Letter I.

[The 214th of Augustin’s Epistles.]

To my very dear lord and most honoured brother among the members of Christ, Valentinus, and to the brethren that are with you, Augustin sends greeting in the Lord.

1. Two young men, Cresconius and Felix, have found their way to us, and, introducing themselves as belonging to your brotherhood, have told us that your monastery was disturbed with no small commotion, because certain amongst you preach grace in such a manner as to deny that the will of man is free; and maintain—a more serious matter—that in the day of judgment God will not render to every man according to his works. 2    See Matt. xvi. 17, and Rom. ii. 6. At the same time, they have pointed out to us, that many of you do not entertain this opinion, but allow that free will is assisted by the grace of God, so as that we may think and do aright; so that, when the Lord shall come to render unto every man according to his works,3    See Matt. xvi. 17, and Rom. ii. 6. He shall find those works of ours good which God has prepared in order that we may walk in them.4    Eph. ii. 10. They who think this think rightly.

2. “I beseech you therefore, brethren,” even as the apostle besought the Corinthians, “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you.” For, in the first place, the Lord Jesus, as it is written in the Gospel of the Apostle John, “came not to condemn the world, but that the world by Himself might be saved.”5    John iii. 17. Then, afterwards, as the Apostle Paul writes, “God shall judge the world6    Rom. iii. 6. when He shall come,” as the whole Church confesses in the Creed, “to judge the quick and the dead.” Now, I would ask, if there is no grace of God, how does He save the world? and if there is no free will, how does He judge the world? That book of mine, therefore, or epistle, which the above-mentioned brethren have brought with them to you, I wish you to understand in accordance with this faith, so that you may neither deny God’s grace, nor uphold free will in such wise as to separate the latter from the grace of God, as if without this we could by any means either think or do anything according to God,—which is quite beyond our power. On this account, indeed, it is, that the Lord when speaking of the fruits of righteousness said, “Without me ye can do nothing.”7    John xv. 5.

3. From this you may understand why I wrote the letter which has been referred to,8    Ep. 194. to Sixtus, presbyter of the Church at Rome, against the new Pelagian heretics, who say that the grace of God is bestowed according to our own merits, so that he who glories has to glory not in the Lord, but in himself,—that is to say, in man, not in the Lord. This, however, the apostle forbids in these words: “Let no man glory in man;”9    1 Cor. iii. 21. while in another passage he says, “He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.”10    1 Cor. i. 31, and 2 Cor. x. 17. But these heretics, under the idea that they are justified by their own selves, just as if God did not bestow on them this gift, but they themselves obtained it by themselves, glory of course in themselves, and not in the Lord. Now, the apostle says to such, “Who maketh thee to differ from another?”11    1 Cor. iv. 7. and this he does on the ground that out of the mass of perdition which arose from Adam, none but God distinguishes a man to make him a vessel to honour, and not to dishonour.12    Rom. ix. 21. Lest, however, the carnal man in his foolish pride should, on hearing the question, “Who maketh thee to differ from another?” either in thought or in word answer and say: My faith, or my prayer, or my righteousness makes me to differ from other men, the apostle at once adds these words to the question, and so meets all such notions, saying, “What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou didst not receive it?”13    1 Cor. iv. 7. Now, they boast as if they did not receive their gifts by grace, who think that they are justified of their own selves, and who, on this account, glory in themselves, and not in the Lord.

4. Therefore I have in this letter, which has reached you, shown by passages of Holy Scripture, which you can examine for yourselves, that our good works and pious prayers and right faith could not possibly have been in us unless we had received them all from Him, concerning whom the Apostle James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”14    Jas. i. 17. And so no man can say that it is by the merit of his own works, or by the merit of his own prayers, or by the merit of his own faith, that God’s grace has been conferred upon him; nor suppose that the doctrine is true which those heretics hold, that the grace of God is given us in proportion to our own merit. This is altogether a most erroneous opinion; not, indeed, because there is no desert, good in pious persons, or evil in impious ones (for how else shall God judge the world?),15    Rom. iii. 6. but because a man is converted by that mercy and grace of God, of which the Psalmist says, “As for my God, His mercy shall prevent me;”16    Ps. lix. 10. so that the unrighteous man is justified, that is, becomes just instead of impious, and begins to possess that good desert which God will crown when the world shall be judged.

5. There were many things which I wanted to send you, by the perusal whereof you would have been able to gain a more exact and full knowledge of all that has been done by the bishops in their councils against these Pelagian heretics. But the brethren were in haste who came to us from your company. By them we have sent you this letter; which is, however, not an answer to any communication, because, in truth, they brought us no epistle from your beloved selves. Yet we had no hesitation in receiving them; for their simple manners proved to us clearly enough that there could have been nothing unreal or deceptive in their visit to us. They were, however, in much haste, as wishing to spend Easter at home with you; and my earnest prayer is, that so sacred a day may, by the Lord’s help, bring peace to you, and not dissension.

6. You will, indeed, take the better course (as I earnestly request you), if you will not refuse to send to me the very person by whom they say they have been disturbed. For either he does not understand my book, or else, perhaps, he is himself misunderstood, when he endeavours to solve and explain a question which is a very difficult one, and intelligible to few. For it is none other than the question of God’s grace which has caused persons of no understanding to think that the Apostle Paul prescribes it to us as a rule, “Let us do evil that good may come.”17    Rom. iii. 8. It is in reference to these that the Apostle Peter writes in his second Epistle; “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless and account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things: in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.”18    2 Pet. iii. 14–16.

7. Take good heed, then, to these fearful words of the great apostle; and when you feel that you do not understand, put your faith in the meanwhile in the inspired word of God, and believe both that man’s will is free, and that there is also God’s grace, without whose help man’s free will can neither be turned towards God, nor make any progress in God. And what you piously believe, that pray that you may have a wise understanding of. And, indeed, it is for this very purpose,—that is, that we may have a wise understanding, that there is a free will. For unless we understood and were wise with a free will, it would not be enjoined to us in the words of Scripture, “Understand now, ye simple among the people; and ye fools, at length be wise.”19    Ps. xciv. 8. The very precept and injunction which calls on us to be intelligent and wise, requires also our obedience; and we could exercise no obedience without free will. But if it were in our power to obey this precept to be understanding and wise by free will, without the help of God’s grace, it would be unnecessary to say to God, “Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments;”20    Ps. cxix. 73. nor would it have been written in the gospel, “Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures;”21    Luke xxiv. 45. nor should the Apostle James address us in such words as, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”22    Jas. i. 5. But the Lord is able to grant, both to you and to us, that we may rejoice over very speedy tidings of your peace and pious unanimity. I send you greeting, not in my own name only, but of the brethren also who are with me; and I ask you to pray for us with one accord and with all earnestness. The Lord be with you.

EPISTOLA PRIOR, INTER AUGUSTINIANAS CCXIV.

Domino dilectissimo, et in Christi membris honorando fratri VALENTINO, et fratribus qui tecum sunt, AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

1. Venerunt ad nos duo juvenes, Cresconius et Felix, de vestra congregatione se esse dicentes, qui nobis retulerunt, monasterium vestrum nonnulla dissensione turbatum, eo quod quidam in vobis sic gratiam praedicent, ut negent hominis esse liberum arbitrium; et, quod est gravius, dicant, quod in die judicii non sit redditurus Deus unicuique secundum opera ejus (Matth. XVI, 27; Rom. II, 6). Etiam hoc tamen indicaverunt, quod plures vestrum non ita sentiant, sed liberum arbitrium adjuvari fateantur per Dei gratiam, ut recta sapiamus atque faciamus; ut cum venerit Dominus reddere unicuique secundum opera ejus, inveniat opera nostra bona, quae praeparavit Deus ut in illis ambulemus (Ephes. II, 10). Hoc qui sentiunt, bene sentiunt.

2. Obsecro itaque vos, fratres, sicut Corinthios obsecravit Apostolus, per nomen Domini nostri Jesus Christi, ut idipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata (I Cor. I, 10). Primo enim Dominus Jesus, sicut scriptum est in Evangelio Joannis apostoli, non venit ut judicaret mundum, sed ut salvaretur mundus per ipsum (Joan. III, 17). Postea vero, sicut scribit apostolus Paulus, judicabit Deus mundum (Rom. III, 6), quando venturus est, sicut tota Ecclesia in Symbolo confitetur, judicare vivos et mortuos. Si igitur non est Dei gratia, quomodo salvat mundum? et si non est liberum arbitrium, quomodo judicat mundum? Proinde librum vel epistolam meam, quam secum ad nos supradicti attulerunt, secundum hanc fidem intelligite, ut neque negetis Dei gratiam, neque liberum arbitrium sic defendatis, ut a Dei gratia separetis, tanquam sine illa vel cogitare aliquid vel agere secundum Deum ulla ratione possimus, quod omnino non possumus. Propter hoc enim Dominus cum de fructu justitiae loqueretur, ait discipulis suis, Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5).

3. Unde supradictam epistolam ad Sixtum Romanae Ecclesiae presbyterum contra novos haereticos Pelagianos noveritis esse conscriptam, qui dicunt gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari, ut qui gloriatur, non in Domino, sed in se ipso glorietur, hoc est, in homine, non in Domino. Quod prohibet Apostolus, dicens, Nemo glorietur in homine (I Cor. III, 21). Et alio loco, Qui gloriatur, inquit, in Domino glorietur (Id. I, 31). Illi vero haeretici se ipsos a se ipsis justos fieri putantes, quasi hoc eis non dederit Deus, sed ipsi sibi, non utique in Domino, sed in semetipsis gloriantur. Talibus enim dicit Apostolus, Quis enim te discernit? Quod ideo dicit, quia de massa illius perditionis quae facta est ex Adam, non discernit hominem, ut eum faciat vas in honorem, non in contumeliam, nisi Deus. Sed quoniam homo carnalis et inaniter inflatus cum audisset, Quis enim te discernit? posset respondere vel voce vel cogitatione, et dicere, Discernit me fides mea, discernit me oratio mea, discernit me justitia mea; mox Apostolus occurrit cogitationibus ejus, et dixit, Quid enim habes quod non accepisti? Si autem accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis (Id. IV, 7)? Sic autem gloriantur quasi non acceperint, qui se a se ipsis justificari putant; ac per hoc in semetipsis, non in Domino gloriantur.

4. Propter quod ego in hac epistola, quae ad vos pervenit, probavi per testimonia sanctarum Scripturarum, quae ibi potestis inspicere, et bona opera nostra, et pias orationes, et rectam fidem nullo modo in nobis esse potuisse, nisi haec acciperemus ab illo, de quo dicit apostolus Jacobus, Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum (Jacobi I, 17); ne quisquam dicat meritis operum suorum, vel meritis orationum suarum, vel meritis fidei suae, sibi traditam Dei gratiam, et putetur verum esse quod illi haeretici dicunt, gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari; quod omnino falsissimum est: non quia nullum est meritum, vel bonum piorum, vel malum impiorum; (alioquin quomodo judicabit Deus mundum?) sed misericordia et gratia Dei convertit hominem, de qua Psalmus dicit, Deus meus, misericordia ejus praeveniet me (Psal. LVIII, 11); ut justificetur impius, hoc est, ex impio fiat justus, et incipiat habere meritum bonum, quod Dominus coronabit, quando judicabitur mundus.

5. Multa erant quae vobis mittere cupiebam, quibus lectis, totam ipsam causam quae conciliis episcopalibus acta est adversus eosdem Pelagianos haereticos, diligentius et plenius nosse possetis; sed festinaverunt fratres, qui ex numero vestro ad nos venerunt; per quos vobis non rescripsimus ista, sed scripsimus. Nullas enim ad nos vestrae Charitatis litteras attulerunt: tamen suscepimus eos, quoniam simplicitas eorum satis indicabat, nihil illos nobis potuisse confingere. Ideo autem festinaverunt, ut apud vos agerent Pascha, quo possit adjuvante-Domino tam sanctus dies vestram pacem quam dissensionem potius invenire.

0877 6. Melius autem facietis (quod multum rogo), si ipsum a quo dicunt se fuisse turbatos, ad me mittere non gravemini. Aut enim non intelligit librum meum, aut forte ipse non intelligitur, quando difficillimam quaestionem et paucis intelligibilem solvere atque enodare conatur. Ipsa est enim quaestio de gratia Dei, quae fecit ut homines non intelligentes putarent apostolum Paulum dicere: Faciamus mala, ut veniant bona (Rom. III, 8). Unde apostolus Petrus in secunda Epistola sua, Quapropter, inquit, charissimi, haec exspectantes satagite inviolati et immaculati apud eum reperiri in pace; et Domini nostri patientiam salutem existimate: sicut et dilectissimus frater noster Paulus secundum eam quae data est ei sapientiam, scripsit vobis, ut et in omnibus Epistolis, loquens in eis de his; in quibus sunt quaedam difficilia intellectu, quae indocti et instabiles homines pervertunt sicut et caeteras Scripturas, ad proprium suum interitum (II Petr. III, 14-16).

7. Cavete ergo quod tantus apostolus tam terribiliter dicit; et ubi sentitis vos non intelligere, interim credite divinis eloquiis, quia et liberum est hominis arbitrium, et gratia Dei, sine cujus adjutorio liberum arbitrium nec converti potest ad Deum, nec proficere in Deo. Et quod pie creditis, ut etiam sapienter intelligatis orate. Et ad hoc ipsum enim, id est, ut sapienter intelligamus, est utique liberum arbitrium. Nisi enim libero arbitrio intelligeremus atque saperemus, non nobis praeciperetur dicente Scriptura: Intelligite ergo qui insipientes estis in populo, et stulti aliquando sapite (Psal. XCIII, 8). Eo ipso quippe quo praeceptum et imperatum est, ut intelligamus atque sapiamus, obedientia nostra requiritur, quae nulla potest esse sine libero arbitrio. Sed si posset hoc ipsum sine adjutorio Dei gratiae fieri per liberum arbitrium, ut intelligeremus atque saperemus; non diceretur Deo, Da mihi intellectum, et discam mandata tua (Psal. CXVIII, 125); neque in Evangelio scriptum esset, Tunc aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas (Luc. XXIV, 45); nec Jacobus apostolus diceret, Si quis autem vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat, et dabitur ei (Jacobi I, 5). Potens est autem Dominus qui et vobis donet et nobis, ut de vestra pace et pia consensione nuntiis celerrimis gaudeamus. Saluto vos, non solum meo nomine, sed etiam fratrum qui mecum sunt, et rogo ut pro nobis concorditer atque instanter oretis. Sit vobiscum Dominus.