The Grace of Christ and the Grace of God in Augustine of Hippo
40 The Grt.u;e of Christ
11u: Chriswcenrrism of Augrtsrine 41 lt is not surprising, then. that when he surns up his theological thinking in his Handbook, he should base it oo "the foundation that is Christ."' In a theology Utat is thus grounded entirely in the Rible, dte only task could be to show ho\v in the 8 i.ble Christ is '·narrated.:" The extent LO which Christ was at tified in the Word at the beginning of his creation, when the \Vord bec~1me flesh, for the Word and the flesh bec<nne one person. At that point, dten. tlte Word sanctified ilself in itself, that is. itself as a human being in itself as the
For lhc one Christ is \Vord and human being, sanctii'ying the human bei.ng in the Word.""
the center of dte lilc and work of the Bishop of Hippo will become even clearer when we try to give a summary overview of his Christological tltought on the basis of the most impo11ant texts, especially tltose in which tile word ''ChrisC occurs frequemly.
Augusline rcpemcdly linked tJ\is Johannine language. which he preferred, to the "form of God" and "form of a slave" of the hymn in the Letter to the Philippians.''' Th\IS, he can exhort his listeners as follows in his explanations of the Fourth Gospel:
2. One Cbdst, God and Human Being
Learn lbis smne ln.uh from the words of the Apostle. Haw: this mind ;, yo11. he says. Jhar was in Christ Jesus who. though he n•t~.\' in the form o[(;()d. tlid noltltiuk equality with Cod a booty to be 1.:bmg to. What doe-.s a) God and Human Being
if oot Lhat as f~u· as the Word is concerned. Christ Jc~us is God with God'? Bt•l $CC wlnlt follows: /)ra he empti£>d himself. takittg the form of a slave, being made in the /ikenes~· oj lmmtm beings tmdj(umd i11 ln countless passag~, Augustine uses verses one to lhree and fourteen of John's Prologue to express tl1e mystery of CluisL The Word is God and is with God, and the Word was 01ade flesh: these statement arc for him the answer to the questiou of who or what Christ is. "You know who Christ is (I am speakhum(m form. And of whom is. [John) SJ.Xakin,g if not Of I he SiJm e ( hrist Jesus? Bu1 eve.rylhing is ah-eady he•·e: the \Vord in the form of God, which as.sumcd I be form of n slave; :}nd lhe soul and the t1e ... ~h in the form of the slave rh at was. a.s..~mned by the f<.ln_n of God. l~ ing to Cmholics because you have believed c(uTectly): he is not the Word alone nor the Oesh alone, but tl1e Word wb.o became Oesh in order to dwell among us."'0 1mplicit here is that the one Christ is both God and human being, the Son of God and the Human One: as God, equal to the Fatlter: as a human
FoJio,ving lhe Latin tradition, Augustioe was able 10 express the same tn1th with the aid of the antitheses seen in the history of salvation: ''creatorre-creator"•• or "I. God 1 created- [ God] re-created"17: ·'make<- redeemer" or being~ our brolhtr, who is U fe jn hiJn.::;eJf and the begin'ning of our resurrection. Thus he says in an explanation of Jolm's Gospel:
:.creator-snvior ... 19 He spoke similarly of "majcsry" and "html.i)jty.''2U In more concmtc tcnns, he said emphatically: .. Could anything be more certain than our good fonune. when the one who pray:-; for U!'i is the very one \).:ho give.s us what be prays for? ChriSL you sec. is I human being] and God; he prays as a [human being I, he gives what he prays for as God.-'"
Because the Cutholic faith holds the tnuh <)f both I humanity and di· vinhy] and proclaims what it believes. it ackuowlcdges Christ to be both God and human hcing. for both arc written and both olfe tn:.e. lf you dc-
SC(iJ)e Christ .solely as God. you deny !he insmunent or salvation by whiCh you have become healthy; if. Qn tht: <Jthcr hand. you describe Christ as a mefe human beiog. you deny the power by which you have been c•·eated. Hold. therefore, believing soul and Catholic; hc.art. to both ~ hold fast to both, believe both, in your belief c-oMc.ss both. Christ is both God and human being. A:s God. ChJiSt is equaJ to the Father, one '"irh 1he
In all these statements. which are inspired more or less directly by ~le Bible and especially by Jolm and Paul, a strong tendency to make distinctions en1erges. Augustine liked 10 talk about Christ in lhe language of antithesis. In doing so, he was undoubtedly following the amj-Arian t-radition.22 NOl without reason does he appeal to lile "'caoonic.al rule .. according to which a distinction must be m;1de between the divine and lhc human in Christ. :t'l But we must not overlook the l'actthat thecomras! between Christ-as-God and Christas-human being is influenced by dte rhetorical taste for antithc.sis that was widespread at that time. Also to be explained by both Lraditions. but primarily by the seco)ld, is the tendency in many passages to assign the same value to the opposed elements.
Fmhel'. Wha1 js Chrha as a human being? As. a human being he was born or the Virgin mtd derives from a hun Kul bei1.1g morttdity but nor any wickcdncss.11
!n another homily we read the following: "This Christ is the Son of God and the ~on of a human being. In 1he beginning was the \\'ord, and the \Vord was wi~ 1 God. and the Word was God; it was in the begimting with God. Sec how
[the WordJg:we him life in [!he Word's very selll Rut bec:wse the Word was mo.tde. flesh and dwelt among us. a human c.:1.me imo being of the Vi~~in Mat)'.~· I:!
In conlrast_. there are otl1er, no Less import~ml passages especially in the early writings. io which Augustine clearly gives prioriL)· lO the divine over the human. This is tme of his explanations of Wisdom as being the only Son, who
Using John's language, Augn~l i ne also expresses the union of the divine and the human in dynam.ic tcnns: HThe Human One. (filius hominis) was sane-
nu· Christocemdsm of Augu.)tine 43
42 'Jh~ (irat-e of Christ
He first does so in dctnil, 11 is true. in contro,·ersy "nh tbe Arian>. even though be had spoken long before of "God bont." "God cn•cified," and "tlte llc.'h of God."" In this explanmion. "the oneness of ~le pe"on of Chris1 Jesus our Lord" consi.si.S in Lhe fncllhnt the divine and humnn n:nures rcciproca11y com* municme lbe 1wm<:..' proper to each, iJl such a way thut the Soo of God is C<JIIcd a human being (Utd Lhc Hu111an One is called God, while 1he one Christ is called both.·";, con,ub<.lantial and coetemal "i1h the Fa1her and who assumed the whole human being." or his explanatiOn> Of the Word, who assumed M>ul and nesh into union with [the Word's) person.~' 8111 i1 is uue also of ~le >tatemcnts that the human being Jesus panicipatc~ iu chc divine wisdom.26
Finally, 1his Clu-istological dualism became a given in ~IC struggle l{tr a ra· 1ional undcrs~:mu i ng of the Christian faith, for while the young Augustine found it easy to see in Christ the ctemal Word, only gradually wa;, he able 10 realize that the inc"'ltatioo of the Word provided the only practicable wfly hl [Chri\1\) divinity' '
Even ~lough ;\ugu>Linc does not carry thb reasoning funher by an analysis of the concept of person, he does indicate. in hi> rcllcctions on the 011enes> of Christ. that in his view, thi> ooenc.-;s h~ ib basis in tile eternal sonship of Christ. In other word>. he does n()( yet know tl1c foml Uia "one of the Trinity:· b) n~e One Christ but at the salliC time. his manner of ascribing ~le incamation to tbe Son alone is no longer far removed from that fomtul"'' oc,pite all tbe emphasis on the distinction of the uivinc and human in ChriM. Augustine never forgets 10 underscore the unity of Chrbt. J7ollowing a tr:tdition already in proce>S of con.c>lid:ltion, he resolves the tension that :wiscs fi'Oill the contrast betwe~n Cod nnd human being or, mon! accuwtcly.
3. Through Christ n.s Human Being to Christ ns Cod between Son of God and Human One, by saying of Christ that he secs !Christ I a;, the subject, the "one person." in "the one Christ:"" Like his predecessors.
The answer to the question of who Christ i, alwnys includes. more ur less explicilly. his role in salvation. The one Christ. God and human being. is always seen also as Savior. To put it in John's words; the Word not only became flesb but also dwelt among us. Thus. Augu,tinc \Uys. for example: he c<cludcs any division of ~te one Christ.>' Even his comparison with the oncnc~s of the human being i"' not new. Augustine ·s original contribution con-.. sists in the wny in which. with tile aid of pro'opic exegesis as well as of Neoplatonic anthropology. be develops the thesis of ti>C "one pcr..on" or "the oncne" of the person of Chrht""' and. consequently, of the human being as "one person:'" Especially to be m>tcd in this oontext is th"t he connects ~le oncncs' <>f the person of Christ with his rellections on tlte prc,ence of God: "Out this human being is in God inn way different from how this God is in the humnn being; for God is there in n way peculiar 10 [God]. For the one person i~ God and human being. and the one Christ Jc~us is hoth. Christ is everywhere in:tsmuch as he i~ God. bm in heaven inasmuch as he is a human
!The ooc) -wtKl was God became a humon being: by ass.umtng wh<U ICt)(lj was not. while 1101 losing wha1 [God) wa:-.. God bec:arne a human beir~g. In tbi:-. rolCI ynu find something for your Wi!l\kness nnd something for your fullillrncnt. rvtuy Christ mise you UJ) thrC'1ugh jChrisl's) human ~ ity: may IChriSII lend you through IChliSI.sj divinil)' nnd allow you to reach wlwt I Christ I i~ a.'! God. The ,.,.·hole of tm.:oching. ~tnd 1..he whole of l)alvation con~i'>ts in this • .. that both souls and bodic.:; :ni::...:.~ being.''1: a) The One Mediator between God and Uumanil)
There is another explanation that can be regarded rather as independent. the one in which Augustine. with the Apollinarists in mind. define., the oneness or Christ by reference 10 the ~ul and the body or to ~le State in '"hich Je,u-. was be[ween his death and his rcsuiT~lion. Thus. lhc one Christ suf-
Following tile Apostle, Augustine like~ especi:~lly to express tile "for us" in terms of mediation.40 In fact, the relevant text on the 'ubjett ·'There is one God: there is nlso one mediator be1ween God and humanity, the human being Christ Jesus" (I Tim 2:5). is one of the biblic;tl lc•ts thnt Augustine cites most Often. tvforeOVCI'. it iS fn,:qucntly cited along With V(lri()IIS Olher favorite lCXIS: John 10:30; 17:20·23; Romans 5: 13: I Corinthians 15:21 1'.; Ephesians 1:22f.
i'crcu and was ~ad;" so too. the one Chl'ist was buried. even though the llesh alone lay in 1J1c wmb.>4
Flut Augustine was not satb licd to emphasize the one Christ. the only Son of God. the oneness of tlte person. the coming together uf Wurd nnd llesh in the oncnc ... s of the person. He also conce,·ned himself more lJ1an hie; p1·cdccc:, .. """ had with the logical con,;cqucnccs. He built upon the theory of the communicmion of idioms. which the Niccnc theologians had developed. by e.plau1ing more fully wby human qualities may be anributed to tl>e Son of God and dh ine to the Human One on the basis of the oneness of the person.''
For this reason alone. vo~e will not be ~urpriSI!d tO find that lhe idea or media .. tion lies behind all tho rundnmemalthemcs of Augustinian theology. Chri't shows himself to be not only aulhorily but present in the Church. not only sacrament and e<ample or model but the universal way of salvation: Chri>t is all of ti1ese a.~ t11c Son of God who became a hum.1n being in order to be medi<ttor becween Cod and humanity;''
The Cltrwoc~mrism of Augus1i11e 4S
44 Th~ Grrl(.'t' of Christ lt is quite obvious that the idea of Christ as mediator takes a number of fonns in Augu;tinc. However. I may say. with soniC simplification. that he uses 11 in two pe"pectives. Looking at it from a more phalosoplucal viewpoint. he undeN:Ind< Chrhtthc mediator to be .. between" (metlills) God and human· gustine and his proclamation of the faith. In tht context of this theology of mt:diati<m, it is rather an Other thenlC that pu<hcs to the fore: the theme of "through Christ as human being to Chri>t as God" or. as the case may be. the variations of it that are seen in the anwheses "Christ the way-Christ the homeland" or "tbc way by which we gc> tile goal 10 which we go.""
kind, and thus as one who belongs both to the creator and to creatures and who pos;esses both immonality and monatity and merefore can lead human beings ou1 of the prc,cnl state of tran.sitorincss 10 pcnn::mcnL b le~~edness .
TI1e imponance of this tlteme is already obviou> from the simple fact mat Augustine repeatedly cites tbe words of Jesus. " I am ~1e way, the mnh. and the life" (John 14:6), perhaps. evcu as often as tl>c words from the first Lclter to Timothy.'' As a matter of fact. both texts are often combined in the same
41 In this context, the problem of me one and ~1e 11tany i, murc or ks' clc~arly discern i b I c :n p~l:\'iagcs.'' 1n addition. Augusllne expressly connects the idea of mediatorsltip Wi(h that of the way:
But ntindfulncss of his Neoplatonic partners in clialoguo also dctcranined, to some extent, the other rutd doubtless su·ongcr u·cnd. (according tn which
Augu ~ainc rcg4ll'd:o; Chrisl I he human being as medituor:u This means that as human being Christ makes possible the rcvclmion of ctcmal \Vi:odom, th;H is.
For this is ·'the mcdialor between Ood nnd lhumanityJr the lhuman bcingl Chl'ist Jesus." As [human bcingJ he is oul' Med intol'~ as (human beiogl he is: out way. FOI' there i~ hop~. 10 uunin n journey'~; end when the Word, in whom all the thoughts of God are comaincd. With thb in mind, Augustine confe~SC!): tlu.:re is a (K1lh which -.tretc:hes between the mwcllcr and [chc: traveller"s) goal. But if there is no path. or if a [person does I not know which way eo go. there is liule-use in knowing the de,tlll31ion.-"
I sou1ht n way to obtain strength enough 10 enjoy y()u: but I dKI not find 11 until I embmced "'the mediator bet"ccn God and (hun Mnuy}, the (human being( C!ui-.t Jesus" ( I Tnn 2:5). "who i• abo'c all thong>. God blc,><:d for eve(' (Rom 9:5). He called and said "I am th.o WBy and ahe II'Uth and 1hc lif~" (John l4:6). The (O()d "hich I \l.,l~ too \\Cak 10 rJ(.."CCpt i)'ou) mingled with lle.sh, in thac "Tbc Word was motdc flesh" (John 1:14).
Augu"inc developed mi' theme in one of his most famous passages: in a he seventh book of the Cot~fessiolls. as he looked back on his reading of the Platonists, he did not hesitate 10 acknowledge that comemporazy pbilosopl~ers knew the homeland, the "\Vord with God''; but :H lhc same ~ime he reproached them for not knowing the way, lhe \Vo•'d incanuue.'' The same manner of' ap· pa·oaching a subject Ues behiod the basic theme of the "universal way" io l)()ok 10 of The City nf God. Hero again, /\uguslinc see.~ Christ the way as including both the incamation of the Son and the "grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." At the same time. ho idemilics the "homeland'' more clearly
Ml thnt our inf:n11 condi1ion might come to suck mitk from )'OUI' wiM1orn by which you crc:ucd all th ings.~
First Timothy 2:5. however, played a decisive puo1 in this second perspeclivc. ina Nmuch n'i thm passage speaks of reclemplion:'" Accordingly. ~lS medi· atOI'. Ciu·bt is lirst and foremost the one who has offered the sacrilke of reconciliatjon:.n he became sin, that is, the sacrifke by which hurnnn beings me reconciled with God (see 2 Cor 5:2I).""The death which Chdst freely took wilh what we helieve and to some cx1e111 know: lhe Falher, 1he Son, and lhe Splrit'11 1n the final anal ysis. tltis can also be seen :ts the conh.':Xl for tltosc passages in The Tri11il)' in which the author. without engaging in polemics. con· upon hinbclf became the victory over death itself. The mediator who gives Ufe thus conquered the demon,;''' and the devil. the origin:uor and mediator of death." The self-surrender to Ibis reconciling :lnd victoriou' ~acrifici:o l death nect$ Christ wiah knowledge :md wisdom. with belief in the temporal and undcrsumding of the ctcma.I.)'J al.o invoh'Cd the perfect righteousness of Christ: as mediator. Christ wa.~ the immonal rightcou< one. the human being who was "righteous with God'' and who. therefore. because of tliC righteousnes.~ mat united him to God. was able to ju,tify sinners who had fallen under tbe power of deatl> and to bdng them life and JlCace."
Funhennore. behind this antitl>esis or knowledge and wisdom lies tlte amithesis of authority and reason that plays a decisive role in Augustine's fust work~: "'\Vc follow a twofold wa.y: c:i1hcr rea'\on or. in any c.ase. aulhority.'-60 Chnst cenainly does not come into the field of vision here. Neverlhele.~s. as Augustine emphasizes even in other early writings, the authority of the faim ultimately rests on the authority of the incan>nle Christ.•• On the otber hand, human reason, too, ultimalcly turns to Chri~l as the inlctior teacher who b word nnd wisdom.•' According to Augustine, then. all of religious knowledge is founded on Cbrist, tnoe God <and true humnn being. ln faith, buman beings acknowledge the "external Chdsl," \Vhilc in r•llional knowledge they gaze upon the "interior Chrise: ror in lhcir souh I hey ilrc enlightened by the divine b) Christ the Way· Christ the Hc)mclnnd
as the hasic theology of the mediation of Christ puts the emphasis un the hum;m being Jc~us ,.)l it is admillcdly le:;s con~onanl wilh the nutithesisccmcrcd C'hri<tology thm constantly dominates the theological thought of Au·