On True Religion 55
Latin text: Migne, PL 34 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, 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).
Chapter 55
55PL 34:169–171
Quae cum ita sint, hortor vos, homines charis simi et proximi mei, meque ipsum hortor vobiscum, ut ad id quo nos per sapientiam suam Deus hortatur, quanta possumus celeritate curramus. Non diligamus mundum, quoniam omnia quae in mundo sunt, con cupiscentia carnis, et concupiscentia oculorum est, et ambitio sæculi. Non diligamus per carnis voluptatem corrumpere atque corrumpi, ne ad miserabiliorem corruptionem dolorum tormentorum que veniamus. Non diligamus certamina, ne angelis qui talibus gaudent, in potestatem demur, humiliandi, vinciendi, verberandi. Non diligamus visibilia specta cula, ne ab ipsa veritate aberrando et amando umbras, in tenebras projiciamur. Non sit nobis religio in phantasmatibus no stris. Melius est enim qualecumque verum, quam omne quidquid pro arbitrio fingi potest; et tamen animam ipsam, quamvis anima vera sit cum falsa imaginatur, colere non debemus. Melior est vera sti puta, quam lux inani cogitatione pro suspicantis vo luntate formata; et tamen stipulam, quam sentimus et tangimus, dementis est credere colendam. Non sit nobis religio humanorum operum cultus. Meliores enim sunt ipsi artifices qui talia fabricantur, quos ta men colere non debemus. Non sit nobis religio cultus bestiarum. Meliores enim sunt extremi homines, quos tamen colere non debemus. Non sit nobis religio cultus hominum mortuorum: quia si pie vixerunt, non sic habentur ut tales quaerant honores; sed illum a nobis coli volunt, quo illuminante lætantur meriti sui nos esse consortes. Honorandi ergo sunt propter imitationem, non adorandi propter religionem. Si autem male vixerunt, ubicumque sint non sunt co lendi. Non sit nobis religio cultus dæmonum; quia omnis superstitio cum sit magna poena hominum, et periculosissima turpitudo, honor est ac triumphus illorum. Non sit nobis religio terrarum cultus et aquarum; quia istis purior et lucidior est aer, etiam cali ginosus, quem tamen colere non debemus. Non sit nobis religio etiam purioris aeris et serenioris cultus: quia luce absente inumbratur; et purior illo est ful gor ignis etiam hujus, quem tamen, quoniam pro vo luntate accendimus et exstinguimus, colere utique non debemus. Non sit nobis religio cultus corporum æthe reorum atque coelestium, quæ quamvis omnibus cæte ris corporibus recte præponantur, melior tamen ipsis est quaecumque vita. Quapropter si animata sunt, melior est quævis anima per seipsam, quam corpus quod libet animatum; et tamen animam vitiosam ncmo co lendam esse censuerit. Non sit nobis religio cultus illius vitæ, qua dicuntur arbores vivere: quoniam nullus sensus in illa est; et ex eo genere est ista qua nostri etiam corporis numerositas agitur, qua etiam capilli et ossa vivunt, quæ sine sensu præciduntur: hac au tem melior est vita sentiens; et tamen vitam bestia rum colere non debemus. Non sit nobis religio vel ipsa perfecta et sapiens anima rationalis, sive in ministerio universitatis, sive in ministerio partium stabilita, sive quae in summis hominibus exspectat commutationem reformationem que portionis suæ; quoniam omnis vita rationalis si perfecta est, incommutabili veritati secum intrinsecus sine strepitu loquenti obtemperat, non obtemperans autem vitiosa fit. Non ergo per se excellit, sed per it lam cui libenter obtemperat. Quod ergo colit summus angelus, id colendum est etiam ab homine ultimo, quia ipsa hominis natura id non colendo facta est ulti ma. Non enim aliunde sapiens angelus, aliunde homo; aliunde ille verax, aliunde homo; sed ab una incom mutabili sapientia et veritate. Nam id ipsum actum est temporali dispensatione ad salutem nostram, ut naturam humanam ipsa Dei Virtus, et Dei Sapientia incommutabilis, et consubstantialis Patri et coaeterna, suscipere dignaretur, per quam nos doceret id esse homini colendum, quod ab omni creatura intelle ctuali et rationali colendum est. Hoc etiam ipsos opti mos Angelos, et excellentissima Dei ministeria velle credamus, ut unum cum ipsis colamus Deum, cujus contemplatione beati sunt. Neque enim et nos videndo angelum beati sumus; sed videndo veritatem, qua etiam ipsos diligimus Angelos, et his congratulamur. Nec invidemus quod ea paratiores, vel nullis molestiis interpedientibus perfruuntur: sed magis eos diligi mus, quoniam et nos tale aliquid sperare a communi Domino jussi sumus. Quare honoramus eos charitate, non servitute. Nec eis templa construimus: nolunt enim se sic honorari a nobis; quia nos ipsos cum boni sumus, templa summi Dei esse noverunt. Recte ita que scribitur, hominem ab angelo prohibitum ne se adoraret, sed unum Dominum sub quo ei esset et ille conservus. Qui autem nos invitant ut sibi serviamus, et tanquam deos colamus, similes sunt superbis homini bus, quibus si liceat, similiter coli volunt: sed istos homines perpeti minus, illos vero colere magis peri culosum est. Omnis enim hominum dominatus in ho mines, aut dominantium aut servientium morte fini tur:servitus autem sub angelorum malorum super bia, propter ipsum tempus quod est post mortem magis metuenda est. Illud etiam cuivis cognoscere facile est, quod sub homine dominante liberas cogitationes ha bere concessum est: illos autem dominos in mentibus ipsis formidamus, qui unus est oculus intuendae ac percipiendæ veritatis. Quare si omnibus potestatibus, quæ dantur hominibus ad regendam rempublicam, pro nostro vinculo subditi sumus, reddentes Cæsari quod Cæsaris est, et Deo quod Dei est (Matth. xxii, 21), non est metuendum ne hoc post mortem nostram aliquis exigat. Et aliud est servitus animæ, aliud ser vitus corporis. Justi autem homines, et in uno Deo habentes omnia gaudia sua, quando per eorum facta Deus benedicitur, congratulantur laudantibus: cum vero ipsi tanquam ipsi laudantur, corrigunt errantes quos possunt; quos autem non possunt, non eis gra tulantur, et ab illo vitio corrigi volunt. Quibus si si miles, vel etiam mundiores atque sanctiores sunt boni Angeli, et omnia sancta Dei ministeria; quid metui mus ne aliquem illorum offendamus, si non supersti tiosi fuerimus, cum ipsis adjuvantibus ad unum Deum tendentes, et ei uni religantes animas nostras, unde religio dicta creditur, omni superstitione careamus? Ecce unum Deum colo, unum omnium Princi pium, et Sapientiam qua sapiens est quaecumque anima sapiens est, et ipsum Munus quo beata sunt quaecum que beata sunt. Quisquis Angelorum diligit hunc Deum, certus sum quod etiam me diligit. Quisquis in illo manet, et potest humanas preces sentire, in illo me exaudit. Quisquis ipsum. habet bonum suum, in ipso me adjuvat, nec mihi ejus participationem potest in videre. Dicant ergo mihi adoratores, aut adulatores partium mundi, quem non optimum sibi conciliet, qui hoc unum colit, quod omnis optimus diligit, et cujus cognitione gaudet, et ad quod principium recurrendo fit optimus. Quisquis vero angelus excessus suos diligit, et veritati esse subditus non vult, et privato suo lætari cupiens a communi omnium bono et vera beatitudine lapsus est, cui omnes mali subjugandi et pre mendi, nullus autem bonus nisi exercendus in pote statem datur; nullo dubitante non est colendus; cu jus lætitia est nostra miseria et cujus damnum est no stra reversio. Religet ergo nos religio uni omnipotenti Deo; quia inter mentem nostram qua illum intelligimus Patrem, et veritatem, id est lucem interiorem per quam illum intelligimus, nulla interposita creatura est. Quare ipsam quoque Veritatem nulla ex parte dissimilem in ipso, et cum ipso veneremur, quae for ma est omnium, quae ab uno facta sunt, et ad unum nituntur. Unde apparet spiritualibus animis, per hanc formam esse facta omnia, quae sola implet quod ap petunt omnia. Quae tamen omnia neque fierent a Pa tre per Filium, neque suis finibus salva essent, nisi Deus summe bonus esset: qui et nulli nature, quae ab ipso bona esse posset, invidit; et in bono ipso alia quantum vellent, alia quantum possent, ut manerent dedit. Quare ipsum Donum Dei cum Patre et Filio aeque incommutabile colere et tenere nos convenit: unius substantiæ Trinitatem, unum Deum a quo su mus, per quem sumus, in quo sumus: a quo disces simus, cui dissimiles facti sumus, a quo perire non permissi sumus: principium ad quod recurrimus, et formam quam sequimur, et gratiam qua reconcilia mur: unum Deum quo auctore conditi sumus, et si militudinem ejus per quam ad unitatem formamur, et pacem qua unitati adhæremus: Deum qui dixit, Fiat ( Gen. i); et Verbum per quod factum est omne quod substantialiter et naturaliter factum est; et Do num benignitatis ejus, quo placuit et conciliatum est auctori suo, ut non interiret quidquid ab eo per Ver bum factum est: unum Deum quo creatore vivimus, per quem reformati sapienter vivimus, quem diligen tes et quo fruentes beate vivimus: unum Deum ex quo omnia, per quem omnia, in quo omnia, ipsi glo ria in sæcula saeculorum. Amen.
Since this is so, I urge you, my dearest friends and neighbors, and I urge myself with you, to run with all the speed we can to that to which God urges us through his Wisdom. Let us not love the world, since all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the ambition of the world. Let us not love to corrupt and be corrupted through the pleasure of the flesh, lest we come to the more wretched corruption of pains and torments. Let us not love contests, lest we be given into the power of the angels who rejoice in such things, to be humbled, bound, and beaten. Let us not love visible spectacles, lest by straying from truth itself and loving shadows we be cast into darkness. Let our religion not be in our own phantoms. For any true thing whatever is better than all that can be imagined at will; and yet we ought not to worship the soul itself, although the soul is true when it imagines false things. A true straw is better than a light shaped by empty thought at the will of the one imagining it; and yet it would be madness to believe that the straw we perceive and touch is to be worshiped. Let our religion not be the worship of human works. For the craftsmen who make such things are better, and yet we ought not to worship them. Let our religion not be the worship of beasts. For the lowest men are better, and yet we ought not to worship them. Let our religion not be the worship of dead men: because if they lived godly lives, they are not thought to seek such honors, but want him to be worshiped by us by whose light they rejoice that we are sharers of their merit. They are to be honored, then, for imitation, not adored for religion. And if they lived badly, wherever they are, they are not to be worshiped. Let our religion not be the worship of demons: because all superstition, though it is a great punishment and a most dangerous disgrace for men, is their honor and triumph. Let our religion not be the worship of lands and waters: because the air is purer and brighter than these, even when it is misty, and yet we ought not to worship it. Let our religion not be even the worship of purer and clearer air: because it is darkened when the light is absent; and purer than it is the brightness even of this fire, which nevertheless, since we kindle and put it out at will, we certainly ought not to worship. Let our religion not be the worship of ethereal and heavenly bodies, which, though they are rightly set above all other bodies, are still inferior to any life whatever. Therefore, if they are animated, any soul by itself is better than any animated body; and yet no one would think that a vicious soul is to be worshiped. Let our religion not be the worship of that life by which trees are said to live: since there is no sensation in it; and of that kind is the life by which the rhythm of our own body is moved, by which even hair and bones live, which are cut off without feeling. But sentient life is better than this, and yet we ought not to worship the life of beasts. Let our religion not be even the perfect and wise rational soul itself, whether established in the service of the universe or in the service of its parts, or one that in the greatest men awaits the change and re-forming of its portion; since every rational life, if it is perfect, obeys the unchangeable truth that speaks to it inwardly without noise, and if it does not obey becomes vicious. So it does not excel through itself, but through that which it willingly obeys. What the highest angel worships, then, is to be worshiped also by the lowest man, because human nature itself became lowest by not worshiping it. For the wise angel is not wise from one source and man from another, nor is the angel truthful from one source and man from another, but from the one unchangeable wisdom and truth. For this very thing was done in a temporal dispensation for our salvation: that the Power of God and the unchangeable Wisdom of God, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father, deigned to take up human nature, through which he might teach us that what is to be worshiped by man is what is to be worshiped by every intellectual and rational creature. Let us believe that the best angels too, and the most excellent ministers of God, want this: that together with them we should worship the one God by whose contemplation they are happy. For we too are not made happy by seeing an angel, but by seeing the truth, by which we also love the angels themselves and rejoice with them. Nor do we envy them because they enjoy it more readily, or with no troubles hindering; rather we love them the more, because we too have been bidden by our common Lord to hope for something of the kind. Therefore we honor them with love, not with servitude. Nor do we build temples for them: for they do not wish to be honored by us in that way, since they know that we ourselves, when we are good, are temples of the most high God. So it is rightly written that a man was forbidden by an angel to worship him, but to worship the one Lord under whom that angel too was his fellow servant. But those who invite us to serve them and to worship them as gods are like proud men, who, if they were allowed, would wish to be worshiped in the same way. But to put up with such men is less dangerous, to worship those beings more. For all dominion of men over men ends with the death of either the rulers or the servants; but servitude under the pride of evil angels is the more to be feared because of the very time that comes after death. This too is easy for anyone to recognize: that under a human master it is permitted to have free thoughts, but those masters we fear in our very minds, which are the one eye for beholding and grasping truth. Therefore, if we are subject, for the sake of our bond, to all the powers given to men for ruling the state, rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, there is no fear that anyone will exact this after our death. And the servitude of the soul is one thing, the servitude of the body another. Just men, who have all their joys in the one God, rejoice with those who praise when God is blessed for their deeds; but when they themselves are praised as themselves, they correct those who err, whom they can; and those whom they cannot, they do not congratulate, but wish them to be corrected from that vice. If the good angels and all the holy ministers of God are like these, or even purer and holier, why do we fear to offend any of them if we are not superstitious, when with their help we tend toward the one God and bind our souls to him alone (from which “religion” is believed to be named), and are free of all superstition? Behold, I worship one God, the one Beginning of all things, and the Wisdom by which every wise soul is wise, and the Gift itself by which all happy things are happy. Whatever angel loves this God, I am sure that he loves me too. Whoever abides in him and can perceive human prayers hears me in him. Whoever has him as his good helps me in him, and cannot begrudge me sharing in him. Let the worshipers, or flatterers, of the parts of the world tell me, then, what best being he does not win over who worships this one thing which every best being loves, in the knowledge of which it rejoices, and by recourse to which as its beginning it becomes best. But whatever angel loves his own excesses and will not be subject to truth, and, desiring to rejoice in his private good, has fallen from the common good of all and from true happiness, to whom all the wicked are given into his power to be subjugated and oppressed, but no good man except to be tested: beyond all doubt he is not to be worshiped; his joy is our misery and his loss is our return. Let religion, then, bind us to the one almighty God, because between our mind, by which we understand him as Father, and the truth, that is, the inner light through which we understand him, no creature is interposed. Therefore let us also venerate in him and with him the Truth itself, in no respect unlike him, which is the form of all things that have been made by the One and strive toward the One. From this it is plain to spiritual minds that through this form all things were made, which alone fulfills what all things seek. Yet all these things would neither be made by the Father through the Son nor be kept safe within their limits, unless God were supremely good, who begrudged no nature that could be good from him, and gave to some to remain in the good as far as they willed, to others as far as they could. Therefore it is fitting for us to worship and hold fast the Gift of God itself, equally unchangeable with the Father and the Son: the Trinity of one substance, one God, from whom we are, through whom we are, in whom we are; from whom we departed, to whom we became unlike, by whom we were not allowed to perish; the Beginning to which we return, and the Form which we follow, and the Grace by which we are reconciled; one God, by whose authorship we were created, and his Likeness through which we are formed to unity, and the Peace by which we cling to unity; God who said, “Let there be,” and the Word through which was made all that was made substantially and naturally, and the Gift of his kindness, by which whatever was made by him through the Word pleased its author and was reconciled to him, so that it should not perish; one God, by whom as Creator we live, through whom re-formed we live wisely, loving and enjoying whom we live happily; one God, from whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things: to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 John 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 2:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 19:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 22:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 13:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 22:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 17:28 (echo, medium confidence) · Rom 11:36 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Augustine closes by urging his readers to worship no creature, neither phantoms, works, beasts, the dead, demons, elements, heavenly bodies, nor even angels, but the one God, the Trinity of one substance, to whom true religion binds us.
- The derivation of “religio” from “religare” (to bind) is Lactantius's (Div. Inst. 4.28); Augustine says only that it “is believed”. The angel forbidding worship: Rev 19:10; 22:8–9. On honoring the martyrs and saints “for imitation, not adored for religion”, the text is translated exactly. The Maurist section numbers 111 and 112 left in the digital text (“i i i.”, “112.”) are removed. “Equally unchangeable with the Father and the Son” refers to the Holy Spirit as the Gift of God.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip in Migne's reference; OCR slips; joined words; leaked section number; stray mark): sinai et → simi et; Reus hortatur → Deus hortatur; pculorum → oculorum; dolorutn → dolorum; detnur → demur; cut- Ins hominum → cultus hominum; quxrant → quaerant; consortes '. → consortes.; nohis religio terrarum → nobis religio terrarum; puricr → purior; ctiam purioris → etiam purioris; qnamvis → quamvis; me- Hor est → melior est; uoslri → nostri; Ncque enim → Neque enim; cos charitate → eos charitate; a nohis → a nobis; Hecte → Recte; conservus. i i i. Qui → conservus. Qui; ct tanquam deos → et tanquam deos; tempusquod → tempus quod; Hlud etiam → Illud etiam; (Maltli. xxu, 21) → (Matth. xxii, 21); per corum facta → per eorum facta; non cis gra → non eis gra; ei ab illo vitio → et ab illo vitio; 112. Ecce → Ecce; sapiens eat, → sapiens est,; mibi adoratores → mihi adoratores; partium mandi, queat non → partium mundi, quem non; iit optimus → fit optimus; dili- -gia → diligit; lapsus est I, → lapsus est,; Uude apparet → Unde apparet; quantum possem → quantum possent; formamur I, → formamur,; placu t et conciliatum eat → placuit et conciliatum est; sa:culorum → saeculorum.
Extrabiblical texts: Lactantius, Inst. 4.28 (Divine Institutes; echo)
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Vera rel. 55 (PL 34:169–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-vera-religione/55/#p-55). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Latin of Migne's Patrologia Latina (digital text of the Open Greek and Latin project); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.