The Conversion of St. Augustine of Hippo
Apostolic Letter of John Paul II
The Conversion of St. Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo (Augustinum Hipponesm) by Pope John Paul II
IV
Before concluding, let us ask this extraordinary man what he has to say to the modern man. I believe that he has indeed much to say, both by his example and by his teaching.
He teaches the person who searches for truth not to despair of finding it. He teaches this by his example—he himself rediscovered it after many years of laborious seeking—and by means of his literary activity, the program of which he had fixed in the first letter after his conversion. "It seems to me that one must bring men back . . . to the hope of finding the truth."[256] He teaches therefore that one must seek the truth "with piety, chastity and diligence,"[257] in order to overcome doubts about the possibility of returning into oneself, to the interior realm where truth dwells;[258] and likewise to overcome the materialism which prevents the mind from grasping its indissoluble union with the realities that are understood by the intelligence,[259] and the rationalism that refuses to collaborate with faith and prevents the mind from understanding the "mystery" of the human person.[260]
Augustine's legacy to the theologians, whose meritorious task is to study more deeply the contents of the faith, is the immense patrimony of his thought, which is as a whole valid even now; above all, his legacy is the theological method to which he remained absolutely faithful. We know that this method implied full adherence to the authority of the faith, which is one of its origin—the authority of Christ[261]—and is revealed through Scripture, Tradition and the Church. His legacy includes the ardent desire to understand his own faith—"Be a great lover indeed of understanding,"[262] is his command to others, which he applies to himself also;[263] likewise the profound sense of the mystery—"for it is better," he exclaims, "to have a faithful ignorance than a presumptuous knowledge";[264] and likewise the sure conviction that the Christian doctrine comes from God and thus has its own original source, which must not only be preserved in its integrity—this is the "virginity" of the faith, of which he spoke—but must also serve as a measure to judge the philosophies that conform to it or diverge from it.[265]
It is well known how much Augustine loved Sacred Scripture, proclaiming its divine origin,[266] its inerrancy, [267] its depth and inexhaustible riches;[268] and it is well known how much he studied Scripture. But the aim of his own study, and of his promotion of study by others, is the entirety of Scripture, so that the true thought, or as he says, the "heart"[269] of Scripture may be indicated, harmonizing it where necessary with itself.[270] He takes these two principles to be fundamental for the understanding of Scripture. For this reason he reads it in the Church, taking account of the Tradition, the nature[271] and obligatory force of which he forcefully underlines.[272] He made the celebrated statement: "I should not believe the Gospel unless I were moved to do so by the authority of the Catholic Church."[273]
In the controversies that arose concerning the interpretation of Sacred Scripture, his recommendation was that one should discuss "with holy humility, with Catholic peace, with Christian charity,"[274] until the truth itself be grasped, which God "has set ... upon the throne of unity."[275] One will then be able to see that the controversy had not broken out in vain, because it "was the occasion for learning"[276] and progress has been made in the understanding of the faith.
Another contribution of Augustine's teaching to the men and women of today which we may briefly mention is his proposal of the twofold object of study that should occupy the human mind: God and man "What do you wish to know?" he asks himself.
And he replies: "God and the soul are what I wish to know." Nothing more? Nothing at all.[277] Confronted with the sad spectacle of evil he reminds modern men and women that they must nevertheless have confidence in the final triumph of the good, i.e., of the City "where the victory is the truth; where dignity is holiness; where peace is happiness where life is eternity."[278]
Further, he teaches scientists to recognize the signs of God in the things that have been created[279] and to discover the "seeds" which God has sown in the harmony of the universe[280] He recommends above all to those who have control over the destinies of the peoples that they love peace,[281] and that they promote it, not through conflict, but with the methods of peace, because, as he wisely writes, "there is more glory in killing the wars themselves with a word than in killing men with the sword, and there is more glory in achieving or maintaining peace by means of peace than by means of war."[282]
Finally, I should like to address the young people whom Augustine greatly loved as a professor before his conversion[283] and as a pastor afterwards.[284] He recalls three great things to them: truth, love and freedom—three supreme goods which stand together. He also invites them to love beauty, for he himself was a great lover of beauty.[285] It is not only the beauty of bodies, which could make one forget the beauty of the spirit,[286] nor only the beauty of art,[287] but the interior beauty of virtue[288] and especially the eternal beauty of God, from which is derived the beauty of bodies, of art and of virtue.
Augustine calls God "the beauty of all beauties."[289] "in whom and from whom and through whom exist as good and beautiful everything that is good and beautiful."[290] When he looked back on the years before his conversion, he regretted bitterly that he had been late in loving this "beauty, ever ancient, ever new";[291] he admonished the young not to imitate him in this, but to love beauty itself always and above all else, and to preserve to the end the interior glory of their youth in beauty.[292]
I have recalled the conversion of St. Augustine and have sketched briefly a panorama of the thought of an incomparable man whose children and disciples we all are in a certain fashion, both in the Church and in the western world itself. I express once again my fervent desire that his teaching should be studied and widely known, and his pastoral zeal be imitated, so that the authoritative teaching of such a great doctor and pastor may flourish ever more happily in the Church and in the world, for the progress of the faith and of culture.
The sixteenth centenary of the conversion of St. Augustine offers a highly favorable opportunity to increase the study of St. Augustine and to spread devotion to him. I exhort in particular the religious orders, male and female, which rejoice to bear his name, live under his patronage and follow his Rule in whatever way, to dedicate themselves to this task, so that this may be for them the occasion to follow St. Augustine's example of wisdom and holiness, and to spread this zealously to others.
I shall be present in spirit, with gratitude and best wishes, at the various initiatives that celebrate this centenary, invoking on each of them with all my heart the heavenly protection and the efficacious help of the Virgin Mary, whom the Bishop of Hippo proclaimed as Mother of the Church.[293] As a pledge of grace I am happy to impart my Apostolic Blessing with this Letter.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's on August 28, on the feast day of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, in the year 1986, the eighth of my Pontificate.
Endnotes
256 Ep. 1, 1: PL 33, 61.
257 De quantitate animae 14, 24: PL 32, 1049; Cf. De vera relig. 10, 20: PL 34, 131.
258 Cf. De vera relig. 39, 72: PL 34, 154.
259 Cf. Retract. 1, 8, 2: PL 32, 594; 1, 4, 4: PL 32, 590.
260 Cf. Ep. 118, 5, 33: PL 33, 448.
261 Cf. Contra Acad. 3, 20, 43: PL 32, 957.
262 Ep. 120, 3. 13: PL 33, 458.
263 Cf. De Trin. 1, 5, 8: PL 42, 825.
264 Serm. 27, 4: PL 38, 179.
265 Cf. De doctrina Christ. 2, 40, 60: PL 34, 55; De civ. Dei 8, 9: PL 41, 233.
266 Cf. Enarr. in Ps. 90, d. 2, 1 : PL 37, 1159-1160.
267 Cf. Ep. 28, 3, 3: PL 33, 112; 82, 1, 3: PL 33, 277.
268 Cf. Ep. 137, 1, 3: PL 33, 516.
269 De doctrina Christ. 4, 5, 7: PL 34, 91-92. 21
270 Cf. De perf. iustr. hom. 17, 38: PL 44, 311-312.
271. Cf. De baptismo 4, 24, 31: PL 43, 174-175 m.
272 Cf. Contra Iulianum 6, 6-11: PL 45, 1510-1521.
273 Contra ep. Man. 5, 6: PL 42, 176; cf. C. Faustum 28, 2: PL 42, 483-486.
274 De baptismo 2, 3, 4: PL 43, 129.
275 Ep. 105, 16: PL 3, 403.
276 De civ. Dei 16, 2, 1: PL 41, 477.
277 Solil. 1, 2, 7: PL 32, 872.
278 De civ. Dei 2, 29, 2: PL 41, 78.
279 Cf. De diversis quaestionibus 83, q. 46, 2: PL 40, 29-31.
280 Cf. De Gen. ad litt. 5, 23, 44-45; 6, 6, 16-6, 12, 20: PL 34, 337-338; 346-347.
281 Cf. Ep. 189, 6: PL 33, 856.
282 Ep. 2298, 2: PL 33 1020.
283 Cf. Confess. 6, 7, 11-12: PL 32, 75; De ordine 1, 10, 30: PL 32, 991.
284 Cf. Ep. 26, 118-243, 266: PL 33, 103-107; 431-449; 1054-1059; 1089-1091.
285 Cf. Confess. 4, 13, 20: PL 32, 701.
286 Cf. Confess. 10, 8, 15: PL 32, 758-786.
287 Cf. Confess 10, 34, 53: PL 32, 801.
288 Cf. Ep. 120, 4, 20: PL 33, 462.
289 Confess 3, 6, 10: PL 32, 687.
290 Solil. 1, 1, 3: PL 32, 870.
291 Confess 10, 27, 38: PL 32, 795.
292 Cf. Ep. 120, 4, 20: PL 33, 462. 293 Cf. De sancta virginitate 6, 6: PL 40, 339.
293 Cf. De sancta virginitate 6, 6: PL 40, 339.