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Augustine of Hippo, On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
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A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
Chapter 1 [I.]—Introductory, in the Shape of an Inscription to His Friend Marcellinus.
Chapter 2 [II.]—If Adam Had Not Sinned, He Would Never Have Died.
Chapter 3 [III.]—It is One Thing to Be Mortal, Another Thing to Be Subject to Death.
Chapter 4 [IV.]—Even Bodily Death is from Sin.
Chapter 6 [VI.]—How It is that the Body Dead Because of Sin.
Chapter 8 [VIII.]—Bodily Death from Adam’s Sin.
Chapter 9 [IX.]—Sin Passes on to All Men by Natural Descent, and Not Merely by Imitation.
Chapter 10.—The Analogy of Grace.
Chapter 12.—The Law Could Not Take Away Sin.
Chapter 13 [XI.]—Meaning of the Apostle’s Phrase “The Reign of Death.”
Chapter 14.—Superabundance of Grace.
Chapter 15 [XII.]—The One Sin Common to All Men.
Chapter 16 [XIII.]—How Death is by One and Life by One.
Chapter 17.—Whom Sinners Imitate.
Chapter 18.—Only Christ Justifies.
Chapter 20.—Original Sin Alone is Contracted by Natural Birth.
Chapter 22 [XVII.]—To Infants Personal Sin is Not to Be Attributed.
Chapter 24 [XIX.]—Infants Saved as Sinners.
Chapter 26 [XX.]—No One, Except He Be Baptized, Rightly Comes to the Table of the Lord.
Chapter 27.—Infants Must Feed on Christ.
Chapter 28.—Baptized Infants, of the Faithful Unbaptized, of the Lost.
Chapter 29 [XXI.]—It is an Inscrutable Mystery Why Some are Saved, and Others Not.
Chapter 30.—Why One is Baptized and Another Not, Not Otherwise Inscrutable.
Chapter 32.—The Case of Certain Idiots and Simpletons.
Chapter 33.—Christ is the Saviour and Redeemer Even of Infants.
Chapter 35.—Unless Infants are Baptized, They Remain in Darkness.
Chapter 36.—Infants Not Enlightened as Soon as They are Born.
Chapter 37.—How God Enlightens Every Person.
Chapter 38.—What “Lighteth” Means.
Chapter 39 [XXVI.]—The Conclusion Drawn, that All are Involved in Original Sin.
Chapter 40 [XXVII.]—A Collection of Scripture Testimonies. From the Gospels.
Chapter 41.—From the First Epistle of Peter.
Chapter 42.—From the First Epistle of John.
Chapter 43.—From the Epistle to the Romans.
Chapter 44.—From the Epistles to the Corinthians.
Chapter 45.—From the Epistle to the Galatians.
Chapter 46.—From the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Chapter 47.—From the Epistle to the Colossians.
Chapter 48.—From the Epistles to Timothy.
Chapter 49.—From the Epistle to Titus.
Chapter 50.—From the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Chapter 51.—From the Apocalypse.
Chapter 52.—From the Acts of the Apostles.
Chapter 53.—The Utility of the Books of the Old Testament.
Chapter 56.—No One is Reconciled to God Except Through Christ.
Chapter 58 [XXX.]—In What Respect the Pelagians Regarded Baptism as Necessary for Infants.
Chapter 59.—The Context of Their Chief Text.
Chapter 62 [XXXIII.]—No One Can Be Reconciled to God, Except by Christ.
Chapter 63 [XXXIV.]—The Form, or Rite, of Baptism. Exorcism.
Chapter 64.—A Twofold Mistake Respecting Infants.
Chapter 65 [XXXV.]—In Infants There is No Sin of Their Own Commission.
Chapter 66.—Infants’ Faults Spring from Their Sheer Ignorance.
Chapter 67 [XXXVI.]—On the Ignorance of Infants, and Whence It Arises.
Chapter 69 [XXXVIII.]—The Ignorance and the Infirmity of an Infant.
Chapter 1 [I.]—What Has Thus Far Been Dwelt On And What is to Be Treated in This Book.
Chapter 5 [V.]—The Will of Man Requires the Help of God.
Chapter 8 [VII.]—(2) Whether There is in This World a Man Without Sin.
Chapter 10 [VIII.]—Perfection, When to Be Realized.
Chapter 12 [X.]—He Reconciles Some Passages of Scripture.
Chapter 13.—A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
Chapter 14. —Job Was Not Without Sin.
Chapter 15.—Carnal Generation Condemned on Account of Original Sin.
Chapter 18 [XIII.]—Perfect Human Righteousness is Imperfect.
Chapter 19.—Zacharias and Elisabeth, Sinners.
Chapter 20.—Paul Worthy to Be the Prince of the Apostles, and Yet a Sinner.
Chapter 21 [XIV.]—All Righteous Men Sinners.
Chapter 23 [XXI.]—Why God Prescribes What He Knows Cannot Be Observed.
Chapter 25.—God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy.
Chapter 28 [XVIII.]—A Good Will Comes from God.
Chapter 29.—A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
Chapter 31.—Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth.
Chapter 32.—God’s Sovereignity in His Grace.
Chapter 33.—Through Grace We Have Both the Knowledge of Good, and the Delight Which It Affords.
Chapter 35 [XXI.]—Adam and Eve Obedience Most Strongly Enjoined by God on Man.
Chapter 36 [XXII.]—Man’s State Before the Fall.
Chapter 37 [XXIII.]—The Corruption of Nature is by Sin, Its Renovation is by Christ.
Chapter 39 [XXV.]—An Objection of Pelagians.
Chapter 40.—An Argument Anticipated.
The apostle indeed says, “ Else were your children unclean now holy
Chapter 42.—Sanctification Manifold Sacrament of Catechumens.
Chapter 43 [XXVII.]—Why the Children of the Baptized Should Be Baptized.
Chapter 44.—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 49 [XXX.]—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 50 [XXXI.]—Why It is that Death Itself is Not Abolished, Along with Sin, by Baptism.
Chapter 51.—Why the Devil is Said to Hold the Power and Dominion of Death.
Chapter 52 [XXXII.]—Why Christ, After His Resurrection, Withdrew His Presence from the World.
Chapter 53 [XXXIII.]—An Objection of the Pelagians.
Chapter 54 [XXXIV.]—Why Punishment is Still Inflicted, After Sin Has Been Forgiven.
Chapter 56.—The Case of David, in Illustration.
Chapter 57 [XXXV.]—Turn to Neither Hand.
Chapter 58 [XXXVI.]—“Likeness of Sinful Flesh” Implies the Reality.
Chapter 1 [I.]—Pelagius Esteemed a Holy Man His Expositions on Saint Paul.
Chapter 2 [II.]—Pelagius’ Objection Infants Reckoned Among the Number of Believers and the Faithful.
Chapter 3.—Pelagius Makes God Unjust.
Chapter 6.—Why Pelagius Does Not Speak in His Own Person.
Chapter 7 [IV.]—Proof of Original Sin in Infants.
Chapter 8.—Jesus is the Saviour Even of Infants.
Chapter 9.—The Ambiguity of “Adam is the Figure of Him to Come.”
Chapter 10 [V.]—He Shows that Cyprian Had Not Doubted the Original Sin of Infants.
Chapter 11.—The Ancients Assumed Original Sin.
Chapter 12 [VI.]—The Universal Consensus Respecting Original Sin.
Chapter 13 [VII.]—The Error of Jovinianus Did Not Extend So Far.
Chapter 15 [VIII.]—We All Sinned Adam’s Sin.
Chapter 17 [IX.]—Christians Do Not Always Beget Christian, Nor the Pure, Pure Children.
Chapter 18 [X.]—Is the Soul Derived by Natural Propagation?
Chapter 19 [XI.]—Sin and Death in Adam, Righteousness and Life in Christ.
Chapter 20.—The Sting of Death, What?
Chapter 22 [XIII.]—We Ought to Be Anxious to Secure the Baptism of Infants.
Chapter 5 [V.]—The Will of Man Requires the Help of God.
Now for the commission of sin we get no help from God; but we are not able to do justly, and to fulfil the law of righteousness in every part thereof, except we are helped by God. For as the bodily eye is not helped by the light to turn away therefrom shut or averted, but is helped by it to see, and cannot see at all unless it help it; so God, who is the light of the inner man, helps our mental sight, in order that we may do some good, not according to our own, but according to His righteousness. But if we turn away from Him, it is our own act; we then are wise according to the flesh, we then consent to the concupiscence of the flesh for unlawful deeds. When we turn to Him, therefore, God helps us; when we turn away from Him, He forsakes us. But then He helps us even to turn to Him; and this, certainly, is something that light does not do for the eyes of the body. When, therefore, He commands us in the words, “Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you,”253 Zech. i. 3. and we say to Him, “Turn us, O God of our salvation,”254 Ps. lxxxv. 4. and again, “Turn us, O God of hosts;”255 Ps. lxxx. 3, 4. what else do we say than, “Give what Thou commandest?”256 Da quod jubes; see the Confessions, Book x. chap. 26. When He commands us, saying, “Understand now, ye simple among the people,”257 Ps. xciv. 8. and we say to Him, “Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments;”258 Ps. cxix. 73. what else do we say than, “Give what Thou commandest?” When He commands us, saying, “Go not after thy lusts,”259 Ecclus. xviii. 30. and we say to Him, “We know that no man can be continent, except God gives it to him;”260 Wisd. viii. 21. what else do we say than, “Give what Thou commandest?” When He commands us, saying, “Do justice,”261 Isa. lvi. 1. and we say, “Teach me Thy judgments, O Lord;”262 Ps. cxix. 108. what else do we say than, “Give what Thou commandest?” In like manner, when He says: “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled,”263 Matt. v. 6. from whom ought we to seek for the meat and drink of righteousness, but from Him who promises His fulness to such as hunger and thirst after it?
CAPUT V.
5. Voluntas hominis eget ope Dei. Ad peccandum namque non adjuvamur a Deo: justa autem agere vel justitiae praeceptum omni ex parte implere non possumus, nisi adjuvemur a Deo. Sicut enim corporis oculus non adjuvatur a luce, ut ab eadem luce clausus aversusve discedat; ut autem videat adjuvatur ab ea, neque hoc omnino nisi illa adjuverit, potest: ita Deus, qui lux est hominis interioris, adjuvat nostrae mentis obtutum, ut non secundum nostram, sed secundum ejus justitiam boni aliquid operemur. Si autem ab illo avertimur, nostrum est; et tunc secundum carnem sapimus, tunc concupiscentiae carnis ad illicita consentimus. Conversos ergo Deus 0154 adjuvat, aversos deserit. Sed etiam ut convertamur, ipse adjuvat: quod certe oculis corporis lux ista non praestat. Cum ergo nobis jubet dicens, Convertimini ad me, et convertar ad vos (Zach. I, 3); nosque illi dicimus, Converte nos, Deus sanitatum nostrarum (Psal. LXXXIV, 5); et, Deus virtutum, converte nos (Psal. LXXIX, 8): quid aliud dicimus, quam, Da quod jubes? Cum jubet dicendo, Intelligite ergo, qui insipientes estis in populo (Psal. XCIII, 8); et nos illi dicimus, Da mihi intellectum, ut discam mandata tua (Psal. CXVIII, 73): quid aliud dicimus, quam, Da quod jubes? Cum jubet dicendo, Post concupiscentias tuas non eas (Eccli. XVIII, 30); nosque dicimus, Scimus quia nemo potest esse continens, nisi Deus det (Sap. VIII, 21): quid aliud dicimus, quam, Da quod jubes? Cum jubet dicendo, Facite justitiam (Isai. LVI, 1); nosque dicimus, Doce me justificationes tuas (Psal. CXVIII, 12): quid aliud dicimus, quam, Da quod jubes? Item cum dicit, Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur (Matth. V, 6): a quo debemus petere cibum potumque justitiae, nisi ab illo qui esurientibus eam et sitientibus promittit ejus saturitatem?