Epigrams on Sentences of Augustine 97–105

[Sentence] "All things were made through the Word, and without him nothing was made." Since, then, the natures of the universe were made through the Word of God, iniquity was not made through him; for iniquity is no substance, and sin is not a nature but a vice of nature, desiring what is not of its own order.

[Epigram] Through the Word the one almighty God founded all things, and by him no nature of evil was created. And what the rich wisdom of the Word did not make has no place in the founding of things. So vices have no substance, and no life that would quicken a body and its matter. But when freedom departs from right order, and good things do not keep their proper measure, there is in guilt and vice a wandering motion toward contraries, and evil consists in having deserted the true way. If anyone hastens to return to it with his whole heart, there will be no error from the boundary he neglected, and the whole penalty of the sin blotted out will perish, as God restores what he created to wholeness.

[Epigram 98: On petitions contrary to God]

[Sentence] When something is wrongly asked of God, he is angry in giving it, and merciful in not giving it.

[Epigram] When God does not grant the prayers of the wicked, he grants much by denying what would harm. He does not want those who err in their wishes to sin in deed: in anger he would allow what in kindness he forbids. Let the suppliant learn to rejoice in a happy refusal, and begin to drive from his mind what he wanted; and let him know that God was sparing him when, about to fall, he deserved not to be heard, so that he would not fall.

[Sentence] In no way are the judgments of God to be compared with the judgments of men; we must not doubt that he is just, even when he does what seems unjust to men.

[Epigram] Human judgment, which must often be deceived, does not always keep the rule of justice. But the Lord's power is fair and true in all things, and nothing remote is hidden from his sight. Let such a judge be praised, feared, and loved, who remains truly just and good: calling back the hostile, forgiving all to the converted, and making the wicked good by giving them pardon. So let not a mind that does not know the truth boldly blame what has pleased the will of the highest judge; but let ignorance submit itself to the just King, who can never will what is not good.

[Sentence] To no angry man does his anger seem unjust; so from all indignation one must quickly return to the gentleness of meekness. For a persistent emotion easily passes into hatred of the one who is not quickly forgiven.

[Epigram] No one fails to judge the motions of his own mind fair, and whatever men want, they think they want rightly. So the mind must be called back from anger by a quick peace, lest time give strength to savage hatreds. Let sparing hearts forgive offenses against themselves, for there is no one who does not need pardon; mindful of ourselves amid the vanities of the world, in every cause we both give it and ask for it in turn.

[Epigram] Tiller of justice and lover of divine peace, whom the blessed life calls to the highest good, strive steadily to climb the paths on the right, scorning the harmful plains of the left-hand road. It is safer to endure the hard labors of the world and suffer the savage battles of the hostile enemy than to submit the conquered mind to flattering favors and put the captive neck under the servile yoke. In this setting time the enjoyment of honor is not long, and false joys flow away in a swift fall. So the wise man will look to the end of his own life, and see where the way on which he runs is carrying him. For those entangled in the world have their part with the prince of the world; but for the servants of Christ, Christ will be their glory.

[Epigram 102: On chastising the desires of the flesh]

Amid the bodily senses and the dying limbs the soul suffers much from its lodging in the flesh, which, seeking what is contrary to the life by which it lives, wants to undo the law of the mind by its own law. But let the prudent ruler learn from the command of the eternal King to bridle the rebellious handmaid, and, receiving true light from the light above, let it drive the night of sin from the dwelling of the heart. For since God made all things good, and the very region of our exile is fair in its own beauty, hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are glad to be offered what pleases them on every side; and the use of this present time becomes harmful to man if lower things bind him, captive, with their charms. So, wise mind, strive up to the citadels above, and grow used to being made blessed by the highest goods. Conceive already now the delights of the promised kingdom; hold fast by virtue and faith what you desire to be. And do not think you run in vain toward an uncertain hope: look in Christ at the firstfruits of your own nature. If you do not doubt that you have been taken up by him, you will always be a whole man in the body of the head; only be willing to keep the commands at the nod of the teacher, who forestalls with his help what he says with his word.

[Epigram 103: On the height of faith, hope, and love]

In the Godhead there are no degrees, measures, or times, and what is the same has no greater and less. Let bodily masses and shapes withdraw far off: the highest power is without bounds and spaces. What the Father is, that at once is the Word of the Father, and that the Spirit of both. Here is one God, and one faith, through which the hope of true goods, not uncertain, climbs the lofty way with fiery love, and, having foretasted the sweetness of the dew from above, rejoices to be fed on the apostles' teaching. You, then, who do not wish to fall into unworthy cares, beware of being entangled in vain and perishing things. Mortal brevity does not require much strength; the use of a short time needs few things. Wishing to be, longing to rejoice, seeking to know hidden things, seek the highest, so that the lowest do not hold you. Delight in God as king; be in heavenly things; and hold fast by love what, believing, you pursue in hope. Let no traces of the first man remain in you, nor let the image of the new man bear the form of the old. Exult, recognizing that you are reborn in the flesh of the Word: if you are part of him, Christ will be your portion. He, lest you choose the evil joys of a damnable world, made himself your way to the promised kingdom.

[Sentence] What the Father does with Christ, Christ does; and what Christ does with the Father, the Father does; nor does the inseparable love, majesty, and power do anything separately, as the Lord himself says, "I and the Father are one."

[Epigram] Since the Father is always in the Word, and the Word in the Father, and the Spirit of the Word and of the Father is one, you must not be in doubt about the three persons, but, as learned faith does, confess one God. The Word begotten from the Father's heart creates and rules all things, and yet there is nothing he does without the Father. For the two have one motion, one reason for willing, equal power, the same spirit, one love.

[Sentence] The Son of God, being God, obtained to have life in himself, as the Father has, not by participation but by being born. For the Father, who is Life, begot Life; and the essence of the one who begets and of the one begotten differs in nothing, since the Son is from the Father in such a way that, being of coeternal equality, they are not indeed one person, but one Godhead.

[Epigram] So God is great, strong of himself, and abides in himself, whose highest and proper being is always to be what he is. For true light shines from true light, so that one who recognizes the Begotten may know the Unbegotten. The Godhead of the three is one; there is one essence for all; the same is the Spirit of the Word and of the Father. No work is separate, no power is unequal; in all there is one beginning, not three.

[Epigram 106: On seeking God with perseverance]

[Sentence] Let none of the faithful, however far he has advanced, say, "It is enough for me." For whoever says it has stopped and stuck fast on the road before the end, as one who will not persevere to the end.

[Epigram] When the pious mind labors, overwhelmed, in the praise of God, rejoice that so great a work overcomes you so well; and know that you have drawn something of the strength from above if what you desire and know is not enough for itself. Seek the good, the good without end, and when you have found it, hold fast: let such longings set no limit to their seeking. For he who believes he now needs no further gift, not wishing to grow, grows lukewarm and loses what he has gained.