# On Nature and Grace - Author: [Augustine of Hippo](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/augustine-of-hippo/) - Latin title: *De natura et gratia* - Date: 415 (approximate) - Source: Carl Urba and Joseph Zycha, eds., Sancti Aureli Augustini... De natura et gratia..., CSEL 60 (Vienna: Tempsky; Leipzig: Freytag, 1913) (Latin text: Urba and Zycha, De natura et gratia (CSEL 60, 1913), digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/ - Passages: 84 ## On Nature and Grace 1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-1 - Source: CSEL 60:233–234 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the book Timasius and James sent him (Pelagius' On Nature), warning that its zeal for human responsibility undermines the righteousness that comes only by the grace of Christ. ### Latin text Librum quem misistis, carissimi filii Timasi et Iacobe, intermissis paululum, quae in manibus erant, cursim quidem, sed non mediocri intentione perlegi et uidi hominem zelo ardentissimo accensum aduersus eos, qui cum in suis peccatis humanam uoluntatem debeant accusare. naturam potius accusantes hominum per illam se excusare conantur. nimis exarsit aduersus hanc pestilentiam. quam etiam litterarum saecularium auctores grauiter arguerunt exclamantes: falso queritur de natura sua genus humanum. hanc prorsus etiam iste sententiam quantis potuit ingenii uiribus aggorauit. uerum tamen timeo ne illis potius suffragetur, qui zelum dei habent, sed non secundum scientiam; ignorantes enim dei iustitiae et suam uolentes constituere iustitiae dei non sunt subiecti. quae sit autem iustitia dei de qua hic loquitur consequenter aperit adiungens: finis enim legis Christus ad iustitiae omni credenti. hanc itaque iustitiae dei non in praecepto legis, quo timor incutitur, sed in adiutorio gratiae Christi, ad quam solam utiliter legis uelut paedagogi timor ducit. constitutam esse qui intellegit, ipse intellegit quare sit Christianus. nam si per legem iustitia, ergo Christus gratis mortuus est. si autem non gratis mortuus est, in illo solo iustificatur impius, cui credenti in eum qui iustificat impium deputatur fides ad iustitiam. omnes enim peccauerunt et egent gloria dei iustificati gratis per sanguinem ipsius. quicumque autem non putantur pertinere ad hos omnes, qui peccauerunt et egent gloria dei, profecto nullam necessitatem habent ut Christiani fiant, quia non est opus sanis medicus, sed aegrotantibus; unde non uenit ille uocare iustos, sed peccatores. ### English translation (Claude) The book you sent, my dearest sons Timasius and James, I have read through, setting aside for a little the things I had in hand; quickly indeed, but with no small attention. And I saw a man on fire with the most ardent zeal against those who, when they ought to blame the human will for their sins, blame rather the nature of men and try to excuse themselves by it. He has blazed out too much against this pestilence, which even the authors of secular literature have severely rebuked, exclaiming: “The human race complains falsely of its nature.” This very opinion he too has pressed with all the strength of his talent. Yet I fear that he may rather lend support to those who “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” What the righteousness of God is of which he speaks here, he makes clear next by adding: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Whoever understands, then, that this righteousness of God is established not in the command of the law, by which fear is struck into us, but in the help of the grace of Christ, to which alone the fear of the law, like a schoolmaster, usefully leads, understands why he is a Christian. “For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died in vain.” But if he did not die in vain, in him alone is the ungodly justified, whose faith, as he believes in him who justifies the ungodly, is reckoned as righteousness. “For all have sinned and lack the glory of God, being justified freely by his blood.” But those who are not thought to belong to these “all” who have sinned and lack the glory of God certainly have no need to become Christians, because “it is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick”; hence he came “to call not the righteous, but sinners.” ### Scripture references - Rom 10:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:4: quotation, high confidence - Gal 3:24: allusion, high confidence - Gal 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 4:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 3:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:13: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sallust, Iug. 1.1 (Sallust): quotation, high confidence - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The book is Pelagius' On Nature (De natura), now lost and known chiefly from Augustine's quotations in this treatise; Augustine does not name its author. Sallust, Jugurtha 1.1. Terms used throughout: gratia “grace”, natura “nature”, liberum arbitrium “free choice” (of the will), iustitia “righteousness”, iustificare “justify”. Rom 3:24 is combined with Rom 5:9 (“by his blood”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 1 (CSEL 60:233–234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-1). ## On Nature and Grace 2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-2 - Source: CSEL 60:234–235 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that if nature alone could fulfill righteousness without faith in Christ, Christ would have died in vain. ### Latin text Ac per hoc natura humani generis ex illius unius praeuaricatoris carne procreata, si potest sibi sufficere ad inplendam legem perficiendamque iustitiam, de praemio debet esse secura, hoc est de uita aeterna, etiamsi in aliqua gente aut aliquo superiore tempore fides eam latuit sanguinis Christi. non enim iniustus deus. qui iustos fraudet mercede iustitiae, si eis non est annuntiatum sacramentum diuinitatis et humanitatis Christi, quod manifestatum est in carne. quomodo enim crederent quod non audierunt? aut quomodo audirent sine praedicante? fides enim ex auditu, sicut scriptum est, auditus autem per uerbum Christi. sed dico, inquit: numquid non audierunt? in omnem terram exiit sonus eorum et in fines orbis terrae uerba eorum. sed antequam hoc inciperet fieri, antequam denique usque ad fines totius orbis terrae praedicatio ipsa perueniat — quoniam non desunt adhuc ultimae gentes, licet ut perhibetur paucissimae, quibus hoc nondum fuerit praedicatum, quid faciat humana natura uel quid fecit, quae uel ante non audierat hoc futurum uel adhuc non comperit factum nisi credendo in deum, qui fecit caelum et terram, a quo et se factam naturaliter sentit et recte uiuendo eius inpleat uoluntatem nulla fide passionis Christi et resurrectionis imbuta? quod si fieri potuit aut potest, hoc et ego dico, quod de lege dixit apostolus: ergo Christus gratis mortuus est. si enim hoc ille dixit de lege quam accepit gens una Iudaeorum, quanto iustius dicitur de lege naturae. quam accepit uniuersum genus humanum: si per naturam iustitia, ergo Christus gratis mortuus est! si autem Christus non gratis mortuus est, ergo omnis humana natura iustificari et redimi ab ira dei iustissima, hoc est a uindicta, nullo modo potest nisi per fidem et sacramentum sanguinis Christi. ### English translation (Claude) And so, if the nature of the human race, begotten from the flesh of that one transgressor, can suffice for itself to fulfill the law and to perfect righteousness, it ought to be secure about its reward, that is, about eternal life, even if in some nation or at some earlier time faith in the blood of Christ was hidden from it. For God is not unjust, to defraud the righteous of the reward of righteousness if the mystery [sacramentum] of Christ's divinity and humanity, which was manifested in the flesh, has not been announced to them. “For how could they believe what they have not heard? Or how could they hear without a preacher?” “For faith comes from hearing,” as it is written, “and hearing through the word of Christ. But I say,” he says, “have they not heard? Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” But before this began to happen, and indeed before the preaching itself reaches the ends of the whole world (since there are still remote nations, though, as is reported, very few, to whom it has not yet been preached), what is human nature to do, or what did it do, which either had not heard beforehand that this would come about or has not yet learned that it has come about, except by believing in God, who made heaven and earth, by whom it perceives by nature that it too was made, and by living rightly fulfill his will, without being imbued with any faith in the passion and resurrection of Christ? If this could be done, or can be, then I too say what the apostle said of the law: “Then Christ died in vain.” For if he said this of the law which the one nation of the Jews received, how much more justly is it said of the law of nature, which the whole human race received: “If righteousness is through nature, then Christ died in vain!” But if Christ did not die in vain, then the whole of human nature can in no way be justified and redeemed from the most just wrath of God, that is, from punishment, except through faith in, and the sacrament of, the blood of Christ. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Rom 10:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:18: quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:14: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text reads “per fidem ut sacramentum”, probably a slip for “per fidem et sacramentum”; corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 2 (CSEL 60:234–235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-2). ## On Nature and Grace 3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-3 - Source: CSEL 60:235 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that human nature was created good but is now weakened by original sin and needs Christ as its physician. ### Latin text Natura quippe hominis primitus inculpata et sine ullo uitio creata est; natura uero ista hominis, qua unusquisque ex Adam nascitur, iam medico indiget, quia sana non est. omnia quidem bona. quae habet in formatione,, uita. sensibus, menti, a summo deo habet creatore et artifice suo. uitium uero, quod ista naturalia bona contenebrat et infirmat, ut inluminatione et curatione opus habeat, non ab inculpabili artifice contractum est, sed ex originali peccato, quod commissum est libero arbitrio. ac per hoc natura poenalis ad uindictam iustissimam pertinet. si enim iam sumus in Christo noua creatura, tamen eramus natura filii irae sicut et ceteri; deus autem, qui diues est in misericordia, propter multam dilectionem, qua dilexit nos, et cum essemus mortui delictis. conuiuificauit nos Christo, cuius gratia sumus salui facti. ### English translation (Claude) For the nature of man was at first created blameless and without any fault; but this nature of man in which each one is born from Adam now needs a physician, because it is not healthy. All the good things, indeed, that it has in its formation, life, senses, and mind, it has from the supreme God, its creator and maker. But the fault that darkens and weakens these natural goods, so that it needs enlightening and healing, was not contracted from the blameless maker, but from original sin, which was committed by free choice. And so a nature subject to punishment belongs to most just retribution. For even if we are now a new creature in Christ, yet “we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest; but God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ, by whose grace we have been saved.” ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:5: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 3 (CSEL 60:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-3). ## On Nature and Grace 4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-4 - Source: CSEL 60:235–236 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that the grace of Christ is given freely, not for merit, and that those not freed by it, including unbaptized infants, are justly condemned for sin. ### Latin text Haec igitur Christi gratia, sine qua nec infantes nec aetate grandes salui fieri possunt, non meritis redditur, sed gratis datur. propter quod gratia nominatur. iustificati, inquit, gratis per sanguinem ipsius. unde hi qui non per illam liberantur. sicut quia audire nondum potuerunt siue quia oboedire noluerunt siue etiam, cum per aetatem audire non possent, lauacrum regenerationis quod accipere possent. per quod salui fierent, non acceperunt, iuste utique damnantur, quia sine peccato non sunt, uel quod originaliter traxerunt uel quod malis moribus addiderunt: omnes enim peccauerunt — siue in Adam siue in se ipsis — et egent gloria dei. ### English translation (Claude) This grace of Christ, then, without which neither infants nor those grown in age can be saved, is not rendered for merits but given freely; that is why it is called grace. “Being justified,” he says, “freely by his blood.” So those who are not set free through it, whether because they have not yet been able to hear, or because they would not obey, or also because, when by reason of age they could not hear, they did not receive the washing of regeneration, which they could have received and by which they would have been saved, are certainly condemned justly, because they are not without sin, either what they contracted by origin or what they added by evil conduct: “for all have sinned” (whether in Adam or in themselves) “and lack the glory of God.” ### Scripture references - Rom 3:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:9: quotation, high confidence - Titus 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Augustine's teaching on unbaptized infants is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 4 (CSEL 60:235–236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-4). ## On Nature and Grace 5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-5 - Source: CSEL 60:236 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that all humanity deserves condemnation, so that those saved are vessels of God's mercy, not of their own merit. ### Latin text Vniuersa igitur massa poenas debet et, si omnibus debitum damnationis supplicium redderetur, non iniuste procul dubio redderetur. qui ergo inde per gratiam liberantur, non uasa meritorum suorum, sed uasa misericordiae nominantur. cuius misericordiae nisi illius, qui Christum Iesum misit in hunc mundum peccatores saluos facere, quos praesciuit et praedestinauit et uocauit et iustificauit et glorificauit? quis igitur usque adeo dementissime insaniat, ut non agat ineffabiles gratias misericordiae quos uoluit liberantis, qui recte nullo modo posset culpare iustitiam uniuersos omnino damnantis? ### English translation (Claude) The whole mass, then, owes punishment; and if the punishment of damnation that is owed were rendered to all, it would without doubt not be rendered unjustly. Those, therefore, who are set free from it by grace are called not vessels of their own merits but “vessels of mercy.” Whose mercy, but his who sent Christ Jesus into this world to save sinners, whom he foreknew and predestined and called and justified and glorified? Who, then, would be so utterly mad as not to give ineffable thanks to the mercy that sets free those whom it willed, when he could in no way rightly blame the justice that condemned absolutely all? ### Scripture references - Rom 9:21: allusion, high confidence - Rom 9:23: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:29: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:30: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 5 (CSEL 60:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-5). ## On Nature and Grace 6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-6 - Source: CSEL 60:236 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine warns that arguments making grace unnecessary for infants or adults are clever but empty the cross of Christ. ### Latin text Hoc si secundum scripturas sapiamus, non cogimur contra christianam gratiam disputare et ea dicere, quibus demonstrare conemur naturam humanam neque in paruulis medico indigere, quia sana est, et in maioribus sibi ipsam ad iustitiam, si uelit, posse sufficere. acute quippe uidentur haec dici, sed in sapientia uerbi, qua euacuatur crux Christi, non est ista sapientia desursum descendens. nolo quod sequitur dicere, ne amicis nostris, quorum fortissima et celerrima ingenia non in peruersum, sed in directum currere uolumus, facere existimemur iniuriam. ### English translation (Claude) If we are wise according to the Scriptures in this, we are not forced to argue against Christian grace and to say things by which we try to show that human nature does not need a physician in infants, because it is healthy, and that in adults it can suffice for itself for righteousness, if it wills. These things seem to be said cleverly, but in “wisdom of speech,” by which “the cross of Christ is made void”; this is not “the wisdom that comes down from above.” I will not say what follows, lest we be thought to do injury to our friends, whose very strong and very quick minds we want to run not in a crooked path but in a straight one. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - What follows in James 3:15, which Augustine declines to quote, calls such wisdom “earthly, unspiritual, demonic”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 6 (CSEL 60:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-6). ## On Nature and Grace 7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-7 - Source: CSEL 60:236–237 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine states that the book, though written with great ability, empties the cross of Christ by claiming righteousness is possible apart from his sacrament. ### Latin text Quanto igitur zelo accensus est libri huius, quem misistis, conditor aduersus eos qui peccatis suis patrocinium de naturae humanae infirmitate perquirunt, tanto et multo ardentiore zelo nos oportet accendi, ne euacuetur crux Christi. euacuatur autem, si aliquo modo praeter illius sacramentum ad iustitiam uitamque aeternam peruenire posse dicatur. quod in libro isto agitur, nolo dicere ab sciente, ne illum qui eum scripsit ne Christianum quidem habendum iudicem, sed, quod magis credo. a nesciente, magnis sane uiribus; sed eas sanas uolo, non quales frenetici habere consuerunt. ### English translation (Claude) With as much zeal, then, as the author of this book you sent is fired against those who seek a defense for their sins in the weakness of human nature, with so much and with far more ardent zeal must we be fired, lest the cross of Christ be made void. And it is made void if it is said that one can by any means reach righteousness and eternal life apart from his sacrament. That this is what is done in that book, I will not say knowingly, lest I judge that he who wrote it should not even be counted a Christian, but, as I rather believe, unknowingly; with great strength, certainly; but I want it to be healthy strength, not such as madmen usually have. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:17: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 7 (CSEL 60:236–237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-7). ## On Nature and Grace 8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-8 - Source: CSEL 60:237–238 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine sets out Pelagius' distinction between whether a man can be without sin and whether he is, and Pelagius' claim that the Scripture texts on universal sin speak only of fact, not of possibility. ### Latin text Nam prius distinguit aliud esse quaerere an possit aliquid esse, quod ad solam possibilitatem perquirunt, utrumne sit. hanc distinctionem ueram esse nemo ambigit; consequens enim est, ut quod est. esse potuerit, non est autem consequens, ut quod esse potest etiam sit. quia enim dominus Lazarum suscitauit. sine dubio potuit; quia uero Iudam non suscitauit, numquid dicendum est: non potuit? potuit ergo, sed noluit. nam si uoluisset, eadem etiam hoc potestate fecisset, quia et filius quos uult uiuificat. sed hac distinctione uera atque manifesta quo tendat et quid efficere conetur aduertite. nos, inquit, de sola possibilitate tractamus; de qua nisi quid certum constiterit, transgredi ad aliud grauissimum esse atque extra ordinem ducimus. huc uersat multis modis et sermone diuturno, ne quis eum aliud quam de non peccandi possibilitate quaerere existimet. unde inter multa quibus id agit etiam hoc dicit: idem iterum repeto: ego dico posse esse hominem sine peccato. tu quid dicis? non posse esse hominem sine peccato. neque ego dico. inquit, hominem esse sine peccato neque tu dicis non esse hominem sine peccato; de posse et non posse, non de esse et non esse contendimus. deinde nonnulla eorum quae aduersus eos scripturis proferri solent ad istam quaestionem non pertinere, in qua quaeritur possitne an non possit homo esse sine peccato, ita commemorat: nam nullus, inquit, mundus est a sorde, et: non est homo qui non peccet, et: non est iustus in terra, et: non est qui faciat bonum, et cetera his similia, inquit, ad non esse, non ad non posse proficiunt. huiusmodi enim exemplis ostenditur. quales homines quidam tempore aliquo fuerint, non quod aliud esse non potuerint; unde et iure inueniuntur esse culpabiles. nam si idcirco tales fuerunt, quia aliud esse non potuerunt, culpa carent. ### English translation (Claude) First, then, he makes a distinction: that it is one thing to ask whether something can be, which concerns possibility alone, and another whether it is. No one doubts that this distinction is true; for it follows that what is could have been, but it does not follow that what can be also is. For since the Lord raised Lazarus, he was without doubt able to; but since he did not raise Judas, must we say, “He was not able to”? He was able, then, but he did not will it. For if he had willed it, he would have done this too by the same power, since “the Son gives life to whom he wills.” But see where he is heading with this true and obvious distinction, and what he is trying to achieve. “We,” he says, “are treating of possibility alone; and unless something certain is settled about it, we consider it a most serious fault, and out of order, to pass on to anything else.” He turns this over in many ways and at great length, so that no one may think he is inquiring about anything other than the possibility of not sinning. So among many things by which he does this, he also says: “I say again: I say that a man can be without sin. What do you say? That a man cannot be without sin. I do not say,” he says, “that a man is without sin, nor do you say that a man is not without sin; we are contending about ‘can’ and ‘cannot’, not about ‘is’ and ‘is not’.” Then he mentions some of the passages that are usually brought from the Scriptures against them as not belonging to this question, in which it is asked whether a man can or cannot be without sin: “For,” he says, “‘no one is clean from filth,’ and ‘there is no man who does not sin,’ and ‘there is not a righteous man on earth,’ and ‘there is none who does good,’ and other things like these,” he says, “bear on ‘is not’, not on ‘cannot’. For by examples of this kind it is shown what certain men were like at some time, not that they could not have been otherwise; and so they are rightly found to be blameworthy. For if they were such because they could not be otherwise, they are without blame.” ### Scripture references - John 11:43: allusion, high confidence - John 5:21: quotation, high confidence - Job 14:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 8:46: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 7:20: quotation, high confidence - Ps 14:3 (13:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The first sentence is defective in the digital text (“quod ad solam possibilitatem perquirunt, utrumne sit”); the translation follows the evident sense, confirmed by what follows. Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. Job 14:4 is cited in the Old Latin/Septuagint wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 8 (CSEL 60:237–238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-8). ## On Nature and Grace 9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-9 - Source: CSEL 60:238 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius with the case of an infant who died unbaptized, whom, he argues, Scripture does not absolve though it could not have been otherwise. ### Latin text Videte quid dixerit. ego autem dico paruulum natum in eo loco, ubi ei non potuit per Christi baptismum subueniri, morte praeuentum idcirco talem fuisse, id est sine lauacro regenerationis exisse, quia esse aliud non potuit. absoluat ergo eum et aperiat ei contra sententiam domini regnum caelorum; sed non eum absoluit apostolus qui ait: per unum hominem peccatum intrauit in mundum et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes peccauerunt. recte ergo ea damnatione, quae per uniuersam massam currit, non admittitur in regnum caelorum. quamuis Christianus non solum non fuerit, sed nec esse potuerit. ### English translation (Claude) See what he has said. But I say that an infant born in a place where it could not be helped by the baptism of Christ, and overtaken by death, was such, that is, departed without the washing of regeneration, because it could not be otherwise. Let him then absolve it and open to it the kingdom of heaven, against the Lord's sentence. But the apostle does not absolve it, who says: “Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so it passed to all men, in whom all sinned.” Rightly, then, by that condemnation which runs through the whole mass, it is not admitted into the kingdom of heaven, though it not only was not a Christian but could not have been one. ### Scripture references - John 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 5:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Romans 5:12 is quoted in the Latin wording “in quo” (“in whom”), on which Augustine's reading depends. Augustine's view of unbaptized infants is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 9 (CSEL 60:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-9). ## On Nature and Grace 10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-10 - Source: CSEL 60:238–239 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects the Pelagian view that Adam's sin passes by imitation, and presses the case of an adult who never heard of Christ. ### Latin text Sed: non damnatur, inquiunt, quia in Adam peccasse omnes non propter peccatum nascendi origine adtractum, sed propter imitationem dictum est. si ergo ideo dicitur Adam auctor omnium qui subsecuti sunt peccatorum, quia primus peccator in hominibus fuit, cur non potius Abel quam Christus ponitur caput omnium iustorum, quia primus in hominibus iustus fuit? sed de infante non loquor; iuuenis uel senex in ea regione defunctus est, ubi non potuit Christi nomen audire. potuit fieri iustus per naturam et liberum arbitrium an non potuit? si potuisse dicunt, ecce quod est crucem Christi euacuare sine illa quemquam per naturalem legem et uoluntatis arbitrium iustificari posse contendere. dicamus et hic: ergo Christus gratis mortuus est; hoc enim omnes possent, etiamsi mortuus ille non esset; et si iniusti essent, quia uellent, essent, non quia iusti esse non possent. si autem sine Christi gratia iustificari omnino non potuit, etiam istum, si audet, absoluat secundum uerba sua, quia si idcirco talis fuit, quod aliud esse non potuit, culpa caruit. ### English translation (Claude) “But it is not condemned,” they say, “because it is said that all sinned in Adam not because of a sin contracted by the origin of birth, but because of imitation.” If, then, Adam is called the author of all the sins that followed because he was the first sinner among men, why is not Abel rather than Christ set as the head of all the righteous, since he was the first righteous man among men? But I am not speaking of an infant. A youth or an old man has died in a region where he could not hear the name of Christ. Could he have become righteous by nature and free choice, or could he not? If they say he could, see, this is to make void the cross of Christ: to contend that anyone can be justified without it by the natural law and the choice of the will. Let us say here too: “Then Christ died in vain”; for all could do this even if he had not died; and if they were unrighteous, they would be so because they willed it, not because they could not be righteous. But if he could not be justified at all without the grace of Christ, let him absolve this man too, if he dares, according to his own words: that if he was such because he could not be otherwise, he was without blame. ### Scripture references - Rom 5:12: allusion, high confidence - Gal 2:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:17: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Pelagians held that Romans 5:12 refers to sin by imitation of Adam, not by inheritance; their words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 10 (CSEL 60:238–239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-10). ## On Nature and Grace 11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-11 - Source: CSEL 60:239–240 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reports Pelagius' reply that admitting a sinless life is possible “by the grace of God” still confirms his thesis, and insists only that Pelagius confess that without grace no one can be without sin. ### Latin text Sed obiecit sibi quasi ab alio dictum et ait: potest quidem esse, sed per dei gratiam, inquies. deinde uelut respondendo subiungit: ago humanitati tuae gratias, quod assertionem meam. quam dudum oppugnabas, non modo non oppugnare aut non confiteri solum contentus non es, uerum etiam non refugis conprobare. nam dicere: potest quidem, sed per illud aut illud, quid aliud est quam non solum consentire quod possit esse, uerum etiam quomodo uel qualiter possit ostendere? nullus itaque magis alicuius rei possibilitatem probat quam qui eius etiam qualitatem fatetur, quia nec absque re esse qualitas potest. his dictis iterum sibi obiecit: sed tu, inquies, hoc in loco dei gratiam, quando quidem eam non commemoras, uideris abnuere. deinde respondit: egone abnuo, qui rem confitendo confitear necesse est et per quod effici res potest. an tu, qui rem negando et quicquid illud est per quod res efficitur procul dubio negas? oblitus est iam se illi respondere, qui rem non negat, cuius obiectionem paulo ante proposuerat dicentis: potest quidem esse, sed per dei gratiam. quomodo ergo illam pro qua iste multum laborat possibilitatem negat, qui ei iam dicit: potest esse, sed per dei gratiam? uerum tamen quia isto dimisso qui rem iam confitetur agit adhuc aduersus eos qui negant esse possibile hominem esse sine peccato, quid ad nos? contra quos uult agat, dum tamen hoc confiteatur, quod impietate sceleratissima negatur, sine gratia dei hominem sine peccato esse non posse. dicit ergo: siue per gratiam siue per adiutorium siue per misericordiam et quicquid illud est per quod esse homo absque peccato potest, confitetur quisquis rem ipsam fatetur. ### English translation (Claude) But he raised an objection to himself as if spoken by another, and said: “‘It can indeed be,’ you will say, ‘but by the grace of God.’” Then, as if answering, he adds: “I thank you for your kindness, that you are not content merely not to attack, or merely to admit, my assertion, which you were attacking a little while ago, but do not even shrink from approving it. For to say, ‘It can indeed, but by this or that,’ what else is it than not only to agree that it can be, but also to show how or in what manner it can be? So no one proves the possibility of a thing more than one who admits even its manner, since a manner cannot exist apart from the thing.” Having said this, he again raised an objection to himself: “‘But,’ you will say, ‘in this place you seem to deny the grace of God, since you do not mention it.’” Then he answered: “Do I deny it, who by confessing the thing must necessarily confess also that by which the thing can be brought about? Or do you, who by denying the thing undoubtedly deny also whatever it is by which the thing is brought about?” He has already forgotten that he is answering one who does not deny the thing, whose objection he had set out a little before as saying, “It can indeed be, but by the grace of God.” How then does one deny that possibility for which he labors so much, who already says to him, “It can be, but by the grace of God”? However, since, leaving aside this man who already confesses the thing, he still argues against those who deny that it is possible for a man to be without sin, what is it to us? Let him argue against whom he pleases, provided he confesses what is denied with the most wicked impiety: that without the grace of God a man cannot be without sin. He says, then: “Whether by grace, or by help, or by mercy, or whatever it is by which a man can be without sin, whoever admits the thing itself confesses it.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words (and the objections he puts in an opponent's mouth) are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 11 (CSEL 60:239–240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-11). ## On Nature and Grace 12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-12 - Source: CSEL 60:240 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains why Pelagius' comparisons (tongue, wings, feet) made him suspect that Pelagius meant by grace only the natural endowments of creation. ### Latin text Fateor dilectioni uestrae, cum ista legerem, laetitia repente perfusus sum, quod dei gratiam non negaret, per quam solam homo iustificari potest; hoc enim in disputationibus talium maxime detestor et horreo. sed pergens legere cetera primo ex datis similitudinibus coepi habere suspectum. ait enim: nunc si dixero: homo disputare potest, auis uolare, lepus currere, et non etiam per quae haec effici possint commemorauero, id est linguam. alas, pedes. num ego officiorum qualitates negaui, qui officia ipsa confessus sum? uidetur certe haec eum commemorasse, quae natura ualent; creata sunt enim haec membra huiusmodi naturis, lingua, alae, pedes. non tale aliquid posuit, quale de gratia intellegi uolumus, sine qua homo non iustificatur, ubi de sanandis, non de instituendis naturis agitur. hinc iam ergo sollicitus coepi legere cetera et me non falso comperi suspicatum. ### English translation (Claude) I confess to you, beloved, that when I read this I was suddenly filled with joy, because he did not deny the grace of God, by which alone a man can be justified; for this is what I most detest and shudder at in the arguments of such men. But as I went on reading the rest, I began to be suspicious, first from the comparisons he gave. For he says: “Now if I say, ‘A man can argue, a bird can fly, a hare can run,’ and do not also mention the things by which these can be done, that is, a tongue, wings, feet, have I denied the means of these functions, when I have confessed the functions themselves?” He seems certainly to have mentioned things that have their power by nature; for these members, tongue, wings, and feet, were created with natures of this kind. He did not put forward anything like what we mean to be understood of grace, without which a man is not justified, where the question is of healing natures, not of establishing them. From this point, then, I began to read the rest with anxiety, and I found that my suspicion was not false. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 12 (CSEL 60:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-12). ## On Nature and Grace 13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-13 - Source: CSEL 60:240–241 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' claim that unavoidable light sins should not be rebuked, holding that the law's rebuke drives us to grace, which both forgives and helps. ### Latin text Quo priusquam ueniam. uidete quid dixerit. cum tractaret quaestionem de differentia peccatorum et obiceret sibi, quod quidam dicunt lenia quaedam peccata ipsa multitudine, quod saepe inruant, non posse cuncta uitari, negauit debere argui ne leuia quidem correctione, si uitari omnino non possunt, scripturas utique non aduertens noui testamenti. ubi didicimus hanc esse intentionem legis arguentis. ut propter illa quae perperam fiunt confugiatur ad gratiam domini miserantis uelut paedagogo concludente in eadem fide, quae postea reuelata est. ubi et remittantur quae male fiunt et eadem gratia iuuante non fiant. proficientium est enim uia, quamuis bene proficientes dicantur perfecti uiatores. illa est autem summa perfecti; cui nihil addatur, cum id quo tenditur coeperit possideri. ### English translation (Claude) Before I come to that, see what he said. When he was treating the question of the difference of sins, and raised the objection that some say that certain light sins, by their very number, because they often rush upon us, cannot all be avoided, he denied that they ought to be rebuked even with a light correction if they cannot be avoided at all; not noticing, surely, the Scriptures of the New Testament, where we have learned that this is the purpose of the law that rebukes: that because of the things wrongly done, one may take refuge in the grace of the merciful Lord, the schoolmaster, as it were, shutting us up in the same faith which was afterwards revealed; where both what is done badly may be forgiven, and, with the same grace helping, it may not be done. For theirs is the way of those making progress, although those making good progress are called perfect travelers. But that is the summit of the perfect, to which nothing is added, when that toward which one strives has begun to be possessed. ### Scripture references - Gal 3:23: allusion, high confidence - Gal 3:24: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:15: echo, medium confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 13 (CSEL 60:240–241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-13). ## On Nature and Grace 14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-14 - Source: CSEL 60:241 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine agrees that Pelagius' sins are due to his own negligence, but urges him to pray that negligence not rule him, rather than trust his own strength. ### Latin text Iam uero illud quod eis dicitur: ipse tu sine peccato es? reuera non pertinet ad eam rem de qua uertitur quaestio. sed quod dicit neglegentiae suae potius inputari, quod non est sine peccato, bene quidem dicit, sed dignetur inde et orare dominum, ne illi haec iniqua neglegentia dominetur, quem rogabat quidam, quando dicebat: itinera mea dirige secundum uerbum tuum et non dominetur mihi omnis iniquitas, ne, dum suae diligentiae quasi propriis uiribus fidit, neque hic ad ueram iustitiam neque illic, ubi sine dubio perfecta desideranda est et speranda, perueniat. ### English translation (Claude) Now as for what is said to them, “Are you yourself without sin?”, it really does not bear on the matter in question. But when he says that it should rather be attributed to his own negligence that he is not without sin, he says it well; but let him deign also to pray to the Lord on that account, that this wicked negligence may not rule over him, the Lord whom someone besought when he said, “Direct my steps according to your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me,” lest, while he trusts in his own diligence as if in his own strength, he reach true righteousness neither here nor there, where without doubt it is to be desired and hoped for as perfect. ### Scripture references - Ps 119:133 (118:133 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 14 (CSEL 60:241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-14). ## On Nature and Grace 15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-15 - Source: CSEL 60:241–242 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine notes that Scripture calls no one “without sin” except Christ, refers to his earlier discussion of 1 John 3:9 and 1:8, and accepts reading “cannot sin” as “ought not to sin”. ### Latin text Et illud quod a quibusdam eis dicitur nusquam esse scriptum his omnino uerbis posse esse hominem sine peccato, facile refellit. quia non ibi est quaestio, quibus uerbis dicatur quaecumque sententia. non tamen fortasse sine causa, cum aliquotiens in scripturis inueniatur homines dictos esse sine querella. nemo inuenitur, qui sit dictus sine peccato nisi unus solus de quo aperte dictum est: eum qui non nouerat peccatum, et eo loco, ubi de sacerdotibus sanctis agebatur: etenim expertus est omnia secundum similitudinem sine peccato: in illa scilicet carne, quae habebat similitudinem carnis peccati, quamuis non esset caro peccati; quam tamen similitudinem non haberet, nisi cetera omnis hominis esset caro peccati. iam illud quomodo accipiendum sit: omnis qui natus est ex deo non peccat et non potest peccare, quia semen eius in ipso manet, cum ipse apostolus Iohannes, quasi non sit natus ex deo aut eis loqueretur qui nondum essent nati ex deo, aperte posuerit: si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus et ueritas in nobis non est, in libris, quos de hac re ad Marcellinum scripsi, sicut potui, explicare curaui. et illud, quod dictum est: non potest peccare, pro eo dictum esse, acsi diceretur non debet peccare non inprobanda mihi uidetur huius assertio. quis enim insanus dicat debere peccari, cum ideo sit peccatum, quia non debet fieri? ### English translation (Claude) And the objection made to them by some, that it is nowhere written in exactly these words that a man can be without sin, he easily refutes, because the question is not in what words any opinion is expressed. Yet perhaps it is not without reason that, while men are sometimes found in the Scriptures to be called “without blame”, no one is found who is called “without sin” except one alone, of whom it is plainly said, “him who knew no sin,” and in the place where holy priests were being discussed: “For he was tempted in all things according to the likeness, without sin”; that is, in that flesh which had “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” though it was not the flesh of sin; which likeness, however, it would not have had, unless all other human flesh were the flesh of sin. As for how that saying is to be taken, “Everyone who is born of God does not sin and cannot sin, because his seed remains in him,” since the apostle John himself, as if he were not born of God, or were speaking to those who were not yet born of God, plainly set down, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us,” I have taken care to explain, as best I could, in the books I wrote to Marcellinus on this matter. And his assertion that “cannot sin” was said as if it meant “ought not to sin” does not seem to me to be rejected. For what madman would say that one ought to sin, when it is sin precisely because it ought not to be done? ### Scripture references - Luke 1:6: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 5:21: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 3:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 1:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The books to Marcellinus are On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins (411–412; book 2) and On the Spirit and the Letter. Luke 1:6 (“without blame”) is the likely example. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 15 (CSEL 60:241–242; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-15). ## On Nature and Grace 16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-16 - Source: CSEL 60:242–243 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects Pelagius' reading of James 3:8 as a rebuke, and teaches that no man can tame the tongue without the help of God's grace, which must be sought in prayer. ### Latin text Sane quod apostolus Iacobus ait: linguam autem nullus hominum domare potest, non mihi uidetur ita intellegendum, ut exponere uoluit, quasi per exprobrationem dictum, tamquam diceretur: ergone linguam nullus hominum domare potest? tamquam obiurgans et dicens: domare feras potestis, linguam non potestis? quasi facilius sit linguam domare quam feras. non puto quod iste sit sensus hoc loco. si enim hoc sentiri uellet de facilitate domandae linguae, cetera sequerentur in bestiarum conparatione. nunc uero sequitur: inquietum malum, plena ueneno mortifero, utique nocentiore quam bestiarum est atque serpentium; nam illud carnem interficit, hoc uero animam; os enim quod mentitur, occidit animam. non ergo quasi id esset facilius quam mansuefactio bestiarum, sanctus Iacobus illam sententiam pronuntiauit aut ea uoce noluit pronuntiari, sed potius ostendens quantum sit in homine linguae malum, ut a nullo homine domari possit, cum ab hominibus domentur et bestiae. neque hoc ideo dixit, ut huius in nos mali dominationem per neglegentiam permanere patiamur, sed ut ad domandam linguam diuinae gratiae poscamus auxilium. non enim ait: linguam nullus domare potest, sed nullus hominum, ut, cum domatur, dei misericordia, dei adiutorio, dei gratia fieri fateamur. conetur ergo anima domare linguam et, dum conatur, poscat auxilium; et oret lingua. ut dometur lingua donante illo qui dixit ad suos: non enim uos estis qui loquimini, sed spiritus patris uestri qui loquitur in uobis. itaque praecepto facere commonemur, quod conantes et nostris uiribus non ualentes adiutorium diuinum precemur. ### English translation (Claude) Certainly, what the apostle James says, “But no man can tame the tongue,” does not seem to me to be understood as he wished to explain it, as though it were said by way of reproach, as if it were said, “Can no man, then, tame the tongue?”, as if rebuking and saying, “You can tame wild beasts; can you not tame the tongue?”, as though it were easier to tame the tongue than wild beasts. I do not think this is the sense in this place. For if he wished this to be understood of the ease of taming the tongue, the rest would follow in comparison with beasts. But in fact what follows is: “a restless evil, full of deadly poison,” certainly more harmful than that of beasts and serpents; for that kills the flesh, but this the soul; for “the mouth that lies kills the soul.” Saint James, then, did not pronounce that sentence as if this were easier than taming beasts, or want it to be pronounced in that tone, but rather to show how great the evil of the tongue is in man, that it can be tamed by no man, though even beasts are tamed by men. Nor did he say this so that we should allow the dominion of this evil over us to remain through negligence, but so that we should ask the help of divine grace to tame the tongue. For he does not say, “No one can tame the tongue,” but “no man,” so that when it is tamed we may confess that it is done by the mercy of God, the help of God, the grace of God. Let the soul, then, try to tame the tongue, and while it tries, let it ask for help; and let the tongue pray that the tongue may be tamed, by the gift of him who said to his own: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” So by the command we are admonished to do what, when we try and are not able by our own strength, we may pray for divine help to do. ### Scripture references - Jas 3:8: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:20: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:11 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The mouth that lies kills the soul” is Wisdom of Solomon 1:11. Pelagius' reading of James 3:8 as a question is reported here. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 16 (CSEL 60:242–243; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-16). ## On Nature and Grace 17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-17 - Source: CSEL 60:243–244 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues from James 3 that the wisdom which tames the tongue comes down from above and must be asked of God in faith, so that the law commands and faith obtains. ### Latin text Proinde et ipse, cum exaggerasset linguae malum inter haec dicens: non oportet, fratres mei, haec ita fieri, continuo monuit consummatis his quae hinc dicebat, quo adiutorio ista non fierent, quae dixit fieri non oportere: quis enim sapiens et disciplinatus inter nos? diseipIinat ex bona conuersatione operationem suam in mansuetudine sapientiae. quodsi zelum amarum habetis et contentiones in cordibus uestris, nolite gloriari et mendaces esse aduersus ueritatem. non est ista sapientia desursum descendens, sed terrena, animalis, diabolica. ubi enim zelus et contentio, ibi inconstantia et omne opus prauum. quae autem desursum est sapientia, primum quidem pudica est, deinde pacifica, modesta. suadibilis, plena misericordia et fructibus bonis, inaestimabilis, sine simulatione. haec est sapientia, quae linguam domat, desursum descendens. non ab humano corde prosiliens. an et istam quisque abrogare audet gratiae dei et eam superbissima uanitate ponit in hominis potestate? cur ergo oratur ut accipiatur, si ab homine est ut habeatur? an et huic orationi contradicitur, ne fiat iniuria libero arbitrio, quod sibi sufficit possibilitate naturae ad inplenda omnia praecepta iustitiae? contradicatur ergo eidem ipsi apostolo Iacobo ammonenti et dicenti: si quis autem uestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a deo, qui dat omnibus afluenter et non inproperat, et dabitur ei; postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans. haec est fides, ad quam praecepta conpellunt, ut lex imperet. fides impetret. per linguam enim, quam nullus hominum domare potest, sed sapientia desursum descendens, in multis offendimus omnes. non enim et hoc iste apostolus alio modo pronuntiauit sicut illud quod ait: linguam nullus hominum domare potest. ### English translation (Claude) Accordingly, he himself, when he had enlarged upon the evil of the tongue, saying among other things, “My brothers, these things ought not to be so,” at once, having finished what he was saying on this, pointed out by what help those things which he said ought not to be done might not be done: “Who is wise and instructed among you? Let him show from good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal and contentions in your hearts, do not boast and be liars against the truth. This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, animal, devilish. For where there is zeal and contention, there is inconstancy and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first chaste, then peaceable, modest, easily persuaded, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without pretense.” This is the wisdom that tames the tongue, coming down from above, not springing up from the human heart. Or does anyone dare to take this too away from the grace of God, and place it with most proud vanity in the power of man? Why then is it prayed for, that it may be received, if it is from man that it is possessed? Or is this prayer too opposed, lest injury be done to free choice, which by the possibility of nature suffices for itself to fulfill all the commands of righteousness? Then let the same apostle James be opposed, who admonishes and says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach, and it will be given him; but let him ask in faith, not doubting at all.” This is the faith to which the commands drive us, so that the law commands and faith obtains. For through the tongue, which no man can tame, but the wisdom coming down from above can, “we all offend in many things.” For the apostle did not pronounce this too in any other way than he pronounced that saying, “No man can tame the tongue.” ### Scripture references - Jas 3:10: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:13: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:15: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Jas 1:5: quotation, high confidence - Jas 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Jas 3:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - James 3:13–17 and 1:5–6 are quoted in the Old Latin wording (“inaestimabilis”, rendered “without judging”). In 3:13 the digital text has the garbled “diseipIinat”; the translation follows the sense (“let him show”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 17 (CSEL 60:243–244; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-17). ## On Nature and Grace 18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-18 - Source: CSEL 60:244–245 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine sets aside Romans 8:7–8 as irrelevant and asks whether those who live by the Spirit do so by God's grace or by their own natural ability, since love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. ### Latin text Nec illud quisquam istis pro inpossibilitate non peccandi similiter obiecerit, quod dictum est: sapientia carnis inimica est in deum; legi enim dei non est subiecta, nec enim potest. qui autem in carne sunt, deo placere non possunt. sapientiam quippe carnis dixit, non sapientiam desursum descendentem et in carne esse non cos, qui nondum de corpore exierunt, sed cos, qui secundum carnem uiuunt. significatos esse manifestum est. non autem ibi est quaestio quae uersatur. illud est quod expecto ab isto audire, si possim. cos qui secundum spiritum uiuunt et ob hoc etiam hic adhuc uiuentes iam quodam modo in carne non sunt, utrum gratia dei uiuant secundum spiritum an sibi sufficiant iam data cum creantur possibilitate naturae et sua propria uoluntate, cum plenitudo legis non sit nisi caritas et caritas dei diffusa sit in cordibus nostris non per nos ipsos. sed per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. ### English translation (Claude) Nor would anyone likewise object against these men, as proving the impossibility of not sinning, the saying: “The wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” For he spoke of the wisdom of the flesh, not the wisdom coming down from above; and it is clear that by “those in the flesh” are meant not those who have not yet left the body, but those who live according to the flesh. But that is not where the question turns. What I wait to hear from this man, if I can, is this: whether those who live according to the Spirit, and for that reason, though still living here, are in a way no longer in the flesh, live according to the Spirit by the grace of God, or whether they suffice for themselves by the possibility of nature already given when they are created, and by their own will; since the fullness of the law is nothing but love, and “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts,” not through ourselves, but “through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” ### Scripture references - Rom 8:7: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:9: allusion, high confidence - Jas 3:17: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 13:10: allusion, high confidence - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 18 (CSEL 60:244–245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-18). ## On Nature and Grace 19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-19 - Source: CSEL 60:245 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine distinguishes ignorance from negligence, which Pelagius blames, from ignorance despite the wish to understand, and urges prayer for understanding. ### Latin text Tractat etiam iste de peccatis ignorantiae et dicit hominem praeuigilare debere, ne ignoret, ideoque esse culpandam ignorantiam, quia id homo nescit neglegentia sua. quod adhibita diligentia scire debuisset, dum tamen omnia potius disputet quam ut oret et dicat: da mihi intellectum et discam mandata tua. aliud est enim non curasse scire, quae neglegentiae peccata etiam per sacrificia quaedam legis uidebantur expiari. aliud intellegere uelle nec posse et facere contra legem non intellegendo quid fieri uelit. unde ammonemur petere a deo sapientiam, qui dat omnibus afuenter, utique his omnibus qui sic petunt et tantum petunt quomodo et quantum res tanta petenda est. ### English translation (Claude) He also treats of sins of ignorance, and says that a man ought to be vigilant so as not to be ignorant, and that ignorance is therefore to be blamed because a man does not know through his own negligence what, if he had applied diligence, he ought to have known; yet he argues about everything rather than pray and say, “Give me understanding, and I will learn your commandments.” For it is one thing not to have cared to know, and such sins of negligence seemed to be expiated even by certain sacrifices of the law; it is another to wish to understand and not be able, and to act against the law through not understanding what it wishes to be done. Hence we are admonished to ask wisdom from God, “who gives to all abundantly,” that is, to all who ask in such a way and ask as much as, and in the way that, so great a thing ought to be asked. ### Scripture references - Ps 119:73 (118:73 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Lev 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - Jas 1:5: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 19 (CSEL 60:245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-19). ## On Nature and Grace 20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-20 - Source: CSEL 60:245–246 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine observes that Pelagius asks God only for pardon of past sins, never for help not to sin, though the Lord's Prayer asks for both. ### Latin text Diuinitus tamen expianda esse peccata commissa et pro eis dominum exorandum fatetur, propter ueniam scilicet promerendam, quia, id quod factum est facere infectum multum ab isto laudata potentia illa naturae et uoluntas hominis etiam ipso fatente non potest. quare hac necessitate restat, ut oret ignosci. ut autem adiuuetur, ne peccet, nusquam dixit, non hic legi, mirum de hac re omnino silentium, cum oratio dominica utrumque petendum esse commoneat, ut dimittantur nobis debita nostra et ut non inferamur in temptationem, illud, ut praeterita expientur, hoc, ut futura uitentur. quod licet non fiat, nisi uoluntas adsit, tamen ut fiat, uoluntas sola non sufficit; ideo pro hac re nec superflua nec inpudens domino immolatur oratio. nam quid stultius quam orare ut facias quod in potestate habeas? ### English translation (Claude) He admits, however, that sins committed must be expiated by God, and that the Lord must be besought for them, namely to obtain pardon; because that power of nature and the will of man, so much praised by him, cannot, as even he admits, make undone what has been done. So by this necessity it remains that he should pray to be forgiven. But that he should be helped not to sin, he has nowhere said; I have not read it here; there is a remarkable silence altogether on this matter, although the Lord's Prayer reminds us that both must be asked: that our debts may be forgiven us and that we may not be brought into temptation; the one that the past may be expiated, the other that the future may be avoided. And although this does not happen unless the will is present, yet for it to happen the will alone is not enough; therefore prayer offered to the Lord for this is neither superfluous nor impudent. For what is more foolish than to pray that you may do what you have in your power? ### Scripture references - Matt 6:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:13: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 20 (CSEL 60:245–246; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-20). ## On Nature and Grace 21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-21 - Source: CSEL 60:246–247 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' argument that sin, not being a substance, cannot weaken human nature, by pointing to the psalmist's prayer for healing and Christ's words about the physician. ### Latin text Iam nunc uidete, quod ad rem maxime pertinet. quomodo humanam naturam, tamquam omnino sine uitio ullo sit, conetur ostendere et contra apertissimas scripturas dei delectetur sapientia uerbi. qua euacuetur crux Christi. sed plane illa non euacuabitur, ista potius sapientia subuertetur. nam cum hoc ostenderimus, aderit fortasse misericordia dei, ut et ipsum haec dixisse paeniteat. primo, inquit, de eo disputandum est, quod per peccatum debilitata dicitur et inmutata natura. unde ante omnia quaerendum puto, inquit, quid sit peccatum: substantia aliqua an omnino substantia carens nomen, quo non res, non existentia, non corpus aliquod, sed perperam facti actus exprimitur. deinde adiungit: credo, ita est. et si ita est, inquit. quomodo potuit humanam debilitare uel mutare naturam, quod substantia caret? uidete, quaeso, quomodo nesciens nitatur euertere medicinalium eloquiorum saluberrimas uoces: ego dixi: domine, miserere mei, sana animam meam, quoniam peccaui tibi. quid sanatur, si nihil est uulneratum, nihil sauciatum, nihil debilitatum atque uitiatum? porro si est quod sanetur, unde uitiatum est? audis confitentem, quid desideras disputantem? sana, inquit, animam meam. ab illo quaere, unde uitiatum sit, quod sanari rogat, et audi quod sequitur: quoniam peccaui tibi. hunc iste interroget, ab isto quaerat quod quaerendum putat et dicat: o tu qui clamas: sana animam meam, q u oniam peccaui tibi. quid est peccatum? substantia aliqua an omni substantia carens nomen, quo non res, non existentia, non corpus aliquod, sed tantum perperam facti actus exprimitur? respondet ille: ita est ut dicis; non est peccatum aliqua substantia, sed tantum hoc nomine perperam facti actus exprimitur. et contra iste: quid ergo clamas: sana animam meam, quoniam peccaui tibi? quomodo potuit uitiare animam tuam quod substantia caret? nonne ille maerore confectus uulneris sui. ne disputatione ab oratione auerteretur, breuiter responderet et diceret: recede a me, obsecro? cum illo potius disputa, si potes, qui dixit: non est opus sanis medicus, sed aegrotantibus. non ueni uocare iustos, sed peccatores, ubi iustos utique sanos, peccatores autem appellauit aegrotos. ### English translation (Claude) Now see what bears most on the matter: how he tries to show that human nature is entirely without any fault, as it were, and, against the plainest Scriptures of God, takes delight in the “wisdom of speech” by which “the cross of Christ is made void.” But certainly the cross will not be made void; rather this wisdom will be overthrown. For when we have shown this, perhaps the mercy of God will be present, so that he himself will repent of having said these things. “First,” he says, “we must discuss the claim that nature has been weakened and changed by sin. Hence before all else, I think,” he says, “we must ask what sin is: some substance, or a name wholly lacking substance, by which is expressed not a thing, not an existence, not some body, but the act of doing something wrongly.” Then he adds: “I believe it is so. And if it is so,” he says, “how could that which lacks substance weaken or change human nature?” See, I beg you, how unknowingly he strives to overthrow the most wholesome words of the healing Scriptures: “I said: Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.” What is healed, if nothing is wounded, nothing injured, nothing weakened and corrupted? And if there is something to be healed, how was it corrupted? You hear him confessing; why do you want him disputing? “Heal my soul,” he says. Ask him how what he asks to have healed was corrupted, and hear what follows: “for I have sinned against you.” Let this man question him, let him ask him what he thinks should be asked, and say: “O you who cry, ‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you,’ what is sin? Some substance, or a name wholly lacking substance, by which is expressed not a thing, not an existence, not some body, but only the act of doing something wrongly?” He answers: “It is as you say; sin is not any substance, but by this name only the act of doing something wrongly is expressed.” And this man replies: “Why then do you cry, ‘Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you’? How could that which lacks substance corrupt your soul?” Would not he, worn out with grief for his wound, lest he be turned from prayer by disputation, answer briefly and say, “Depart from me, I beg you”? Dispute rather, if you can, with him who said: “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners,” where he certainly called the righteous healthy and sinners sick. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Ps 41:4 (40:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:13: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 21 (CSEL 60:246–247; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-21). ## On Nature and Grace 22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-22 - Source: CSEL 60:247–248 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine illustrates how sin, though not a substance, corrupts nature, just as not eating, which is not a substance, ruins the body, since God is the soul's true food. ### Latin text Cernitisne quo tendat et quo manus porrigat haec disputatio? ut omnino frustra dictum putetur: uocabis nomen eius Iesum; ipse enim saluum faciet populum suum a peccatis eorum. quomodo enim saluum faciet. ubi nulla est aegritudo? peccata quippe, a quibus dicit euangelium saluum faciendum populum Christi, substantiae non sunt et saluum istumstumitiarenon possunt. o frater, bonum est ut memineris te esse Christianum. credere ista fortasse suffecerit; sed tamen quia disputare uis nec obest, immo etiam prodest, si firmissima praecedat fides nec existimemus peccato humanam naturam non posse uitiari, sed diuinis credentes scripturis peccato eam esse uitiatam quomodo id fieri potuerit inquiramus. quoniam peccatum iam didicimus non esse substantiam, nonne adtenditur, ut alia omittam, etiam non manducare non esse substantiam? a substantia quippe receditur, quoniam cibus substantia est. sed abstinere a cibo non est substantia et tamen substantia corporis, si omnino abstinetur a cibo, ita languescit, ita ualitudinis inaequalitate corrumpitur, ita exhauritur uiribus, ita lassitudine debilitatur et frangitur, ut, si aliquo modo perduret uita, uix possit ad eum cibum reuocari, unde abstinendo uitiata est. sic non est substantia peccatum, sed substantia est deus summaque substantia et solus uerus rationalis creaturae cibus. a quo per inoboedientiam recedendo et per infirmitatem non ualendo capere, quo debuit et gaudere, audis quemadmodum dicat: percussum est sicut faenum et aruit cor meum, quoniam oblitus sum manducare panem meum? ### English translation (Claude) Do you see where this argument is heading and where it stretches its hands? So that it may be thought altogether vain to have said: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” For how will he save where there is no sickness? For sins, from which the Gospel says Christ's people are to be saved, are not substances, and cannot corrupt it. O brother, it is good for you to remember that you are a Christian. To believe these things might perhaps have been enough; but since you wish to dispute, and it does no harm, indeed it even helps, if the firmest faith goes before, let us not think that human nature cannot be corrupted by sin, but, believing the divine Scriptures that it has been corrupted by sin, let us inquire how this could happen. Since we have already learned that sin is not a substance, do we not notice, to say nothing of other things, that not eating is also not a substance? For one withdraws from a substance, since food is a substance. But abstaining from food is not a substance; and yet the substance of the body, if food is entirely abstained from, so languishes, is so corrupted by unsettled health, so exhausted of strength, so weakened and broken by weariness, that, if life somehow lasts, it can hardly be brought back to that food by abstaining from which it was corrupted. So sin is not a substance; but God is a substance, and the supreme substance, and the only true food of the rational creature. Withdrawing from him by disobedience, and through weakness not being able to take what it ought to have rejoiced in, hear how it says: “My heart is struck like grass and has withered, because I forgot to eat my bread.” ### Scripture references - Matt 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 102:4 (101:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text is garbled after “substantiae non sunt et” (“saluum istumstumitiarenon possunt”); the translation follows the evident sense, “and cannot corrupt [it]”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 22 (CSEL 60:247–248; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-22). ## On Nature and Grace 23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-23 - Source: CSEL 60:248–249 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine objects that Pelagius, by declaring infants healthy and Adam's descendants stronger than Adam, denies them the physician Christ. ### Latin text Adtendite autem quomodo se adhuc urgueat uerisimilibus rationibus contra scripturae sanctae ueritatem. dominus Iesus dicit, qui propterea Iesus uocatur, quia ipse saluum facit populum suum a peccatis eorum, dicit ergo dominus Iesus: non est opus sanis medicus, sed aegrotantibus, non ueni uocare iustos, sed peccatores. unde dicit et apostolus: fidelis sermo et omni acceptione dignus. quia Christus Iesus uenit in mundum peccatores saluos facere. et iste contra fidelem sermonem et omni acceptione dignum dicit non debuisse hanc aegritudinem contrahi peccatis, ne ad hoc esset ista poena peccati, ut committerentur plura peccata. quaeritur etiam paruulis tantus medicus opitulator et iste dicit: quid quaeritis? sani sunt propter quos medicum quaeritis. nec ipse primus homo ideo morte damnatus est; nam postea non peccauit. quasi aliquid postea de perfectione iustitiae eius audierit, nisi quod commendat ecclesia et ipsum domini Christi misericordia, liberatum. eius quoque posteros iste dicit non solum illo non esse infirmiores, sed etiam plura inpleuisse praecepta, cum ille unum inplere neglexerit. quos posteros uidet ita, nasci, quomodo certe ille factus non est, non solum praecepti incapaces, quod omnino non sentiunt. sed uix capaces papillae cum esuriunt. est tamen in matris ecclesiae gremio cum saluos gratia sua facere uelit. qui saluum facit populum suum a peccatis eorum. contradicunt homines et. quasi creaturam, quae per illum condita est. melius illo inspicere nouerint, uoce non sana sanos esse pronuntiant. ### English translation (Claude) But notice how he still presses himself with plausible reasons against the truth of holy Scripture. The Lord Jesus, who is called Jesus for this reason, that he saves his people from their sins, the Lord Jesus, then, says: “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Hence the apostle too says: “It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” And this man, against the faithful saying worthy of all acceptance, says that this sickness ought not to have been contracted by sins, lest this punishment of sin should result in more sins being committed. So great a physician is sought as a helper even for infants, and this man says: “Why do you seek him? Those for whom you seek a physician are healthy. Nor was the first man himself condemned to death for this reason; for afterwards he did not sin.” As if he had heard anything afterwards about the perfection of his righteousness, except that the church commends him too as set free by the mercy of the Lord Christ. He also says that Adam's descendants were not only not weaker than he, but even fulfilled more commands, whereas he neglected to fulfill one. He sees these descendants born in a state in which Adam was certainly not made: not only incapable of a command, of which they have no sense at all, but hardly capable of the breast when they are hungry. Yet in the bosom of mother church he wishes to save them too by his grace, he who saves his people from their sins; and men contradict him, and, as if they knew how to examine the creature made through him better than he does, pronounce with an unhealthy voice that they are healthy. ### Scripture references - Matt 1:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 9:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 10:1–2 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, medium confidence - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. The church's belief that Adam was set free echoes Wisdom of Solomon 10:1–2. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 23 (CSEL 60:248–249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/1/#p-23). ## On Nature and Grace 24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-24 - Source: CSEL 60:249–251 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' objection that punishment should not cause further sin by showing from Romans 1 how God's giving sinners up is itself punishment that produces graver sins. ### Latin text Materiam peccati dicit esse uindictam, si ad hoc peccator infirmatus est, ut plura peccaret, nec cogitat praeuaricatorem legis quam digne lux deserat ueritatis; qua desertus utique caecus et plus necesse est offendat et cadendo uexetur uexatusque non surgat, ut ideo tantum audiat uocem legis, quo ammoneatur implorare gratiam saluatoris. an nulla poena est eorum, de quibus dicit apostolus: quia cum cognouissent deum, non sicut deum glorificauerunt aut gratias egerunt, sed euanuerunt in cogitationibus suis et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum? utique ista obscuratio uindicta et poena iam fuit; et tamen per hanc poenam, id est per cordis caecitatem, quae fit deserente luce sapientiae, in plura et grauia peccata conlapsi sunt; dicentes enim esse se sapientes stulti facti sunt. grauis haec poena est, si quis intellegat, et ex hac poena uide quo ierunt: et inmutauerunt, inquit, gloria incorruptibilis dei in similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis et uolucrum et quadrupedum et serpentium. ista fecerunt ex peccati poena, qua obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum. et propter haec tamen, quia licet poenalia etiam ipsa peccata sunt, adiungit et dicit: propterea tradidit illos deus in desideria cordis illorum, in inmunditiam. ecce quemadmodum deus grauius condemnauit tradens illos in desideria cordis illorum, in inmunditiam. uidete etiam ex hac poena quae faciant: ut contumeliis, inquit, afficiant corpora sua in semet ipsis. et quia poena est ista iniquitatis, cum sit et iniquitas, euidentius commendat dicens: qui transmutauerunt ueritatem dei in mendacium et coluerunt et seruierunt creaturae quam creatori, qui est benedictus in saecula amen. propter hoc, inquit, tradidit illos deus in passiones ignominiae. ecce quotiens uindicat deus et ex eadem uindicta plura et grauiora peccata consurgunt: nam feminae eorum mutauerunt naturalem usum in eum usum qui est contra naturam. similiter autem et masculi relicto naturali usu feminae exarserunt in appetitum suum in inuicem, masculi in masculos deformitatem operantes. atque ut ostenderet sic esse ista peccata, ut etiam poenae sint peccatorum, etiam his adiunxit: et mercedem mutuam, quam oportuit, erroris sui in semet ipsis recipientes. uide quotiens uindicet eademque uindicta quae pariat pulluletque peccata. adhuc adtendite: et sicut non probauerunt, inquit, deum habere in notitiam, tradidit illos deus in reprobam mentem, ut faciant quae non conueniunt, repletos omni iniquitate, cum circumuentione. malitia, auaritia, plenos inuidia, homicidio, contentione, dolo, malignitate, susurrone, detractores, deo odibiles, contumeliosos, superbos, elatos, inuentores malorum, parentibus non oboedientes, insipientes, incompositos, sine affectu, sine misericordia. hic nunc iste dicat: non debuit sic uindicari peccatum, ut peccator per uindictam plura committeret. ### English translation (Claude) He says that punishment would be matter for sin if the sinner was weakened so as to sin more; and he does not consider how deservedly the light of truth deserts the transgressor of the law. Deserted by it, he is certainly blind, and must stumble the more, and in falling be bruised, and, bruised, not rise, so that he hears the voice of the law only to be admonished to implore the grace of the Savior. Or is there no punishment for those of whom the apostle says: “For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their thinking, and their foolish heart was darkened”? Certainly this darkening was already retribution and punishment; and yet through this punishment, that is, through the blindness of heart that comes when the light of wisdom deserts, they fell into more and grave sins. “For claiming to be wise, they became fools.” This is a heavy punishment, if one understands it; and see where this punishment led them: “And they exchanged,” he says, “the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed beasts and serpents.” These things they did as a result of the punishment of sin, by which their foolish heart was darkened. And yet because of these things, since, though penal, they are themselves sins too, he adds and says: “Therefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, to uncleanness.” See how God condemned them more heavily, giving them up to the desires of their heart, to uncleanness. See also what they do as a result of this punishment: “that they dishonor,” he says, “their bodies among themselves.” And since this is a punishment of iniquity while it is also iniquity, he makes it plainer, saying: “Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen. For this reason,” he says, “God gave them up to shameful passions.” See how often God punishes, and from that same punishment more and graver sins arise: “For their women exchanged the natural use for that use which is against nature; and likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their desire for one another, men committing shameless acts with men.” And to show that these sins are such that they are also punishments of sins, he added to these as well: “and receiving in themselves the due recompense of their error.” See how often he punishes, and what sins the same punishment brings forth and makes to sprout. Notice further: “And since they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge,” he says, “God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do what is not fitting; filled with all iniquity, fraud, malice, avarice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evils, disobedient to parents, foolish, disorderly, without affection, without mercy.” Let this man now say here: “Sin ought not to have been punished in such a way that the sinner through the punishment committed more.” ### Scripture references - Rom 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:28: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:29: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:30: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Romans 1:21–31 is quoted in the Old Latin wording; its sexual and moral lists are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 24 (CSEL 60:249–251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-24). ## On Nature and Grace 25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-25 - Source: CSEL 60:251–252 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that free choice sufficed for man to fall into sin, but only Christ's grace can heal and give life for his return to righteousness. ### Latin text Fortasse respondeat deum ad ista non cogere, sed dignos deseri tantum deserere. si hoc dicit, uerissime dicit; deserti quippe, ut dixi, luce iustitiae et per hoc contenebrati quid pariant aliud quam haec omnia quae commemoraui opera tenebrarum. donec dicatur eis, si dicto obaudiant: surge qui dormis et exsurge a mortuis, et inluminabit te Christus? mortuos ueritas dicit — unde est et illud: sine mortuos sepelire mortuos suos —, mortuos ergo ueritas dicit, quos iste dicit laedi et uitiari non potuisse peccato, quia uidelicet didicit peccatum non esse substantiam. nemo dicit sic hominem factum. ut de iustitia quidem possit in peccatum ire et de peccato ad iustitiam redire non posset; sed ut in peccatum iret. sufficit liberum arbitrium. quo se ipse uitiauit; ut autem redeat ad iustitiam, opus habet medico, quoniam sanus non est, opus habet uiuificatore, quia mortuus est. de qua gratia omnino iste nihil dicit, quasi sola sua uoluntate se possit sanare, quia eum potuit sola uitiare. non ei dicimus mortem corporis ad peccatum ualere, ubi sola uindicta est — nemo enim peccat corpore moriendo —, sed ad peccatum ualet mors animae, quam deseruit uita sua, hoc est deus eius, quae necesse est mortua opera faciat, donec Christi gratia reuiuescat. famem et sitim et ceteras molestias corporales absit ut dicamus necessitatem habere peccandi, quibus molestiis exercitata uita iustorum splendidius enituit et eas per patientiam superando maiorem gloriam conparauit, sed adiuta gratia dei. adiuta spiritu dei, adiuta misericordia dei, non superba uoluntate se extollens, sed humili confessione fortitudinem promerens. nouerat enim dei dicere: quoniam tu es patientia mea. de qua gratia et adiutorio et misericordia. sine qua bene non possumus uiuere, nescio quare omnino iste nihil dicit; immo etiam uelut sibi ad iustitiam sufficientem, si sola uoluntas adsit, defendendo naturam gratiae Christi, qua iustificamur, apertissime contradicit. cur autem soluto per gratiam peccati reatu ad exercitationem fidei mors corporis maneat, quamuis uenerit de peccato, iam et hoc in illis ad sanctae memoriae Marcellinum libris, ut ualui, disserui. ### English translation (Claude) Perhaps he may answer that God does not compel them to these things, but only abandons those who deserve to be abandoned. If he says this, he says what is most true; for, abandoned, as I said, by the light of righteousness, and so darkened, what do they bring forth but all these works of darkness that I have mentioned, until it is said to them, if they obey the word: “Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you”? The Truth calls them dead (hence also that saying, “Let the dead bury their own dead”); the Truth, then, calls dead those whom this man says could not be harmed or corrupted by sin, because, you see, he has learned that sin is not a substance. No one says that man was made in such a way that he could go from righteousness into sin but could not return from sin to righteousness; but for going into sin, free choice, by which he corrupted himself, is enough; while for returning to righteousness he needs a physician, since he is not healthy; he needs one who gives life, since he is dead. Of this grace he says nothing at all, as though he could heal himself by his will alone, because it alone could corrupt him. We do not tell him that the death of the body has power to cause sin, where it is only punishment (for no one sins by dying in the body); but the death of the soul has power to cause sin, the soul which its life, that is, its God, has deserted, and which must do dead works until it comes to life again by the grace of Christ. Far be it from us to say that hunger and thirst and the other bodily troubles impose a necessity of sinning; exercised by these troubles, the life of the righteous has shone more brightly, and by overcoming them through patience has gained greater glory; but helped by the grace of God, helped by the Spirit of God, helped by the mercy of God; not exalting itself with a proud will, but earning strength by humble confession. For it knew how to say to God: “For you are my patience.” Of this grace and help and mercy, without which we cannot live well, I do not know why this man says nothing at all; indeed, by defending nature as sufficient for itself for righteousness if only the will is present, he most openly contradicts the grace of Christ, by which we are justified. Why the death of the body remains for the exercise of faith once the guilt of sin has been loosed by grace, even though it came from sin, I have already discussed, as well as I could, in those books to Marcellinus of holy memory. ### Scripture references - Eph 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:22: quotation, high confidence - Heb 9:14: echo, medium confidence - Ps 71:5 (70:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The books to Marcellinus (executed in 413, hence “of holy memory”) are On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, book 2. “You are my patience” is Psalm 71:5 in the Old Latin wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 25 (CSEL 60:251–252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-25). ## On Nature and Grace 26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-26 - Source: CSEL 60:252–253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that Christ, sinless, died by his own power as the price of our redemption, which the Pelagian defense of nature makes void. ### Latin text Quod uero dominum dicit sine peccato mori potuisse, illi etiam nasci potestas misericordiae, non condicio naturae fuit; sic etiam mortuus est potestate et hoc est pretium nostrum, quo nos a morte redimeret. et hoc istorum disputatio euacuare contendit, cum ab eis ita natura humana defenditur, ut possit liberum arbitrium isto pretio non egere, ut a potestate tenebrarum et praepositi mortis in regnum Christi domini transferantur. et tamen quando dominus ad passionem perrexit: ecce, inquit, ueniet princeps huius mundi et in me nihil inueniet — [et] utique nihil peccati, unde praepositus mortis iure suo ageret, ut perimeret —, sed ut sciant omnes. inquit, quia uoluntatem patris mei facio, surgite, eamus hinc, id est quia non morior necessitate peccati, sed oboedientiae uoluntate. ### English translation (Claude) As for his saying that the Lord could die without sin: for him, even to be born was a matter of the power of mercy, not of the condition of nature; so also he died by his power, and this is our price, by which he redeemed us from death. And this too their argument strives to make void, when human nature is so defended by them that free choice may not need this price in order to be transferred from the power of darkness and of him who has the power of death into the kingdom of Christ the Lord. And yet when the Lord went to his passion, he said: “Behold, the prince of this world is coming, and he will find nothing in me” (certainly no sin, for which he who has the power of death might act by his own right to destroy him); “but that all may know,” he says, “that I do the will of my Father, rise, let us go from here”; that is, because I do not die by the necessity of sin, but by the will of obedience. ### Scripture references - John 10:18: echo, medium confidence - Col 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Heb 2:14: allusion, high confidence - John 14:30: quotation, high confidence - John 14:31: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The editor deletes “et” before “utique”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 26 (CSEL 60:252–253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-26). ## On Nature and Grace 27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-27 - Source: CSEL 60:253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' claim that no evil causes good, citing the psalmist whose trouble cured his pride. ### Latin text Dicit nullum malum boni alicuius esse causam, quasi poena bonum sit, qua tamen multi emendati sunt; sunt ergo mala quae prosunt mirabili misericordia dei. numquid ille boni aliquid passus est, qui dixit: auertisti faciem tuam a me et factus sum conturbatus? non utique; et tamen haec ei conturbatio contra superbiam fuit medicinalis quodammodo. dixerat enim in abundantia sua: non mouebor in aeternum et sibi tribuebat quod a domino habebat. quid enim habebat quod non acceperat? quare ostendendum ei fuerat unde haberet, ut reciperet humilis, quod superbus amiserat. ideo: domine, inquit, in uoluntate tua praestitisti decori meo uirtutem. in qua ego abundantia mea dicebam: non mouebor, eum hoc mihi esset absque te, non a me. denique auertisti faciem tuam et factus sum conturbatus. ### English translation (Claude) He says that no evil is the cause of any good; as if punishment were a good, by which, however, many have been corrected. There are, then, evils that do good, by the wonderful mercy of God. Did he suffer anything good who said: “You turned your face from me, and I was troubled”? Certainly not; and yet this trouble was in a way medicinal for him against pride. For he had said in his abundance, “I shall not be moved forever,” and was attributing to himself what he had from the Lord. For what did he have that he had not received? So it had to be shown him from where he had it, so that, humble, he might receive back what, proud, he had lost. Therefore he says: “Lord, in your will you gave strength to my beauty. In my abundance I said, ‘I shall not be moved,’ though this came to me from you, not from myself. Then you turned your face away, and I was troubled.” ### Scripture references - Ps 30:7 (29:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 30:6 (29:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:7: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Psalm 30:6–7 is quoted in the Old Latin wording, with Augustine's paraphrase in the middle. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 27 (CSEL 60:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-27). ## On Nature and Grace 28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-28 - Source: CSEL 60:253–254 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine urges prayer rather than disputation with the Pelagians, and explains that Adam's easily avoidable sin was justly punished by the loss of the body's obedience, which we inherit. ### Latin text Hoc superbus animus omnino non sapit; sed magnus est dominus. qui id persuadeat quomodo ipse nouit. nam procliuiores sumus quaerere potius quid contra ea respondeamus, quae nostro obiciuntur errori, quam intendere quam sint salubria, ut careamus errore. unde cum istis non tam disputationibus quam pro eis sicut pro nobis orationibus est agendum. non enim hoc eis dicimus, quod sibi iste opposuit, ut esset causa misericordiae dei, necessarium fuisse peccatum — utinam non fuisset miseria. ne ista esset misericordia necessaria!—, sed iniquitatem peccati tanto grauiorem. quanto facilius homo non peccaret, quem nulla adhuc tenebat infirmitas. poena iustissima subsecuta est, ut mercedem mutuam peccati sui in semet ipso reciperet amittens sub se positam sui corporis quodammodo oboedientiam, quam praecipuam sub domino suo ipse contempserat. et quod nunc cum eadem lege peccati nascimur, quae in membris nostris repugnat lege mentis, neque aduersus deum murmurare neque contra rem manifestissimam disputare, sed pro poena nostra illius misericordiam quaerere et orare debemus. ### English translation (Claude) The proud mind does not understand this at all; but the Lord is great, who can persuade him of it in the way he himself knows. For we are more inclined to look for what we may answer against the things objected to our error than to consider how wholesome they are, so that we may be free of error. So with these men we must deal not so much by arguments as by prayers for them, as for ourselves. For we do not say to them what he set up as an objection to himself, that sin was necessary so that there might be a cause for God's mercy (would that there had been no misery, so that this mercy would not be necessary!); but that the iniquity of sin was the graver the more easily man could have avoided sinning, since no weakness yet held him; and a most just punishment followed, so that he received in himself the due recompense of his sin, losing the obedience, in a way, of his own body placed beneath him, since he himself had despised obedience, the chief obedience, to his own Lord. And since we are now born with that same law of sin which in our members wars against the law of the mind, we ought neither to murmur against God nor to dispute against a most evident fact, but to seek his mercy for our punishment and to pray for it. ### Scripture references - Ps 48:1: echo, low confidence - Rom 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 28 (CSEL 60:253–254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-28). ## On Nature and Grace 29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-29 - Source: CSEL 60:254–255 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that God's grace is needed not only to heal past sin but continually to keep the justified from sinning, as the healthy eye still needs light. ### Latin text Adtendite sane uigilanter quomodo dixerit: adhibet quidem etiam huic parti, si quando necessarium fuerit, misericordiam suam deus, quia homini post peccatum ita subuenire necesse est, non quia deus causam huius necessitatis optauerit. uidetisne quemadmodum non dicat necessariam misericordiam dei ut non peccemus, sed quia peccauimus? deinde subiungit: sed et medicus ad curandum iam uulneratum paratus esse debet; non debet autem ut sanus uulneretur optare. si ista similitudo rebus de quibus agimus congruit, certe uulnerari non potest natura humana peccato, quoniam peccatum nulla substantia est. sicut ergo uulnere uerbi gratia claudicans ideo curatur, ut sanato malo praeterito futurus dirigatur incessus, sic mala nostra non ad hoc solum supernus medicus sanat, ut illa iam non sint, sed ut de cetero recte ambulare possimus; quod quidem etiam sani non nisi illo adiuuante poterimus. nam medicus homo cum sanauerit hominem, iam de cetero sustentandum elementis et alimentis corporalibus, ut eadem sanitas apto subsidio conualescat atque persistat, deo dimittit, qui praebet ista in carne uiuentibus. cuius erant etiam illa quae, dum curaret, adhibebat. non enim quemquam medicus ex his rebus, quas ipse creauerit, sanat, sed ex illius opibus, qui creat omnia necessaria sanis atque uitiosis. ipse autem deus, cum per mediatorem dei et hominum hominem Christum Iesum spiritaliter sanat aegrum uel uiuificat mortuum, id est iustificat inpium, et cum ad perfectam sanitatem, hoc est ad perfectam uitam iustitiamque, perduxerit, non deserit, si non deseratur, ut pie semper iusteque uiuatur. sicut enim oculus corporis etiam plenissime sanus nisi candore lucis adiutus non potest cernere, sic homo etiam perfectissime iustificatus, nisi aeterna luce iustitiae diuinitus adiuuetur, recte non potest uiuere. sanat ergo deus non solum ut deleat quod peccauimus, sed ut praestet etiam ne peccemus. ### English translation (Claude) Notice carefully how he has said: “God indeed applies his mercy to this part too, if ever it is necessary, because man must be helped in this way after sin, not because God desired the cause of this necessity.” Do you see how he does not say that God's mercy is necessary in order that we may not sin, but because we have sinned? Then he adds: “But the physician too ought to be ready to treat one who is already wounded; he ought not to wish that a healthy man be wounded.” If this comparison fits the matters we are discussing, then certainly human nature cannot be wounded by sin, since sin is no substance. So just as one who limps, say, from a wound, is treated so that, when the past harm has been healed, his future walking may be set straight, so the heavenly physician heals our evils not only so that they may no longer exist, but so that we may walk rightly from then on; which even when healthy we shall not be able to do except with his help. For a human physician, when he has healed a man, leaves him thereafter to God, to be sustained by the bodily elements and foods, so that the same health may grow strong and last with suitable support; God provides these to those living in the flesh, and to him belonged also the things the physician applied while he was treating him. For no physician heals anyone with things he himself has created, but with the resources of him who creates all things necessary for the healthy and the sick. But God himself, when through the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, he heals the sick spiritually or gives life to the dead, that is, justifies the ungodly, and when he has brought him to perfect health, that is, to perfect life and righteousness, does not desert him, if he is not deserted, so that he may always live piously and righteously. For as the eye of the body, even when entirely healthy, cannot see unless helped by the brightness of light, so a man, even when most perfectly justified, cannot live rightly unless he is divinely helped by the eternal light of righteousness. God heals, then, not only to blot out what we have sinned, but also to grant that we may not sin. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 4:5: allusion, high confidence - Titus 2:12: echo, medium confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 29 (CSEL 60:254–255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-29). ## On Nature and Grace 30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-30 - Source: CSEL 60:255 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' mockery of the idea that sin might guard against pride by the analogy of painful surgery that cures pain. ### Latin text Acute sane tractat et uersat et, quantum sibi uidetur, redarguit atque conuincit quod eis dicitur etiam necessarium fuisse homini ad auferendam superbiae uel gloriae occasionem, ut absque peccato esse non posset. absurdissimum quippe et stultissimum putat peccatum fuisse ne peccatum esset, quoniam et ipsa superbia utique peccatum est; quasi non et ulcus in dolore est et sectio dolorem operatur, ut dolor dolore tollatur. hoc si experti non essemus et in aliquibus terris, ubi ista numquam contigerant, audiremus, sine dubio utique deridentes fortassis etiam uerbis huius uteremur et diceremus: absurdissimum est dolorem necessarium fuisse, ne ulceris dolor esset. ### English translation (Claude) He treats cleverly, turns over, and, as he thinks, refutes and overturns what is said to them: that it was even necessary for man, in order to remove the occasion of pride or glory, that he should not be able to be without sin. For he thinks it most absurd and most foolish that there should have been sin so that there would not be sin, since pride itself is certainly sin; as though an ulcer did not also consist in pain, and surgery cause pain, so that pain is removed by pain. If we had not experienced this, and heard of it in some lands where such things had never happened, we would without doubt laugh, and perhaps even use this man's words and say: “It is most absurd that pain should have been necessary so that there would not be the pain of an ulcer.” ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 30 (CSEL 60:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-30). ## On Nature and Grace 31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-31 - Source: CSEL 60:255–256 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that God heals in his own order, leaving Paul his thorn to guard against pride, and that we work out salvation with fear because God works in us. ### Latin text Sed deus, inquiunt, potest omnia sanare, hoc utique agit, ut sanet omnia, sed agit iudicio suo nec ordinem sanandi accipit ab aegroto. procul dubio quippe firmissimum apostolum nolebat efficere, cui tamen dicit: uirtus in infirmitate perficitur et non ei totiens oranti aufert nescio quem stimulum carnis, quem sibi dicit datum, ne in magnitudine reuelationum extolleretur. cetera enim uitia tantum in male factis ualent, sola autem superbia etiam in recte factis cauenda est. unde ammonentur illi, ne dona dei suae potestati tribuendo seseque extollendo grauius pereant quam si nihil operarentur boni, quibus dicitur: cum timore et tremore nostram ipsorum salutem operamini; deus enim est qui operatur in nobis et uelle et operari pro bona uoluntate. quare ergo cum timore et tremore et non potius cum securitate, si deus operatur, nisi quia propter uoluntatem nostram, sine qua bene non possumus operari. cito potest subrepere animo humano. ut quod bene operatur suum tantummodo existimet et dicat in abundantia sua: non mouebor in aeternum? ideo qui uoluntate sua praestiterat decori eius uirtutem, auertit paululum faciem suam, ut qui hoc dixerat fieret conturbatus, quoniam ipse est ille tumor sanandus doloribus. ### English translation (Claude) “But God,” they say, “can heal all things.” He certainly does this, so as to heal all things; but he does it by his own judgment, and does not take the order of healing from the sick man. For without doubt he wished to make the apostle most strong, to whom, however, he says, “Power is made perfect in weakness,” and does not take away from him, though he prayed so often, some thorn or other in the flesh, which he says was given him lest he be exalted by the greatness of the revelations. For the other vices have power only in evil deeds; but pride alone must be guarded against even in deeds rightly done. So those are warned, lest by attributing God's gifts to their own power and exalting themselves they perish more grievously than if they did no good at all, to whom it is said: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good will.” Why, then, “with fear and trembling” and not rather with security, if God works, unless because, on account of our will, without which we cannot work well, it can quickly creep into the human mind to think that what it does well is its own alone, and to say in its abundance, “I shall not be moved forever”? Therefore he who by his will had given strength to his beauty turned away his face a little, so that he who had said this might be troubled; since that is the swelling that must be healed by pains. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 12:9: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:7: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:8: allusion, high confidence - Phil 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 30:6 (29:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 30:7 (29:8 LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 31 (CSEL 60:255–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-31). ## On Nature and Grace 32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-32 - Source: CSEL 60:256–257 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' comparison of fire and sin with examples of pains, poisons, and heats that cure their like, and with Paul's delivering men to Satan to teach them. ### Latin text Non itaque dicitur homini: necesse est peccare, ne pecces, sed dicitur homini: deserit aliquantum deus, unde superbis, ut scias non tuum, sed eius esse et discas superbus non esse. nam illud etiam apostoli quale est! nonne ita mirabile, ut nisi quia ipse dicit, cui uera dicenti contradicere nefas est, sit credibile? quis enim nesciat fidelium a satana uenisse primam peccati suasionem et quod ille primus auctor sit omnium peccatorum? et tamen quidam traduntur satanae, ut discant non blasphemare. quomodo igitur opus satanae excluditur opere satanae? haec atque huiusmodi intueatur, ne uideantur ei nimis acuta, quae acutule sonant et discussa inueniuntur obtunsa. quid quod etiam similitudines adhibet, quibus magis ammoneat quid ei debeat responderi? quid amplius dicam, inquit. nisi quia credi potest quod ignes ignibus extinguntur, si credi potest quod peccatis peccata curentur? quid si ignes quisquam extinguere non potest ignibus, sed tamen possunt, ut docui, dolores curari doloribus? possunt etiam, si quaerat et discat, uenenis uenena pelli. nam si et aduertit aliquando calores febrium quibusdam caloribus medicinalibus frangi, etiam ignes ignibus fortasse concedet extingui. ### English translation (Claude) So it is not said to man, “It is necessary to sin so that you may not sin,” but it is said to man, “God deserts you somewhat in the thing you are proud of, so that you may know it is not yours but his, and learn not to be proud.” For what of that saying of the apostle! Is it not so astonishing that it would not be credible, except that he himself says it, whom it is impious to contradict when he speaks the truth? For which of the faithful does not know that the first persuasion to sin came from Satan, and that he is the first author of all sins? And yet some are delivered to Satan “that they may learn not to blaspheme.” How then is the work of Satan shut out by the work of Satan? Let him consider these and such things, lest things seem too acute to him that sound rather clever but, when examined, are found blunt. What of his even using comparisons, by which he rather suggests what ought to be answered him? “What more shall I say,” he says, “except that it can be believed that fires are put out by fires, if it can be believed that sins are cured by sins?” What if no one can put out fires by fires, and yet, as I have shown, pains can be cured by pains? Poisons too, if he inquires and learns, can be driven out by poisons. And if he notices also that the heat of fevers is sometimes broken by certain medicinal heats, perhaps he will even grant that fires can be put out by fires. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 1:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:1: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 32 (CSEL 60:256–257; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-32). ## On Nature and Grace 33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-33 - Source: CSEL 60:257–258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects Pelagius' claim that every sin is pride, while agreeing that pride was the beginning of sin in the devil and in Adam. ### Latin text Quonam modo, inquit, superbiam ipsam a peccato separabimus? quid enim hoc urget, cum manifestum sit etiam ipsam esse peccatum? tam peccare, inquit. superbire est quam superbire peccare. nam quaere quid sit quodcumque peccatum et uide, si inuenies aliquod sine superbiae appellatione peccatum. hanc autem sententiam sic exsequitur et sic probare conatur: omne, inquit. peccatum, nisi fallor, dei contemptus est et omnis dei contemptus superbia est. quid enim tam superbum quam deum contemnere? omnino ergo peccatum et superbia est etiam scriptura dicente: initium omnis peccati superbia est. quaerat diligenter. et inueniet in lege multum discretum esse a ceteris peccatis peccatum superbiae. multa enim peccata per superbiam committuntur, sed neque omnia superbe fiunt. quae perperam fiunt — certe a nescientibus, certe ab infirmis. certe plerumque a flentibus et nescientibus et quaedam superbia, cum magnum sit ipsa peccatum, ita sine aliis per se ipsa est, ut etiam plerumque, ut dixi, non in peccatis. sed in ipsis recte factis pede celeriore superueniat et obrepat. sed ideo uerissime dictum est, quod iste aliter intellexit: initium omnis peccati superbia. quoniam diabolum. a quo extitit origo peccati, ipsa deiecit et subsequente inuidentia hominem stantem unde ipse cecidit inde subuertit. nam utique iactantiae ianuam. qua intraret. serpens ille quaesiuit, quando ait: eritis sicut dii. ideo dictum est: initium omnis peccati superbia, et: initium superbiae hominis apostatare a deo. ### English translation (Claude) “How,” he says, “shall we separate pride itself from sin?” What is he pressing with this, when it is clear that it too is sin? “To sin,” he says, “is as much to be proud as to be proud is to sin. For ask what any sin is, and see whether you will find any sin without the name of pride.” He develops and tries to prove this opinion thus: “Every sin,” he says, “unless I am mistaken, is contempt of God, and all contempt of God is pride. For what is so proud as to despise God? So all sin is also pride, as Scripture also says: ‘The beginning of all sin is pride.’” Let him search carefully, and he will find that in the law the sin of pride is sharply distinguished from other sins. For many sins are committed through pride; but not all things that are done wrongly are done proudly: certainly not those done by the ignorant, by the weak, and often by those who weep; and pride, though it is itself a great sin, exists so much by itself without others that often, as I said, it comes upon us and creeps in with swifter foot not in sins but in the very things done rightly. But the saying which he understood otherwise was most truly said, “The beginning of all sin is pride,” since it cast down the devil, from whom the origin of sin arose, and, envy following, overthrew man, while he stood, from the place from which the devil himself had fallen. For certainly that serpent sought the door of boasting by which to enter, when he said, “You will be as gods.” Therefore it was said, “The beginning of all sin is pride,” and, “The beginning of man's pride is to fall away from God.” ### Scripture references - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 10:13 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 10:12 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sirach 10:13 and 10:12 (10:15 and 10:14 in the Vulgate) are quoted in the Latin wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 33 (CSEL 60:257–258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-33). ## On Nature and Grace 34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-34 - Source: CSEL 60:258 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' dilemma that a sin is either necessary and not one's own, or voluntary and avoidable, by teaching that sin is our own though committed from a fault not yet healed. ### Latin text Quid autem sibi uult quod dicit: deinde quomodo deo pro illius peccati reatu subditus esse poterit, quod suum non esse cognouerit? suum enim non est, inquit, si necessarium est. aut si suum est, uoluntarium est; et si uoluntarium est, uitari potest. nos respondemus: suum est omnino, sed uitium quo committitur nondum omni ex parte sanatum est; quod quidem ut inolesceret, de non recte usa sanitate descendit; ex quo uitio iam male ualens uel infirmitate uel caecitate plura committit pro quo supplicandum est, ut sanetur et deinceps in perpetua sanitate uiuatur, non superbiendum, quasi homo eadem potestate sanetur qua potestate uitiatus est. ### English translation (Claude) And what does he mean when he says: “Then how can he be subject to God for the guilt of that sin which he knows is not his own? For it is not his,” he says, “if it is necessary. Or if it is his, it is voluntary; and if it is voluntary, it can be avoided.” We answer: it is entirely his; but the fault by which it is committed has not yet been healed in every part; and that it grew in at all came from health not rightly used. From this fault, being now in poor health, whether by weakness or by blindness, he commits more sins; and for this he must pray to be healed and thereafter to live in lasting health, not be proud, as though a man were healed by the same power by which he was corrupted. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 34 (CSEL 60:258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-34). ## On Nature and Grace 35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-35 - Source: CSEL 60:258–259 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine confesses he does not know why God does not quickly heal pride, and teaches that God's mercy both goes before and follows us, so that we work together with him as he works. ### Latin text Et haec quidem ita dixerim, ut altius dei iudicium me fatear ignorare cur etiam ipsam superbiam, quae et in recte factis animo insidiatur humano, non cito deus sanet; pro qua sananda illi piae animae cum lacrimis et magnis gemitibus supplicant, ut ad eam superandam et quodammodo calcandam et obterendam dexteram conantibus porrigat. ubi enim laetatus homo fuerit in aliquo bono opere se etiam superasse superbiam, ex ipsa laetitia caput erigit et dicit: ecce ego uiuo, quid triumphas? et ideo uiuo, quia triumphas. ante tempus enim fortasse de illa quasi uicta triumphare delectat, cum extrema eius umbra illo meridie, quantum arbitror, absorbebitur, qui meridies scriptura dicente promittitur: et educet sicut lumen iustitiam tuam et iudicium tuum sicut meridie, si fiat quod supra scriptum est: reuela ad dominum uiam tuam et spera in eum, et ipse faciet, non, sicut quidam putant, quod ipsi faciant. nullos enim uidetur adtendisse, cum dixit: et ipse faciet, nisi eos qui dicunt: nos facimus. id est nos ipsi nos ipsos iustificamus. ubi quidem operamur et nos, sed illo operante cooperamur, quia misericordia eius praeuenit nos. praeuenit autem, ut sanemur, quia et subsequetur ut etiam sanati uegetemur; praeuenit, ut uocemur, subsequetur ut glorificemur; praeuenit, ut pie uiuamus, subsequetur ut cum illo semper uiuamus, quia sine illo nihil facere possumus. utrumque enim scriptum est et: deus meus, misericordia eius praeueniet me, et: misericordia tua subsequetur me per omnes dies uitae meae. reuelemus ergo ad eum uiam nostram confessione, non defensione laudemus. si enim non est ipsius uia, sed nostra, procul dubio non est recta. reuelemus eam confitendo, quia non eum latet, etiamsi operire conemur. bonum est autem confiteri domino. ### English translation (Claude) I would say this, however, in such a way as to confess that I do not know the deeper judgment of God, why he does not quickly heal even pride itself, which lies in wait for the human mind even in deeds rightly done; for whose healing pious souls pray to him with tears and great groanings, that he may stretch out his right hand to them as they strive to overcome it and in a way to trample and crush it. For when a man has rejoiced that in some good work he has overcome even pride, from that very joy it lifts up its head and says: “Look, I am alive; why do you triumph? And I am alive because you triumph.” For perhaps it pleases one to triumph over it, as if it were conquered, before the time, when its last shadow will be swallowed up, as I think, in that noonday which is promised as Scripture says: “And he will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday,” if what is written above is done: “Reveal your way to the Lord, and hope in him, and he himself will do it”; not, as some think, that they themselves do it. For he seems to have had in view no one else, when he said, “and he himself will do it,” than those who say, “We do it,” that is, we ourselves justify ourselves. Here indeed we too work; but we work together with him as he works, because his mercy goes before us. It goes before us that we may be healed, and it will also follow us that, once healed, we may grow strong; it goes before us that we may be called, it will follow us that we may be glorified; it goes before us that we may live piously, it will follow us that we may live with him always, because without him we can do nothing. For both are written: “My God, his mercy will go before me,” and, “Your mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” Let us, then, reveal our way to him by confession, not praise it by defending it. For if it is not his way but ours, it is without doubt not right. Let us reveal it by confessing, since it is not hidden from him even if we try to cover it. “And it is good to confess to the Lord.” ### Scripture references - Ps 37:6 (36:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - John 15:5: quotation, high confidence - Ps 59:10 (58:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 23:6 (22:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 92:1 (91:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:30: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Psalms are quoted in the Old Latin wording (e.g. Ps 37:5 “reveal your way”). “Reveal” (reuelare) and “cover” play on each other. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 35 (CSEL 60:258–259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-35). ## On Nature and Grace 36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-36 - Source: CSEL 60:259–260 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that God himself shows, gives, and leads us in the righteous way, so that we must walk it in fear and trust in him, which does not remove the will but proclaims grace. ### Latin text Ita enim quod ei placet dabit nobis. si quod ei displicet in nobis. displiceat et nobis. auertet. sicut scriptum est. semitas nostras a uia sua et nostram faciet esse quae sua est, quoniam ab ipso praebetur credentibus in eum et sperantibus in eum ut ipse faciat. ipsa est enim uia iusta. quam ignorantes qui zelum dei habent, sed non secundum scientiam, et suam uolentes constituere iustitiae dei non sunt subiecti. finis enim legis Christus ad iustitiam omni credenti, qui dixit: ego sum uia. in qua iam ambulantes tamen terruit uox diuina, ne quasi de propriis in ea uiribus extollantur. nam quibus propter hoc ait apostolus: cum timore et tremore uestram ipsorum salute operamini; deus enim est qui operatur in uobis et uelle et operari pro bona uoluntate, eis propter hoc ipsum dicit etiam psalmus: seruite domino in timore et exultate cum tremore. adprehendite disciplinam, ne quando irascatur dominus et pereatis de uia iusta, cum exarserit in breui ira eius super uos. non ait ne quando irascatur dominus et non uobis ostendat uiam iustam aut non uos introducat in uiam iustam, sed iam illic ambulantes sic terrere potuit, ut diceret: ne pereatis de uia iusta. unde, nisi quia superbia, quod totiens dixi et saepe dicendum est, etiam in ipsis recte factis cauenda est, id est in ipsa uia iusta, ne homo, dum quod dei est deputat suum, amittat quod dei est et redeat ad suum? ideo quo psalmus ipse concluditur faciamus: beati omnes qui confidunt in eum, utique ut ipse faciat, ipse ostendat uiam suam, cui dicitur: ostende nobis, domine, misericordiam tuam; ipse det salutem, ut ambulare possimus, cui dicitur: et salutare tuum, domine, da nobis; ipse in eadem uia deducat, cui dicitur: deduc me, domine, in uia tua et ambulabo in ueritate tua; ipse ad illa, quo uia ducit, promissa perducat, cui dicitur: etenim illuc manus tua deducet me et perducet me dextera tua; ipse ibi pascat recumbentes cum Abraham, Isaac et Iacob, de quo dictum est: faciet eos recumbere et transibit et ministrabit eis. non enim, cum ista commemoramus, arbitrium uoluntatis tollimus, sed dei gratiam praedicamus. cui enim prosunt ista nisi uolenti, sed humiliter uolenti, non se de uoluntatis uiribus, tamquam ad perfectionem iustitiae sola sufficiat, extollenti? ### English translation (Claude) For so he will give us what pleases him, if what displeases him in us displeases us too. He will turn aside, as it is written, our paths from his way, and will make that way ours which is his, since it is granted by him to those who believe in him and hope in him that he himself will do it. For this is the righteous way, of which those are ignorant who “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, and, seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,” who said, “I am the way.” Yet the divine voice has frightened those who already walk in it, lest they exalt themselves as if by their own strength in it. For to those to whom the apostle says for this reason, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good will,” for this very reason the psalm too says: “Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice with trembling. Lay hold of discipline, lest the Lord be angry and you perish from the righteous way, when his wrath is kindled in a short time against you.” He does not say, “lest the Lord be angry and not show you the righteous way, or not bring you into the righteous way,” but could so frighten those already walking there as to say, “lest you perish from the righteous way.” Why, unless because pride, as I have said so often and must say often, must be guarded against even in things rightly done, that is, in the righteous way itself, lest a man, while he counts as his own what is God's, lose what is God's and return to what is his own? So let us do what that psalm concludes with: “Blessed are all who trust in him,” that is, that he himself may do it; that he himself may show his way, to whom it is said, “Show us, O Lord, your mercy”; that he himself may give salvation, so that we may be able to walk, to whom it is said, “And give us, O Lord, your salvation”; that he himself may lead us in the same way, to whom it is said, “Lead me, O Lord, in your way, and I will walk in your truth”; that he himself may bring us to those promises to which the way leads, to whom it is said, “For there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will bring me”; that he himself may feed there those who recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom it is said, “He will make them recline, and will pass by and serve them.” For when we mention these things we do not take away the choice of the will, but proclaim the grace of God. For whom do these things profit but one who wills, but wills humbly, not exalting himself on the strength of his will as though it alone sufficed for the perfection of righteousness? ### Scripture references - Ps 44:18 (43:19 LXX): allusion, low confidence - Rom 10:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:4: quotation, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 85:7 (84:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 86:11 (85:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 139:10 (138:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 8:11: allusion, high confidence - Luke 12:37: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Psalms are quoted in the Old Latin wording. The first quotation (“he will turn aside our paths from his way”) is uncertain; perhaps Psalm 44:18. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 36 (CSEL 60:259–260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-36). ## On Nature and Grace 37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-37 - Source: CSEL 60:260–261 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects the charge that asserting sinlessness makes man equal to God, since even perfect righteousness will not make the creature equal to the Creator. ### Latin text Absit autem ut ei dicamus, quod a quibusdam contra se dici ait, conparari hominem deo, si absque peccato esse asseratur; quasi uero angelus, qui absque peccato est, conparetur deo. ego quidem hoc sentio, quia etiam cum fuerit in nobis tanta iustitia, ut ei addi omnino nihil possit, non aequabitur creatura creatori. si autem aliqui putant tantum nostrum futurum esse prorsusueetum. ut in dei substantiam conuertamur et hoc efficiamur prorsus quod ille est, uiderint quemadmodum astruant sententiam Suam; mihi hoc fateor non esse persuasum. ### English translation (Claude) But far be it from us to say to him what he says is said against him by some, that man is being compared to God if it is asserted that he can be without sin; as if an angel, who is without sin, were compared to God. I for my part think this: that even when there is such righteousness in us that nothing at all can be added to it, the creature will not be made equal to the Creator. But if some think that our change will be so complete that we shall be turned into the substance of God and become entirely what he is, let them see how they establish their opinion; I confess that I am not persuaded of it. ### Translation notes - The digital text is garbled at “prorsusueetum”; the translation follows the evident sense (“so complete a change”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 37 (CSEL 60:260–261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-37). ## On Nature and Grace 38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-38 - Source: CSEL 60:261 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine agrees with Pelagius that humility belongs with truth, and concludes that 1 John 1:8 is therefore simply true: we do have sin. ### Latin text Iam sane hoc multum faueo libri huius auctori, quod aduersus eos qui dicunt: rationabile quidem uidetur esse quod asseris, sed superbum est dici hominem absque peccato esse posse ita respondet, ut omnino, si uerum est, nullo modo superbum esse dicendum est. ait enim acutissime atque uerissime: in qua magis parte humilitas collocanda est? sine dubio falsitatis, si in ea quae ueritatis probatur esse superbia est. ac per hoc placet illi et recte placet, ut in parte ueritatis, non in parte falsitatis magis humilitas collocetur. ex quo est consequens, ut ille, qui dixit: si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos decipimus et ueritas in nobis non est, uerum dixisse minime dubitetur, ne causa humilitatis hoc falsum dixisse uideatur. propterea enim addidit: et ueritas in nobis non est, cum forte sufficeret dicere: nos ipsos decipimus, nisi adtenderet quosdam putare posse ideo dictum nos ipsos decipimus, quia etiam de uero bono qui se laudat extollitur. addendo itaque et ueritas in nobis non est manifeste ostendit, sicut etiam huic rectissime placet, hoc omnino uerum non esse: si dixerimus quia pecatum non habemus, ne humilitas constituta in parte falsitatis perdat praemium ueritatis. ### English translation (Claude) Here I strongly support the author of this book, in that against those who say, “What you assert seems reasonable, but it is proud to say that a man can be without sin,” he answers that if it is true, it must in no way be called proud. For he says most acutely and most truly: “On which side should humility rather be placed? Doubtless on the side of falsehood, if what is proved to be on the side of truth is pride.” And so it pleases him, and rightly pleases him, that humility should rather be placed on the side of truth, not on the side of falsehood. From this it follows that there can be no doubt at all that he who said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us,” spoke the truth, lest he seem to have said something false for the sake of humility. For this is why he added, “and the truth is not in us,” when perhaps it would have been enough to say, “we deceive ourselves,” had he not noticed that some might think that “we deceive ourselves” was said because even one who praises himself for a true good is puffed up. By adding, then, “and the truth is not in us,” he shows plainly, as this man too very rightly approves, that it is not true at all if we say that we have no sin; lest humility, placed on the side of falsehood, lose the reward of truth. ### Scripture references - 1 John 1:8: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 38 (CSEL 60:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-38). ## On Nature and Grace 39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-39 - Source: CSEL 60:261–262 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that praising nature as healthy rejects the Savior, and that God's mercy is needed not only to pardon past sins but to help us avoid future ones. ### Latin text Porro autem quod dei causam sibi agere uidetur defendendo naturam, non adtendit, quod eandem naturam sanam esse dicendo medici repellit misericordiam. ipse est autem creator eius qui saluator eius. non ergo debemus sic laudare creatorem, ut cogamur, immo uere conuincamur dicere superfluum saluatorem. naturam itaque hominis dignis laudibus honoremus easque laudes ad creatoris gloriam referamus; sed quia nos creauit, ita simus grati, ut non simus, quia sanat, ingrati. uitia sane nostra, quae sanat, non diuino operi, sed humanae uoluntati iustaeque illius uindictae tribuamus; sed ut in nostra potestate fuisse ne acciderent confitemur, ita ut sanentur in illius magis esse misericordia quam in nostra potestate fateamur. hanc iste misericordiam et medicinale saluatoris auxilium tantum in hoc ponit, ut ignoscat commissa praeterita, non ut adiuuet ad futura uitanda. hic perniciosissime fallitur; hic etsi nesciens prohibet nos uigilare et orare ne intremus in temptationem, cum hoc ne nobis accidat in nostra tantum potestate esse contendit. ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, in thinking that he is pleading God's cause by defending nature, he does not notice that by saying that this same nature is healthy he rejects the mercy of the physician. But he who is its Creator is its Savior. We must not, then, so praise the Creator that we are forced, or rather truly convicted, to say that the Savior is superfluous. Let us therefore honor the nature of man with fitting praises, and refer those praises to the glory of the Creator; but let us be so grateful that he created us that we are not ungrateful that he heals us. Our faults, indeed, which he heals, let us attribute not to the divine work but to the human will and to its just punishment; but as we confess that it was in our power that they should not happen, so let us confess that their being healed lies more in his mercy than in our power. This mercy and healing help of the Savior this man places only in this, that he pardons past sins, not that he helps us to avoid future ones. Here he is most perniciously deceived; here, though unknowingly, he forbids us to watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation, when he contends that it lies in our power alone that this should not happen to us. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:41: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 39 (CSEL 60:261–262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-39). ## On Nature and Grace 40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-40 - Source: CSEL 60:262 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine agrees with Pelagius that the sins of the saints are recorded to teach repentance and to guard against despair. ### Latin text Quorundam sane exempla, quos peccasse legimus, non ideo scripta dicit, qui sanum sapit, ut ad desperationem non peccandi ualeant et securitatem peccandi nobis quodammodo praebere uideantur. sed ut disceremus uel paenitendi humilitatem uel etiam in talibus lapsibus non desperandam salutem. quidam enim in peccata prolapsi desperatione plus pereunt nec solum paenitendi neglegunt medicinam, sed ad explenda inhonesta et nefaria desideria serui libidinum et sceleratarum cupiditatum fiunt; quasi perdant, si non fecerint quod instigat libido, cum eos iam maneat certa damnatio. aduersus hunc morbum nimium periculosum et exitiabilem ualet commemoratio peccatorum etiam in quae iusti sanctique prolapsi sunt. ### English translation (Claude) He says, like one of sound mind, that the examples of certain men whom we read to have sinned were not written in order to serve for despair of not sinning and seem in a way to offer us security in sinning, but so that we might learn either the humility of repentance or that even in such falls salvation is not to be despaired of. For some who have fallen into sins perish the more through despair, and not only neglect the medicine of repentance, but become slaves of lusts and wicked desires in order to satisfy shameful and abominable longings; as if they would lose something if they did not do what lust urges, since certain damnation already awaits them. Against this very dangerous and deadly disease the recollection of the sins into which even righteous and holy men have fallen is of value. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 40 (CSEL 60:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-40). ## On Nature and Grace 41 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-41 - Source: CSEL 60:262–263 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' question whether the saints died with or without sin: though they did not live without sin, they could die without it through daily forgiveness sought in the Lord's Prayer. ### Latin text Sed acute uidetur interrogare, quomodo istos sanctos de hac uita abisse credendum sit, cum peccato an sine peccato, ut, si responsum fuerit cum peccato, putetur eos secuta damnatio, quod nefas est credere; si autem sine peccato dictum fuerit eos exisse de hac uita, probet hominem saltem propinquante morte fuisse sine peccato in hac uita. ubi parum adtendit, cum sit acutissimus. non frustra etiam iustos in oratione dicere: dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris, dominumque Christum, cum eandem orationem docendo explicuisset, ueracissime subdidisse: si enim dimiseritis peccata hominibus, dimittet uobis pater uester peccata uestra. per hoc enim cotidianum spiritale quodammodo incensum, quod ante deum in altare cordis, quod sursum habere admonemur, infertur, etiamsi non hic uiuatur sine peccato, licet mori sine peccato, dum subinde uenia deletur. quod subinde ignorantia uel infirmitate committitur. ### English translation (Claude) But he seems to ask acutely how we are to believe these saints departed from this life, with sin or without sin; so that, if the answer is “with sin”, it may be thought that damnation followed them, which it is impious to believe; but if it is said that they left this life without sin, he may prove that a man, at least as death approached, was without sin in this life. Here, acute as he is, he pays too little attention to the fact that it is not in vain that even the righteous say in prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors,” and that the Lord Christ, when he had explained this same prayer in teaching it, most truly added: “For if you forgive men their sins, your Father will forgive you your sins.” For by this daily spiritual incense, as it were, which is offered before God on the altar of the heart, which we are admonished to have lifted up, even if one does not live here without sin, one may die without sin, since what is committed from time to time through ignorance or weakness is blotted out from time to time by pardon. ### Scripture references - Matt 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Lift up your hearts” (sursum corda) is from the liturgy. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 41 (CSEL 60:262–263; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-41). ## On Nature and Grace 42 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-42 - Source: CSEL 60:263–264 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' list of sinless saints: setting aside the Virgin Mary out of honor for the Lord, all the others would have confessed with 1 John 1:8 that they had sin. ### Latin text Deinde commemorat eos, qui non modo non peccasse, uerum etiam iuste uixisse referuntur: Abel, Enoch, Melchisedech, Abraham, Isaac, Iacob, Ioseph, Iesu Naue, Finees. Samuhel, Nathan. Helias. Heliseus, Micheas, Danihel, Ananias. Azarias. Misael, Ezechiel. Mardocheus, Simeon, Ioseph. cui desponsata erat uirgo Maria. Iohannes. adiungit etiam feminas: Debboram, Annam Samuhelis matrem, Iudith, Hester, alteram Annam filiam Fanuel, Elisabeth. ipsam etiam domini ac saluatoris nostri matrem, quam dicit sine peccato confiteri necesse esse pietati. excepta itaque sancta uirgine Maria qua propter honorem domini nullam prorsus, cum de peccatis agitur, haberi uolo quaestionem — unde enim scimus quid ei plus gratiae conlatum fuerit ad uincendum omni ex parte peccatum, quae concipere ac parere meruit, quem constat nullum habuisse pecatum? — hac ergo uirgine excepta, si omnes illos sanctos et sanctas, cum hic uiuerent, congregare possemus et interrogare, utrum essent sine peccato, quid fuisse responsuros putamus? utrum hoc quod iste dicit, an quod Iohannes apostolus, rogo uos. quantalibet fuerint in hoc corpore excellentia sanctitatis, si hoc interrogari potuissent, una uoce clamassent: si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos decipimus et ueritas in nobis non est. an id humilius responderent fortasse quam uerius? sed huic iam placet et recte placet laudem humilitatis in parte non ponere falsitatis. ita hoc si uerum dicerent, haberent peccatum; quod humiliter quia faterentur, ueritas in eis esset; si autem hoc mentirentur, nihilominus haberent peccatum, quia ueritas in eis non esset. ### English translation (Claude) Next he mentions those who are recorded not only not to have sinned but also to have lived righteously: Abel, Enoch, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua son of Nun, Phinehas, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, Ezekiel, Mordecai, Simeon, Joseph to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed, John. He adds also women: Deborah, Hannah the mother of Samuel, Judith, Esther, the other Anna, daughter of Phanuel, Elizabeth; and even the mother of our Lord and Savior, whom he says piety must confess to have been without sin. Excepting, then, the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom, for the honor of the Lord, I wish no question at all to be raised when we are dealing with sins (for how do we know what more grace was conferred on her to conquer sin in every respect, who merited to conceive and bear him who certainly had no sin?): excepting this Virgin, then, if we could gather all those holy men and women, when they lived here, and ask them whether they were without sin, what do we think they would have answered? Whether what this man says, or what the apostle John says? I ask you: however great the excellence of holiness they had in this body, if they could have been asked this, they would have cried with one voice: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Or would they perhaps have answered this more humbly than truly? But he is already pleased, and rightly pleased, not to place the praise of humility on the side of falsehood. So if they said this truly, they would have sin, and since they confessed it humbly, the truth would be in them; but if they lied in saying it, they would nonetheless have sin, because the truth would not be in them. ### Scripture references - 1 John 1:8: quotation, high confidence - Luke 2:36: allusion, high confidence - Luke 1:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Jdt (Judith): allusion, high confidence - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' list includes Judith (from a book outside the 66). Augustine's exception of Mary “for the honor of the Lord” is translated as written; later Marian doctrine is not read into it. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 42 (CSEL 60:263–264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-42). ## On Nature and Grace 43 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-43 - Source: CSEL 60:264–265 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine refutes Pelagius' claim that Scripture would have recorded the sins of those it praises, citing the crowd at the triumphal entry. ### Latin text Dicent forsitan, inquit: numquid omnium potuit scriptura commemorare peccata? et uerum eis dicent quicumque dicent. nec eum contra hoc aliquid ualidum uideo respondisse, quamuis uideam tacere noluisse. quid enim dixerit, quaeso, adtendite. hoc, inquit, recte dici potest de his, quorum neque bonorum neque malorum scriptura sit memor; de illis uero, quorum iustitiae meminit, et peccatorum sine dubio meminisset, si qua eos peccasse sensisset. dicat ergo non pertinuisse ad iustitiam tantam illorum fidem, qui magna multitudine praecedentes et sequentes cum laudibus domini asellum etiam inter frementes quare hoc facerent inimicos clamabant: osanna, fili Dauid, benedictus qui uenit in nomine domini! audeat ergo iste dicere, si potest, neminem fuisse in tanta illa multitudine, qui ullum haberet omnino peccatum. quod si absurdissimum est dicere, cur nulla peccata eorum scriptura commemorauit, quae tantum bonum fidei eorum commemorare curauit? ### English translation (Claude) “Perhaps they will say,” he says, “‘Could Scripture record the sins of all?’” And whoever says this to him will say what is true. Nor do I see that he answered anything strong against it, though I see he was unwilling to keep silent. For notice, I beg you, what he said: “This can rightly be said of those of whom Scripture records neither good nor evil deeds; but of those whose righteousness it remembers, it would without doubt have remembered their sins too, if it had perceived that they sinned in anything.” Let him say, then, that the great faith of those did not belong to righteousness who, in a great multitude going before and following with praises of the Lord's colt, even among enemies raging at why they did this, cried out: “Hosanna, son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Let this man dare to say, then, if he can, that there was no one in that great multitude who had any sin at all. And if this is most absurd to say, why did Scripture record none of their sins, when it took care to record so great a good of their faith? ### Scripture references - Matt 21:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:15: allusion, medium confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 43 (CSEL 60:264–265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-43). ## On Nature and Grace 44 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-44 - Source: CSEL 60:265 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reports Pelagius' argument that Abel, one of only four people, must have been sinless because Scripture records no sin of his. ### Latin text Sed hoc etiam ipse forsitan uidit et ideo subiecit atque ait: sed esto, aliis temporibus turbae numerositate omnium dissimulauerit peccata contexere; in ipso statim mundi primordio, ubi non nisi quattuor homines erant, quid, inquit, dicimus, cur non omnium noluerit delicta memorare? utrumne ingentis multitudinis causa, quae nondum erat, an quia illorum tantum qui commiserant meminit, illius uero qui nulla commiserat meminisse non potuit? adhuc adiungit uerba, quibus ista sententia uberius et planius astruatur: certe, inquit, primo in tempore Adam et Eua, ex quibus Cain et Abel nati sunt, quattuor tantum homines fuisse referuntur. peccauit Eua — scriptura hoc prodidit, Adam quoque deliquit — eadem scriptura non tacuit —.sed et Cain peccasse ipsa aeque scriptura testata est, quorum non modo peccata, uerum etiam peccatorum indicat qualitatem. quodsi et Abel peccasset, hoc sine dubio scriptura dixisset; sed non dixit: ergo nec ille peccauit, quin etiam iustum ostendit. credamus igitur quod legimus et quod non legimus nefas credamus astruere. ### English translation (Claude) But perhaps he saw this too, and so added and said: “But granted that at other times Scripture declined to put together the sins of all because of the great number of the crowd; at the very beginning of the world, where there were only four people, what,” he says, “shall we say? Why did it not wish to record the faults of all? Was it because of an immense multitude, which did not yet exist, or because it remembered only those who had committed them, but could not remember him who had committed none?” He adds further words by which this opinion is established more fully and plainly: “Certainly,” he says, “in the first time, Adam and Eve, from whom Cain and Abel were born, are said to have been only four people. Eve sinned: Scripture has told this. Adam too offended: the same Scripture has not kept silent. And Scripture likewise testified that Cain sinned; of these it indicates not only the sins but even the nature of the sins. And if Abel had sinned, Scripture would without doubt have said so; but it did not say so; therefore he did not sin; indeed it shows that he was righteous. Let us believe, then, what we read, and let us hold it impious to assert what we do not read.” ### Scripture references - Gen 3:6: allusion, high confidence - Gen 4:8: allusion, high confidence - Heb 11:4: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 23:35: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 44 (CSEL 60:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/24/#p-44). ## On Nature and Grace 45 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-45 - Source: CSEL 60:265–267 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that Scripture could not record the countless light sins of even one man such as Abel, and that any lack in the love of God is a fault, so the righteous are not without sin. ### Latin text Haec dicens parum adtendit quod paulo ante ipse dixerat iam exorta multitudine generis humani turbae numerositate potuisse scripturam dissimulare omnium peccata contexere. hoc enim si satis adtendisset, uideret etiam in uno homine turbam et multitudinem leuium peccatorum uel non potuisse uel, si etiam potuit, non debuisse conscribi. ea quippe scripta sunt, quibus et modus adhibendus fuit et paucis exemplis ad multa necessaria lector instruendus. nam cum ipsos tunc homines licet adhuc paucos. quot uel qui fuerint, id est Adam et Eua, quot filios et filias procreauerint et quae illis nomina inposuerint, scriptura commemorare noluerit — unde nonnulli parum considerantes quam multa scriptura tacite praetereat ipsum Cain cum matre concubuisse putauerunt, unde prolem quae commemorata est procrearet, putantes illis filiis Adam sorores non fuisse, quia eas scriptura tunc tacuit, postea recapitulando inferens quod praetermiserat Adam filios et filias procreasse nec tempus quo nati sunt nec numerum nec uocabula ostendens —ita non commemorandum fuit, si Abel, quamuis merito iustus appellatus est, paulo inmoderatius aliquando risit uel animi remissione iocatus est uel uidit aliquid ad commemorandum uel aliquanto inmoderatius poma decerpsit uel plusculo cibo crudior fuit uel cum oraret cogitauit aliquid unde eius in aliud auocaretur intentio. et quotiens illi ista ac similia multa subrepserint! an forte peccata non sunt, de quibus generaliter cauendis atque cohibendis admonemur praecepto apostolico, ubi dicit: non ergo regnet peccatum in uestro mortali corpore ad oboediendum desideriis eius? his quippe ne oboediamus ad ea, quae non licent uel minus decent, cotidiana et perpetua conflictatione certandum est. nam utique ex hoc uitio mittitur uel dimittitur oculus, quo non oportet; quod uitium si conualuerit et praeualuerit, etiam adulterium perpetratur in corpore, quod in corde tanto fit citius quanto est cogitatio celerior et nullum inpedimentum morarum. hoc peccatum, id est hunc uitiosae affectionis adpetitum, qui magna ex parte frenarunt, ut non oboedirent desideriis eius nec exhiberent ei membra sua arma iniquitatis. etiam iusti appellari meruerunt et hoc adiutorio gratiae dei. uerum quia saepe in lenissimis et aliquando incautis obrepit peccatum, et iusti fuerunt et sine peccato non fuerunt. postremo si in Abel iusto caritas dei, qua una uere iustus est quicumque iustus est, adhuc erat quo posset et deberet augeri, quicquid minus erat ex uitio erat. ut cui non minus sit, donec ad illam eius fortitudinem ueniatur, ubi tota hominis absorbeatur infirmitas? ### English translation (Claude) In saying this, he does not notice enough what he himself had said a little before: that once the multitude of the human race had arisen, Scripture could decline, because of the great number of the crowd, to put together the sins of all. For if he had noticed this enough, he would see that even in one man a crowd and multitude of light sins either could not, or, even if it could, ought not to have been written down. For those things were written in which a measure had to be kept, and by a few examples the reader was to be instructed in many necessary things. For Scripture did not wish to record, of the men of that time themselves, though still few, how many there were or who they were, that is, how many sons and daughters Adam and Eve begot and what names they gave them. (Hence some, not considering how much Scripture passes over silently, have thought that Cain lay with his mother to beget the offspring that is mentioned, supposing that those sons of Adam had no sisters because Scripture was silent about them then; afterwards, recapitulating, it brings in what it had passed over, that Adam begot sons and daughters, without showing the time they were born, their number, or their names.) So it was not to be recorded if Abel, though he is deservedly called righteous, sometimes laughed a little too immoderately, or joked in relaxation of mind, or looked at something in a way worth mentioning, or picked fruit somewhat too immoderately, or was a little overfull from too much food, or while praying thought of something that drew his attention elsewhere. And how often these and many similar things crept up on him! Or are they perhaps not sins, which we are admonished in general to guard against and restrain by the apostle's command, where he says: “Let not sin, then, reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires”? For against obeying these, in things not lawful or less becoming, we must fight in daily and perpetual conflict. For certainly from this fault the eye is sent or let loose where it ought not; and if this fault grows strong and prevails, adultery is even committed in the body, which is committed in the heart so much more quickly as thought is swifter and meets no hindrance of delays. Those who in great part curbed this sin, that is, this craving of a faulty disposition, so as not to obey its desires or present their members to it as weapons of iniquity, deserved to be called righteous, and this by the help of the grace of God. But since sin often creeps in in the lightest matters and sometimes in unguarded ones, they were both righteous and not without sin. Finally, if in righteous Abel the love of God, by which alone whoever is righteous is truly righteous, still had room to be increased, and ought to have been, whatever was lacking came from fault. And who does not lack something, until one comes to that strength of his in which all human weakness is swallowed up? ### Scripture references - Gen 5:4: allusion, high confidence - Rom 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:28: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:54: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The digital text reads “ut cui non minus sit” at the end, apparently corrupt; the translation follows the sense of the question. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 45 (CSEL 60:265–267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-45). ## On Nature and Grace 46 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-46 - Source: CSEL 60:267 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' rule “believe what we read” by urging him to believe what Scripture says of original sin and of salvation in Christ's name alone. ### Latin text Magna plane sententia conclusit hunc locum cum ait: credamus igitur quod legimus et quod non legimus nefas credamus astruere, quod de cunctis etiam dixisse sufficiat. contra ego dico nec omne quod legimus credere nos debere propter illud. quod ait apostolus: omnia legite, quae bona sunt tenete, ut astruere aliquid etiam quod non legimus nefas non esse. possumus enim aliquid bona fide testes astruere quod experti sumus, etiam si forte non legimus. hic fortasse respondet: ego cum hoc dicerem, de scripturis sanctis agebam. o utinam, non dico aliud quam in illis litteris legit, uerum contra id quod legit nihil uellet astruere! fideliter et oboedienter audiret quod scriptum est: per unum hominem peccatum intrauit in mundum et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes peccauerunt. et non infirmaret tanti medici gratiam, dum fateri non uult naturam humanam esse uitiatam! o utinam sicut Christianus legeret praeter Iesum Christum nullum esse nomen sub caelo, in quo oportet saluos fieri nos, et non possibilitatem naturae humanae ita defenderet, ut homo per liberum arbitrium etiam sine isto nomine saluus esse posse credatur! ### English translation (Claude) He has certainly closed this passage with a grand sentence when he says: “Let us believe, then, what we read, and let us hold it impious to assert what we do not read,” which he thinks enough to have said concerning all of them. I say on the contrary that we ought not to believe everything we read, because of what the apostle says, “Read all things; hold fast what is good”; and that it is not impious to assert something even that we have not read. For we can in good faith, as witnesses, assert something we have experienced, even if perhaps we have not read it. Here perhaps he answers: “When I said this, I was speaking of the holy Scriptures.” Oh, would that he wished to assert, I do not say nothing other than what he has read in those writings, but nothing against what he has read! Would that he listened faithfully and obediently to what is written, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so it passed to all men, in whom all sinned,” and did not weaken the grace of so great a physician by refusing to confess that human nature has been corrupted! Oh, would that as a Christian he read that there is no other name under heaven but Jesus Christ in which we must be saved, and did not so defend the possibility of human nature that a man is believed able to be saved by free choice even without this name! ### Scripture references - 1 Thess 5:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12: quotation, high confidence - Acts 4:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is cited in the Old Latin wording (“read all things”; the Greek has “test all things”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 46 (CSEL 60:267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-46). ## On Nature and Grace 47 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-47 - Source: CSEL 60:267–268 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues that if nature and free choice sufficed to know and do the good, Christ would have died in vain, and applies Galatians 5:4 to those who seek to be justified by nature. ### Latin text Sed putat fortasse ideo necessarium esse Christi nomen, ut per eius euangelium discamus quemadmodum uiuere debeamus, non etiam ut eius adiuuemur gratia, quo bene uiuamus. uel hinc saltim confiteatur esse miserabiles tenebras in animo humano, qui scit quemadmodum debeat leonem domare et nescit quemadmodum uiuere. an et hoc ut sciat sufficit ei liberum arbitrium lexque naturalis? haec est sapientia uerbi, qua euacuatur crux Christi. sed qui dixit: perdam sapientiam sapientium, quia ista crux non potest euacuari. profecto ista sapientia per stultitiam praedicationis, qua credentes sanantur, euertitur. si enim possibilitas naturalis per liberum arbitrium et ad cognoscendum quomodo uiuere debeat et ad bene uiuendum sufficit sibi, ergo Christus gratis mortuus est; ergo euacuatum est scandalum crucis. cur non etiam ego hic exclamem, immo exclamabo et istis increpitabo dolore christiano: euacuati estis a Christo, qui in natura iustificamini. a gratia excidistis! ignorantes enim dei iustitiam et uestram nolentes constituere iustitiae dei non estis subiecti. sicut enim finis legis, ita etiam naturae humanae uitiosae saluator Christus est ad iustitiam omni credenti. ### English translation (Claude) But perhaps he thinks the name of Christ is necessary only so that through his Gospel we may learn how we ought to live, not also so that we may be helped by his grace to live well. Let him at least confess from this that there is miserable darkness in the human mind, which knows how to tame a lion and does not know how to live. Or is free choice and the natural law enough for it to know this too? This is the “wisdom of speech” by which “the cross of Christ is made void.” But he who said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,” since that cross cannot be made void, certainly overthrows this wisdom through the “foolishness of preaching,” by which believers are healed. For if natural possibility through free choice suffices for itself both to know how one ought to live and to live well, then “Christ died in vain”; then “the stumbling block of the cross has been made void.” Why should I not also cry out here? Indeed I will cry out and rebuke them with Christian grief: “You are severed from Christ, you who are justified in nature; you have fallen from grace!” For, “being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and wishing to establish your own, you have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” For as Christ is the end of the law, so also he is the Savior of corrupted human nature, “for righteousness to everyone who believes.” ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 1:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:21: quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:11: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:4: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:4: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Galatians 5:4 is adapted: “in nature” for Paul's “in the law”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 47 (CSEL 60:267–268; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-47). ## On Nature and Grace 48 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-48 - Source: CSEL 60:268–269 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects Pelagius' limiting of “all have sinned” to Paul's contemporaries and explains that “all” in Romans 5:18 means that no one is justified except through Christ. ### Latin text Quid autem sibi opposuit ab eis dici contra quos loquitur: omnes enim peccauerunt? manifestum est quod de his dicebat apostolus qui tunc erant, hoc est de Iudaeis et gentibus. sed plane illud, quod commemoraui: per unum hominem peccatum intrauit in mundum et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes peccauerunt, et antiquos et recentiores et nos et posteros nostros sententia ista conplectitur. ponit etiam illud testimonium, unde probet cum dicuntur omnes non semper omnes omnino nullo praetermisso intellegi oportere. sicut per unius, inquit, delictum in omnes homines in condemnationem sic et per unius iustitiam in omnes homines in iustificationem uitae, cum per Christi, inquit, iustitiam non omnes, sed eos tantum, qui illi oboedire uoluerunt et baptismi eius ablutione purgati sunt, sanctificatos esse non dubium sit. non plane isto testimonio probat quod uult. nam sicut dictum est: sicut per unius delictum in omnes homines in condemnationem, ut nullus praetermitteretur, sic et in eo, quod dictum est: per unius iustitiam in omnes homines in iustificationem uitae, nullus praetermissus est, non quia omnes in eum credunt et baptismo eius abluuntur, sed quia nemo iustificatur nisi in eum credat et baptismo eius abluatur. itaque omnes dictum est. ne aliquo modo alio praeter ipsum quisquam saluus fieri posse credatur. sicut uno litterarum magistro in ciuitate constituto rectissime dicimus: omnes iste hic litteras docet, non quia omnes ciues litteras discunt, sed quia nemo discit, nisi quem ille docuerit, sic nemo iustificatur, nisi quem Christus iustificauerit. ### English translation (Claude) And what of his raising the objection, said by those against whom he speaks, “For all have sinned”? It is clear, he says, that the apostle was speaking of those who existed then, that is, of the Jews and the Gentiles. But certainly the saying I have mentioned, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so it passed to all men, in whom all sinned,” embraces the ancients and the more recent, and us and our descendants. He also puts forward the following testimony, to prove that when “all” is said it must not always be understood as all without exception: “‘As through the offense of one,’ he says, ‘unto all men to condemnation, so also through the righteousness of one unto all men to justification of life’; since there is no doubt,” he says, “that through the righteousness of Christ not all, but only those who wished to obey him and have been cleansed by the washing of his baptism, have been sanctified.” He certainly does not prove what he wants by this testimony. For just as it was said, “As through the offense of one unto all men to condemnation,” so that no one was left out, so also in what was said, “through the righteousness of one unto all men to justification of life,” no one is left out; not because all believe in him and are washed by his baptism, but because no one is justified unless he believes in him and is washed by his baptism. So “all” is said lest anyone should be believed able to be saved in any other way than through him. Just as, when one teacher of letters has been appointed in a city, we say most correctly, “This man teaches letters to all here,” not because all the citizens learn letters, but because no one learns unless he has taught him; so no one is justified unless Christ has justified him. ### Scripture references - Rom 3:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:18: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 48 (CSEL 60:268–269; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-48). ## On Nature and Grace 49 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-49 - Source: CSEL 60:269–270 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine does not dispute whether perfect love of God is possible, provided it is confessed to come only from a will healed and helped by grace. ### Latin text Sed esto, inquit, consentiam quia omnes peccatores fuisse testatur. dicit enim quid fuerint, non quod aliud esse non potuerint. quamobrem et si omnes homines, inquit, peccatores possent probari. definitioni tamen nostrae nequaquam id obesset, qui non tam quid homines sint quam quid possint esse defendimus. hic recte facit aliquando consentire, quoniam non iustificabitur in conspectu dei omnis uiuens, non tamen ibi esse quaestionem, sed in ipsa non peccandi possibilitate contendit, in qua nec nos aduersus eum certare opus est. nam neque illud nimis curo, utrum fuerint hic aliqui uel sint uel esse possint, qui perfectam, cui nihil addendum esset, habuerint uel habeant uel habituri sint caritatem dei - ipsa est enim uerissima, plenissima perfectissimaque iustitia —, quoniam id, quod uoluntate hominis adiuta per dei gratiam fieri posse confiteor et defendo, quando uel ubi uel in quo fiat nimium certare non debeo. neque de ipsa possibilitate contendo, cum sanata et adiuta hominis uoluntate possibilitas ipsa simul cum effectu in sanctis proueniat, dum caritas dei, quantum plenissime natura nostra sana atque purgata capere potest, diffunditur in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis. melius itaque dei causa agitur — quam se iste agendo dicit defensare naturam —, cum et creator et saluator agnoscitur quam cum defensa uelut sana uiribusque integris creatura opitulatio saluatoris inanitur. ### English translation (Claude) “But granted,” he says, “I will agree that it testifies that all were sinners. For it says what they were, not that they could not have been otherwise. Therefore even if all men,” he says, “could be proved sinners, it would in no way harm our definition, since we are defending not so much what men are as what they can be.” Here he rightly agrees for once, since “no one living will be justified in the sight of God”; yet he contends that the question lies not there but in the very possibility of not sinning; on which we too have no need to fight against him. For I do not care very much whether there have been here, or are, or can be, some who have had, or have, or will have perfect love of God, to which nothing is to be added (for this is the truest, fullest, and most perfect righteousness); since what I confess and defend can come about by the will of man helped by the grace of God, I ought not to argue too much about when or where or in whom it comes about. Nor do I dispute about possibility itself, since, when the will of man is healed and helped, the possibility itself comes about in the saints together with its effect, as the love of God, as fully as our nature healed and cleansed can receive it, is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. So God's cause is pleaded better (the cause he says he is pleading by defending nature) when he is acknowledged both as Creator and as Savior, than when the creature is defended as if healthy and with its strength unimpaired, and the help of the Savior is made void. ### Scripture references - Ps 143:2 (142:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Psalm 143:2 is quoted in the Old Latin wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 49 (CSEL 60:269–270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-49). ## On Nature and Grace 50 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-50 - Source: CSEL 60:270 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine agrees that man was created able not to sin, but applies the parable of the Good Samaritan to fallen man, who needs healing; God commands to admonish us to do what we can and pray for what we cannot. ### Latin text Verum est autem quod ait, quod deus tam bonus quam iustus talem hominem fecerit, qui peccati malo carere sufficeret, sed si uoluisset. quis enim eum nescit sanum et inculpabilem factum et libero arbitrio atque ad iuste uiuendum potestate libera constitutum? sed nunc de illo agitur, quem semiuiuum latrones in uia reliquerunt, qui grauibus saucius confossusque uulneribus non ita potest ad iustitiae culmen ascendere, sicut potuit inde descendere, qui etiam si iam in stabulo est adhuc curatur. non igitur deus inpossibilia iubet, sed iubendo admonet et facere quod possis et petere quod non possis. iam nunc uideamus unde possit, unde non possit. iste dicit: uoluntate non est, quod natura potest. ego dico: uoluntate quidem non est homo iustus, si natura potest, sed medicina poterit quod uitio non potest. ### English translation (Claude) What he says is true: that God, as good as he is just, made man such that he was able to be free of the evil of sin, but only if he willed. For who does not know that he was made healthy and blameless and established with free choice and free power to live righteously? But now the question concerns the man whom robbers left half-dead on the road, who, wounded and pierced with grievous wounds, cannot climb up to the summit of righteousness as he could come down from it, and who, even if he is now in the inn, is still being treated. God, then, does not command impossible things; but by commanding he admonishes us both to do what you can and to ask for what you cannot. Let us see now from where one can and from where one cannot. He says: “What nature can do is not from the will.” I say: a man is indeed not righteous by the will, if it is by nature that he can be; but he will be able by the medicine what he cannot because of the fault. ### Scripture references - Luke 10:30: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:34: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The saying “God does not command impossible things, but by commanding admonishes you both to do what you can and to ask for what you cannot” was later quoted by the Council of Trent. The last two sentences are compressed in the Latin; the translation follows its sense. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 50 (CSEL 60:270; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-50). ## On Nature and Grace 51 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-51 - Source: CSEL 60:270–271 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine states the one real issue: no one could ever be without sin except by the grace of God through Christ crucified, by faith in whom the righteous of old were also healed. ### Latin text Quid ergo iam opus est in pluribus inmorari? ueniamus interius ad causam, quam in hac dumtaxat quaestione uel solam uel paene solam cum istis habemus. sicut enim ipse dicit, ad quod nunc agit non pertinere ut quaeratur, utrum fuerint uel sint aliqui homines in hac uita sine peccato, sed utrum esse potuerint siue possint, ita ego etiamsi fuisse uel esse consentiam nullo modo tamen potuisse uel posse confirmo nisi iustificatos gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum et hunc crucifixum. ea quippe fides iustos sanauit antiquos, quae sanat et nos, id est mediatoris dei et hominum hominis Christi Iesu, fides sanguinis eius, fides crucis eius, fides mortis et resurrectionis eius; habentes ergo eundem spiritum fidei et nos credimus, propter quod et loquimur. ### English translation (Claude) What need is there, then, to linger on more things? Let us come further inward to the issue, which in this question at least is the only, or almost the only, one we have with these men. For just as he himself says that it does not belong to what he is now treating to ask whether there have been or are any men in this life without sin, but whether there could have been or can be, so I, even if I should agree that there have been or are, still affirm that there could not have been or can be in any way, except those justified by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, and him crucified. For that faith healed the righteous of old which heals us too, that is, faith in the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; faith in his blood, faith in his cross, faith in his death and resurrection. Having, then, the same spirit of faith, we too believe, and therefore we also speak. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 2:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 3:25: echo, medium confidence - 2 Cor 4:13: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 51 (CSEL 60:270–271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-51). ## On Nature and Grace 52 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-52 - Source: CSEL 60:271 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reports Pelagius' indignant answer that the possibility of not sinning is attributed to God alone, which on its face Augustine can accept. ### Latin text Iste uero obiecta sibi quaestione, in qua reuera intolerabilis uidetur cordibus christianis, quid respondeat adtendamus. ait enim: sed hoc est quod multos mouet, inquies, quod non per dei gratiam hominem sine peccato esse posse defendis. prorsus hoc est quod mouet, hoc est quod obicimus. rem ipsam dicit; hoc omnino aegerrime sustinemus, hinc a Christianis talia disputari ea quam in alios et in ipsos habemus dilectione non ferimus. audiamus igitur quomodo se ab obiectione quaestionis huius expediat: o ignorantiae caecitas, inquit, o inperitae mentis ignauia, quae id sine dei gratia defensari existimat, quod deo tantum audiat debere reputari! si nesciremus quae sequantur, his tantummodo auditis falsa nos de illis iactante fama et quibusdam fratribus idoneis testibus asseuerantibus credidisse putaremus. quid enim dici breuius potuit et uerius quam possibilitatem non peccandi, quantacumque est uel erit in homine, non nisi deo debere reputari? hoc et nos dicimus, iungamus dexteras. ### English translation (Claude) But let us notice what he answers when he raises against himself a question which is truly intolerable to Christian hearts. For he says: “‘But this is what troubles many,’ you will say, ‘that you maintain that a man can be without sin not through the grace of God.’” This is exactly what troubles us, this is what we object. He states the very point; this is what we bear with the greatest pain; because of the love we have for others and for them, we cannot endure such things being argued by Christians. Let us hear, then, how he extricates himself from the objection of this question: “O blindness of ignorance,” he says, “O sloth of an untaught mind, which thinks that this is maintained without the grace of God, when it hears that it ought to be attributed to God alone!” If we did not know what follows, and had heard only this, we would think that we had believed a false report spread about them, though some worthy brothers asserted it as witnesses. For what could be said more briefly and more truly than that the possibility of not sinning, however great it is or will be in man, must be attributed to God alone? This we say too; let us join right hands. ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 52 (CSEL 60:271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-52). ## On Nature and Grace 53 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-53 - Source: CSEL 60:271–272 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine reports Pelagius' argument that the ability to speak (and so not to sin) belongs to nature and God, while its use belongs to the will, and shows how even that ability can be lost. ### Latin text An audienda sunt cetera? audienda plane et corrigenda utique uel cauenda. nam cum dicitur, inquit, ipsum posse arbitrii humani omnino non esse, sed naturae, sed auctoris naturae, dei scilicet, ecqui fieri potest ut absque dei gratia intellegatur, quod ad deum proprie pertinere censetur? iam coepit apparere quid dicat; sed ne forte fallamur, latius id explanat et clarius. sed ut hoc manifestius, inquit, fiat, paulo latius disputandum est. dicimus enim cuiuscumque rei possibilitatem non tam in arbitrii humani potestate quam in naturae necessitate consistere. exemplis etiam uel similitudinibus quid dicat inlustrat. ut puta, inquit, loqui possum. quod loqui possum meum non est; quod loquor meum est, id est propriae uoluntatis; et quia quod loquor meum est, utrumque facere possum, id est et loqui et non loqui. quia uero quod loqui possum meum non est, id est arbitrii mei atque uoluntatis, necesse est me semper loqui posse; et si uoluero non posse loqui, non possum tamen non posse loqui, nisi forte membrum illud adimam, quo loquendi inpleri officium potest. multa quidem dici possent, quibus, si uelit. homo adimat sibi possibilitatem loquendi non adempto illo membro quo loquimur. uelut si aliquid fiat unde uox ipsa tollatur, loqui nemo poterit manentibus membris; non enim uox hominis membrum est; uexato sane aliquo interiore membro fieri potest, non adempto. sed ne uerbo premere uidear mihique contentiose dicatur: etiam uexare adimere est, possumus quidem id efficere et ore aliquibus uinculis sic clauso atque obserato, ut id aperire minime ualeamus neque ut aperiatur in nostra sit potestate, cum in potestate fuerit ut clauderetur manente integritate et sanitate membrorum. ### English translation (Claude) Are the rest to be heard? Certainly they are to be heard, and corrected or guarded against. For, he says, “when it is said that the ‘can’ itself does not belong to human choice at all, but to nature, indeed to the author of nature, that is, God, how can what is judged to belong properly to God be understood to be without the grace of God?” It has already begun to appear what he means; but lest we be deceived, he explains it more fully and clearly. “But to make this plainer,” he says, “we must discuss it a little more fully. For we say that the possibility of anything consists not so much in the power of human choice as in the necessity of nature.” He illustrates what he means with examples or comparisons too: “For instance,” he says, “I can speak. That I can speak is not mine; that I speak is mine, that is, of my own will. And because that I speak is mine, I can do both, that is, both speak and not speak. But because that I can speak is not mine, that is, not of my choice and will, I must always be able to speak; and if I should wish to be unable to speak, I still cannot be unable to speak, unless perhaps I remove that member by which the function of speaking can be fulfilled.” Many things could indeed be mentioned by which, if he wished, a man might take away from himself the possibility of speaking without removing the member by which we speak. For instance, if something happens by which the voice itself is taken away, no one will be able to speak though the members remain; for the voice is not a member of a man. This can happen by injury to some inner member, without its being removed. But lest I seem to press a word, and it be said to me contentiously, “Even to injure is to remove,” we can certainly bring this about even by the mouth being so shut and closed with some bonds that we are quite unable to open it, and it is not in our power that it be opened, though it was in our power that it be shut, while the members remain whole and sound. ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 53 (CSEL 60:271–272; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-53). ## On Nature and Grace 54 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-54 - Source: CSEL 60:272–273 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine questions Pelagius' claim that what is by natural necessity is outside the will, citing our necessary will to be happy and God's inability to will sin. ### Latin text Sed quid ad nos? uideamus quid deinde contexat. uoluntatis enim arbitrio, inquit, ac deliberatione priuatur quicquid naturali necessitate constringitur. et hic nonnulla quaestio est. per enim absurdum est, ut ideo dicamus non pertinere ad uoluntatem nostram quod beati esse uolumus, quia id omnino nolle non possumus nescio qua et bona constrictione naturae nec dicere audemus ideo deum non uoluntatem sed necessitatem habere iustitiae, quia non potest uelle peccare. ### English translation (Claude) But what is this to us? Let us see what he goes on to put together. “For whatever,” he says, “is bound by natural necessity is deprived of the choice and deliberation of the will.” Here too there is some question. For it is very absurd for us to say that our wishing to be happy does not belong to our will because we cannot fail to wish it at all, by some good constraint of nature; nor do we dare to say that God therefore has not will but necessity of righteousness, because he cannot will to sin. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 54 (CSEL 60:272–273; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-54). ## On Nature and Grace 55 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-55 - Source: CSEL 60:273–274 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine shows that Pelagius' comparisons from sight, hearing, and smell fail, since we often cannot use or refuse these senses at will. ### Latin text Adtendite etiam quae sequuntur. hoc, inquit, et de auditu, odoratu uel uisu sentiri possibile est, quod audire, odorari, uidere potestatis nostrae sit, posse uero audire uel odorari uel uidere potestatis nostrae non sit, sed in naturali necessitate consistat. aut ego non intellego quid dicat aut ipse. quomodo enim in potestate nostra non est uidendi possibilitas, si in potestate nostra est non uidendi necessitas, quia in potestate est caecitas, qua id ipsum uidere posse nobis, si uolumus, adimamus? quomodo autem in nostra potestate est uidere, si uelimus, cum etiam salua integritate naturae corporis oculorumque nostrorum nec uolentes uidere possimus siue per noctem luminibus quae forinsecus adhibentur ademptis siue nos quisquam in tenebroso loco aliquo includat? item si quod audire possumus uel non possumus in nostra potestate non est, sed in naturae constrictione, quod uero audimus uel non audimus. hoc est propriae uoluntatis, cur non adtendit, quanta audiamus inniti. quae penetrant in sensum nostrum etiam auribus opturatis. sicuti est de proximo serrae stridor uel grunnitus suis? quamquam opturatio aurium ostendit non in potestate nostra esse apertis auribus non audire, facit etiam fortasse talis opturatio, quae ipsum sensum nostrum adimat, ut in nostra potestate sit etiam audire non posse. de odoratu autem quod dicit. nisi parum quod dicit adtendit, non esse in nostra potestate posse odorari uel non posse, sed in nostra potestate esse, hoc est in libera uoluntate, odorari uel non odorari cum inter odores graues et molestos quando constituti fuerimus, si quis nos illic manibus ligatis constituat, seruata prorsus integritate ac salute membrorum uelimus non odorari nec omnino possimus, quia cum spiritum ducere cogimur, simul et odorem quem nolumus trahimus. ### English translation (Claude) Notice also what follows. “This,” he says, “may be perceived also of hearing, smell, or sight: that to hear, smell, and see is in our power, but to be able to hear or smell or see is not in our power, but consists in natural necessity.” Either I do not understand what he means, or he does not. For how is the possibility of seeing not in our power, if the necessity of not seeing is in our power, since blindness is in our power, by which we might take away from ourselves, if we wish, this very ability to see? And how is it in our power to see, if we wish, when even with the soundness of the nature of our body and eyes unharmed we cannot see though we wish, whether at night when the lights applied from outside are taken away, or if someone shuts us in some dark place? Likewise, if our being able or not able to hear is not in our power but in the constraint of nature, while our hearing or not hearing is of our own will, why does he not notice how many things we hear against our will, which penetrate to our sense even with our ears stopped, such as the screech of a saw nearby or the grunting of a pig? Although the stopping of the ears shows that it is not in our power not to hear with ears open, perhaps such a stopping, one that takes away our very sense, would also make it within our power not to be able to hear. And as for what he says of smell, he surely pays too little attention to what he says: that it is not in our power to be able or not able to smell, but that it is in our power, that is, in free will, to smell or not to smell; when, if we have been placed among heavy and unpleasant odors, and someone keeps us there with our hands bound, the integrity and soundness of our members being wholly preserved, we should wish not to smell and could not at all, since when we are forced to draw breath we draw in with it the odor we do not want. ### Translation notes - In “how many things we hear against our will” the digital text reads “inniti” (apparently corrupt for “inuiti”); the translation follows the sense. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 55 (CSEL 60:273–274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-55). ## On Nature and Grace 56 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-56 - Source: CSEL 60:274 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine rejects Pelagius' claim that the ability not to sin belongs to nature and its use to us, since even unfallen nature needed God's help and our present nature is corrupted. ### Latin text Sicut ergo istae similitudines falsae sunt, ita et illud propter quod est uoluit adhibere. sequitur enim et dicit: simili ergo modo de non peccandi possibilitate intellegendum est, quod non peccare nostrum sit, posse uero non peccare non nostrum. si de integra et sana hominis natura loqueretur— quam modo non habemus; spe enim salui facti sumus; spes autem quae uidetur non est spes. si autem quod non uidemus speramus, per patientiam expectamus —, nec sic recte diceret, quod non peccare nostrum tantummodo sit, quamuis peccare nostrum esset; nam et tunc esset adiutorium dei et tamquam lumen sanis oculis, quo adiuti uideant, se praebere uolentibus. quia uero de hac uita disputat, ubi corpus quod corrumpitur adgrauat animam et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem, miror quo corde etiam sine adiutorio medicinae saluatoris nostri nostrum putet esse non peccare, posse uero non peccare naturae esse contendat, quam sic apparet esse uitiatam, ut hoc maioris uitii sit non uidere. ### English translation (Claude) As these comparisons, then, are false, so is the point for whose sake he wished to use them. For he goes on and says: “In a similar way, then, we must understand the possibility of not sinning: that not to sin is ours, but to be able not to sin is not ours.” If he were speaking of the whole and healthy nature of man, which we do not now have (“for in hope we have been saved; but hope that is seen is not hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”), even so he would not say rightly that only not sinning is ours, though sinning would be ours; for even then there would be the help of God, offering itself to those who will it, like light to healthy eyes, by whose help they see. But since he is arguing about this life, where “the corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks many things,” I wonder with what heart he thinks that not sinning is ours even without the help of our Savior's medicine, and contends that being able not to sin belongs to nature, which is evidently so corrupted that not to see this is a sign of greater corruption. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:25: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 9:15 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The corruptible body weighs down the soul” is Wisdom of Solomon 9:15. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 56 (CSEL 60:274; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-56). ## On Nature and Grace 57 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-57 - Source: CSEL 60:274–275 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' reasoning about the “ability not to sin” implanted in nature, pointing out that corrupted nature, like broken feet, has lost that ability and cries for healing. ### Latin text Quia non peccare, inquit, nostrum est, possumus peccare et non peccare. quid, si alius dicat: quia nolle infelicitatem nostrum est, possumus eam et uelle et nolle? et tamen eam uelle omnino non possumus. quis enim ullo modo uelle esse possit infelix, etiamsi aliud uult ubi cum et nolentem infelicitas consequatur? deinde quia dei multo magis est non peccare, num audebimus eum dicere et peccare posse et non peccare? absit a nobis ut deum posse peccare dicamus! non enim, ut stulti putant, ideo non erit omnipotens, quia nec mori potest et negare se ipsum non potest. quid est ergo quod loquitur et quibus locutionum regulis conatur persuadere, quod non uult considerare? adhuc addit et dicit: quia uero posse non peccare nostrum non est, et, si noluerimus non posse non peccare. non possumus non posse non peccare. intorte hoc dixit et ideo subobscure. sed ita posset dici planius: quia posse non peccare nostrum non est, seu uelimus seu nolimus, possumus non peccare. non enim ait: seu uelimus seu nolimus, non possumus; sine dubio enim possumus, si uolumus; sed tamen uelimus nolimus habere nos asserit non peccare possibilitatem, quam naturae insitam dicit. sed de homine sanis pedibus tolerabiliter dici potest: uelit nolit habetis ambulandi possibilitatem; confractis uero, et si uelit, non habet. uitiata est natura de qua loquitur — quid superbit terra et cinis?—, uitiata est, medicum implorat: saluum me fac, domine, clamat; sana animam meam clamat. quid intercludit has uoces, ut defendendo quasi praesentem possibilitatem futuram inpediat sanitatem? ### English translation (Claude) “Because not sinning is ours,” he says, “we can sin and not sin.” What if someone else says: “Because not wishing unhappiness is ours, we can both wish it and not wish it”? And yet we cannot wish it at all. For who could in any way wish to be unhappy, even if he wishes something else from which unhappiness follows him against his will? Then, since not sinning belongs much more to God, shall we dare to say that he can both sin and not sin? Far be it from us to say that God can sin! For, as fools think, he will not therefore fail to be almighty because he can neither die nor deny himself. What is it, then, that he says, and by what rules of speech does he try to persuade us of what he will not consider? He adds further and says: “But because being able not to sin is not ours, even if we are unwilling to be able not to sin, we cannot be unable not to sin.” He said this in a twisted way, and so somewhat obscurely. But it could be said more plainly thus: “Because being able not to sin is not ours, whether we will or not, we can not sin.” For he does not say, “whether we will or not, we cannot [sin]”; for without doubt we can [sin], if we will; but he asserts that, will we or not, we have the possibility of not sinning, which he says is implanted in nature. But of a man with healthy feet it can tolerably be said, “Whether he will or not, he has the possibility of walking”; but when they are broken, even if he wills, he does not have it. The nature of which he speaks is corrupted (why is earth and ashes proud?); it is corrupted, it implores the physician: “Save me, O Lord,” it cries; “Heal my soul,” it cries. Why does he shut off these cries, so that by defending a possibility as if it were present, he hinders future health? ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Jer 17:14: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 41:4 (40:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 10:9 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Why is earth and ashes proud?” is Sirach 10:9. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 57 (CSEL 60:274–275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-57). ## On Nature and Grace 58 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-58 - Source: CSEL 60:275–276 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' claim that the ability not to sin is inseparably implanted in nature by citing Galatians 5:17 and Romans 7, which show men unable to do the good they will. ### Latin text Et uidete quid adiungat, unde illud confirmare existimat: quia nulla, inquit. adimere uoluntas potest, quod inseparabiliter insitum probatur esse naturae. unde ergo illa uox: ut non quae uultis faciatis? unde etiam illa: non enim quod uolo facio bonum, sed quod odi malum, hoc ago? ubi est possibilitas, quae inseparabiliter insita probatur esse naturae? ecce homines non ea quae uolunt faciunt. et de non peccando utique agebat, non de uolando. quia homines non alites erant. ecce homo quod uult bonum non agit, sed quod non uult malum. hoc agit; uelle illi adiacet. perficere autem bonum non adiacet. ubi est possibilitas, quae inseparabiliter insita probatur esse naturae? quemlibet enim in se transfiguret, si de se ipso ista non dicit apostolus, hominem certe in se transfigurat. ab isto autem ipsa humana natura inseparabilem nihil peccandi possibilitatem habere defenditur. sed his uerbis id agitur etiam a nesciente qui loquitur, non autem nesciente illo qui haec loquenda incautis etiam deum timentibus suggeret, ut euacuetur Christi gratia humana sibi ad iustitiam suam quasi sufficiente natura. ### English translation (Claude) And see what he adds, by which he thinks he confirms that point: “Because,” he says, “no will can take away what is proved to be inseparably implanted in nature.” Where, then, does that saying come from, “so that you do not do the things you will”? Where does this come from too: “For I do not do the good that I will, but the evil that I hate, that I do”? Where is the possibility which is proved to be inseparably implanted in nature? See, men do not do the things they will; and he was certainly speaking of not sinning, not of flying, for they were men, not birds. See, a man does not do the good he wills, but does the evil he does not will; “to will is present with him, but to accomplish the good is not.” Where is the possibility which is proved to be inseparably implanted in nature? For whomever the apostle transfers to himself, if he does not say these things of himself, he certainly transfers to himself a man. But this man maintains that human nature itself has an inseparable possibility of not sinning at all. But by these words this is done, even by one who speaks unknowingly (though not unknowingly by him who suggests these things to be said even to the unwary who fear God): that the grace of Christ is made void, as though human nature were sufficient for itself for its own righteousness. ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “He who suggests these things” is the devil; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 58 (CSEL 60:275–276; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-58). ## On Nature and Grace 59 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-59 - Source: CSEL 60:276–277 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine shows that Pelagius calls the possibility of not sinning “grace” only because God created nature with it, and answers from Romans 7:18 that the will can be present while the ability is lost. ### Latin text Vt autem declinetur inuidia, qua Christiani pro salute sua clamant et dicunt: quare sine adiutorio gratiae dei dicis hominem posse non peccare? ipsa, inquit, non peccandi possibilitas non tam in arbitrii potestate quam in naturae necessitate est. quicquid in naturae necessitate positum est, ad naturae pertinere non dubitatur auctorem, utique deum. quomodo ergo, inquit, absque dei gratia dici existimatur, quod ad deum proprie pertinere monstratur? expressa est sententia quae latebat, non est quemadmodum possit abscondi. ideo dei gratiae tribuit non peccandi possibilitatem, quia eius naturae deus auctor est, cui possibilitatem non peccandi inseparabiliter insitam dicit. cum uult ergo, faciat; quia non uult, non facit. ubi enim est inseparabilis possibilitas, ei accidere non potest uoluntatis infirmitas uel potius uoluntatis adiacentia et perfectionis indigentia. si ergo ita est, unde uenit: uelle adiacet, perficere autem bonum non adiacet? si enim iste qui hunc librum scripsit de illa hominis natura loqueretur, quae primo inculpata et salua condita est, utcumque acceptaretur hoc dictum; quamquam inseparabilem habere possibilitatem, id est, ut ita dicam, inamissibilem, non debuit illa natura dici, quae uitiari posset, et medicum quaerere, qui caeci oculos sanaret et uidendi possibilitatem restitueret, quae fuerat amissa per quaestionem, quoniam caecus puto quod uelit uidere. sed non potest; si autem uult et non potest, inest uoluntas, sed amissa est possibilitas. ### English translation (Claude) But to turn aside the ill will with which Christians, crying out for their salvation, say, “Why do you say that a man can not sin without the help of God's grace?”, he says: “The very possibility of not sinning lies not so much in the power of choice as in the necessity of nature. Whatever is placed in the necessity of nature undoubtedly belongs to the author of nature, that is, God. How then,” he says, “is what is shown to belong properly to God thought to be said apart from the grace of God?” The opinion that lay hidden has been expressed; there is no way it can be concealed. He attributes the possibility of not sinning to the grace of God for this reason: that God is the author of that nature in which he says the possibility of not sinning is inseparably implanted. So when a man wills, let him do it; because he does not will, he does not do it. For where there is an inseparable possibility, weakness of will cannot befall it, or rather the presence of will and the lack of accomplishment. If this is so, then, where does this come from: “To will is present, but to accomplish the good is not”? If the man who wrote this book were speaking of that nature of man which was first created blameless and sound, this saying might in some way be accepted; although even that nature ought not to have been said to have an inseparable possibility, that is, so to speak, one that cannot be lost, since it could be corrupted and seek a physician to heal the blind man's eyes and restore the possibility of seeing that had been lost; for a blind man, I suppose, wishes to see, but cannot. And if he wishes and cannot, the will is present, but the possibility has been lost. ### Scripture references - Rom 7:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The phrase “amissa per quaestionem” (“lost through the question”?) is obscure in the digital text and is rendered simply “lost”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 59 (CSEL 60:276–277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-59). ## On Nature and Grace 60 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-60 - Source: CSEL 60:277–278 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine seizes on Pelagius' admission that the flesh is not contrary to the baptized, implying that it is contrary to the unbaptized, whose nature therefore needs the Savior. ### Latin text Adhuc uidete quas moles conetur, qua suam sententiam ducat, inrumpere, si ualeret. obicit enim sibi quaestionem dicens: sed caro nobis secundum apostolum contraria est, inquies. deinde respondet: qui fieri potest, ut contraria baptizato sit caro contraria, cum secundum eundem apostolum in carne non esse intellegatur? ita enim ait: uos autem carne non estis. bene, quod baptizatis dicit carnem contrariam esse non posse; quod utrum uerum sit post uidebimus. nunc uero quia non potuit penitus se obliuisci esse Christianum, sed id licet tenuiter recordatus est, recessit a defensione naturae. ubi est ergo inseparabilitas possibilitatis? an forte nondum baptizati in natura hominum non sunt? hic prorsus, hic posset uigilare et, si aduertat, potest. qui fieri potest, inquit, ut cuicumque baptizato sit caro contraria? ergo non baptizatis potest caro esse contraria. exponat quemadmodum, cum sit etiam in ipsis illa ab eo multum defensa natura. certe uel in eis concedit esse uitiatam. si iam in baptizatis ille saucius sanus de stabulo egressus est, aut sanus in stabulo est, quo eum curandum misericors Samaritanus aduexit. porro si uel istis concedit carnem esse contrariam, dicat quid contigerit, cum sit utrumque, hoc est et caro et spiritus, creatura unius eiusdemque creatoris procul dubio bona, quia boni, nisi quia hoc est uitium, quod propria inflictum est uoluntate; et hoc ut in natura sanetur, eo ipso opus est saluatore, quo instituta est natura creatore. hoc saluatore eaque illius medicina, qua uerbum caro factum est, ut habitaret in nobis, si opus esse fateamur paruis et magnis, id est a uagitibus infantum usque canos senum, tota quae inter nos est huius quaestionis controuersia dissoluta est. ### English translation (Claude) See further what masses he tries to break through, if he could, to carry his opinion. For he raises a question against himself, saying: “‘But the flesh, according to the apostle, is contrary to us,’ you will say.” Then he answers: “How can the flesh be contrary to anyone who has been baptized, when according to the same apostle he is understood not to be in the flesh? For he says: ‘But you are not in the flesh.’” Good: he says that the flesh cannot be contrary to the baptized; whether this is true we shall see later. But now, since he could not entirely forget that he is a Christian, but remembered it, if faintly, he has withdrawn from his defense of nature. Where then is the inseparability of the possibility? Or perhaps those not yet baptized are not in the nature of men? Here, surely, here he could be awake, and, if he pays attention, he can. “How can it be,” he says, “that the flesh is contrary to anyone who has been baptized?” Then the flesh can be contrary to those not baptized. Let him explain how, since that nature which he defends so much is in them too. Certainly he grants that in them at least it is corrupted; if now, in the baptized, that wounded man has left the inn healthy, or is healthy in the inn to which the merciful Samaritan brought him to be cared for. And if he grants that the flesh is contrary at least to these, let him say what has happened, since both, that is, flesh and spirit, are the creation of one and the same Creator and without doubt good, because he is good; unless it is this fault, inflicted by one's own will. And for this to be healed in nature, there is need of the same one as Savior by whom nature was established as Creator. If we confess that this Savior, and that medicine of his by which “the Word was made flesh to dwell among us,” is needed by small and great, that is, from the wailing of infants to the gray hairs of the old, the whole controversy of this question between us is resolved. ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:9: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:34: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks; he cites Romans 8:9. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 60 (CSEL 60:277–278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-60). ## On Nature and Grace 61 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-61 - Source: CSEL 60:278 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine shows from Galatians that the flesh is contrary even to the baptized, and calls for confession of the need of grace in the words of Romans 7:24–25. ### Latin text Nunc iam uideamus, utrum et baptizatis legatur caro esse contraria. ubi quaero, quibus dicebat apostolus: caro concupiscit aduersus spiritum et spiritus aduersus carnem; haec enim inuicem aduersantur, ut non ea quae uultis faciatis. ad Galatas, ut opinor, id scripsit, quibus dicit: qui ergo tribuit uobis spiritum et uirtutes operatur in uobis, ex operibus legis an ex auditu fidei? unde apparet eum Christianis loqui et quibus deus tribuerat spiritum, ergo etiam baptizatis. ecce et baptizatis caro inuenitur esse contraria et non adesse possibilitas illa, quam inseparabiliter insitam dicit esse naturae. ubi est quod ait: qui fieri potest ut cuicumque baptizato sit caro contraria? quomodolibet intellegat carnem, quia reuera non natura eius, quae bona est, sed uitia carnalia carnis hoc loco nomine nuncupantur, ecce tamen etiam baptizatis caro contraria est. et quomodo contraria? ut non quod uolunt faciant. ecce adest uoluntas in homine; ubi est possibilitas illa naturae? fateamur gratiam necessariam, clamemus: miser ego homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? et respondeatur nobis: gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us see whether we read that the flesh is contrary even to the baptized. Here I ask to whom the apostle was speaking when he said: “The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do the things you will.” He wrote this, I think, to the Galatians, to whom he says: “He then who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?” From this it appears that he was speaking to Christians, to whom God had given the Spirit, and so also to the baptized. See, the flesh is found contrary even to the baptized, and that possibility which he says is inseparably implanted in nature is not present. Where is what he says: “How can it be that the flesh is contrary to anyone who has been baptized?” However he understands the flesh (since in truth it is not its nature, which is good, but carnal vices that are called by the name of flesh in this place), still, see, the flesh is contrary even to the baptized. And how contrary? So that they do not do what they will. See, the will is present in man; where is that possibility of nature? Let us confess that grace is necessary; let us cry out: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” And let the answer be given us: “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gal 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Romans 7:25 is quoted in the Latin wording “the grace of God through Jesus Christ”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 61 (CSEL 60:278; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-61). ## On Nature and Grace 62 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-62 - Source: CSEL 60:278–279 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine insists that the grace in question is not that of creation but that of salvation through Christ, for which the faithful pray, and notes that Pelagius has now revealed his view. ### Latin text Quando enim istis rectissime dicitur: quare sine adiutorio gratiae dei dicitis hominem posse esse sine peccato? non tunc de illa gratia quaestio est, qua est homo conditus, sed de ista, qua fit saluus per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum. fideles enim orantes dicunt: ne nos inferas in temptationem, sed libera nos malo. si adest possibilitas ut quid orant? aut a quo malo se liberari orant nisi maxime de corpore mortis huius, unde non liberat nisi gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum? non utique de substantia corporis, quae bona est, sed de uitiis carnalibus, unde non liberatur homo sine gratia saluatoris nec quando per mortem corporis discedit a corpore. et hoc ut diceret apostolus, quid supra dixerat? uideo aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae et captiuum me ducentem in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis. ecce quod uitium naturae humanae inoboedientia uoluntatis inflixit. orare sinatur, ut sanetur. quid tantum de naturae possibilitate praesumitur? uulnerata, sauciata, uexata. perdita est. uera confessione, non falsa defensione opus habet. gratia ergo dei, non qua instituatur, sed qua restituatur, quaeratur; quae ab isto sola clamatur non esse necessaria, cum tacetur. qui si omnino nihil de gratia dei diceret nec eam quaestionem soluendam sibi proponeret, ut a se de hac re inuidiam remoueret, posset putari hoc quidem sentire, quod ueritas habet, sed non dixisse. quia non ubique omnia dicenda sunt. proposuit de gratia quaestionem, id respondit quod habebat in corde; definita quaestio est, non quam nolebamus. sed ubi quid sentiret dubitabamus. ### English translation (Claude) For when it is most rightly said to these men, “Why do you say that a man can be without sin without the help of God's grace?”, the question then is not about that grace by which man was created, but about this one by which he is saved through Jesus Christ our Lord. For the faithful say when they pray: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” If the possibility is present, why do they pray? Or from what evil do they pray to be delivered, if not above all from the body of this death, from which nothing delivers but the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Not, certainly, from the substance of the body, which is good, but from carnal vices, from which a man is not delivered without the grace of the Savior, not even when he departs from the body through bodily death. And what had the apostle said above, before he said this? “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive in the law of sin, which is in my members.” See what fault the disobedience of the will has inflicted on human nature. Let it be allowed to pray to be healed. Why is so much presumed about the possibility of nature? It is wounded, injured, harassed, lost. It needs true confession, not false defense. Let the grace of God, then, be sought, not that by which it is established, but that by which it is restored; the grace which this man alone proclaims not to be necessary, when he is silent about it. If he had said nothing at all about the grace of God, and had not set himself this question to solve in order to remove ill will about it from himself, he could have been thought to hold what the truth holds, but not to have said it, since not everything needs to be said everywhere. He raised the question of grace; he answered what he had in his heart; the question has been settled, not as we wished, but where we were in doubt about what he thought. ### Scripture references - Matt 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 62 (CSEL 60:278–279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-62). ## On Nature and Grace 63 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-63 - Source: CSEL 60:279–280 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers Pelagius' argument that two good things, flesh and spirit, cannot be contrary, pointing to heat and cold and teaching that the flesh's opposition is a fault requiring medicinal grace. ### Latin text Deinde multis uerbis apostoli conatur ostendere, unde non est controuersia, quod caro ab illo ita saepe nominetur, ut uelit intellegi non substantiam, sed opera carnis. quid hoc ad rem? uitia carnis contraria sunt uoluntati hominis; non natura accusatur, sed uitiis medicus quaeritur. quid est quod interrogat: quis fecit homini spiritum? et respondet sibi: sine dubio deus. et item interrogat: carnem quis creauit? itemque respondet: idem. credo, deus. interrogat tertio: bonus est qui utrumque creauit deus? respondet: nulli dubium est. adhuc interrogat: et utrumque quod bonus auctor creauit, bonum est? et ad hoc respondet: confitendum est. deinde concludit: si igitur et spiritus bonus et caro bona ut a bono auctore condita, qui fieri potest, ut duo bona possint sibi esse contraria? omitto dicere quia tota huius ratiocinatio turbaretur, si quis ab eo quaereret: aestus et frigus quis fecit? responderet enim sine dubio: deus. non ego multa interrogo, ipse concludat, utrum aut ista possint dici non bona aut non appareant inter se esse contraria. hic forte dicit: qualitates sunt istae substantiarum, non substantiae. ita est, uerum est, sed qualitates naturales et ad dei creaturam sine dubio pertinentes; substantiae quippe non per se ipsas, sed per suas qualitates, sicut aqua et ignis, dicuntur sibi esse contrariae. quid, si ita sunt caro et spiritus? quod quidem non affirmamus, sed ut ratiocinationem eius non necessaria inlatione conclusam ostenderemus, hoc diximus. possunt enim et contraria non inuicem aduersari, sed ex alterutro temperari et bonam ualitudinem reddere, sicut in corpore siccitas et humiditas, frigus, calor, quorum omnium temperatione bona corporalis ualitudo consistit. sed quod contraria est caro spiritui, ut non ea quae uolumus faciamus, uitium est, non natura. gratia medicinalis quaeratur et controuersia finiatur. ### English translation (Claude) Then he tries to show by many words of the apostle what is not in dispute: that the flesh is so often named by him in such a way that he wishes to be understood not the substance but the works of the flesh. What has this to do with the matter? The vices of the flesh are contrary to the will of man; nature is not accused, but a physician is sought for vices. What of his asking, “Who made the spirit for man?”, and answering himself, “Without doubt God”? And again he asks, “Who created the flesh?”, and again answers, “The same, I believe: God.” He asks a third time, “Is God, who created both, good?” He answers, “No one doubts it.” He asks further, “And is each thing that the good author created good?” And to this he answers, “It must be confessed.” Then he concludes: “If, then, both the spirit is good and the flesh is good, as made by a good author, how can it be that two good things can be contrary to each other?” I pass over saying that his whole reasoning would be thrown into confusion if someone asked him, “Who made heat and cold?” For he would answer without doubt, “God.” I will not ask many questions; let him conclude himself whether these can either be called not good or do not appear to be contrary to each other. Here perhaps he says, “These are qualities of substances, not substances.” So it is, it is true; but natural qualities, and without doubt belonging to God's creation; for substances are said to be contrary to each other not in themselves but through their qualities, as water and fire are. What if flesh and spirit are like this? We do not indeed affirm this; but we said it to show that his reasoning is not concluded by a necessary inference. For contraries can also not fight one another, but be tempered by each other and produce good health, as in the body dryness and moisture, cold and heat, by the tempering of all of which good bodily health consists. But that the flesh is contrary to the spirit, so that we do not do what we will, is a fault, not nature. Let medicinal grace be sought, and let the controversy be ended. ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' questions and answers are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 63 (CSEL 60:279–280; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/45/#p-63). ## On Nature and Grace 64 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-64 - Source: CSEL 60:280–281 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine turns Pelagius' reasoning against him: if the flesh is contrary to the unbaptized, his argument that two goods cannot conflict fails, and human nature needs Christ as physician. ### Latin text Duo quippe ista bona a bono deo condita quomodo contra huius ratiocinationem in non baptizatis hominibus possunt sibi esse contraria? an et hoc eum dixisse paenitebit, quod affectu aliquo fidei christianae locutus est? cum enim dixit: qui fieri potest, ut cuicumque iam baptizato sit caro contraria, significauit non baptizatis carnem posse esse contrariam. nam cur addidit iam baptizato, cum posset etiam hoc non addito dicere: qui fieri potest, ut cuicumque sit caro contraria atque ad hoc probandum subicere illam ratiocinationem suam, quia utrumque bonum est a bono conditum et ideo non potest inter se esse contrarium? si ergo non baptizati, quibus certe fatetur carnem esse contrariam, suis illum interrogationibus urgeant et dicant: quis fecit homini spiritum? iste respondebit: deus. itemque illi: carnem quis creauit? respondet iste: idem, credo, deus. illi tertio: bonus est qui utrumque creauit deus? et iste: nulli dubium est. atque illi unum quod restat inquirunt: et utrumque quod bonus auctor creauit bonum est? iste fatebitur. tunc illi cum suo gladio iugulabunt inferentes conclusionem eius et dicentes: si igitur spiritus bonus et caro bona ut a bono auctore condita, qui fieri potest, ut duo bona sibi possint esse contraria? hic forte ille respondebit: date ueniam, quia non debui dicere cuicumque baptizato carnem non posse esse contrariam, ut hoc modo uobis non baptizatis contrariam confiterer, sed sine ulla exceptione dicere debui carnem nulli esse contrariam. ecce quo se ipse conpingit, esse quae loquitur, qui non uult clamare cum apostolo: quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum. sed cur, inquit, clamem iam baptizatus in Christo? illi hoc clament, qui nondum tale beneficium perceperunt, quorum in se uoces figurabat apostolus; si tamen uel hoc dicunt. sed naturae ista defensio nec illis hac uoce exclamare permittit. neque enim in baptizatis natura est et in non baptizatis natura non est. aut si uel in illis uitiata esse conceditur, ut non sine causa clament: infelix homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? eisque subueniatur in eo quod sequitur: gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum, concedatur iam tandem aliquando humanam medico Christo indigere naturam. ### English translation (Claude) How, then, against his reasoning, can these two goods created by the good God be contrary to each other in men who are not baptized? Or will he regret having said this too, which he said from some feeling of Christian faith? For when he said, “How can it be that the flesh is contrary to anyone already baptized?”, he indicated that the flesh can be contrary to the unbaptized. For why did he add “already baptized”, when without adding this he could have said, “How can it be that the flesh is contrary to anyone?”, and then put forward that reasoning of his to prove it, that both are good, made by a good author, and so cannot be contrary to each other? If, then, the unbaptized, to whom he certainly admits the flesh is contrary, press him with his own questions and say, “Who made the spirit for man?”, he will answer, “God.” And they again: “Who created the flesh?” He answers: “The same, I believe: God.” They a third time: “Is God, who created both, good?” And he: “No one doubts it.” And they ask the one thing that remains: “And is each thing that the good author created good?” He will admit it. Then they will cut his throat with his own sword, drawing his conclusion and saying: “If, then, the spirit is good and the flesh is good, as made by a good author, how can it be that two good things can be contrary to each other?” Here perhaps he will answer: “Forgive me; I ought not to have said that the flesh cannot be contrary to anyone baptized, so as in this way to admit that it is contrary to you, the unbaptized; but I ought to have said without any exception that the flesh is contrary to no one.” See what he is driving himself into, not knowing what he says, he who will not cry out with the apostle: “Who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “But why,” he says, “should I cry out, already baptized in Christ? Let those cry out who have not yet received such a benefit, whose voices the apostle represented in his own person”; if indeed they say even this. But this defense of nature does not allow even them to cry out with this voice. For nature is not in the baptized and absent from the unbaptized. Or if it is granted that in them at least it is corrupted, so that they cry out not without cause, “Wretched man! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?”, and are helped by what follows, “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” let it at last be granted that human nature needs Christ as physician. ### Scripture references - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - In “see what he is driving himself into” the digital text reads “esse quae loquitur” (apparently corrupt for “nesciens quae loquitur”); the translation follows the sense. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 64 (CSEL 60:280–281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-64). ## On Nature and Grace 65 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-65 - Source: CSEL 60:281–283 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine argues from Romans 7 that the one crying “Who will deliver me?” seeks not only pardon for past sins but strength for the future, and must not be forbidden to beg Christ's mercy. ### Latin text Quaero autem, ubi natura istam perdiderit libertatem, quam sibi dari exoptat, cum dicit: quis me liberabit? non enim et illo substantiam carnis accusat, cum dicit liberari se cupere de corpore mortis huius, cum etiam corporis sicut animae natura deo bono auctori tribuenda sit, sed utique de uitiis corporis dicit. nam de corpore mors corporis separat; sed contracta ex illo uitia cohaerent, quibus iusta poena debetur, quam etiam in inferno ille diues inuenit. hinc se non poterat utique liberare qui dicit: quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? ubicumque autem istam perdiderit libertatem, certe inseparabilis est possibilitas illa naturae, habet posse per naturale subsidium, habet uelle per liberum arbitrium; cur quaerit baptismatis sacramentum? an propter commissa praeterita, ut ea tantum ignoscantur, quae fieri infecta non possunt? dimitte hominem, clamet quod clamabat. non enim tantum desiderat, ut per indulgentiam sit de praeteritis inpunitus. sed etiam ut sit de cetero ad non peccandum fortis et ualidus. condelectatur enim legi dei secundum interiorem hominem, uidet autem aliam legem in membris suis repugnantem legi mentis suae; uidet esse, non recolit fuisse: praesentibus urgetur, non praeterita reminiscitur. nec tantum repugnantem uidet, uerum etiam captiuantem se in lege peccati, quae est in membris eius, non quae fuit. hinc est quod clamat: infelix homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius? sinatur orare, sinatur adiutorium medici potentissimi flagitare. quid contradicitur? quid obstrepitur? quid miser misericordiam Christi petere prohibetur et hoc a Christianis? nam et illi cum Christo ambulabant, qui caecum lumen clamando petere prohibebant; sed etiam inter tumultum contradicentium audit ille clamantem. unde huic responsum est: gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum. ### English translation (Claude) But I ask where nature lost the liberty it longs to be given, when it says, “Who will deliver me?” For in that saying it does not accuse the substance of the flesh, when it says it desires to be delivered from the body of this death, since the nature of the body, like that of the soul, must be attributed to God as its good author; but it certainly speaks of the vices of the body. For death separates us from the body; but the vices contracted from it cling to us, to which just punishment is due, which even that rich man found in hell. From this he certainly could not deliver himself, who says, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” But wherever it lost this liberty, if that possibility of nature is certainly inseparable, if it has the “can” through natural endowment and the “will” through free choice, why does it seek the sacrament of baptism? Is it for past sins committed, only that they may be pardoned, since they cannot be made undone? Let the man go; let him cry what he was crying. For he does not desire only to be unpunished for the past by pardon, but also to be strong and firm for the future in not sinning. For he delights in the law of God according to the inner man, but sees another law in his members warring against the law of his mind; he sees that it is, he does not recall that it was; he is pressed by present things, he does not remember past ones. And he sees it not only warring but taking him captive in the law of sin which is in his members, not which was. Hence he cries out: “Wretched man! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” Let him be allowed to pray; let him be allowed to beg the help of the most powerful physician. Why is he contradicted? Why is he shouted down? Why is the wretched man forbidden to ask the mercy of Christ, and that by Christians? For those too were walking with Christ who forbade the blind man to ask for light by crying out; but even amid the tumult of those who contradicted, he hears the one who cries. Hence the answer is given to this man: “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” ### Scripture references - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:25: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:23: allusion, high confidence - Luke 18:39: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 65 (CSEL 60:281–283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-65). ## On Nature and Grace 66 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-66 - Source: CSEL 60:283 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine notes that even the unbaptized' plea for grace refutes the self-sufficiency of nature, and agrees that Galatians 5:17 concerns works that come from carnal lust. ### Latin text Porro si ab istis uel hoc impetramus, ut nondum baptizati implorent auxilium gratiae saluatoris, non est hoc quidem parum aduersus illam falsam defensionem tamquam sibi sufficientis naturae et potestatis liberi arbitrii; neque enim sibi sufficit qui dicit: infelix homo! quis me liberabit? aut plenam libertatem habere dicendus est, qui se adhuc postulat liberari. Verum tamen etiam illud uideamus, utrum illi qui baptizati sunt faciant bona quae uolunt nulla carnis concupiscentia repugnante. sed quid hinc dicamus. ipse commemorat, ubi concludens hunc locum: ut diximus, inquit, illud quo continetur: caro concupiscit aduersus spiritum, non de carnis substantia, sed de operibus sentire necesse est. hoc et nos dicimus non de carnis substantia, sed de operibus dictum, quae ueniunt de carnali concupiscentia, de peccato scilicet, de quo praecipit ut non regnet in nostro mortali corpore ad oboediendum desideriis eius. ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, if we obtain from them even this much, that those not yet baptized should implore the help of the Savior's grace, this is not a small thing against that false defense of nature as sufficient for itself and of the power of free choice; for one who says, “Wretched man! Who will deliver me?” is not sufficient for himself; nor is he to be said to have full liberty who still asks to be delivered. But let us also see whether those who have been baptized do the good they will, with no lust of the flesh opposing. What we should say on this he himself mentions, where, concluding this passage, he says: “As we have said, that verse which contains ‘the flesh lusts against the spirit’ must be understood not of the substance of the flesh but of its works.” We too say that this was said not of the substance of the flesh but of the works that come from carnal lust, that is, from sin, concerning which he commands that it should not reign in our mortal body so that we obey its desires. ### Scripture references - Rom 7:24: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:12: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 66 (CSEL 60:283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-66). ## On Nature and Grace 67 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-67 - Source: CSEL 60:283–284 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine explains that the baptized still feel the flesh opposing the spirit, but those led by the Spirit are not under the law of fear but under the law of liberty and love. ### Latin text Sed adtendat etiam ipse iam baptizatis fuisse dictum: caro concupiscit aduersus spiritum et spiritus aduersus carnem, ut non ea quae uultis faciatis. et ne ab ipsa pugna desides faceret et per hanc sententiam laxamentum peccandi dedisse uideretur, adiungit: quod si spiritu ducimini, non ad huc estis sub lege. sub lege est enim, qui timore supplicii quod lex minatur, non amore iustitiae se sentit abstinere ab opere peccati, nondum liber nec alienus a uoluntate peccandi. in ipsa enim uoluntate reus est, qua mallet, si fieri posset, non esse quod timeat ut libere faciat quod occulte desiderat. ergo si spiritu, inquit, ducimini, non ad huc estis sub lege, utique lege, quae timorem incutit, non tribuit caritatem, quae caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris non per legis litteram, sed per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. haec est lex libertatis, non seruitutis, quia caritatis utique, non timoris, de qua et Iacobus apostolus ait: qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis. unde et ille non quidem iam lege dei terrebatur ut seruus, sed condelectabatur ei secundum interiorem hominem; uidet tamen adhuc aliam legem in membris suis repugnantem legi mentis suae. ita et hic: si spiritu, inquit, ducimini, non adhuc estis sub lege. in quantum quisque spiritu ducitur, non est sub lege. quia in quantum condelectabatur legi dei, non est sub legis timore, quia timor tormentum habet, non delectationem. ### English translation (Claude) But let him notice too that it was said to those already baptized: “The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that you do not do the things you will.” And lest he make them slack in the fight itself, and seem by this sentence to have given license to sin, he adds: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer under the law.” For he is under the law who feels that he abstains from the work of sin through fear of the punishment the law threatens, not through love of righteousness; not yet free, nor estranged from the will to sin. For he is guilty in the very will by which he would prefer, if it were possible, that there were nothing to fear, so that he might do freely what he secretly desires. “So if you are led by the Spirit,” he says, “you are no longer under the law,” certainly the law that strikes fear, not the law that gives love; which love of God has been poured out in our hearts, not through the letter of the law, but through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This is the law of liberty, not of slavery, because it is certainly of love, not of fear; of which the apostle James too says: “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty.” Hence that man too was no longer terrified by the law of God as a slave, but delighted in it according to the inner man; yet he still sees another law in his members warring against the law of his mind. So here too: “If you are led by the Spirit,” he says, “you are not under the law.” In so far as anyone is led by the Spirit, he is not under the law; because in so far as he delights in the law of God, he is not under the fear of the law; for fear has torment, not delight. ### Scripture references - Gal 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Jas 1:25: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:22: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:23: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 4:18: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 67 (CSEL 60:283–284; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-67). ## On Nature and Grace 68 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-68 - Source: CSEL 60:284–285 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine agrees with Pelagius that the devil flees those who resist him, but insists that resistance itself requires prayer for God's help, which the Pelagian stress on the will takes away. ### Latin text Proinde si recte sentimus, sicut pro membris sanatis gratias agere ita pro sanandis orare debemus, ut absolutissima cui nihil addi possit sanitate, perfecta dei suauitate, plena libertate perfruamur. non enim abnuimus humanam naturam posse esse sine peccato aut ullo modo negare debemus perfici posse, quam proficere non negamus, sed gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum; eo adiuuante fieri dicimus, ut iusta et beata sit, a quo creata est ut sit. facile itaque refellitur, quod a quibusdam sibi dicit opponi: diabolus nobis aduersatur. prorsus huic obiectioni eadem uerba respondemus, quae ipse respondit: resistamus illi, et fugiet. resistite, inquit beatus apostolus, diabolo, et fugiet a uobis. unde animaduertendum quid possit his nocere quos fugit uel quam uirtutem habere intellegendus sit, qui solis praeualere non resistentibus potest. haec et mea uerba sunt; uerius enim dici non potest. sed hoc interest inter nos et istos, quod nos etiam cum diabolo resistitur poscendum dei adiutorium non solum non negamus, uerum etiam praedicamus, isti autem tantam uoluntati tribuunt potestatem, ut pietati auferant orationem. nam utique ut diabolo resistamus et fugiat a nobis, ideo precantes dicimus: ne nos inferas in temptationem; ideo et admoniti sumus tamquam ab imperatore milites exhortante et dicente: uigilate et orate, ne intretis in temptationem. ### English translation (Claude) So if we think rightly, just as we ought to give thanks for members that are healed, so we ought to pray for those still to be healed, that we may enjoy the most complete health, to which nothing can be added, the perfect sweetness of God, and full liberty. For we do not deny that human nature can be without sin, nor ought we in any way to deny that it can be made perfect, since we do not deny that it can make progress; but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We say that it is by his help that it comes to be righteous and blessed, by whom it was created so as to exist. So what he says is objected to him by some is easily refuted: “The devil opposes us.” To this objection we answer entirely in the same words he answered: “Let us resist him, and he will flee. ‘Resist the devil,’ says the blessed apostle, ‘and he will flee from you.’ From this we must consider what he can do to harm those from whom he flees, or what strength he must be understood to have, who can prevail only over those who do not resist.” These are my words too; for nothing truer can be said. But this is the difference between us and them: that we not only do not deny but even proclaim that the help of God must be asked even when the devil is resisted; while they attribute so much power to the will that they take prayer away from piety. For it is certainly so that we may resist the devil and he may flee from us that we say in prayer, “Lead us not into temptation”; and so too we have been admonished, as soldiers by a general exhorting them and saying: “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.” ### Scripture references - Jas 4:7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 26:41: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pelagius, Nat. (Pelagius, On Nature): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Pelagius' words are in quotation marks. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 68 (CSEL 60:284–285; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-68). ## On Nature and Grace 69 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-69 - Source: CSEL 60:285 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine asks why Pelagius, who calls the created possibility of not sinning “grace”, never says that nature is healed or helped by the grace of Christ in answer to prayer. ### Latin text Quod uero contra eos disputat, qui dicunt: et quis nolit sine peccato esse, si hoc in hominis esset positum potestate? recte quidem disputat hoc ipso eos non esse inpossibile. quia hoc uel multi uel omnes uolunt; sed hoc unde sit possibile confiteatur, et pax est. ipsa est enim gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum, qua omnino iste nos orantes adiuuari, ut non peccemus, nusquam dicere uolunt. quod si forte latenter sentit, ignoscat aliter suspicantibus. ipse enim hoc facit, qui cum tantam de hac re patiatur inuidiam, sentire id uult et confiteri uel profiteri non uult. quid erat magnum ut hoc diceret, cum praesertim sibi hoc tamquam ex persona aduersariorum oppositum tractare et aperire susceperit? cur illic solam naturam defendere uoluit et quia ita homo creatus est, ut non peccare posset. si peccare noluerit. asseruit, ac per hoc quod ita creatus est eam possibilitatem ad gratiam dei pertinere definiuit, qua possibilitate, si noluerit peccare, non peccat, et noluit aliquid dicere de eo, quod ipsa natura gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum uel sanatur. quia uitiata est. uel quia sibi non sufficit adiuuatur? ### English translation (Claude) As for his arguing against those who say, “And who would not wish to be without sin, if this were placed in the power of man?”, he rightly argues that by this very fact it is not impossible, because many or all wish it. But let him confess from where it is possible, and there is peace. For this is the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, by which he nowhere wishes to say that we are helped, when we pray, not to sin. And if perhaps he holds it secretly, let him forgive those who suspect otherwise. For he himself causes this, who, while suffering so much ill will on this matter, wishes to hold it and does not wish to confess or profess it. What great thing was it for him to say this, especially since he undertook to treat and explain it as an objection raised against him in the person of his opponents? Why did he wish there to defend nature alone, and assert that man was so created that he could not sin if he did not wish to sin, and hence define that the possibility by which, if he does not wish to sin, he does not sin, belongs to the grace of God because he was so created; and did not wish to say anything of the fact that this very nature is either healed by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, because it is corrupted, or helped, because it does not suffice for itself? ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 69 (CSEL 60:285; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-69). ## On Nature and Grace 70 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-70 - Source: CSEL 60:285–286 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine leaves open whether anyone has been sinless in this life, but denies that anyone can be counted a Christian who says that any progress in righteousness is possible without the grace of Christ. ### Latin text Vtrum enim in hoc saeculo fuerit uel sit uel possit esse aliquis ita iuste uiuens, ut nullum habeat omnino peccatum, potest esse aliqua quaestio inter ueros piosque Christianos; posse tamen esse certe post hanc uitam quisquis ambigit desipit. sed ego nec de ista uita uolo contendere. quamquam enim mihi non uideatur aliter intellegendum quod scriptum est: non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis uiuens et si qua similia, tamen utinam possit ostendi uel haec testimonia melius aliter intellegi posse uel perfectam plenamque iustitiam, cui prorsus nihil addendum sit, et heri fuisse in aliquo, dum in isto corpore uiueret, et hodie esse et cras futuram, dum tamen longe plures sint, qui cum sibi usque ad ultimum uitae huius diem necessarium esse non dubitent, ut ueraciter dicant: dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris, spem suam tamen in Christo atque in eius promissionibus ueram, certam, firmam esse confidant! nullo tamen modo nisi adiuuante gratia saluatoris Christi crucifixi et dono spiritus eius uel quemlibet ad plenissimam perfectionem uel quemquam ad qualemcumque prouectum uerae piaeque iustitiae peruenire qui negauerit, nescio utrum recte possit in qualiumcumque Christianorum numero deputari. ### English translation (Claude) For whether in this world there has been, or is, or can be anyone living so righteously as to have no sin at all may be some question among true and pious Christians; but whoever doubts that it can be so after this life is foolish. But I do not wish to contend even about this life. For although it does not seem to me that what is written, “No one living will be justified in your sight,” and any similar sayings, should be understood otherwise, still, would that it could be shown either that these testimonies can be better understood otherwise, or that perfect and full righteousness, to which absolutely nothing is to be added, both was in someone yesterday, while he lived in this body, and is today, and will be tomorrow; provided that there are far more who, while they do not doubt that it is necessary for them until the last day of this life to say truly, “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors,” still trust that their hope in Christ and in his promises is true, certain, and firm! But whoever denies that anyone at all attains to the fullest perfection, or anyone to any progress whatever in true and pious righteousness, except by the help of the grace of Christ crucified, the Savior, and by the gift of his Spirit, I do not know whether he can rightly be counted among Christians of any kind. ### Scripture references - Ps 143:2 (142:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:12: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 70 (CSEL 60:285–286; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-70). ## On Nature and Grace 71 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-71 - Source: CSEL 60:286–287 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine begins answering the patristic testimonies Pelagius cited, holding that they neither support nor refute his case, and interprets an unnamed author's words on Christ's victory over sin and the desires of the flesh. ### Latin text Ac per hoc et ea testimonia, quae non quidem de scripturis canonicis, sed de quibusdam catholicorum tractatorum opusculis posuit uolens occurrere his qui eum solum dicerent ista defendere, ita sunt media, ut neque contra nostram sententiam sint neque contra ipsius. in quibus nonnihil etiam de libris meis interponere uoluit me quoque aliquem deputans, qui cum illis commemorari dignus uiderer. unde ingratus esse non debeo et familiariore affectu nolo ut erret, qui hunc mihi detulit honorem. prima enim quae posuit, quia nomen eius qui ea dixit non ibi legi, siue quia ille non scripsit siue quia codex quem misistis id aliqua forte mendositate non habuit pertractare quid opus est? maxime quoniam me in huiusmodi quorumlibet hominum scriptis liberum — quia solis canonicis debeo sine ulla recusatione consensum — nonnihil mouet quod de illius scriptis, cuius nomen non ibi inueni, ille posuit: oportuit magistrum doctoremque uirtutis homini simillimum fieri, ut uincendo peccatum doceat hominem uincere posse peccatum. quomodo enim dictum sit, auctor huius sententiae uiderit qualiter possit exponere, dum tamen nos minime dubitemus peccatum Christum non in se habuisse quod uinceret, qui natus est in similitudinem carnis peccati, non in carne peccati. aliud eiusdem ita posuit: et iterum: ut desideriis carnis edomitis doceret non necessitatis esse peccare, sed propositi ac uoluntatis. ego desideria carnis, si non inlicitarum concupiscentiarum hic dicuntur, accipio, sicuti est fames, sitis, refectio lassitudinis et si quid huiusmodi est. per haec enim quidam, quamuis ea sint inculpabilia, in culpas decidunt; quod ab illo saluatore afuit, etiamsi haec in eo fuisse propter similitudinem carnis peccati euangelio teste uideamus. ### English translation (Claude) And so the testimonies which he has set out, not indeed from the canonical Scriptures but from certain little works of Catholic writers, wishing to meet those who said that he alone defended these views, are so neutral that they are neither against our opinion nor against his. Among them he wished to include something from my books too, counting me as one who seemed worthy to be mentioned with them. So I ought not to be ungrateful, and with more friendly affection I do not want him who has paid me this honor to go astray. The first passages he set out, since I did not read there the name of the one who said them, whether because he did not write it or because the copy you sent, perhaps by some fault, did not have it, what need is there to discuss them? Especially since I am free in the writings of any such men, for I owe unreserved assent only to the canonical ones. What he set out from the writings of that author, whose name I did not find there, hardly troubles me: “It was fitting that the master and teacher of virtue should become most like man, so that by conquering sin he might teach that man can conquer sin.” How it was said, the author of this sentence may see how he can explain it, provided that we do not doubt at all that Christ had no sin in himself to conquer, who was born “in the likeness of the flesh of sin,” not in the flesh of sin. He set down another saying of the same author thus: “And again: that, having subdued the desires of the flesh, he might teach that to sin is not a matter of necessity but of purpose and will.” For my part I take “desires of the flesh”, if unlawful lusts are not meant here, to be such things as hunger, thirst, the refreshment of weariness, and anything of that kind. For through these some fall into faults, although they are themselves without fault; which was far from that Savior, even though we see from the testimony of the Gospel that these things were in him because of the likeness of the flesh of sin. ### Scripture references - Rom 8:3: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:15: echo, medium confidence - Matt 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - John 4:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Lactantius, Inst. 4.24–25 (Divine Institutes): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The unnamed author is Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4.24–25 (Augustine's copy lacked the name). Augustine gives unreserved assent only to the canonical Scriptures. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 71 (CSEL 60:286–287; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-71). ## On Nature and Grace 72 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-72 - Source: CSEL 60:287–288 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine answers the passages of Hilary cited by Pelagius, distinguishing the struggle against concupiscence, which is doing righteousness, from its perfection, which is having no adversary at all. ### Latin text Beatus uero Hilarius, cuius haec uerba posuit: non enim nisi spiritu perfecti et inmortalitate mutati, quod solis mundis corde d e d i dispositum est, hoc quod in deo est inmortale cernemus, quod dixit contra id quod dicimus uel quid istum adiuuet nescio, nisi quia posse esse hominem mundo corde testatus est. quod quis negat? sed gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum, non sola arbitrii libertate. item quod eum dixisse commemorat: quas Iob litteras legerat ut abstineret se ab omni re maligna? quia deum sola mente uitiis non ammixta ueneratur, deum autem colere proprium iustitiae officium est, quid fecisset Iob dicit, non quid in hoc saeculo perfecisset aut sine gratia saluatoris, quem etiam prophetauit, uel fecisset uel perfecisset. abstinet enim se ab omni re mala etiam qui habet peccatum quod in se regnare non sinit, cui subrepit inprobanda cogitatio, quam peruenire ad finem operis non permittit. sed aliud est non habere peccatum. aliud non oboedire desideriis eius; aliud est inplere quod praeceptum est: non concupisces et aliud est per quendam abstinentiae conatum saltem id agere quod item scriptum est: post concupiscentias tuas non eas, nihil horum tamen scire se recte posse sine gratia saluatoris. facere est ergo iustitiam in uero dei cultu cum interno concupiscentiae malo interna conflictatione pugnare, perficere autem omnino aduersarium non habere. nam qui pugnat et adhuc periclitatur, et aliquando percutitur. etiamsi non sternitur; qui autem non habet aduersarium, plena pace laetatur. et ipse esse sine peccato uerissime dicitur, in quo nullum habitat peccatum. non qui per abstinentiam mali operis dicit: iam non ego operor illud, sed id quod in me habitat peccatum. ### English translation (Claude) As for the blessed Hilary, whose words he set down, “For only when we have been perfected in spirit and changed by immortality, which has been appointed for the pure in heart alone, shall we see what is immortal in God,” I do not know what he said against what we say, or how it helps this man, except that he testified that a man can be pure in heart. Who denies that? But by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, not by freedom of choice alone. Likewise what he records him as saying: “What writings had Job read, that he kept himself from every evil thing? Because he worshipped God with a mind unmixed with vices; and to worship God is the proper duty of righteousness.” He says what Job did, not what he perfected in this world, or what he did or perfected without the grace of the Savior, whom he even prophesied. For even one who has sin, which he does not allow to reign in him, keeps himself from every evil thing, when a thought that deserves rejection creeps up on him and he does not allow it to reach the completion of the deed. But it is one thing not to have sin, another not to obey its desires; it is one thing to fulfill what is commanded, “You shall not covet,” and another, by some effort of abstinence, at least to do what is also written, “Do not go after your lusts”; and yet to know that one cannot rightly do any of these without the grace of the Savior. To do righteousness, then, in the true worship of God, is to fight with an inner struggle against the inner evil of concupiscence; but to perfect it is to have no adversary at all. For one who fights is still in danger, and is sometimes struck, even if he is not laid low; but one who has no adversary rejoices in full peace. And he is most truly said to be without sin in whom no sin dwells, not one who, through abstaining from the evil deed, says: “It is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me.” ### Scripture references - Matt 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Job 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Exod 20:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:12: echo, medium confidence - Rom 7:17: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 18:30 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Hilary of Poitiers (the works quoted are uncertain; no entry in the site's list). “Do not go after your lusts” is Sirach 18:30. In the Hilary quotation the digital text reads “corde d e d i dispositum” (garbled); the translation follows the sense. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 72 (CSEL 60:287–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-72). ## On Nature and Grace 73 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-73 - Source: CSEL 60:288–289 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine notes that Job confessed his sins and that Hilary himself said no one is without sin, and appeals finally to Christ's words, “Without me you can do nothing.” ### Latin text Nam et ipse Iob de peccatis suis non tacet et utique huic amico nostro merito placet humilitatem nullo modo in falsitatis parte ponendam; unde id quod Iob confitetur, quia uerax dei cultor est, procul dubio ueraciter confitetur. et ipse Hilarius, cum locum psalmi exponeret, ubi scriptum est: spreuisti omnes discedentes a iustificationibus tuis, ait: si enim peccatores deus sperneret, omnes utique sperneret, quia sine peccato nemo est. sed spernit discedentes a se, quos apostatas uocat. uidetis quemadmodum non dixerit, quia sine peccato nemo fuerit, tamquam de praeteritis loquens, sed quod sine peccato nemo sit. unde quidem, ut dixi, non contendo; quisquis enim non cedit Iohanni apostolo, qui nec ipse ait: si dixerimus quia peccatum non habuimus, sed non habemus, episcopo Hilario quomodo cessurus est? pro gratia Christi clamo, sine qua nemo iustificatur, tamquam sufficiente naturae libero arbitrio. immo ipse pro ea clamat; ei cedatur dicenti: sine me nihil potestis facere. ### English translation (Claude) For Job himself is not silent about his sins; and certainly this friend of ours is rightly pleased that humility must in no way be placed on the side of falsehood. Hence what Job confesses, since he is a truthful worshipper of God, he without doubt confesses truly. And Hilary himself, when he was explaining the place in the psalm where it is written, “You have spurned all who depart from your statutes,” says: “For if God spurned sinners, he would certainly spurn all, since no one is without sin. But he spurns those who depart from him, whom it calls apostates.” You see how he did not say that no one has been without sin, as if speaking of the past, but that no one is without sin. On this, as I said, I do not contend; for whoever does not yield to the apostle John, who himself also does not say, “If we say that we have not had sin,” but “that we have no sin,” how will he yield to Bishop Hilary? I cry out for the grace of Christ, without which no one is justified, as though the free choice of nature were enough. Indeed he himself cries out for it; let us yield to him when he says: “Without me you can do nothing.” ### Scripture references - Job 7:21: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 119:118 (118:118 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 John 1:8: quotation, high confidence - John 15:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Hilary, Commentary on Psalm 118 (no entry in the site's list). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 73 (CSEL 60:288–289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-73). ## On Nature and Grace 74 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-74 - Source: CSEL 60:289 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine notes that Ambrose, whom Pelagius cites on Zechariah and Elizabeth, himself teaches in a hymn that the Holy Spirit must be obtained by prayer. ### Latin text Sanctus autem Ambrosius reuera in eo loco, quem iste commemorat. illis resistit qui dicunt hominem non esse posse sine peccato in hac uita. ut enim ea diceret. accepit occasionem de Zacharia et Elisabeth. quod in euangelio commemorati sunt ambulasse in omnibus iustificationibus legis sine querella. numquid tamen negat gratia dei fieri per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum? ex qua fide etiam ante eius passionem iustos uixisse non dubium est, qui praestat spiritum sanctum. per quem diffunditur caritas in cordibus nostris, qua una iusti sunt quicumque sunt iusti. quem spiritum memoratus episcopus etiam precibus impetrandum ammonet — ita illi uoluntas diuinitus non adiuta non sufficit —, ubi in ymno suo dicit: uotisque praestat sedulis sanctum mereri spiritum. ### English translation (Claude) Saint Ambrose indeed, in the place this man mentions, resists those who say that a man cannot be without sin in this life. To say this he took occasion from Zechariah and Elizabeth, because they are recorded in the Gospel to have walked in all the statutes of the law without blame. But does he deny that this is done by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord? By faith in him, it is beyond doubt, the righteous lived even before his passion; he who gives the Holy Spirit, through whom love is poured out in our hearts, by which alone whoever is righteous is righteous. This Spirit the same bishop admonishes us to obtain even by prayers (so far is the will, not helped by God, from being enough for him), where in his hymn he says: “And to earnest prayers he grants to receive the Holy Spirit.” ### Scripture references - Luke 1:6: allusion, high confidence - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Ambrose of Milan, Ambrose, Hymn. Iam surgit hora tertia (Ambrose of Milan, Ambrose, Hymns): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Ambrose, Exposition of Luke 1.17, and the hymn “Iam surgit hora tertia”. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 74 (CSEL 60:289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-74). ## On Nature and Grace 75 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-75 - Source: CSEL 60:289–291 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine cites more of Ambrose's commentary on Luke to show that he taught that the will is prepared by God and that no one is spotless from birth, but only by the grace of Christ. ### Latin text Commemorabo et ego de hoc ipso opere sancti Ambrosii aliquid, ex quo iste commemorauit quod commemorandum putauit: uisum est, inquit, mihi. potest non soli uisum esse, quod uisum sibi esse declarat. non enim uoluntate tantum humana uisum est, sed sicut placuit ei, qui in me, inquit, loquitur Christus, qui ut id quod bonum est nobis quoque bonum uideri possit operatur; quem enim miseratur et uocat. et ideo qui Christum sequitur potest interrogatus cur esse uoluerit Christianus respondere: uisum est mihi. quod cum dicit, non negat deo uisum; a deo enim praeparatur uoluntas hominum. ut enim deus honorificetur a sancto, dei gratia est. ecce quid iste sapiat, si uerbis Ambrosii delectatur, quod a deo praeparatur uoluntas hominum, et nulla uel non magna quaestio est, quis uel quando perficiatur, dum tamen sine Christi gratia id ipsum fieri posse minime dubitetur. deinde quantum erat, ut adtenderet iste unum uersum de Ambrosii uerbis quae posuit! cum enim ille dixisset: nam cum ecclesia ex gentibus, hoc est ex peccatoribus, congregata sit, quomodo ex maculatis inmaculata potest esse, nisi primo per Christi gratiam abluta delicto sit, deinde quod per qualitatem non peccandi abstineat a delictis? ille addidit, quod iste apparet cur addere noluerit, ait namque ille: nec ab initio inmaculata — humanae enim hoc inpossibile naturae —, sed per dei gratiam et qualitatem sui, quia iam non peccat, fit ut inmaculata uideatur. haec uerba iste cur non addiderit quis non intellegat? hoc agitur utique nunc in hoc saeculo, ut ad istam, quam omnes sancti cupiunt, inmaculatissimam puritatem ecclesia sancta perueniat, quae in futuro saeculo neque aliquo malorum hominum sibi permixto neque aliqua in se lege peccati resistente legi mentis ducat mundissimam uitam in aeternitate diuina. tamen adtendat iste quid secundum scripturas Ambrosius episcopus dixerit: nec ab initio inmaculata; humanae enim hoc inpossibile naturae. utique enim ab initio dicit, quo ex Adam nascimur. nam et ipse Adam inmaculatus procul dubio factus est; sed in eis, qui sunt natura filii irae ducentes ex illo quod uitiatum est in illo, ab initio esse inmaculatos humanae naturae inpossibile definiuit. ### English translation (Claude) I too will mention something from this same work of Saint Ambrose, from which this man cited what he thought should be cited: “‘It seemed good to me,’ he says. What he declares seemed good to him can have seemed good not to him alone. For it seemed good not by human will only, but as it pleased him who, he says, speaks in me, Christ, who works so that what is good may seem good to us too; for whom he pities he also calls. And so one who follows Christ, if asked why he wished to be a Christian, can answer, ‘It seemed good to me.’ When he says this, he does not deny that it seemed good to God; for the will of men is prepared by God. For that God is honored by a saint is the grace of God.” See what this man should think, if he delights in the words of Ambrose: that the will of men is prepared by God; and it is no question, or no great question, who is made perfect or when, provided there is no doubt at all that this cannot come about without the grace of Christ. Then how much it would have taken for him to notice one line of the words of Ambrose which he set down! For when Ambrose had said, “For since the church has been gathered from the Gentiles, that is, from sinners, how can the spotless come from the spotted, unless first it has been washed of sin by the grace of Christ, and then abstains from sins by the quality of not sinning?”, he added what it is plain why this man did not wish to add; for he says: “Not spotless from the beginning (for this is impossible for human nature), but by the grace of God and by its own quality, because it no longer sins, it comes about that it appears spotless.” Who does not understand why this man did not add these words? This is certainly what is being done now in this world: that the holy church may reach that most spotless purity which all the saints desire, which in the world to come, with no evil men mixed with it and no law of sin in it resisting the law of the mind, may lead a most pure life in divine eternity. Yet let this man notice what Bishop Ambrose said according to the Scriptures: “Not spotless from the beginning; for this is impossible for human nature.” Certainly he says “from the beginning”, meaning from our birth from Adam. For Adam himself was without doubt made spotless; but in those who are by nature children of wrath, deriving from him what was corrupted in him, he declared it impossible for human nature to be spotless from the beginning. ### Scripture references - Luke 1:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 13:3: allusion, high confidence - Rom 9:15: echo, medium confidence - Prov 8:35: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:27: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:23: allusion, high confidence - Eph 2:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Ambrose, Exposition of Luke 1.10 and 1.17 (no entry in the site's list). “The will is prepared by the Lord” is Proverbs 8:35 in the Septuagint/Old Latin wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 75 (CSEL 60:289–291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-75). ## On Nature and Grace 76 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-76 - Source: CSEL 60:291 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine accepts John Chrysostom's statements that sin is an evil act from free choice, but insists the question concerns the grace by which fallen nature is healed. ### Latin text Item Iohannes Constantinopolitanus episcopus, cuius posuit sententiam, dicit peccatum non esse substantiam, sed actum malignum. quis hoc negat? et quia non est naturale, ideo contra illud legem datam, et quod de arbitrii libertate descendit. etiam hoc quis negat? sed non id agitur de humana natura quae in hac uita est; sed agitur de gratia dei, qua sanatur per medicum Christum, quo non indigeret, si sana esset, quae ab isto tamquam sana uel tamquam sibi sufficiente uoluntatis arbitrio posse non peccare defenditur. ### English translation (Claude) Likewise John, bishop of Constantinople, whose opinion he set down, says that sin is not a substance but an evil act. Who denies this? And that because it is not natural, therefore the law was given against it, and that it comes from freedom of choice. Who denies this too? But the question here is not about human nature as it is in this life; the question is about the grace of God, by which it is healed through Christ the physician; which it would not need if it were healthy; the nature which this man defends as able not to sin, as though healthy or sufficient for itself through the choice of the will. ### Translation notes - John Chrysostom (the work quoted is uncertain; no entry in the site's list). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 76 (CSEL 60:291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-76). ## On Nature and Grace 77 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-77 - Source: CSEL 60:291–292 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine interprets the sayings Pelagius attributed to the martyr Xystus as teaching that likeness to God and sonship come through the love poured out by the Holy Spirit, a power received by grace. ### Latin text Quis item Christianus ignorat, quod beatissimum Xystum Romanae ecclesiae episcopum et domini martyrem dixisse commemorat, quia libertatem arbitrii sui permisit hominibus deus, ut pure et sine peccato uiuentes similes fiant deo? sed ad ipsum arbitrium pertinet uocantem audire et credere et ab eo in quem credit non peccandi adiutorium postulare. nam utique cum dicit similes fiant deo, per caritatem dei futuri sunt similes deo. quae diffusa est in cordibus nostris non naturae possibilitate nec libero arbitrio quod est in nobis, sed per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. et quod dicit idem martyr: templum sanctum est deo mens pura et altare optimum est ei cor mundum et sine peccato, quis nescit ad istam perfectionem perducendum cor mundum. dum interior homo renouatur de die in diem, non tamen sine gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum? item quod ait ipse: uir castus et sine peccato potestatem accepit a deo esse filius dei, utique ammonuit, ne cum quisque factus fuerit ita castus et sine peccato - quod ubi et quando in eo perficiatur nonnulla quaestio est, sed inter pios bene quaeritur, inter quos tamen constat fieri posse et sine mediatore dei et hominum homine Christo Iesu fieri non posse -, tamen. ut dicere coeperam, prudenter Xystus ammonuit, ne cum fuerit quisque talis factus et per hoc recte inter dei filios deputatus, putetur ipsius fuisse potestatis, quam per gratiam accepit a deo, cum eam non haberet in natura iam uitiata atque deprauata, sicut in euangelio legitur: quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios dei fieri; quod utique non erant per naturam nec omnino essent, nisi cum recipiendo accepissent per eius gratiam huiusmodi potestatem. haec est potestas, quam sibi uindicat fortitudo caritatis, quae non est in nobis nisi per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. ### English translation (Claude) Again, what Christian does not know what he records that the most blessed Xystus, bishop of the Roman church and martyr of the Lord, said: “God permitted men the freedom of their choice, so that by living purely and without sin they might become like God”? But it belongs to that same choice to hear him who calls, to believe, and to ask of him in whom one believes help not to sin. For certainly when he says “they may become like God”, they will be like God through the love of God, which has been poured out in our hearts, not by the possibility of nature or the free choice that is in us, but through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And as to what the same martyr says, “A pure mind is a holy temple for God, and a clean heart without sin is the best altar for him,” who does not know that a clean heart must be brought to this perfection while the inner man is renewed day by day, yet not without the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Likewise when he says, “A chaste man without sin has received power from God to be a son of God,” he certainly warned us, lest, when anyone has become so chaste and without sin (where and when this is brought to perfection in him is something of a question, but it is rightly asked among the pious, among whom it is agreed that it can come about and that it cannot come about without the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus); yet, as I had begun to say, Xystus wisely warned, lest, when anyone has become such and on that account is rightly counted among the sons of God, it should be thought to have been of his own power, which he received from God by grace, since he did not have it in nature, now corrupted and depraved; as we read in the Gospel: “But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God”; which they certainly were not by nature, nor would they be at all, unless by receiving him they had received such power through his grace. This is the power which the strength of love claims for itself, which is not in us except through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ### Scripture references - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:5: quotation, high confidence - John 1:12: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sent. Sextus 36 (Sentences of Sextus): quotation, medium confidence - Sent. Sextus 46a–b (Sentences of Sextus): quotation, high confidence - Sent. Sextus 60 (Sentences of Sextus): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The sayings are from the Sentences of Sextus (e.g. 46a–b, 60), a collection Augustine here takes, as was common, to be by Pope Xystus II (martyred 258); he later corrected this in his Retractations (2.42). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 77 (CSEL 60:291–292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-77). ## On Nature and Grace 78 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-78 - Source: CSEL 60:292–293 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine accepts Jerome's sayings on the pure in heart and on free choice, adding that purity of heart comes by grace and that in doing right there is the liberty of love. ### Latin text Quid etiam presbyter uenerabilis Hieronymus dixit in his, quae illum dixisse commemorat, cum exponeret quod scriptum est: beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi deum uidebunt? quos non arguit conscientia ulla peccati et adiecit: mundus mundo corde conspicitur, templum dei non potest esse pollutum. hoc utique agitur in nobis conando, laborando, orando, impetrando, ut ad illam perfectionem, in qua possimus deum mundo corde conspicere, eius gratia perducamur per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum. item quod ait a memorato dictum esse presbytero: liberi arbitrii nos condidit deus, nec ad uirtutem nec ad uitia necessitate trahimur: alioquin ubi necessitas, nec corona est, quis non agnoscat, quis non toto corde suscipiat, quis aliter conditam humanam neget esse naturam? sed in recte faciendo ideo nullum est uinculum necessitatis, quia libertas est caritatis. ### English translation (Claude) And what did the venerable presbyter Jerome say, in the words he records him as saying, when he was explaining what is written, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”? “Those whom no consciousness of sin accuses”; and he added: “The pure one is seen by the pure heart; the temple of God cannot be polluted.” This is certainly being done in us, by striving, laboring, praying, obtaining, so that we may be brought by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord to that perfection in which we may see God with a pure heart. Likewise what he says was said by the same presbyter: “God created us with free choice; we are not drawn by necessity either to virtue or to vices; otherwise, where there is necessity there is no crown.” Who does not recognize this, who does not accept it with his whole heart, who denies that human nature was created otherwise? But in doing right there is no bond of necessity precisely because there is the liberty of love. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:17: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Jerome, Commentary on Matthew 5:8, and Against Jovinian 2.3 (no entry in the site's list). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 78 (CSEL 60:292–293; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-78). ## On Nature and Grace 79 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-79 - Source: CSEL 60:293 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that love is poured out by the Holy Spirit given by the ascended Christ, and that the necessity of sinning, which comes from nature's faults, is removed by grace in answer to prayer. ### Latin text Redi ergo ad apostolicam sententiam: caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. a quo, nisi ab illo qui ascendit in altum, captiuauit captiuitatem, dedit dona hominibus? quod autem ex uitiis naturae, non ex conditione naturae sit quaedam peccandi necessitas, audiat homo, atque ut eadem necessitas non sit discat deo dicere: de necessitatibus meis educ me, quia et in huiusmodi oratione certamen est aduersus temptatorem de ipsa contra nos necessitate pugnantem. ac per hoc opitulante gratia per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum et mala necessitas remouebitur et libertas plena tribuetur. ### English translation (Claude) Return, then, to the apostle's sentence: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” By whom, but by him who “ascended on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men”? And that there is a certain necessity of sinning from the faults of nature, not from the constitution of nature, let man hear; and, that this same necessity may cease, let him learn to say to God: “Bring me out of my necessities”; for in prayer of this kind too there is a contest against the tempter, who fights against us with that very necessity. And so, with the help of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, both the evil necessity will be removed and full liberty will be granted. ### Scripture references - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:18 (67:19 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 25:17 (24:17 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Psalm 25:17 is quoted in the Old Latin wording (“Bring me out of my necessities”). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 79 (CSEL 60:293; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-79). ## On Nature and Grace 80 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-80 - Source: CSEL 60:293–294 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine owns the passage of his On Free Choice cited by Pelagius, but explains that sin is avoided only with God's help, sought in the Lord's Prayer both to prevent and to heal it. ### Latin text Veniamus ad nos. item, inquit, Augustinus episcopus in libris De libero arbitrio: quaecumque ista causa est uoluntatis, si non potest ei resisti, sine peccato ei ceditur; si autem potest, non ei cedatur, et non peccabitur. an forte fallit incautum ergo caueat, ne fallatur. an tanta fallacia est, ut caueri omnino non possit? nulla ergo peccata sunt. quis enim peccat in eo quod caueri nullo modo potest? peccatur autem; caueri igitur potest. agnosco, uerba mea sunt; sed etiam ipse dignetur agnoscere superius cuncta quae dicta sunt. de gratia quippe dei agitur, quae nobis per mediatorem medicina opitulatur, non de inpossibilitate iustitiae. potest ergo ei causae, quaecumque illa est, resisti, potest plane. nam in hoc adiutorium postulamus dicentes: ne nos inferas in temptationem; quod adiutorium non posceremus, si resisti nullo modo posse crederemus. potest peccatum caueri, sed opitulante illo, qui non potest falli. nam et hoc ipsum ad cauendum peccatum pertinet, si ueraciter dicimus: dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. duobus enim modis etiam in corpore cauetur morbi malum: et ut non accidat et ut, si acciderit, cito sanetur. ut non accidat, caueamus dicendo: ne nos inferas in temptationem; ut cito sanetur, caueamus dicendo: dimitte nobis debita nostra. siue ergo immineat siue insit, caueri igitur potest. ### English translation (Claude) Let us come to ourselves. “Likewise,” he says, “Bishop Augustine in his books On Free Choice: ‘Whatever this cause of the will is, if it cannot be resisted, one yields to it without sin; but if it can, let one not yield to it, and one will not sin. Does it perhaps deceive the unwary? Then let him beware so as not to be deceived. Or is the deceit so great that it cannot be guarded against at all? Then there are no sins. For who sins in what can in no way be guarded against? But sin is committed; therefore it can be guarded against.’” I recognize them; they are my words. But let him also deign to recognize all that has been said above. For the question concerns the grace of God, which helps us as medicine through the Mediator, not the impossibility of righteousness. That cause, then, whatever it is, can be resisted; it plainly can. For it is for this that we ask help, saying, “Lead us not into temptation”; which help we would not ask if we believed it could in no way be resisted. Sin can be guarded against, but with the help of him who cannot be deceived. For this very thing also belongs to guarding against sin, if we say truly: “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” For even in the body the evil of disease is guarded against in two ways: both that it may not happen, and that, if it has happened, it may be quickly healed. That it may not happen, let us guard against it by saying, “Lead us not into temptation”; that it may be quickly healed, let us guard against it by saying, “Forgive us our debts.” Whether, then, it threatens or is present, it can be guarded against. ### Scripture references - Matt 6:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will 3.18.50 (no entry in the site's list). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 80 (CSEL 60:293–294; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/64/#p-80). ## On Nature and Grace 81 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-81 - Source: CSEL 60:294–297 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine quotes further from his On Free Choice to show that he taught that ignorance and difficulty are penalties of Adam's condemnation and that God's help must be sought, so that his words do not support Pelagius. ### Latin text Sed ut non tantum illi, uerum etiam his, qui eosdem libros meos, quos iste legit, De libero arbitrio non legerunt atque illis non lectis hunc forsitan legunt, de hac re sententia mea satis appareat, ex ipsis libris commemorare me oportet, quod iste si sentiret atque in suis litteris poneret nulla inter nos de hac re controuersia remaneret. continuo quippe post uerba mea, quae iste commemorauit, quod occurrere poterat ipse subieci ut, quantum potui. pertractaui dicens: et tamen etiam per ignorantiam facta quaedam inprobantur ut corrigenda iudicantur, sicut in diuinis auctoritatibus legimus. atque hinc adhibitis exemplis etiam de infirmitate locutus sum dicens: sunt etiam necessitate facta inprobanda, ubi uult homo recte facere et non potest. nam unde sunt illae uoces: non enim quod uolo facio bonum, sed quod odi malum, hoc ago? atque aliis in hac sententia commemoratis testimoniis diuinorum eloquiorum: sed hac, inquam, omnia hominum sunt uoces ex illa mortis damnatione uenientium. nam si non est ista poena hominis, sed natura, nulla ista peccata sunt. deinde paulo post: relinquitur ergo, inquam, ut haec poena iusta de damnatione hominis ueniat. nec mirandum est quod uel ignorando non habet arbitrium liberum uoluntatis ad eligendum quid recte faciat uel resistente carnali consuetudine, quae uiolentia mortalis successionis quodam modo naturaliter inoleuit, uideat quid recte faciendum sit et uelit nec possit inplere. illa est enim peccati poena iustissima, ut amittat quisque quo bene uti noluit, cum sine ulla posset difficultate, si uellet. id est autem, ut qui sciens recte non facit, amittat scire quid rectum sit, et qui recte facere cum posset noluit. amittat posse cum uelit. nam sunt reuera omni peccanti animae duo ista poenalia, ignorantia et difficultas. ex ignorantia dehonestat error, ex difficultate cruciatus affligit. sed approbare falsa pro ueris, ut erret inuitus, et resistente atque torquente dolore carnalis uinculi non posse a libidinosis operibus temperare non est natura instituti hominis, sed poena damnati. cum autem de libera uoluntate recte faciendi loquimur, de illa scilicet, in qua homo factus est, loquimur. hinc iam hominibus de ipsius ignorantiae difficultatisque in prolem primi hominis traiectis uitiis atque transfusis uelut iustam querellam deponentibus ita responsum est: quibus breuiter, inquam, respondetur, ut quiescant et aduersus deum murmurare desistant. recte enim fortasse quererentur, si erroris et libidinis nullus hominum uictor existeret; cum uero ubique sit praesens, qui multis modis per creaturam sibi domino seruientem auersum uocet, doceat credentem, consoletur sperantem, diligentem adhortetur, conantem adiuuet, exaudiat deprecantem, non tibi deputatur ad culpam quod inuitus ignoras, sed quod neglegis quaerere quod ignoras; neque illud quod uulnerata membra non colligis, sed quod nolentem sanare contemnis. ita et exhortatus sum, quantum potui, ad recte uiuendum et gratiam dei non euacuaui, sine qua natura humana iam contenebrata atque uitiata inluminari non potest et sanari. de qua re cum istis tota uertitur quaestio, ne gratiam dei, quae est in Christo Iesu domino nostro, peruersa naturae defensione frustremus. de qua natura item paulo post dixi: etiam ipsam naturam aliter dicimus, cum proprie loquimur naturam hominis in qua primum in suo genere inculpabilis factus est, aliter istam, in qua ex illius damnati poena et ignari et carni subditi nascimur. iuxta quem modum dicit apostolus: fuimus enim et nos naturaliter filii irae sicut et ceteri. ### English translation (Claude) But so that my opinion on this matter may be clear enough not only to him but also to those who have not read those books of mine On Free Choice which he has read, and who perhaps read him without having read them, I must mention from those very books something which, if he held it and set it down in his writings, would leave no controversy between us on this matter. For immediately after my words which he cited, I added, and discussed as well as I could, what could have been objected, saying: “And yet certain things done even through ignorance are disapproved and judged to need correction, as we read in the divine authorities.” And then, having given examples, I spoke also of weakness, saying: “There are also things done by necessity that are to be disapproved, when a man wishes to do right and cannot. For where do those voices come from: ‘For I do not do the good that I will, but the evil that I hate, that I do’?” And, having cited other testimonies of the divine oracles to this effect: “But all these,” I said, “are the voices of men coming from that condemnation of death. For if this is not man's punishment but his nature, none of these are sins.” Then a little later: “It remains, then,” I said, “that this just punishment comes from the condemnation of man. Nor is it surprising that, either through ignorance, he does not have free choice of the will to choose what he should rightly do; or, through the resistance of carnal habit, which by the violence of mortal succession has in a way grown into him naturally, he sees what should rightly be done and wills it, and cannot fulfill it. For this is the most just punishment of sin, that each one loses what he would not use well, when he could have used it without any difficulty if he had willed; that is, that one who knowingly does not do right loses the knowledge of what is right, and one who would not do right when he could loses the ability when he wills. For there are truly these two penalties for every sinning soul, ignorance and difficulty. From ignorance, error disgraces; from difficulty, torment afflicts. But to approve false things as true, so as to err unwillingly, and, with the pain of the carnal bond resisting and torturing, to be unable to refrain from lustful works, is not the nature of man as he was established, but the punishment of man as condemned. But when we speak of a free will to do right, we speak of that in which man was made.” Then, to men who were making, as it were, a just complaint about the faults of ignorance and difficulty passed on and poured into the offspring of the first man, the answer was given: “To them,” I said, “the brief answer is that they should be quiet and stop murmuring against God. For perhaps they would complain rightly if no man were victorious over error and lust; but since he is everywhere present who in many ways, through the creation serving him as its Lord, calls the one who has turned away, teaches the one who believes, consoles the one who hopes, exhorts the one who loves, helps the one who strives, hears the one who prays, it is not counted to you as a fault that you are ignorant against your will, but that you neglect to seek what you do not know; nor that you do not bind up your wounded members, but that you despise him who wishes to heal them.” So I both exhorted, as well as I could, to right living, and did not make void the grace of God, without which human nature, now darkened and corrupted, cannot be enlightened and healed. On this the whole question with these men turns: that we may not frustrate the grace of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord by a perverse defense of nature. Of this nature I said again a little later: “We also speak of nature itself in one way when, speaking properly, we mean the nature of man in which he was first made blameless in his kind; in another, this nature in which, from the punishment of that condemned man, we are born both ignorant and subject to the flesh; in the sense in which the apostle says: ‘For we too were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.’” ### Scripture references - Rom 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:15: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:34: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will 3.18.51–3.19.54 (no entry in the site's list). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 81 (CSEL 60:294–297; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-81). ## On Nature and Grace 82 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-82 - Source: CSEL 60:297 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine sets out how to exhort Christians: to faith first, then to good works and persevering prayer, confessing that any perfection comes only by the grace of Christ. ### Latin text Si ergo uolumus animos ad recte uiuendum frigidos et pigros christianis exhortationibus excitare et accendere, primitus exhortemur ad fidem, qua Christiani fiant et eius nomini subiciantur, sine quo salui esse non possunt. si autem iam christiani sunt et recte uiuere neglegunt, uerberentur terroribus et praemiorum laudibus erigantur. ita sane, ut non solum ad bonas actiones, uerum etiam ad pias orationes eos exhortari meminerimus atque hac instruere sanitate doctrinae, ut et illinc gratias agant, cum instituerint bene uiuere, quod aliquid sine difficultate fecerint, et ubi difficultatem aliquam sentiunt, fidelissimis et perseuerantissimis precibus et misericordiae promtis operibus facilitatem a domino impetrare persistant. sic autem proficientes ubi et quando plenissima iustitia perficiantur non nimis curo; ubicumque autem et quandocumque perfecti fuerint, non nisi gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum perfici posse confirmo. sane quando liquido cognouerint nullum peccatum se habere, non se dicent non habere peccatum. ne ueritas in eis non sit, sicut in eis ueritas non est, qui cum habeant non habere se dicunt? ### English translation (Claude) If, then, we wish to rouse and kindle by Christian exhortations souls that are cold and sluggish toward right living, let us first exhort them to faith, by which they may become Christians and be made subject to his name, without whom they cannot be saved. But if they are already Christians and neglect to live rightly, let them be beaten with terrors and raised up by the praises of rewards; in such a way, certainly, that we remember to exhort them not only to good actions but also to devout prayers, and to instruct them in this soundness of doctrine: that they give thanks for it, when they have begun to live well, that they have done something without difficulty; and where they feel some difficulty, that they persist in obtaining ease from the Lord by most faithful and most persevering prayers and by ready works of mercy. As for where and when those who make progress in this way are made perfect in the fullest righteousness, I do not care very much; but wherever and whenever they become perfect, I affirm that they cannot be made perfect except by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Certainly, when they clearly know that they have no sin, let them not say that they have sin, lest the truth not be in them, as the truth is not in those who, when they have it, say that they do not have it. ### Scripture references - 1 John 1:8: allusion, high confidence - Acts 4:12: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The last sentence is corrupt in the digital text (“non se dicent non habere peccatum”); the translation follows the sense required by what follows (compare 1 John 1:8). ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 82 (CSEL 60:297; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-82). ## On Nature and Grace 83 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-83 - Source: CSEL 60:297–298 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine teaches that God's commandments are not impossible but move us to do what is easy and pray for what is hard, and that they become light to love, which is the fulfilling of the law. ### Latin text Valde autem bona sunt praecepta, si legitime his utamur. eo quippe ipso quo firmissime creditur deum iustum et bonum inpossibilia non potuisse praecipere, hinc ammonemur et in facilibus quid agamus et in difficilibus quid petamus. omnia quippe fiunt facilia caritati, cui uni Christi sarcina leuis est aut ea una est sarcina ipsa quae leuis est. secundum hoc dictum est: et praecepta eius grauia non sunt, ut cui grauia sunt, consideret non potuisse diuinitus dici: grauia non sunt, nisi quia potest esse cordis affectus cui grauia non sunt. et petat quo destituitur, ut inpleat quod iubetur. et quod dicitur ad Israhel in Deuteronomio, si pie, si sancte, si spiritaliter intellegatur, hoc idem significat, quia utique, cum hoc testimonium commemorasset apostolus: prope est uerbum in ore tuo et in corde tuo — quod hic habet in manibus tuis; in corde sunt enim spiritales manus — hoc est, inquit, uerbum fidei quod praedicamus. conuersus ergo quisque, sicut ibi praecipitur, ad dominum deum suum ex toto corde suo et ex tota anima sua mandatum dei non habebit graue. quomodo est enim graue, cum sit dilectionis mandatum? aut enim quisque non diligit, et ideo graue est, aut diligit, et graue esse non potest. diligit autem, si, quod illic ammonetur Israhel, conuersus fuerit ad dominum deum suum ex toto corde suo et ex tota anima sua. mandatum, inquit, nouum do uobis, ut uos inuicem diligatis, et: qui diligit proximum, legem inpleuit, et: plenitudo legis caritas. secundum hoc et illud dictum est: si ambularent semitas bonas, inuenissent utique semitas iustitiae leues. quomodo ergo dicitur: propter uerba labiorum tuorum ego custodiui uias duras, nisi quia utrumque uerum est? durae sunt timori, leues amori. ### English translation (Claude) The commandments are very good, if we use them lawfully. For by the very fact that it is most firmly believed that the just and good God could not have commanded impossible things, we are admonished both what to do in easy things and what to ask for in difficult ones. For all things become easy to love, to which alone Christ's burden is light, or rather which alone is the burden that is light. According to this it was said, “And his commandments are not heavy”; so that whoever finds them heavy may consider that it could not have been said by God, “They are not heavy,” unless because there can be a disposition of heart to which they are not heavy; and let him ask for what he lacks, that he may fulfill what is commanded. And what is said to Israel in Deuteronomy, if it is understood piously, holily, spiritually, means the same thing; since certainly, when the apostle cited this testimony, “The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart” (which there reads “in your hands”, for in the heart are the spiritual hands), he says: “This is the word of faith which we preach.” Whoever, then, is turned, as is commanded there, to the Lord his God with all his heart and with all his soul will not find God's commandment heavy. For how is it heavy, since it is the commandment of love? For either one does not love, and so it is heavy; or one loves, and it cannot be heavy. And he loves if, as Israel is admonished there, he is turned to the Lord his God with all his heart and with all his soul. “A new commandment I give you,” he says, “that you love one another”; and, “He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law”; and, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” According to this also that saying was said: “If they had walked in good paths, they would surely have found the paths of righteousness smooth.” How then is it said, “Because of the words of your lips I have kept hard ways,” except because both are true? They are hard to fear, smooth to love. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 1:8: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:30: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 5:3: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:14: quotation, high confidence - Deut 30:10: allusion, high confidence - Rom 10:8: quotation, high confidence - John 13:34: quotation, high confidence - Rom 13:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 13:10: quotation, high confidence - Prov 2:20: quotation, medium confidence - Ps 17:4 (16:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Deuteronomy 30:14 is cited in the Old Latin/Septuagint wording (“in your hands”). Proverbs 2:20 and Psalm 17:4 are quoted in the Old Latin wording. ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 83 (CSEL 60:297–298; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-83). ## On Nature and Grace 84 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-84 - Source: CSEL 60:298–299 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Augustine concludes that righteousness grows with love, which at every stage is poured into our hearts not by nature or will but by the Holy Spirit, the grace of God through Christ. ### Latin text Caritas ergo inchoata inchoata iustitia est; caritas prouecta prouecta iustitia est; caritas magna magna iustitia est; caritas perfecta perfecta iustitia est, sed caritas de corde puro et conscientia bona et fide non ficta, quae tunc maxima est in hac uita, quando pro illa ipsa contemnitur uita. sed miror si non habet quo crescat, cum de mortali excesserit uita. ubicumque autem et quandocumque ita plena sit, ut ei non sit quod adiciatur, non tamen diffunditur in cordibus nostris uel naturae uel uoluntatis opibus quae sunt in nobis, sed per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis, qui et infirmitati nostrae opitulatur et sanitati cooperatur. ipsa est enim gratia dei per Iesum Christum dominum nostrum, cui est cum patre et spiritu sancto aeternitas, bonitas in saecula saeculorum. amen. ### English translation (Claude) Love begun, then, is righteousness begun; love advanced is righteousness advanced; great love is great righteousness; perfect love is perfect righteousness; but love “from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned,” which is greatest in this life when life itself is despised for its sake. But I wonder whether it has no room to grow when it has left this mortal life. Wherever and whenever it is so full that nothing can be added to it, still it is not poured out in our hearts by the resources of nature or of will that are in us, but through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, who both helps our weakness and works together with our health. For this is the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be eternity and goodness forever and ever. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 1:5: quotation, high confidence - John 15:13: echo, medium confidence - Rom 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:26: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Augustine, Nat. et grat. 84 (CSEL 60:298–299; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-gratia/81/#p-84).