Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions

29. And hereby, in Thy Word, not the depth of the sea, but the earth parted from the bitterness of the waters,1226 See sec. 20, note, and sec. 21, note, above. bringeth forth not the creeping and flying creature that hath life,1227 Gen. i. 20. but the living soul itself.1228 Gen. ii. 7. For now hath it no longer need of baptism, as the heathen have, and as itself had when it was covered with the waters,—for no other entrance is there into the kingdom of heaven,1229 John iii. 5. since Thou hast appointed that this should be the entrance,—nor does it seek great works of miracles by which to cause faith; for it is not such that, unless it shall have seen signs and wonders, it will not believe,1230 John iv. 48. when now the faithful earth is separated from the waters of the sea, rendered bitter by infidelity; and “tongues are for a sign, not to those that believe, but to those that believe not.”1231 1 Cor. xiv. 22. Nor then doth the earth, which Thou hast founded above the waters,1232 “Fundasti super aquas,” which is the Old Ver. of Ps. cxxxvi. 6. Augustin sometimes uses a version with “firmavit terram,” which corresponds to the LXX., but the Authorized Version renders the Hebrew more accurately by “stretched out.” In his comment on this place he applies this text to baptism as being the entrance into the Church, and in this he is followed by many mediæval writers. stand in need of that flying kind which at Thy word the waters brought forth. Send Thy word forth into it by Thy messengers. For we relate their works, but it is Thou who workest in them, that in it they may work out a living soul. The earth bringeth it forth, because the earth is the cause that they work these things in the soul; as the sea has been the cause that they wrought upon the moving creatures that have life, and the fowls that fly under the firmament of heaven, of which the earth hath now no need; although it feeds on the fish which was taken out of the deep, upon that table which Thou hast prepared in the presence of those that believe.1233 Ps. xxiii. 5. Many of the Fathers interpret this text of the Lord’s Supper, as Augustin does above. The fish taken out of the deep, which is fed upon, means Christ, in accordance with the well-known acrostic of ΙΧΘΥΣ. “If,” he says in his De Civ. Dei, xviii. 23, “you join the initial letters of these five Greek words, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Υἱὸς Σωτὴρ, which mean, ‘Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour,’ they will make the word ἰχθύς,—that is, ‘fish,’ in which word Christ is mystically understood, because He was able to live, that is, to exist without sin in the abyss of this mortality as in the depth of waters.” So likewise we find Tertullian saying in his De Bapt. chap. I.: “Nos pisciculi, secundum ΙΧΘΥΝ nostrum Jesum Christum in aqua nascimur; nec aliter quam in aqua permanendo salvi sumus.” See Bishop Kaye’s Tertullian, pp. 43, 44; and sec. 34, below. For therefore He was raised from the deep, that He might feed the dry land; and the fowl, though bred in the sea, is yet multiplied upon the earth. For of the first preachings of the Evangelists, the infidelity of men was the prominent cause; but the faithful also are exhorted, and are manifoldly blessed by them day by day. But the living soul takes its origin from the earth, for it is not profitable, unless to those already among the faithful, to restrain themselves from the love of this world, that so their soul may live unto Thee, which was dead while living in pleasures,1234 1 Tim. v. 6.—in death-bearing pleasures, O Lord, for Thou art the vital delight of the pure heart.

30. Now, therefore, let Thy ministers work upon the earth,—not as in the waters of infidelity, by announcing and speaking by miracles, and sacraments, and mystic words; in which ignorance, the mother of admiration, may be intent upon them, in fear of those hidden signs. For such is the entrance unto the faith for the sons of Adam forgetful of Thee, while they hide themselves from Thy face,1235 Gen. iii. 8. and become a darksome deep. But let Thy ministers work even as on the dry land, separated from the whirlpools of the great deep; and let them be an example unto the faithful, by living before them, and by stimulating them to imitation. For thus do men hear not with an intent to hear merely, but to act also. Seek the Lord, and your soul shall live,1236 Ps. lxix. 32. that the earth may bring forth the living soul. “Be not conformed to this world.”1237 Rom. xii. 2. Restrain yourselves from it; the soul lives by avoiding those things which it dies by affecting. Restrain yourselves from the unbridled wildness of pride, from the indolent voluptuousness of luxury, and from the false name of knowledge;1238 1 Tim. vi. 20. See p. 153, note 7, above. so that wild beasts may be tamed, the cattle subdued, and serpents harmless. For these are the motions of the mind in allegory; that is to say, the haughtiness of pride, the delight of lust, and the poison of curiosity are the motions of the dead soul; for the soul dies not so as to lose all motion, because it dies by forsaking the fountain of life,1239 Jer. ii. 13. See p. 133, note 2, and p. 129, note 8, above. and so is received by this transitory world, and is conformed unto it.

31. But Thy Word, O God, is the fountain of eternal life, and passeth not away; therefore this departure is kept in check by Thy word when it is said unto us, “Be not conformed unto this world,”1240 Rom. xii. 2. so that the earth may bring forth a living soul in the fountain of life,—a soul restrained in Thy Word, by Thy Evangelists, by imitating the followers of Thy Christ.1241 1 Cor. xi. 1. For this is after his kind; because a man is stimulated to emulation by his friend.1242 See p. 71, note 3, above. “Be ye,” saith he, “as I am, for I am as you are.”1243 Gal. iv. 12. Thus in the living soul shall there be good beasts, in gentleness of action. For Thou hast commanded, saying, Go on with thy business in meekness, and thou shalt be beloved by all men;1244 Ecclus. iii. 17etc. and good cattle, which neither if they eat, shall they over-abound, nor if they do not eat, have they any want;1245 1 Cor. viii. 8. and good serpents, not destructive to do hurt, but “wise”1246 Matt. x. 16. to take heed; and exploring only so much of this temporal nature as is sufficient that eternity may be “clearly seen, being understood by the things that are.”1247 Rom. i. 20. For these animals are subservient to reason,1248 In his De Gen. con. Manich. i. 20, he interprets the dominion given to man over the beasts of his keeping in subjection the passions of the soul, so as to attain true happiness. when, being kept in check from a deadly advance, they live, and are good.

CAPUT XXI. Producat terra animam vivam, etc., Gen. 1, 24.

29. Ac per hoc in verbo tuo non maris profunditas, sed ab aquarum amaritudine terra discreta ejecit 0857 , non reptilia animarum vivarum et volatilia, sed animam vivam. Neque enim jam opus habet Baptismo quo gentibus opus est, sicut opus habebat cum aquis tegeretur; non enim intratur aliter in regnum coelorum ex illo quo instituisti ut sic intretur: nec magnalia quaerit mirabilium quibus fiat fides; neque enim nisi signa et prodigia viderit, non credit (Joan. IV, 48), cum jam distincta sit terra fidelis ab aquis maris infidelitate amaris; et linguae in signo sunt non fidelibus, sed infidelibus (I Cor. XIV, 22). Nec isto igitur genere volatili, quod verbo tuo produxerunt aquae, opus habet terra quam fundasti super aquas. Immitte in eam verbum tuum per nuntios tuos. Opera enim eorum narramus, sed tu es qui operaris in eis, ut operentur animam vivam. Terra producit eam, quia terra causa est ut haec agant in ea; sicut mare fuit causa ut agerent reptilia animarum vivarum, et volatilia sub firmamento coeli, quibus jam terra non indiget; quamvis piscem manducet (Luc. XXIV, 43) levatum de profundo in ea mense quam parasti in conspectu credentium (Psal. XXII, 5); ideo enim de profundo levatus est ut alat aridam. Et aves, marina progenies, sed tamen super terram multiplicantur. Primarum enim vocum evangelizantium infidelitas hominum causa exstitit; sed et fideles exhortantur, et benedicuntur ab eis multipliciter de die in diem. At vero anima viva de terra sumpsit exordium, quia non prodest jam nisi fidelibus continere se ab amore hujus saeculi, ut anima eorum tibi vivat, quae mortua erat in deliciis vivens, deliciis, Domine, mortiferis (I Tim. V, 6); nam tu puri cordis vitales deliciae.

30. Operentur ergo jam in terra ministri tui, non sicut in aquis infidelitatis annuntiando et loquendo per miracula et sacramenta et voces mysticas, ubi intenta sit ignorantia mater admirationis in timore occultorum signorum; tatis enim est introitus ad fidem filiis Adam oblitis tui, dum abscondunt se a facie tua (Gen. III, 8) et fiunt abyssus: sed operentur etiam sicut in arida discreta a gurgitibus abyssi; et sint forma fidelibus vivendo coram eis, et excitando ad imitationem. Sic enim non tantum ad audiendum, sed etiam ad faciendum audiunt: Quaerite Dominum, et vivet anima vestra (Psal. LXVIII, 33), ut producat terra animam viventem. Nolite conformari huic saeculo (Rom. XII, 2), continete vos ab eo. Evitando vivit anima, quae appetendo moritur. Continete vos ab immani feritate superbiae, ab inerti voluptate luxuriae, et a fallaci nomine scientiae; ut sint bestiae mansuetae, et pecora edomita, et innoxii serpentes. Motus enim animae sunt isti in allegoria: sed fastus elationis, et delectatio libidinis, et venenum curiositatis motus sunt animae mortuae; quia non ita moritur, ut omni 0858 motu careat, quoniam discedendo a fonte vitae, moritur, atque ita suscipitur a praetereunte saeculo, et conformatur ei.

31. Verbum autem tuum, Deus, fons vitae aeternae est, et non praeterit: ideoque in verbo tuo cohibetur ille discessus, dum dicitur nobis, Nolite conformari huic saeculo; ut producat terra in fonte vitae animam viventem, in verbo tuo per Evangelistas tuos animam continentem, imitando imitatores Christi tui. Hoc est enim secundum genus, quoniam aemulatio viri ab amico est: Estote, inquit, sicut ego; quia et ego sicut vos (Galat. IV, 12). Ita erunt in anima viva bestiae bonae in mansuetudine actionis. Mandasti enim, dicens: In mansuetudine opera tua perfice, et ab omni homine diligeris (Eccli. III, 19). Et pecora bona neque si manducaverint, abundantia; neque si non manducaverint, egentia: et serpentes boni, non perniciosi ad nocendum, sed astuti ad cavendum; et tantum explorantes temporalem naturam, quantum sufficit, ut per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciatur aeternitas (Rom. I, 20). Serviunt enim rationi haec animalia, cum a progressu mortifero cohibita vivunt et bona sunt.