Augustine in His Own Words
forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish" (Sir 5:8-9). Do not, I beg you, let this happen to you.
(7) You go on and put forward a third excuse: that "in these matters we must above all await the good pleasure of Him by whose will we are compelled toward all desires." And you have added . . . that "without him nothing has been done or can be done." You should not think of all this in such a way that you may appear, in your own eyes, to be doing God's will, when in fact you do not want to fulfill his commandments. One of these, in particular, I just quoted: "Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day" (Sir 5:8). You should think of these matters this way: that you must trust that you will accomplish what He has commanded for your eternal salvation not through your own resources but with His help. Therefore, you must commit yourself, without further delay, not to yourself, O infirm Firmus, but to Him who can do all things; and change your life for the better and receive the grace of rebirth. Do not wait "until He wills it" as if you would offend Him if you willed it first, for when you actually do will it, you will be willing it with his help and by his working. In fact, his mercy has gone before you so that you may will it.23 But when you do will it, it will indeed be you willing it. For if we do not will it when we will, then He does not confer something on us when He brings it about that we will. What on earth am I doing when I say such things to you except that you should will it? Of course I am doing it in one way; and God, in another: I, externally; He, internally; I, when you hear or read; He, when you think or in order that you may think; I, by speaking; He, in an ineffable way; I, only through his gift; He, through Himself; I, as His minister, having this ministry from Him; He, though needing no minister, fashioning such ministers and using faithful ministers for this in order that He may grant, even to them, the benefit of this work; finally, I as a human being who most of the time cannot accomplish much; He as God, to whom the power of persuasion submits whenever He so wills it.24
Indulgent Piety
Ancient Christians were expected to fast rigorously during Lent. In the following passage, Augustine satirizes how some in his congregation used Lenten rules on abstinence as an excuse to indulge in exotic alternatives. From Sermon 210:
23. "His mercy has gone before you": Augustine echoes Ps 58:11 ("His mercy shall come before [praeveniet] me") and alludes here to his theology of prevenient grace. On this, chapter 10.
24. Ep. 2*.3–7 (BA 46B:62–74); trans. Eno, FOTC 81:19–28 (modified). This letter touches on Augustine's paradoxical views on the human will and the preacher's duty to exhort hearers to virtue. See James Wetzel, Augustine and the Limits of Virtue (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 195, 209–10.