29. Ep. 43.1.2–9.27 (CCL 31:170–86); trans. Parsons, FOTC 12:184–207.
blots from the earth the Church of God. He promised the whole earth; [the Church] has filled the whole earth, and she includes both bad and good; but she loses none on earth but the bad, and admits to heaven none but the good. This is our word to you, by the grace of God; and He knows how we have uttered it out of our love of peace and our love for you that it may correct you, if you are willing, but will be a witness against you if you are not.29
Theology of Church
During the Donatist controversy, Augustine worked out a theology of Church that would shape Christian self-understanding for centuries. He focused on three elements: (i) the Church's oneness; (ii) its catholicity; and (iii) its holiness. Let us look at a classic articulation of each.
Theology of Church: Oneness
Like Cyprian before him, Augustine stressed that there must be one and only one Church, united by charity and opposed to schism. During Easter Week, 407, Augustine embarked on a series of sermons on the First Letter of John. At one point, he had his congregation turn their attention to those who had been baptized a few days earlier at the Easter Vigil and who stood as a group in their white baptismal robes, clustered within the railings around the altar in the center of the basilica. He knew that Donatists denied that Catholics possessed the Holy Spirit because they accused Catholics of inheriting the sin of traditio. Augustine sets out a different understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit. From the Tractates on the First Epistle of John 6:
(10) In the early days, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who believed, and they spoke with tongues that they had not learned, as the Spirit gave them to utter. These signs were suited to that time. For it was necessary that the Holy Spirit thus be signified in all tongues because the Gospel of God was about to travel via all tongues into the whole world. That was done as a sign and passed away. Now as for those upon whom hands are laid that they may receive the Holy Spirit: Is it expected that they should speak in tongues? Or when we laid our hands upon these newly baptized, each one of you could observe whether or not they spoke in tongues. And when you saw that they did not speak in tongues, was anyone of you of such a perverse heart that you said, "These [newly baptized] did not receive the Holy Spirit, for if they had received the
29. Ep. 43.1.2–9.27 (CCL 31:170–86); trans. Parsons, FOTC 12:184–207.