St. Augustin speaks of this book in his Retractations, 1. ii. c. 63, as follows: " I also wrote a book on Faith, Hope, and Charity, at the request of the person to whom I addressed it, that he might have a work of mine which should never be out of his hands, such as the Greeks call an Enchiridion [Hand-Book). There I think I have pretty carefully treated of the manner in which God is to be worshipped, which knowledge divine Scripture defines to be the true wisdom of man. The book begins: ' I cannot express,' " etc.1 The Enchiridion is among the latest books of Augustin. It was written after the death of Jerome, which occurred Sept. 30, 420; for he alludes in ch. 87 to Jerome "of blessed memory" (sanctce memoriae Hieronymus presbyter).
It is addressed to Laurentius, in answer to his questions. This person is otherwise unknown. One MS. calls him a deacon, another a notary of the city of Rome. He was probably a layman.
The author usually calls the book " On Faith, Hope and Love," because he treats the subject under these three heads (comp. I Cor. xiii. 13). He follows under the first head the order of the Apostles' Creed, and refutes, without naming them, the Manichaean, Apol- linarian, Arian, and Pelagian heresies. Under the second head he gives a brief exposition of the Lord's Prayer. The third part is a discourse on Christian love.
The original is in the sixth volume of the Benedictine edition. A neat edition of the Latin text, with three other small tracts of Augustin, [De Catechizandis Rudibus; De Fide Rerum quce non creduntur j De Utilitate Credendi), is also published in C. Marriott's S. An- relius A ugustinus, 4th ed. by H. de Romestin, Oxford and London (Parker and Comp.), 1885 (pp. 150-251.) An English edition of the same tracts by H. de Romestin, Oxford and London, 1885 (pp. 151-251). His English translation is based on that of C. L. Cornish, M.A., which appeared in the Oxford " Library of the Fathers," Oxford 1847 (" Seventeen Short Treatises of St. Aug." pp. 85-158).
The present translation by Professor Shaw was first published in Dr. Dods's series of A.ugustin's works, Edinburgh, (T. and T. Clark,) 3d ed. 1883. It is more free and idio- matic than that of Cornish. I have in a few cases conformed it more closely to the original.
P. S.
J" Scripsi etiam librtim ' de Fide, Spe et Charitate'1 cum a me ad quern scriptus est postulasset ut aliquod opusculum haberet meum de suis manibus nunquam recessurum, quod genus Grceci enchiridion vocant. Ubi satis diligenter milii zndeor esse romplexus quomodo sit colendus Dens quam sapientiam esse hominis utique veram Divina Scriptura definit. Hie liber sic incipit, ' Dici non potest, dilectissime Jili Laurent i, quantum tud eruditione delecter? " CONTENTS OF THE ENCHIRIDION.
PAGE Chap. I. — The author desires the gift of true wisdom for Laurentius, 237 Chap. II. — The fear of God is man's true wisdom, 237 ('hap. III. — God is to be worshipped through faith, hope, and love, 238 Chap. IV. — The questions propounded by Laurentius, 238 Chap. V. — Brief answers to these questions, 238 Chap. VI. — Controversy out of place in a hand-book like the present 238 Chap. VII. — The Creed and the Lord's Prayer demand the exercise of faith, hope, and love,...238 Chap. VIII. — The distinction between faith and hope, and the mutual dependence of faith, hope and love, 239 Chap. IX. — What we are to believe. In regard to nature it is not necessary for the Christian to know more than that the goodness of the Creator is the cause of all things 239 Chap. X. — The supremely good Creator made all things good, 240 Chap. XL — What is called evil in the universe is but the absence of good, 240 Chap. XII. — All beings were made good, but not being made perfectly good, are liable to corruption,.. 240 Chap. XIII. — There can be no evil where there is no good; and an evil man is an evil good,...241 Chap. XIV. — Good and evil are an exception to the rule that contrary attributes cannot be predicated of the same subject. Evil springs up in what is good, and cannot exist except in what is good,...241 Chap. XV. — The preceding argument is in no wise inconsistent with the saying of our Lord: "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit," 241 Chap. XVI. — It is not essential to man's happiness that he should know the causes of physical con- vulsions; but it is, that he should know the causes of good and evil. 242 Chap. XVII. — The nature of error. All error is not hurtful, though it is man's duty as far as possible to avoid it, 242 Chap. XVIII. — It is never allowable to tell a lie; but lies differ very much in guilt, according to the intention and the subject, 243 Chap. XIX. — Men's errors vary very much in the magnitude of the evils they produce; but yet every error is in itself an evil 243 Chap. XX. — Every error is not a sin. An examination of the opinion of the academic philosophers, that to avoid error we should in all cases suspend belief,,. 244 Chap. XXI. — Error, though not always a sin, is always an evil, 244 • Chap. XXII. — A lie is not allowable, even to save another from injury,,...245 Chap. XXIII. — Summary of the results of the preceding discussion 245 Chap. XXIV. — The secondary causes of evil are ignorance and lust, 245 Chap. XXV. — God's judgments upon fallen men and angels. The death of the body is man's peculiar punishment, 246 Chap. XXVI. — Through Adam's sin his whole posterity were corrupted, and were born under the penalty of death, which he had incurred 246 Chap. XXVII. — The state of misery to which Adam's sin reduced mankind, and the restoration effected through the mercy of God, 246 Chap. XXVIII. — When the rebellious angels were cast out, the rest remained in the enjoyment of eternal happiness with God 246 Chap. XXIX. — The restored part of humanity shall, in accordance with the promises of God, succeed to the place which the rebellious angels lost, 247 234 CONTENTS.
PAGE Chap. XXX. — Men are not saved by good works, nor by the free determination of their own will, but by the grace of God through faith, 247 Chap. XXXI. — Faith itself is the gift of God; and good works will not be wanting in those who believe, • 247 Chap. XXXII.— The freedom of the will is also the gift of God, for God worketh in us both to will and to do 24S Chap. XXXIII. — Men, being by nature the children of wrath, needed a Mediator. In what sense God is said to be angry 24S Chap. XXXIV. — The ineffable mystery of the birth of Christ the Mediator through the virgin Mary,...249 Chap. XXXV. — Jesus Christ, being the only Son of God, is at the same time man, 249.
Chap. XXXVI. — The grace of God is clearly and remarkably displayed in raising the man Christ Jesus to the dignity of the Son of God, 249 Chap. XXXVII. — The same grace is further clearly manifested in this, that the birth of Christ according to the flesh is of the Holy Ghost, * 250 Chap. XXXVIII. — Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, was not born of the Holy Spirit in such a sense that the Holy Spirit is His Faiher, 250 Chap. XXXIX. — Not everything that is born of another is to be called a son of that other 251 Chap. XL. — Christ's birth through the Holy Spirit manifests to us the grace of God,...251 Chap. XLI. — Christ, who was himself free from sin, was made sin for us, that we might be reconciled to God, 251 Chap. XLII. — The sacrament of Baptism indicates our death with Christ to sin, and our resurrection with Him to newness of life, 252 Chap. XLIII. — Baptism and the grace which it typifies are open to all, both infants and adults 252 Chap. XLIV. — In speaking of sin, the singular number is often put for the plural, and the plural for the singular, 252 Chap. XLV. — In Adam's first sin, many kinds of sin were involved, 252 Chap. XLVI. — It is probable that children are involved in the guilt not only of the first pair.but of their own immediate parents, 252 Chap. XLVII. — It is difficult to decide whether the sin's of a man's other progenitors are imputed to.
him 253 Chap. XLVIII. — The guilt of the first sin is so great that it can be washed away only in the blood of the Mediator, Jesus Christ 253 Chap. XLIX. — Christ was not regenerated in the baptism of John, but submitted to it to give us an example of humility, just as he submitted to death, not as the punishment of sin, but to take away the sin of the world, 253 Chap. L. — Christ took away not only the one original sin, but all the other sins that have been added to it,. 253 Chap. LI. — All men born of Adam are under condemnation, and only if new born in Christ are freed from condemnation,,, 254 Chap. LII. — In baptism, which is the similitude of the death and resurrection of Christ, all, both infants and adults, die to sin that they may walk in newness of life 254 Chap. LIII. — Christ's cross and burial, resurrection, ascension, and sitting down at the right hand of God, are images of the christian life, 254 Chap. LIV. — Christ's second coming does not belong to the past, but will take place at the end of the world, 255 Chap. LV. — The expression, "Christ shall judge the quick and the dead," maybe understood in either of two senses, 255 Chap. LVI. — The Holy Spirit and the Church. The Church is the temple of God, 255 Chap. LVI I. — The condition of the Church in heaven, 256 Chap. LVIII. — We have no certain knowledge of the organization of the angelic society 256 Chap. LIX. — The bodies assumed by angels raise a very difficult, and not very useful, subject of dis- cussion, 256 Chap. LX. — It is more necessary to be able to detect the wiles of Satan when he transforms himself into an angel of light, 257 Chap. LXI. — The Church on earth has been redeemed from sin by the blood of a Mediator, 257 Chap. LXII. — By the sacrifice of Christ all things are restored, and peace is made between earth and heaven, 257 Chap. LXIII. — The peace of God, which reigneth in heaven, passeth all understanding, 257 Chap. LXIV. — Pardon of sin extends over the whole mortal life of the saints, which, though free from crime, is not free from sin, 258 CONTENTS. 235 PAGE Chap. LXV. — God pardons sins, but on condition of penitence, certain times for which have been fixed by the law of the Church, 258 Chap. LXVI. — The pardon of sin has reference chiefly to the future Judgment, 258 Chap. LXVII. — Faith without works is dead, and cannot save a man, 259 Chap. LXVIII. — The true sense of the passage (1. Cor. III. 11-15) about those who are saved, yet so as by fire, 259 Chap. LXIX. — It is not impossible that some believers may pass through a purgatorial fire in the future life, 260 Chap. LXX. — Almsgiving will not atone for sin unless the life be changed, 260 Chap. LXXI. — The daily prayer of the believer makes satisfaction for the trivial sins that daily stain his life,. 260 Chap. LXXII. — There are many kinds of alms, the giving of which assists to procure pardon for our sins 260 Chap. LXXIII. — The greatest of all alms is to forgive our debtors and to love our enemies 261 Chap. LXX1V. — God does not pardon the sins of those who do not from the heart forgive others,...261 Chap. LXXV. — The wicked and the unbelieving are not made clean by the giving of alms, except they be born again, 261 Chap. LXXVI. — To give alms aright, we should begin with ourselves, and have pity upon our own souls, 262 Chap. LXXVII. — If we would give alms to ourselves, we must flee iniquity; for he who loveth iniquity hateth his soul 262 Chap. LXXVIII. — What sins are trivial and what heinous is a matter for God's judgment, 262 Chap. LXXIX. — Sins which appear very trifling, are sometimes in reality very serious, 263 Chap. LXXX. — Sins, however great and detestable, seem trivial when we are accustomed to them,.. 263 Chap. LXXXI — There are two causes of sin, ignorance and weakness; and we need divine help to.
overcome both, 264 Chap. LXXXII. — The mercy of God is necessary to true repentance 264 Chap. LXXXIII. — The man who despises the mercy of God is guilty of the sin against the Holy Ghost, 264 Chap. LXXXIV. — The resurrection of the body gives rise to numerous questions 264 Chap. LXXXV. — The case of abortive conceptions, 265 Chap. LXXXVI. — If they have ever lived, they must of course have died, and therefore shall have a share in the resurrection of the dead, ■.. 265 Chap. LXXXVII. — The case of monstrous births,. 265 Chap. LXXXVIII. — The material of the body never perishes, 265 Chap. LXXXIX. — But this material may be differently arranged in the resurrection body 265 Chap. XC. — If there be differences and inequalities among the bodies of those who rise again, there shall be nothing offensive or disproportionate in any, 266 Chap. XCI. — The bodies of the saints shall at the resurrection be spiritual bodies, 266 Chap. XCII. — The resurrection of the lost, 266 Chap. XCIII. — Both the first and the second deaths are the consequence of sin. Punishment is pro- portioned to guilt, 267 Chap. XCIV. — The saints shall know more fully in the next world the benefits they have received by grace,. 267 Chap. XCV. — God's judgments shall then be explained, 267 Chap. XCVI. — The omnipotent God does well even in the permission of evil, 267 Chap. XCVII. — In what sense does the Apostle say that "God will have all men to be saved," when, as a matter of fact, all are not saved? 267 Chap. XCVIII. — Predestination to eternal life is wholly of God's free grace 26S Chap. XCIX. — As God's mercy is free, so His judgments are just, and cannot be gainsaid 268 Chap. C. — The will of God is never defeated, though much is done that is contrary to His will,...269 Chap. CI. — The will of God, which is always good, is sometimes fulfilled through the evil will of man, 269 Chap. CII. — The will of the omnipotent God is never defeated, and is never evil, 270 Chap. CHI. — Interpretation of the expression in — 1 Tim. 11. 4; "Who will have all men to be saved,".. 270 Chap. CIV. — God, foreknowing the sin of the first man, ordered His own purposes accordingly,...271 Chap. CV. — Man was so created as to be able to choose either good or evil: in the future life, the choice of evil will be impossible, 271 Chap. CVI. — The grace of God was necessary to man's salvation before the fall as well as after it,...271 Chap. CVII. — Eternal life, though the reward of good works, is itself the gift of God, 271 Chap. CVIII. — A mediator was necessary to reconcile us to God; and unless this mediator had been God, he could not have been our Redeemer, 272 236. CONTENTS.
PAGE Chap. CIX. — The state of the soul during the interval between death and the resurrection, 272 Chap. CX. — The benefit to the souls of the dead from the sacraments and alms of their living friends,.. 272 Chap. CXI. — After the resurrection there shall be two distinct Kingdoms, one of eternal happiness, the other of eternal misery, 1 273 Chap. CXII. — There is no ground in Scripture for the opinion of those who deny the eternity of future punishments 273 Chap. CXIII. — The death of the wicked shall be eternal in the same sense as the life of the saints,.. 273 Chap. CXIV. — Having dealt with faith, we now come to speak of hope. Everything that pertains to hope is embraced in the Lord's Prayer, 273 Chap. CXV. — The seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, according to Matthew, 274 Chap. CXVI. — Luke expresses the substance of these seven petitions more briefly in five, 274 Chap. CXVII. — Love, which is greater than faith and hope, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost 274 Chap. CXVIII. — The four stages of the Christian's life, and the four corresponding stages of the Chap. CXIX. — The grace of regeneration washes away all past sin and all original guilt 275 Chap. CXX. — Death cannot injure those who have received the grace of regeneration 275 Chap. CXXI. — Love is the end of all the commandments, and God Himself is love, 275 Chap. CXXII. — Conclusion, 276 THE ENCHIRIDION, i ADDRESSED TO LAURENTIUS; BEING A TREATISE ON FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.
ARGUMENT.
LAURENTIUS HAVING ASKED AUGUSTIN TO FURNISH HIM WITH A HANDBOOK OF CHRISTIAN DOC- TRINE, CONTAINING IN BRIEF COMPASS ANSWERS TO SEVERAL QUESTIONS WHICH HE HAD PROPOSED, AUGUSTIN SHOWS HIM THAT THESE QUESTIONS CAN BE FULLY ANSWERED BY ANY ONE WHO KNOWS THE PROPER OBJECTS OF FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE. HE THEN PROCEEDS, IN THE FIRST PART OF THE WORK (CHAP. IX.-CXIII.), TO EXPOUND THE OBJECTS OF FAITH, TAKING AS HIS TEXT THE APOSTLES' CREED; AND IN THE COURSE OF THIS EXPOSITION, BE- SIDES REFUTING DIVERS HERESIES, HE THROWS OUT MANY OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF LIFE. THE SECOND TART OF THE WORK (CHAP. CXIV.-CXVI.) TREATS OF THE OBJECTS OF HOPE, AND CONSISTS OF A VERY BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE SEVERAL PETITIONS IN THE LORD'S PRAYER. THE THIRD AND CONCLUDING PART (CHAP. CXVII.-CXXII.) TREATS OF THE OBJECTS OF LOVE, SHOWING THE PRE-EMINENCE OF THIS GRACE IN THE GOSPEL SYSTEM, THAT IT IS THE END. OF THE COMMANDMENT AND THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW, AND THAT GOD HIMSELF IS LOVE.
CHAP. I. THE AUTHOR DESIRES THE GIFT OF TRUE WISDOM FOR LAURENTIUS.
I cannot express, my beloved son Lauren- tius, the delight with which I witness your progress in knowledge, and the earnest desire I have that you should be a wise man: not one of those of whom it is said, "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?"1 but one of those of whom it is said, " The multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world,"2 and such as the apostles wishes those to become, whom he tells," I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."3 Now, just as no one can exist of himself, so no one 1 i Cor. i. 20.
can be wise of himself, but only by the en- lightening influence of Him of whom it is written," All wisdom cometh from the Lord."4 CHAP. 2. THE FEAR OF GOD IS MAN'S TRUE WISDOM.
The true wisdom of man is piety. You find this in the book of holy Job. For we read there what wisdom itself has said to man: "Behold, the fear of the Lord \J)ietas\ that is wisdom."5 If you ask further what is meant in that place by pietas, the Greek calls it more definitely Ozoaifizia, that is, the wor- ship of God. The Greeks sometimes call piety eutrifieta, which signifies right worship, though this, of course, refers specially to the worship of God. But when we are defining 4 Ecclus. i. 1.
5 Job xxviii. 28.
2.;8 •o THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Chap. VII.
in what man's true wisdom consists, the most convenient word to use is that which dis- tinctly expresses the fear of God. And can you, who are anxious that I should treat of great matters in few words, wish for a briefer form of expression? Or perhaps you are anxious that this expression should itself be briefly explained, and that I should unfold in a short discourse the proper mode of wor- shipping God?
CHAP. 3. — GOD IS TO BE WORSHIPPED THROUGH FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE.
Now if I should answer, that God is to be worshipped with faith, hope, and love, you will at once say that this answer is too brief, and will ask me briefly to unfold the objects of each of these three graces, viz., what we are to believe, what we are to hope for, and what we are to love. And when I have done this, you will have an answer to all the questions you asked in your letter. If you have kept a copy of your letter, you can easily turn it up and read it over again: if you have not, you will have no difficulty in recalling it when I refresh your memory.
CHAP. 4. — THE QUESTIONS PROPOUNDED BY LAURENTIUS.
You are anxious, you say, that I should write a sort of handbook for you, which you might always keep beside you, containing answers to the questions you put, viz.: what ought to be man's chief end in life; what he ought, in view of the various heresies, chiefly to avoid; to what extent religion is supported by reason; what there is in reason that lends no support to faith, when faith stands alone; what is the starting-point, what the goal, of religion; what is the sum of the whole body of doctrine; what is the sure and proper foundation of the catholic faith. Now, un- doubtedly, you will know the answers to all these questions, if you know thoroughly the proper objects of faith, hope, and love. For these must be the chief, nay, the exclusive objects of pursuit in religion. He who speaks against these is either a total stranger to the name of Christ, or is a heretic. These are to be defended by reason, which must have its starting-point either in the bodily senses or in the intuitions of the mind. And what we have neither had experience of through our bodily senses, nor have been able to reach through the intellect, must undoubtedly be believed on the testimony of those witnesses by whom the Scriptures, justly called divine, were written; and who by divine assistance were enabled, either through bodily sense or intellectual perception, to see or to foresee the things in question.
CHAP. 5. BRIEF ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS.
Moreover, when the mind has been imbued with the first elements of that faith which worketh by love,1 it endeavors by purity of life to attain unto sight, where the pure and perfect in heart know that unspeakable beauty, the full vision of which is supreme happiness. Here surely is an answer to your question as to what is the starting-point, and what the goal: we begin in faith, and are made perfect by sight. This also is the sum of the whole body of doctrine. But the sure and proper foundation of the catholic faith is Christ. "For other foundation," says the apostle, "can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."2 Nor are we to deny that this is the proper foundation of the catholic faith, because it may be supposed that some heretics hold this in common with us. For if we care- fully consider the things that pertain to Christ, we shall find that, among those here- tics who call themselves Christians, Christ is present in name only: in deed and in truth He is not among them. But to show this would occupy us too long, for we should require to go over all the heresies which have existed, which do exist, or which could exist, under the Christian name, and to show that this is true in the case of each, — a discussion which would occupy so many volumes as to be all but interminable.
CHAP. 6. — CONTROVERSY OUT OF PLACE IN A HANDBOOK LIKE THE PRESENT.
Now you ask of me a handbook, that is, one that can be carried in the hand, not one to load your shelves. To return, then, to the three graces through which, as I have said, God should be worshipped— -faith, hope, and love: to state what are the true and proper objects of each of these is easy. But to de- fend this true doctrine against the assaults of those who hold an opposite opinion, requires much fuller and more elaborate instruction. And the true way to obtain this instruction is not to have a short treatise put into one's hands, but to have a great zeal kindled in one's heart.
CHAP. 7. THE CREED AND THE LORD'S PRAYER DEMAND THE EXERCISE OF FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE.
For you have the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. What can be briefer to hear or to read? What easier to commit to memory?
1 Gal. v. 6.
2 1 Cor. 111. 11.
Chap. IX.]
ENCHIRIDION.
2 39 When, as the result of sin, the human race was groaning under a heavy load of misery, and was in urgent need of the divine compas- sion, one of the prophets, anticipating the time of God's grace, declared: " And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered."1 Hence the Lord's Prayer. But the apostle, when, for the purpose of commending this very grace, he had quoted this prophetic tes- timony, immediately added: " How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not be- lieved?"2 Hence the Creed. In these two you have those three graces exemplified: faith believes, hope and love pray. But without faith the two last cannot exist, and therefore we may say that faith also prays. Whence it is written: " How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? " CHAP. 8. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN FAITH AND HOPE, AND THE MUTUAL DEPENDENCE OF FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE.
Again, can anything be hoped for which is not an object of faith? It is true that a thing which is not an object of hope may be be- lieved. What true Christian, for example, does not believe in the punishment of the wicked? And yet such an one does not hope for it. And the man who believes that punish- ment to be hanging over himself, and who shrinks in horror from the prospect, is more properly said to fear than to hope. And these two states of mind the poet carefully dis- tinguishes, when he says: " Permit the fear- ful to have hope."3 Another poet, who is usually much superior to this one, makes a wrong use of the word, when he says: "If I have been able to hope for so great a grief as this."4 And some grammarians take this case as an example of impro- priety of speech, saying, "He said sperare [to hope] instead of timere [to fear]." Accord- ingly, faith may have for its object evil 'as well as good; for both good and evil are believed, and the faith that believes them is not evil, but good. Faith, moreover, is con- cerned with the past, the present, and the future, all three. We believe, for example, that Christ died, — an event in the past; we believe that He is sitting at the right hand of God, — a state of things which is present; we believe that He will come to judge the quick and the dead, — an event of the future. Again, faith applies both to one's own cir- cumstances and those of others. Every one, for example, believes that his own existence 1 Joel. ii. 32.
3 Lucan, Pilars, ii. 15.
2 Rom. x. 14.
4 Virgil. sEneid, iv. 419.