Augustine in His Own Words (continued)
therefore, is this choice or any choice made if the not-yet-born and not-yetactive have no opportunity for merits?36 (iv) Grace of the Call
In thinking about Jacob, Augustine raises the question: While the good works we do are permeated by grace, what about faith itself? Can we even, at a minimum, lay claim to willing the initial decision for faith? Here he quotes 1 Cor 4:7, the text that he later saw as encapsulating the whole issue. From To Simplicianus, Book 1, Question 2: (2.7) The question now is: Whether faith merits a person's justification, or whether or not the merits of faith precede God's mercy, or whether, in fact, faith itself is to be numbered among the gifts of grace? . . . No one believes who is not called. But the merciful God does call, giving lavishly and not as a merit for faith, because the merit of faith follows rather than precedes the calling. After all, "how will they believe him whom they have not heard of? And how will they hear without a preacher?" (Rom 10:14) Unless, therefore, God's mercy in calling us precedes, no one can believe so that one can begin to be justified and begin to receive the capacity for doing good works. Thus, before any merit, there is grace; the fact is, "Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom 5:6). . . .
(2.9) If someone boasts that he merits [God's compassion] by believing, let him understand that God inspired his faith, having mercy on whom He is merciful by giving him, while still an unbeliever, a share in this calling. This, then, distinguishes the believer from the ungodly. "For what do you have," Paul says, "that you did not receive? And if you have received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor 4:7)37 (v) "Lump of Sin"
Thinking about Esau leads Augustine to the issue of the judgment of sinners. In Rom 9:21–23, Paul compares God to a potter who makes pottery from a single lump of earth, using some of it to make fine china ("vessels of honor") and some of it to make discardable everyday dishware ("vessels of wrath"). Augustine would seize upon this as a master-metaphor. Here he accents the fallenness of humanity as a "lump of sin" (massa peccati). From To Simplicianus, Book 1, Question 2: (2.16) Since, as the Apostle says, "in Adam all die" (1 Cor 15:22), and from Adam that offense's origin spread to the entire human race, all human be-
36. Simpl. 1.q.2.4 (CCL 44:28–29); my trans. 37. Simpl. 1.q.2.7–9 (CCL 44:31–34); my trans.