Sophia Scriptura

Sermons to the People 107.1–108.7

Augustine of Hippo · Sermons to the People · ca. 391-430 · Hippo Regius · 16 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).

Chapter 107

107.1PL 38:390

Qui Deum timetis, non dubito quin verbum ejus cum timore audiatis, et cum bilaritate faciatis; ut qnod promisit, modo speretis, post accipiatis. Dominum modo audivimus præcipientem nubis, Christum Jesum filium Dei. Præcepit nobis Veritas, quae nec fallit, nec fallitur: audiamus, timeamus, caveamus. Quid ergo præcepit? Dico, inquit, vobis, abstinete ab omni avaritia. Quid est. ab omni avaritia? Quid est, ab omni? Quare addidit, ab omni? Posset enim sic dicere, Cavete ab avaritia. Pertinuit ad eum, ut adderet, ab omni; et diceret, Cavete ab omni avaritia.

You who fear God, I do not doubt that you hear his word with fear and do it with cheerfulness, so that what he has promised you may hope for now and receive later. We have just heard the Lord, Christ Jesus the Son of God, giving us a command. The Truth has commanded us, which neither deceives nor is deceived: let us hear, let us fear, let us take care. What, then, did he command? “I say to you,” he says, “keep yourselves from all greed.” What does “from all greed” mean? What does “all” mean? Why did he add “all”? For he could have said, “Beware of greed.” It mattered to him to add “all,” and to say, “Beware of all greed.”

Luke 12:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine introduces Christ’s command to beware of all greed, asking why he said “all.”

  • The reading is Luke 12:13–21. Quotation: Luke 12:15.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Dieo, inquit, vobis, abstinete ab onmi avaritia. → Dico, inquit, vobis, abstinete ab omni avaritia.; Cavete ab omni avaritit. → Cavete ab omni avaritia..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.1 (PL 38:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-1). (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).

107.2PL 38:390

Quare hoc dixerit, velut occasio ipsa unde natus est sermo, apparet nobis in sancto Evangelio. Interpellavit enim cum quidam contra fratrem suum, qui totum patrimonium abstulerat, et fratri suo partem suam non reddebat. Quam bonam ergo causam habuerit iste interpellator, advertitis. Non enim rapere quærebat alicna, sed sua a parentibus sibi relicta quærebat: ipsa Domino interpellato et judicante poscebat. Habebat iniquum fratrem: sed justum judicem invenerat contra iniquum fratrem. Deberet ergo perdere in tam bona causa istam occasionem? Aut quis diceret fratri ejus, Redde partem suam fratri tuo, si Christus non diceret? Ille judex hoc dicturus erat, quem forte frater ditior et raptor premio corrumpebat? Miser ergo et paternis opibus destitutUs tali ac tanto judice invento accedit, interpellat, rogat, causam suam brevissime exponit. Utquid enim opus erat causam perorare, quando ei liquebatur, qui cor poterat et videre? Domine, inquit, dic fratri meo, ut dividat mecum hæreditatem. Non ei dixit Dominus, Veniat frater tuus. Sed nec misit, ut adesset, aut cum adfuisset, interpellatori dixit, Proba quod dicebas. Petebat dimidiam haereditatem, petebant in terra dimidiam: in cœlo Dominus offerebat totam. Plus Dominus dabat, quam ille postulabat.

Why he said this appears to us in the holy Gospel from the very occasion out of which the saying arose. For a certain man appealed to him against his brother, who had taken the whole inheritance and was not handing over to his brother his share. You see, then, what a good case this petitioner had. For he was not seeking to seize what belonged to others; he was seeking his own, left him by his parents: he was asking for it from the Lord, appealed to as judge. He had an unjust brother, but he had found a just judge against his unjust brother. Should he, then, lose this opportunity in so good a case? Or who would say to his brother, “Give your brother his share,” if Christ did not? Was that other judge going to say it, whom perhaps the richer and grasping brother was bribing? So the wretched man, stripped of his father’s wealth, having found such and so great a judge, approaches, appeals, begs, sets out his case very briefly. For what need was there to plead his case at length, when it was plain to one who could see the heart? “Lord,” he says, “tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” The Lord did not say to him, “Let your brother come.” Nor did he send for him to be present, or, when he was present, say to the petitioner, “Prove what you were saying.” He was asking for half the inheritance; he was asking for half on earth: in heaven the Lord was offering the whole. The Lord was giving more than he was asking.

Luke 12:13 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The occasion of the saying was a man with a just claim asking Christ to make his brother share their inheritance; Christ offered him more, the whole inheritance in heaven.

  • Quotation: Luke 12:13.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Ant quis diceret fratri ejus → Aut quis diceret fratri ejus; Ille jndex hoc dicturus erat → Ille judex hoc dicturus erat; qui cor potemt et videreT Domine, inqoit → qui cor poterat et videre? Domine, inquit; ant cum adfuisset, interpellatori dixit, Proba quod dieebas. Pctebat → aut cum adfuisset, interpellatori dixit, Proba quod dicebas. Petebat.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.2 (PL 38:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-2). (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).

107.3PL 38:390

Dic fratri meo, ut dividat mecum hæreditatem. Causa justa, causa brevis. Sed audiamus et judicantem et docentem. Homo, ait. Homo: qui enim pro magno habes istam hæreditatem, quid es nisi homo? Volebat illum facere aliquid plus quam est homo. Quid plus illum volebat facere, cui volebat avaritiam tollere? Quid eum plus volebat facere? Dico vobis: Ego dixi, dii estis, et filii Altissimi omnes (Psal. LXXXI). Ecce quod eum volebat facere, inter deos numerare qui avaritiam non habet. Homo, quis me constituit divisorem inter vos? Et Paulus apostolus servus ipsius, quando dicebat, Obsecro vos, fratres, ut idipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata, nolebat esse divisor. Denique monuit eos qui ad ipsius nomen currebant, et Christum dividebant: Unusquisque vestrum dicit, Ego sum Pauli, ego Apollo, ego Cephæ. ego Christi. Divisus est Christus? Numquid Paulus pro vobis crucifixus est? aut in nomine Pauli baptizati estis ( I Cor. i, 10-13)? Videte ergo, quam mali sint homines, qui volunt esse divisum, qui noluit esse divisor. Quis me, inquit, constituit divisorem inter vos?

“Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” A just case, a brief case. But let us hear him both judging and teaching. “Man,” he says. Man: for you who hold this inheritance to be a great thing, what are you but a man? He wanted to make him something more than a man. What more did he want to make him, from whom he wanted to take away greed? What more did he want to make him? I tell you: “I have said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” See what he wanted to make him: to number among the gods the one who does not have greed. “Man, who appointed me a divider among you?” And the apostle Paul, his servant, when he said, “I beseech you, brothers, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you,” did not want to be a divider. Then he warned those who were running to his name and dividing Christ: “Each of you says, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” See, then, how bad those people are who want him to be divided who would not be a divider. “Who,” he says, “appointed me a divider among you?”

Luke 12:13–14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:6 (81:6 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:10–13 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ called the petitioner “man” because he wanted to raise him above greed to be among the “gods,” and refused to be a divider, as Paul refused to let Christ be divided by factions.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“Christ’s unwillingness to divide the inheritance, what it teaches. The Donatists censured”) was removed by the importer; “those who want him to be divided” is aimed at the Donatist schism. Quotations: Luke 12:13–14; Ps 82:6 (81:6 Vulg.); 1 Cor 1:10–13.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Homo, ait, llomo: qui enim → Homo, ait. Homo: qui enim; inter deos numernre qui avaritiam non babet Homo, quis me → inter deos numerare qui avaritiam non habet. Homo, quis me; Obsecro noa, fratres, ut idipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in robis schismata → Obsecro vos, fratres, ut idipsum dicatis omnes, et non sint in vobis schismata.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.3 (PL 38:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-3). (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).

107.4PL 38:390–391

Petisti beneficium: audi consilium. Ego dico vobis, cavete ab omni cupiditate. Forte, inquit, tu avarum et cupidum diceres, si quæreret aliena: ego autem dico, cupide et avare non appetas nec tua. Hoc est, ab omni. Cavete, inquit, ab omni avaritia. Magnum pondus. Si forte hoc pondus infirmis imponitur; rogetur ut qui imponit, vires dare dignetur. Non enim leviter habendum est, fratres mei. quando Dominus noster, Redemptor noster, Salvator noster, qui mortuus est pro nobis, qui sanguinem suum pretium dedit, ut redimeret nos, advocatus et judex noster; non est leve, quando dicit, Cavete. Novit ille quantum mali sit: nos non novimus; illi credamus. Cavete, inquit. Quid? undc? Ab omni avaritia. Meum servo, nun alienum tollo. Cavete ab omni avaritia. Non solum avarus est qui rapit aliena; sed et ille avarus est qui cupide servat sua. Sed si sic culpatur qui cupidc servat sua; quomodo damnatur qui rapit aliena? Cavete, inquit, ab omni cupiditate: quia non in abundantia hominis est vita ejus ex his quæ ibi habet. Multa qui rccondit, quantum inde tollit ut vivat? Cum tulerit inde, et quodam modo cogitatione separaverit quod sufficiat unde vivat, videat caetera cui remaneant: ne forte cum servas unde vivas, colligas unde moriaris. Ecce Christus, ecce veritas, ecce severitas. Cavete, dicit veritas: Cavete, dicit severitas. Si non amas veritalem, time severitatem. Non in abundantia hominis esc vita ejus ex his quæ habet. Crede illi, non te fallit. Contra tu dicis? Imo in abundantia homiuis est vita ejus ex his quæ habet. Ille te non fallit: tu te fallis. Ex hac ergo occasione, quia interpellator ille partem suam quærebat, non alienam invadere cupiebat, nata est ista sententia Domini, ut non diceret, Cavete ab avarilia, sed adderet, ab omni avaritia. Parum fuit: dat alterum exemplum de quodam divite, cui successerat regio. Erat, inquit, homo dives, cui successerat regio. Quid est, successerat? Magnos fructus attulerat regio quam possidebat. Qnain magnos fructus? Ut non inveniret ubi poneret: factus est subito per abundantiam angustus, avarus antiquus. Quot enim anni jam transierant, et tamen horrea illa suffecerant? Tantum ergo natum est, ut loca non sufficerent quæ solebant. Et quaerebat consilium miser, nou quomodo erogaret quod plus natum crat, sed quomodo reservaret: et cogilando invenit consilium. Quasi sapiens sibi visus est, inveniendo consilium. Prudenter cogitavit, sapienter vidit. Quid vidit sapientcr? Destruam, inquit, horrea vetera, et faciam nova ampliora, et implebo ea: et dico animæ meæ. Quid dicis animae tuae? Anima, habes multa bona in annos plurimos reposita, requiesce, manduca, bibe, epulare. Hoc dixit sapiens inventor consilii animæ suae.

You asked for a favor: hear advice. “I say to you, beware of all desire.” Perhaps, he says, you would call someone greedy and covetous if he sought what belongs to others; but I say: do not covet greedily and avariciously even what is yours. That is “all.” “Beware,” he says, “of all greed.” A great weight. If perhaps this weight is laid on the weak, let him who lays it on be asked to deign to give strength. For it is not to be taken lightly, my brothers, when our Lord, our Redeemer, our Savior, who died for us, who gave his blood as the price to redeem us, our advocate and our judge: it is not a light thing when he says, “Beware.” He knows how much evil it is; we do not know: let us believe him. “Beware,” he says. Of what? From what? “Of all greed.” “I keep what is mine; I do not take what belongs to another.” “Beware of all greed.” Not only is he greedy who seizes what belongs to others; he too is greedy who keeps his own greedily. But if one who keeps his own greedily is blamed so, how is one condemned who seizes what belongs to others? “Beware,” he says, “of all desire; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he has.” He who stores up much, how much does he take from it to live on? When he has taken from it, and in a way set apart in thought what is enough to live on, let him see for whom the rest remains: lest perhaps, while you keep what you live on, you gather what you die of. See, Christ; see, truth; see, severity. “Beware,” says truth; “beware,” says severity. If you do not love truth, fear severity. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he has.” Believe him; he does not deceive you. Do you say the contrary? “On the contrary, a man’s life does consist in the abundance of the things he has.” He does not deceive you: you deceive yourself. From this occasion, then, because that petitioner was seeking his own share and did not desire to seize another’s, arose this saying of the Lord, so that he did not say, “Beware of greed,” but added, “of all greed.” It was too little: he gives another example, about a certain rich man whose land had prospered. “There was,” he says, “a rich man whose land had prospered.” What does “had prospered” mean? The land he owned had brought great crops. How great? So that he could not find where to put them: suddenly, through abundance, he was cramped, the old miser. For how many years had passed already, and yet those barns had sufficed? So much, then, was produced that the usual places were not enough. And the wretch was seeking advice, not how to pay out what had been produced in excess, but how to store it; and by thinking he found advice. He seemed to himself wise in finding advice. He thought prudently, he saw wisely. What did he see wisely? “I will pull down,” he says, “the old barns and make new, bigger ones, and fill them; and I will say to my soul.” What do you say to your soul? “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years: rest, eat, drink, feast.” This is what the wise finder of advice said to his soul.

Luke 12:15–19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “All greed” includes keeping one’s own greedily, not only seizing what belongs to others, for life does not consist in possessions; the rich fool, whose land prospered, planned only to store his surplus.

  • The digital text runs Migne’s paragraphs 4 and 5 together in this staged section; paragraph 5 begins at “From this occasion, then” (the importer removed its headings). Quotations: Luke 12:15–19. “It was too little” renders “Parum fuit” (the digital text reads “Panim fuit”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's paragraph number left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips): ego autem dico, cupide et avare non appetas nec tun. → ego autem dico, cupide et avare non appetas nec tua.; Novit illo quantum mali sit → Novit ille quantum mali sit; Cavete, inquit, ab oni cupiditate: qnia non in abundantia → Cavete, inquit, ab omni cupiditate: quia non in abundantia; tu te fallis.. — 5. Ex hac ergo occasione → tu te fallis. Ex hac ergo occasione; Panim fuit: dat alterum exemplum → Parum fuit: dat alterum exemplum; Erat, inquit, homo dires, cui successerat regio. → Erat, inquit, homo dives, cui successerat regio.; factus osi subito per abundantiam angustus, avarusantiquus. Qnot enim anni → factus est subito per abundantiam angustus, avarus antiquus. Quot enim anni.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.4 (PL 38:390–391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-4). (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).

107.6PL 38:391

Et Deus ad illum: qui nec cum stultis loqui dedignatur. Aliquis vestrum forte dicat: Et quomodo Deus cum stulto locutas est? 0 fratres mei, cum quantis stultis hic loquitur, quando Evangelium rccitatur? Quando lectum est, qui audiunt et non faciunt, stulti non sunt? Quid ergo ait Dominus? Quia ille sibi iterum in inveniendo consilio sapiens videbatur: Stulte, inquit; Stulte, qui tibi sapiens videris: Stulte, qui dixisti animae tuæ, Habes multa bona reposita in annos plurimos: hodie repetitur a te anima tua. Cui dixisti, Habes multa bona; hodie repetitur, et nullum habet bonum. Contemnat hæc bona, et sit ipsa bona; ut quando repetitur, exeat secura. Quid enim cst iniquius homine, qui multa bona habere vult, et bonus ipse esse non vult? Indignus es qui habeas, qui non vis esse quod vis habere. Numquid enim vis habere villam malam? Non utiquc, sed bonam. Numquid uxorem malam? Non, sod bonam. Numquid denique casulam malam? Numquid vel catigam malam? Quare animam solam malam? Non hic dixit stulto huic vana cogitanti, horrca ædificanti, ct ventres pauperum non videnti; non illi ait, Hodie anima tua rapictur ad gehennum: nihil horum dixit; sed, repetitur a te. Non tibi dico anima tua quo sit itura: hinc tamen ubi illi tanta servas, velis nolis, est migratura. Ecce, stulte, cogitasti implere horrea nova majora, quasi non sit quid inde fiat.

And God said to him, God who does not disdain to speak even with fools. Perhaps one of you says: “And how did God speak with a fool?” O my brothers, with how many fools does he speak here, when the Gospel is read? When it is read, are those not fools who hear and do not do? What, then, did the Lord say? Because that man again seemed to himself wise in finding advice: “Fool,” he says; fool, who seem wise to yourself; fool, who said to your soul, “You have many goods laid up for many years”: “today your soul is required of you.” The soul to which you said, “You have many goods,” is required today, and has no good. Let it despise these goods, and be good itself, so that when it is required it may depart secure. For what is more unjust than a man who wants to have many good things and does not want to be good himself? You are unworthy to have, who do not want to be what you want to have. Do you want to have a bad farm? Certainly not, but a good one. A bad wife? No, but a good one. Indeed, a bad cloak? Even a bad boot? Why only a bad soul? Here he did not say to this fool, thinking vain things, building barns, and not seeing the bellies of the poor; he did not say to him, “Today your soul will be snatched away to Gehenna”: he said none of this; but “it is required of you.” “I do not tell you where your soul will go; but from here, where you keep so much for it, willing or not, it is going to move.” See, fool, you thought to fill new, bigger barns, as if there were nothing to be done with it.

Luke 12:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 1:22 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God called the rich man a fool because he wanted many good things but did not want his soul to be good; his soul was required of him that very night.

  • The staged text notes that the paragraph number jumps from 4 to 6; paragraph 5 is inside 107.4 (see there). The opening words “Animæ consulendum non ut habeat bona, sed ut ipsa sit bona” (“We must look after the soul, not that it may have goods, but that it may itself be good”) appear to be Migne’s marginal heading left in the text; not translated. Quotations: Luke 12:20; Jas 1:22 (hearers, not doers). The closing clause (“quasi non sit quid inde fiat”) is translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips): Animæ consulendum non ut habeat bona, sed ut ipsa sit bona. Et Dcus ad illum → Et Deus ad illum; hodie repetitur « te anima tua → hodie repetitur a te anima tua; Contemnal hac bona, ct sit ipsa bona; ut quando repetitur, oveat secnra. → Contemnat hæc bona, et sit ipsa bona; ut quando repetitur, exeat secura.; qui multa bont habere vult → qui multa bona habere vult; Numquid enim vis babere villam malam! → Numquid enim vis habere villam malam?.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.6 (PL 38:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-107-6) · Report an error

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).

107.7PL 38:391

Sed fortasse ille nondum fuit christianus. Nos audiamus, fratres, quihus credentibus Evangelium recitatur, a quibus qui illa dixit adoratur, cujus signum a nobis in fronte portatur, cl in corde habctur. Interest enim plurimum ubi habeat homo signum Christi, utrum in fronte, an et in fronte et in corde. Audistis quid hodie Ezechiel sanctus propheta loquebatur, quemadmodum antequam mitteret Deus exterminatorem populi iniqui, misit primitus signatorcm, et ait illi: Vade, ct da signum in frontibus eorum qui gemunt ct mœrent de peccatis populi mei, quæ fiunt in medio corum. Nou dixit, quæ fiunt extra ipsos; sed, in medio eorum. Gemunt tamen et mœrent: ct ideo signati sunt in fronte; in fronte interioris hominis, non exterioris. Est cnim frons in facie, est frons in conscientiae Denique aliquando quando interior frons pulsatur, exterior obrubescii: aut pudore obrubescit, aut timoro pallescit. Est ergo frons hominis interioris. Ibi signati sunt illi, ne vastarentur: quia etsi peccata quæ ficbant in medio corum, non corrigebant; tamen dolebant, et ipso se dolore separabant; et separati Deo, oculis hominum mixti erant. Signantur occulte, non læduntur aperte. Mittitur postea vastator, ct dicitur ci: Vade, vasta, non parcas minoribus, majoribus, masculis, feminis: sed ad eoa qui habent in fronte signum, non appropinques (Ezech. te, 4-6). Quanta sccuritas vobis data est, fratres mei, qui estis in hoc populo gementes, et mœrentes iniquitates quæ fiunt in medio vestrum, et non facientes?

But perhaps that man was not yet a Christian. Let us hear, brothers, we to whom, as believers, the Gospel is read, by whom he who said these things is worshipped, whose sign is carried by us on the forehead and held in the heart. For it matters very much where a man has Christ’s sign: whether on the forehead, or both on the forehead and in the heart. You heard what the holy prophet Ezekiel was saying today: how, before God sent the destroyer of a wicked people, he first sent one to mark, and said to him: “Go, and put a sign on the foreheads of those who groan and grieve over the sins of my people, which are done in their midst.” He did not say, “which are done outside them,” but “in their midst.” Yet they groan and grieve; and so they were marked on the forehead: on the forehead of the inner man, not the outer. For there is a forehead on the face, there is a forehead in the conscience. Indeed, sometimes when the inner forehead is struck, the outer one blushes: it either reddens with shame or pales with fear. So there is a forehead of the inner man. There they were marked, so as not to be destroyed: because, even if they were not correcting the sins done in their midst, yet they grieved, and by their very grief separated themselves; and, separated in God’s sight, they were mingled in men’s eyes. They are marked secretly; they are not harmed openly. Afterward the destroyer is sent, and it is said to him: “Go, destroy; do not spare small or great, male or female; but do not come near those who have the sign on their foreheads.” What great security has been given you, my brothers, who are in this people groaning and grieving over the iniquities done in your midst, and not doing them!

Ezek 9:4–6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians bear Christ’s sign on the forehead, but it must also be in the heart, like those marked by Ezekiel’s angel who grieved over the sins done among them and were spared.

  • Quotations: Ezek 9:4–6 (the day’s Old Testament reading). The sign on the forehead is the sign of the cross.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray footnote number and OCR slip): Audistis quid hodie Ezechiel1 sanctus propheta loqucbatur → Audistis quid hodie Ezechiel sanctus propheta loquebatur; in Ironte interioris hominis → in fronte interioris hominis; et separat! Deo, oculis hominum mixti erant → et separati Deo, oculis hominum mixti erant; iniquitates quæ flunt in mediovestrum → iniquitates quæ fiunt in medio vestrum.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.7 (PL 38:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-7). (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).

107.8PL 38:391–392

Ut autcm iniquitates non faciatis, Cavete ab omni avaritia. Dico vobis latius, quid cst ab omni avaritia. In libidine avarus est, cui uxor non sufficit sua. Et ipsa idololatria dicta est avaritia: quia et in ipsa divinitate avarus est, cui non sufficit Deus unus et verus. Quæ sibi facit multos deos, nisi avara anima? Quæ sibi facit martyres falsos, nisi avara anima. Cavete ab omni avaritia. Ecce amas tua, et jactas te, quia non quæris aliena: vide quid mali facias non audiendo Christum dicentem, Cavete ab omni avaritia. Ecce amas tua, non tollis alicna: de labore habes, de justitia habes: haeres relictus es, donavit tibi quem promeruisti: navigasti, periclitatus es, fraudem non fecisti, mendacium non jurasti, quod Deus voluit acquisisti: et servas cupide tanquam in bona conscientia, quia non habes de malo, ct non quæris aliena. Si non audieris illum qui dixit, Cavete ab omni avaritia, audi quanta mala facturus es propter tua. Ecce contigit, verbi gratia, ut fieres judex. Non corrumperis, quia non quxris alicna: nemo tibi dat praemium, ct dicit, Judica contra adversarium meim. Absit; homo qui non qurrris aliena, quando tibi hoc persuaderi potest? Vide quid mali facturus sis propter tua. Ille qui vult ut male judices, et pro ipso feras sententiam contra adversarium ipsius, forte potens bomo est, et potest tibi calumniam facere, ut perdas tua. Attendis potentiam ipsius, cogitas illam, cogitas tua quae servas, quæ amas: non quæ possedisti, sed quibus male inhæsisti. Attendis viscum tuum, propter quod liberas virtutis non habes pennas: et dicis apud te ipsum, Offendo hominem istum, multum potest ad tempus; suggeret de me mala, et proscribor, et perdo quod habeo, Judicaturus es male, non cum quæris aliena, sed cum servas tua.

But so that you may not do iniquities: “Beware of all greed.” I will tell you more broadly what “all greed” is. He is greedy in lust for whom his own wife is not enough. And idolatry itself has been called greed: because he too is greedy in respect of divinity, for whom one true God is not enough. What makes many gods for itself, but a greedy soul? What makes false martyrs for itself, but a greedy soul? “Beware of all greed.” See, you love what is yours, and you boast because you do not seek what belongs to others: see what evil you do by not listening to Christ saying, “Beware of all greed.” See, you love what is yours, you do not take what belongs to others: you have it from labor, you have it from justice; you were left an heir, someone whose favor you earned gave it to you; you sailed, you ran risks, you committed no fraud, you swore no lie, you acquired what God willed; and you keep it greedily, as if with a good conscience, because you do not have it from evil and you do not seek what belongs to others. If you do not listen to him who said, “Beware of all greed,” hear how many evils you will do because of what is yours. See, it happens, for example, that you become a judge. You are not corrupted, because you do not seek what belongs to others: no one gives you a bribe and says, “Judge against my opponent.” God forbid: you, a man who does not seek what belongs to others, when could you be persuaded to that? See what evil you will do because of what is yours. The one who wants you to judge badly and give sentence for him against his opponent is perhaps a powerful man, and can bring a false charge against you, so that you lose what is yours. You consider his power, you think of it, you think of what is yours, which you keep, which you love: not what you have possessed, but what you have clung to wrongly. You consider your birdlime, because of which you do not have the free wings of virtue; and you say to yourself: “If I offend this man, he has great power for the present; he will suggest evil things about me, and I shall be proscribed and lose what I have.” You will judge badly, not because you seek what belongs to others, but because you keep what is yours.

Luke 12:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 5:5 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “All greed” includes lust beyond one’s wife, idolatry, and even honest attachment to one’s own property, which can lead a judge to give an unjust verdict for fear of losing what he has.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“All greed must be cut off, so as not to sin”) was removed by the importer. Idolatry called greed: Col 3:5 (Eph 5:5). “False martyrs” refers to the Donatists’ veneration of their own dead as martyrs; translated as written.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): lu libidine avarus cst,cui uxor nou suflicit sua. → In libidine avarus est, cui uxor non sufficit sua.; quia et ill ipsa divinitate avarus est, cui nou sulficit Deus unus ei verus. Quæ sibi facit multos deos, nis; avara anima 1 Quæ → quia et in ipsa divinitate avarus est, cui non sufficit Deus unus et verus. Quæ sibi facit multos deos, nisi avara anima? Quæ; Ecce ans tua, et jactas te → Ecce amas tua, et jactas te; Si ion audieris illum qui dixit, Cavete ab omni avaritia, andi quanta mala → Si non audieris illum qui dixit, Cavete ab omni avaritia, audi quanta mala; Judicaturus es male, non cum quxris alienn, sed cum servas tua. → Judicaturus es male, non cum quæris aliena, sed cum servas tua..

Topics: Ethics, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.8 (PL 38:391–392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-8). (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).

107.9PL 38:392

Da mihi hominem qui audivit Christum, da mihi hominem qui cum timore audivit, Cavete ab omni cupiditate: et non mihi dicat, Ego homo pauper sum, plebeius, mediocris, gregalis; quando spero me judicem futurum? Non timeo istam tentationem, cujus periculum ante oculos posuisti. Ecce dico et pauperi quid timere debeat. Vocat te dives et potens, ut pro illo dicas falsum testimonium. Quid facturus es modo? Dic mihi. Habes bonum peculium: laborasti, acquisisti, servasti. Exigit ilte: Dic pro me falsum testimonium, et tantum et tantum dono tibi. Tu qui non quaeris aliena: Absit a me, inquis: non quæro quod mihi noluit Deus dare, non accipio; recede a me. Non vis accipere quod do? quod habes tollo. Ecce modo te proba, modo te interroga. Quid me attendis? Intus te attende, intus te vidc, intus te examina; sede ad te, et constitue te ante te, et in equuleum præcepti Dci extende te, et timore torque te, et noli te palpare; responde tibi. Ecce si hoc quisquam minctur, quid facies? Tollo tibi quod cum tanto labore acquisisti, nisi pro me falsum testimonium dixeris. Da illum: Cavete ab omni avaritia. O serve meus, dicet tibi, quem redemi et liberum feci, quem de servo fratrem adoptavi, quem in corpore meo membrum posui, audi me: Tollat quod acquisisti, me tibi non tollet. Ne pereas, servas tua? Nonne tibi dixi, Cavete ab omni cupiditate?

Give me a man who has heard Christ, give me a man who has heard with fear, “Beware of all desire”; and let him not say to me: “I am a poor man, a commoner, of middling means, one of the crowd; when do I expect to be a judge? I do not fear that temptation whose danger you have put before my eyes.” See, I tell the poor man too what he ought to fear. A rich and powerful man calls on you to give false testimony for him. What will you do now? Tell me. You have a nice little savings: you labored, you acquired, you saved. He demands: “Give false testimony for me, and I will give you so much and so much.” You, who do not seek what belongs to others: “God forbid,” you say; “I do not seek what God has not willed to give me; I do not accept; go away from me.” “You do not want to accept what I give? I take away what you have.” See, now prove yourself, now question yourself. Why look at me? Look within yourself, see within yourself, examine yourself within; sit down before yourself, and set yourself before yourself, and stretch yourself on the rack of God’s commandment, and torture yourself with fear, and do not flatter yourself; answer yourself. See, if anyone threatens this, what will you do? “I will take from you what you acquired with such labor unless you give false testimony for me.” Give it to him: “Beware of all greed.” “O my servant,” he will say to you, “whom I redeemed and made free, whom from a slave I adopted as a brother, whom I placed as a member in my body, listen to me: let him take what you acquired; he will not take me from you. Do you keep what is yours, so as to perish? Did I not tell you, Beware of all desire?”

Luke 12:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:16 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Even a poor man faces the test of greed if a powerful man threatens to take his savings unless he bears false witness; Christ tells him to let his goods go, for no one can take Christ from him.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“Again on the danger of one who greedily keeps his own”) was removed by the importer. “Give it to him” renders “Da illum” (perhaps for “Da illi”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray footnote number and OCR slips): ct non mibi dicat, Ego homo pauper sum → et non mihi dicat, Ego homo pauper sum; Ecce modo te proha, modo te interroga. → Ecce modo te proba, modo te interroga.; Da illum 1: Cavete ab omni avaritia. 0 servo meus → Da illum: Cavete ab omni avaritia. O serve meus.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.9 (PL 38:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-107-9) · Report an error

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).

107.10PL 38:392

Ecce turbaris, ecce fluctuas: cor luum quasi navis tempestatibus quatitur. Dormit Christus: excita dormientem, et non patieris tempestatem sævientem. Ipsum excita, qui nihil hic habere voluit, et totum habes, qui usque ad crucem pro te pervenit, cujus nudi atque pendentis ossa ab insultantibus numerata sum: et cave ab omni avaritia. Parum est avaritia pecuniæ: cave avaritiam vitæ. Horrenda avaritia, metuenda avaritia. Aliquando homo contemnit quod babet, et dicit: Non dico falsum testimonium. Non dico, dicis mihi? Tollo quod habes. Tolle quod habeo: non tollis quod intus habeo. Non enim pauper remanserat qui dicebat: Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit; sicut Domino placuit, ita factum est; ergo sit nomen Domini benedictum. Nudus exii de utero matris meæ, nudus revertar in terram. Nudus foris, intus vestitus. Nudus foris a pannis, et putribilibus pannis; intus vestitus. Unde? Sacerdotes tui induantur justitia. Sed quid si dicat, cum contempseris ea quæ possides, quid si dicat: Occido te? Responde ilii, si Christum audisti: Occides me? Melius tu occides'carnem meam, quam ego per linguam falsam animam meam. Quid facturus es milii? Occisurus es carnem: exit anima libera, in fine sæculi et ipsam quam contempsit carnem receptura. Quid ergo mihi facturus es? Si autem falsum testimonium dixero pro te, de lingua mea occido me; et non in carne occido me: Os enim quod mentitur, occidit animaM. Forte hoc non dicis. Unde non dicis? Vivere vis: plus vis vivere, quam Deus constituit? Certe caves ab omni avaritia? Huc usque Deus voluit ut vivas, quo usque iste ad te accessit. Forte te occisurus est, ut martyrem faciat. Noli habere cupiditatem vivendi; et non habes æternitatem moriendi? Videtis quia ubique avaritia illa, cum plus volumus quam opus est, facit nos peccare? Caveamus ab omni avaritia, si vo!umus frui æterna sapientia.

See, you are troubled, see, you are tossed about: your heart is shaken like a ship by storms. Christ is asleep: wake the sleeper, and you will not suffer the raging storm. Wake him who willed to have nothing here, and you have everything; who went as far as the cross for you, whose bones, as he hung naked, were counted by those who mocked him: and beware of all greed. Greed for money is a small thing: beware of greed for life. A dreadful greed, a greed to be feared. Sometimes a man despises what he has and says: “I will not give false testimony.” “You will not, you tell me? I take what you have.” “Take what I have: you do not take what I have within.” For he did not remain poor who said: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it was done; blessed be the name of the Lord. Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, naked I shall return to the earth.” Naked outwardly, clothed within. Naked outwardly of rags, and rotting rags; clothed within. With what? “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness.” But what if, when you have despised what you possess, he says, “I will kill you”? Answer him, if you have heard Christ: “You will kill me? Better that you kill my flesh than that I kill my soul by a false tongue. What will you do to me? You will kill the flesh: the soul goes out free, to receive at the end of the age the very flesh it despised. What, then, will you do to me? But if I give false testimony for you, I kill myself with my tongue; and I do not kill myself in the flesh: for the mouth that lies kills the soul.” Perhaps you do not say this. Why do you not say it? You want to live: do you want to live longer than God has determined? Do you really beware of all greed? God willed that you should live up to the point at which this man came to you. Perhaps he will kill you so as to make you a martyr. Do not have a greedy desire to live, and you will not have an eternity of dying. Do you see that everywhere that greed, when we want more than is needed, makes us sin? Let us beware of all greed, if we want to enjoy eternal wisdom.

Matt 8:24–26 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 22:17 (21:18 Vulg.) (allusion, high confidence) · Job 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 132:9 (131:9 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:28 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Beyond greed for money there is greed for life: one who is threatened with death unless he lies should let his body be killed rather than kill his soul by false witness, perhaps becoming a martyr.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“Greed for life itself is to be guarded against”) was removed by the importer. Quotations and allusions: Matt 8:24–26; Ps 22:17 (21:18 Vulg.); Job 1:21; Ps 132:9 (131:9 Vulg.); Matt 10:28; Wis 1:11 (an extrabiblical text: “the mouth that lies kills the soul”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray footnote number; OCR slips): excita donnientcm → excita dormientem; Parum est avaritia pccunine: cave avaritiam vitæ. Horrenda avaritia, metnenda avaritia. → Parum est avaritia pecuniæ: cave avaritiam vitæ. Horrenda avaritia, metuenda avaritia.; Tolle quod habeo: non totlis quod intus babeo. → Tolle quod habeo: non tollis quod intus habeo.; ergo ait nomen Domini benedictum. Nudus exii de utero matris mele → ergo sit nomen Domini benedictum. Nudus exii de utero matris meæ; plus vis vivere, quam Deus constituit 1 Certe → plus vis vivere, quam Deus constituit? Certe; et non habes æternitatem moricndi 2? → et non habes æternitatem moriendi?.

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

Topics: Martyrdom, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 107.10 (PL 38:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-107-10). (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).

Chapter 108

108.1PL 38:392–393

Dominus noster Jesus Christus et venit ad homines, et abscessit ab hominibus, et venturus est ad homines. Et tamen hic erat quando venit, nec recessit quando abscessit, et ad eos venturus est quibus dixit, Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem sœculi (Matth. XXVIII, iO). Secundum formam ergo servi, quam suscepit pro nobis, quodam tempore natus est, et occisus est, et resurrexit, et non jam moritur, nec mors ei ultra dominabit: secundum divinitatem autem, qua æqualis est Patri, in hoc mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. De hoc audistis modo Evangelium, quid monuerit noet, cautos nos faciens, et vulens esse expeditos et paratos ad exspectanda novissima: ut post novissima, quæ sunt in hoc sæculo metuenda, succedat requies, quæ non habet finem. Beali qni participes facti fuerint. Erunt autem tunc securi, qui modo non sint securi: et iterum tunc timebunt, qui modo timere nolunt. Ad hanc exspectationem ct propter hanc spem cbrisliani facti sumus. Nonne spes nostra est de hoc sæculo? Non amemus saeculum. Ab amoro sæculi hujus vocati sumus, ut aliud sreculnm speremus et diligamus. In hoc abstinere nos debemus ab omnihus ilHcitis concupiscentiis, hoc est, lumbos accinctos habere debemus: et fervere et lucere in opcrilus bonis, hoc est, lucernas ardentes habere. Dixit enim ipse Dominus discipulis suis alio loco Evangelii: Nemo accendit lucernam, et ponit cam stib modio, sed super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt. Et ut ostenderet unde dicebat, subjecit et ait: Sic luceat lumen vestrum coram hominibus, ut videant bona facta vealra, et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in cælis est.

Our Lord Jesus Christ both came to men, and went away from men, and is going to come to men. And yet he was here when he came, and he did not withdraw when he went away, and he will come to those to whom he said, “See, I am with you to the end of the age.” According to the form of a servant, then, which he took for us, at a certain time he was born, and was killed, and rose again, and now dies no more, and death will no longer have dominion over him: but according to the divinity in which he is equal to the Father, he was in this world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. About this you have just heard in the Gospel what he warned us of, making us careful, and wanting us to be unencumbered and ready to wait for the last things: so that after the last things, which are to be feared in this world, there may follow a rest which has no end. Blessed are those who will have been made sharers in it. But then those will be secure who are not secure now; and again those will fear then who will not fear now. For this expectation and because of this hope we were made Christians. Is our hope of this world? Let us not love the world. We have been called from the love of this world, so as to hope for and love another world. In this world we ought to abstain from all unlawful desires, that is, we ought to have our loins girded; and to glow and shine in good works, that is, to have lamps burning. For the Lord himself said to his disciples in another place in the Gospel: “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, so that it may give light to all who are in the house.” And to show what he meant, he added and said: “So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Luke 12:35–36 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 28:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:15–16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, who came, departed, and will come again, warns us to wait for the end with girded loins, abstaining from unlawful desires, and with lamps burning in good works, for we became Christians in hope of another world.

  • The opening words “Christiani quare facti sumus. Sæculum istud non amandum” (“Why we were made Christians. This world is not to be loved”) are Migne’s marginal headings left in the text; not translated. The reading is Luke 12:35–40. Quotations: Matt 28:20; Rom 6:9; John 1:10; Matt 5:15–16; Luke 12:35.
  • “Is our hope of this world?”: the text reads “Nonne” (“Is not…?”), which does not fit the sense; translated as a question expecting “no”.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal headings left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips): Christiani quare facti sumus. Sæculum istud non amandum. Dominus noster → Dominus noster; et ad eos venturus esi quibus dixit → et ad eos venturus est quibus dixit; Seeundum furmam ergo servi, qnam suscepit pro nobis, quodam tempore natus est, et occisus est, et rcsurrexii, ct non jam moritur → Secundum formam ergo servi, quam suscepit pro nobis, quodam tempore natus est, et occisus est, et resurrexit, et non jam moritur; in hoc raundoerat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus cum non cognovit → in hoc mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit; Nonne spes nostra est do hoc sæculo? → Nonne spes nostra est de hoc sæculo?.

Topics: Eschatology, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.1 (PL 38:392–393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-108-1) · Report an error

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).

108.2PL 38:393

Ideo lumbos nostros accinctos esse voluit, et lucernas ardentes. Quid est, lumbos accinctos? Declina a malo. Quid est lucere? quid est lucernas ardentes hahere? Hoc est, Et fac bonum. Quid est quod adjunxit et ait, Et vos similes estote hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum quando reniat a nuptiis: nisi quod in illo psalmo sequitur, Inquire pacem, et sequere eam? Hæc tria, hoc est, abstinentia a malo, et operatio boni, et spes præmii æterni, commemorata sunt in Actibus Apostolorum, ubi scriptum est, Quia docebat eos Paulus de continentia, de justitia, et spe vitce æteræ (Act. x XlV, 25). Ad continentiam pertinet, Sint lumbi vestri accincti. Ad justitiam pertinet, Et lucernæ ardentes. Ad exspectationem Domini pertinet, quæ est spes vitæ æternæ. Ergo, Declina a malo, hæc est continentia, hi sunt lumbi accincti: Et fac bonum, hæc est justitia, hæ sunt lucernæ ardentes: Quære pacem et sequere eam, hæc est exspectatio futuri sapculi: ergo, Similes estote hominibus expectantibus dominum suum quando veniat a nuptiis.

So he wanted our loins girded and our lamps burning. What does “loins girded” mean? “Turn away from evil.” What is it to shine? What is it to have lamps burning? It is this: “And do good.” What does he mean by what he added, saying, “And be like men waiting for their master, when he comes from the wedding,” except what follows in that psalm: “Seek peace, and pursue it”? These three, that is, abstaining from evil, doing good, and the hope of eternal reward, are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, where it is written that Paul taught them “about self-control, righteousness, and the hope of eternal life.” To self-control belongs, “Let your loins be girded.” To righteousness belongs, “And your lamps burning.” To waiting for the Lord belongs what is the hope of eternal life. So, “Turn away from evil”: this is self-control; these are the girded loins. “And do good”: this is righteousness; these are the burning lamps. “Seek peace and pursue it”: this is the expectation of the world to come; so, “Be like men waiting for their master, when he comes from the wedding.”

Luke 12:35–36 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:14 (33:15 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 24:25 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The girded loins, burning lamps, and waiting servants correspond to the psalm’s “turn from evil, do good, seek peace” and to Paul’s self-control, righteousness, and hope of eternal life.

  • Quotations: Luke 12:35–36; Ps 34:14 (33:15 Vulg.); Acts 24:25 (Augustine’s form “hope of eternal life”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and stray mark): Ideo lumbos nostros accinctos esse voluit, ei lucernas ardentes. → Ideo lumbos nostros accinctos esse voluit, et lucernas ardentes.; ct operatio bnni, et spes præmii æterni, commemorata sunt in Actibus Apostolorum, ubi srriptum est, Quia docchat cos Paulus → et operatio boni, et spes præmii æterni, commemorata sunt in Actibus Apostolorum, ubi scriptum est, Quia docebat eos Paulus; Et lucernæ ardentes '. Ad exspectationem Domini pertinet, qua; est spes vitas æternæ. → Et lucernæ ardentes. Ad exspectationem Domini pertinet, quæ est spes vitæ æternæ.; hæc est contiiK ntia → hæc est continentia.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.2 (PL 38:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-2). (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).

108.3PL 38:393

Habentes autem ista præcepta ct promissa, quid quærimus in terra dies bonos, ubi cos invenire non possumus? Scio enim quia eos quæritis, quando aut ægrotatis, aut in tribulationihus estis, quæ abundant in isto sæculo. Quoniam quando ætas vergit ad finem, et sencx plenus est querelis, et nullis gaudiis. Inter omnes tribulationes, quibus conteritur genus humanum, non quærunt homines nisi dies bonos, et vitam volunt longam, quam hic habere non possunt. Quia et longa hominis vita tanta brevitate constringitur ad universi sæculi illius latitudinem, quasi una gutta ad universum mare comparetur. Quid ergo est vita hominis, etiam illa quæ longa dicitur? Longam vitam dicunt, quæ in sæculo isto brevis est: et, sicut dixi, abundant gemitus usque ad decrepitam senectutem. Hoc totum modicum et breve est: et tamen quomodo quæritur ab hominibus? Quanta diligentia, quanto labore, quanta cura, quanta vigilantia, quanto opere quærunt homines ut din hic vivant et senescant? Ipsum autem diu vivere quid cst, nisi ad finem currere? Habuisti hesternum diem, habere vis et crastinum diem. Sed cum iste transierit et crastinus, tintus illum habes. Ideo optas ut lucescat dies, ut propinquet tibi quo tu uon vis pervenire. Exhibes aliquam solemitatem amicis tuis, audis ibi a benc optantibus dici tibi, Multos annos vivas: vis ut veniat quod illi dixerunt. Quid? Ut veniant anni ct anni, et non vis veniat finis annorum? Studia tua contraria sunt: ambulare vis, ct pervenire non vis.

Having these commandments and promises, why do we seek good days on earth, where we cannot find them? For I know that you seek them when you are sick or in tribulations, which abound in this world. For when age draws to its end, the old man is full of complaints and has no joys. Amid all the tribulations by which the human race is worn down, people seek nothing but good days, and they want a long life, which they cannot have here. For even man’s long life is confined to such brevity, compared with the breadth of that whole other age, as if one drop were compared with the whole sea. What, then, is man’s life, even that which is called long? They call a life long which in this world is short; and, as I said, groans abound right up to decrepit old age. All this is small and short; and yet how it is sought by people! With what diligence, what labor, what care, what vigilance, what effort people seek to live long here and grow old! But what is living long itself, but running to the end? You had yesterday; you want to have tomorrow too. But when this day and tomorrow have passed, you no longer have them. So you wish the day to dawn, so that what you do not want to reach may come closer to you. You give some celebration for your friends; you hear there people who wish you well saying to you, “May you live many years”: you want what they said to come true. What? You want years and years to come, and you do not want the end of the years to come? Your wishes contradict each other: you want to walk, and you do not want to arrive.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: People seek good days and long life on earth, where they cannot be found; but a long life is only a drop beside eternity, and to live long is only to run to the end.

  • Migne’s marginal headings (“3. Good days are sought here in vain. What living long is”) were removed by the importer. The sentence “Quia et longa hominis vita tanta brevitate constringitur ad universi sæculi illius latitudinem” is partly corrupt in the digital text (“longa hominis,ita”); translated by sense.
  • “You no longer have them”: the word before “illum habes” is corrupt in the digital text (“tintus”); translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; divided word; stray mark): non quæ runt homines nisi dies bonos → non quærunt homines nisi dies bonos; Quia et longa hominis,ita tanta brevitate → Quia et longa hominis vita tanta brevitate; quasi una gutta ad universum mare comparetur I. → quasi una gutta ad universum mare comparetur.; Longam vitam dicunt, quæin sæculo isto brevis est: et, sient dixi → Longam vitam dicunt, quæ in sæculo isto brevis est: et, sicut dixi; Hoc lotum modicum et berve cst → Hoc totum modicum et breve est; Sed cum iste transierit ct crastinus, tintus illum habes. Ideo optas us lucescat dies → Sed cum iste transierit et crastinus, tintus illum habes. Ideo optas ut lucescat dies; Studia toa contraria sunt → Studia tua contraria sunt.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.3 (PL 38:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-3). (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).

108.4PL 38:393

Verumtamen, ut dixi, si tanta cura inest hominibus, ut quotidianis, magnis perpetuisque laboribus cupiant, ut tardius moriantur; quanta cura agendum cst, ut nunquam moriantur? Inde nemo vult cogilare. Quotidie quæruntur in isto sæculo dies boni, ubi non inveniuntur: ct nemo vult sic vivere, ut illuc perveniat ubi inveniuntur. Idco admonet cadem Scriptura, et dicit: Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? Sic interrogavit Scriptura, ut sciret quid illi responderetur: sciens quod omnes hominIs vitam quærerent, et dies bonos. Pro desiderio ipsorum interrogavit, tanquam sibi de omnium corde responderetur, Ego volo: sic dixit, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, el diliyit videre dies bonos? Quemadmodum etiam ista hora, qua vobis loquor cum audistis me dixisse, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, ct diligit videre dies bonos?omnes respondistis in corde vestro, Ego. Nam et ego qui vobiscum loquor, vitam volo et dios bonos: quod quæritis vos, hoc quæro et ego.

Yet, as I said, if there is such care in men that by daily, great, and constant labors they desire to die later, how much care must be taken that they may never die? About that no one wants to think. Every day good days are sought in this world, where they are not found; and no one wants to live so as to reach the place where they are found. So the same Scripture admonishes us and says: “Who is the man who wants life, and loves to see good days?” Scripture asked in such a way that it knew what would be answered: knowing that all men seek life and good days. It asked in accordance with their desire, as if the answer were given from the heart of all, “I want it”: so it said, “Who is the man who wants life and loves to see good days?” Just as at this hour, when I am speaking to you, when you heard me say, “Who is the man who wants life and loves to see good days?”, all of you answered in your hearts, “I.” For I too who am speaking with you want life and good days: what you seek, I seek too.

Ps 34:12 (33:13 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: If people labor so hard to die later, how much more should they labor never to die; Scripture asks who wants life and good days, and everyone answers “I.”

  • Quotation: Ps 34:12 (33:13 Vulg.).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): si tanta cura in si hominibus, ut quotidianis, magnis perpetuisquelaboribus cupiant → si tanta cura inest hominibus, ut quotidianis, magnis perpetuisque laboribus cupiant; Quis est Aonio qui vult vitam → Quis est homo qui vult vitam; Quemadmodum c!i:un ista hora, qua volris loquor cum audistis me dixisse, Quid est homo qui vultvitam → Quemadmodum etiam ista hora, qua vobis loquor cum audistis me dixisse, Quis est homo qui vult vitam; qnod quæritis vos, hoc quero et ego- → quod quæritis vos, hoc quæro et ego..

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.4 (PL 38:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-4). (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).

108.5PL 38:393–394

Quomodo si aurum nobis omnibus esset necessarium, et ego ad aurum una vobiscum pervenire volens, et esset alicubi in agro vestro, in loco vestræ potestati subdito, et viderem vos quærentes aurum, et dicerem vobis, Quid quæritis? responderetis mihi, Aurum. Et ego vobis dicerem, Aurum quæritis, et ego aurum quæro: quod quæritis, et, ego qurrro; sed non ibi quæritis ubi possimus invenire. Ergo audite me, ubi possimus invenire: vobis non tollo, locum vobis ostendo: imo sequamur omnes cum qui novit ubi sit quod quærimus. Sic ct nunc, quia desideratis vitam et dies bonos, non possumus vobis dicere, Nolite desiderare vitam et dies bonos: sed illud dicimus, Nolite hic quærere in hoc sæculo vitam et dies bonos, ubi boni esse non possunt. Nonne vita ipsa morti similis est? Dies autem ipsi properantes transeunt; quia hodiernus dies hesternum exclusit: crastinus idco nascitur, ut excludat hodiernum. Ipsi dies non stant: tu quare cum illis vis stare? Dcsiderium ergo vestrum, quo vultis vitam et dies bonos, non solum non reprimo, sed etiam vehementius accendo. Prorsus quæritc vitam, quærite dies bonos: sed ubi possunt inveniri, ibi quærantur.

Just as if gold were necessary to all of us, and I, wanting to reach gold together with you, and it were somewhere in your field, in a place under your control, and I saw you seeking gold and said to you, “What are you looking for?”, you would answer me, “Gold.” And I would say to you, “You are seeking gold, and I am seeking gold: what you seek, I seek too; but you are not seeking where we could find it. So listen to me, where we could find it: I am not taking it from you, I am showing you the place: rather, let us all follow him who knows where what we seek is.” So now too, since you desire life and good days, we cannot say to you, “Do not desire life and good days”; but we say this: “Do not seek life and good days here in this world, where they cannot be good.” Is not this very life like death? For the days themselves pass hurrying by: because today has shut out yesterday; tomorrow is born for this, to shut out today. The days themselves do not stand still: why do you want to stand still with them? So your desire, by which you want life and good days, I not only do not restrain, but kindle more strongly. Seek life by all means, seek good days; but let them be sought where they can be found.

Notes and citation

Summary: Like a guide who shows treasure-seekers where the gold really is, Augustine does not curb the desire for life and good days but directs it beyond this passing world, where days do not stand still.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“The same subject continued”) was removed by the importer. “For the days themselves pass hurrying by” renders “Dies autem ipsi properantes transeunt” (the digital text reads “Dico autemipsi”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quomodo si auruin nobis omnibus esset nccessarium → Quomodo si aurum nobis omnibus esset necessarium; et dicerem volris, Quid quæritis?responderetis milii, Aurum. → et dicerem vobis, Quid quæritis? responderetis mihi, Aurum.; Nolite hic quærere in hoc sæculo vitam ctdies bonos → Nolite hic quærere in hoc sæculo vitam et dies bonos; Dico autemipsi properantes transcunt → Dies autem ipsi properantes transeunt; sed cHam vehementius accendo → sed etiam vehementius accendo.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.5 (PL 38:393–394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-5). (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).

108.6PL 38:394

Vultis enim audire mecum consilium ejus, qui novit ubi sint dies boni, et ubi sit vita? Audite non a me, sed mecum simul. Ait enim nobis quidam: Venite, filii, audite me. Et concurramus, et stemus, et aures arrigamus, et corde intelligamus Patrem qui dixit, Venite, filii, audile me; timorem, inquit, Domini docebo vos. Et quam rem vult docere, et cui rei utilis cst timor Domini, sequitur: Quis est homo qui vult vitam, el diligit videre dies bonos? Respondemus omnes, Nos volumus. Quod sequitur audiamus. Cohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquantur dolum. Modo dic, Ego. Jamdudum quando diccbam, Quis eat homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? omnes respondebamus, Ego. Eia respondeat mihi aliquis, Ego. Ergo, Cohibe linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua ne loquautur dolum. Dic modo, Ego. Ergo dies bonos ct vitam vis, cohibere linguam tuam a malo non vis, ct labia tua ne loquantur dolum? Ad mercedem alacer, ad opus piger. Et cui non operanti redditur merces? Utinam in domo tua vel operario mercedem reddas. Nam scio quia non operanti non reddis. Quarc? Quia nihil operanti nihil debes. Et Deus proposuit mercedem. Quam mercedem? Vitam et dies bonos, quam omnes desideramus, et ad quos dies omnes venire conamur. Promissam mercedem daturus est. Quam mercedem? Vitam et dies bonos. Et qui suut dies boni? Vita sinc fine, requies sine labore.

For do you want to hear with me the advice of him who knows where good days are, and where life is? Hear, not from me, but together with me. For someone says to us: “Come, children, listen to me.” Let us run together, and stand, and prick up our ears, and understand with the heart the Father who said, “Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you,” he says, “the fear of the Lord.” And what he wants to teach, and what the fear of the Lord is useful for, follows: “Who is the man who wants life, and loves to see good days?” We all answer, “We want it.” Let us hear what follows: “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” Now say, “I.” A while ago, when I said, “Who is the man who wants life and loves to see good days?”, we all answered, “I.” Come, let someone answer me, “I.” So: “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” Say now, “I.” So you want good days and life, and you do not want to keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit? Eager for the wage, lazy for the work. And to whom who does not work is a wage paid? Would that in your house you would pay even your workman his wage. For I know you do not pay one who does not work. Why? Because you owe nothing to one who has done nothing. And God has set a wage. What wage? Life and good days, which we all desire, and which days we all strive to reach. He will give the promised wage. What wage? Life and good days. And what are good days? Life without end, rest without labor.

Ps 34:11–13 (33:12-Ps Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The psalm that promises life and good days demands in return that we keep our tongues from evil and our lips from deceit; the wage of life without end is given only to those who work.

  • The opening words “Vita, et dies boni” (“Life, and good days”) are Migne’s marginal heading left in the text; not translated. Quotations: Ps 34:11–13 (33:12–14 Vulg.). “Would that … even your workman” renders “Utinam … vel operario mercedem reddas” (the digital text reads “Ulnam … operarii”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slips; OCR slip; OCR slips): Vita, et dies boni. Vultis enim audire mocum consilium ejus, qui novit ubi sint dies boni, ei ubi sit vita? Audite non a Ine, sed mecum simul. → Vultis enim audire mecum consilium ejus, qui novit ubi sint dies boni, et ubi sit vita? Audite non a me, sed mecum simul.; Iic modo, Ego. → Dic modo, Ego.; Et cui non opcranti redditur meres? Ulnam in domo tua vel operarii mercedem reddas. → Et cui non operanti redditur merces? Utinam in domo tua vel operario mercedem reddas.; quam omnes desidet'amus → quam omnes desideramus.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.6 (PL 38:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-6). (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).

108.7PL 38:394

Magnam mercedem proposuit: in tanta proposita mercede, videamus quid jussit. Jam enim mercede tantæ pollicitationis et amore mercedis accensi, paremus jussioni ejus vires nostras, latera, lacertos. Quasi jussurus est onera grandia nos portare, forte aliquid fodere, forte aliquam machinam erigere? Non tibi jussit rem laboriosam, sed membrum quod inter omnia membra cito movcs, ipsum tihi præcepit cohibere: Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Non est labor erigere fabricam; et labor est tenere linguam? Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Noli loqui mendacium, noli loqui crimintiones, noli loqui calumnias, noli loqui falsa testimonia, noli loqui blasphemias: Cohibe linguam tuam a malo. Vide quomodo irasceris, si quis de te male loquatur. Quomodo irasceris alteri, quando de te male loquitur: sic irascere tibi, quan lo de altero male loqucris. Labia tun ne loquantur dolum. Quod est intus in corde tuo, hoc dicatur foris. Nou aliud pectus tegat, et aliud lingula proferat. Declina a malo, ct fac bonum. Nam quomodo dicturus sum ci, Vesti nudum. qui adhuc vult spoliare vestitum? Nam qni premit civem suum, quomodo habct suscipere peregrinum? Ergo per ordinem, prius declina a malo, et fac bonum: prius accinge lumbos tuos, et tunc accende lucernam. Et cum hoc feceris, securus exspecta vitam et dies bonos. Quære pacem, et sequere eam: et tunc bona fronte dices Domino, Feci quod jussisti, redde quod promisisti.

He has set out a great wage: with so great a wage set out, let us see what he has commanded. For now, fired by the wage of so great a promise and by love of the wage, let us prepare for his command our strength, our sides, our arms. As if he were going to order us to carry great loads, perhaps to dig something, perhaps to erect some machine? He has not commanded you a laborious thing; but the member which among all members you move quickly, that he has commanded you to restrain: “Keep your tongue from evil.” It is no labor to put up a building, and is it labor to hold the tongue? “Keep your tongue from evil.” Do not speak lies, do not speak accusations, do not speak slanders, do not speak false testimony, do not speak blasphemies: “Keep your tongue from evil.” See how you are angry if anyone speaks evil of you. As you are angry with another when he speaks evil of you, so be angry with yourself when you speak evil of another. “Let your lips not speak deceit.” What is inside in your heart, let that be said outside. Let not the breast hide one thing and the tongue bring out another. “Turn away from evil, and do good.” For how shall I say to him, “Clothe the naked,” who still wants to strip the clothed? For he who oppresses his fellow citizen, how can he take in a stranger? So in order: first turn away from evil, and do good; first gird your loins, and then light your lamp. And when you have done this, wait securely for life and good days. “Seek peace, and pursue it”: and then with a good face you will say to the Lord, “I have done what you commanded; give what you promised.”

Ps 34:13–14 (33:14-Ps Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 58:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 12:35 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s command for so great a reward is light: to restrain the tongue from lies and slander, to speak as one thinks, to turn from evil and do good, and to seek peace.

  • Migne’s marginal heading (“The tongue must be restrained”) was removed by the importer. Quotations: Ps 34:13–14 (33:14–15 Vulg.); Isa 58:7 (clothe the naked).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slips; joined words): Magnam mercedem proposuit: intanta proposita mercede → Magnam mercedem proposuit: in tanta proposita mercede; Jam enim mercede tant pollicitationis ct amore mercedis accensi → Jam enim mercede tantæ pollicitationis et amore mercedis accensi; Quasi jussurusest onera grandia nos portare, forte aliquid fodere, forte aliquam machinamerigere? → Quasi jussurus est onera grandia nos portare, forte aliquid fodere, forte aliquam machinam erigere?; Non est labot erigere fabricam; et labor cst tenerelingnam? → Non est labor erigere fabricam; et labor est tenere linguam?; Et cum hoc leceris, sccurus exspecta vitam et dira bonos. → Et cum hoc feceris, securus exspecta vitam et dies bonos..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 108.7 (PL 38:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/107-1/#p-108-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-108-7) · Report an error

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).