the Father: not that He deserted and withdrew from the Father, but that He did not appear to men in that form in which He is equal to the Father. But He left His mother by leaving the synagogue of the Jews, from which He was born according to the flesh, and by cleaving to the Church, which He gathered from all nations.

331 [otherwise 329]. On the comparison of the first Adam and the second.

Adam sleeps, that Eve may be made: Christ dies, that the Church may be made. For Adam as he sleeps, Eve is made from his side: for Christ as He dies, His side is struck with a lance, that the sacraments may flow forth, from which the Church is formed. Whence deservedly the Apostle calls Adam himself the form of the one to come. Because just as all die in Adam (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:22), so also in Christ all shall be brought to life (Aug., ibid., n. 10).

332. On the Incarnation of the Word.

God became man: what will man be, for whose sake God became man (Aug., tract. in Joan., n. 1)?

333. On the two births of men.

One is from the earth, the other from heaven; one is from the flesh, the other from the Spirit; one is from eternity, the other from mortality; one is from male and female, the other from God and the Church. But these two are singular. For just as the womb cannot be repeated, so neither can baptism be repeated (Aug., tract. 11 in Joan., n. 6).

334. On the diversity of goods in God.

If you attend to visible things, neither is bread God, nor is water God, nor is this light God, nor is a garment God, nor is a house God: for all these things are visible, and each is individual. For what bread is, water is not; and what a garment is, a house is not; and what these things are, God is not; for they are visible, but God is for you all that you rightly desire: and the variety of all goods is poured forth from one fountain. For when he bestows his own gifts, he imparts himself under the different names of his gifts (Aug., tract. in Joan., n. 5).

335 [Alternative: 333]. On the soul and the intellect.

The soul that desires carnal things is compared to a woman who has no husband to rule her—that is, the intellect—by whose wisdom she ought to be governed: not as though it were something other than the soul, but because there is a certain hidden eye of the soul. For just as the outer eyes are something of the flesh, so the mind is something of the soul, which excels in it according to its participation in the divine reason. And then it sits well in all its motions when it is irradiated by the light from above, so that there may be in it the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world.

336. On the place of prayer.

If you ask what place is suitable and holy for one who is about to entreat God, make clean your inner parts, and, having driven out every evil desire from there, prepare for yourself a secret place in the peace of your heart. If you wish to pray in a temple, pray within yourself; and so act always that you may be a temple of God. For God hears there where he dwells.

337. On the senses of the body, and the judgment of the mind.

The senses of the body report corporeal things to the heart. And not all have the same capacity: because what is seen is not from the same source as what is heard; nor is odor perceived from the same source as taste; nor do these servants, without touch, suffice for discerning smooth and rough, hot and cold, wet and dry. But the mind judges incorporeal things by its own sense alone, and attains all varieties by one motion; and whatever it rationally finds of discernment between good and evil, just and unjust, is the effect of a single intention: so that the image of God may appear there where there is one and the same thing, by which the mind [acts] as far as it can.

338. On the life of the Son of God.

The Son of God is said to have life in himself, as the Father has it, not obtained by participation but by birth. For the Father begot Life as life; nor does the essence of the begetter and the begotten differ in anything, since the Son is from the Father in such a way that, of coeternal equality, there is not indeed one person, but one Godhead.

339. Why the Son, and not the Father, is said to be the one who will judge.

Although the Father never departs from the Son, yet it is not the Father but the Son who is said to be going to be present to judge the living and the dead: because there neither the Godhead of the Father nor of the Son will be seen, but that form of the Son which he united to himself through the sacrament of the incarnation. Therefore that very one will be judge who stood before a judge; that very one will judge who was judged; so that the wicked may see the glory of him against whose meekness they raged. He will therefore appear as a judge such as can be seen both by those whom he is to crown and by those whom he is to condemn. But the Father will not appear, because he has not put on the form of a servant: but to the Son, who also became man, he has given the power of judgment (Aug., ibid., n. 16).

340. How we make God's will and our own.

Men do their own will, not God's, when they do what is displeasing to God. But when they so do what they will that they serve the divine will: although they do what they do willingly, it is nevertheless the will of him by whom both what they will is prepared and commanded (Aug., ibid., n.: can. conc. haut. II).