AUGUSTINE
103
AUGUSTINE
Jansenists went so far as to formulate, with Haver-
raans, this proposition, condemned by Alexander VIII
(7 December, 1690): "Ubi quis invenerit doctrinam
in Augustino clare fundatam, illam absolute potest
tenere et docere, non respiciendo ad uUam pontificis
bullam" (\Vhere one has foinid a doctrine clearly
based on St. Augustine, he can hold and teach it
absolutely, without referring to any pontifical Bull).
This is inadmissible. None of the pontifical appro-
bations has a meaning so absolute, and the capitula
make an express reservation for the profound and
difficult questions. The popes themselves have per-
mitted a departure from the thought of St. Augustine
in the matter of the lot of children dying without
baptism (Bull "Auctorem Fidei", 28 August, 1794).
(b) Others again have concluded that the eulogies
in question are merely vague formula leaving full
liberty to withdraw from St. Augustine and to blame
him on every point. Thus Launoy, Richard Simon,
and others have maintained that Augustine had been
in error on the very gist of the problem, and had
really taught predestinationism. But that would
imply that for fifteen centuries the Church took as
its guide an adversary of its faith, (c) We must con-
clude, with the greater number of theologians, that
Augustine has a real normative authority, hedged
about, however, with reserves and wise limitations.
In the capital questions which constitute the faith
of the Church in those matters the Doctor of Hippo is
truly the authoritative witness of tradition; for
example, on the existence of original sin, the necessity
of grace, at least for every salutary act; the gratui-
tousness of the gift of God which precedes all merit
of man because it is the cause of it; the predilection
for the elect and, on the other hand, the liberty of
man and his responsibility for his transgressions.
But the secondary problems, concerning the mode
rather than the fact, are left by the Church to the
prudent study of theologians. Thus all schools unite
in a great respect for the assertions of St. Augustine.
At present this attitude of fidelity and respect is
all the more remarkable as Protestants, who were
formerly so bitter in defending the predestination of
Calvin, are to-day almost unanimous in rejecting what
they themselves call "the boldest defiance ever given
to reason and conscience" (Gr^tillat, "Dogmatique",
III, p. 329). Schleiermacher, it is true, maintains
it, but he adds to it the Origenist theorj' of universal
salvation by the final restoration of all creatures, and
he is followed in this by Farrar, Lobstein, Pfister, and
others. The Calvinist dogma is to-day, especially in
England, altogether abandoned, and often replaced
by pure Pelagianism (Beyschlag). But among
Protestant critics the best are drawing near to the
Catholic interpretation of St. Augustine, as, for
example, Gr^tillat, in Switzerland, and Stevens,
Bruce, and Mozley (On the Augustinian Doctrine of
Predestination), in England. Sanday (Romans, p. 50)
also declares the mystery to be unfathomable for
man yet solved by God — "And so our solution of
the problem of Free-will, and of the problems of
history and of individual salvation, must finally lie
in the full acceptance and realization of what is
implied by the infinity and the omniscierwe of God".
These concluding words recall the true system of
Augustine and permit us to hope that at least on
this question there may be a union of the two Churches
in a wise Augustinism.
Works on the Life of St. Augustine. — The chief original sources are his own Confessions and his life ( Vita S. A urelii Aufustini) by his friend Possmius, in Vol. XI of the Bene- dictine edition (P. Z^., XXXII ); for learned illustration of the text of Possidius see the Bollandists Cuper and Stilting in Acta SS. (1743), August, VI. — Among the principal modern biographies of the saint the following are worthy of mention: Vita. S Aug. ex ejus potissimum scriptis concinnata (by his Benedictine editors, very accurate, based on the note.s of Tillemont; /-*. L., XXXII); Kloth, Der hi. Kirchenlehrer, S. Augustin (Aachen, 1840); Poujoulat. Histoire de S. Augus- lin, M rii, sesauvres, son aiicle (Paris, 1845-40); Bindemann,
Der hi. Augustin (Berlin, Leipzig, Greifswald. 1S44-C9);
MoRlARTY. The Life of St. Augustine, Bishop, Confessor, arul
Doctor of the Church (Philadelphia, 1879); Bouhke, Life and
Labours of St. Augustine (Dublin and London. 1880); Collette,
St. Augustine, a Sketch of his Life and Writings as Affecting his
Controversy with Rome (London, 1852); Schaff, Saint Augus-
tine, Melanchthon, Neander (New York, 1886); Spalding. The
Influence of St. Augustine's Teaching (New York, 1886);
Cunningham, St. Austin and His Place in the History of
Christian Thought (London, 1886); Burton, ^7. Augustine:
an Historical Study (DubUn, 1888); CuTTS, ,S(. Augustine
(London, 1880); Sheehan, Recent Writings on St. Augustine
in DubL Rev. (1888), XX, 88-107; Wolfsgruber. Augustinus
(Paderborn, 1898), from the notes of Rauscher, an excellent
study, see Rottmanner, Hist. Jahrb. (1898), 892-898; Von
Hertling. Augustin (Mainz, 1902); Hehgenrotheb in Kir-
chenler., I, 1669-78; LooFS in Realencyctopadie (3d. ed.,
Leipzig, 1897), II; Dorner in Schaff's Encychp. of Relig.
Knowledge (Edinburgh, 1883); Farrar, Lives of the Fathers
(London, 1889), II, 298-460; De Pres.sense in Diet, of Chris-
tian Biogr., I. 216-225; Hergenrother-Kirsch, Kirchtng.
(4th ed.. 1902), I, 531 sqq.
Pathologies and Histories of Dogma. — Fessler- JuNOMANN, Instilut. Patrol. (Innsbruck, 1890-96). II; Bar- denhewer, Patrologie (Freiburg, 1901), 416-447; Schwane, Dogmengesch. (ibid., 1894), II; Harnack, Dogmengeschichte (ibid., 1897).
Histories of Philosophy. — Stockl, Ritter, Prantl, and among the histories of Latin literature. Ebert, Gesch. der Litteratur des Mittelalters (Leipzig, 1889); Villemain, Tableau de I'eloquence chrctienne au quatrieme siecle (Paris. 1849). — The conversion of St. Augustine is the subject of several works, e. g. Naville. St. Augustin. Etude sur le de- veloppement de sa pensee, jusqu'a son ordination (Geneva, 1872); WoRTER, Die Geistesentwiclcelung des hi. Augustinus bis zu seiner Taufe (Paderborn, 1892); Harnack, Auguslins Confes- sionen (Giessen, 1895): Boissier. La Conversion de St. Augustin in Revue des Deux Mondes (1888), 43-69. — There is a very exhaustive bibliography of St. Augustine in Chevalier. Rep. des sources hist, du moyen age, Bio-bibliographie (2nd ed.. Paris. 1905). col. 371-381; see the bibhography in McCabe, St. .Augustine (London, 1902); Schaff, Hist, of the Christian Church (New York. 5th ed.. 1903), 1038-39 sqq.; also the present writer'.s bibliography in Diet, de theol. cath., I, 2284, 2471. and passim. On trie Confessions of St. Augustine see more particularly Dub. Rev. (1839), VII, 430; DotJAls, Les Confessions de St. Augustin (Paris, 1893).
Special Work.s on His Doctrine. — The best general works on ,St. Augustine are the extensive studies of Tillemont, Uemoires, etc. (Paris, 1710), XIII 1-1079 and Ceillier. Hist, des auteurs ecclesiastiques (Paris, 1774), XI, and in the second edition (1861), IX. See also Alticozzi, Summa Augus- tiniana ex collectis disputatis explicatisque sententiis D. A. Augustini (Rome, 1775), a very profound study on the teach- ings of St. Augustine concerning grace, the Church, the pope; Gangauf, Des hi, Augustinus speculative Lehre von Gott dem dreieinigen (Augsburg, 1866), and Die metaphysische Psy- chologic des hi. .Augustinus (ibid., 1882); Hewitt. Studies in St. Augustine (New York, 1868). — Among Protestant writers, apart from the already quoted works of Bindemann, Loofs, and Harn.vck, we may mention: Reuter, Augustiniscfie Studien (Gotha. 1887); Dorner, Augustinus, sein theologisches System und seine religionsphilosophische Anschauung (Gotha, 1888): EucKEN, Die Lebensanschauungen der grossen Denker (Leipzig, 1902). 210-245. — For the philosophy of Augustine see NOURRISSON, La Philosophic de S. Augustin (2nd ed. Paris, 1866); Vercellone, Philosophy of St. Augustine and Modern Phttosophy in Catholic World (1870). X, 481; Rickaby. St. Augustine and Scienlific Unbelief in The Month (1876), XXVlil, 195: Storz, Die Philosophic des hi. Augustinus (Freiburg. 1882); Ferraz, De la philosophic de S. Atigustin (Paris, 1862); Martin, S. Augustin (Paris, 1901): Turner, History of Philosophy (Boston, 1903). 223-233.— For his teaching on the Church see Ribbeck, Donatus und Augustinus (Elberfeld, 1858); Specht, Die Lehre von der Kirche nach dem hi. Augustinus (Paderborn, 1892), an excellent work; Burton, .S(. Augustine and the Donatists in Dub. Rev. (1893). 379-419; see also ibid. (1890). XXIV, 89-109.— On the Scriptural exegesis of St. Augustine see Clausen, Augustinus sacrm Scriptures interpres (Copenhagen, 1827); Lenfant. Biblia Augustiniana (Paris, 1661, 2 vols., folio), a useful concordance of the Scriptural commentaries of St. Augustine according to the order of the Biblical books; Idem, Concordantim Augus- tinianix, sive collectio omnium sententiarum guce sparsim reperi- untur in S, Aug. operibus (Paris, 1656, 2 vols., folio); Moiran. Notion Augustinienne de I'hermeneutique (Clermont-Ferrand. 1906); Douais, St. Augustin et la Bible in Revue Biblique for 1893-94. — On grace and on Pelagianism: see the seven erudite dissertations of Garnier, added to his edition of Mariits Mermtor (Paris, 1673; P. L., XLVIII); Petavius, De Pela- gianorum et Semipelagianorum hfxresi (Paris, 1643); NoRls, His- toria Pelagiana, .... odditis Vindiciis Augustinianis (Padua. 1673); Merlin, Veritable clef des ouvrages de S. Augustin contre les Pelagiens in Refutation des critiques, etc., de M. Bayle sur S. Augustin (Paris, 1732), P. L., XLVII; Wiggers, Pragmatische Darstellung des Augustinismus urul Pelagianismus (in two parts; Berlin, 1821, and Hamburg, 1833), the first part tr. by Emerson (Andover. 1840); Warfield, Two Studies in the History of Doctrine: .Augustine and the Pelagian Contro- versu. The Development of the Doctrine of Infant Salvation (New York, 1898); Rottmanner, Der Augustinismus (Munich. 1892); Portalie in Diet, de thiol, cath., I, 2268-2472, especially
