Sermons to the People 154.1–154.17

Augustine of Hippo · Sermons to the People · ca. 391-430 · Hippo Regius · 17 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 154

154.1PL 38:493

Hesternam lectionem de sancti apostoli Pauli Epistola, qui sermoni adfuistis, audistis: illam lectio sequitur quæ hodie recitata est. Adhuc versatur ille difficilis et periculosus locus, quem vobis in adjutorio Domini nostri, qualium me religioso apud eum adjuvatis affectu, pro viribus quas dare dignatur, exponere et enodare suscepimus. Patientiam mihi præbeat Charitas vestra, ut si habeo propter obscuritatem rerum difficilem disputationem, saltem habeam facilem vocem. Si enim utrumque sit difficile, multum laboratur: et utinam non sine causa laboretur. Ut autem prosit labor noster, sit patiens auditus vester. Quia Legem non culpat Apostolus, hesterno die audientibus, qnantum existimo, satisfecimus. Ibi quippe ait: Quid ergo dicemus? Lex peccatum est. Absit. Sed peccatum non cognovi, nisi per legem. Nam concupiscenliam nesciebam, nisi Lex diceret, Non concupisces. Occasione autem accepta, peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. Sine lege enim peccatum mortuum est; id est latet, non apparet. Ego autem vivebam aliquando sine lege: adveniente autem mandato, peccatum revixit. Ego autem mortuus sum, et inventum est mihi mandatum quod erat in vitam ( quid enim tam pertinens ad vitam, quam, Non concupisces?), hoc esse in mortem. Peccatum enim occasione accepta per mandatum fefellit me, et per illud occidit: concupiscentiam terruit, non exstinxit; terruit, nonoppressit; fecit timorem pœna, non amorem justitiæ. Itaque, inquit, lex quidem sancta, et mandatum sanctum, et justum, et bonum. Quod ergo bonum est, mihi factum est mors? Absit. Non enim lex mors, sed peccatum mors. Quid ergo ex occasione mandati? Sed peccatum ut appareat peccatum (latebat enim quando mortuum dicebatur: per bonum mihi operatum est mortem; ut, addita prævaricatione, fiat supra modum peccans peccatum per mandatum; quia prævaricatio peccato non adderetur, si non esset mandatum. Alio enim loco dicit aperte idem apostolus: Ubi enim lex non est, nec prævaricatio Quid ergo? Quid dubitamus ad hoc datam esse Legem, ut inveniret se homo? Quando enim Deus non prohibebat a malo, latebat se homo: vires suas languidas non invenit, nisi quando legem prohibitionis accepit. Invenit ergo se, in malis invenit se. Quo fugit se? Quocumque enim fugerit se, sequitur se. Et quid ei prodest de se invento scientia, quam sauciat conscientia?

Those of you who were present at the sermon heard yesterday's reading from the Epistle of the holy apostle Paul; the reading that was recited today follows it. We are still dealing with that difficult and dangerous passage which, with the help of our Lord, we undertook to expound and unravel for you, as far as the strength he deigns to give allows, and you help me with a devout affection toward him. Let your Charity grant me patience, so that if, because of the obscurity of the matter, I have a difficult discussion, I may at least have an easy voice. For if both are difficult, there is much labor: and would that it were not labor in vain. But for our labor to profit, let your hearing be patient. That the Apostle does not blame the Law we showed, I think, to the satisfaction of those who heard yesterday. For there he says: “What then shall we say? Is the Law sin? Far from it. But I did not know sin except through the Law. For I did not know desire unless the Law had said, ‘You shall not desire.’ But sin, taking the occasion, worked in me through the commandment every kind of desire. For without the Law sin is dead,” that is, it lies hidden, it does not appear. “But I was once alive without the Law; but when the commandment came, sin revived. And I died, and the commandment which was for life (for what pertains so much to life as ‘You shall not desire’?) was found to be for death for me. For sin, taking the occasion through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me”: it frightened desire, it did not extinguish it; it frightened it, it did not crush it; it produced fear of punishment, not love of righteousness. “So,” he says, “the Law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Did what is good, then, become death for me? Far from it.” The Law is not death; sin is death. What then from the occasion of the commandment? “But sin, that it might appear as sin” (for it lay hidden when it was called dead), “worked death for me through what is good, so that,” with transgression added, “sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment”; for transgression would not be added to sin if there were no commandment. For in another place the same apostle says plainly: “For where there is no law, there is no transgression.” What then? Why do we doubt that the Law was given for this, that man might find himself? For when God did not forbid evil, man lay hidden from himself; he did not find his own feeble strength until he received the law of prohibition. So he found himself; he found himself among evils. Where does he flee from himself? Wherever he flees from himself, he follows himself. And what good does knowledge of himself, once found, do him, when conscience wounds him?

Rom 7:7–13 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 4:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Continuing yesterday's sermon on Romans 7, Augustine recalls that the Law is not sin but was given so that man might find himself and his weakness.

This ref is Maurist paragraph 1 of Sermon 154: in this sermon the staged refs 154.2–154.18 are Maurist paragraphs 1–17. Quotations: Rom 7:7–13; Rom 4:15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (Rom 7:13); OCR slips; stray mark): He- Mernam lectionem de sanct! apostoli → Hesternam lectionem de sancti apostoli; qui sennoni adfuistis → qui sermoni adfuistis; saltem habeani facilem vorem → saltem habeam facilem vocem; utrumque sit difficilo → utrumque sit difficile; nisi per legent → nisi per legem; peccatum per mandatum opera tum eat in me omnem concupiscentium Sine lege enin → peccatum per mandatum operatum est in me omnem concupiscentiam. Sine lege enim; et inventum eat mihi → et inventum est mihi; per mandatum (efellit me → per mandatum fefellit me; non ainorem justitiæ. ltaque → non amorem justitiæ. Itaque; Non eum lex mors → Non enim lex mors; peccatum * latebat → peccatum (latebat; operatum est mortem; Ill, addita → operatum est mortem; ut, addita; fiat supra modum peccator aut peccatum → fiat supra modum peccans peccatum; esse Legem, ilL inveniret → esse Legem, ut inveniret.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.1 (PL 38:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-1). (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).

154.2PL 38:493

Loquitur ergo et in ista lectione, quæ hodie recitata est, ille qui invenit se. Scimus, inquit, quia lex spiritualis est; ego autem carnalis sum, venumdatus sub peccato. Quod enim operor, ignoro. Non enim quod volo,hoc ago; sed quod odi, illud facio.Quæritur hoc loco magna diligentia quis intelligatur, utrum ipse Apostolus qui loquebatur; an alium aliquem in se transfiguravit, quem tangeret in se, sicut dixit quodam loco: Hœc autem omnia transfiguravi in me et Apollo propter vos, ut innobis discatis. Si ergo Apostolus loquitur (quod nemo dubitat), et cum dicit, Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud facio, non de altero, sed de se ipso dicit: quid sumus intellecturi, fratres mei? Itane apostolus Paulus nolebat, verbi gratia, facere adulterium, et faciebat adulterium? nolebat esse avarus, et erat avarus? Quis autem nostrum audeat se induere tali blasphemia, ut de Apostolo hoc sentiat? Forte ergo alius est aliquis: forte tu es, aut tu es, aut ille est, aut ego sum. Si ergo aliquis nostrum est, ipsum quasi de ipso audiamus, et non irati nos corrigamus. Si autem ipse est, forte enim et ipse est; non sic intelligamus quod dixit, Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud fucio, tanquam vellet esse castus, et esse adulter; aut vellet esse misericors, et esset crudelis; aut vellet esse pius, et esset impius. Non ad hoc accipiamus, Non enim quod volo, hoc ago; sed quod odi, illud facio.

So in this reading too, which was recited today, it is the man who found himself who speaks. “We know,” he says, “that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I do, I do not know. For I do not do what I want; but what I hate, that I do.” Here it is asked with great care who is to be understood: whether the Apostle himself was speaking, or whether he transferred to himself some other person whom he was touching in himself, as he said in a certain place: “Now all these things I have transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us.” If then the Apostle is speaking (which no one doubts), and when he says, “I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do,” he speaks not of another but of himself, what are we to understand, my brothers? Did the apostle Paul, for example, not want to commit adultery, and yet commit adultery? Did he not want to be greedy, and yet was greedy? Which of us would dare to clothe himself in such a blasphemy as to think this of the Apostle? Perhaps then it is someone else: perhaps it is you, or you, or he, or I. If then it is one of us, let us hear it as though of ourselves, and let us correct ourselves without anger. But if it is he himself (for perhaps it is he himself), let us not understand what he said, “I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do,” as though he wanted to be chaste and was an adulterer, or wanted to be merciful and was cruel, or wanted to be devout and was ungodly. Let us not take “For I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do” in that way.

Rom 7:14–15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine asks whether Paul speaks of himself in Romans 7:14–15 and rules out reading it as if Paul committed the sins he did not want.

Maurist paragraph 2. Quotations: Rom 7:14–15; 1 Cor 4:6 (Old Latin “transfiguravi”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray footnote mark): De se ipso an hic loquatur Apostolus. Loquitur → Loquitur; quæ hodie redtata est → quæ hodie recitata est; utrum ipse Apostolus qui loquebaiur; an alium aliquem in se transfiguravit, qucm tangeret → utrum ipse Apostolus qui loquebatur; an alium aliquem in se transfiguravit, quem tangeret; Si crgo Apostolus loquitur (quod nemo dubitat), et cu:n dicit, Non quod volo ugo; sed quod odi, illud facio, non do allero, sed dc se ipso → Si ergo Apostolus loquitur (quod nemo dubitat), et cum dicit, Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud facio, non de altero, sed de se ipso; nolebat, verbi gratia, faccre adulterium, et faciebat adulteriuin? → nolebat, verbi gratia, facere adulterium, et faciebat adulterium?; audeat se inducre tali → audeat se induere tali; forte tu eSt ant tu es → forte tu es, aut tu es; quasi de ipso audiamus l, et → quasi de ipso audiamus, et; Si aulein ipse cst → Si autem ipse est; aut vellet esset misericors → aut vellet esse misericors; ct esset impius → et esset impius; hocagp; scd quod odi → hoc ago; sed quod odi.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.2 (PL 38:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.3PL 38:493

Sed ad quid? Volo non concupiscere, et concupisco Lex quid dixit? Non concupisces. Homo Legem audivit, vitium agnovit: bellum indixit, captivitatem invenit. Sed forte aliquis homo, non Apostolus. Quid ergo dicimus, fratres mei? Non habebat ullam concupiscentiam Apostolus in carne sua, quam habere nollet; cui tamen existenti, titillanti, suggerenti, sollicitanti, æstuanti, tentanti non consentiret? Dico Charitati vestræ, si crediderimus Apostolum nullam prorsus habuisse infirmitatem concupiscentiæ cui reluctaretur, multum credimus de illo: atque utinam ita sit. Non enim invidere nos oportet Apostolis, sed Apostolos imitari. Verumtamen, charissimi, audio ipsum Apostolum confitentem, nondum eum ad tantam perfectionem justitiæ pervenisse, quantam in Angelis esse credimus: quorum Angelorum æqualitatem speramus, si ad hoc quod volumus perveniamus. Quid enim aliud nobis Dominus promittit in resurrectione, ubi ait: In resurrectione mortuorum neque nubent, neque uxores ducent; non enim incipient mori, sed erunt œquales Angelis Dei?

But to what end? “I want not to desire, and I desire.” What did the Law say? “You shall not desire.” Man heard the Law, recognized the vice, declared war, found captivity. But perhaps it is some man, not the Apostle. What then do we say, my brothers? Did the Apostle have no desire in his flesh which he did not want to have, but which, as it arose, tickled, suggested, solicited, burned, and tempted, he did not consent to? I say to your Charity: if we believe that the Apostle had no weakness of desire whatever against which he struggled, we believe a great deal of him; and would that it were so. For we ought not to envy the apostles, but to imitate the apostles. Yet, dearly beloved, I hear the Apostle himself confessing that he had not yet attained such perfection of righteousness as we believe there is in the angels; and we hope for equality with those angels if we attain to what we desire. For what else does the Lord promise us in the resurrection, where he says: “In the resurrection of the dead they will neither marry nor take wives; for they will not begin to die, but will be equal to the angels of God”?

Exod 20:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 20:35–36 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 22:30 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine asks whether Paul had desires he resisted and notes that Paul himself confesses he had not yet reached the righteousness of the angels promised in the resurrection.

Maurist paragraph 3. Quotations: Exod 20:17 (Rom 7:7); Luke 20:35–36 with Matt 22:30, in Augustine's wording.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): vitiuin agnovit → vitium agnovit; Sed forte aliquis homo, nou Apostolus → Sed forte aliquis homo, non Apostolus; cui tamen exisienti, titillanti, suggerenti, sullicitanti, xstuanti → cui tamen existenti, titillanti, suggerenti, sollicitanti, æstuanti; Dico.Charitati → Dico Charitati; infirmitatem concupiscenti;e cui → infirmitatem concupiscentiæ cui; atque utinam iia sit. Non cnim invidere → atque utinam ita sit. Non enim invidere; nondum euin ad tantam perfectionem justitiæ pervenisse, quartam iti Augelis → nondum eum ad tantam perfectionem justitiæ pervenisse, quantam in Angelis; nou enim incipient mori, sud erunt → non enim incipient mori, sed erunt.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.3 (PL 38:493; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.4PL 38:493–494

Dicit ergo aliquis: Et tu unde scis quia Paulus apostolus angeli justitiam et perfectionem nondum habebat? Non facio injuriam Apostolo, non credo nisi Apostolo, alium testem non quæro; suspicantem non audio, nimium laudantem non curo. Dic mihi, sancte Apostole, de te ipso, ubi nemo dubitat quia de te ipso loqueris. Nam ubi dixisti, Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud facio; existunt qui dicant, quod alium in te nescio quem transfiguraveris laborantem, deficientem, victum, captivum. Tu mihi dic de te, ubi nemo dubitat quia loqueris de te. Fratres, ait Apostolus, ego me ipsum non arbitror apprehendisse. Et quid facis? Unum autem, quæ retro oblitus, in ea quæ ante sunt extentus, secundum intentionem, ait, non secundum perfectionem; secundum intentionem sequor ad palmam supernœ vocationis Dei in Christo Jesu. Supra jam dixerat: Non quia jam acceperim, aut jam perfectus sim. Adhuc contradicitur et dicitur: Dicebat ista Apostolus, quia nondum pervenerat ad immortalitatem; non quia nondum pervenerat ad justitiæ perfectionem. Jam ergo tam justus erat quam sunt Angeli, sed nondum immortalis sicut sunt Angeli. Sic, inquiunt, sic est prorsus. Modo dixisti: Tam erat justus quam sunt Angeli, sed nondum immortalis sicut sunt Angeli. Ergo perfectionem justitiæ jam tenebat, sed sequendo palmam supernam, immortalitatem quærebat.

So someone says: “And how do you know that the apostle Paul did not yet have the righteousness and perfection of an angel?” I do no injury to the Apostle; I believe no one but the Apostle; I seek no other witness. I do not listen to the one who suspects him; I do not care for the one who praises him too much. Tell me, holy Apostle, about yourself, in a place where no one doubts that you speak of yourself. For where you said, “I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do,” there are those who say that you transferred to yourself some other person, struggling, failing, defeated, captive. Tell me of yourself, where no one doubts that you speak of yourself. “Brothers,” says the Apostle, “I do not consider that I have laid hold of it myself.” And what do you do? “But one thing: forgetting what lies behind, stretched out toward what lies ahead”—“according to intention,” he says, not according to perfection—“according to intention I pursue the prize of God's upward calling in Christ Jesus.” Above he had already said: “Not that I have already received it, or am already perfect.” Still they contradict and say: “The Apostle said this because he had not yet reached immortality, not because he had not yet reached perfection of righteousness. So he was already as righteous as the angels are, but not yet immortal as the angels are.” “Yes,” they say, “that is exactly it.” You have just said: “He was as righteous as the angels are, but not yet immortal as the angels are.” So he already held perfection of righteousness, but in pursuing the upward prize he was seeking immortality.

Rom 7:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:12–14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: From Philippians 3 Augustine shows that Paul confessed he was not yet perfect, and states the opponents' reply that Paul lacked only immortality, not perfect righteousness.

Maurist paragraph 4. Quotations: Rom 7:15; Phil 3:13–14, 12 (Augustine's Latin “secundum intentionem”). The opponents are Pelagians, as the sermon's title indicates.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; punctuation slip; stray footnote mark; word divided by a stray mark): perfectionem nonduln ha- Levat? → perfectionem nondum habebat?; nimium laudantem nou curo → nimium laudantem non curo; deficientem, victum 2, captivum → deficientem, victum, captivum; Tu mihi dic de te. ubi → Tu mihi dic de te, ubi; aut jam per. fectus sim → aut jam perfectus sim.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.4 (PL 38:493–494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.5PL 38:494

Dic nobis, sancte Apostole, alium aliquem manifestiorem locum, non ubi quæris immortalitatem, sed ubi confiteris infirmitatem. Et hic jam susurratur, jam contradicitur. Videor mihi audire quorumdam cogitationes, et hic dicitur mihi: Verum est, novi quid dicturus es: confitetur infirmitatem, sed carnis, non mentis; confitetur infirmitatem, sed corporis, non animi: in animo autem est perfecta justitia, non in corpore. Nam quis ignorat utique Apostolum in corpore fuisse fragilem, corpore fuisse mortalem, sicut dicit: Habemus thesaurum istum in vasis fictilibus? Quid tibi ergo cum vase fictili? De thesauro aliquid loquere. Si aliquid minus habuit, si erat quod ei ad aurum justitiæ posset addi, inveniamus. Ipsum audiamus, ne injuriosi existimemur. Et ne magnitudine revelationum mearum, Apostolus dicit: In magnitudine revelationum mearum ne extollar. Nempe hic agnoscitis Apostolum habentem magnitudinem revelationum, et timentem elationis præcipitium. Ut ergo noveris quia et ipse Apostolus, qui volebat alios salvos facere, adhuc curabatur: ut noveris quia et ipse adhuc curabatur; si magnipendis ipsius honorem, audi quid medicus ei apposuerit ad tumorem: audi non me, ipsum audi. Audi confitentem, ut sentias docentem. Audi: Et ne magnitudine revelationum mearum extollar. Ecce jam possum dicere apostolo Paulo: Ne extollaris, sancte Apostole? Tu ne extollaris, adhuc cavendum est? Tu ne extollaris, adhuc timendum est? Tu ne extollaris, adhuc huic infirmitati medicina quærenda est?

Tell us, holy Apostle, some other, plainer place, not where you seek immortality but where you confess weakness. And here already there is whispering, already contradiction. I seem to hear the thoughts of certain people, and here I am told: “True; I know what you are going to say: he confesses weakness, but of the flesh, not of the mind; he confesses weakness, but of the body, not of the soul; but in the soul there is perfect righteousness, not in the body. For who does not know that the Apostle was frail in body, mortal in body, as he says: ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels’?” What then have you to do with the earthen vessel? Say something about the treasure. If it lacked something, if there was anything that could be added to the gold of his righteousness, let us find it. Let us hear him, so that we may not be thought insulting. “In the greatness of my revelations,” the Apostle says, “lest I be lifted up.” Here surely you recognize the Apostle having greatness of revelations and fearing the headlong fall of pride. So that you may know that the Apostle himself, who wanted to save others, was still being healed; so that you may know that he himself was still being healed: if you think much of his honor, hear what the physician applied to him against swelling. Do not hear me; hear him. Hear him confessing, so that you may perceive him teaching. Hear: “And lest I be lifted up by the greatness of my revelations.” Now I can say to the apostle Paul: “Lest you be lifted up, holy Apostle? You—lest you be lifted up—must you still be on guard? You—lest you be lifted up—must you still fear? You—lest you be lifted up—must a remedy still be sought for this weakness?”

2 Cor 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Against the claim that Paul's weakness was only bodily, Augustine points to 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul fears being lifted up by his revelations and receives a remedy.

Maurist paragraph 5. Quotations: 2 Cor 4:7; 2 Cor 12:7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; words run together): non ubi quieris immortalitatem → non ubi quæris immortalitatem; audire quorulndam cogitationes → audire quorumdam cogitationes; thesaurum istumin vasis → thesaurum istum in vasis; Quid libi ergo → Quid tibi ergo; ne injuriosi exislimcmur → ne injuriosi existimemur; Nempe hic agnoscitis Aposlulum → Nempe hic agnoscitis Apostolum; Audi conliicntem → Audi confitentem; Audi: Et tre magnitudine → Audi: Et ne magnitudine; sancte ApoStole Tu. ne extollaris → sancte Apostole? Tu ne extollaris; Tu De extollaris → Tu ne extollaris.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.5 (PL 38:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.6PL 38:494

Quid mihi, inquit, dicis tu? Et tu audi quid sim; et noli altum sapere, sed time. Audi quomodo brevis agnus ingrediatur, ubi aries sic periclitatur. Ne magnitudine, inquit, revelationum mearum extollar, datus est mihi stimulus carnis meœ, angelus satanæ, qui me colaphizet. Qualem tumorem timuit, qui mordacissimum epithema accepit? Jam ergo modo dic quia tanta in illo erat justitia, quanta est in Angelis sanctis. An forte et angelus sanctus in cœlo, ne extollatur, accipit stimulum angelum satanæ, a quo colaphizetur? Absit hoc de sanctis Angelis suspicari. Homines sumus, Apostolos sanctos homines agnoscamus; vasa electa, sed adhuc fragilia; adhuc in hac carne pcregrinantes, nondum in cœlesti patria triumphantes. Ergo quoniam Dominum ter rogavit, ut ab illo iste stimulus auferretur; nec auditus est ad voluntatem, quia exauditus est ad sanitatem (II Cor. XII, 7-9); forte non indecenter ipse loquitur, ubi dicit, Scimus autem quia Lex spiritualis est; ego autem carnalis sum.

“What are you saying to me?” he says. And you, hear what I am; and “do not be high-minded, but fear.” Hear how a little lamb should enter where a ram is in such danger. “Lest I be lifted up,” he says, “by the greatness of my revelations, there was given me a goad of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.” What swelling did he fear, who received so very biting a plaster? Now say, then, that there was as much righteousness in him as there is in the holy angels. Or does a holy angel in heaven too, lest he be lifted up, receive a goad, an angel of Satan, to buffet him? Far be it from us to suspect this of the holy angels. We are men; let us recognize the apostles as holy men: chosen vessels, but still fragile; still journeying as pilgrims in this flesh, not yet triumphing in the heavenly homeland. Since, therefore, he asked the Lord three times that this goad be taken away from him, and was not heard according to his wish because he was heard for his healing, perhaps it is not unfitting that he himself is the one who speaks where he says, “We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal.”

Rom 11:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:7–9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul's thorn in the flesh, given lest he be proud, shows he was not equal to the angels, so he may well be speaking of himself in Romans 7:14.

Maurist paragraph 6. Quotations: Rom 11:20; 2 Cor 12:7–9; Rom 7:14. “Plaster” renders epithema, a medical dressing.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): qui mordacissinium epithema → qui mordacissimum epithema; in cœlo, ue extollatur → in cœlo, ne extollatur; suspicaii. Homines surIus, Apostol is sanctos → suspicari. Homines sumus, Apostolos sanctos; nonium in cœlesti → nondum in cœlesti; quoniam Dominiumter rogavit → quoniam Dominum ter rogavit; "qnia exauditus est ad sanitatem (IlCor. XII, 7-9) → quia exauditus est ad sanitatem (II Cor. XII, 7-9); Lex spiritualis eat; ego autem carnalis sum. → Lex spiritualis est; ego autem carnalis sum..

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.6 (PL 38:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.7PL 38:494

Ergo carnalis Apostolus, qui aliis dicebat, Vos qui spirituales estis, instruite hujusmodi in spiritu lenitatis? alios tanquam spirituales alloquitur, et ipse carnalis est? Sed quid dixit et ipsis spiritualibus, quia nondum erant in perfectione coelesti et angelica, nondum erant in illius patriæ securitate, sed in hujus peregrinationis sollicitudine versabantur? quid eis dixit? Certe spirituales eos vocavit: Vos, inquit, qui spirituales estis, instruite hujusmodi in spiritu lenitatis, intendens te ipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Ecce, quem spiritualem jam appellavit, timuit illi tentationis fragilitatem, unde posset tentari spiritualis, etsi non ex mente, utique ex carne. Spiritualis enim, quia secundum spiritum vivit; adhuc autem ex parte mortali carnalis: idem spiritualis, idemque carnalis. Ecce spiritualis: Mente servio legi Dei. Ecce carnalis: carne autem legi peccati. Idem ergo ipse et spiritualis et carnalis? Idem plane, quamdiu hic vivit, sic est.

So the Apostle is carnal, who said to others, “You who are spiritual, instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness”? Does he address others as spiritual, while he himself is carnal? But what did he say even to those spiritual people, since they were not yet in heavenly and angelic perfection, not yet in the security of that homeland, but were living amid the anxiety of this pilgrimage? What did he say to them? Certainly he called them spiritual: “You who are spiritual,” he says, “instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.” See: the one he had already called spiritual he feared for, because of the frailty to temptation by which a spiritual man could be tempted—if not from the mind, then certainly from the flesh. For he is spiritual because he lives according to the Spirit; but he is still carnal in his mortal part: the same man spiritual, the same man carnal. Here is the spiritual man: “With the mind I serve the law of God.” Here is the carnal man: “but with the flesh the law of sin.” Is the same man, then, both spiritual and carnal? Plainly the same; so it is as long as he lives here.

Gal 6:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:25 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Even those Paul calls spiritual can be tempted through the flesh, so the same person in this life is both spiritual in mind and carnal in flesh.

Maurist paragraph 7. Quotations: Gal 6:1; Rom 7:25.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; words run together): et ipse earnalis est? Scd quid → et ipse carnalis est? Sed quid; quid eisdixit? → quid eis dixit?; instruite liujusmodi → instruite hujusmodi; jam appellavit, tiinuit illi → jam appellavit, timuit illi.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.7 (PL 38:494; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.8PL 38:494–495

Noli mirari, quisquis es, quicumque carnalibus concupiscentiis cedis atque consentis, qui eas vel bonas putas ad explendam libidinis saturitatem, vel certe sic jam vides malas, ut eis tamen cedendo consentias, et quo ducunt sequaris, et ea quæ mala suggerunt perpetres; totus carnalis es. Tu, tu quisquis talis es, totus carnalis es. Si autem concupiscis quidem, quod Lex vetat, cum dicit, Non concupisces; servas tamen aliud quod item Lex jubet, Post concupiscentias tuas non eas: mente spiritualis es, carne carnalis. Aliud est enim, non concupiscere; aliud, post concupiscentias suas non ire. Non concupiscere, omnino perfecti est; post concupiscentias suas non ire, pugnantis est, luctantis est, laborantis est. Ubi fervet pugna, quare desperatur victoria? Quando erit victoria? Quando absorbebitur mors in victoriam. Tunc enim vox erit triumphantis, non sudor pugnantis. Quæ futura est vox illa triumphantis, cum corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem? Vides victorem, audi exsultantem, exspecta triumphantem. Tunc fiet sermo qui scriptus est, Absorpta est mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus ( I Cor. xv, 53- 55)? Ubi est? Ecce erat, et non est. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? Ecce mortis contentio: Non quod volo ago. Ecce mortis contentio: Scimus quia lex spiritualis est; ego autem carnalis sum. Si ergo Apostolus de se ipso dicit; si dico, non confirmo: si Apostolus dicit, Scimus quia lex spiritualis est, ego autem carnalis sum; mente enim spiritualis, corpore carnalis: quando totus spiritualis? Cum, Seminatur corpus animale, resurget corpus spirituale. Modo ergo quando fervet mortis contentio, non quod volo ago: ex parte spiritualis, ex parte carnalis; ex parte meliore spiritualis, ex parte inferiore carnalis. Adhuc confligo, nondum vici: magnum mihi est non vinci. Non quod volo, hoc ago; quod odi, illud facio. Quid facis? Concupisco. Etsi concupiscentiæ non consentio, etsi post concupiscentias meas non eo; tamen adhuc concupisco: et utique etiam in ipsa parte ego sum.

Do not wonder, whoever you are who yield to and consent to carnal desires, who either think them good for satisfying the fullness of lust, or at least already see them as evil yet consent by yielding to them, follow where they lead, and commit the evils they suggest: you are wholly carnal. You, you, whoever you are of this kind, are wholly carnal. But if you do desire what the Law forbids when it says, “You shall not desire,” and yet keep another thing that the Law likewise commands, “Do not go after your desires,” you are spiritual in mind, carnal in flesh. For it is one thing not to desire, another not to go after one's desires. Not to desire belongs to one who is wholly perfect; not to go after one's desires belongs to one who is fighting, struggling, laboring. Where the fight is hot, why despair of victory? When will the victory be? When death is swallowed up in victory. For then there will be the voice of one triumphing, not the sweat of one fighting. What will that voice of one triumphing be? When this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality. You see the victor; hear him exulting; wait for him triumphing. Then will come the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your contention? Where, O death, is your sting?” Where is it? See, it was, and it is not. “Where, O death, is your contention?” Here is death's contention: “I do not do what I want.” Here is death's contention: “We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal.” If then the Apostle speaks of himself—I say “if”; I do not assert it—if the Apostle says, “We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal,” spiritual indeed in mind, carnal in body, when will he be wholly spiritual? When “it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body.” Now then, while death's contention is hot, “I do not do what I want”: partly spiritual, partly carnal; in the better part spiritual, in the lower part carnal. I am still in conflict; I have not yet won; it is a great thing for me not to be beaten. “I do not do what I want; what I hate, that I do.” What do you do? I desire. Even if I do not consent to desire, even if I do not go after my desires, yet I still desire: and certainly in that part too it is I.

Exod 20:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:53–55 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:14–15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine distinguishes the wholly carnal man who consents to desire from the fighter who desires but does not follow his desires, whose victory comes only in the resurrection.

Maurist paragraph 8. Quotations: Exod 20:17; Sir 18:30 (“Do not go after your desires”); 1 Cor 15:53–55 (Augustine's Latin “contentio” for “victory/strife”); 1 Cor 15:44; Rom 7:14–15. Augustine states his reading tentatively (“si dico, non confirmo”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; punctuation lost): libidinis saluritatem → libidinis saturitatem; ut eis tainen cedendo consentias, et quo ducunt sequaris, ei ea quæ → ut eis tamen cedendo consentias, et quo ducunt sequaris, et ea quæ; omnino perrecti est → omnino perfecti est; cum corruptibile hoe induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit iuimortalitatem? Vides victorem, audi exsultantem. exspecta → cum corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem? Vides victorem, audi exsultantem, exspecta; Absorpta eat mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? ubi eat, mors → Absorpta est mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? ubi est, mors; ego autem carnalis sunt.Si ergo → ego autem carnalis sum. Si ergo; ego autem carnalis sum mente enim → ego autem carnalis sum; mente enim; ex parte meliore spirituaJis → ex parte meliore spiritualis; quod adi, illud facio → quod odi, illud facio.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 18:30 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Ethics, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.8 (PL 38:494–495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.9PL 38:495

Non enim ego in mente, et alius in carne. Sed quid? Igitur ipse ego; quia ego in mente, ego in carne. Non enim duæ naturæ contrariæ, sed et utraque unus homo: quia unus Deus, a quo factus est homo. Igitur ipse ego, ego ipse, mente servio legi Dei, carne autem legi peccati. Mente non consentio legi peccati: sed tamen nollem esset in membris meis lex ulla peccati. Quia ergo nollem, et tamen est; non quod volo ago: quia concupisco, et nolo, non quod volo ago; sed quod odi illud facio. Quid odi? Concupiscere. Odi concupiscere, et tamen ago illud carne, non mente:Quod odi, illud facio.

For it is not I in the mind and another in the flesh. But what? “So then I myself”; because it is I in the mind, I in the flesh. For there are not two contrary natures, but both are one man, because there is one God by whom man was made. “So then I myself, I myself, with the mind serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” With the mind I do not consent to the law of sin; but still I would wish there were no law of sin at all in my members. Because then I would not wish it, and yet it is there, “I do not do what I want”: because I desire and do not want to, “I do not do what I want; but what I hate, that I do.” What do I hate? To desire. I hate to desire, and yet I do it with the flesh, not with the mind: “What I hate, that I do.”

Rom 7:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The one man, made by one God, is the same self in mind and flesh, hating the desire he still feels.

Maurist paragraph 9. Quotations: Rom 7:25; Rom 7:15. “There are not two contrary natures” is aimed at the Manichaean view.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Non enim duæ natura contrariæ, sed ei utraque → Non enim duæ naturæ contrariæ, sed et utraque; Odi concupiScere → Odi concupiscere.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.9 (PL 38:495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.10PL 38:495

Si autem quod nolo, illud facio; consentio legi, quoniam bona est. Quid est hoe, Si quod nolo, illud facio; consentio Legi, quoniam bona est? Consentires legi, si quod vellet faceres: facis quod lex odit, quomodo consentis legi? Prorsus, Si quod nolo, hoc facio; consentio legi, quoniam bona est. Quomodo? Quia jubet lex, Non concupisces, Quid volo ego? non concupiscere? Volendo quod vult lex, consentio legi, quoniam bona est. Si diceret lex, Non concupisces, et ego vellem concupiscere; non consentirem legi, et omnino ab illa voluntatis perversitate diversus existerem. Dicente enim lege, Non concupisces, et ego vellem concupiscere; non consentio legi Dei. Quid modo? quid dicis, o lex? Non concupisces. Et ego nolo concupiscere, et ego nolo; quod non vis, nolo: ideo consentio, quia quod non vis, nolo. Non implet legem infirmitas mea: sed Legem laudat voluntas mea. Ergo si quod nolo, hoc ago; ideo consentio legi, quia nolo quod non vult, non quia ago quod nolo. Ipsum enim agere concupiscere est, non concupiscentiæ consentire: ne aliquis jam in Apostolo peccandi sibi quærat exemplum, et det malum exemplum. Non quod volo ago. Quid enim lex dicit? Non concupisces. Et ego nolo concupiscere, et tamen concupisco; quamvis concupiscentiæ meæ assensum non præbeam quamvis post eam non eam. Resisto enim, averto mentem, nego arma, teneo membra; et tamen fit in me quod nolo. Quod non vult lex, nolo cum lege; quod non vult, nolo: ergo consentio legi.

“But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law that it is good.” What is this: “If I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law that it is good”? You would agree with the Law if you did what it wants; you do what the Law hates—how do you agree with the Law? Exactly so: “If I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law that it is good.” How? Because the Law commands, “You shall not desire.” What do I want? Not to desire. By wanting what the Law wants, I agree with the Law that it is good. If the Law said, “You shall not desire,” and I wanted to desire, I would not agree with the Law, and I would stand entirely apart from it by that perversity of will. For when the Law says, “You shall not desire,” and I want to desire, I do not agree with the law of God. What now? What do you say, O Law? “You shall not desire.” And I do not want to desire; I do not want it; what you do not want, I do not want: so I agree, because what you do not want, I do not want. My weakness does not fulfill the Law, but my will praises the Law. So “if I do what I do not want,” I agree with the Law because I do not want what it does not want, not because I do what I do not want. For the very doing is desiring, not consenting to desire—lest anyone now seek in the Apostle an example for sinning, and give a bad example. “I do not do what I want.” For what does the Law say? “You shall not desire.” And I do not want to desire, and yet I desire, although I do not give assent to my desire, although I do not go after it. For I resist, I turn my mind away, I refuse it weapons, I hold my members in check; and yet what I do not want happens in me. What the Law does not want, I do not want along with the Law; what it does not want, I do not want: so I agree with the Law.

Rom 7:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul agrees with the Law because his will rejects the desire the Law forbids, even though he still feels it; the “doing” is desiring, not consenting.

Maurist paragraph 10. Quotations: Rom 7:16; Exod 20:17; Rom 7:15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slips; OCR slip; OCR slips): Consentiens cum lege.- Si aulem quod nolo, illud facio; coMMento legi, quoniam bona eat. → Si autem quod nolo, illud facio; consentio legi, quoniam bona est.; consentio Legi, quomam bona eat? → consentio Legi, quoniam bona est?; Prorsus, Si quod nolo, hoc facto; → Prorsus, Si quod nolo, hoc facio;; Qnomodo? Quia jubet → Quomodo? Quia jubet; et ego vellent concupiscere → et ego vellem concupiscere; Ergo si quod nolo, hec ago; → Ergo si quod nolo, hoc ago;; averto mentem, nogo arma → averto mentem, nego arma; nolo com lege → nolo cum lege; ergo consenlio legi → ergo consentio legi.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.10 (PL 38:495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.11PL 38:495

Sed quia ego sum in carne; ego sum in mente; sed magis ego sum in mente, quam in carne. Quia enim ego sum in mente, ego sum in regente: mens enim regit, caro regitur: et magis sum ego in eo quo rego, quam in eo in quo regor. Quia ergo magis ego in mente: Nunc autem jam non ego operor illud. Nunc autem, quid est? Nunc autem, jam redemptus, qui fui antea sub peccato venumdatus, jam accepta gratia Salvatoris, ut mente condelecter legi Dei, non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat in me peccatum. Scio enim quia non habitat in me. Iterum ergo in me: audi quod sequitur, hoc est in carne mea bonum. Velle enim mihi adjacet. Scio. Quid scis? Quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Jamdudum dixeras, Quod operor, ignoro. Si ignoras, quomodo scis? Modo dicis, Ignoro; modo dicis, Scio: ego quomodo intelligam, nescio. An hoc est quod intelligo? Ubi enim ait, Quod operor, ignoro; dixit ignoro, non approbo, non accepto, non mihi placet, non consentio, non laudo. Non enim et Christus eos ignorabit, quibus dicturus est, Non novi vos. Prorsus etiam hoc intelligo, Quod enim operor, ignoro: quia quod non facio, ignoro. Non enim ego operor illud, sed id quod in me habitat peccatum. Ideo ignoro: quia non ego facio, sicut dictum est de Domino, Eum qui non noverat peccatum. Quid est, non noverat? Ergo non noverat quod arguebat? non noverat quod puniebat? Si ergo non noverat quod puniebat, injuste puniebat. Quia vero juste puniebat, noverat quod puniebat. Et tamen peccatum non noverat, quia peccatum non fecerat. Quod enim operor, ignoro: non enim quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud facio. Si autem quod nolo, hoc facio; consentio legi, quoniam bona est. Nunc autem, accepta jam gratia, non ego operor illud: libera est mens, caro captiva. Non ego operor illud, sed id quod in me habitat peccatum. Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum.

But since it is I in the flesh and I in the mind, yet I am more in the mind than in the flesh: for because I am in the mind, I am in what rules; for the mind rules, the flesh is ruled; and I am more in that by which I rule than in that in which I am ruled. Since then I am more in the mind: “But now it is no longer I who do it.” What is “but now”? Now that I am redeemed, I who was before sold under sin; now that I have received the grace of the Savior so as to delight with my mind in the law of God, “it is not I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that there does not dwell in me”—again “in me”; hear what follows—“that is, in my flesh, any good. For to will is present to me.” “I know.” What do you know? “That there does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh, any good.” A while ago you had said, “What I do, I do not know.” If you do not know, how do you know? Now you say, “I do not know”; now you say, “I know”: how I am to understand it, I do not know. Or is this what I understand? Where he says, “What I do, I do not know,” he said “I do not know” meaning: I do not approve, I do not accept, it does not please me, I do not consent, I do not praise. For so Christ too will not know those to whom he will say, “I do not know you.” Indeed I understand this too: “For what I do, I do not know,” because what I do not do, I do not know. “For it is not I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me.” Therefore I do not know it, because I do not do it, as it was said of the Lord: “Him who did not know sin.” What is “did not know”? Did he then not know what he rebuked? Did he not know what he punished? If he did not know what he punished, he punished unjustly. But because he punished justly, he knew what he punished. And yet he did not know sin, because he had not committed sin. “For what I do, I do not know; for I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do. But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the Law that it is good. But now,” grace being already received, “it is not I who do it”: the mind is free, the flesh captive. “It is not I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. For I know that there does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh, any good.”

Rom 7:15–18 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Since a person is chiefly in the ruling mind, the redeemed Paul can say it is not he but sin in the flesh that acts; “I do not know” means “I do not approve,” as Christ “did not know sin.”

Maurist paragraph 11. Quotations: Rom 7:15–18; Matt 7:23; 2 Cor 5:21.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): Quia enim cgo sum in mente, ego sum in regente: mens cnim regit → Quia enim ego sum in mente, ego sum in regente: mens enim regit; et magis suin ego → et magis sum ego; Nunc autem jam nan ego operor illud. Nunc autem, quid est? Nuncautem, jam redemptus, qui tui antea → Nunc autem jam non ego operor illud. Nunc autem, quid est? Nunc autem, jam redemptus, qui fui antea; non ego operor illud, æd quod habitat → non ego operor illud, sed quod habitat; Prorsus eliam hoc intelligo → Prorsus etiam hoc intelligo; sed id quod in nee habitat peccatum → sed id quod in me habitat peccatum; Si ergo non noverat quod punicbat, injuste puniebat. Quia vero juste puniebat, noverat quod punicbat. → Si ergo non noverat quod puniebat, injuste puniebat. Quia vero juste puniebat, noverat quod puniebat.; quia peccatum non recerat → quia peccatum non fecerat; libera cst mens, caro capliva → libera est mens, caro captiva; hoc eat in carne mea, bonum. → hoc est in carne mea, bonum..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.11 (PL 38:495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.12PL 38:495

Velle enim adjacet mihi, perficere autem bonum non adjacet. Adjacet velle, perficere non adjacet. Non dixit, facere; sed, perficere. Non enim nihil facis. Rebellat concupiscentia, et non consentis; delectat uxor aliena, et non annuis, mentem avertis, in secretarium mentis intras. Vides foris strepentem concupiscentiam, profers adversus eam sententiam, mundans conscientiam. Nolo; inquis, non facio. Puta quia delectat, non facio, habeo cui condelecter. Condelector enim legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Quid tu de carne tua tumultuaris? Quid delectationes stultas, temporales fluxas, vanas, noxias, tumultuose suggeris et eas quasi garrula mihi narras? Narraverunt mihi injusti delectationes. Inde est et ista concupiscentia. Narrat mihi delectationes, sed non sicut lex tua, Domine. Condelector enim legi Dei: non de me, sed de gratia Dei. Tu concupiscentia in carne tumultuans, mentem tibi non subdis. In Deo sperabo; non timebo quid faciat mihi caro. Mihi, hoc est, mente non consentiente, tumultuatur caro. In Deo, inquit, sperabo; non timebo quid faciat mihi caro. Sicut nec aliena, ita nec mea. Qui ergo in se hæc agit, nihil facit? Multum facit: magnum est quod facit, sed tamen non perficit. Quid est enim perficere? Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? Ergo, Velle adjacet mihi, perficere autem bonum non.

“For to will is present to me, but to accomplish the good is not present.” To will is present; to accomplish is not present. He did not say “to do,” but “to accomplish.” For you are not doing nothing. Desire rebels, and you do not consent; another man's wife delights you, and you do not nod assent; you turn your mind away, you enter the inner room of the mind. You see desire making a din outside; you pronounce sentence against it, cleansing your conscience. “I do not want it,” you say, “I do not do it.” Suppose it delights; I do not do it; I have something to delight in with. “For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man.” Why do you riot, out of my flesh? Why do you riotously suggest foolish, temporal, fleeting, empty, harmful delights, and tell them to me like a chatterbox? “The unjust have told me of delights.” From there comes this desire too. It tells me of delights, but not like your law, O Lord. “For I delight in the law of God”: not of myself, but of the grace of God. You, desire, rioting in the flesh, do not subject the mind to yourself. “In God I will hope; I will not fear what the flesh may do to me.” “To me,” he says: that is, with the mind not consenting, the flesh riots. “In God,” he says, “I will hope; I will not fear what the flesh may do to me”: neither another's flesh nor my own. Does the one who does these things in himself, then, do nothing? He does much: what he does is great, and yet he does not accomplish. For what is it to accomplish? “Where, O death, is your contention?” So: “To will is present to me, but to accomplish the good is not.”

Rom 7:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:85 (118:85 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 56:4 (55:5 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:55 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul can will and resist but not yet accomplish the good, for desire still riots in the flesh until death's contention ends; resisting is much, but not perfection.

Maurist paragraph 12. The opening words (Rom 7:18), removed at import as part of Migne's marginal heading, are restored. Quotations: Rom 7:18, 22; Ps 119:85 (118:85 Vulg.); Ps 56:4 (55:5 Vulg.); 1 Cor 15:55.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; restored text removed as a heading; word divided): Non dixit, facere → Velle enim adjacet mihi, perficere autem bonum non adjacet. Adjacet velle, perficere non adjacet. Non dixit, facere; Puta quia deleclat → Puta quia delectat; In Deo sperabo; nou timebo → In Deo sperabo; non timebo; Me, DIC, hoc est → Mihi, hoc est; tumultu atur caro → tumultuatur caro; Qui ergo ill se hæc agit, nihil facit Multum facit → Qui ergo in se hæc agit, nihil facit? Multum facit; Quid est roim perficere? → Quid est enim perficere?.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.12 (PL 38:495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.13PL 38:495–496

Non enim quod volo, facio bonum; sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago. Et repetit, Si autem quod nolo ego, hoc facio, id est, concupisco; jam non ego operor illud, sed id quod in me habitat peccatum. Invenio ergo legem mihi volenti facere bonum. Bonum invenio legem; bonum est lex, bonum aliquid est lex. Unde probo? Quia implere volo. Invenio ergo legem mihi volenti facere bonum; quoniam mihi malum adjacet. Et hoc mihi. Non enim caro non mea, aut de alia substantia caro, aut de alio principio caro, aut anima ex Deo, et caro de gente tenebrarum. Absit! Languor repugnat sanitati. Semivivus jacet in via, curatur adhuc, sanantur omnes languores ejus. Non quod volo ago; sed quod odi, illud facio. Si autem quod nolo ego, illud facio; invenio ergo legem volenti mihi facere bonum, quoniam mihi malum adjacet. Quod malum?.

“For I do not do the good that I want; but the evil that I do not want, that I do.” And he repeats: “But if I do what I do not want”—that is, I desire—“it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. So I find the Law, for me who wants to do good.” I find the Law good; the Law is good, the Law is something good. How do I prove it? Because I want to fulfill it. “So I find the Law, for me who wants to do good; because evil is present to me.” And this “to me.” For the flesh is not someone else's, or flesh of another substance, or flesh from another principle, or the soul from God and the flesh from the race of darkness. Far from it! Sickness resists health. The half-dead man lies in the road; he is still being cured; all his sicknesses are being healed. “I do not do what I want; but what I hate, that I do. But if I do what I do not want, I find then the Law, for me who wants to do good, because evil is present to me.” What evil?

Rom 7:19–21 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 103:3 (102:3 Vulg.) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The evil present to Paul is not a second substance, as the Manichees hold, but a sickness of his own flesh being healed like the half-dead man by the road.

Maurist paragraph 13. Quotations: Rom 7:19–21, 15; allusions to Luke 10:30 and Ps 103:3 (102:3 Vulg.). “The race of darkness” is the Manichaean teaching.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips): sed quod nolo matum, hoc ago → sed quod nolo malum, hoc ago; jam non ego op ror illud → jam non ego operor illud; Et hoc milii. Non-enim caro → Et hoc mihi. Non enim caro; ct caro de gente tcnebrarum → et caro de gente tenebrarum; Non qnod volo ago → Non quod volo ago.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.13 (PL 38:495–496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.14PL 38:496

Condelector enim legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem. Video aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meæ, et captivum me ducentem in lege peccati, quœ est in membris meis: captivum, sed ex carne; captivum, sed ex parte. Nam mens repugnat, et condelectatur legi Dei. Sic enim intelligere debemus, si de se ipso Apostolus loquitur. Jam ergo si mens non consentit peccato titillanti, suggerenti, blandienti; si mens non consentit, quoniam habet alias interius delectationes suas, delectationibus carnis ex nulla parte conferendas: si ergo non consentit, et est in me quiddam mortuum, et quiddam vivum, mors adhuc contendit, sed mens viva non consentit. Numquid ipsa mors non est in te? Numquid illud quod mortuum est, non pertinet ad te? Adhuc tibi est contentio. Quid etiam inde sperandum est?

“For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive in the law of sin which is in my members”: captive, but from the flesh; captive, but in part. For the mind resists and delights in the law of God. So we must understand it, if the Apostle is speaking of himself. If then the mind does not consent to sin as it tickles, suggests, and flatters—if the mind does not consent because it has other inner delights of its own, in no way to be compared with the delights of the flesh—if then it does not consent, and yet there is in me something dead and something alive, death still contends, but the living mind does not consent. Is not that death itself in you? Does not that which is dead belong to you? You still have the contention. What, then, is to be hoped for even here?

Rom 7:22–23 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul is captive only in the flesh and in part, since his mind delights in God's law; yet the dead part still belongs to him and the contest goes on.

Maurist paragraph 14. Quotations: Rom 7:22–23.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips; stray footnote mark; words run together): Idem tractatur argumentum.- Condelector → Condelector; et captivum me ducentemin lege → et captivum me ducentem in lege; captivum, sed ex porte. Nam mens rcpuguat, et condelectatur legi Dui. → captivum, sed ex parte. Nam mens repugnat, et condelectatur legi Dei.; Jim ergo si mens non consenlil peccato → Jam ergo si mens non consentit peccato; si mens non consentit, quoniun habet → si mens non consentit, quoniam habet; et quidam vivum2, mors adhuc contendit, sod mensviva → et quiddam vivum, mors adhuc contendit, sed mens viva; Quid eliam iside sperandum est? → Quid etiam inde sperandum est?.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.14 (PL 38:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.15PL 38:496

Miser ergo homo: etsi non in mente, tamen in carne miser homo. Non enim in mente homo, et in carne non homo. Quis enim unquam carnem suam odio habuit? Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Quid est hoc, fratres? Quasi carere vult corpore. Quid festinas? Si tantum ibi est intentio tua, ut corpore careas; mors quandoque ventura est, et te ab isto corpore mortis dies adveniens ultimus procul dubio liberabit. Quid est quod pro magno gemis? Quid est quod dicis, Quis me liberabit? Mortalis loqueris, moriturus loqueris. Separatio mentis a carne quandoque ventura est: propter brevitatem vitæ nunquam longe est: propter quotidianos casus quando sit, nescis. Ergo sive festines, sive tardes, omnis vita humana brevis est: quid pro magno gemis, et dicis, Quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus?

So a wretched man: if not in the mind, still in the flesh a wretched man. For he is not a man in the mind and not a man in the flesh. For who ever hated his own flesh? “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” What is this, brothers? It is as if he wants to be rid of the body. Why are you in a hurry? If your aim there is only to be rid of the body, death will come some day, and the last day, when it comes, will without doubt deliver you from this body of death. Why do you groan over it as something great? Why do you say, “Who will deliver me?” You speak as a mortal; you speak as one who will die. The separation of the mind from the flesh will come some day: because of the shortness of life it is never far off; because of daily accidents you do not know when it will be. So whether you hurry or delay, all human life is short: why do you groan over it as something great and say, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?”

Eph 5:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:24 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine asks why Paul groans to be delivered from the body of death, if he meant only the bodily death that comes to everyone soon enough.

Maurist paragraph 15. Quotations: Eph 5:29; Rom 7:24.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slips): Idenł tractatur argumentum.- Miser → Miser; carnem suain odio → carnem suam odio; de corpore mortia hujus?Quid est hoc, t'ratres? → de corpore mortis hujus? Quid est hoc, fratres?; Si tantum ibi eat intentio → Si tantum ibi est intentio; propter brevitatcm vitæ nunqnam longe → propter brevitatem vitæ nunquam longe; sivc festines, sive tardes, oninis vita → sive festines, sive tardes, omnis vita.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.15 (PL 38:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.16PL 38:496

Et adjungit: Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Pagani enim qui non habent gratiam Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, non morientur? non quandoque die ultimo a carne solventur? non illo die a corpore mortis hujus liberabuntur? Tu quid est quod pro magno gratiæ Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum vis tribuere, quia de corpore mortis hujus liberaberis? Respondet tibi Apostolus, si sensum ejus cepimus, imo quia Domino adjuvante, sine dubio cepimus; respondet tibi Apostolus, et dicit: Scio quid loquar. Paganos dicis liberari a corpore mortis hujus, quia veniet dies ultimus vitæ hujus, et solventur ad tempus a corpore mortis hujus. Veniet et dies, quando omnes qui sunt in monumentis audient vocem ejus; et procedent qui bona fecerunt, in resurrectionem vitæ: ecce liberati a corpore mortis hujus. Qui mala fecerunt, in resurrectionem judicii: ecce redierunt ad corpus mortis hujus. Corpus mortis hujus redit ad impium, nec inde aliquando solvetur. Tunc non erit vita æterna, sed mors æterna, quia poena æterna.

And he adds: “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” For will not the pagans, who do not have the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, die? Will they not some day, on their last day, be released from the flesh? Will they not on that day be delivered from the body of this death? Why then do you want to attribute, as something great, to the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord that you will be delivered from the body of this death? The Apostle answers you—if we have grasped his meaning, or rather, since with the Lord's help we have grasped it without doubt—the Apostle answers you and says: I know what I am saying. You say that pagans are delivered from the body of this death because the last day of this life will come and they will be released for a time from the body of this death. But the day will also come when “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice; and those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life”: see, these are delivered from the body of this death. “Those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment”: see, these have returned to the body of this death. The body of this death returns to the ungodly, and he will never be released from it. Then there will be not eternal life but eternal death, because eternal punishment.

Rom 7:25 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:28–29 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Deliverance by grace is not mere bodily death, which pagans also undergo, but the resurrection to life, while the wicked rise again to the body of death forever.

Maurist paragraph 16. Quotations: Rom 7:25; John 5:28–29.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; words run together): Dominum nostrum.Pagani enim qui non habent gratiam Dci → Dominum nostrum. Pagani enim qui non habent gratiam Dei; a corpore rnortis hujus liberahuntur? → a corpore mortis hujus liberabuntur?; per Jesum ChristumDominum nostrum vis tribuere, qni:. de corpore → per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum vis tribuere, quia de corpore; imo quia Domino adjuvante, siue dubio cepimus → imo quia Domino adjuvante, sine dubio cepimus; omnes qui sunt inmonumentis → omnes qui sunt in monumentis; ecce rcdicrunt ad corpus → ecce redierunt ad corpus; redit ad impium, nee inde → redit ad impium, nec inde; sed mors æterna, qnia poena → sed mors æterna, quia poena.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.16 (PL 38:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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154.17PL 38:496

Tu autem, o Christiane, roga quantum potes, exclama et dic: Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Respondetur tibi: securus efficeris, non de te, sed de Domino tuo; securus efficeris de pignore tuo. Spera cum Christo regnum Christi, jam pignus tenes sanguinem Christi. Dic, dic, Quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? ut respondeatur tibi, Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Non enim sic liberaberis de corpore mortis hujus, ut hoc corpus non habeas. Habebis, sed jam non mortis hujus. Ipsum erit, sed non ipsum erit. Ipsum erit, quia ipsa caro erit: non ipsum erit, quia mortale non erit. Sic, sic liberaberis a corpore mortis hujus, ut mortale hoc induat immortalitatem, et corruptibile hoc induat incorruptionem. A quo? per quem? Gratia Dei, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Quia per unum hominem mors, et per unum hominem resurrectio mortuorum. Sicut in Adam omnes moriuntur: inde est quod gemis. In Adam omnes moriuntur: inde est quod gemis, inde est quod cum morte confligis, inde est corpus mortis hujus. Sed sicut in Adam omnes moriuntur, sic et in Christo omnes vivificabuntur. Vivificatus accepto corpore immortali, ubi dicas, Ubi est, mors contentio tua? liberatus eris a corpore mortis hujus: non tamen virtute tua, sed gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.

But you, O Christian, pray as much as you can; cry out and say: “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?” You are answered: you are made secure, not of yourself but of your Lord; you are made secure by your pledge. Hope with Christ for the kingdom of Christ; you already hold the pledge, the blood of Christ. Say, say, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” so that you may be answered, “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” For you will not be delivered from the body of this death in such a way that you will not have this body. You will have it, but no longer of this death. It will be the same, and it will not be the same. It will be the same, because it will be the same flesh; it will not be the same, because it will not be mortal. So, so will you be delivered from the body of this death, that this mortal will put on immortality and this corruptible will put on incorruption. By whom? Through whom? “The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “For since through one man came death, through one man came also the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die”: that is why you groan. “In Adam all die”: that is why you groan, that is why you are in conflict with death, that is why there is the body of this death. “But as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Made alive, having received an immortal body, where you may say, “Where, O death, is your contention?”, you will be delivered from the body of this death—not by your own strength, but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Turning to the Lord, etc.

Rom 7:24–25 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:53–54 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:21–22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:55 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Christian is delivered from the body of this death not by losing the body but by receiving it raised and immortal, through Christ, the second man who undoes Adam's death.

Maurist paragraph 17. Quotations: Rom 7:24–25; 1 Cor 15:53–54; 1 Cor 15:21–22; 1 Cor 15:55. “Turning to the Lord, etc.” is the customary closing prayer, abbreviated in the edition.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's marginal heading left in the text; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray footnote mark): Corpus sanctorum post resurrectionem, immortale Tu autem, o Christiane, roga quantum potes, exclama It dic → Tu autem, o Christiane, roga quantum potes, exclama et dic; quis me libcrabit de corpore mortishujus? → quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus?; Gratia Dei pcr Jesum → Gratia Dei per Jesum; Non enim s c libor beris → Non enim sic liberaberis; ut hoc corpus non habcas → ut hoc corpus non habeas; Ipsum crit, sed non ipsum crit. Ipsum erit, quia ipsa caro crit: non ipsum crit, quia mortale nun erit. → Ipsum erit, sed non ipsum erit. Ipsum erit, quia ipsa caro erit: non ipsum erit, quia mortale non erit.; A quo? pcr quem! → A quo? per quem?; omnes moriuntur: itne est quod gemis → omnes moriuntur: inde est quod gemis; inde est quod cum morlc confligis, inde cst corpus → inde est quod cum morte confligis, inde est corpus; inde cst quod gemis → inde est quod gemis; Vivificatus 1accepto corpore → Vivificatus accepto corpore; a corpure mortis hujus → a corpore mortis hujus; per JesumChristum Dominum nostrum. Coi - versi ad Domiuum, etc. → per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Conversi ad Dominum, etc..

Topics: Eschatology, Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 154.17 (PL 38:496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/154-1/#p-154-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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