V' Augustine and the Donatists

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V. Augustine and the Donatists

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V.A. Background The Decian Persecution

• Libellus

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V.A. Background The Decian Persecution

• What do we do about those who lapsed during the
  persecution?
• Those who denied their faith
• Those who became libellatici

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V.A. Background The Decian Persecution

• Three Views
• Cornelius and Stephen (Roman Bishops) --
• Easy re-admission into the Church
• Novatian (Rival Bishop of Rome) --
• No re-admission into the Church
• Cyprian (Bishop of Carthage) --
• Re-admission after suitable penance

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V.A. Background The Decian Persecution

• Is the Church primarily ...
• a society of saints
• a hospital for the sick
• What about the issue of re-baptizing repentant
  people?

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V.B. BackgroundThe Diocletian Persecution

• Lasted from 303 until 313 in the West, and
  perhaps a decade longer in the East.
• This time, the major target was copies of the
  Scriptures.
• Those who gave up their Scriptures were called
  traditores.
• One of the traditores was the prominent North
  African bishop Felix.

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V.C. The Donatist Schism

• The spark Caecilian was consecrated bishop of
  Carthage by Felix in 311.
• The North African bishops rejected Caecilian, and
  chose first Majorinus and then Donatus.
• Pope Militiades and Emperor Constantine both
  decided against the Donatists in 313.
• A council at Arles in 314 ruled against the
  Donatists and against Cyprians belief that
  people should be re-baptized prior to
  re-instatement.

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V.C. The Donatist Schism

• Donatist popularity in North Africa
• They claimed Cyprian as their forefather because
  he had urged re-baptism prior to re-instatement.
• They appealed to the lower classes who were
  disgruntled with poor living conditions and upset
  about imperial interference in Church affairs.

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V.D. Augustine and the Donatists

• On Baptism, Against the Donatists (ca. 400)
• Underlying Assumptions
• Schismatics can be right on some things.
• The Church is primarily an institution.

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V.D. Augustine and the Donatists

• On Baptism, Against the Donatists (ca. 400)
• Major Arguments
• Baptizing truly, rightly, and profitably

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V.D. Augustine and the Donatists

• On Baptism, Against the Donatists (ca. 400)
• Major Arguments
• Baptizing truly, rightly, and profitably
• The authority of Scripture

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V.D. Augustine and the Donatists

• On Baptism, Against the Donatists (ca. 400)
• Major Arguments
• Baptizing truly, rightly, and profitably
• The authority of Scripture
• Schism is a worse sin than a mistake about
  re-baptism.

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V.E. The Donatist ControversyDown the Road

• Arbitration in Carthage -- 411
• Presided over by Marcellinus, the imperial legate
• 286 Catholic bishops present
• 279 Donatists bishops present
• Strict measures against the Donatists
• Their clergy were banished.
• Their laypeople were fined.
• Their church buildings were confiscated.
• They were forbidden to hold services. -- 415

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V.E. The Donatist ControversyDown the Road

• Augustine and Persecution of Donatists
• Movement from persuasion to force
• Appeal to Luke 1423

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VI. Augustine and the Arians

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VI.A. The Arian Controversy

• Subordinationism/Arianism
• God (Father)
• ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
• Son
• Holy Spirit

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VI.A. The Arian Controversy

• Council of Nicaea (325)
• Three Groups
• Arians (small minority)
• Radical anti-Arians (led by Alexander and
  Athanasius from Alexandria)
• Old-style Eastern theologians

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VI.A. The Arian Controversy

• The purpose of the momentous decision of the
  Council of Nicaea, making the confession of the
  Sons consubstantiality with the Father a test
  of orthodoxy for office in the Church, was to
  insist that there can be no such degrees of
  divinity if Christ be God, he must be God in the
  same sense as the Father. But the test word
  itself was so ambiguous as to arouse suspicion of
  a Sabellian intention and it took half a century
  of controversy to reach a common consent on the
  two fundamentals of Trinitarian doctrine that
  Son and Spirit must be confessed alike as truly
  God, God without reservation, and yet that
  Father, Son, and Spirit are not mere names of one
  divine Being or Person.
• -- John Burnaby

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VI.A. The Arian Controversy

• The Council of Constantinople (381)
• Finalizing the Nicene Creed

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• Eastern and Western Models of the Trinity
• West East
• Father Father
• (God)
• God
• Son Spirit Son
  Spirit

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Starting Points
• Faith seeking understanding
• The role of reason
• The orthodox understanding of God
• The Trinity and spiritual life

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Structure
• The doctrine of the From the trinity of the
  mind
• Trinity stated (Bk. 1) to the true Trinity (Bk.
  15)
• The doctrine revealed The trinity of the mind
  re-
• through the missions of vealed through biblical
  his-
• Son and Spirit (Bks. 2-4) tory (Bks. 12-14)
• The doctrine in relation The trinity of the
  mind in
• to reason (Bks. 5-7) relation to reason (Bks.
  9-11)
• The link between the Trinity
• and the human mind (Bk. 8)

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Equality of the Three Persons
• The Son is the One through whom all things were
  made.
• The Spirit is One whom we worship and serve.

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Oneness of God
• The evidence of Rom. 1136
• Statements made of one Trinitarian Person do not
  exclude the other two.

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Son Equal and yet Less
• Form of God / Form of a servant
• As God / As man
• Equal as to his being, less as to his being sent
• Interpretation of seemingly contradictory passages

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Sons Mission
• Our double problem We are mortal, and we are
  sinners.
• Gods single solution Sending the Son as a just
  man to die on our behalf
• Our double death and the Sons single death
• The Sons single resurrection and our double
  resurrection

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• True and False Mediation
• The devil leads us to death without accompanying
  us there.
• The Son accompanies us to death in order to lead
  us out.
• Images of the Atonement
• Sacrifice / justice
• Death / life / defeat of the devil

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Spirits Mission
• Sent by the Father, in the Sons name
• Missions and Processions

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• Is Augustines model of the Trinity Western?
• Starting with the One ?
• Starting with the Three ?
• The Filioque, but with a catch

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• Is Augustines model of the Trinity Western?
• A possibility Augustine misunderstands the
  Eastern model.
• Augustine paves the way for the Western model by
• Saying the missions yield knowledge of the
  processions.
• Affirming the Filioque.
• Pioneering the use of analogies.
• But Augustines model is basically similar to the
  Eastern one.

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Trinity and the Human Mind
• From the good to God
• Knowledge as a prerequisite for love
• From what image can we know God enough to begin
  trusting in him and loving him?
• God is love.
• The Lover, the Beloved, and Love

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Trinity and Analogies
• The Lover, the Beloved, and Love
• The memory, understanding, and will
• Augustines analogies and ours

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• The Trinity and Salvation
• Eternal life
• Grace
• Faith
• Love/Merit

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VI.B. Augustine, On the Trinity

• Summary
• Who God is and what he does are intimately
  connected.
• Who God is and what our minds are like are
  closely connected.
• Who God is and how we return to him are closely
  connected.

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VII. Augustine and the Pagans

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VII.A. Background The Fading Glory of Old Rome

• Barbarian threats in 248
• The loss of the capital in 330
• Renewed barbarian threats from 375 onward
• Gothic invasions of Gaul in 406 and Spain in 408

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VII.A. Background The Fall of Rome

• Capture of Rome on August 24, 410
• More a symbolic fall than a physical destruction

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VII.B. Augustine, City of God

• Personal in inspiration, universal in scope
• Not destruction but fulfillment
• All things work together for good.

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VII.B. Augustine, City of God

• Structure of the work
• Worshiping false gods does NOT lead to happi-ness
  in this life (Books 1-5).
• Worshiping false gods does NOT lead to happi-ness
  in the life to come (Books 6-10).
• The origin of the City of God (Books 11-14)
• The development of the City of God (Books 15-18)
• The end in store for the City of God (Books 19-22)

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VII.C. City of God Books 1-5

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in this life
• Pagan gods are not worth worshiping.

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VII.C. City of God Books 1-5

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in this life
• Pagan gods are not worth worshiping.
• Two interpretations of the fall of Rome

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VII.C. City of God Books 1-5

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in this life
• Pagan gods are not worth worshiping.
• Two interpretations of the fall of Rome
• Calamity befalls the evil and the good alike.

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VII.C. City of God Books 1-5

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in this life
• Pagan gods are not worth worshiping.
• Two interpretations of the fall of Rome
• Calamity befalls the evil and the good alike.
• All things work together for good.

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VII.D. City of God Books 6-10

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in the life to come
• Two kinds of false gods
• fabulous and natural (philosophical)
• Fabulous gods cannot bring happiness.

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VII.D. City of God Books 6-10

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in the life to come
• Plotinus (ca. 205-270) and Porphyry (ca. 232- ca.
  303)
• An unspoken assumption

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VII.D. City of God Books 6-10

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in the life to come
• Neoplatonist errors concerning sacrifice to
  daimones

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VII.D. City of God Books 6-10

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in the life to come
• Neoplatonist errors concerning sacrifice to
  daimones
• Neoplatonist errors concerning the Trinity and
  the incarnation

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VII.D. City of God Books 6-10

• Worshiping false gods does not lead to happiness
  in the life to come
• Neoplatonist errors concerning sacrifice to
  daimones
• Neoplatonist errors concerning the Trinity and
  the incarnation
• The source of Neoplatonist errors

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VII.E. City of God Books 11-14

• The origin of the City of God
• From philosophy to Christianity

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VII.E. City of God Books 11-14

• The origin of the City of God
• From philosophy to Christianity
• The priority of grace

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VII.E. City of God Books 11-14

• The origin of the City of God
• From philosophy to Christianity
• The priority of grace
• The rebellion

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VII.E. City of God Books 11-14

• The origin of the City of God
• From philosophy to Christianity
• The priority of grace
• The rebellion
• True happiness and true love

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VII.F. City of God Books 15-18

• The development of the City of God
• The progress of the cities

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VII.F. City of God Books 15-18

• The development of the City of God
• The progress of the cities
• Superiority of Hebrew Scriptures to Greek
  philosophy

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VII.F. City of God Books 15-18

• The development of the City of God
• The progress of the cities
• Superiority of Hebrew Scriptures to Greek
  philosophy
• Christocentric interpretation of the OT

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VII.F. City of God Books 15-18

• The development of the City of God
• The progress of the cities
• Superiority of Hebrew Scriptures to Greek
  philosophy
• Christocentric interpretation of the OT
• All things work together for good.

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VII.G. City of God Books 19-22

• The end in store for the City of God
• Supreme good and supreme happiness

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VII.G. City of God Books 19-22

• The end in store for the City of God
• Supreme good and supreme happiness
• Relation between heavenly and earthly cities in
  this world

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VII.G. City of God Books 19-22

• The end in store for the City of God
• Supreme good and supreme happiness
• Relation between heavenly and earthly cities in
  this world
• The hope of the City of God

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VII.G. City of God Books 19-22

• The end in store for the City of God
• Supreme good and supreme happiness
• Relation between heavenly and earthly cities in
  this world
• The hope of the City of God
• The end in store for the City of Man