Sermons to the People 63.1–66.5

Augustine of Hippo · Sermons to the People · ca. 391-430 · Hippo Regius · 18 passages

Latin text: PL 38 (Latin text: Migne, PL 38, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: NPNF 1/6: Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (R. G. MacMullen, ed., 1888).

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Chapter 63

63.1PL 38:288

De lectione recentissima sancti Evangelii, donante Domino, alloquor vos, et in illo exhortor, ut contra tempestates et fluctus sæculi hujus non dormiat fides in cordibus vestris. Non enim revera Dominus Christus mortem habuit in potestate, somnum non habuit in potestate; et forte Omnipotentem navigantem somnus pressit invitum. Hoc si credideritis, dormit in vobis: si autem in vobis vigilat Christus, vigilat fides vestra. Apostolus dicit, Habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus vestris. Ergo et somnus Christi signum est sacramenti. Navigantes sunt animæ in ligno sæculum transeuntes. Etiam navis illa Ecclesiam figurabat. Et singuli quippe templa sunt Dei, et unusquisque in corde suo navigat: nec facit naufragium, si bona cogitat.

On the reading of the holy Gospel just now, with the Lord’s gift, I address you, and in him I urge you that, against the storms and waves of this world, faith may not sleep in your hearts. For it is not, is it, that the Lord Christ had death in his power but did not have sleep in his power, and that sleep perhaps overcame the Almighty against his will as he sailed? If you believe this, he is asleep in you; but if Christ is awake in you, your faith is awake. The Apostle says that Christ dwells in your hearts through faith. So Christ’s sleep too is the sign of a mystery. Those sailing are souls crossing the world on wood. And that ship also prefigured the Church. And indeed each one is a temple of God, and each one sails in his own heart; and he does not suffer shipwreck if he thinks good things.

Matt 8:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 8:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 3:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ’s sleep in the boat signifies faith asleep in the heart; the boat is the Church and each heart, crossing the world on the wood of the cross.

The storm on the lake: Matt 8:23–27. “Christ dwells in your hearts through faith”: Eph 3:17. Temples of God: 1 Cor 3:16. The opening question is ironic in the Latin (“For it is not, is it …”). A heading by Migne (“Those sailing in the world”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6 (Sermon 13 there).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): recentis sima → recentissima; s:cculi → sæculi; credidcrilis → credideritis; cortlibus → cordibus; cst sacramenti → est sacramenti; transcuntes → transeuntes; quippc → quippe.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 63.1 (PL 38:288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-63-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina 38 (Maurist text; digital text, Open Greek and Latin; corrections logged). Sermons outside 51–147 have no public-domain English and were re-read against the Latin; sermons 51–147 were compared section by section with NPNF¹ 6 (MacMullen, 1888).

63.2PL 38:288

Audisti convicium, ventus est: iratus es, fluctus est. Vento igitur flante, fluctu surgente, periclitatur navis, periclitatur cor tuum, fluctuat cor tuum. Audito convicio vindicari desideras: et ecce vindicatus es, et malo alieno cedens, fecisti naufragium. Et quare hoc? Quia dormit in te Christus. Quid est, dormit in te Christus? Oblitus es Christum. Excita ergo Christum, recordare Christum, evigilet in te Christus: considera illum. Quid volebas? Vindicari. Excidit tibi, quia ipse cum crucifigeretur dixit: Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt? Qui dormiebat in corde tuo, noluit vindicari. Excita illum, recole illum. Memoria ipsius, verbum ipsius: memoria ipsius, jussio ipsius. Et dices apud te, si vigilat in te Christus: Qualis ego homo, qui volo vindicari? Qui sum ego, qui in hominem exsero comminationes? Morior forte antequam vindicer. Et cum anhelans, ira inflammatus, et sitiens vindictam, exiero de corpore, non me suscipit ille qui noluit vindicari: non me suscipit ille qui dixit, Date, et dabitur vobis; dimittite, et dimittetur vobis. Ergo compescam me ab iracundia mea, et redibo ad quietem cordis mei. Imperavit Christus mari, facta est tranquillitas.

You have heard an insult: that is the wind. You are angry: that is the wave. So when the wind blows and the wave rises, the ship is in danger, your heart is in danger, your heart is tossed. Having heard an insult, you want to be avenged; and see, you have been avenged, and, giving way to another’s evil, you have suffered shipwreck. And why this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What does it mean, Christ is asleep in you? You have forgotten Christ. Wake Christ, then; remember Christ; let Christ wake up in you: consider him. What did you want? To be avenged. Have you forgotten that, when he was being crucified, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”? He who was sleeping in your heart did not want to be avenged. Wake him; call him to mind. The remembrance of him is his word; the remembrance of him is his command. And you will say to yourself, if Christ is awake in you: “What kind of man am I, who want to be avenged? Who am I, to hurl threats at a man? Perhaps I will die before I am avenged. And when, gasping, inflamed with anger and thirsting for revenge, I leave the body, he will not receive me who did not want to be avenged; he will not receive me who said, Give, and it will be given to you; forgive, and you will be forgiven. So I will restrain myself from my anger and return to the quiet of my heart.” Christ commanded the sea; there was calm.

Luke 23:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 6:38 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 6:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:26 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: An insult is the wind and anger the wave; we must wake Christ, who forgave his crucifiers, so that he may calm the storm of revenge in the heart.

“Father, forgive them …”: Luke 23:34. “Give, and it will be given …”: Luke 6:37–38. Christ commanding the sea: Matt 8:26. A heading by Migne (“Christ to be woken amid the storms of anger”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Andisti → Audisti; ct malo → et malo; conidera → considera; vulebas → volebas; cruciligerclur → crucifigeretur; ignosceillis → ignosce illis; darmicbat → dormiebat; memo ria → memoria; virgilat → vigilat; cxiero → exiero; ei redibo → et redibo.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 63.2 (PL 38:288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-63-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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63.3PL 38:288–289

Quod autem dixi ad iracundiam, hoc tenete regulariter in omnibus tentationibus vestris. Nata est tentatio, ventus est: turbatus es, fluctus est. Excita Christum, loquatur tecum. Quis est hic, quando et venti et mare obediunt ei? Quis est hic, cui obaudit mare? Ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Magis imitare ventos et mare: obtempera Creatori. Sub jussione Christi mare audit, et tu surdus es? Mare audit, et ventus cessat, et tu sufflas? Quid? Dico, facio, fingo: quid est aliud nisi sufflare, et sub verbo Christi nolle cessare? Non vos vincat fluctus in perturbatione cordis vestri. Sed tamen quia homines sumus, si ventus impulerit, si affectum animæ nostræ moverit, non desperemus: Christum excitemus, ut in tranquillo navigemus, et ad patriam veniamus. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.

What I have said about anger, hold as a rule in all your temptations. A temptation has arisen: that is the wind. You are troubled: that is the wave. Wake Christ; let him speak with you. “Who is this, that both the winds and the sea obey him?” Who is this, whom the sea obeys? “The sea is his, and he made it.” “All things were made through him.” Rather imitate the winds and the sea: obey the Creator. At Christ’s command the sea hears, and you are deaf? The sea hears and the wind ceases, and you keep blowing? What? “I say, I do, I devise”: what is that but to keep blowing and to refuse to cease at Christ’s word? Let not the wave overcome you in the disturbance of your heart. Yet because we are human, if the wind drives on, if it moves the affection of our soul, let us not despair: let us wake Christ, so that we may sail in calm and come to our homeland. Turning to the Lord, and so on.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 8:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 95:5 (94:5 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In every temptation we should wake Christ, whom wind and sea obey, and obey him ourselves, so as to sail in calm to our homeland.

“Who is this …”: Matt 8:27. “The sea is his …”: Ps 95:5 (Vulgate 94:5). “All things were made through him”: John 1:3. “Turning to the Lord” begins Augustine’s customary closing prayer, abbreviated in the manuscript. A heading by Migne (“At Christ’s command there is calm”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): antcm → autem; regul.iriter → regulariter; cst: turbatus → est: turbatus; Exciia → Excita; Qnis → Quis; ven tos ct mare → ventos et mare; Chri ii marc audit, et tu surdus cs? Mire audit, et v... II III i cessat, ct tu suMas? Quid? Dico, facio, fingo: quid cst aliud niM sufllare, et sub verbo Christi nelle ces sare? → Christi mare audit, et tu surdus es? Mare audit, et ventus cessat, et tu sufflas? Quid? Dico, facio, fingo: quid est aliud nisi sufflare, et sub verbo Christi nolle cessare?; perturbationecordis → perturbatione cordis; iinpulcrit → impulerit.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 63.3 (PL 38:288–289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-63-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Chapter 64

64.1PL 38:289

Audistis, fratres, cum sanctum Evangelium legeretur, quemadmodum Dominus noster Jesus Christus disciplina sua martyres suos corroboraverit dicens: Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum. Considerate, fratres mei, quid faciat. Si unus lupus inter multas oves veniat, quantacumque sint ovium millia, uno lupo in medio turbabuntur: et si non omnes laniantur, omnes tamen terrentur. Qualis ergo erat ista ratio, quale consilium, qualis potestas, nec lupum ad oves admittere, sed in lupos oves mittere? Mitto, inquit, vos sicut oves in medio luporum: non ad limites luporum, sed in medio luporum. Erat ergo luporum agmen, oves paucæ. Cum enim multi lupi occiderent paucas oves, conversi sunt lupi, et facti sunt oves.

You heard, brothers, when the holy Gospel was read, how our Lord Jesus Christ strengthened his martyrs by his teaching, saying: “Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Consider, my brothers, what he is doing. If one wolf comes among many sheep, however many thousands of sheep there are, they will be thrown into confusion by one wolf in their midst; and if not all are torn, still all are terrified. What kind of reasoning was this, then, what counsel, what power, not to let a wolf in among the sheep but to send sheep against wolves? “I send you,” he says, “as sheep in the midst of wolves”: not to the borders of the wolves, but into the midst of the wolves. There was, then, a pack of wolves, and few sheep. But when the many wolves killed the few sheep, the wolves were changed and became sheep.

Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ sent a few sheep among many wolves; when the wolves killed the sheep, the wolves themselves were converted into sheep.

“Behold, I send you …”: Matt 10:16. The final numeral in the digital text is a footnote mark, removed. A heading by Migne (“Wolves made sheep”) was removed by the importer. The sermon was preached on a feast of martyrs. Compared with NPNF¹ 6 (Sermon 14 there).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): multas ovcs veniat, → multas oves veniat,; crat → erat; lupos ovcs mittere? → lupos oves mittere?; nop ad → non ad; eniin → enim; occidcrent → occiderent; ct facti sunt oves '. → et facti sunt oves..

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 64.1 (PL 38:289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-64-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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64.2PL 38:289

Audiamus ergo quid monuit, qui coronas promisit, et agonem præmisit; et qui exspectat certantes, adjuvat laborantes. Cujusmodi certamen indixit? Estote, inquit, astuti ut serpentes, et simplices sicut columbæ. Hoc qui intellexerit et tenuerit, securus moritur, quia non morietur. Nemo enim debet securus mori, nisi qui se noverit sic moriturum, ut mors in illo moriatur, vita coronetur.

Let us hear, then, what he advised, who promised crowns and set the contest first, who watches the contestants and helps those who toil. What kind of contest did he proclaim? “Be,” he says, “shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Whoever has understood and held to this dies secure, because he will not die. For no one ought to die secure except one who knows that he will die in such a way that death dies in him and life is crowned.

Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:54 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, who promised crowns and helps those who struggle, commanded the shrewdness of serpents and the simplicity of doves, by which death dies in the martyr.

“Be shrewd as serpents …”: Matt 10:16. Death dying: compare 1 Cor 15:54. A heading by Migne (“Whence a Christian’s confidence among wolves”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): ct agonem præmisit; ct qui → et agonem præmisit; et qui; lahorantes → laborantes; noc qui → Hoc qui; Ncmo cnim → Nemo enim; mori 2, nisi qui sc uovcrit → mori, nisi qui se noverit.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 64.2 (PL 38:289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-64-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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64.3PL 38:289

Quapropter, charissimi, exponendum est vobis, quamvis hinc jam sæpius dixerimus, quid sit esse simplices ut columbæ, astuti ut serpentes. Si jam simplicitas columbarum indicta est nobis, astutia serpentis quid facit in columbæ simplicitate? Amo in columba quod fel non habet: timeo in serpente quod venenum habet. Noli ex omni parte horrere serpentem: habet quod oderis, habet quod imiteris. Serpens enim cum fuerit senectute prægravatus, et senserit pondus vetustatis, coarctat se per cavernam, et deponit tunicam veterem, ut novus exultet. Imitare illum, christiane, qui audis Christum dicentem, Intrate per angustam portam. Et Paulus apostolus tibi dicit: Exuite vos veterem hominem cum actibus suis, et induite novum. Habes ergo quod imiteris in serpente. Noli mori pro vetustate, sed pro veritate. Qui moritur pro commodo temporali, pro vetustate moritur. Cum autem exutus fueris omni ista vetustate, imitatus es astutiam serpentis. Imitare illum et in hoc: serva caput tuum. Quid est, serva caput tuum? Tene apud te Christum. Si forte aliquis vestrum advertit aliquando, cum voluerit colubrum occidere, quomodo pro capite suo totum corpus objicit ictibus ferientis. Illud in se feriri non vult, ubi se novit vitam habere. Et Christus vita nostra est. Ipse enim dixit; Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita. Audi et Apostolum: Caput viri Christus est, Qui ergo Christum servat in se, caput suum servat pro se.

So, dearly beloved, it must be explained to you, though we have already often spoken of it, what it is to be simple as doves and shrewd as serpents. If the simplicity of doves has been enjoined on us, what is the shrewdness of the serpent doing in the dove’s simplicity? I love in the dove that it has no gall; I fear in the serpent that it has poison. Do not be horrified at the serpent in every respect: it has something for you to hate and something for you to imitate. For when the serpent is weighed down with old age and feels the weight of its oldness, it squeezes itself through a hole and lays aside its old coat, so as to spring out new. Imitate it, Christian, you who hear Christ saying, “Enter through the narrow gate.” And the apostle Paul says to you: “Strip off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new.” So you have something to imitate in the serpent. Do not die for oldness, but for truth. Whoever dies for a temporal advantage dies for oldness. But when you have stripped off all that oldness, you have imitated the serpent’s shrewdness. Imitate it in this too: guard your head. What does “guard your head” mean? Keep Christ with you. Perhaps some of you have noticed, when you wanted to kill a snake, how it exposes its whole body to the blows of the one striking in order to protect its head. It does not want to be struck in the part where it knows its life is. And Christ is our life. For he himself said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Hear the Apostle too: “The head of a man is Christ.” So whoever keeps Christ in himself guards his head for himself.

Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:22 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 14:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:4 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The serpent’s shrewdness is to be imitated in shedding its old skin through a narrow hole, as we put off the old man, and in guarding its head, as we guard Christ, our life.

“Enter through the narrow gate”: Matt 7:13. “Strip off the old man …”: Col 3:9–10 (compare Eph 4:22–24). “I am the way …”: John 14:6. “The head of a man is Christ”: 1 Cor 11:3. The numeral after “new” in the digital text is a footnote mark, removed. A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“How the serpent’s shrewdness is to be imitated”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): Serpentis astutia quomodo imitanda. Quapropter → Quapropter; cst vobis, quamvis hiuc jain sæpius dixcrimus → est vobis, quamvis hinc jam sæpius dixerimus; indicta cst → indicta est; scrpentis → serpentis; habel → habet; senscrit → senserit; de. ponit → deponit; exultet I. → exultet.; libi dicit → tibi dicit; scr. pente → serpente; vctustate → vetustate; imitatus cs → imitatus es; apud tc → apud te; Iliud in se fcriri non v ult → Illud in se feriri non vult; haberc → habere; cnim dixit → enim dixit; (Joan. XIV, G) → .

Topics: Martyrdom, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 64.3 (PL 38:289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-64-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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64.4PL 38:289

Jam vero quid opus est commendare multis verbis simplicitatem columbarum? Cavenda enim erant venena serpentis; ibi imitatio periclitabatur, ibi erat quod timeretur: columbam vero securus imitare. Attende columbas in societate gaudere: ubique simul volant, simul pascuntur, nolunt esse solæ, communione gaudent, charitatem servant, gemitibus amoris murmurant; osculis filios generant. Nam quando columbæ, quod plerumque advertimus, inter se rixantur de cellulis suis, quodam modo pacata contentio est. Numquid quia rixantur, separantur? Simul volant, simul pascuntur, et ipsa inter se pacata est rixa. Videte rixam columbarum. Apostolus dicit: Si quis verbo nostro non obaudit per epistolam, hunc notate, et nolite commisceri cum eo. Ecce rixa: sed attende quoniam columbarum rixa est, non luporum, Continuo subjecit: Et non ut inimicum existimetis, sed corripite ut fratrem. Columba amat et quando rixatur: lupus odit et quando blanditur. Columbarum ergo simplicitatem habentes, et astutiam serpentum, solemnia martyrum celebrate in sobrietate mentis, non in ebrietate ventris; Deo laudes dicite. Ipse est enim Dominus Deus noster, qui martyrum Deus; ipse coronator noster. Si bene luctati fuerimus, coronamur ab eo, qui coronavit eos quos imitari concupiscimus.

Now what need is there to commend the simplicity of doves at length? The serpent’s poisons had to be guarded against; there imitation was dangerous, there was something to fear; but imitate the dove without anxiety. See how doves rejoice in company: everywhere they fly together, feed together; they do not want to be alone; they rejoice in fellowship, they keep love, they coo with the moans of love; they beget their young with kisses. For when doves, as we often notice, quarrel among themselves over their nests, it is in a way a peaceful contention. Do they separate because they quarrel? They fly together, feed together, and their very quarrel among themselves is peaceful. See the quarrel of doves. The Apostle says: “If anyone does not obey our word through this letter, mark that man, and do not associate with him.” See, a quarrel; but notice that it is a quarrel of doves, not of wolves. He immediately added: “Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but rebuke him as a brother.” The dove loves even when it quarrels; the wolf hates even when it fawns. So, having the simplicity of doves and the shrewdness of serpents, celebrate the festivals of the martyrs in sobriety of mind, not in drunkenness of belly; sing praises to God. For he is the Lord our God who is the God of the martyrs; he is our crowner. If we have wrestled well, we are crowned by him who crowned those whom we long to imitate.

Matt 10:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Thess 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Doves live in fellowship and quarrel peacefully, as Paul’s discipline corrects a brother without enmity; martyrs’ feasts should be kept soberly, in praise of the God who crowns them.

“If anyone does not obey … rebuke him as a brother”: 2 Thess 3:14–15. Martyrs’ feasts were sometimes kept with drinking at the shrines, which Augustine opposed. Numerals after “company” in the digital text are footnote marks, removed. A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“The dove’s simplicity to be imitated”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip; OCR slip in the digital text): Columbæ simplicitas imitanda, Jam vcro quid opus cst commendare multis verbis simplicitatem columbarum? Cavenda cnim crant vc. ncua → Jam vero quid opus est commendare multis verbis simplicitatem columbarum? Cavenda enim erant venena; gaudere 2: → gaudere:; csse sol:c, commu- Dione → esse solæ, communione; lilios → filios; scparantur → separantur; Simul vo. lant → Simul volant; ot ipsa inter ac pacata cst rixa, → et ipsa inter se pacata est rixa.; amat ct quando → amat et quando; Co. lumbarum → Columbarum; ventris, Dco laudes → ventris; Deo laudes; ipsa coronator → ipse coronator; fucrimus, coronamur ad co,qui → fuerimus, coronamur ab eo, qui; concupiscimus, → concupiscimus..

Topics: Martyrdom, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 64.4 (PL 38:289; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-64-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Chapter 65

65.1PL 38:289–290

Admonent nos eloquia divina, quæ lecta sunt, timendo non timere, et non timendo timere. Advertistis, cum sanctum Evangelium legeretur, Dominum Deum nostrum antequam pro nobis moreretur, firmos nos esse voluisse: sed admonendo ne timeremus, et admonendo ut timeremus. Ait enim: Nolite timere eos qui corpus occidunt, animam autem non possunt occidere. Ecce ubi monuit ne timeremus. Videte ubi monuerit ut timeremus. Sed eum, inquit, timete, qui potestatem habet et corpus et animam occidere in gehenna. Ergo timeamus, ut non timeamus. Timor videtur ad ignaviam pertinere: timor infirmorum videtur esse, non fortium. Sed videte quid ait Scriptura: Timor Domini spes fortitudinis. Timeamus, ne timeamus: hoc est, prudenter timeamus, ne inaniter timeamus. Martyres sancti, propter quorum solemnitatem hoc ex Evangelio recitatum est, timendo non timuerunt: quia Deum timendo, homines contempserunt.

The divine words that have been read urge us to not fear by fearing, and to fear by not fearing. You noticed, when the holy Gospel was read, that the Lord our God, before he died for us, wanted us to be firm: by warning us not to fear, and by warning us to fear. For he said: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” See where he warned us not to fear. See where he warned us to fear: “But fear him,” he says, “who has power to kill both body and soul in Gehenna.” So let us fear, so that we may not fear. Fear seems to belong to cowardice; fear seems to be of the weak, not the strong. But see what Scripture says: “The fear of the Lord is the hope of strength.” Let us fear so as not to fear: that is, let us fear wisely, so as not to fear vainly. The holy martyrs, for whose festival this was read from the Gospel, by fearing did not fear: because by fearing God, they despised men.

Matt 10:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 14:26 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ commands us not to fear those who kill only the body but to fear God; by fearing God the martyrs ceased to fear men.

“Do not fear those who kill the body … in Gehenna”: Matt 10:28. “The fear of the Lord is the hope of strength”: Prov 14:26, in the Old Latin. A heading by Migne (“Fear driven out by fear”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6 (Sermon 15 there).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Ad monent nos cloquia divipa, qupe → Admonent nos eloquia divina, quæ; ct non timendo → et non timendo; Dcum nosirum → Deum nostrum; eoa qui corpus → eos qui corpus; autcm non → autem non; Yidcte ubi monuerit nt → Videte ubi monuerit ut; Sed cum, inquit, timete → Sed eum, inquit, timete; ut non. timeamus → ut non timeamus; igna- I viam → ignaviam; vidctur → videtur; Timcamus, nc timeamus: hoc est, prudenter timcarnus, nc → Timeamus, ne timeamus: hoc est, prudenter timeamus, ne; qnia → quia.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.1 (PL 38:289–290; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.2PL 38:290

Quid enim ab hominibus homini metuendum est? Et quid est unde alterum terreat, homo hominem? Terret, et dicit, Occido te: et non timet, ne cum minatur, prius moriatur. Occido, inquit. Quis dicit? cui dicit? Duos audio: unum terrentem, alterum metuentem; quorum unus est potens, alter infirmus, sed ambo mortales. Quid se ergo extendit in honore inflatior potestas, in carne æqualis infirmitas? Securus minetur mortem, qui non timet mortem. Si vero unde terret, timet; attendat se, et ei cui minatur comparet se. Inveniat in eo cui minatur, parem conditionem; et a Domino simul cum illo petat miserationem. Homo est enim, et homini minatur, creatura creaturæ: sed una inflata sub Creatore, altera fugiens ad Creatorem. Dicat ergo fortissimus martyr, stans homo ante hominem: Non timeo, quia timeo. Tu quod minaris, si ille nolit, non facis: quod autem ille minatur, ut faciat a nullo impeditur. Deinde tu quod minaris, et si permitteris, quid facis? Usque ad carnem sævis: anima tuta est. Non occides quod non vides: visibilis visibilem terres. Habemus ambo invisibilem Creatorem, quem simul timere debeamus; qui hominem ipsum ex visibili et invisibili creavit: visibilem de terra fecit, invisibilem flatu suo animavit. Substantia ergo invisibilis, hoc est, anima quae jacentem terram erexit de terra, non timet cum percutis terram. Potes ferire habitaculum, numquid habitatorem? Fugit percusso vinculo colligatus, et erit in occulto coronatus. Quid ergo minaris, qui animæ nihil facere potes? Per meritum ejus cui facere nihil potes, resurget cui facere aliquid potes. Per meritum enim animae resurget caro: et habitatori reddetur, jam non ruitura, sed mansura. Ecce, verba martyris dico, ecce nec propter ipsam carnem meam timeo comminantem. Caro mea subjacet potestati: sed etiam capilli capitis numerati sunt Creatori. Quid timeo ne carnem perdam, qui nec capillum perdo? Quomodo non attendit carnem meam, cui sic nota sunt vilia mea? Ipsum corpus quod percuti et occidi potest, ad tempus cinis erit, in æternum immortale erit. Sed cui hoc? Cui reddetur corpus ad vitam æternam etiam occisum, peremptum, dissipatum? cui reddetur? Ei qui non timuit ponere animam suam, cum non timet ne occidatur caro sua.

For what is a man to fear from men? And what is there by which a man may terrify another man? He terrifies and says, “I will kill you”; and he does not fear that, while he threatens, he may die first. “I will kill,” he says. Who says it? To whom does he say it? I hear two: one terrifying, the other afraid; one is powerful, the other weak, but both mortal. Why, then, does a power more puffed up in honor stretch itself out, when its weakness in the flesh is equal? Let him threaten death securely who does not fear death. But if he fears the thing with which he terrifies, let him consider himself and compare himself with the one he threatens. Let him find in the one he threatens the same condition, and let him ask the Lord for mercy together with him. For he is a man and threatens a man, a creature a creature; but one puffed up under the Creator, the other fleeing to the Creator. Let the bravest martyr say, then, standing as a man before a man: “I do not fear, because I fear. What you threaten, you do not do if he does not will it; but what he threatens, no one prevents him from doing. Then, what you threaten, even if you are permitted, what do you do? You rage as far as the flesh: the soul is safe. You will not kill what you do not see; visible, you terrify the visible. We both have an invisible Creator, whom we ought to fear together; who created man himself from the visible and the invisible: he made the visible from earth; he gave life to the invisible with his breath. So the invisible substance, that is, the soul, which raised the earth lying there from the earth, does not fear when you strike the earth. You can strike the dwelling; can you strike the dweller? When the bond is struck, the one bound together flees, and will be crowned in secret. Why, then, do you threaten, you who can do nothing to the soul? By the merit of that to which you can do nothing, that to which you can do something will rise again. For by the merit of the soul the flesh will rise, and will be given back to its dweller, no longer to fall but to remain. See, I speak the words of a martyr: see, I do not fear the one who threatens even on account of my flesh itself. My flesh lies subject to power; but even the hairs of my head are numbered by the Creator. Why should I fear losing my flesh, who do not lose a hair? How will he not care for my flesh, to whom my lowliest things are so known? This very body, which can be struck and killed, will for a time be ash; it will be immortal for ever.” But for whom? To whom will the body be given back for eternal life, even when killed, destroyed, scattered? To whom will it be given back? To the one who did not fear to lay down his life, since he does not fear that his flesh will be killed.

Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:28 (allusion, high confidence) · John 10:17 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: A persecutor is a mortal man threatening a mortal man, and can touch only the body; the martyr, fearing God, does not fear, for the soul is untouched and the body will rise immortal.

God made man from earth and breathed into him: Gen 2:7. The hairs of the head numbered: Matt 10:30. To lay down one’s life: John 10:17–18; 15:13. This section also contains Migne’s chapter 2, paragraph 3: its numbers and heading (“Why the persecutor does not frighten God’s martyr”), left in the text by the digitization, are removed. Numerals after “breath” and “for ever” and before “anima” in the digital text are footnote marks, removed. A heading by Migne (“Man has nothing to fear from man”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s chapter and paragraph numbers and marginal heading left in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): metuendum cst → metuendum est; di. cit → dicit; uirum terrentem → unum terrentem; potcstas → potestas; limet mortem → timet mortem; tenet, tunet; attendat se, et ei cui minatur comparet so. Inveniat in co → terret, timet; attendat se, et ei cui minatur comparet se. Inveniat in eo; altora → altera; Creatorem. CAPUT H. — 5. Dei martyrem cur non terreat persecutor. Dicat ergo → Creatorem. Dicat ergo; qnia lisnco → quia timeo; sævis. anima → sævis: anima; qni hominem ipsum ex visibili ct → qui hominem ipsum ex visibili et; animavitl. → animavit.; cnm percutis → cum percutis; Fu. git → Fugit; resurgeLet → resurget; nec propter I ipsam → nec propter ipsam; nee capillum → nec capillum; carnem lucam, cui sic nota sunt villa → carnem meam, cui sic nota sunt vilia; cinis crit, in æternum immortale erit 1. → cinis erit, in æternum immortale erit.; ctiam → etiam; reddcti:r → reddetur; ponere I animam → ponere animam; nc occidatur → ne occidatur.

Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.2 (PL 38:290; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.4PL 38:290

Etenim, fratres, anima immortalis perhibetur, et est immortalis secundum quemdam modum suum: quia est quædam vita, quæ potest præsentia sua carnem vivificare. Per animam quippe caro vivit. Hæc vita mori non potest: et ideo anima immortalis est. Quare ergo dixi, Secundum suum modum? Audite quare. Quoniam est quædam immortalitas vera, immortalitas quæ est omnimoda incommutabilitas: de qua dicit Apostolus loquens de Deo, Qui solus habet immortalitatem, et lucem habitat inaccessibilem; quem nemo hominum vidit, sed nec videre potest: cui est honor et gloria in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Si ergo Deus solus habet immortalitatem, certe anima mortalis est. Ecce quare dixi immortalem esse animam secundum modum suum. Nam potest et mori. Intelligat Charitas vestra, et nulla quæstio remanebit. Audeo dicere, anima potest mori, potest occidi. Certe immortalis est. Ecce audeo dicere, et immortalis est, et potest occidi: et ideo dixi quoniam est quædam immortalitas, hoc est, omnimoda incommutabilitas, quam solus Deus habet, de quo dictum est, Qui solus habet immortalitatem. Nam si anima non potest occidi, quomodo dixit ipse Dominus cum terreret nos, Eum timete, qui potestatem habet et corpus et animam occidere in gehenna?

For, brothers, the soul is said to be immortal, and it is immortal according to a certain manner of its own: because it is a kind of life that can give life to the flesh by its presence. For it is through the soul that the flesh lives. This life cannot die; and so the soul is immortal. Why, then, did I say, “according to its own manner”? Hear why. Because there is a certain true immortality, an immortality which is complete unchangeableness; of which the Apostle speaks, speaking of God: “Who alone has immortality, and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” If, then, God alone has immortality, surely the soul is mortal. See why I said the soul is immortal according to its own manner. For it can also die. Let your Charity understand, and no question will remain. I dare to say: the soul can die, can be killed. Certainly it is immortal. See, I dare to say both that it is immortal and that it can be killed; and that is why I said that there is a certain immortality, that is, complete unchangeableness, which God alone has, of whom it is said, “Who alone has immortality.” For if the soul cannot be killed, how did the Lord himself say, when he was frightening us, “Fear him who has power to kill both body and soul in Gehenna”?

1 Tim 6:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:28 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul is immortal in its own way, since it gives life to the body and never ceases to live; but only God has true immortality, unchangeableness, and the soul can be killed, as Christ says.

“Who alone has immortality …”: 1 Tim 6:16. “Fear him who has power …”: Matt 10:28. A heading by Migne (“The soul immortal in its own manner”) was removed by the importer. There is no section 3 in the staged text; Migne’s paragraph 3 is in section 2. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): perhibctur, et cst → perhibetur, et est; ct idco → et ideo; Qunre → Quare; Quoniam cst → Quoniam est; ridere potest → videre potest; habci immortalitatem → habet immortalitatem; rema- Debit → remanebit; potestoccidi → potest occidi; incommutahilitas → incommutabilitas; dicturn → dictum; auima → anima; cor. pus → corpus.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.4 (PL 38:290; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.5PL 38:290–291

Adhuc confirmavi, non solvi quæstionem. Probavi quia potest anima occidi. Contradici Evangelio non potest, nisi ab anima impia. Ecce mihi occurrit et hic, et venit in mentem quod dicam. Contradici non potest vitæ, nisi ab anima mortua. Evangelium vita est, impietas et infidelitas mors animae est. Ecce potest mori, et immortalis est. Quomodo ergo immortalis est? Quia semper aliqua vita est, quæ in illa nunquam exstinguitur. Quomodo moritur? Non ut non sit vita, sed amittendo vitam. Etenim anima et vita est alicui rei, et habet etiam ipsa vitam suam. Ordinem attende creaturarum. Vita corporis anima est: vita animæ Deus est. Sicut adest vita corpori, id est, anima, ne moriatur corpus: sic debet adesse vita animae, hoc est, Deus, ne moriatur anima. Corpus quomodo moritur? Anima deserente. Anima, inquam, deserente moritur corpus: et jacet cadaver paulo ante appetibile, modo aspernabile. Insunt membra, oculi, aures: sed hæ fenestræ sunt domus, habitator abscessit. Qui plangit mortuum, ad fenestras habitaculi frustra clamat: non est intus qui audiat. Quanta dicit plangentis affectus, quanta enumerat, quanta commemorat; et per quantam, ut ita dixerim, doloris insaniam quasi cum sentiente loquitur, cum loquatur cum absente? Enumerat mores, enumerat indicia benevolentiæ circa se. Tu es qui mihi illud dedisti; illud et illud præstitisti: tu es qui sic et sic me dilexisti. Si attendas, si intelligas, si insaniam doloris premas, qui te dilexit abscessit: frustra te domus patitur pulsatorem, in qua non potes invenire mansorem.

So far I have confirmed the question, not solved it. I have proved that the soul can be killed. The Gospel cannot be contradicted except by an ungodly soul. See, here something occurs to me and comes to mind to say: life cannot be contradicted except by a dead soul. The Gospel is life; ungodliness and unbelief are the death of the soul. See, it can die, and it is immortal. How, then, is it immortal? Because there is always some life in it which is never extinguished. How does it die? Not by ceasing to be life, but by losing its life. For the soul is both life to something and has its own life too. Notice the order of creatures. The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God. As life, that is, the soul, is present to the body so that the body does not die, so life, that is, God, ought to be present to the soul so that the soul does not die. How does the body die? When the soul leaves it. When the soul leaves, I say, the body dies; and the corpse lies there, a little before desirable, now repulsive. The members are there, the eyes, the ears; but these are windows of the house; the dweller has gone. Whoever mourns the dead cries in vain at the windows of the dwelling: there is no one inside to hear. How much the mourner’s affection says, how much it lists, how much it recalls; and with what madness of grief, so to speak, it talks as if with one who perceives, when it talks with one who is absent! It recounts his ways, recounts the signs of his kindness toward him: “It was you who gave me that; you granted me this and that; it was you who loved me so and so.” If you consider, if you understand, if you check the madness of grief: the one who loved you has gone; in vain the house puts up with your knocking, in which you cannot find a dweller.

Notes and citation

Summary: As the body dies when the soul leaves it, the soul dies when God, its life, leaves it; mourners speak in vain to a corpse whose dweller has gone.

A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“God the life of the soul”) is removed; another (“How the soul can die”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip; OCR slip in the digital text): Vita animæ, Dcus. Adhuc confirmavi, non solvi qnæstionem. → Adhuc confirmavi, non solvi quæstionem.; Evangello → Evangelio; Contradidi non potest → Contradici non potest; exstinguilur → exstinguitur; cadavcr → cadaver; aores: sed hae fenestra → aures: sed hæ fenestræ; Irenestras → fenestras; cst intus → est intus; dixcrim → dixerim; illud ct illud → illud et illud; qui tc dilcxil → qui te dilexit.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.5 (PL 38:290–291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.6PL 38:291

Redeamus ad causam quam paulo ante dicebam. Mortuum est corpus. Quare? Qnia discessit vita ejus, hoc est, anima. Vivit corpus, et impius est, infidelis est, ad credendum durus, ad corrigendos mores ferreus: vivente corpore mortua est anima, per quam corpus vivit. Tanta enim res est anima, ut idonea sit vitam præstare corpori etiam mortua. Tanta, inquam, res est anima, tam excellens creatura, ut idonea sit etiam mortua carnem vivificare. Nam ipsa anima impii, anima infidelis, anima perversi, duri, mortua est: et tamen per ipsam mortuam vivit corpus. Ideo ibi est: movet ad operandum manus, ad ambulandum pedes, ad videndum intendit obtutum, ad audiendum auribus inclinatur; sapores dijudicat, dolores refugit, appetit voluptates. Omnia hæc corporis viventis indicia, sed ex animæ præsentia. Interrogo corpus, an vivat. Respondet mihi: Vides ambulantem, vides operantem, audis loquentem, cernis appetentem et fugientem, et non intelligis corpus vivere? Per hæc opera animæ intus constitutæ, intelligo corpus vivere. Et interrogo ipsam animam, an vivat. Habet et ipsa opera sua, per quæ ostendat vitam suam. Pedes ambulant, intelligo corpus vivere, sed animæ praesentia. Quæro, utrum vivat anima. Pedes isti ambulant. Ecce de uno motu. De vita interrogo corpus et animam. Ambulant pedes, intelligo corpus vivere. Sed quo ambulant? Ad adulterium, inquit. Ergo mortua est anima. Sic enim veracissima Scriptura dixit: Mortua est vidua quæ in deliciis vivit. Cum multum intersit inter delicias et adulterium, quomodo potest anima, quæ in deliciis mortua dicitur, in adulterio vivere? Mortua est. Sed nec sic quidem agens mortua est. Loquentem audio, vivit corpus. Non enim lingua in ore moveretur, et percuteret quibusque locis articulares sonos, nisi intus habitator esset; et quasi ad hoc organum musicus, qui lingua sua uteretur. Prorsus intelligo. Hoc modo corpus loquitur, corpus vivit. Sed interrogo utrum et anima vivat. Ecce loquitur corpus, vivit. Quid loquitur? Quomodo dicebam de pedibus, Ambulant, ecce vivit corpus; et quærebam, Quo ambulant? ut intelligerem utrum et anima viveret: sic etiam cum audio loquentem, intelligo quia corpus vivit; quæro quid loquatur, utrum et anima vivat. Mendacium loquitur. Si mendacium loquitur, ergo mortua est. Unde hoc probamus? Ipsam veritatem interrogemus, quæ ait: Os quod mentitur, occidit animam. Quæro, Quare mortua est anima? Quod paulo ante dicebam, quæro, Quare mortuum est corpus? Qnia discessit vita ejus anima. Quare mortua est anima? Qnia deseruit eam vita ejus Deus.

Let us return to the matter I was speaking of a little earlier. The body is dead. Why? Because its life has departed, that is, the soul. The body lives, and the man is ungodly, unbelieving, hard to believe, iron against amending his ways: while the body lives, the soul is dead, through which the body lives. For the soul is so great a thing that it is able to give life to the body even when dead. So great a thing, I say, is the soul, so excellent a creature, that it is able even when dead to give life to the flesh. For the soul of the ungodly man, of the unbeliever, of the perverse, of the hard, is dead; and yet through it, dead as it is, the body lives. That is why it is there: it moves the hands to work, the feet to walk; it directs the gaze to see, it bends to the ears to hear; it judges tastes, shrinks from pains, seeks pleasures. All these are signs of a living body, but from the soul’s presence. I ask the body whether it lives. It answers me: “You see me walking, you see me working, you hear me speaking, you see me seeking and shunning, and you do not understand that the body is alive?” By these works of the soul set within, I understand that the body lives. And I ask the soul itself whether it lives. It too has its own works by which to show its life. The feet walk: I understand the body lives, but by the soul’s presence. I ask whether the soul lives. These feet walk. See, about one movement. I question the body and the soul about life. The feet walk: I understand the body lives. But where do they walk? “To adultery,” he says. Then the soul is dead. For so the most truthful Scripture said: “The widow who lives in pleasures is dead.” Since there is a great difference between pleasures and adultery, how can a soul that is said to be dead in pleasures live in adultery? It is dead. But even without acting so it is dead. I hear someone speaking: the body lives. For the tongue would not move in the mouth and strike out articulate sounds in their places unless a dweller were within, and like a musician at this instrument, using his tongue. I understand completely. In this way the body speaks; the body lives. But I ask whether the soul lives too. See, the body speaks, it lives. What does it speak? As I said of the feet, “They walk, see, the body lives,” and I asked, “Where do they walk?”, so as to understand whether the soul too lived: so also, when I hear someone speaking, I understand that the body lives; I ask what it speaks, whether the soul too lives. It speaks a lie. If it speaks a lie, then it is dead. How do we prove this? Let us ask the Truth itself, which says: “The mouth that lies kills the soul.” I ask, why is the soul dead? As I said a little earlier, I ask, why is the body dead? Because its life, the soul, has departed. Why is the soul dead? Because its life, God, has abandoned it.

1 Tim 5:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: A living body may carry a dead soul: the feet that walk to adultery and the tongue that lies show that the soul is dead, because God, its life, has left it.

“The widow who lives in pleasures is dead”: 1 Tim 5:6. “The mouth that lies kills the soul”: Wis 1:11. The importer had removed the opening sentence (“Let us return to the matter I was speaking of a little earlier”) as a heading; it is Augustine’s and has been restored. Another heading by Migne (“By what signs the death of body and of soul is known”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text; OCR slip; Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text removed; restored text removed as a heading): Mortuum est corpus. Quare? Qnia discessit → Redeamus ad causam quam paulo ante dicebam. Mortuum est corpus. Quare? Qnia discessit; v ita cjus → vita ejus; ct impius → et impius; morlua est → mortua est; eniin res → enim res; crcatura, ut idonca → creatura, ut idonea; inlidclis → infidelis; lameD → tamen; Idco ibi cst → Ideo ibi est; vo!uptales → voluptates; Respondei mihi:: → Respondet mihi:; viverc? → vivere?; hac opera → hæc opera; interrogo. ipsam → interrogo ipsam; Habet ct ipsa → Habet et ipsa; Pcdes → Pedes; Dc vita interrogo corpus cl animam → De vita interrogo corpus et animam; vivcre → vivere; quos in dtliciis vivii (I Tim. V, (â). → quæ in deliciis vivit.; Mortna ost → Mortua est; Non cnim → Non enim; lloc modo → Hoc modo; interrogo. utrum ct → interrogo utrum et; pedihus → pedibus; qu:rro → quæro; boc probamus → hoc probamus; interrogernus → interrogemus; qnod mentitur → quod mentitur; Quæro, Quare mortua cst anima? Quod → Quæro, Quare mortua est anima? Quod; anima. Quare mortua cst anima? Qnia → anima. Quare mortua est anima? Qnia; cjus Deus → ejus Deus.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:11 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Ethics, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.6 (PL 38:291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.7PL 38:291

Breviter ergo his cognitis, scitote certumque tenete, corpus mortuum esse sine anima: animam mortuam esse sine Deo. Omnis homo sine Deo mortuam habet animam. Plangis mortuum: plange peccatorem magis, plange impium, plange infidelem. Scriptum est: Luctus mortui, septem dies; fatui autem et impii, omnes dies vitæ illorum. An vero non in te sunt viscera miserationis christianæ, ut plangis corpus a quo recessit anima, et non plangas animam a qua recessit Deus? Hoc tenens martyr respondeat comminatori: Quid me cogis, ut negem Christum? Cogis ergo ut negem veritatem? Si noluero, quid facis? Percutis corpus meum, ut recedat inde anima mea: sed ipsa anima mea ad se habet corpus. Non est imprudens, non est insipiens. Tu vis ferire corpus meum: vis ut, cum timeo ne ferias corpus meum, et recedat inde anima mea, ego feriam animam meam, et recedat inde Deus meus? Non ergo timeas, martyr, gladium percussoris: linguam tuam time, ne tu te percutias, et occidas non carnem, sed animam. Animam time, ne moriatur in gehenna ignis.

Having learned these things briefly, then, know and hold for certain that the body is dead without the soul, the soul dead without God. Every man without God has a dead soul. You mourn the dead: mourn the sinner more, mourn the ungodly, mourn the unbeliever. It is written: “Mourning for the dead, seven days; but for the fool and the ungodly, all the days of their life.” Are there not in you the bowels of Christian compassion, so that you mourn a body from which the soul has departed and do not mourn a soul from which God has departed? Holding to this, let the martyr answer the one who threatens: “Why do you force me to deny Christ? Do you, then, force me to deny the truth? If I refuse, what do you do? You strike my body so that my soul may depart from it; but my soul itself has its body for itself. It is not imprudent; it is not foolish. You want to strike my body: do you want that, while I fear that you may strike my body and my soul depart from it, I should strike my soul and my God depart from it?” So do not fear, martyr, the executioner’s sword: fear your own tongue, lest you strike yourself and kill not your flesh but your soul. Fear for your soul, lest it die in the Gehenna of fire.

Col 3:12 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 10:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:33 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The death of the soul is to be mourned more than that of the body; the martyr should fear not the sword but his own tongue, lest by denying Christ he kill his soul.

“Mourning for the dead, seven days …”: Sir 22:12 (Vulgate 22:13). Bowels of compassion: Col 3:12. The numeral after “dead soul” in the digital text is a footnote mark, removed. The phrase “my soul itself has its body for itself” renders the Latin as printed (ad se habet corpus); its sense is uncertain. A heading by Migne (“The death of the soul to be mourned and feared more than the death of the body”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): cogni lis → cognitis; sine Dco. → sine Deo.; sinc Deo normam habet animam 1. → sine Deo mortuam habet animam.; płange → plange; Scriptum cst → Scriptum est; ( Eccli. xXII, 13) → ; HOn in te → non in te; plang is → plangis; rccessit → recessit; vcriiatem → veritatem; fscis → facis; tis ut, cuin timeo nc fcrias → vis ut, cum timeo ne ferias; mcam, et recedat indc Deus Incus? Non crgo timcas → meam, et recedat inde Deus meus? Non ergo timeas; perentias → percutias.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 22:12 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.7 (PL 38:291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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65.8PL 38:291

Inde ergo Dominus, Qui habet potestatem et corpus et animam occidere in gehenna ignis. Quomodo? quando mittetur in gehennam impius, ardebit ibi corpus, ibi anima? Mors corporis, sempiterna pœna: mors animæ, Dei absentia. Vis nosse quæ sit mors animæ? Intellige prophetam dicentem, Tollatur impius, ut non videat claritatem Domini. Timeat ergo anima mortem suam, et non timeat mortem corporis sui. Quia si timuerit mortem suam, et vixerit in Deo suo, non eum offendendo et a se repellendo, merebitur in fine recipere corpus suum; non ad poenam æternam, sicut impii; sed ad vitam aeternam, sicut justi. Illam mortem timentes, et illam vitam martyres diligentes, promissa Dei exspectantes, minas persecutorum contemnentes, et ipsi apud Deum coronari meruerunt, et nobis celebranda illa solemnia reliquerunt.

Hence, then, the Lord says, “Who has power to kill both body and soul in the Gehenna of fire.” How? When the ungodly is sent into Gehenna, will the body burn there, and the soul there? The death of the body is everlasting punishment; the death of the soul is the absence of God. Do you want to know what the death of the soul is? Understand the prophet saying: “Let the ungodly be taken away, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord.” So let the soul fear its own death, and not fear the death of its body. For if it fears its own death and lives in its God, not offending him and driving him away from itself, it will deserve at the end to receive back its body: not for eternal punishment, like the ungodly, but for eternal life, like the just. Fearing that death and loving that life, waiting for God’s promises and despising the threats of persecutors, the martyrs both deserved to be crowned with God and left us those festivals to celebrate.

Matt 10:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 26:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In Gehenna the body suffers everlasting punishment and the soul the absence of God; the soul should fear its own death, and the martyrs, fearing it, won their crowns.

“Who has power to kill both body and soul …”: Matt 10:28. “Let the ungodly be taken away …”: Isa 26:10, in the Old Latin from the Septuagint. A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“What the eternal death of body and soul is”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text; OCR slip; Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text removed): Corporis et animæ mors æterna, quæ sit. Inde ergo → Inde ergo; aniina → anima; dice*ntem, TollaMur impius, ut non νιdeat claritatem Domini (Isa. XXVI, 10 j. → dicentem, Tollatur impius, ut non videat claritatem Domini.; timcat → timeat; non cum offendendo → non eum offendendo; martyrcs → martyres; Dci exspectantes → Dei exspectantes.

Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 65.8 (PL 38:291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-65-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Chapter 66

66.1PL 38:291–292

Lectio sancti Evangelii quæstionem nobis proposuit de Joanne Baptista. Adjuvet nos Dominus ut solvamus eam vobis, quomodo eam solvit nohis. Joannes Clnisli testimonio laudatus est, ut audistis; et sic laudatus, ut in natis mulierum non surrexisset major. Scd major illo crat natus ex Virgine. Quantum major? Ipse præco dicat, quantum intersit inter se et judiccm suum, cujus præco est. Antecessit enirn Christum Joannes, et nascendo, et prædicando: sed antecessit obsequendo, non sc præferendo. Nam ct Officium totum ante judicem ambulat; et qui ambulant priores, ipsi sunt posteriores. Quantum crgo testiinonium pcriiibuit Joannes Christo? Ita ut dicerct non se dignum essc, qui solveret corrigiam calceamenti ejus. Adhuc quid? Nos, inquit, de plénitudine ejus accepimus. Lucernam se confessus est de illo accensam, et idco ad pedes ejus confugit, ne ad alta petens vento superbiæ extingueretur. Tam quippe magnus erat, ut Christus putaretur: et si non ipse testis suus esset quia non erat ipse, remaneret error, et putaretur ipse. Qualis humilis? Deferebatur illi honor a populo, et ipse respucbat. Errabant homines in ejus magnitudine, et ipse se humiliabat. Nolcbat crescere bominum,'cluis, quia comprehenderat Dei Verbum.

The reading of the holy Gospel has set before us a question about John the Baptist. May the Lord help us to resolve it for you, as he has resolved it for us. John was praised by Christ’s testimony, as you have heard; and praised in such a way that among those born of women none had arisen greater. But he who was born of the Virgin was greater than he. How much greater? Let the herald himself say how great the difference is between himself and his judge, whose herald he is. For John went before Christ both in being born and in preaching; but he went before him by serving, not by setting himself above him. For the whole retinue of officials walks before the judge; and those who walk in front are the ones who rank behind. How great a testimony, then, did John bear to Christ? So great that he said he was not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal. What more? “We,” he said, “have received from his fullness.” He confessed himself a lamp lit from him, and so he took refuge at his feet, lest by reaching for the heights he should be blown out by the wind of pride. For he was so great that he was thought to be the Christ; and if he himself had not borne witness that he was not, the error would have remained and he would have been thought to be the Christ. How humble was he? Honor was offered him by the people, and he refused it. People went astray over his greatness, and he humbled himself. He did not want to grow great by the words of men, because he had grasped the Word of God.

Matt 11:11 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:27 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:35 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:20 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: John the Baptist, though greater than any born of women, humbly confessed that Christ was far greater than he.

The last sentence is garbled in the digital text (“bominum,'cluis”); “by the words of men” is translated by sense, in contrast with “the Word of God.” Quotations: Matt 11:11; John 1:27; John 1:16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ut Christus puUiretur → ut Christus putaretur.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 66.1 (PL 38:291–292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-66-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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66.2PL 38:292

Ergo hoc Joannes de Christo: Christus de Joanne quid? Modo audivimus: Coepit dicere ad turbas de Joanne: Quid existis in desertum videre? arundinem vento moveri? tiique non; quia Joannes non circumflabatur omni vento doctrinae. Sed quid existis νιdere? hominem mollibus vestitum? Non; quia Joannes aspera erat veste vestitus: habebat enim vestem de pilis camelorum, non de plumis. Sed quid existis videre? prophetam? Ita: et major quam propheta. Quare major quam propheta? Venturum Dominum prænuntiaverunt, quem vidcre desideraverunt, ct non viderunt: unic autem præstitum csl quod illi quæsierunt. Vidit Dominum Joannes, vidit; digitum in cum intendit, et sit, Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi: ecce est. Jam venerat, et non agnoscebatur: et ideo etin ipso Joanne crrabalur. Ecce est bic quem desideraverunt vidcre Patriarchæ, quem prænuntiaverunt Prophetæ, qucm praesignavit Lcx. Ecce Agnus Døi, ecce qui tollit peccala mundi. Et ille bonum testimonium perhibuit Domino, et Dominus ilii: In natis mulierum, induit Dominus, nemo surrexit major Joanne Baptista: qui autem minor est in regno cœlorum, major cat illo; minor tempore, major majestate. Se ipsum volens intelligi boc dixit. Valde inter homines Joannes csl magnus, quo solus inter homines major est Christus. Potest et sic distingui et solvi: In natis mulierum non surrexii major Joanne Baptista: qui autem minor est in regno coelorum, major tat illo. Non sic quomodo paulo ante dixi. Qui autem minor est in regno cOnorum, major est: regnum cœlorum dixit, ubi Angeli sunt; qui ergo inter Angelos minor est, Joanne major est. Commendavit regnum quod dcsideremus: proposuit civitatem, cujus civcs esse cupiamus. Quales ibi cives? quam magni cives! Quisquis ibi minor cst, Joanne major cst. Quo Joanne? Quo nemo major surrexit in natis mulierum.

This, then, is what John said of Christ. What did Christ say of John? We have just heard: he began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Surely not, for John was not blown about by every wind of doctrine. “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments?” No, for John was clothed in a rough garment: he had clothing of camel’s hair, not of down. “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, and more than a prophet.” Why more than a prophet? The prophets foretold the Lord who was to come, whom they longed to see and did not see; but to him was granted what they sought. John saw the Lord, he saw him; he pointed his finger at him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world”: behold, here he is. He had already come, and he was not recognized; and so people were mistaken even about John himself. Behold, here is he whom the patriarchs longed to see, whom the prophets foretold, whom the law prefigured. “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” And he bore good testimony to the Lord, and the Lord to him: “Among those born of women,” said the Lord, “none has arisen greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”: less in time, greater in majesty. He said this meaning himself to be understood. John is very great among men, he than whom, among men, Christ alone is greater. It can also be divided and resolved in another way: “Among those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”: not in the way I said a little before. “But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”: by the kingdom of heaven he meant the place where the angels are; whoever, then, is least among the angels is greater than John. He commended to us a kingdom to desire; he set before us a city whose citizens we should long to be. What kind of citizens are there? How great the citizens are! Whoever is least there is greater than John. Than which John? Than him than whom none greater has arisen among those born of women.

Matt 11:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:29 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ’s testimony to John is explained in two ways: Christ, less in time, is greater in majesty, or the least of the angels is greater than John.

Quotations: Matt 11:7–11; John 1:29. “Blown about by every wind of doctrine” echoes Eph 4:14.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip (word divided at a line end and misread)): paulo ante di- XI. Qui → paulo ante dixi. Qui.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 66.2 (PL 38:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-66-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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66.3PL 38:292–293

Audiviinus vcrum ct bonum testimonium et Joannis de Christo, et Christi de Joanne. Quid sibi ergo vult, quod misit ad cum discipulos suos Joannes, cum inclusus esset in carcere jam occidendus, ct ait discipulis suis: Ite, dicite illi: Tu cs qui venturus es, an alium exspectamus? Ipsa est tota laudatio? Illa laudatio facta est dubitatio? Quid dicis, Joannes? cui dicis? quid dicis? Judici dicis, præco dicis. Tu digitum intendisti, tu cum ostcudisti: tu dixisti, Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Tu dixisti, Nos omnes de plenitudine ejus accepimus: tu dixisti, Non sum dignus corrigiam calceamenti ejus solνere. Et modo tu dicis, Tu cs qui venis, an alium exspectamus? Ille ipsc non est? Tu quis es? Nonne tu cs præcursor ipsius? Nonne tu es de quo prædictum est, Ecce mitto Angelum meum ante faciem tuam, et præ. parabit νιam tuam? Quomodo viam præparas, ct tu erras? Venerunt crgo discipuli Joannis: et Dominus ad illos, Ite, dicite Joanni: Cæci vident, surdi audiunt, claudi ambulant, leprosi mundantur, pauperes eνangelizantur: et beatus qui in me non fuerit scandalizalus. Nolite suspicari Joannem scandalizatum esse in Christo. Et tamen verba quasi sic sonant: Tu es qui νenis? Opera interroga: Cœci vident, surdi audiunt, claudi ambulant, leprosi mundantur, mortui resurgunt, pauperes evangelizantur: ct quæris an coo sum? Opera, inquit, mea, verba mea sunt. Ite, renuntiate. Illis autem abeuntibus. Ne forte aliquis dicat, Bonus erat primo Joannes, et Spiritus Dei deseruit illum: idco ista dixit post eorum discessum; post discessum ipsorum quos miserat Joannes, Christus laudavit Joannem. Quid sibi ergo vult obscura quæstio? Luceat sol, unde illa lucerna accensa est. Prorsus ita solutio evidens solutio est. Joannes seorsum habebat discipulos: non separatus, sed testis paratus. Oportebat enim ut talis perhiberet testimonium Christo, quiet ipse discipulos colligcbal, qui ei poterat invidere, si non possit videre. Ergo quia pro magno habebant discipuli Joannis, magistrum suuin Joannem; audiebant a Joanne testimonium de Christo, et mirabantur: moriturus, ab illo eos voluit confirmari. Siue dubio enim illi dicebant apud sc ipsos: Iste de illo tanta dicit, ipse de sc ista non dicit. Ite, dicite illi: non quia ego dubito, sed ut vos instruamini. Ite, dicite illi: quod ego soleo dicere, ab ipso audite; audistis præconem, confirmamini a judice. Ite, dicite illi: Tu es qui venis, an alium exspectamus? lerunt, et dixerunt; propter se, non propter Joannem. Et propter illos dixit Christus, Cæci vident, claudi ambulant, surdi audiunt, leprosi mundantur, mortui resurgunt, pauperes evangelizantur. Videtis me, agnoscite me: videtis facta, factorem agnoscite. Et beatus qni in me non fuerit scandulizatus. Sed de vobis dico, nOD de Joanne. Nam ut sciremus quia non de Joanne dixit: Illis abeuntibus cæpit dicere ad turbas de Joanse: diiit laudes ejus veras verax, veritas.

We have heard the true and good testimony both of John about Christ and of Christ about John. What then does it mean that John, when he was shut up in prison and about to be put to death, sent his disciples to him and said to his disciples: “Go, say to him: Are you the one who is to come, or do we look for another?” Is that the whole of his praise? Has that praise become doubt? What are you saying, John? To whom are you saying it? What are you saying? You speak to the Judge, you, the herald. You pointed your finger, you showed him; you said, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” You said, “We have all received from his fullness”; you said, “I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” And now you say, “Are you the one who comes, or do we look for another?” Is he not the very one? Who are you? Are you not his forerunner? Are you not the one of whom it was foretold, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, and he will prepare your way”? How do you prepare the way, and yourself go astray? So John’s disciples came; and the Lord said to them, “Go, tell John: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the poor have the gospel preached to them; and blessed is he who is not offended in me.” Do not suspect that John was offended in Christ. And yet the words do sound that way: “Are you the one who comes?” Ask the works: “The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them”; and you ask whether it is I? My works, he says, are my words. “Go, report back.” “And as they were going away”: lest anyone should say, “John was good at first, and the Spirit of God deserted him; that is why he said these things,” it was after their departure, after the departure of those whom John had sent, that Christ praised John. What then does this obscure question mean? Let the sun shine, from which that lamp was lit. Then the solution is plainly a solution. John had disciples of his own: not separated from Christ, but a witness made ready. For it was fitting that one who was himself also gathering disciples should bear such testimony to Christ, one who could have envied him if he had not been able to see him. So, because John’s disciples held their master John in high regard, they heard John’s testimony about Christ and marveled; and as he was about to die, he wanted them to be confirmed by Christ. For no doubt they were saying among themselves: “This man says such great things about him, and says no such things about himself.” “Go, say to him”: not because I doubt, but that you may be instructed. “Go, say to him”: what I am accustomed to say, hear from him; you have heard the herald, be confirmed by the judge. “Go, say to him: Are you the one who comes, or do we look for another?” They went and said it, for their own sake, not for John’s. And for their sake Christ said, “The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” You see me: recognize me; you see the deeds: recognize the doer. “And blessed is he who is not offended in me.” But I say this of you, not of John. For, that we might know he did not say it of John: “As they were going away, he began to speak to the crowds about John”: he, the truthful one, the Truth, spoke true praises of him.

Matt 11:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:7 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:29 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Mal 3:1 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: John did not doubt Christ; he sent his disciples so that they might be confirmed by Christ himself.

The text from “What then does this obscure question mean?” is Migne’s paragraph 4, whose number and marginal heading had run into the text in the digital edition (removed by a logged correction); hence the jump to 66.5. Quotations: Matt 11:3–7; John 1:29, 16, 27; Mal 3:1 as cited in Matt 11:10.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's paragraph number (misread as 'A.') and marginal heading left in the text): Joannem. A. Solvitur difficultas. Quid → Joannem. Quid.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 66.3 (PL 38:292–293; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-66-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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66.5PL 38:293

Puto satis istam solutam esse quæstionem. Sufficiat ergo usque ad ejus solotioncm perduxisse sermonem. In mente habete paupercs: facite qui nondum fecistis: credite, non perditis; imo hoc soluin perditis, quod non fertis ad quadiigam. Jam reddendum est pauperibus quod obtulistis, qui obtulistis: et moltum minus habemus ad summam quam soletis offerre: excutite pigritiam. Ego factus sum mendicus mendicorum: quid ad me? Ego sim mendicus mendicorum, ut vos numeremini in numero filiorum.

I think this question has been sufficiently resolved. Let it suffice, then, to have brought the sermon as far as its solution. Keep the poor in mind: you who have not yet done so, do it; believe that you do not lose it; rather, the only thing you lose is what you do not bring to the chariot races. Now what has been offered by those of you who have offered must be paid out to the poor; and we have much less in the total than you usually offer: shake off your sloth. I have become a beggar for beggars: what is that to me? Let me be a beggar for beggars, so that you may be counted among the number of sons.

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine closes by urging his hearers to give generously for the poor.

The opening sentence had been removed from the digital text as a marginal heading and is restored. “Ad quadrigam” (to the four-horse chariot, that is, the races) is the reading of the text; the point of the clause (perhaps ironic) is uncertain.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (restored text removed as a heading): Sufficiat ergo usque → Puto satis istam solutam esse quæstionem. Sufficiat ergo usque.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 66.5 (PL 38:293; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/63-1/#p-66-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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