Sophia Scriptura

Sermons to the People 53.1–53.16

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 53

53.1PL 38:258–259

Solemnitate sancta virginis, quæ testimonium dixit de Christo, et testimonium meruit a Christo, palam occisæ, occulte coronatæ, admonemur Charitati vestræ de illa exhortatione loqui, quam modo Dominus ex Evangelio proferebat, dicens multas causas beatæ vitæ, quam nemo est qui non velit. Nemo quippe inveniri potest, qui beatus esse nolit. Sed o si homines quomodo desiderant mercedem, sic opus mercedis non recusarent! quis non alacriter currat, cum ei dicitur, Beatus eris? Libenter audiat et cum dicitur, Si hoc feceris. Non recusetur certamen, si diligitur præmium; et accendatur animus ad alacritatem operis commendatione mercedis. Quod volumus, quod desideramus, quod petimus, post erit: quod autem jubemur ut faciamus, propter illud quod post erit, modo sit. Ecce incipe divina dicta recolere, et ipsa evangelica præcepta vel munera. Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum cœlorum. Postea erit tuum regnum coelorum, modo esto pauper spiritu. Vis ut postea regnum cœlorum tuum sit? Vide modo tu ipse cujus sis. Esto pauper spiritu. Quæris a me fortasse quid sit esse pauperem spiritu. Omnis inflatus non est pauper spiritu: ergo humilis pauper est spiritu. Altum est regnum cœlorum: sed, Qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

By the feast of a holy virgin who bore witness to Christ and was found worthy of witness from Christ, killed openly and crowned secretly, we are reminded to speak to your Charity about that exhortation which the Lord was just now setting forth from the Gospel, naming many grounds of the blessed life, which there is no one who does not want. For no one can be found who does not want to be happy. But oh, if people would not refuse the work that earns the reward as they desire the reward! Who would not run eagerly when he is told, “You will be happy”? Let him also listen gladly when he is told, “If you do this.” Let the contest not be refused if the prize is loved; and let the mind be kindled to eagerness for the work by the commendation of the reward. What we want, what we desire, what we ask for, will be hereafter; but what we are commanded to do for the sake of what will be hereafter must be now. See, begin now to recall the divine sayings, and the very precepts and rewards of the Gospel. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven will be yours later; be poor in spirit now. Do you want the kingdom of heaven to be yours later? See now whose you yourself are. Be poor in spirit. You ask me perhaps what it is to be poor in spirit. No one who is puffed up is poor in spirit; so the humble person is poor in spirit. The kingdom of heaven is high; but “he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Matt 5:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 14:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: On a virgin martyr’s feast Augustine turns to the beatitudes: everyone wants happiness, but must do now the work that earns it; to be poor in spirit is to be humble.

  • “Blessed are the poor in spirit …”: Matt 5:3. “He who humbles himself …”: Luke 14:11. The virgin martyr is not named in the sermon. A heading by Migne (“All want to be happy. Who is poor in spirit”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6 (Sermon 3 there).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): oecuhe → occulte; Cbaritati → Charitati; Dominas ex Evangelio proterebat → Dominus ex Evangelio proferebat; beata; vitæ → beatæ vitæ; volit → velit; quippc → quippe; Scd,o si → Sed o si; Libeuter audiat ea. cum → Libenter audiat et cum; pramium → præmium; antimus → animus; faciam s → faciamus; iłlud → illud; mode sit → modo sit; incipeciv ina dicta → incipe divina dicta; proecepta vol → præcepta vel; luum → tuum; reguum raelorum → regnum cœlorum; Quæris ame fortasse → Quæris a me fortasse; huMiliat → humiliat; ( Luc. xiv, 11 ) → .

Topics: Martyrdom, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.1 (PL 38:258–259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-1). (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).

53.2PL 38:259

Attende quod sequitur: Beati, inquit, mites, quoniam ipsi hæreditate possidebunt terram. Jam vis possidere terram: vide ne possidearis a terra. Possidebis mitis, possideberis immitis. Nec cum audis præmium propositum, ut possideas terram, extendas avaritiæ sinum, qua vis possidere modo terram, excluso etiam utcumque vicino tuo: non te ista fallat opinio. Tunc vere possidebis terram, quando inhæseris ei qui fecit coelum et terram. Hoc enim est esse mitem, non resistere Deo tuo: ut in eo quod bene facis, ipse tibi placeat, non tu tibi; in eo quod mala juste pateris, ipse tibi non displiceat, sed tu tibi. Neque enim parum est quia placebis ei, displicens tibi; displicebis autem ei, placens tibi.

Notice what follows: “Blessed,” he says, “are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Now you want to possess the earth: take care that you are not possessed by the earth. You will possess it if you are meek; you will be possessed if you are not. And when you hear the reward set before you, that you will possess the earth, do not stretch out the lap of greed, by which you want to possess the earth now, shutting out your neighbor by any means; do not let that notion deceive you. You will truly possess the earth when you cling to him who made heaven and earth. For this is what it is to be meek: not to resist your God, so that in the good you do, he pleases you, not you yourself; and in the evil you justly suffer, he does not displease you, but you displease yourself. For it is no small thing that you will please him when you displease yourself; but you will displease him if you please yourself.

Matt 5:5 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The meek, who do not resist God but are displeased with themselves, will truly possess the earth by clinging to its Maker.

  • “Blessed are the meek …”: Matt 5:5 (numbered 5:4 in some editions). A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“Who is meek”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): Mitis quis. Attende → Attende; Btali → Beati; premium → præmium; libi → tibi; pacum → parum; antem → autem.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.2 (PL 38:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-2). (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).

53.3PL 38:259

Attende tertium: Beati lugentes, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. In luctu opus est, in consolatione merces est. Nam qui lugent carnaliter, quas consolationes habent? Molestas, metuendas. Ibi consolatur lugens, ubi timet rursus ne lugeat. Verbi gratia, contristat filius elatus, lætificat natus: illum extulit, hunc suscepit; in illo tristitia, in isto timor: in nullo ergo consolatio. Ergo illa erit vera consolatio, qua dabitur quod non amittatur; ut illi se postea gaudeant consolari, qui modo se lugent peregrinari.

Notice the third: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The work is in mourning; the reward is in comfort. For those who mourn in a carnal way, what comforts do they have? Troublesome ones, ones to be feared. There the mourner is comforted where he fears again that he may mourn. For example, a son’s being carried to burial saddens, a son’s birth gladdens: he has buried the one, he has taken up the other; in the one there is sadness, in the other fear; in neither, then, is there comfort. So that will be true comfort, in which what cannot be lost will be given; so that those who now mourn that they are in exile may afterwards rejoice to be comforted.

Matt 5:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Earthly comforts bring new fears; true comfort will be given to those who now mourn their exile, a comfort that cannot be lost.

  • “Blessed are those who mourn …”: Matt 5:4. A heading by Migne (“Those who mourn”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Bea- I; lugentes → Beati lugentes; legent carnaliter → lugent carnaliter; metuendas I. tbi consolatur → metuendas. Ibi consolatur; timct → timet; lilius clatus → filius elatus; consolatio, Ergo → consolatio. Ergo; crit → erit; noH amittatur → non amittatur; iugent → lugent.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.3 (PL 38:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-3). (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).

53.4PL 38:259

Accedat quartum et opus et munus: Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur. Saturari vis. Unde? Si caro saturitatem concupiscit, digesta saturitate, famem iterum patieris. Et qui biberit, inquit, ex hac aqua, sitiet iterum. Medicamentum quod ad vulnus ponitur, si sanaverit, jam non dolet: quod autem ponitur contra famem, hoc est, esca, ita ponitur ut ad modicum relevet. Transacta enim saturitate, redit fames. Accedit quidem quotidie remedium saturitatis, sed non et sanatum vulnus infirmitatis. Esuriamus ergo sitiamusque justitiam, ut ipsa justitia saturemur, quam nunc esurimus et sitimus. Inde enim saturabimur, quod esurimus et sitimus. Interior homo noster esuriat et sitiat: habet enim cibum suum, habet potum suum. Ego sum, inquit, panis qui de cœlo descendi. Habes panem esurientis; desidera et potum sitientis: Quoniam apud te est fons vitæ.

Let the fourth work and reward come forward: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled.” You want to be filled. With what? If the flesh desires fullness, once that fullness is digested you will suffer hunger again. “And whoever drinks of this water,” he says, “will thirst again.” A medicine that is put on a wound, if it heals it, no longer hurts; but what is applied against hunger, that is, food, is applied so as to relieve for a little while. For when the fullness has passed, hunger returns. The remedy of fullness is indeed applied every day, but the wound of weakness is not healed. So let us hunger and thirst for justice, so that we may be filled with that very justice for which we now hunger and thirst. For we shall be filled with that for which we hunger and thirst. Let our inner man hunger and thirst; for it has its own food, it has its own drink. “I am,” he says, “the bread that came down from heaven.” You have the bread of the hungry; desire also the drink of the thirsty: “For with you is the fountain of life.”

Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · John 4:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:9 (35:10 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Bodily food relieves hunger only for a time; those who hunger for justice will be filled by Christ, the bread from heaven and fountain of life.

  • “Blessed are those who hunger …”: Matt 5:6. “Whoever drinks of this water …”: John 4:13. “I am the bread …”: John 6:41. “With you is the fountain of life”: Ps 36:9 (Vulgate 35:10). Justitia is rendered “justice” in this sermon, following the Latin of the beatitude. A heading by Migne (“Those who hunger”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): coucnpiscit → concupiscit; ( Joan. IV, 13) → ; qtied → quod; James → fames; sitiaimusque → sitiamusque; silimus → sitimus; habel → habet; esurientis. desidera → esurientis; desidera; ( Psal. XXXV, 10) → .

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.4 (PL 38:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-4). (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).

53.5PL 38:259

Attende quod sequitur: Beati misericordes, quoniam ipsorum miserebitur Deus. Fac, et fiet: fac cum altero, ut fiat tecum. Quia abundas et eges: abundas temporalibus, eges æternis. Mendicum hominem audis, mendicus ipse Dei es. Petitur a te, et petis. Quod egeris cum petitore tuo, hoc aget Deus cum suo. Et plenus et inanis es: imple inanem de plenitudine tua, ut de Dei plenitudine impleatur inanitas tua.

Notice what follows: “Blessed are the merciful, for God will have mercy on them.” Do it, and it will be done; do it to another, so that it may be done to you. For you both abound and are in need: you abound in temporal things, you are in need of eternal ones. You hear a man begging; you yourself are God’s beggar. You are asked, and you ask. What you do with the one who asks you, God will do with the one who asks him. You are both full and empty: fill the empty from your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled from God’s fullness.

Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The merciful receive mercy: rich in temporal goods but beggars before God, we will be treated by God as we treat the poor.

  • “Blessed are the merciful …”: Matt 5:7, in Augustine’s wording. A heading by Migne (“The merciful”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Aucnde → Attende; liat tccum → fiat tecum; ct eges → et eges; Dei cs. Petitur a te. et petis → Dei es. Petitur a te, et petis; petiturc → petitore; inanemde plenitudine mna → inanem de plenitudine tua.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.5 (PL 38:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-5). (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).

53.6PL 38:259

Attende quod sequitur: Beati mundicordes, hoc est, qui mundi corde sunt; quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Hic est finis amoris nostri; finis quo perficiamur, non quo consumamur. Finitur cibus, finitur vestis: cibus, quia consumitur edendo; vestis, quia perficitur texendo. Et illud finitur, et illud: sed finis iste pertinet ad consumptionem, ille ad perfectionem. Quidquid agimus, quidquid bene agimus, quidquid nitimur, quidquid laudabiliter æstuamus, quidquid inculpabiliter desideramus, ad Dei visionem cum venerit, plus non requiremus. Quid enim quærat, cui adest Deus? aut quid sufficiat ei, cui non sufficit Deus? Videre Deum volumus, videre Deum quærimus, videre Deum inardescimus. Quis nolit? Sed vide quid dictum est: Beati mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Hoc para, unde videas. Ut enim secundum carnem loquar, quid desideras ortum solis cum oculis lippis? Sani sint oculi, et erit lux illa gaudium: non sint oculi sani, erit lux illa tormentum. Non enim corde non mundo videre permitteris, quod non videtur nisi corde mundo. Repelleris, aufereris, non videbis. Beati enim mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Quoties beatos jam numeravit? quas beatitudinis causas, quæ opera, quæ munera, quæ merita, quæ præmia? Nusquam dictum est, Ipsi Deum videbunt. Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum cœlorum. Beati mites: ipsi hæreditate possidebunt terram. Beati lugentes: ipsi consolabuntur. Beati esurientes et sitientes justitiam: ipsi saturabuntur. Beati misericordes: ipsi misericordiam consequentur. Nusquam dictum est, Ipsi Deum videbunt. Ventum est ad mundicordes, ibi visio Dei promissa est. Non sine causa, nisi quia ibi sunt oculi, unde videtur Deus. De his oculis Paulus apostolus loquens ait: Illuminatos oculos cordis vestri. Modo ergo oculi isti pro sua infirmitate illuminantur fide: postea pro sua firmitate illuminabuntur specie. Quamdiu enim sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a Domino. Per fidem enim ambulamus, non per speciem. Quamdiu autem in hac fide sumus, quid de nobis dicitur? Videmus nunc per speculum in ænigmate; tunc autem facie ad faciem.

Notice what follows: “Blessed are the clean of heart,” that is, those who are clean in heart, “for they will see God.” This is the end of our love: an end by which we are perfected, not one by which we are used up. Food comes to an end, a garment comes to an end: food, because it is used up by eating; a garment, because it is completed by weaving. Both come to an end; but the one end belongs to consumption, the other to completion. Whatever we do, whatever we do well, whatever we strive for, whatever we are praiseworthily eager for, whatever we blamelessly desire, when the vision of God has come we shall seek nothing more. For what would one seek to whom God is present? Or what would suffice one for whom God does not suffice? We want to see God, we seek to see God, we burn to see God. Who does not? But see what is said: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” Prepare that by which you may see. For, to speak in terms of the flesh, why do you long for the sunrise with bleary eyes? Let the eyes be healthy, and that light will be a joy; if the eyes are not healthy, that light will be a torment. For you will not be allowed to see with a heart that is not clean what is seen only by a clean heart. You will be pushed back, taken away; you will not see. For “blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” How many times has he already counted the blessed? What grounds of blessedness, what works, what rewards, what merits, what prizes? Nowhere has it been said, “They will see God.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who mourn: they will be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice: they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful: they will obtain mercy.” Nowhere has it been said, “They will see God.” When it came to the clean of heart, there the vision of God was promised. Not without reason, except that there are the eyes by which God is seen. Of these eyes the apostle Paul speaks when he says, “The eyes of your heart enlightened.” Now, then, these eyes are enlightened by faith according to their weakness; afterwards they will be enlightened by sight according to their strength. For as long as we are in the body, we are pilgrims away from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight. And as long as we are in this faith, what is said of us? “We see now through a mirror in an enigma; but then face to face.”

Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Only the clean of heart are promised the vision of God, the end that perfects all our desire; the heart’s eyes, enlightened now by faith, will then see God face to face.

  • “Blessed are the clean of heart …”: Matt 5:8; the other beatitudes: Matt 5:3–7. “The eyes of your heart enlightened”: Eph 1:18. “As long as we are in the body …”: 2 Cor 5:6–7. “We see now through a mirror …”: 1 Cor 13:12. A heading by Migne (“The clean of heart”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Atlcude → Attende; quonium → quoniam; cdendo → edendo; vencrit, plus nou → venerit, plus non; aui quid sufficiatci → aut quid sufficiat ei; nOli → nolit; enimsecundum → enim secundum; eorde → corde; nun videtur → non videtur; mun. dicordes → mundicordes; numcravit → numeravit; Nusquamdictum → Nusquam dictum; eat regnum celorum → est regnum cœlorum; infimitate illuminanlur fidi → infirmitate illuminantur fide; tpecie → specie; eniin → enim; fler speculum → per speculum.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.6 (PL 38:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-6). (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).

53.7PL 38:259–260

Nam si accensus desiderio videndi Deum, faciem tuam præparaveris corporalem ad videndum; talem faciem desiderabis et Dei. Si autem jam saltem spiritualiter de Deo sapis, ut Deum non cogites esse corporeum (unde diutius heri egimus, si tamen aliquid peregimus); si in corde vestro, tanquam in templo Dei, formæ humanæ fregimus simulacrum; si jam vobis bene venit in mentem, et viscera vestra interiora possedit, ubi detestatur Apostolus eos qui dicentes se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt; et immutaverunt gloriam incorruptibilis Dei et similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis. Si jam tale malum detestamini, si adversamini, si Creatori mundatis templum suum, si vultis ut veniat et mansionem apud vos faciat: Sentite de Domino in bonitate, et in simplicitate cordis quærite illum. Videte cui dicatis, si tamen dicitis, si vere dicitis: Tibi dixit cor meum, Quæram faciem tuam. Dicat et cor tuum, et adde, Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram. Bene enim requiris, quia corde requiris. Dicitur Dei vultus, dicitur Dei brachium, dicitur Dei manus, dicuntur Dei pedes, dicitur Dei sedes, dicitur scabellum pedum ejus: sed noli membra humana cogitare. Si vis esse templum veritatis, frange idolum falsitatis. Manus Dei, potentia Dei. Facies Dei, notitia Dei. Pedes Dei, præsentia Dei. Sedes Dei, si vis, tu es. An forte negare audebis Deum esse Christum? Non, inquis. Concedis et hoc, Christum Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam? Concedo, inquis. Audi: Anima justi sedes est sapientiæ. Ubi enim sedem habet Deus, nisi ubi habitat? Ubi autem habitat, nisi in templo suo? Templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos. Vide ergo quomodo excipias Deum. Spiritus est Deus; in spiritu et veritate oportet adorare Deum. Jam in cor tuum, si placet, intret arca testamenti, et ruat Dagon. Audi ergo nunc, et disce Deum desiderare, disce unde Deum videre possis præparare. Beati, inquit, mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Quid præparas oculos corporis? Si sic videbitur, in loco erit quod videbitur. Non est in loco, qui ubique totus est. Munda unde videatur.

For if, kindled by the desire to see God, you prepare your bodily face for seeing, you will look for such a face in God too. But if you now at least think of God spiritually, so as not to think that God is bodily (we dealt with this at length yesterday, if indeed we accomplished anything); if in your heart, as in God’s temple, we have broken the image of human form; if it has now come well into your mind and taken hold of your inmost heart, where the Apostle condemns those who, “saying that they were wise, became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man”; if you now detest such an evil, if you oppose it, if you are cleaning his temple for the Creator, if you want him to come and make his dwelling with you: “Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart.” See to whom you say it, if indeed you say it, if you say it truly: “My heart has said to you, I will seek your face.” Let your heart say it too, and add: “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” For you seek well, because you seek with the heart. God’s face is spoken of, God’s arm is spoken of, God’s hand is spoken of, God’s feet are spoken of, God’s seat is spoken of, the footstool of his feet is spoken of; but do not think of human members. If you want to be a temple of truth, break the idol of falsehood. The hand of God is God’s power. The face of God is the knowledge of God. The feet of God are God’s presence. The seat of God, if you like, is you. Or will you perhaps dare to deny that Christ is God? “No,” you say. Do you grant this too, that Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God? “I grant it,” you say. Hear, then: “The soul of the just is the seat of wisdom.” For where does God have his seat, if not where he dwells? And where does he dwell, if not in his temple? “For the temple of God is holy, and that temple you are.” See, then, how you receive God. “God is spirit; it is in spirit and truth that one must worship God.” Now, if you please, let the ark of the covenant enter your heart, and let Dagon fall. Hear, then, now, and learn to desire God; learn how to prepare that by which you can see God. “Blessed,” he says, “are the clean of heart, for they will see God.” Why are you preparing the eyes of the body? If he were to be seen that way, what is seen would be in a place. He who is wholly everywhere is not in a place. Clean that by which he may be seen.

Rom 1:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:23 (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 27:8 (26:8 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 4:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 5:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God has no bodily face, hands, or feet; these words mean his knowledge, power, and presence; God is to be sought with the heart, which is his temple and seat.

  • “Saying that they were wise …”: Rom 1:22–23. “Think of the Lord in goodness …”: Wis 1:1. “My heart has said to you …”: Ps 27:8 (Vulgate 26:8). “Power of God …”: 1 Cor 1:24. “The soul of the just is the seat of wisdom”: a saying Augustine cites as Scripture (Migne points to Wisdom); compare Wis 7:27; unidentified as worded. “The temple of God is holy …”: 1 Cor 3:17. “God is spirit …”: John 4:24. The ark and Dagon: 1 Sam 5:3. “We dealt with this at length yesterday” refers to an earlier sermon. Headings by Migne (“What God’s face, hands, and feet are”; “Let no bodily face be thought of here”) were removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): drsiderio vidoadi → desiderio videndi; faciemdesiderabis → faciem desiderabis; jain → jam; ( unde diutius heri cgimus → (unde diutius heri egimus; corde,'curo → corde vestro; inleriora → interiora; dicente' se → dicentes se; simi - titudinem → similitudinem; Si j:un → Si jam; adversamini., → adversamini,; suum,si → suum, si; ( Sap. I, 1) → ; dicitis:Tibi dixit. → dicitis: Tibi dixit; ct adde → et adde; requiram( Psal. xxvi, 8 ). → requiram.; vullus → vultus; Dci brachium → Dei brachium; seabellum → scabellum; præsentiaDei → præsentia Dei; ( I Cor. I, 24) → ; ( Snp. i ) → ; euim → enim; ( I Cor. III, 17 ) → ; ( Joan. IV, 24 ) → ; in cur luum, si placet. intret area → in cor tuum, si placet, intret arca; ( I Reg. v, 3 ) → ; Beat, inpuit, Mundicordes, quuniam → Beati, inquit, mundicordes, quoniam; corporis! → corporis?; NOB est in loco. qui ubique lotus → Non est in loco, qui ubique totus.

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

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.7 (PL 38:259–260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-7). (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).

53.8PL 38:260

Audi, et intellige, si ipso juvante potero explicare: adjuvet nos ad intelligendum omnia supradicta opera et munera, quemadmodum congruentibus apposita sint. Ubi enim dictum est de præmio, quod non congrueret operi, quod non consonaret? Quia humiles quasi a regno videntur alieni: Beati, inquit, pauperes spiritu, quia ipsorum est regnum cælorum. Quia mites homines facile excluduntur de terra sua: Beati, inquit, mites, quoniam ipsi hæreditate possidebunt terram. Jam caetera aperta sunt, clara, sua sponte cognoscuntur: disputatore non egent, commemoratore opus habent. Beati qui lugent. Quis lugens non consolationem desiderat? ipsi, inquit, consolabuntur. Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam. Quis esuriens et sitiens non satietatem requirit? Et ipsi, inquit, saturabuntur. Beati misericordes. Quis misericors, nisi qui optat ex ipso opere reddi sibi a Deo vicem, ut circa se fiat, quod circa pauperem facit? Beati, inquit, misericordes, quoniam ipsorum miserebitur Deus. Quomodo per ipsa singula singulis propria apposita sunt, et nihil adhibitum est in præmio, quod non congrueret præcepto? præceptum est enim ut sis pauper spiritu: præmium est ut habeas regnum cælorum. Præceptum est ut sis mitis: præmium est ut possideas terram. Præceptum est ut sis lugens: præmium, ut consoleris. Præceptum est ut esurias et sitias justitiam: præmium, ut satureris. Præceptum est ut sis misericors: præmium, ut misericordiam consequaris. Sic præceptum est ut mundes cor: præmium, ut videas Deum.

Hear and understand, if with his help I can explain it: may he help us to understand how all the works and rewards mentioned above have been set beside each other fittingly. For where has anything been said about a reward that did not fit the work, that did not agree with it? Because the humble seem as it were strangers to a kingdom, he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Because meek people are easily driven off their land, he says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” The rest are now open and clear; they are recognized of themselves; they need no one to discuss them, only someone to mention them. “Blessed are those who mourn.” What mourner does not want comfort? “They,” he says, “will be comforted.” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice.” What hungry and thirsty person does not seek to be filled? “And they,” he says, “will be filled.” “Blessed are the merciful.” Who is merciful but one who hopes, from that very work, to be repaid by God in turn, so that what he does for the poor may be done for him? “Blessed,” he says, “are the merciful, for God will have mercy on them.” How each reward has been set beside each precept as its own, and nothing has been put into the reward that did not fit the precept! For the precept is that you be poor in spirit; the reward is that you have the kingdom of heaven. The precept is that you be meek; the reward is that you possess the earth. The precept is that you mourn; the reward, that you be comforted. The precept is that you hunger and thirst for justice; the reward, that you be filled. The precept is that you be merciful; the reward, that you obtain mercy. So the precept is that you clean your heart; the reward, that you see God.

Matt 5:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Each beatitude’s reward fits its precept: the humble get a kingdom, the meek the land, mourners comfort, the hungry fullness, the merciful mercy, the clean of heart the sight of God.

  • Matt 5:3–8. A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“Rewards fitting the works in the sentences of the beatitudes”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip; OCR slip in the digital text): Præmia operibus congrua in sententiis betitudinum. Audi, ct inteLlige → Audi, et intellige; opera ct mUnNa → opera et munera; Uhi enim dictum cst → Ubi enim dictum est; eat reguum → est regnum; miles homines → mites homines; clara, Sua sponte → clara, sua sponte; egent. commemoratore → egent, commemoratore; Beuti → Beati; Boati → Beati; cx ipso → ex ipso; liat → fiat; misericordes,quoniam → misericordes, quoniam; præmium. ut satureris → præmium, ut satureris; esi ut sis → est ut sis.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.8 (PL 38:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-8). (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).

53.9PL 38:260

Non ergo ita sapias in his præceptis et præmiis, ut cum audis, Beati mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt, putes pauperes spiritu non visuros, aut non visuros mites, non visuros lugentes, non visuros esurientes et sitientes justitiam, non visuros misericordes. Non arbitreris eos tantum quasi visuros qui mundo sunt corde, illis a visione separatis. Omnia enim hæc iidem ipsi sunt. Ipsi videbunt, et non ideo videbunt, quia pauperes spiritu sunt, quia mites sunt, quia lugentes, quia esurientes sitientesque justitiam, quia misericordes: sed quia mundi sunt corde. Quemadmodum si corporalia opera membris corporalibus coaptarentur, ac diceret, verbi gratia, quisquam: Beati qui pedes habent, quia ipsi ambulabunt: beati qui manus habent, quia ipsi operabuntur: beati qui vocem habent, quoniam ipsi clamabunt: beati qui os et linguam habent, quoniam ipsi loquentur: beati qui oculos habent, ipsi enim videbunt. Sic tanquam spiritualia membra componens, docuit quid ad quid pertineat. Apta est humilitas ad habendum regnum coelorum; apta mansuetudo ad possidendam terram; aptus luctus ad consolationem; apta fames et sitis justitiæ ad saturitatem; apta misericordia ad impetrandam misericordiam; aptum mundum cor ad videndum Deum.

So do not think about these precepts and rewards in such a way that, when you hear, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God,” you think that the poor in spirit will not see, or the meek will not see, those who mourn will not see, those who hunger and thirst for justice will not see, the merciful will not see. Do not suppose that only those who are clean of heart will see, as it were, and the others are cut off from the vision. For all these are the very same people. They will see; but they will not see because they are poor in spirit, because they are meek, because they mourn, because they hunger and thirst for justice, because they are merciful, but because they are clean of heart. It is as if bodily works were fitted to bodily members, and someone said, for example: Blessed are those who have feet, because they will walk; blessed are those who have hands, because they will work; blessed are those who have a voice, because they will cry out; blessed are those who have a mouth and tongue, because they will speak; blessed are those who have eyes, for they will see. So, arranging, as it were, the spiritual members, he taught what belongs to what. Humility is suited to having the kingdom of heaven; meekness is suited to possessing the earth; mourning to comfort; hunger and thirst for justice to fullness; mercy to obtaining mercy; a clean heart to seeing God.

Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: All the blessed are the same people and all will see God, but the vision belongs to the clean heart, as seeing belongs to the eyes among the body’s members.

  • Matt 5:3–8. A heading by Migne (“How the vision of God is promised especially to the clean of heart”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): mitcs → mites; logentes → lugentes; cos tantum → eos tantum; visiono → visione; enim hxc iidem → enim hæc iidem; vidohunt → videbunt; paupcres → pauperes; dicorct → diceret; pedes habea, → pedes habent,; operabuntur: bcati qui → operabuntur: beati qui; clamabunt: bcati qui → clamabunt: beati qui; hubent, quoniani ipsi Ioquentur → habent, quoniam ipsi loquentur; cniin → enim; componsens → componens; silis → sitis; misei icordia → misericordia.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.9 (PL 38:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-9). (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).

53.10PL 38:260–261

Si ergo desideramus videre Deum, oculus iste unde mundabitur? Quis enim non curet, quis non quærat unde mundet, quo videre possit quem toto affectu desiderat? Expressit hoc divina testatio: Fide, inquit, mundans corda eorum. Mundat cor fides Dei, mundum cor videt Deum. Sed quia ipsa fides aliquando ab hominibus, qui se ipsos fallunt, talis determinatur, quasi sufficiat tantummodo credere (promittunt enim sibi quidam etiam conspectum Dei regnumque cælorum credentes et male viventes); contra hos succensus et spirituali charitate quodammodo stomachans Jacobus apostolus in Epistola sua dicit, Tu credis quoniam unus est Deus. Plaudis tibi de fide; attendis enim multos impios æstimare multos esse deos, et tu tibi gaudes credendo quia unus est Deus. Bene facis. Et dæmones credunt, et contremiscunt. Numquid et ii Deum videbunt? Videbunt qui mundo sunt corde. Quis autem mundicordes dicat spiritus immundos? Et tamen credunt, et contremiscunt.

If, then, we desire to see God, how will this eye be cleaned? For who would not care, who would not seek how to clean the eye by which he can see him whom he desires with all his affection? The divine testimony has stated it: “By faith,” it says, “cleansing their hearts.” Faith in God cleans the heart; the clean heart sees God. But because this faith is sometimes defined by people who deceive themselves as if it were enough merely to believe (for some promise themselves even the sight of God and the kingdom of heaven while believing and living badly), the apostle James, angered against these and in a way indignant with spiritual love, says in his Epistle: “You believe that God is one.” You applaud yourself for your faith; for you notice that many ungodly people think there are many gods, and you congratulate yourself on believing that God is one. “You do well. The demons also believe, and tremble.” Will they too see God? Those will see who are clean of heart. But who would call unclean spirits clean of heart? And yet they believe, and tremble.

Acts 15:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 2:19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Faith cleans the heart to see God; but bare belief is not enough, for, as James says, the demons believe and tremble.

  • “By faith cleansing their hearts”: Acts 15:9. “You believe that God is one … tremble”: Jas 2:19. A heading by Migne (“The heart is cleansed by faith to see God”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): nou curct → non curet; F ide, inquit, mundam → Fide, inquit, mundans; sulliciat → sufficiat; etim → etiam; ct male → et male; Jacobns → Jacobus; Epistalasua → Epistola sua; unns est → unus est; fide v attendi enim multos iui pios → fide; attendis enim multos impios; ct tu → et tu; crede ndo quia ninus → credendo quia unus; ct ii Deum videbunt' → et ii Deum videbunt?; suni corde → sunt corde; antem → autem; coutremiscunt → contremiscunt.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.10 (PL 38:260–261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-10). (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).

53.11PL 38:261

Discernenda est fides nostra a fide dæmonum. Fides enim nostra mundat cor: fides autem illorum reos facit. Male quippe operantur, et ideo Domino dicunt: Quid nobis et tibi est? Cum audis hoc dæmones dicere, putas eos non agnoscere? Scimus, inquiunt, qui sis. Tu es Filius Dei. Dicit hoc Petrus, et laudatur: dicit hoc dæmon, et damnatur. Unde hoc, nisi quia vox par, et cor impar? Discernamus ergo fidem nostram, nec credere sufficiat. Non est talis fides quæ mundat cor. Fide, inquit, mundans corda eorum. Sed qua fide, quali fide, nisi quam definit Paulus apostolus, ubi ait: Fides quæ per dilectionem operatur? Ista fides discernit a fide dæmonum, discernit ab hominum flagitiosis ac perditis moribus. Fides, inquit. Quæ fides? Quæ per dilectionem operatur, sperat quod Deus pollicetur. Nihil ista definitione perpensius, nihil perfectius. Ergo tria sunt illa. Necesse est ut in quo est fides, quæ per dilectionem operatur, speret quod Deus pollicetur. Comes est ergo fidei spes. Necessaria quippe spes est, quamdiu non videmus quod credimus; ne forte non videndo et desperando deficiamus. Contristat nos, quia non videmus: sed consolatur nos, quia visuros nos speramus. Adest ergo spes, et est comes fidei. Deinde et charitas, qua desideramus, qua pertingere conamur, qua inardescimus, qua esurimus et sitimus. Adhibetur ergo et hæc: et erit fides, spes et charitas. Quomodo enim non erit ibi charitas, cum nihil sit aliud charitas quam dilectio? Ipsa autem fides definita est, quæ per dilectionem operatur. Tolle fidem, perit quod credis; tolle charitatem, perit quod agis. Fidei enim pertinet ut credas; charitati, ut agas. Si enim credis, et non amas, non te moves ad bonum opus: et si moves, ut servus moves, non ut filius: timendo pænam, non amando justitiam. Illa ergo, inquam, fides mundat cor, quæ per dilectionem operatur.

Our faith must be distinguished from the faith of demons. For our faith cleans the heart, while theirs makes them guilty. For they act wickedly, and so they say to the Lord: “What have we to do with you?” When you hear the demons say this, do you think they do not recognize him? “We know,” they say, “who you are: you are the Son of God.” Peter says this, and is praised; a demon says this, and is condemned. Why, unless the words are the same and the heart is not? Let us distinguish our faith, then, and let it not be enough to believe. That is not the kind of faith that cleans the heart. “By faith,” it says, “cleansing their hearts.” But by what faith, what kind of faith, if not that which the apostle Paul defines when he says, “Faith that works through love”? That faith distinguishes us from the faith of demons; it distinguishes us from the shameful and abandoned ways of men. “Faith,” he says. What faith? Faith that works through love and hopes for what God promises. Nothing is more carefully weighed than this definition, nothing more complete. So there are those three. The one in whom there is faith that works through love must hope for what God promises. Hope, then, is the companion of faith. For hope is necessary as long as we do not see what we believe, lest perhaps, not seeing and despairing, we give up. It saddens us that we do not see; but it comforts us that we hope we shall see. So hope is here, and it is faith’s companion. Then there is also love, by which we desire, by which we strive to reach, by which we burn, by which we hunger and thirst. So this too is brought in, and there will be faith, hope, and love. For how will there not be love there, since love is nothing other than loving? And that faith has been defined as working through love. Take away faith, and what you believe perishes; take away love, and what you do perishes. For it belongs to faith that you believe; to love, that you act. For if you believe and do not love, you do not move yourself to good work; and if you do move, you move as a slave, not as a son, fearing punishment, not loving justice. That faith, then, I say, cleans the heart which works through love.

Luke 4:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 4:41 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 16:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 16:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 15:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:13 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Our faith differs from the demons’ faith because it works through love and hopes for God’s promises; faith, hope, and love together cleanse the heart.

  • “What have we to do with you? … the Son of God”: Luke 4:34, 41; Mark 1:24. Peter’s confession: Matt 16:16–17. “By faith cleansing their hearts”: Acts 15:9. “Faith that works through love”: Gal 5:6. Faith, hope, and love: 1 Cor 13:13. Augustine distinguishes charitas (rendered “love”) and dilectio (“loving”) as the same thing. A heading by Migne left at the start of the section in the digital text (“The faith of Christians to be distinguished from that of demons. Hope and love the companions of faith”) is removed. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s marginal heading left at the start of the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): Fides Christianorum discernendu a fide dæmonum. Fidei comites spes et charitas. Discernenda → Discernenda; niundat → mundat; quippc opcrantur, et idco → quippe operantur, et ideo; tibi eat? → tibi est?; cos non → eos non; mundans corda torum → mundans corda eorum; uhi ait → ubi ait; demonum → dæmonum; vidcmus → videmus; ct est → et est; elcharitas → et charitas; haec: ct erit → hæc: et erit; crit ibi → erit ibi; llla ergo, iaquam → Illa ergo, inquam; qux per → quæ per.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.11 (PL 38:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-sermones-53-11) · 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).

53.12PL 38:261

Et modo ipsa fides quid agit? Tantis testimoniis Scripturarum, tam multiplici lectione, tam varia copiosaque exhortatione quid agit, nisi ut videamus nunc per speculum in ænigmate, postea facie ad faciem? Sed non iterum tu redeas ad istam faciem tuam. Faciem cordis cogita. Coge cor tuum cogitare divina, compelle, urge. Quidquid simile corporis cogitanti occurrerit, abjice. Nondum potes dicere, Hoc est: saltem dic, Non est hoc. Quando enim dices, Hoc est Deus? Nec cum videbis: quia ineffabile est quod videbis. Raptum se dicit Apostolus in tertium caelum, et audisse ineffabilia verba. Si sunt ineffabilia verba, quid est cujus sunt verba? Cogitanti ergo tibi de Deo, occurrit aliqua fortasse in humana specie mira et amplissima magnitudo: constituisti eam in conspectu cogitationis tuæ, tanquam magnum aliquid, amplissimum, grande, ingentissima mole diffusum. Finisti alicubi. Si finisti, Deus non est. Si non finisti, facies ubi est? Cogitas molem, et ut membra distinguas, definis molem. Aliter enim membra distinguere non potes, nisi moli dederis finem. Quid agis, stulta et carnalis cogitatio? Grandem molem fecisti; et tanto grandiorem, quanto te putasti Deum amplius honorare. Addit alius unum cubitum, et facit majorem.

And what does this faith do now? With so many testimonies of the Scriptures, with such manifold reading, with such varied and abundant exhortation, what does it do, if not make us see now through a mirror in an enigma, and afterwards face to face? But do not go back again to this face of yours. Think of the face of the heart. Force your heart to think of divine things; compel it, press it. Whatever likeness of a body occurs to you as you think, throw it away. You cannot yet say, “This is it”; at least say, “This is not it.” For when will you say, “This is God”? Not even when you see him; for what you will see is ineffable. The Apostle says that he was caught up into the third heaven and heard ineffable words. If the words are ineffable, what is he whose words they are? So when you think about God, perhaps some wondrous and very great size in human form occurs to you; you have set it before the gaze of your thought as something great, very broad, vast, spread out in an immense mass. You have bounded it somewhere. If you have bounded it, it is not God. If you have not bounded it, where is the face? You are thinking of a mass, and to distinguish members you put limits to the mass. For you cannot distinguish members otherwise, unless you give the mass a boundary. What are you doing, foolish and carnal thought? You have made a great mass, and all the greater, the more you thought you were honoring God. Another adds one cubit and makes it bigger.

1 Cor 13:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Faith now lets us see as in a mirror; in thinking of God we must reject every bodily image, for any bounded shape is not God.

  • “Through a mirror in an enigma …”: 1 Cor 13:12. Caught up to the third heaven: 2 Cor 12:2–4. A heading by Migne (“God is not to be thought of as a body”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text): Scripiurarum, lam multiplici lectione, tam varia eopiosaque → Scripturarum, tam multiplici lectione, tam varia copiosaque; faciem tuam1. → faciem tuam.; abjicg → abjice; Hec est Deus → Hoc est Deus; ct audisse → et audisse; (II Cor. xn, a et 4) → ; ineflabilia verba, quid cst → ineffabilia verba, quid est; libi de Deo, occurrit aliqua fortasse iu humana → tibi de Deo, occurrit aliqua fortasse in humana; cogitationis lux, tanquam. → cogitationis tuæ, tanquam; Deus nou cst → Deus non est; molem, ct ut → molem, et ut; tinem → finem; honorarc → honorare.

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.12 (PL 38:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-12). (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).

53.13PL 38:261

Sed legi, inquis. Quid legisti, qui nihil intellexisti? Et tamen dic, quid legisti? Non repellamus parvulum corde ludentem. Dic quid legisti? Cælum mihi thronus est, terra autem scabellum pedum meorum. Aio, Legi et ego: sed tu forte potiorem te putas, quia legisti et credidisti. Credo et ego quod dixisti. Simul credamus. Quid dico? Simul quæramus. Ecce tene quod legisti, et credidisti: Cælum mihi thronus est, id est, sedes; thronus enim græce, latine sedes est: terra autem scabellum pedum meorum. Non legisti et illud: Quis palmo mensus est cælum? Puto te legisse: cognoscis, et te credere confiteris. Ibi enim utrumque legimus, utrumque credimus. Modo jam cogita, et doce me: adhibeo te doctorem, et me parvulum facio. Doce me, obsecro te. Quis est qui sedet in palmo suo?

“But I have read,” you say. What have you read, you who have understood nothing? Still, tell me: what have you read? Let us not push away a little one playing in his heart. Tell me what you have read. “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet.” I say: I have read it too; but perhaps you think yourself better off because you have read and believed. I too believe what you have said. Let us believe together. What am I saying? Let us seek together. See, hold on to what you have read and believed: “Heaven is my throne,” that is, my seat (for thronus in Greek is sedes, seat, in Latin), “and the earth is the footstool of my feet.” Have you not read this too: “Who has measured heaven with his palm?” I think you have read it; you recognize it, and you admit that you believe it. For we read both there, and we believe both. Now think, and teach me: I take you as my teacher and make myself the little one. Teach me, I beg you: who is it who sits on his own palm?

Isa 66:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Augustine sets two Isaiah texts side by side: if heaven is God’s throne and he also measures heaven with his palm, the bodily picture of God collapses.

  • “Heaven is my throne …”: Isa 66:1 (Migne gives 66:6). “Who has measured heaven with his palm?”: Isa 40:12. A heading by Migne (“A passage of Isaiah apparently to the contrary”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): Icgisti → legisti; Quit palmo mensus eat → Quis palmo mensus est.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.13 (PL 38:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-13). (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).

53.14PL 38:261–262

Ecce figuras et lineamenta membrorum Dei a corpore humano duxisti. Sed forte subrepsit tibi, ut secundum corpus putares nos factos ad imaginem Dei. Interim accipio considerandum, discutiendum, requirendum, disputando excutiendum. Si placet, audi me: quia in eo quod tibi placuit, audivi te. Sedet Deus in coelo, et palmo metitur cœlum. Idem cœlum fit latum, cum sedet; et angustum, cum metitur? An ipse Deus tantus est in sedendo, quantus in palmo? Si hoc ita est, non ad similitudinem suam nos fecit Deus: nos enim palmum angustiorem valde habemus, quam partem corporis qua sedemus. Ille autem si tam latus est in palmo suo, quam latus in sessione sua, disparia membra nobis fecit. Non est ista similitudo. Erubescat ergo tale idolum in corde christiano. Proinde coelum accipe pro omnibus sanctis. Quia et terra dicitur pro omnibus qui sunt in terra: Omnis terra adoret te. Si bene dicimus secundum eos qui habitant in terra, Omnis terra adoret te: bene dicimus etiam secundum eos qui habitant in cœlo, Omne coelum portet te. Nam et sancti ipsi qui in terra habitant, carne terram calcant, corde in cœlo habitant. Non enim frustra admonentur sursum habere cor, et cum admoniti fuerint, ita esse respondent: nec frustra dicitur: Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quæ sursum sunt quærite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens; quæ sursum sunt sapite, non quæ super terram. In quantum ergo ibi conversantur, et ipsi Deum portant, et coelum sunt; quia Dei sedes sunt; et cum annuntiant verba Dei, Cæli enarrant gloriam Dei.

See, you have drawn the shapes and features of God’s members from the human body. But perhaps it has crept into your mind that we were made in God’s image according to the body. For the moment I accept this for consideration, discussion, inquiry, and examination by argument. If you please, listen to me, since I listened to you in what you were pleased to say. God sits in heaven, and measures heaven with his palm. Does the same heaven become broad when he sits, and narrow when he measures? Or is God himself as large in sitting as in his palm? If this is so, God did not make us in his likeness; for we have a palm much narrower than the part of the body on which we sit. But if he is as broad in his palm as in his sitting, he has made our members unlike his. This is no likeness. So let such an idol blush in a Christian heart. Accordingly, take heaven to mean all the saints. For the earth too is used to mean all who are on the earth: “Let all the earth worship you.” If we rightly say, of those who live on the earth, “Let all the earth worship you,” we also rightly say, of those who live in heaven, “Let all heaven carry you.” For the saints themselves who live on earth tread the earth in the flesh but live in heaven in the heart. For it is not in vain that they are reminded to have their hearts lifted up, and when they have been reminded, they answer that they have; nor is it said in vain: “If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; set your mind on the things that are above, not on those that are on the earth.” In so far, then, as they have their life there, they too carry God, and they are heaven; because they are God’s seat; and when they proclaim God’s words, “the heavens tell the glory of God.”

Ps 66:4 (65:4 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 19:1 (18:2 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God cannot both sit on heaven and measure it with his palm if he has a body; “heaven” means the saints, whose hearts are lifted up and who are God’s seat.

  • “Let all the earth worship you”: Ps 66:4 (Vulgate 65:4). “Lift up your hearts”: the dialogue before the eucharistic prayer. “If you have risen with Christ …”: Col 3:1–2. “The heavens tell the glory of God”: Ps 19:1 (Vulgate 18:2). The digital text has displaced a phrase from section 16 into this section (“sursum versus ad caput eminet: et ea significatur”) in place of “nec frustra dicitur”; both are restored by logged corrections. A heading by Migne (“The passage examined. Heaven, the saints. Earth, the earthly. Lift up the heart”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text; OCR slip; Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text removed; words displaced from section 16 in the digital text; restored to their place): ct lineamenta → et lineamenta; reqoirendum → requirendum; in ce quod → in eo quod; qnam latas → quam latus; Erubescat. ergo tate → Erubescat ergo tale; ct cum admoniti → et cum admoniti; aut frustra sursum virsus ad caput eminet: et ea significatur dicitur. → nec frustra dicitur:; non quos super terram (Coloss. ut, 1 et 2). → non quæ super terram.; conversantur, ct ipsi → conversantur, et ipsi.

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.14 (PL 38:261–262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-14). (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).

53.15PL 38:262

Redi ergo mecum ad faciem cordis: ipsam præpara. Intus est cui loquitur Deus. Aures, oculi, cætera membra visibilia, interioris cujusdam vel habitaculum vel organum sunt. Interior est homo ubi habitat Christus interim per fidem: ibi habitaturus præsentia divinitatis suæ, cum cognoverimus quæ sit latitudo, longitudo, altitudo, profundum; cognoverimus etiam supereminentem scientiæ charitatem Christi, ut impleamur in omnem plenitudinem Dei. Nunc ergo si tibi intellectus hic non displicet, advoca te comprehendere latitudinem, longitudinem, altitudinem, profundum. Non discurras imaginatione cogitationis per spatia mundana, et per molis hujus tam magnae comprehensibilem granditatem. In te attende quod dico. Latitudo est in bonis operibus; longitudo est in longanimitate et perseverantia bonorum operum; altitudo est in supernorum exspectatione præmiorum; propter quam altitudinem tibi dicitur ut sursum cor habeas. Bene operare, et in bonis operibus persevera, propter beneficia Dei. Terrena pro nihilo aestimes, ne cum tibi aliquo sapientis illius flagello terra ista fuerit perturbata, dicas te sine causa Deum coluisse, sine causa bona opera fecisse, sine causa in bonis operibus perseverasse. Faciendo enim bona opera, quasi habuisti latitudinem: perseverando in eis, quasi habuisti longitudinem: sed terrena conquirendo, non habuisti altitudinem. Attende profundum: gratia Dei est in occulto voluntatis ejus. Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? Et, Judicia tua sicut multa abyssus.

Return with me, then, to the face of the heart: prepare it. What God speaks to is within. The ears, the eyes, the other visible members are either the dwelling or the instrument of someone within. It is the inner man where Christ dwells now through faith; there he will dwell by the presence of his divinity, when we have known what is the breadth, the length, the height, the depth; when we have known also the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, then, if this understanding does not displease you, call yourself to comprehend the breadth, the length, the height, the depth. Do not run about by the imagination of your thought through the spaces of the world and the comprehensible greatness of this so great mass. Notice what I am saying in yourself. The breadth is in good works; the length is in long-suffering and perseverance in good works; the height is in the expectation of heavenly rewards, for the sake of which height you are told to have your heart lifted up. Act well, and persevere in good works, for the sake of God’s benefits. Count earthly things as nothing, lest, when this earth is shaken by some scourge of that Wise One, you say that you worshiped God for nothing, did good works for nothing, persevered in good works for nothing. For by doing good works you had, as it were, the breadth; by persevering in them, the length; but by seeking earthly things you did not have the height. Notice the depth: it is the grace of God in the hidden counsel of his will. “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” And, “Your judgments are like a great deep.”

Eph 3:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 3:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 3:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 36:6 (35:7 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The breadth, length, height, and depth of Ephesians are good works, perseverance, hope of heavenly reward, and the hidden grace of God.

  • Christ dwelling in the heart through faith; breadth, length, height, depth; the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge: Eph 3:17–19. “Who has known the mind of the Lord?”: Rom 11:34. “Your judgments are like a great deep”: Ps 36:6 (Vulgate 35:7). A heading by Migne (“Breadth, length, height, and depth”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): ad. faciem → ad faciem; Dens → Deus; tel habitaculum → vel habitaculum; qu:c sit → quæ sit; cognoverimns → cognoverimus; ultitudinem → altitudinem; comprehensibilem ' granditatem → comprehensibilem granditatem; operi- ' bus → operibus; ne cnm libi aliquo sapientis illius flageilo terra ista fuerit perturhata → ne cum tibi aliquo sapientis illius flagello terra ista fuerit perturbata; iu occulto → in occulto; consiliurius → consiliarius.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.15 (PL 38:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-15). (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).

53.16PL 38:262

Hanc conversationem bene operandi, in ea perseverandi, superna exspectandi, gratiam Dei occulte dandi, sapientia, non stultitia; nec reprehendendi quare alius sic, alius autem sic; non enim est iniquitas apud Deum: hanc ergo conversationem, si placet, coapta etiam cruci Domini tui. Non enim frustra talem mortem elegit, in cujus potestate erat vel mori vel non mori. Si in potestate erat mori et non mori, quare non in potestate sic vel sic mori? Non frustra ergo crucem elegit, ubi te huic mundo crucifigeret. Nam latitudo est in cruce transversum lignum, ubi figuntur manus: propter bonorum operum significationem. Longitudo est in ea parte ligni, quæ ab ipso transverso ad terram tendit. Ibi enim corpus crucifigitur, et quodam modo stat: et ipsa statio perseverantiam significat. Altitudo autem in illo ligno est, quod ab eodem transverso sursum versus ad caput eminet: et ea significatur supernorum exspectatio. Ubi profundum, nisi in ea parte quae terræ defixa est? Occulta est enim gratia, et in abdito latet. Non videtur, sed inde eminet quod videtur. Post hæc si comprehenderis haec omnia, non solum intelligendo, verum etiam agendo (intellectus enim bonus omnibus qui faciunt eum); tunc jam extende te, si potes, ad agnoscendam agnitionem charitatis Christi supereminentem scientiae. Cum perveneris, impleberis in omnem plenitudinem Dei. Tunc erit illud facie ad faciem. Impleberis autem in omnem plenitudinem Dei, non ut tui plenus sit Deus, sed ut tu sis plenus Deo. Quære ibi, si potes, faciem corporalem. Jam tollantur nugae a mentis aspectu. Abjiciat puer parvulus ludicra, discat tractare majora. Et nos in multis parvuli sumus: et cum plus quam sumus essemus, a majoribus tolerati sumus. Pacem sectamini cum omnibus, et sanctificationem, sine qua nemo poterit videre Deum. Hac enim et cor mundatur: quia ibi est fides quae per dilectionem operatur. Hinc, Beati mundicordes, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

This way of life, of acting well, of persevering in it, of waiting for heavenly things, of God’s grace given in secret, in wisdom, not foolishness, and of not finding fault because one person is this way and another that (for there is no injustice with God): this way of life, if you please, fit also to the cross of your Lord. For not in vain did he choose such a death, he in whose power it was either to die or not to die. If it was in his power to die or not to die, why not in his power to die in this way or that? Not in vain, then, did he choose the cross, on which he might crucify you to this world. For the breadth on the cross is the crossbeam, where the hands are fastened, signifying good works. The length is in that part of the wood which stretches from the crossbeam to the ground. For there the body is crucified and in a way stands; and that standing signifies perseverance. The height is in that part of the wood which rises from the same crossbeam upward toward the head; and by it is signified the expectation of heavenly things. Where is the depth, if not in that part which is fixed in the ground? For grace is hidden and lies concealed. It is not seen; but from it rises what is seen. After this, if you have comprehended all these things, not only by understanding but also by doing (for “good understanding belongs to all who do it”), then stretch yourself, if you can, to know the knowledge of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. When you have reached it, you will be filled with all the fullness of God. Then it will be face to face. And you will be filled with all the fullness of God, not so that God is full of you, but so that you are full of God. Look for a bodily face there, if you can. Now let trifles be taken away from the mind’s sight. Let the little child throw away toys and learn to handle greater things. We too are little ones in many things; and when we were even more so than we are, we were borne with by our elders. “Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will be able to see God.” For by this too the heart is cleansed, because there is the faith that works through love. Hence, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.”

2 Chr 19:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 9:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 6:14 (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 111:10 (110:10 Vulg.) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 3:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 3:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:11 (echo, medium confidence) · Heb 12:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The four dimensions fit Christ’s cross: crossbeam, upright, top, and buried foot signify good works, perseverance, hope, and hidden grace; through these we come to know Christ’s love and be filled with God.

  • “No injustice with God”: 2 Chr 19:7; Rom 9:14. “Good understanding …”: Ps 111:10 (Vulgate 110:10). The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, the fullness of God: Eph 3:18–19. “Face to face”: 1 Cor 13:12. Putting away childish things: compare 1 Cor 13:11. “Pursue peace …”: Heb 12:14. Faith working through love: Gal 5:6. “Blessed are the clean of heart …”: Matt 5:8. The digital text displaces part of the description of the upright beam into section 14; it is restored by logged corrections. The asterisk after “full of God” in the digital text is a footnote mark, removed. A heading by Migne (“The four dimensions of the cross”) was removed by the importer. Compared with NPNF¹ 6.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne’s Scripture reference printed in the text; removed; OCR slip in the digital text; words displaced into section 14 in the digital text; restored to their place): Manc conversationem → Hanc conversationem; occuite → occulte; bane ergo → hanc ergo; potestate.erat → potestate erat; pote.. state → potestate; opertum → operum; teudit → tendit; quod ab eodom transverso supernorum exspectatio. → quod ab eodem transverso sursum versus ad caput eminet: et ea significatur supernorum exspectatio.; verurn → verum; [Psal. CX, 10] → ; crit illud → erit illud; sed Ut tu sls plenus Deo *. → sed ut tu sis plenus Deo.; tractate → tractare; parvoH → parvuli; ei cum plus → et cum plus; sumuS → sumus; netno → nemo.

Topics: Christology, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Augustine, Serm. 53.16 (PL 38:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-sermones/53-1/#p-53-16). (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).