Augustine in His Own Words
Against the Donatists 257 had separated themselves but not lost Christ's baptism) and so received it as an enemy of the love and peace of Christ; but when he corrects himself and comes to the community and unity of the Church, he should not be baptized over again because, by his reconciliation to peace, he receives this benefit: that now, in unity, the sacrament begins to produce the remission of his sins, what it could not produce when received in schism.38
The Ark's Cooing Dove
We have seen Augustine's anti-Donatist theology in a piecemeal fashion; now let us see how the individual elements come together in a single address. In 407, Augustine delivered a sermon-series on John's Gospel, in the course of which he routinely discussed the Donatists, rebutting their behavior and their claims, making these sermons, in the phrase of Marie-François Berrouard, "a combat for the honor of Christ."39 We see here how biblical exegesis and theological controversy come together. The following sermon focuses on John 1:32–33: "John testified further, saying, 'I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon Him. I did not know Him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, "On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, He it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." ' " Here, as elsewhere, Augustine focuses his audience's attention on some clue, some "mystery," buried within the text that he argues is key to its deeper meaning. Here the clue is that the Holy Spirit appears as a dove. Throughout the sermon, Augustine plays on the Latin word gemitus, which generally means "moaning," but, in the case of a dove, means "cooing." From Tractates on the Gospel of John 6:
(1) My holy people, I had feared, I admit it to you, that this cold [weather] might cool your enthusiasm for coming together; but because you show by the great number and crowd of you that you are on fire in the Spirit, I have no doubt that you have also prayed for me that I may pay what is owed to you. For I had promised, in the name of Christ, to discuss today why God wanted to show the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove—something that the shortness of time had prevented me from being able to give an interpretation and explanation of earlier. That this may be explained, this day has dawned for us. And I see that, because of a desire for listening and a holy devotion, you have come together in unusual numbers. May God, through our mouth, fulfill your expectation. For you have loved [so much] that you came. But what have you loved? If us, this too is good, for we want to be loved by you, but we do not
38. De baptismo 1.12.18 (CSEL 51:162–63); my trans. 39. Berrouard, Introduction de saint Augustin sur l'Évangile de saint Jean, 55–78.