From this we learn that, in its original form, it was a discourse which Augustin, when only a presbyter, was requested to deliver in public by the bishops assembled at the Coun- cil of Hippo-Regius, and that it was subsequently issued as a book at the desire of friends. The general assembly of the North African Church, which was thus convened at what is now Bona, in the modern territory of Algiers, took place in the year 393 a.d., and was otherwise one of some historical importance, on account of the determined protest which it emitted against the position elsewhere allowed to Patriarchs in the Church, and against the admit- tance of any more authoritative or magisterial title to the highest ecclesiastical official than that of simply " Bishop of the first Church " (firimce sedis episcopus).
The work constitutes an exposition of the several clauses of the so-called Apostles' Creed. The questions concerning the mutual relations of the three Persons in the Godhead are handled with greatest fullness; in connection with which, especially in the use made of the analogies of Being, Knowledge, and Love, and in the cautions thrown in against certain applications of these and other illustrations taken from things of human experience, we come across sentiments which are also repeated in the City of God, the books on the Trinity, and others of his doctrinal writings.
The passage referred to in the Retractations is as follows: " About the same period, in presence of the bishops, who gave me orders to that effect, and who were holding a plenary Council of the whole of Africa at Hippo-Regius, I delivered, as presbyter, a discussion on the subject of Faith and the Creed. This disputation, at the very pressing request of some of those who were on terms of more than usual intimacy and affection with us, I threw into the form of a book, in which the themes themselves are made the subjects of discourse, al- though not in a method involving the adoption of the particular connection of words which is given to the competentes x to be committed to memory. In this book, when discussing the question of the resurrection of the flesh, I say:2 ' Rise again the body will, according to the Christian faith, which is incapable of deceiving. And if this appears incredible to any one, [it is because] he looks simply to what the flesh is at present, while he fails to consider of what nature it shall be hereafter. For at that time of angelic change it will no more be flesh and blood, but only body;' and so on, through the other statements which I have made there on the subject of the change of bodies terrestrial into bodies celestial, as the apostle, when he spake from the same point, said, ' Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'3 But if any one takes these declarations in a sense leading him to suppose that the earthly body, such as we now have it, is changed in the resurrection into a celestial body, in any such wise as that neither these members nor the substance of the flesh will subsist any 1 i.e. the third order of catechumens, embracing those thoroughly prepared for baptism.
?lg INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
more, undoubtedly he must be set right, by being put in mind of the body of the Lord, who subsequently to His resurrection appeared in the same members, as One who was not only to be seen with the eyes, but also handled with the hands; and made His possession of the flesh likewise surer by the discourse which He spake, saying, 'Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. ' r Hence it is certain that the apostle did not deny that the substance of the flesh will exist in the kingdom of God, but that under the name of ' flesh and blood ' he designated either men who live after the flesh, or the ex- press corruption of the flesh, which assuredly at that period shall subsist no more. For after he had said, ' Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' what he proceeds to say next, — namely, 'neither shall corruption inherit incorruption,' — is rightly taken to have been added by way of explaining his previous statement. And on this subject, which is one on which it is difficult to convince unbelievers, any one who reads my last book, On the City of God, will find that I have discoursed with the utmost carefulness of which I am capable.2 The performance in question commences thus: ' Since it is written,' etc."
[Additional Note by the American Editor.]
[Another English edition of this treatise De Fide et Symbolo was prepared by the Rev. Charles A. Heurtley, D.D., Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and published by Parker & Co., Oxford and London, 1886.
The following text of the Apostles' Creed may be collected from this book of St. Au- gustin, and was current in North Africa towards the close of the fourth century: 1. I believe in God the Father Almighty. Chs. 2 and 3.
2. (And) in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten of the Father, or, His Only Son, our Lord. Ch. 3.
3. Who was born through the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Ch. 4 (§ 8.)
4. Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried. Ch. 5 (§ 11.)
5. On the third day He rose again from the dead. Ch. 5 (§ 12.)
6. He ascended into Heaven. Ch. 6 (§ 13.)
7. He sitteth at the right hand of the Father. Ch. 7 (§ 14.)
8. From thence He will come and judge the living and the dead. Ch. 8 (§ i5.)
9. (And I believe) in the Holy Spirit. Ch. 9 (§ 16-19.)
10. I believe the Holy Church (Catholic). Ch. 10 (§ 21.)
1 1. The forgiveness of sin. Ch. 10 (§ 23.)
12. The Resurrection of the body. Ch. 10 (§ 23, 24.)
13. The Life everlasting. Ch. 10 (§ 24.)]
1 Luke xxiv. 39. 2 City of God^ Bk. xxii. Ch. 21.
CONTENTS OF FAITH AND THE CREED PAGE Chap. I. — Of the origin and object of composition. 321 Chap. II. — Of God and his exclusive eternity, 322 Chap. III. — Of the Son of God, and His peculiar designation as the Word, 322 Chap. IV. — Of the Son of God as neither made by the Father nor less than the Father, and of His incarnation, 323 Chap. V.— Of Christ's passion, burial, and resurrection 326 Chap. VI. — Of Christ's ascension into heaven 326 Chap. VII. — Of Christ's session. at the Father's right hand, 326 Chap. VIII. — Of Christ's coming to judgment, 327 Chap. IX. — Of the Holy Spirit and the mystery of the Trinity, 327 Chap, X. — Of the Catholic Church, the remission of sins, and the resurrection of the flesh, 331 A TREATISE ON FAITH AND THE CREED.
[DE FIDE ET SYMBOLO.]
.IN ONE BOOK.
[A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BEFORE A COUNCIL OF THE WHOLE NORTH AFRICAN EPISCOPATE ASSEMBLED AT HIPPO-REGIUS.]
CHAP. I. OF THE ORIGIN AND OBJECT OF THE COMPOSITION.
i. Inasmuch as it is a position, written and established on the most solid foundation of apostolic teaching, "that the just lives of faith; " * and inasmuch also as this faith de- mands of us the duty at once of heart and tongue, — for an apostle says, " With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto sal- vation,"2— it becomes us to be mindful both of righteousness and of salvation. For, des- tined as we are to reign hereafter in everlast- ing righteousness, we certainly cannot secure our salvation from the present evil world, un- less at the same time, while laboring for the salvation of our neighbors, we likewise with the mouth make our own profession of the faith which we carry in our heart. And it must be our aim, by pious and careful watch- fulness, to provide against the possibility of the said faith sustaining any injury in us, on any side, through the fraudulent artifices [or, cunning fraud] of the heretics.
We have, however, the catholic faith in the Creed, known to the faithful and committed to memory, contained in a form of expression as concise as has been rendered admissible by the circumstances of the case; the purpose of which [compilation] was, that individuals who are but beginners and sucklings among 2 Rom. x. 10.
those who have been born again in Christ, and who have not yet been strengthened by most diligent and spiritual handling and un- derstanding of the divine Scriptures, should be furnished with a summary, expressed in few words, of those matters of necessary be- lief which were subsequently to be explained to them in many words, as they made progress and rose to [the height of] divine doctrine, on the assured and steadfast basis of humility and charity. It is underneath these few words, therefore, which are thus set in order in the Creed, that most heretics have en- deavored to conceal their poisons; whom di- vine mercy has withstood, and still withstands, by the instrumentality of spiritual men, who have been counted worthy not only to accept and believe the catholic faith as expounded in those terms, but also thoroughly to under- stand and apprehend it by the enlightenment imparted by the Lord. For it is written, " Unless ye believe, ye shall not under- stand." 3 But the handling of the faith is of service for the protection of the Creed; not, however, to the intent that this should itself be given instead of the Creed, to be com- mitted to memory and repeated by those who are receiving the grace of God, but that it may guard the matters which are retained in the Creed against the insidious assaults of the heretics, by means of catholic authority and a more entrenched defence.
3 Isa. vii. 9, according to the rendering of the Septuagint.
^2 2 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Chap, III.
CHAP. 2. OF GOD AND HIS EXCLUSIVE ETER- NITY.
2. For certain parties have attempted to gain acceptance for the opinion that God the Father is not Almighty: not that they have been bold enough expressly to affirm this, but ki their traditions they are convicted of entertaining and crediting such a notion. For when they affirm that there is a nature * which God Almighty did not create, but of which at the same time He fashioned this world, which they admit to have been dis- posed in beauty,2 they thereby deny that God is almighty, to the effect of not believing that He could have created the world without em- ploying, for the purpose of its construction, another nature, which had been in existence previously, and which He Himself had not made. Thus, forsooth, [they reason] from their carnal familiarity with the sight of crafts- men and house-builders, and artisans of all descriptions, who have no power to make good the effect of their own art unless they get the help of materials already prepared. And so these parties in like manner understand the Maker of the world not to be almighty, if3 thus He could not fashion the said world without the help of some other nature, not framed by Himself, which He had to use as His materials. Or if indeed they do allow God, the Maker of the world, to be almighty, it becomes matter of course that they must also acknowledge that He made out of nothing the things which He did make. For, grant- ing that He is almighty, there cannot exist anything of which He should not be the Creator. For although He made something out of something, as man out of clay,4 never- theless He certainly did not make any object out of aught which He Himself had not made; for the earth from which the clay comes He had made out of nothing. And even if He had made out of some material the heavens and the earth themselves, that is to say, the uni- verse and all things which are in it, according as it is written, "Thou who didst make the world out of matter unseen," 5 or also " with- out form," as some copies give it; yet we are under no manner of necessity to believe that this very material of which the universe was made, although it might be "without form," although it might be " unseen," whatever might be the mode of its subsistence, could possibly have subsisted of itself, as if it were co-eternal and co-eval with God. But what- 1 Naturam.
2 Reading pulchre ordinatum. Some editions give pulchre ornatum = beautifully adorned.
3 Si mundum fabricare non posset. For si some mss. give qni= inasmuch as He could not, etc.
4 De li/no=oi mud. 5 Wisd. xi. 17.
soever that mode was which it possessed to the effect of subsisting in some manner, whatever that manner might be, and of being capable of taking on the forms of distinct things, this it did not possess except by the hand of Almighty God, by whose goodness it is that everything exists, — not only every ob- ject which is already formed, but also every object which is formable. This, moreover, is the difference between the formed and the formable, that the formed has already taken on form, while the formable is capable of taking the same. But the same Being who imparts form to objects, also imparts the capability of being formed. For of Him and in Him is the fairest figure6 of all things, unchangeable; and therefore He Himself is One, who communicates to everything its possibilities, not only that it be beautiful actually, but also that it be capable of being beautiful. For which reason we do most right to believe that God made all things of nothing. For, even although the world was made of some sort of material, this self-same material itself was made of nothing; so that, in accordance with the most orderly gift of God, there was to enter first the capacity of taking forms, and then that all things should be formed which have been formed. This, however, we have said, in order that no one might suppose that the utterances of the divine Scriptures are contrary the one to the other, in so far as it is written at once that God made all things of nothing, and that the world was made of matter without form.
3. As we believe, therefore, in God the Father Almighty, we ought to uphold the opinion that there is no creature which has not been created by the Almighty. And since He created all things by the Word,? which Word is also designated the Truth, and the Power, and the Wisdom of God,8 — as also under many other appellations the Lord Jesus Christ, who9 is commended to our faith, is presented likewise to our mental ap- prehensions, to wit, our Deliverer and Ruler,10 the Son of God; for that Word, by whose means all things were founded, could not have been begotten by any other than by Him who founded all things by His instru- mentality;— chap. 3. — of the son of god, and his pecu- liar designation as the word.
— Since this is the case, I repeat, we be- 6 Speciosissima species = the seemliest semblance.
9 For qui several mss. give quibus here = under many other appellations is the Lord Jesus Christ introduced to our mental apprehensions, by which He is commended to our faith.
10 For Rector we also find Creator = Creator.
Chap. IV.]
ON FAITH AND THE CREED.
323 lieve also in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten of the Father, that is to say, His only Son, our Lord. This Word, however, we ought not to apprehend merely in the sense in which we think of our own words, which are given forth by the voice and the mouth, and strike the air and pass on, and subsist no longer than their sound continues. For that Word remains unchange- ably: for of this very Word was it spoken when of Wisdom it was said, " Remaining in herself, she maketh all things new."1 More- over, the reason of His being named the Word of the Father, is that the Father is made known by Him. Accordingly, just as it is our intention, when we speak truth, that by means of our words our mind should be made known to him who hears us, and that whatever we carry in secrecy in our heart may be set forth by means of signs of this sort for the intelligent understanding of another individual; so this Wisdom that God the Father begat is most appropriately named His Word, inasmuch as the most hidden Father is made known to worthy minds by the same.2 4. Now there is a very great difference between our mind and those words of ours, by which we endeavor to set forth the said mind. We indeed do not beget intelligible words,3 but we form them; and in the form- ing of them the body is the underlying material. Between mind and body, however, there is the greatest difference. But God, when He begat the Word, begat that which He is Himself. Neither out of nothing, nor of any material already made and founded, did He then beget; but He begat of Himself that which He is Himself. For we too aim at this when we speak, (as we shall see) if we carefully consider the inclination4 of our will; not when we lie, but when we speak the truth. For to what else do we direct our efforts then, but to bring our own very mind, if it can be done at all, in upon the mind of the hearer, with the view of its being appre- hended and thoroughly discerned by him; so that we may indeed abide in our very selves, and make no retreat from ourselves, and yet at the same time put forth a sign of such a nature as that by it a knowledge of us5 may 1 Wisd. vii. 27.
1 Wisd. vii. 27.
2 Adopting the Benedictine version, per ipsam innotescit dignis animis secretissimus Pater. There is, however, great variety of reading here. Some mss. give ignis for dignis = the most hidden fire of the Father is made known to minds. Others give signis = the most hidden Father is made known by signs to minds. Others have innotescit animus secretissimus Patris, or innotescit signis secretissimus Pater = the most hidden mind of the Father is made known by the same, or = the most hidden Father is made known by the same in signs.
3 Sonantia Tieroa = sounding, vocal words.
4 Appetitum.
5 Nostra notitia = our knowledge.
be effected in another individual; that thus, so far as the faculty is granted us, another mind may be, as it were, put forth by the mind, whereby it may disclose itself? This we do, making the attempt6 both bywords, and by the simple sound of the voice, and by the countenance, and by the gestures of the body, — by so many contrivances, in sooth, desiring to make patent that which is within; inasmuch as we are not able to put forth aught of this nature [in itself completely]: and thus it is that the mind of the speaker cannot become perfectly known; thus also it results that a place is open for falsehoods. God the Father, on the other hand, who pos- sessed both the will and the power to declare Himself with the utmost truth to minds de- signed to obtain knowledge of Him, with the purpose of thus declaring Himself begat this [Word] which He Himself is who did beget; which [Person] is likewise called His Power and Wisdom,7 inasmuch as it is by Him that He has wrought all things, and in order dis- posed them; of whom these words are for this reason spoken: " She (Wisdom) reacheth from one end to another mightily, and sweetly doth she order all things/' 8 CHAP. 4. OF THE SON OF GOD AS NEITHER MADE BY THE FATHER NOR LESS THAN THE FATHER, AND OF HIS INCARNATION.
5. Wherefore the only-begotten Son of God was neither made by the Father; for, according to the word of an evangelist, "all things were made by Him:"9 nor begotten instantaneously; I0 since God, who is eternally " wise, has with Himself His eternal Wisdom: nor unequal with the Father, that is to say, in anything less than He; for an apostle also speaks in this wise, "Who, although He was constituted in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." I2 By this catholic faith, therefore, those are excluded, on the one hand, who affirm that the Son is the same [Person] as the Father; for [it is clear that] this Word could not possibly be with God, were it not with God the Father, and [it is just as evident that] He who is alone is equal to no one. And, on the other hand, those are equally excluded who affirm that the Son is a creature, although not such an one as the rest of the creatures are. For 6 Reading conantes et verbis, etc. Three good mss. give conante fetu verbi = as the offspring of the word makes the attempt. The Benedictine editors suggest conantes fetu verbi = making the attempt by the offspring of the word.
10 According to the literal meaning of the phrase ex tempore. It may, however, here be used as = under conditions of time, or in time.
11 Reading sempiterne; for which sempitemus = the eternal wise God, is also given. I2 Phil. ii. 6.
324 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Chap. IV.
however great they declare the creature to be, if it is a creature, it has been fashioned and made.1 For the terms fashion and create* mean one and the same thing; al- though in the usage of the Latin tongue the phrase create is employed at times instead of what would be the strictly accurate word, beget. But the Greek language makes a dis- tinction. For we call that creatura (creature) which they call xriff/ua or nriais; and when we desire to speak without ambiguity, we use not the word creare (create), but the word condere (fashion, found). Consequently, if the Son is a creature, however great that may be, He has been made. But we believe in Him by whom all things {omnia) were made, not in Him by whom the rest of things {cetera) were made. For here again we cannot take this term all things in any other sense than as meaning whatsoever things have been made.
6. But as " the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,"3 the same Wisdom which was begotten of God condescended also to be created among men.4 There is a refer- ence to this in the word, " The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways."5 For the beginning of His ways is the Head of the Church, which is Christ6 endued with human nature {liomine indutus), by whom it was pur- posed that there should be given to us a pattern of living, that is, a sure7 way by which we might reach God. For by no other path was it possible for us to return but by humility, who fell by pride, according as it was said to our first creation, " Taste, and ye shall be as gods."8 Of this humility, therefore, that is to say, of the way by which it was needful for us to return, our Restorer Himself has deemed it meet to exhibit an example in His own person, "who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a ser- vant;"9 in order that He might be created Man in the beginning of His ways, the Word by whom all things were made. Wherefore, in so far as He is the Only-begotten, He has no brethren; but in so far as He is the First- begotten, He has deemed it worthy of Him to give the name of brethren to all those who, subsequently to and by means of His pre- eminence, 10 are born again into the grace of