Letter LXXVII.

(a.d. 404.)

To Felix and Hilarinus, My Lords most Beloved, and Brethren Worthy of All Honour, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord.

1. I do not wonder to see the minds of believers disturbed by Satan, whom resist, continuing in the hope which rests on the promises of God, who cannot lie, who has not only condescended to promise in eternity rewards to us who believe and hope in Him, and who persevere in love unto the end, but has also foretold that in time offences by which our faith must be tried and proved shall not be wanting; for He said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold;” but He added immediately, “and he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.”533    Matt. xxiv. 12, 13. Why, therefore, should it seem strange that men bring calumnies against the servants of God, and being unable to turn them aside from an upright life, endeavour to blacken their reputation, seeing that they do not cease uttering blasphemies daily against God, the Lord of these servants, if they are displeased by anything in which the execution of His righteous and secret counsel is contrary to their desire? Wherefore I appeal to your wisdom, my lords most beloved, and brethren worthy of all honour, and exhort you to exercise your minds in the way which best becomes Christians, setting over against the empty calumnies and groundless suspicions of men the written word of God, which has foretold that these things should come, and has warned us to meet them with fortitude.

2. Let me therefore say in a few words to your Charity, that the presbyter Boniface has not been discovered by me to be guilty of any crime, and that I have never believed, and do not yet believe, any charge brought against him. How, then, could I order his name to be deleted from the roll of presbyters, when filled with alarm by that word of our Lord in the gospel: “With what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged”?534    Matt. vii. 2. For, seeing that the dispute which has arisen between him and Spes has by their consent been submitted to divine arbitration in a way which, if you desire it, can be made known to you,535    He refers to their visiting the tomb of Felix of Nola, in the hope that by some miracle there the innocent and the guilty would be distinguished. See Letter LXXVIII. sec. 3, p. 346. who am I, that I should presume to anticipate the divine award by deleting or passing over his name? As a bishop, I ought not rashly to suspect him; and as being only a man, I cannot decide infallibly concerning things which are hidden from me. Even in secular matters, when an appeal has been made to a higher authority, all procedure is sisted while the case awaits the decision from which there is no appeal; because if anything were changed while the matter is depending on his arbitration, this would be an insult to the higher tribunal. And how great the distance between even the highest human authority and the divine!

May the mercy of the Lord our God never forsake you, my lords most beloved, and brethren worthy of all honour.

EPISTOLA LXXVII . Augustinus Felici et Hilarino, ut ne perturbentur obortis in Ecclesia scandalis. Porro de Bonifacio, qui in nullo apud se crimine deprehensus fuerit, statuere non posse ut ejus nomen de presbyterorum albo expungatur, maxime cum ipsius causam ad Dei judicium transmiserit.

Dominis dilectissimis meritoque honorandis fratribus FELICI et HILARINO , AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

1. Non miror satanam fidelium animos perturbantem: cui resistite, permanentes in spe promissorum Dei qui fallere non potest; qui non solum nobis in se credentibus, et sperantibus, et in ejus charitate usque in finem perseverantibus polliceri praemia aeterna dignatus est, verum etiam temporalia scandala non defutura praedixit, quibus fidem nostram exerceri et probari oporteret: ait enim, Quoniam abundabit iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multorum; sed continuo subjecit, Qui autem perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit (Matth. XXIV, 12, 13). Quid ergo mirum, si homines servis Dei detrahunt, et quia eorum vitam pervertere non possunt, famam decolorare conantur, cum ipsum Deum et Dominum eorum quotidie blasphemare non cessent, cum eis displicet quidquid contra eorum voluntatem justo et occulto judicio facit? Unde exhortor prudentiam vestram, domini dilectissimi meritoque honorandi fratres, ut Scripturam Dei, quae nobis haec omnia futura praenuntiavit, et adversus ea nos firmos esse debere praemonuit, contra hominum maledica vaniloquia suspicionesque temerarias corde christianissimo cogitetis.

2. Breviter itaque dico Charitati vestrae, Bonifacium presbyterum in nullo crimine apud me fuisse detectum, nequaquam me de illo tale aliquid credidisse vel credere. Quomodo ergo juberem de numero presbyterorum nomen ejus auferri, vehementer terrente Evangelio ubi Dominus ait: In quo judicio judicaveritis, judicabimini (Id. VII, 2)? Cum enim causa quae inter 0267 illum et Spem exorta est, sub divino examine pendeat secundum placitum eorum, quod vobis si volueritis poterit recitari; quis ego sum, ut audeam Dei praevenire sententiam in delendo vel supprimendo ejus nomine, de quo nec suspicari temere mali aliquid episcopus debui, nec dilucide judicare homo de occultis hominum potui, cum in ipsis causis saecularibus, quando ad majorem potestatem refertur arbitrium judicandi, manentibus sicuti erant omnibus rebus, exspectetur illa sententia, unde jam non liceat provocari, ne superiori cognitori fiat injuria, si ejus pendente judicio aliquid fuerit commutatum? Et utique multum interest inter divinam et humanam quamlibet excelsissimam potestatem. Domini Dei nostri misericordia nunquam vos deserat, domini dilectissimi et honorandi fratres.