SECTION V
Chapter 5 - St. Augustine and his Authoritarian Blueprint for Christian
   Society

The World During the Time of St. Augustine

  During the first centuries C.E., when Christians had been persecuted as a
minority sect, Christian leaders largely viewed evil as an "unnatural"
condition-- arising from pagan rule of the world's governments.  Christians
faced terrible persecutions, but were sustained in their faith by the belief
that Jesus would return soon to establish a new Kingdom, either on earth or
in heaven.

   When the Roman emperor Constantine officially recognized Christianity
as the official religion of Rome during the fourth century C.E., contemporary
Christians hailed Constantine and his successors as God's chosen rulers on
earth.  Orthodox Christianity had now formed an alliance with the State itself,
and church authorities found themselves in positions of great power.
Contemporary Christians such as Eusebius, interpreted Constantine's political
successes as events that heralded a new Era--possibly to be identified with
God's new reign on earth. All expectations were for a new age whereby material
conditions would improve for Christians.

  The writings of the Christian father Origin, reflected this optimism.
In his theology, Christ was seen as an agent who was sent on earth to
IMPROVE mankind--even making it perfect, so that one's spirit could ascend
towards heaven.  Origin's optimism would even go so far as to envision
mankind as having the potential, through grace, of obtaining perfect souls.
Origin's view of God led him to believe that, in the end, even the devil
and fallen angels would ultimately participate in some Divine plan of
forgiveness, and all would live together someday in paradise. (After his
death, this view that everyone would be eventually redeemed fell into
disfavor with Orthodoxy, and was indeed proclaimed heretical at the Council at
Constantinople in 553 C.E.)

    After Christians had come into power in Rome, Christian optimism
eventually turned again to pessimism.  For even after Christians had
acquired total power in Rome with Constantine's conversion, the problems
of the Empire had NOT improved!  Constantine had not appointed a successor
before he died. Following his death in 337 C.E., there was a return to bloody
military battles, as Constantine's sons fought among themselves for control
over the Empire.

  In 340 C.E., Constantine II died during a war with his brother Constans. In 
361 C.E., Julian the Apostate, a nephew of Constantine, (and one of the few 
survivors of the violent infighting among Constantine's family for political 
control) renounced his Christian upbringing, and attempted to turn the Empire 
back to paganism. He died two years later in a campaign against the Persians.  
This was taken as a divine sign by many, and the empire quickly reverted back to
Christian rule.

    However, after two generations of "Christian" rule, Christian optimism was
on the decline.  Instead, it had become all too apparent that the corruptions
and evil that had been seen under the pagans, had not significantly diminished.
Instead of a New Age under official Christendom, the world order had not really
changed.  Political intrigue, secret police, and torture were still common.
The empire, upon Constantine's death became even more politically fragmented
than before; and economic problems of inflation and heavy taxation continued
to burden the empire. Plagues, famines, and wars were commonplace, and taking
a heavy toll on human life.

   Indeed, it could be argued that the Orthodox Church had even ADDED to the
Empire's problems: Because instead of unifying the people around Christianity,
it created even new turmoil and schisms from its battles with "heretical"
non-orthodox Christians, Jews, and pagans. Culture generally took a downward
turn toward the more base elements of society (as can be seen in the murder of 
Hypatia.)

    Paganism was clearly on the decline.  They had been humiliated by their
inability to defend their temples and buildings at he hands of Christians--
who were determined to stamp out all vestiges of paganism. Some pagans, such
as the poet Cyrus of Panopolis, became converts to escape the violent
reappraisals against non-Orthodox Christians.

Fall of Rome, 410 C.E.

  In 410 C.E., after roughly one hundred years of Christian rule, the capital
of the Western Roman Empire--Rome, was easily defeated, and then sacked by
barbarians (see next chapter). Pagan critics charged that all of Rome's
troubles seemed to coincide with the adoption of Christianity as the official
religion of the Roman Empire.  It was claimed that pagan gods had protected
the Empire for hundreds of years, but now that recent Christian emperors had
forbidden their worship, the gods had deserted the people, and allowed the
empire to be overrun with barbarians.

  Christians found themselves on the DEFENSIVE. Previously Christians could
point to the successes in battle against the pagans, as proof that God was
on their side.  However, now that their fortunes had reversed--and Christians
began LOSING to "barbarian" invaders, Orthodox Christians were at a loss
to explain these failures which culminated in the fall of Rome.

   St. Jerome, for one, had written how he believed Rome's fall was "not
the fault of [Rome's] Emperors who are both religious men".  He tried hard
not "to appear despondent of God's mercy." Some Christians who were well
educated in the classics offered cyclical theories.  Others believed it
was a sign that the End was near. (Theodor Mommsen, JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF 
IDEAS,IXX (1951) P 346-74  as referenced by William Carroll Bark in ORIGINS OF
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD, p 73)

Augustine's CITY OF GOD

  It was against this background that Augustine of Hippo formulated an
essentially new Christian doctrine to explain these hard times. In his
CITY OF GOD, Augustine would effectively DISASSOCIATE the "progress" of the
Roman Empire with Christianity--and thus explain why the military, political, 
and economic problems had NOT IMPROVED after generations of Christian rule.   
Augustine disarmed the pagan argument that the old "gods" were not being 
worshiped, by noting that pagans were suffering more at the hands of these 
Arian Christian barbarians than were the Orthodox.
    
   Augustine compared the civilization of Rome with an old man:

   "You are surprised that the world is losing its grip? that the world
    is grown old?  Think of a man:  he is born, he grows up, he becomes
    old...The world is old; it is full of pressing tribulations...Do
    not hold on to the old man, the world; do not refuse to regain your
    youth in Christ, who says to you, 'The world is passing away, the
    world is losing its grip, the world is short of breath.  Do not
    fear, Thy youth shall be renewed as an eagle.'"

   St. Augustine wrote how God has devised a divine plan which directs the 
rise and fall of nations.  Although God's reasons for some political events 
would never be fully comprehended by humans, still one thing IS known: God is 
NOT interested in the fate of cities and empires--except where they impact the 
destiny of individual men.  Only the SALVATION of man's soul is eternal. 
Everything else is really unimportant in comparison – not even those who died 
from starvation:


   "Again, they say that the long famine laid many a Christian low. But this, 
    too, the faithful turned to good uses by a pious endurance of it. For those 
    whom famine killed outright it rescued from the ills of this life, as a  
    kindly disease would have done."  (City of God, Book 1, Chapter 6)


  Thus, the real progress in history arises from the INTERNAL struggle of
individuals in their MORAL struggle to obey God-- and NOT from the EXTERNAL,
political battles waged by men.  Local politics were not important vis-ŕ-vis
the eternal city of God. God punished Rome now, because of her continued sins.
Hence, even during "righteous wars" that were "commended by God", God
"sometimes withheld victory from His [Christian] armies in punishment for
their own sins."

   While the pagans viewed the human race as being divided between cultivated
"Romans" and "barbarians", Augustine argued that the correct dividing line
is between those who are "saved" by God's grace, and those who are not.
The former are members of the "City of God", while the latter are members
of the "Earthly City".  Although currently these two groups live side by
side on earth--at death they will be segregated according to those who will
dwell in heaven, and those who will descend to hell. Per Augustine, God's
divine plan for human history revolved around the growth and development
of the "City of God". Once one understands this, Augustine argued, it could
be seen that the fall of Rome could even be beneficial, rather than harmful
in the long run.

Implications of Augustine's CITY OF GOD

  Augustine's CITY OF GOD interpreted the true meaning of history along a
personal drama of sin and redemption. However his solution to the "cause"
of Christian losses in battle, would also have a "dark" side to it.  For
as we shall see, his doctrine of Original Sin led to a belief in the
denigration of mankind--and with it, opposition to belief in the value of
human freedom and liberty. Instead, Augustine believed that it was necessary
for an all-powerful totalitarian Church institution to police the "flock",
and in this way, protect the populace from itself.

  Thus, largely due to the efforts of one man-- Augustine of Hippo--classical
knowledge was reinterpreted and redirected, whereby the goal of human
existence became focused solely towards salvation (thus replacing earlier
Judaic-Christian traditions that stressed the freedom of the individual to
choose right over wrong.)  The irony here, though, is that the ancient world
might have taken a very different path towards the future, if the doctrines of
say, an Origin had taken hold in Christian orthodoxy, that emphasized the
individual ideal of excellence. (As noted above, these views of Origen's
were later declared heretical, as the Catholic church largely embraced the
ideas of St. Augustine.)

  It was St. Augustine's doctrines that would form the basis of the "medieval
mentality" which would take almost complete hold of Western Christian thought
for roughly the next thousand years. St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS and CITY OF
GOD became considered great classics during the Middle Ages, and formed the
paradigm through which essentially all Western Christians viewed themselves
in relation to the world.

St. Augustine (354-430 C.E.)--"Greatest" of all Church Fathers!

(Note: A biography of Augustine's life and conversion to Catholicism is
   given in Section X, Chapter 2).

The Doctrine of Original Sin.

  Augustine's explanation for the current state of affairs in the fifth
century C.E., was that man was born into ORIGINAL SIN!  Elaine Pagels, in her
book, ADAM, EVE, AND THE SERPENT, explains how Augustine's views, which
completely transformed Christianity before this time, became popular among
many of his contemporary Christian peers:

  "By insisting that humanity, ravaged by sin, now lies helplessly in
  need of outside intervention, Augustine's theory could not only validate
  secular power but justify as well the imposition of church authority--
  by force, if necessary--as essential for human salvation...Augustine's
  theology of the fall  ... made the uneasy alliance between the Catholic
  churches and imperial power palatable--not only justifiable but necessary--
  for the majority of Catholic Christians...[B]elievers could find in
  Augustine's theological legacy ways of making sense out of a situation
  in which church and state had become inextricably inter-dependent."
  (Elaine Pagels, p 118, 125-6)

  To best understand how Augustine developed his doctrine on Original
Sin, one must first know something of Augustine's personal background:
In his CONFESSIONS, Augustine wrote how desperately sick and helpless he
felt, believing his own moral will to be paralyzed--as he waited for
the grace from converting to Christianity to effect an healing. (Elaine
Pagels p 116)

  Augustine was in his own eyes, a sinner--a person consumed by his sexual
passions.  His passions prevented him from entering into the blissful state
to which he had been called.  Fighting off his own sexual desires seemed to
have been a struggle that consumed much of Augustine's attention for the rest
of his life.  Augustine's belief that man is enslaved to sexual desire,
rested largely on his PROJECTION from his own personal experience regarding
guilt over sin.  That is, since Augustine felt helpless by his inability to
control his powerful sex drive within him (regardless of how much he willed
this to go away)-- he deduced that all men likewise were chained down by
their animal desires.

  Here, is how Augustine described the "enemy" within--ie his sexual passion:

  "I was bound, not with another man's chains, but with my own iron will.
  The enemy held my will, and, indeed, made a chain of it for me, and
  constrained me.  Because of a perverse will, desire was made; and when
  I was enslaved to [sexual] desire it became habit; and habit not
  restrained became necessity;  by which links... a very hard bondage had
  me enthralled." (Augustine, CONFESSIONS 8,5)

  Augustine continued that since he suffered, despite the full exercise
of his will to enter the service of God (ie living a chaste, sexless life),
this suffering had to have originated from some sin that HE did not commit--
but was a sin that he had INHERITED as a descendant of Adam:

  "I was not, therefore, the cause of it, but the 'sin that  dwells in me':
  from the punishment of that more voluntary sin, because I was a son
  of Adam."(Ibid,8,10)

Adam's Original Sin

  To Augustine, Adam did NOT have a free will when he was created by God.
Adam gained a kind of perverse form of free will when he ate of the fruit of
the tree of knowledge:

  "The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is personal control
over one's own will." (Augustine, DE CIVITATE DEI 14,15)

  With his newly gotten free will, Adam chose to do "wickedness" before God.
Instead of obtaining freedom though, Adam faced a "life of cruel and
wretched slavery". (Ibid) For man was created so that it was advantageous
for him to be submissive to the Creator, but disastrous for him to follow
his own free will. (Ibid 14,12)

  This free will also brought upon Adam and Eve a "rebellion in the flesh"--
meaning sexual desire.  And because this "shameless movement [ie of their
sexual organs] resisted the rule of their will, they covered their shameful
members"-- That is they realized they were nude and covered their sexual parts.
(Augustine, DE CIVITATE DEI 13,24)

   Thus, to Augustine, the Original Sin of Adam and Even was sexual in nature--
the forbidden fruit of the "tree of knowledge" of which they ate, transferred
CARNAL knowledge to them.  Sexual desire and pleasure was the disease that was
unleashed upon mankind. It is the act of conceiving children which transmits
this "Original Sin" from one generation to the next. Since Jesus was born of
a virgin, he escaped this curse from Adam and Eve's "Original Sin"--thus
maintaining his perfect form:

  "Christ was begotten and conceived without any fleshly pleasure and so he
  also remained free from every kind of defilement by Original Sin."
  (ENCHIRIDION 13,41)

  To Augustine, only Adam's misuse of his free will, could explain his own
personal experience whereby he "suffered" (ie felt sexual desire)--but
could not "will" these feelings away.

 Augustine pointed to Paul for proof for his position. See Romans 7:15-25:

  "I do not do what I will, but I do the very thing I hate...I can will what
is right, but I cannot do it."

  Although previous Christians had also interpreted Paul's statement's to
mean that he could not control himself--ie had no free will, this was seen
to apply only to those who lacked the grace of a Christian baptism. Clement
of Alexandria had believed that the sin of Adam and Eve was in their
discovery of sex. Tertullian had used the phrase "original sin" in his
writings (it appears this was an earlier "African" concept), but had also
stated that he did NOT believe that babies were BORN into sin-- nor that one
remained in this state after one's true Christian baptism!

  It was St. Augustine who was the first to identify Original Sin with
sexual DESIRE, and not mere knowledge of sex! To Augustine, a person was
BORN into Original Sin--AND NOT EVEN A CHRISTIAN BAPTISM could wash this sin
away!

  Prior to Augustine's writings, both Jews and Christians generally taught
that Adam was created by God WITH a free will!  The MORAL to be learned from
the story of Adam and Eve was how mankind could ABUSE this right by choosing
to do evil instead of good.  Jews believed that the creation of the world
and mankind was basically good--and that one could secure forgiveness for
their sins through repentance and righteous works.  Jews believed that there
would be a day in the future when the people would choose to RETURN to
God's ways.  At that time, God would take them back and reward them by
raising them up as a great nation on the earth.

   Jews also viewed sex as a blessing, and NOT a curse! (For had not
God blessed Adam and Even to be fruitful and to multiply?) On the contrary,
Jews believed that it was a SIN to remain celibate and have NO children.

   St. Augustine interpreted the story of Adam and Eve in just the opposite
way as the Jews!  For when he read that after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden
fruit, they "were ashamed and covered their sexual parts with fig leaves"--
he determined that "this is where it [Original Sin] comes from."

   As one is BORN into Original Sin, Augustine logically deduced that,
human suffering and injustice are the result of man's Original Sin, saying:

*"This life, for mortals, is the wrath of God.  The world is a small-scale
  Hell", and

*"This is the Catholic view: a view that can show a just God in so
  many pains and in such agonies of tiny babies."

   According to Augustine, it is only through the "grace of God" that man can 
be saved.  Without the rites of baptism, one's soul is condemned for all 
ETERNITY in hell.  There were no exceptions. Augustine taught that mankind 
is BORN with Original Sin. It thus followed that even Christian babies, who 
died at childbirth BEFORE they were baptized--were also condemned to hell!  
Based largely on St. Augustine's arguments, the rite of infant baptism became 
instituted within the Catholic church. (Even today, parents losing a child 
BEFORE it has been baptized may face not only the pain and anguish from the 
child's death-- but also tremendous guilt from believing they are also 
responsible for condemning their child's soul to hell!)

Theological Battles Against Augustine

  Augustine, though achieving a position of extraordinary power and influence 
within his own lifetime, did NOT effect these changes in doctrine without 
powerful contemporary Christian opposition!  One group of Christians known 
as Donatists (named after one of their leaders Donatus of Casae Nigrae) (1)
denounced the "unholy alliance" between Catholic Christians and the state 
of Rome. They insisted (as other Christians before them) that the Church 
should employ only spiritual coercion and NOT physical force. The Donatists
remained a challenge to Augustine in his native North Africa throughout his
lifetime--and there were violent clashes in the area--church burnings,
killings etc, between Donatists and Orthodox Catholics vying for control.

  Another group of Christians, known as Pelagians (after their leader
Pelagius, a devout ascetic from Britain) had a strong base of supporters
in Rome.  Augustine's attention to the "dangers" from Pelagius' movement
was first pointed out to him, by his contemporary St. Jerome. Jerome had
dedicated himself towards stamping out Origen's heretical belief in mankind's
potential to achieve spiritual perfection.  Jerome recognized that the
Pelagians upheld many of Origen's ideals and doctrines.

  The Pelagians essentially believed that man was by nature good and was
created by God with a free will. Although mankind had become immersed in
sin, yet baptism would cleanse the believer of sins.  The Egyptian teacher
Didymus the Blind was representative of such a view when he wrote,

  "now we are found once more such as we were when we were first made:
  sinless and masters of ourselves."
(Didymus the Blind, DE TRINITATE 2,12, as quoted by Elaine Pagels, p 131)

  Prior to Augustine and Jerome, most Christians believed the same doctrine
as the Pelagians--ranging from the early church fathers Justin, Irenaeus,
Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria in the second century C.E. to John
Chrysostom and, of course, Origen.

  Augustine brilliantly employed political intrigue to replace earlier views
of Christian doctrine with his new version. Around 415 C.E., two councils of
bishops in Palestine had declared Pelagius' views orthodox, but two councils
of bishops in north Africa (lead by Augustine himself) had denounced them as
heretical.  Pope Innocent, bishop of Rome, decided in favor of Augustine.
When Innocent died, his successor, Pope Zosimus had sided with Pelagius--only
to reverse his decision after receiving strong protests from Augustine and
other African bishops.  He then declared Pelagius a heretic and excommunicated
him.  (Note, the year 415 C.E.-- when Pelagius was first accused as a heretic,
was also the same year in which Hypatia of Alexandria was attacked).

   In the year 417 C.E., the city of Rome had become so divided between the
supporters of Augustine and with those of Pelagius, that there was actual
rioting in the streets between the two sides. That year, Augustine's friend
and fellow African bishop, Alypius brought eighty Numidian stallions to be
used as bribes in the emperor's court.  Whether this was the cause or not, (as 
Augustine's enemies charged) regardless in 418 C.E., the Roman emperor Honorius 
condemned Pelagius, ordering him to be fined and exiled along with all his 
supporters.  Pelagius died shortly afterwards, while in exile.

St Augustine vs Julian of Eclanum

  Pelagius' position was later taken up by a young Italian bishop named Julian
of Eclanum, who had also been forced to leave Italy because of his support
of Pelagius in 419 C.E. Julian, had been a married clergyman in his younger
days. (The church had not enunciated its policy against clergymen marrying
until after this time). He lived a chaste life in his latter years. (Note:
It is not known if his wife--who herself had been the daughter of a bishop --
had died or retired to a convent). Unlike Augustine who apparently battled
frequently with his sexual passions, Julian had found it relatively easy to
give up sex.

  A generation younger than Augustine, Julian of Eclanum engaged the elder
Augustine in a series of brilliant debates, which consumed much of the aging
church leader's thought and effort during the remaining twelve years
of his life.  In a bitter denouncement of Julian's views, Augustine wrote a
six volumes work entitled, OPUS IMPERFECTUM CONTRA JULIANUM ("Unfinished
Work Against Julian").

  Julian had championed the views of Pelagius, whom he believed had been
falsely condemned through political bribery, lies, and influence peddling.
As had Pelagius before him, Julian argued that God--being good and just--
would never have condemned the entire human race for the sins of one man--
Adam. According to Julian, the:

  "merit of one single person is not such that it could change the
  structure of the universe itself" (Augustine, OPUS IMPERFECTUM 4,40,
  quoted by Elaine Pagels, p 133)

On Augustine's doctrine of Original Sin, Julian wrote:

  "You ask me why I would not consent to the idea that there is a sin that is
  part of human nature? I answer: it is improbable, it is untrue, it is
  unjust and impious; it makes it seem as if the Devil were the maker of men.
  It violates and destroys the freedom of the will...by saying that men are
  so incapable of virtue, that in the very wombs of their mothers they are
  filled with bygone sins.  You imagine so great a power in such a sin, that
  not only can it blot out the new-born innocence of nature, but, forever
  afterwards, will force a man throughout his life into every form of
  viciousness...(And) what is disgusting as it is blasphemous, this view of
  yours fastens, as its most conclusive proof, on the common decency by which
  we cover our genitals. (OPUS IMPERFECTUM 3, 67)

and

  "Augustine, you are far removed from religious feeling, from civilized
  thinking, indeed from healthy common sense, if you think that your God is
  capable of committing crimes against justice that are scarcely imaginable
  even for the barbarians." (Augustine, AGAINST JULIAN I, 48)

  These theological debates over Augustine's doctrine of Original Sin, led to
discussions centered around the very NATURE of man:

Debate on the Nature of Man

  Unlike Augustine, who believed death was an UNNATURAL state--a curse
placed upon all mankind for Adam's disobedience--Julian argued that
death was a NATURAL part of the life cycle. Regarding the Genesis account,
whereby referring to eating the forbidden fruit (God warned Adam that "on
that day, you shall surely die"), Julian pointed out that Adam had not
PHYSICALLY died. That is, Adam had not fallen down dead after eating the
fruit.) Julian interpreted this to mean that Adam's death was instead, of a
SPIRITUAL nature.  To Julian, every person on earth is given the same choice
that God gave to Adam--either to lead a good spiritual life, or to lead an
unfulfilled non-spiritual life.

  Regarding the Genesis account whereby God tells Eve, "I will greatly
multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children;
yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you"
(Genesis 3:16)--Julian argued that labor was also a part of the natural
order of things.  He pointed out how innocent animals--such as cattle,
sheep, and cats--likewise go through labor.  He noted that baptized women
seemed to experience the same level of pain as non-Christians--and that
the pain of childbirth varied considerably among women:

   "certain barbarian women and nomads, accustomed to endure physical
  exertion, give birth in the course of their travels with such facility
  that, without stopping, they go out to gather food for their young, and
  continue on their way, transferring the burden of their womb to their
  shoulders;  and in general, village women do not require physicians for
  childbirth... in fact, where luxury and softness increase, more women die
  in childbirth." (Augustine, OPUS IMPERFECTUM 6,29, PAGELS P 136)

  Julian did concede that both labor pain and male domination were intensified
by God to punish Eve.  Thus while both labor and male leadership originated
with God's "good" creation, through Eve's sin, these became amplified as
punishment.

  Augustine disagreed--arguing passionately that the ENTIRE nature of the
world had been TRANSFORMED by Adam's sin!  On this, he referenced Genesis 3:17-
19, whereby God says:

  " Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all
  the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you;
  and you shall eat the plants of the field.  In the sweat of your face you
  shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were
  taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

  Augustine interpreted this to mean that prior to Adam's sin, mankind had
lived in a gardenlike existence where death was unknown.  Augustine was
especially vehement against the very idea that death could be viewed as
"natural". Julian had argued that since God had told Adam and Eve to replenish
the earth while in the Garden of Eden BEFORE the sin took place--this meant
that God had already created a cycle of life and death, whereby new life
replaced death.

  Regarding God's statement that "until you return to the earth from which
you came; for you are earth, and you shall return to earth", Julian saw this
as a reflection of God's mercy, not of his wrath. According to Julian:
Through the promise of an end to suffering he consoles humankind.  That is,
"through the natural senses" everyone is exposed to pain, but God moderates
this, as if to say, "'Truly, you shall not suffer this forever', but only
'until you return to earth'"

   To Julian, physical death was temporary--a transition state before
entering eternal life.  Quoting St. Paul, Julian wrote, "Death, where is
your victory? Grave, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin..."
(1 Corinthians 15:53) Julian argued that it was Augustine's own sinful
nature that caused him to view death as a punishment, instead as a
part of the natural creation.

  Augustine disagreed that death was part of the natural creation, stating
How ELSE could it be viewed--but as our "last enemy"? (Pagels, op cit., p 138)

 To disprove Julian once and for all, Augustine emphasized that only HIS
view explained how a good and all-powerful God allowed even new born infants
to suffer great "evils".  Adding,

  "If nothing deserving punishment passes from parents to infants, who
  could bear to see the image of God sometimes born retarded? Consider the
  plain facts; consider why some infants suffer from a demon." (Augustine,
  CONTRA JULIANUM 3,3-5).

  Augustine, believing he had defeated Julian with this last argument, wrote
tauntingly to Julian: "You see your whole heresy shipwrecked upon the
misery of infants!" (Augustine, OPUS IMPERFECTUM, 5,22 Pagels P 135)

  Augustine's views did indeed win over those of Julian and others.
Julian's arguments became forgotten in the centuries of the Middle Ages,
while St. Augustine's writings on Original Sin were chosen by later church
leaders--first Catholic (then later Protestants) to form the foundation of
much of their Christian doctrine.

Justification for the All Powerful State-Church.

  The POLITICAL ramifications of Augustine's writings probably explain why they 
became so popular, and why later conservative autocratic rulers embraced it and 
made it the basis for later Christian doctrine 

  First, Augustine solved a practical problem that had plagued early Christians 
of the old pagan Empire.  That is, because of Jesus' exhortation in Matthew to 
"Turn the other Cheek", many early Christians refused to serve in any army.  St 
Augustine quoted from a gospel passage where soldiers were forbidden to "Do 
violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your 
wages".--St Augustine instead argued that there was NO specific reference in the 
Bible AGAINST serving in an army nor fighting. Augustine powerfully argued that 
those who engage in a just war were in reality performing a good deed for their 
enemies--as it was in their best interest to have their vices corrected.

  Probably the most important implications of Augustine's doctrines lay in their 
justification for applying strong authoritarian control over the population. 
This followed logically from Augustine's basic premise that "everyone, arising 
as he does from a condemned stock, is from the first necessarily evil and carnal 
through Adam." (DE CIVITATE DEI 15,1) Man being by his very nature corrupted and 
evil, requires an EXTERNAL, enforced social "discipline" to keep the peace. If 
this discipline were removed, there would be complete chaos in the world:

  "Take away the barriers created by the laws, and men's brazen capacity
  to do harm, their urge to self-indulgence, would rage to the full.  No king
  in his kingdom, no general with his troops, no husband with his wife, no
  father with his son, could attempt to put a stop, by any threats or
  punishments, to the freedom and the sheer, sweet taste of sinning."

   This was not ENTIRELY a novel doctrine, as earlier Christian fathers also saw 
the need for strong rule to keep order.  For example, Irenaeus wrote how:

  "Earthly rule... has been appointed by God, and not by the devil, for the
  benefit of nations...so that, under fear of human rule, people may not
  devour one another like fishes." (Irenaeus, AH 5,24,2)

  Where Augustine differed, though with earlier Christians, is that Augustine 
believed that this total rule should be applied to Christians AFTER baptism
(in addition to non-Christians!) For example, Justin had argued that the rite
of baptism transformed believers from "children of necessity and ignorance...
to become instead children of choice and knowledge."  Thus transformed, Justin
found Christians generally to be "good citizens and keepers of the 
commandments." (Justin, APOLOGY 65, quoted by Elaine Pagels p 116)

  Augustine was greatly disturbed by the variations in Christian sects that
had developed over the centuries. Although early in his career, he was against
coercion, in his later years, he came to endorse the use of coercion to force
"sick" Christian back in line with the Church's teachings.  During this time,
clashes between Donatist and Orthodox Christians had become violent in north
Africa.  Augustine reasoned, that the State was currently using force and
torture for its own miserable purposes-- Shouldn't the Church be allowed the
same, this time for its higher, loftier goals of saving souls?

Implications of Augustine's Views on Freedom of Religion

  When Christians were a minority sect, and facing periodic waves of
persecution from the hands of the Roman Empire, early Church fathers
stressed the importance of FREEDOM OF RELIGION. For example, Tertullian
(145-225 C.E.) wrote,

  "[I]t is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man
  should worship according to his own convictions: one man's religion neither
  harms or helps another man.  It is assuredly no part of religion to
  compel religion--to which free will and not force should lead us..."
  (TO SCAPULA, trans. Rev. S. Thelwall, THE ANTE-NICENE FATHERS   (New
  York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905), vol. III, p. 105)

  That is, every person's religious convictions should be between him and
God.

  Early in his career, Augustine also agreed with this traditional Christian 
view on freedom of religion, stating "No one can or ought to be constrained to 
believe" and "no one should be coerced into the unity of Christ, that we must 
act only by words, fight only by arguments, and prevail by force of reason." 
(THE POLITICAL WRITINGS OF ST. AUGUSTINE, ed. Henry Paolucci (Chicago: Henry 
Regnery, 1962), pp 197-8) Augustine had also generally agreed that faith had to 
be given freely, if it were to really have value in God's eyes early in his 
career.

   Augustine changed his mind, though, when he saw how successful the use of
"experiments" had been in converting Donatist heretics in his home town "over to 
the Catholic unity [using] fear". (TREATISE CONCERNING THE CORRECTION OF THE 
DONATISTS (417). Augustine now frankly admitted that, although force cannot 
DIRECTLY change a person's views, nevertheless the threat of force can break 
"the heavy chains of inveterate custom".  That is, some heretics were just "too 
listless, or conceited, or sluggish, to take pains to examine Catholic truth." 
Some never knew any better. Others feared reprisals from other heretics.  In 
these cases, Augustine argued, even though force cannot directly impart the 
truth, it can break through the barriers that prevent the heretic from hearing 
and receiving the truth.

  Now convinced of the effectiveness of using persecution in converting  
heretics. Augustine's next step was to present a brilliant series of moral 
arguments to justify WHY the force should indeed be applied! (It was this 
argument that would later be used during the Dark Ages to torture and even 
execute "heretics" for not espousing the "true" faith):

  Augustine's moral argument ran like this:  Suppose two men lived in a house
which we knew "with absolute certainty" was about to fall down on them and kill 
them.  If we warned men of the impending danger and they refused, what should 
we do? Should we rescue them now, and reason with them later, or leave them to 
die? According to Augustine, we should rescue them now, for "I think that if we 
abstained from doing it, we should well deserve the charge of cruelty." 
(Augustine, A TREATISE  CONCERNING THE CORRECTION OF THE DONATISTS; OR EPISTLE 
CLXXXV, (33)) 

  Likewise, Augustine further reasoned, suppose there were instead many people 
living in this same house, which was about to collapse.  Now as we undertook our 
forcible rescue, say everyone in the house resisted and jumped out the window 
and died--EXCEPT FOR ONE PERSON!   Should we blame ourselves for the other 
peoples' death?  Augustine answered "No", for:

  "[W]e should console ourselves in our grief for the loss of the rest by
  the thoughts of the safety of the one [who was rescued]; and we should not
  allow all to perish without a single rescue, in the fear lest the
  remainder should destroy themselves." (Ibid, (34))

  Augustine then applied this logic towards the righteous persecution of 
heretics. For if, "true reason and benevolence" requires us to forcibly secure 
the safety of people "for the brief space of their life on earth", then it 
logically follows that we should compel them through force to convert "in order 
that men may attain eternal life and escape eternal punishment." In other words, 
Augustine concluded that the righteous persecution of heretics is nothing less 
than a "work of mercy to which we ought to apply ourselves." (Ibid)

  The effect was to completely invalidate the application of Jesus' Golden
Rule in the centuries to follow, towards anyone declared a heretic--which
was now defined as someone who disagreed with orthodox church authorities!
(This is discussed in more detail in Section VI Chapter 4, under Ethics.)

   Augustine was the first to draw on the analogy that Christ himself approved 
of authority!  After all, had not Christ "by great violence" "coerced 
Paul into Christianity?" Was not this the meaning of the text from Luke 14:23: 
'Compel them to come in?'" (Note, the quote is "Go out to the highways and 
hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell 
you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet". 23-4).  
Augustine's was highly praised by many theologians for his brilliant 
interpretation of this biblical verse as follows:

     "Why, therefore, should not the Church use force in compelling 
     her lost sons to return, if the lost sons compelled others to their  
     destruction?…" (Ibid (23)) [i.e., their heretical beliefs caused 
     others to go to hell)

    "…before the good sons can say they have "a desire to depart, and to
     be with Christ," [8] many must first be recalled to their Lord by the 
     stripes of temporal scourging, like evil slaves, and in some degree like 
     good-for-nothing fugitives."  (Ibid (24))

  Still, even Augustine was not personally anxious to apply his analogy to its 
foremost conclusion:  That is, although Augustine personally approved of the use 
of SOME torture in forcing a conversion, he did NOT approve of intense torture 
that could actually KILL the heretic in the process.  His model was of the 
disobedient son who "must be corrected with stripes"; using verses from the Old 
Testament for support: "Thou shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his 
soul from hell" and "He that spareth the rod hateth his son."  (Ibid (22))

  Unfortunately, future religious leaders, following St. Augustine, would not 
feel themselves to be so restricted in their use of torture.  The institution of 
the Inquisition for example, was a logical application of St. Augustine's 
doctrines against heretics--applied to its fullest degree!

  Implications of Augustine's Doctrines on Freedom of Religion and Torture

  The implications of Augustine's doctrines dramatically impacted the
very nature of State-Church authority in the following centuries! First they 
would be used to justify forcing the ENTIRE population to convert to 
Christianity-- as opposed to merely expelling heretics. (That is, ALL people 
would be "compelled" "to come in" to the orthodox Christian fold).  The second 
implication was to introduce censorship-- obviously at the expense of individual 
freedom. For Augustine believed it was the duty of the orthodox to locate 
heresy, expose it, and thus halt it as close to the source as possible. (Paul 
Johnson, op cit, p 116) To Augustine, the investigative, inquisitorial step was 
very important to locate heretics:

  "...it is generally necessary to use more rigor in making inquisition,
  so that when the crime has been brought to light, there may be scope
  for displaying clemency."

    St. Augustine, as a leading bishop of his time, took a personal role in some 
of the violent clashes between Christians and pagans, Jews, and heretics (for 
example, preaching "Down with the Gods" to the Christian mobs at one pagan 
temple closing in Carthage in 399 C.E.) St. Augustine also supported the 
increased pogroms and trials that were being staged against Jews and other 
heretics.  As one example, he maintained a warm correspondence with Paul Orosius 
(a fierce Spanish heresy-hunter) regarding the best ways of forcing out 
heretics, not only in Spain, but throughout the rest of the Mediterranean area.

    (Note: Actually St. Augustine was partly responsible for the fact that some 
Jews (but not pagans) survived the persecutions over the next centuries. 
Augustine believed that the Jews had a special role to play in God's divine plan 
for human salvation. After all, they had been the original "Chosen People" in 
the Old Testament. Christian imperial laws were already punishing Jews for their 
refusal to acknowledge the truth about Jesus Christ.  It was believed that 
perhaps the Second Coming had been delayed until the Jews repented and converted 
en masse.  However, if there were no Jews, Augustine reasoned, there could be NO 
salvation for mankind--Thus Jews needed to be kept alive so that they could be 
converted. (Augustine, CITY OF GOD, Book XVIII, Chapter 46) (1) 

  In the end, the Church gained absolute control over defining what was "Truth".  
Anyone who doubted these "truths" could be proclaimed a heretic-- and
justifiably tortured into submission, or even killed. There was no shortage of 
Orthodox writings that defined "truths". (For example, St. Philastrius, a friend 
and contemporary of St. Augustine, argued that it was a heresy to deny that God 
hung the stars up in the sky each evening. Likewise, it was a heresy to DENY 
that earthquakes were a manifestation of God's justice.)

Death of St. Augustine and the Beginning of Successful "Barbarian" Sieges

   Rome was sacked in 410 C.E. By 429 C.E. the Vandals had overrun and conquered
both North Africa and Sicily. Augustine died the next year as his city of
Hippo lay under siege. Like most of the other barbarians, the Vandals had
been recently converted to Arian Christianity.  Strongly anti-orthodox,
the Arian Vandals made a determined effort to destroy the orthodox churches
and set up their own Arian clergy in its place. It was a time of violence
and barbarity. According to Augustine's biographer Possidius, St. Augustine

  "lived to see cities overthrown and destroyed, churches denuded of
  priests and ministers, virgins and monks dispersed, some dying of
  torture, others by the sword, others captured and losing innocence of
  soul and body, and faith itself, in cruel slavery; he saw hymns and
  divine praises ceasing in the churches, the buildings themselves often
  burned down, the sacraments no longer wanted or, if wanted, [orthodox]
  priests to administer them hard to find..."

  It would not be until the next following centuries that the Pelegrian
heresy would be completely stamped out, and Augustine's doctrines
on Original Sin, grace, and the nature of the Trinity would completely
dominate Western thought and theology. (Interestingly, Augustine's views
on predestination were one of the few doctrines that did not find favor
with the Catholic Church.  This is probably because this would have clashed
with the Church's proclaimed authority in absolving sin, and granting salvation
to its believers. Protestant reformers such as John Calvin would later read
Augustine's views on predestination, and incorporate them into their
Protestant theologies.)

   Following St. Augustine's death, were periods of political turmoil that
climaxed with this and other "barbarian" invasions of Western Europe in the
fifth and sixth centuries C.E.  In the next chapter we shall look at the
conditions that led to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, and the
transition of Western Christian Europe into the Dark Ages.


  ===================
(1) The actual quote from the City of God regarding the Jews reads as follows:

"Therefore God has shown the Church in her enemies the Jews the grace of His 
compassion, since, as saith the apostle, "their offence is the salvation of the 
Gentiles." And therefore He has not slain them, that is, He has not let the 
knowledge that they are Jews be lost in them, although they have been conquered 
by the Romans, lest they should forget the law of God, and their testimony 
should be of no avail in this matter of which we treat. But it was not enough 
that he should say, "Slay them not, lest they should at last forget Thy law, " 
unless he had also added, "Disperse them"; because if they had only been in 
their own land with that testimony of the Scriptures, and not everywhere, 
certainly the Church which is everywhere could not have had them as witnesses 
among all nations to the prophecies which were sent before concerning 
Christ...." 
(The City of God Book XVIII: Chapter 46)


(1) The sect Donatism, named after bishop Donatist, resulted from the Diocletian 
persecutions.  The governor of North Africa had only required Christians to 
symbolically repudiate their faith by handing over their scriptures (which 
wealthy Christians particularly took advantage of). After the persecutions were 
over, these Christians were branded as traitors by a group of Christian zealots 
(mainly drawn from the poorer classes).  They questioned whether the "traitors" 
were still Christian, and demanded the sacramental rites be administered by 
"pure" Christian priests, or else be considered invalid. Catholics on the other 
hand, held that it was the office of the priest and not his personal character 
that validated the sacramental rite.  

Following the persecutions waged against them by the emperor, Donatism became an 
underground church.  They disappeared only after the Muslim conquest in the 
seventh century.  Still some of its concepts flowed to Europe and affected early 
Protestant views of individual redemption. (Norman Cantor, CIVILIZATION OF THE 
MIDDLE AGES, Harper Collins, 1992, p. 51-2).