it first induced such a sense of tediousness.
4. But ofttimes the earnestness of those who are desirous of hearing me shows me that my utterance is not so frigid as it seems to myself to be. From the delight, too, which they exhibit, I gather that they derive some profit from it. And I occupy myself sedulously with the endeavor not to fail in putting before them a service in which I per- ceive them to take in such good part what is put before them. Even, so, on your side also, the very fact that persons who require to be instructed in the faith are brought so frequently to you, ought to help you to un- derstand that your discourse is not displeas- ing to others as it is displeasing to yourself; and you ought not to consider yourself un- fruitful, simply because you do not succeed in setting forth in such a manner as you de- sire the things which you discern; for, per- chance, you may be just as little able to dis- cern them in the way you wish. For in this life who sees except as " in an enigma and through a glass"?5 Neither is love itself of might sufficient to rend the darkness of the flesh, and penetrate into that eternal calm from which even things which pass away de- rive the light in which they shine. But inasmuch as day by day the good are making advances towards the vision of that day, in- S 1 Cor. xni. 12.
Chap. III.]
ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED.
2S^ dependent of the rolling sky, ' and without the invasion of the night, fi which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it en- tered into the heart of man,"2 there is no greater reason why our discourse should be- come valueless in our own estimate, when we are engaged in teaching the uninstructed, than this, — namely, that it is a delight to us to discern in an extraordinary fashion, and a weariness to speak in an ordinary. And in reality we are listened to with much greater satisfaction, indeed, when we ourselves also have pleasure in the same work; for the thread of our address is affected by the very joy of which we ourselves are sensible, and it proceeds from us with greater ease and with more acceptance. Consequently, as re- gards those matters which are recommended as articles of belief, the task is not a difficult one to lay down injunctions, with respect to the points at which the narration should be commenced and ended, or with respect to the method in which the narration is to be varied, so that at one time it may be briefer, at an- other more lengthened, and yet at all times full and perfect; and, again, with respect to the particular occasions on which it may be right to use the shorter form, and those on which it will be proper to employ the longer. But as to the means by which all is to be done, so that every one may have pleasure in his work when he catechises (for the better he succeeds in this the more attractive will he be), — that is what requires the greatest consideration. And yet we have not far to seek for the precept which will rule in this sphere. For if, in the matter of carnal means, God loves a cheerful giver, 3 how much more so in that of the spiritual? But our security that this cheerfulness may be with us at the seasonable hour, is something dependent upon the mercy of Him who has given us such pre- cepts. Therefore, in accordance with my understanding of what your own wish is, we shall discuss in the first place the subject of the method of narration, then that of the duty of delivering injunction and exhortation, and afterwards that of the attainment of the said cheerfulness, so far as God may furnish us with the ideas.
CHAP. 3. OF THE FULL NARRATION TO BE EM- PLOYED IN CATECHISING.
5. The narration is full when each person is catechised in the first instance from what is written in the text, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," 4 on to the 1 Sine volumine cceli. 3 2 Cor. ix. 7.
present times of the Church. This does not imply, however, either that we ought to re- peat by memory the entire Pentateuch, and the entire Books of Judges, and Kings, and Esdras, 5 and the entire Gospel and Acts of the Apostles, if we have learned all these word for word; or that we should put all the matters which are contained in these volumes into our own words, and in that manner un- fold and expound them as a whole. For neither does the time admit of that, nor does any necessity demand it. But what we ought to do is, to give a comprehensive statement of all things, summarily and generally, so that certain of the more wonderful facts may be selected which are listened to with superior gratification, and which have been ranked so remarkably among the exact turning-points (of the history);6 that, instead of exhibiting them to view only in their wrappings, if we may so speak, and then instantly snatching them from our sight, we ought to dwell on them for a certain space, and thus, as it were, unfold them and open them out to vision, and present them to the minds of the hearers as things to be examined and admired. But as for all other details, these should be passed over rapidly, and thus far introduced and woven into the narrative. The effect of pur- suing this plan is, that the particular facts which we wish to see specially commended to attention obtain greater prominence in conse- quence of the others being made to yield to them; while, at the same time, neither does the learner, whose interest we are anxious to stimulate by our statement, come to these subjects with a mind already exhausted, nor is confusion induced upon the memory of the person whom we ought to be instructing by our teaching.
6. In all things, indeed, not only ought our own eye to be kept fixed upon the end of the commandment, which is " charity, out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned," 7 to which we should make all that we utter refer; but in like manner ought the gaze of the person whom we are instruct- ing by our utterance to be moved 8 toward the same, and guided in that direction. And, in truth, for no other reason were all those things which we read in the Holy Scriptures written, previous to the Lord's advent, but for this, — namely, that His advent might be pressed upon the attention, and that the 5 In the mss. we also find the reading Ezm = Ezra.
6 In ipsis artzcniis = " among the very articles," or " con- necting links." Reference is made to certain great epochs or articles of time in sections 6 and 39.
7 i Tim. i. 5.
8 Reading movendus, for which monendus = to be admon- ished, also occurs in the editions.
286 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
Church which was to be, should be intimated beforehand, that is to say, the people of God throughout all nations; which Church is His body, wherewith also are united and num- bered all the saints who lived in this world, even before His advent, and who believed then in His future coming, just as we believe in His past coming. For (to use an illustra- tion) Jacob, at the time when he was being born, first put forth from the womb a hand* with which also he held the foot of the brother who was taking priority of him in the act of birth; and next indeed the head followed, and thereafter, at last, and as matter of course! the rest of the members:1 while, nevertheless the head in point of dignity and power has precedence, not only of those members which followed it then, but also of the very hand which anticipated it in the process of the birth, and is really the first, although not in the matter of the time of appearing, at least in the order of nature. And in an analogous manner, the Lord Jesus Christ, previous to His appearing in the flesh, and coming forth in a certain manner out of the womb of His secrecy, before the eyes of men as Alan the Mediator between God and men 2 " who is over all, God blessed for ever," 3 sent be- fore Him, in the person of the holy patriarchs and prophets, a certain portion of His body wherewith, as by a hand, He gave token be- foretime of His own approaching birth, and also supplanted* the people who were prior to Him in their pride, using for that purpose the bonds of the law, as if they were His five fin- gers. For through five epochs of times » there was no cessation in the foretelling and proph- esying of His own destined coming; and in a manner consonant with this, he through whom the law was given wrote five books; and proud men, who were carnally minded, and sought to establish their own righteousness, ' ' 6 were not filled with blessing by the open hand of Christ, but were debarred from such good by the hand compressed and closed; and there- fore their feet were tied, and " they fell, while we are risen, and stand upright." 1 But al- though, as I have said, the Lord Christ did thus send before Him a certain portion of His body, in the person of those holy men who came before Him as regards the time of birth nevertheless He is Himself the Head of the body, the Church, 8 and all these have been attached to that same body of which He is the head, in virtue of their believing in Him whom they announced prophetically. For they were [Chap. IV.
not sundered (from that body) m consequence of fulfilling their course before Him but rather were they made one with the same bv reason of their obedience. For although the hand may be put forward away before the lead, still it has its connection beneath the Head. Wherefore all things which were writ- ten aforetime were written in order that we might be taught thereby, * and were our fig- ures, and happened in a figure in the case l( these men. Moreover they were written for our sakes, upon whom the end of the a^es has come.10 ° CHAP. 4.— THAT THE GREAT REASON FOR THE ADVENT OF CHRIST WAS THE COMMENDATION OF LOVE.
' gen xxv. 26. 2, Tim. ii. 5. 3 Rom ix 5 * Reading sutfilantavit. Some mss. give suiilantaret '- wherewith also He might supplant, etc. ™Pflantaret - 7- Moreover, what greater reason is appar- ent for the advent of the Lord than that God might show His love in us, commending it powerfully, inasmuch as "while we were&vet sinners, Christ died for us "? " And further more this is with the intent "that, inasmuch as. charity is "the end of the command- ment, - and " the fulfilling of the law ' ' '3 we also may love one another and lay down our i-,-r the brethren> even as He laid down His life for us. m And with regard to God Himself, its object is that, even if it were an irksome task to love Him, it may now at least cease to be irksome for us to return His love seeing that "He first loved us,"* and "spared not His own only Son, but delivered Him up for us all."* For their is no mightier invi- tation to love than to anticipate in loving • and that soul is over hard which, supposing it unwilling indeed to give love, is unwilling also to give the return of love. But if, even in the case of criminal and sordid loves, we see how those who desire to be loved in re- turn make it their special and absorbing busi- ness, by such proofs as are within their power to render the strength of the love which they themselves bear plain and patent; if we also perceive how they affect to put forward an appearance of justice in what they thus offer, such as may qualify them in some sort to de- mand that a response be made in all fairness to them on the part of those souls which thev are laboring to beguile; if, further, their own passion burns more vehemently when they observe that the minds which they are eager to possess are also moved now by the same fire: if thus, I say, it happens at once that the soul which before was torpid is excited so soon as it feels itself to be loved, and that 10 1 Cor. x. 11.
Chap. IV.]
ON THE CATECHISING OE THE UNINSTRUCTED.
287 the soul which was enkindled already becomes the more inflamed so soon as it is made cog- nizant of the return of its own love, it is evi- dent that no greater reason is to 'be found why love should be either originated or en- larged, than what appears in the occasion when one who as yet loves not at all comes to know himself to be the object of love, or when one who is already a lover either hopes that he may yet be loved in turn, or has by this time the evidence of a response to his af- fection. And if this holds good even in the case of base loves, how much more ' in (true) friendship? For what else have we carefully to attend to in this question touching the in- juring of friendship than to this, namely, not to give our friend cause to suppose either that we do not love him at all, or that we love him less than he loves us? If, indeed, he is led to entertain this belief, he will be cooler in that love in which men enjoy the interchange of intimacies one with another; and if he is not of that weak type of character to which such an offense to affection will serve as a cause of freezing off from love altogether, he yet confines himself to that kind of affection in which he loves, not with the view of enjoyment to himself, but with the idea of studying the good of others. But again it is worth our while to notice how, — although superiors also have the wish to be loved by their inferiors, and are gratified with the zealous attention2 paid to them by such, and themselves cherish greater affection towards these inferiors the more they become cognizant of that, — with what might of love, nevertheless, the inferior kindles so soon as he learns that he is beloved by his su- perior. For there have we love in its more grateful aspect, where it does not consume itself3 in the drought of want, but flows forth in the plenteousness of beneficence. For the former type of love is of misery, the lat- ter of mercy. 4 And furthermore, if the in- ferior was despairing even of the possibility of his being loved by his superior, he will now be inexpressibly moved to love if the supe- rior has of his own will condescended to show how much he loves this person who could by no means be bold enough to promise himself so great a good. But what is there su- perior to God in the character of Judge? and what more desperate than man in the char- acter of sinner? — than man, I ask, who had given himself all the more unreservedly up 1 Reading quanta plus, for which some mss. give plurius, while in a large number we find purius = with how much greater purity should it hold good, etc.
2 Reading studioso...obsequio, for which studiose, etc., also occurs in the editions = are earnestly gratified with the attention, etc.
3 JEstuat = burn, heave.
4 Ex miseria...ex misericordia.
to the wardship and domination of proud powers which are unable to make him blessed, as he had come more absolutely to despair of the possibility of his being an object of in- terest to that power which wills not to be ex- alted in wickedness, but is exalted in good- ness.
8. If, therefore, it was mainly for this pur- pose that Christ came, to wit, that man might learn how much God loves him; and that he might learn this, to the intent that he might be kindled to the love of Him by whom he was first loved, and might also love his neigh- bor at the command and showing of Him who became our neighbor, in that He loved man when, instead of being a neighbor to Him, he was sojourning far apart: if, again, all divine Scripture, which was written afore- time, was written with the view of presignify- ing the Lord's advent; and if whatever has been committed to writing in times subse- quent to these, and established by divine au- thority, is a record of Christ, and admonishes us of love, it is manifest that on those two commandments of love to God and love to our neighbor3 hang not only all the law and the prophets, which at the time when the Lord spoke to that effect were as yet the only Holy Scripture, but also all those books of the divine literature which have been written6 at a later period for our health, and consigned to remembrance. Wherefore, in the Old Testament there is a veiling of the New, and in the New Testament there is a revealing of the Old. According to that veiling, carnal men, understanding things in a carnal fashion, have been under the dominion, both then and now, of a penal fear. According to this re- vealing, on the other hand, spiritual men, — among whom we reckon at once those then who knocked in piety and found even hidden things opened to them, and others now who seek in no spirit of pride, lest even things un- covered should be closed to them, — under- standing in a spiritual fashion, have been made free through the love wherewith they have been gifted. Consequently, inasmuch as there is nothing more adverse to love than envy, and as pride is the mother of envy, the same Lord Jesus Christ, God-man, is both a manifestation of divine love towards, us, and an example of human humility with us, to the end that our great swelling might be cured by a greater counteracting remedy. For here is great misery, proud man! But there is greater mercy, a humble God! Take this love, therefore, as the end that is set before 5 Matt. xxii. 40.
6 Reading conscripta, for which some mss. have consecuta = have followed, and many give coiisecrata, dedicated.
288 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Chap. VI.
you, to which you are to refer all that you say, and, whatever you narrate, narrate it in such a manner that he to whom you are dis- coursing on hearing may believe, on believ- ing may hope, on hoping may love.
CHAP. 5. THAT THE PERSON WHO COMES FOR CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION IS TO BE EX- AMINED WITH RESPECT TO HIS VIEWS, ON DE- SIRING TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN.
9. Moreover, it is on the gound of that very severity of God, J by which the hearts of mortals are agitated with a most wholesome terror, that love is to be built up; so that, rejoic- ing that he is loved by Him whom he fears, man may have boldness to love Him in return, and yet at the same time be afraid to displease His love toward himself, even should he be able to do so with impunity. For certainly it very rarely happens, nay, I should rather say, never, that any one approaches us with the wish to become a Christian who has not been smitten with some sort of fear of God. For if it is in the expectation of some advan- tage from men whom he deems himself unlikely to please in any other way, or with the idea of escaping any disadvantage at the hands of men of whose displeasure or hostility he is seriously afraid, that a man wishes to become a Christian, then his wish to become one is not so earnest as his desire to feign one.2 For faith is not a matter of the body which does obeisance,3 but of the mind which be- lieves. But unmistakeably it is often the case that the mercy of God comes to be pre- sent through the ministry of the catechiser, so that, affected by the discourse, the man now wishes to become in reality that which he had made up his mind only to feign. And so soon as he begins to have this manner of de- sire, we may judge him then to have made a genuine approach to us. It is true, indeed, that the precise time when a man, whom we perceive to be present with us already in the body, comes to us in reality with his mind, 4 is a thing hidden from us. But, notwith- standing that, we ought to deal with him in such a manner that this wish may be made to arise within him, even should it not be there at present. For no such labor is lost, inas- much as, if there is any wish at all, it is as- suredly strengthened by such action on our part, although we may be ignorant of the time 1 De ipsa etiant severitate Dei...caritas adificcinda est.
2 Non fieri vult potius quani fingere.
3 Or = " signifying assent by its motions," adopting the read- ing of the best mss., viz. salutantis corporis. Some editions give salvandi, while certain mss. have salutis, and others saltantis.
4 Reading quando veniat animo, for which quo vcniat aniitw also occurs=the mind in which a man comes..
is a matter hidden from us.
or the hour at which it began. It is useful certainly, if it can be done, to get from those who know the man some idea beforehand of the state of mind in which he is, or of the causes which have induced him to come with the view of embracing religion. But if there is no other person available from whom we may gather such information, then, indeed, the man himself is to be interrogated, so that from what he says in reply we may draw the beginning of our discourse. Now if he has come with a false heart, desirous only of human advantages or thinking to escape dis- advantages, he will certainly speak what is untrue. Nevertheless, the very untruth which he utters should be made the point from which we start. This should not be done, however, with the (open) intention of confut- ing his falsehood, as if that were a settled mat- ter with you; but, taking it for granted that he has professed to have come with a purpose which is really worthy of approbation (whether that profession be true or false), it should rather be our aim to commend and praise such a purpose as that with which, in his reply, he has declared himself to have come; so that we may make him feel it a pleasure to be the kind of man actually that he wishes to seem to be. On the other hand, suppos- ing him to have given a declaration of his views other than what ought to be before the mind of one who is to be instructed in the Christian faith, then by reproving him with more than usual kindness and gentleness, as a person uninstructed and ignorant, by pointing out and commending, concisely and in a grave spirit the end of Christian doctrine in its genuine reality, and by doing all this in such a manner as neither to anticipate the times of a narration, which should be given subsequently, nor to venture to impose that kind of statement upon a mind not pre- viously set for it, you may bring him to de- sire that which, either in mistake or in dis- simulation, he has not been desiring up to this stage.
CHAP. 6. — OF THE WAY TO COMMENCE THE CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION, AND OF THE NARRATION OF FACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S CREATION ON TO THE PRESENT TIMES OF THE CHURCH.
10. But if it happens that his answer is to the effect that he has met with some divine warning, or with some divine terror, prompt- ing him to become a Christian, this opens up the way most satisfactorily for a commence- ment to our discourse, by suggesting the great- ness of God's interest in us. His thoughts, Chap. VII.]
ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED.
289