Chapter III.—Having Heard Faustus, the Most Learned Bishop of the Manichæans, He Discerns that God, the Author Both of Things Animate and Inanimate, Chiefly Has Care for the Humble.

3. Let me lay bare before my God that twenty-ninth year of my age. There had at this time come to Carthage a certain bishop of the Manichæans, by name Faustus, a great snare of the devil, and in any were entangled by him through the allurement of his smooth speech; the which, although I did commend, yet could I separate from the truth of those things which I was eager to learn. Nor did I esteem the small dish of oratory so much as the science, which this their so praised Faustus placed before me to feed upon. Fame, indeed, had before spoken of him to me, as most skilled in all becoming learning, and pre-eminently skilled in the liberal sciences. And as I had read and retained in memory many injunctions of the philosophers, I used to compare some teachings of theirs with those long fables of the Manichæans and the former things which they declared, who could only prevail so far as to estimate this lower world, while its lord they could by no means find out,242    Wisd. xiii. 9.    That is, as is explained further on in the section, the Martyrs. Tertullian gives us many indications of the veneration in which the martyrs were held towards the close of the second century. The anniversary of the martyr’s death was called his natalitium, or natal day, as his martyrdom ushered him into eternal life, and oblationes pro defunctis were then offered. (De Exhor. Cast. c. 11; De Coro. c. 3). Many extravagant things were said about the glory of martyrdom, with the view, doubtless, of preventing apostasy in time of persecution. It was described (De Bap. c. 16; and De Pat. c. 13.) as a second baptism, and said to secure for a man immediate entrance into heaven, and complete enjoyment of its happiness. These views developed in Augustin’s time into all the wildness of Donatism. Augustin gives us an insight into the customs prevailing in his day, and their significance, which greatly illustrates the present section. In his De Civ. Dei, viii. 27, we read: “But, nevertheless, we do not build temples, and ordain priests, rites, and sacrifices for these same martyrs; for they are not our gods, but their God is our God. Certainly we honour their reliquaries, as the memorials of holy men of God, who strove for the truth even to the death of their bodies, that the true religion might be made known, and false and fictitious religions exposed.…But who ever heard a priest of the faithful, standing at an altar built for the honour and worship of God over the holy body of some martyr, say in the prayers, I offer to thee a sacrifice, O Peter, or O Paul, or O Cyprian? For it is to God that sacrifices are offered at their tombs,—the God who made them both men and martyrs, and associated them with holy angels in celestial honour; and the reason why we pay such honours to their memory is, that by so doing we may both give thanks to the true God for their victories, and, by recalling them afresh to remembrance, may stir ourselves up to imitate them by seeking to obtain like crowns and palms, calling to our help that same God on whom they called. Therefore, whatever honours the religious may pay in the places of the martyrs, they are but honours rendered to their memory [ornamenta memoriarum], not sacred rites or sacrifices offered to dead men as to gods. And even such as bring thither food—which, indeed, is not done by the better Christians, and in most places of the world is not done at all—do so in order that it may be sanctified to them through the merits of the martyrs, in the name of the Lord of the martyrs, first presenting the food and offering prayer, and thereafter taking it away to be eaten, or to be in part bestowed upon the needy. But he who knows the one sacrifice of Christians, which is the sacrifice offered in those places, also knows that these are not sacrifices offered to the martyrs.” He speaks to the same effect in Book xxii. sec. 10; and in his Reply to Faustus (xx. 21), who had charged the Christians with imitating the Pagans, “and appeasing the ‘shades’ of the departed with wine and food.” See v. sec. 17, note.    See iii. sec. 12, iv. secs. 3 and 12, and v. sec. 19, above. seemed to me the more probable. For Thou art great, O Lord, and hast respect unto the lowly, but the proud Thou knowest afar off.”243    Ps. cxxxviii 6.    Following the example of Ambrose, Augustin used all his influence and eloquence to correct such shocking abuses in the churches. In his letter to Alypius, Bishop of Thagaste (when as yet only a presbyter assisting the venerable Valerius), he gives an account of his efforts to overcome them in the church of Hippo. The following passage is instructive (Ep. xxix. 9):—“I explained to them the circumstances out of which this custom seems to have necessarily risen in the Church, namely, that when, in the peace which came after such numerous and violent persecutions, crowds of heathen who wished to assume the Christian religion were kept back, because, having been accustomed to celebrate the feasts connected with their worship of idols in revelling and drunkenness, they could not easily refrain from pleasures so hurtful and so habitual, it had seemed good to our ancestors, making for the time a concession to this infirmity, to permit them to celebrate, instead of the festivals which they renounced, other feasts in honour of the holy martyrs, which were observed, not as before with a profane design, but with similar self-indulgence.”    “For with what understanding can man apprehend God, who does not yet apprehend that very understanding itself of his own by which he desires to apprehend Him? And if he does already apprehend this, let him carefully consider that there is nothing in his own nature better than it: and let him see whether he can there see any outlines of forms, or brightness of colours, or greatness of space, or distance of parts, or extension of size, or any movements through intervals of place, or any such thing at all. Certainly we find nothing of all this in that, than which we find nothing better in our own nature, that is, in our own intellect, by which we apprehend wisdom according to our capacity. What, therefore, we do not find in that, which is our own best, we ought not to seek in Him, who is far better than that best of ours; that so we may understand God, if we are able, and as much as we are able, as good without quality, great without quantity, a Creator though He lack nothing, ruling but from no position, sustaining all things without ‘having’ them, in His wholeness everywhere yet without place, eternal without time, making things that are changeable without change of Himself, and without passion. Whoso thus thinks of God, although he cannot yet find out in all ways what He is, yet piously takes heed, as much as he is able, to think nothing of Him that He is not.”—De Trin. v. 2. Nor dost Thou draw near but to the contrite heart,244    Ps. xxxiv. 18, and cxlv. 18.    See v. sec. 17, note 5, above. nor art Thou found by the proud,245    See Book iv. sec. 19, note, above.    On another occasion, when Monica’s mind was exercised as to non-essentials, Ambrose gave her advice which has perhaps given origin to the proverb, “When at Rome, do as Rome does.” It will be found in the letter to Casulanus (Ep. xxxvi. 32), and is as follows:—“When my mother was with me in that city, I, as being only a catechumen, felt no concern about these questions; but it was to her a question causing anxiety, whether she ought, after the custom of our own town, to fast on the Saturday, or, after the custom of the church of Milan, not to fast. To deliver her from perplexity, I put the question to the man of God whom I have first named. He answered, ‘What else can I recommend to others than what I do myself?’ When I thought that by this he intended simply to prescribe to us that we should take food on Saturdays,—for I knew this to be his own practice,—he, following me, added these words: ‘When I am here I do not fast on Saturday, but when I am at Rome I do; Whatever church you may come to, conform to its custom, if you would avoid either receiving or giving offence.’” We find the same incident referred to in Ep. liv. 3.—not even could they number by cunning skill the stars and the sand, and measure the starry regions, and trace the courses of the planets.

4. For with their understanding and the capacity which Thou hast bestowed upon them they search out these things; and much have they found out, and foretold many years before,—the eclipses of those luminaries, the sun and moon, on what day, at what hour, and from how many particular points they were likely to come. Nor did their calculation fail them; and it came to pass even as they foretold. And they wrote down the rules found out, which are read at this day; and from these others foretell in what year and in what month of the year, and on what day of the month, and at what hour of the day, and at what quarter of its light, either moon or sun is to be eclipsed, and thus it shall be even as it is foretold. And men who are ignorant of these things marvel and are amazed, and they that know them exult and are exalted; and by an impious pride, departing from Thee, and forsaking Thy light, they foretell a failure of the sun’s light which is likely to occur so long before, but see not their own, which is now present. For they seek not religiously whence they have the ability where-with they seek out these things. And finding that Thou hast made them, they give not themselves up to Thee, that Thou mayest preserve what Thou hast made, nor sacrifice themselves to Thee, even such as they have made themselves to be; nor do they slay their own pride, as fowls of the air,246    He makes use of the same illustrations on Psalms viii. and xi. , where the birds of the air represent the proud, the fishes of the sea those who have too great a curiosity, while the beasts of the field are those given to carnal pleasures. It will be seen that there is a correspondence between them and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, in 1 John ii. 16. See also above, Book iii. sec. 16; and below, Book x. sec. 41, etc.    Rom. xii. 11. nor their own curiosities, by which (like the fishes of the sea) they wander over the unknown paths of the abyss, nor their own extravagance, as the “beasts of the field,”247    Ps. viii. 7, 8. that Thou, Lord, “a consuming fire,”248    Deut. iv. 24. mayest burn up their lifeless cares and renew them immortally.

5. But the way—Thy Word,249    John i. 3. by whom Thou didst make these things which they number, and themselves who number, and the sense by which they perceive what they number, and the judgment out of which they number—they knew not, and that of Thy wisdom there is no number.250    Ps. cxlvii. 5, Vulg. But the Only-begotten has been “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,”251    1 Cor. i. 30. and has been numbered amongst us, and paid tribute to Cæsar.252    Matt. xvii. 27. This way, by which they might descend to Him from themselves, they knew not; nor that through Him they might ascend unto Him.253    In Sermon 123, sec. 3, we have: “Christ as God is the country to which we go—Christ as man is the way by which we go.” See note on Book iv. sec. 19, above. This way they knew not, and they think themselves exalted with the stars254    Isa. xiv. 13. and shining, and lo! they fell upon the earth,255    Rev. xii. 4. and “their foolish heart was darkened.”256    Rom. i. 21. They say many true things concerning the creature; but Truth, the Artificer of the creature, they seek not with devotion, and hence they find Him not. Or if they find Him, knowing that He is God, they glorify Him not as God, neither are they thankful,257    Ibid. but become vain in their imaginations, and say that they themselves are wise,258    Rom. i. 22. attributing to themselves what is Thine; and by this, with most perverse blindness, they desire to impute to Thee what is their own, forging lies against Thee who art the Truth, and changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things,259    Rom. i. 23.—changing Thy truth into a lie, and worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator.260    Rom. i. 25.

6. Many truths, however, concerning the creature did I retain from these men, and the cause appeared to me from calculations, the succession of seasons, and the visible manifestations of the stars; and I compared them with the sayings of Manichæus, who in his frenzy has written most extensively on these subjects, but discovered not any account either of the solstices, or the equinoxes, the eclipses of the luminaries, or anything of the kind I had learned in the books of secular philosophy. But therein I was ordered to believe, and yet it corresponded not with those rules acknowledged by calculation and my own sight, but was far different.

CAPUT III. De Fausto manichaeo, et de philosophorum caecitate qui per creaturas Creatorem non cognoverunt.

3. Proloquar in conspectu Dei mei annum illum undetrigesimum aetatis meae. Jam venerat Carthaginem quidam Manichaeorum episcopus, Faustus nomine, magnus laqueus diaboli: et multi implicabantur in eo per illecebram suaviloquentiae; quam ego tametsi laudabam, discernebam tamen a veritate rerum, quarum discendarum avidus eram; nec quali vasculo sermonis, sed quid mihi scientiae comedendum apponeret nominatus apud eos ille Faustus, intuebar. Fama enim de illo praelocuta mihi erat quod esset honestarum omnium doctrinarum peritissimus, et apprime disciplinis liberalibus eruditus. Et quoniam multa philosophorum legeram, memoriaeque mandata retinebam, ex eis quaedam comparabam illis Manichaeorum longis fabulis: et mihi probabiliora ista videbantur, quae dixerunt illi, qui tantum potuerunt valere, ut possent aestimare saeculum, quanquam ejus Dominum minime invenerint. Quoniam magnus es, Domine, et humilia respicis; excelsa autem a longe cognoscis (Psal. CXXXVII, 6): nec propinquas nisi obtritis corde; nec inveniris a superbis, nec si illi curiosa peritia numerent stellas et arenam, et dimetiantur sidereas plagas, et vestigent vias astrorum.

4. Mente enim sua quaerunt ista, et ingenio quod tu dedisti eis: et multa invenerunt et praenuntiaverunt ante multos annos defectus luminarium solis et lunae, quo die, qua hora, quanta ex parte futuri essent; et non eos fefellit numerus, et ita factum est ut praenuntiaverunt: et scripserunt regulas indagatas, et leguntur hodie, atque ex eis praenuntiatur quo anno et quo mense anni, et quo die mensis, et qua hora diei, et quota parte luminis sui defectura sit luna vel sol; et ita fiet ut praenuntiatur. Et mirantur haec homines et stupent qui nesciunt ea, et exsultant atque extolluntur qui sciunt; et per impiam superbiam recedentes et deficientes a lumine tuo, tanto ante solis defectum futurum praevident, et in praesentia suum 0708 non vident. Non enim religiose quaerunt unde habeant ingenium quo ista quaerunt. Et invenientes quia tu fecisti eos, non ipsi dant tibi se ut serves quod fecisti, et quales se ipsi fecerant occidunt se tibi , et trucidant exaltationes suas sicut volatilia, et curiositates suas sicut pisces maris, quibus perambulant secretas semitas abyssi, et luxurias suas sicut pecora campi; ut tu, Deus ignis edax, consumas mortuas curas eorum recreans eos immortaliter.

5. Sed non noverunt viam, Verbum tuum, per quod fecisti ea quae numerant, et ipsos qui numerant, et sensum quo cernunt quae numerant, et mentem de qua numerant; et sapientiae tuae non est numerus (Psal. CXLVI, 5). Ipse autem Unigenitus factus est nobis sapientia, et justitia, et sanctificatio (I Cor. I, 30); et numeratus est inter nos, et solvit tributum Caesari (Matth. XXII, 21). Non noverunt hanc viam, qua descendant ad illum a se, et per eum ascendant ad eum. Non noverunt hanc viam, et putant se excelsos esse cum sideribus et lucidos; et ecce ruerunt in terram, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum. Et multa vera de creatura dicunt, et Veritatem, creaturae artificem, non pie quaerunt, et ideo non inveniunt: aut si inveniunt, cognoscentes Deum, non sicut Deum honorant, aut gratias agunt; sed evanescunt in cogitationibus suis, et dicunt se esse sapientes, sibi tribuendo quae tua sunt, ac per hoc student perversissima caecitate etiam tibi tribuere quae sua sunt, mendacia scilicet in te conferentes, qui veritas es, et immutantes gloriam incorrupti Dei in similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis, et volucrum, et quadrupedum, et serpentum, et convertunt veritatem tuam in mendacium; et colunt, et serviunt creaturae potius quam Creatori (Rom. I, 21-25).

6. Multa tamen ab eis, ex ipsa creatura, vera dicta retinebam; et occurrebat mihi ratio per numeros et ordinem temporum, et visibiles attestationes siderum, et conferebam cum dictis Manichaei, quae de his rebus multa scripsit copiosissime delirans; et non mihi occurrebat ratio nec solstitiorum et aequinoctiorum, nec defectuum luminarium, nec quidquid tale in libris saecularis sapientiae didiceram. Ibi autem credere jubebar, et ad illas rationes numeris et oculis meis exploratas non occurrebat, et longe diversum erat.