The Grace of Christ and the Grace of God in Augustine of Hippo
'!1u! Cltrinrx.·cmrism ojlwgus1ine 55
ivc in LhiS COntcxl iS his di:)(."'Uf'M: On .!)a(:rament and example or model m the founh book of 17•e Trillity.'"''n~ere he explains that the death and resurrection of Christ are the sacrament of tllC inner self and the model for the outer self.110 By his death and resum:ction. Chrbt conquered sin and laid the foundation for justification: m the same time. Christ showed that human being> neeJ not be afraid in the face of death nnd began the series of awake in your heart. ~y tO you? I heard I he wu~J-.: "Yoo ha,·e a demon! .. (John 7:20) and ··1 ha'" prayed for them," The L<>rd ""'""and i< patient: the s.er\'ant he3tS and takes oft"'cn~! 01
Because of faith. Christ is present in the life of Christi:ms. Christ in heart' as faith in Christ: Christ is awake in tho;c who.c faith does not sleep' "' llere ChriM guide' the entire lives of belie' ing Chri>toans: Christ enlightens them.
resurrec1ion~.
1 · 1 1 giv~s them patience. enables them not to feel ~npcrior in time nf prosperity and to pn:dse God even in advcrsily. 0'J A' interior tca<:hcr he gr;;ullS lhem certuili kliowlcdgc bul also directs their con ))c icnce~.
But it was undmahtedly the controversy over the Pelngian conception of Christ's cxnmplc that led Augustine to lay even n)()rC e mphasis on the healing. ilium inating, and strengthening grace of Chds1.1\2 Uccau~c human nature was corruplcd by the sin or Adam, it needed to be rcslored in its innermost depths: nnd because this is not yet accoanplishcd by huptism alone. it also
1 .J() Because Christians ke-ep Christ present through faith, Christ himself sighs and hopes in them.'" With Christ in their hem1s, they can resist c.vcryd:ly t<:mptations.1"2 If Htey awaken Chrbt in their hearts! Lhey remain nt pence even in the storms of Lhe home· land.'"\ needed the helping grace of the redeemer throughout later life for every step toward ctcrnnl salvation. For Lhis rca..">on, Augustine gives the following summary in Nmure tmd Grace. when speaking of growth in love and growth in
This Christ whom Christians musL alway~ awaken in t.hemse Jves cnn evidcmly only be the grace of God through our l..ord Jesus Chris~ "Grace i' poured fonh. faith starts working through Jo,c. Chrht who was already dwelling in llacchaeus' l hea11 is welcomed mto hb house.""-' The truth of rightcou:-.nc~,:
The beginning of IO\'e is the beginning of righiCOU\n~. Progress in IOH! 1s prosre.\.' m righteous~ Greallove is g.:re:u righteousness.. . . . I \\Ondcr \\het her fo,e may not. be. able to keep gtM\ •ng when 11 has depancd from this mortal life. In any case. 1el it he '<'> full c\'e.rywhcrc tm<J thb can be seen especially in the fact that. like the Apostle. Augustine links the presence of Christ in the hean, of belie, er> with Ute indwelling of U1e
Holy Spirit. Thus. he bids his faithful 3.\k God to "!live you through [God's] Spirit to be strengthened with power. and tO h;1ve Christ dwelling in your inner a lway~ chat nothmg can he added 10 it. But it is not poured out i n your he~trt.., rmm our i1wer re~uurce~ or nature or will. but by the Holy Spirit whu i' &i"cn tO us and who aids our weakness Md works for our hcallh. rOI' 11 is the grncc of God thtough ()U( Lord .lt::HIS Chd!il. 1" selv~s through faith.'''"'
5. The Way ol' Universal Salvation
Conscqucn1ly. a simple lmimtion of C hrisl iS: nc)l enough. The <.longer of the Pchaginn hc rc~y consi.sted precisely in this. that it snw the g a·acc of Christ as con:-.isti ng in imitation or him :md not in the giving or the Spil'it whereby a his imitatioal first becomes possible. In other words. if j ustification comes
le ~ays. "In your Inner sclvco; Chris1 dwells in your beans through failh." This is the life M hcar1~ lhtn nuakc.~ us. live. for ever and ever. from the beginning of faith 10 the {:()al whid1 is vision. lie says, ''May you be rooled and ~Jounded 111 love ~u u.f be ublc to comprehend
1 ~ In the.! incarnation. Lhere· fore. Choi,t 1><.-catttc both an example of living ~nd an ex~mp le of grace."'
f'rom imit:tlion. lhen Christ died in vnin .
with all the sainls." 11li~ is the communion 1hat will exist in an indc-
succeeds in giving an e.~pccially profound expre<sion to grace "' the source of the life of faith. in the full and comprehcn'i"c sen~ of the phra...e. by t~king o'er a Pauline theme, that of "Christ dwelling in your beans through fnnh" (Eph 3: 17). He repc.1tcdly harks b:>ek to it both in bis theological writings: and in h.is sem1ons.'-;o. Christians may not ullow their faith to sleep. If it doe,, it must be awakened, as the disciple' nwnkettcd Christ in the
and hca"enly 'uue: lherc the poor will h3\'e 1beir fill. those who do not seek wb.1.t is their own but \\ h:tt j, J~11s Ch~fs.. thiU is, "ho do nOt seek theit prhate ad\-"3nta.g.e bu.t tu.c thought for the coolmoo good. where the wh:nion of t\ll i' found. for because. of the bread that g.i\'CS such persons their fill, "e. the rnany ••• ~ ooc bread. one body. a:-. lhe Aj>OSlle ~)'S sornewhere.
Accordingly, the way or faith i; not simply n way which U1e individual trnvcls with Christ. lt is rmhcr a wny of univcrsa.J salvation. on which Christ bo~1.
11 f:lilh i:-. within. then Christ is there. sighing: if failh 1~ w1thi•1 u~. Chri-:1 b. whhin us • ... Rouse Chd5t rt~ he sleeps lhCI'c.1'1h: t-ca-:uu why you , .. -c to~scd hy the waves and ar~ 11!:\dy U.l return evil fc.w evil is thnl Christ is n-:lcCI) in llu; bo~tl. He slccJ>S in your he:u·t when ynu forget your loads all together to the homeland. The bom in which Christians arc to rouse their faith is t11e ship of the Church.'"' In it. individuals also profess the faith thttt 1hey c(trry in their henrls. Hs 11 is tog~th~ J' whh others Lhal individual Chrisci:.u•s o.wc OHC human being. with the Chri.st who is presenl in rhc Church ~ they faith. I r )'Oll ~)liSC Chlist that is. tenew your fnith, whw cl~\l Cluillt, now
Thi' brings us to the second a;.pcct <lt' Chrht'~ work a.' Shepherd: he also administers the sacraments. He himself perfornts these simple New Testament signs through which tbe continuation of hi' presence and thus tbe holiness of hi> Church are ensured'" For this rea.on. Augu,tine, like Ambrosc. calls Christ the author of tbe sacraments.'"' h is Christ who primarily baptizes.' ..
form the whole Christ which from Abelto the end of time is maturing to full Mature: they belong to the city of" hicb Christ i> the king.
a) Christ. the Shepherd of the Church
In the Eucharist~ which is celebr:ued in his namc.1115 the ~acrifice is present in which he. as true Priest. unites the whol..:: human race with God.
Chrht live< in the Church. From 391 on, at the latest. this convictioo perm Cllte> all of Augu,tine's writings. especially his anti-l)onutbt works, his espositions of the l'sahns, and his apologetic work. 111e Cit_v of God. The presence of Christ appca~. fi~ t of all. in those who have rcsponsibi lity in the Church. lie. the supreme Shepherd. leads his nock through the shepherds of the Church."' He does so through word and sacrament. thm is, through the activity of tho~c by whose agency the communion in I he sucrumcnts is established and n1a in l ~lined. 150 h follows that the \!olhole redcen1cd community. tiHn is 10 say, Lhe coogrcgf Hiou ~~~~d fe Jiowship of the. :-.aims, is offered I() Gt)(l a~ :\ unh•e-l'sal
ti ..:e. lhrO\Igh the great Priest w ill) offered hiln~d fin hi.s suffering for u:-.- so thal we mig.lu be the lx>dy of so grc;ll a headunder the '·form of n se,·vant.'' . . . This is the sacritke of Christ ian~ . who are "many. makiug UJJ one hody in Chl'i::;t.'' This is lhc :-.acrifice which 1he Church COJltinuaJiy celebrates in the sacnnncut of I he nltnr, :a s~tcrumenl well-known to the faithfuL where il is shown to the Ch\II'Ch Jh;ll [it itself] is offered in the offtl'ing which (it) present'\ to (iod. 1t4
A' Shepherd, Christ is, first, the teacher of the faith.'" Nowhere does Augustine say this as clearly as in his scnnon 011 Leami11g Chrisritmiry. After referring to Simch 51:3 1, 36, he explains: ''The word clisdplitul l'in>truetion' I come' from tlisl·ere ['learn' J. The house of instruction i< the Church of Christ.
In the celebmtioo of the Eucharist. the body is also fed. lt lies with Christ himself on the ahar. Therefore. the faithful receive their own mystery, and to 11th •. lOO~ they say Amen.',."
What. then. i< learned here or why does teaming take place here? Who are tbe le:tmer. and from whom do they learn? They learn to hve rightly. 11ley learn
10 li\C rightly in onlcr that they may live fore,·er. ChristiaM do the learning. Christ does the teaching.''"' Augustine develops this thought chicOy through the image of the ...:hool. In order to initiate his followers into the faith, Christ runs a school: .. CJuis.t is the one who teac.hcs; his chair is in heaven. as I said b) One Human Being
1 ~' ln lhis school. Chrisl is che real teacher and addres:-,es Clwistinns. who an:: his swdents. The bishop, on the other hand, who runs the school in Christ's nmne. is n fcllow-swdcnt of the sntdems.1.s.t Augustine bdng~ up Lhis lnst point· mo1·c than once. us, for example. io the wholly ecclesiological exposition of
momem ngo. His school is on earth. and his school is his body."
Because Christ is present in the Church through worcl and sacrament. the Church forms one human being with Christ: "Because Christ's possessions rc:tch 10 the ends of the earth, and !Chri st's! po$scssi<ms are all lhc saints. and nil the saims fom1 one hum:\n being in Chrisl (since in Ch1·ist there is a holy unity). this one human being says: 'From the ends of the cnrth I have cried to you, when my hcurt wus in ::mguish:'' 1611 \Vhereas
Psalm 216: "We protect you because ()!'our office of stewardship, but we desire 10 be protected along with you. To you we arc shepherds, but together with you we arc sheep under that Shepherd. To you we are teachers from the pi;ICc where I ;~and. but in this school we are fellow learners with you under that one Teacher."'''
Adam through the sin of disobedience gave rise to the generation of sinners. the "condemned mass:· a ne" people is born through rebirth in ('hri<t.''"
In thi' community of the rcbom. Chri'i proclamiS himself as the good news. "Christ proclaims himself as the good <ICws: he also proclaims himself in hi~ alre.'ldy existing members so that he mny bring others and so that those who were not members may come and be joined to his members through whom his good news is preached. Thus. there will be one body under one head. possessing ooe spirit. living one life."'~' Together with his faithful. Chri<t pr.,ys to the Father, intercede> for hi~ followers at the Father's right h:md. even prfiYS to himscl r. m Thanks 10 hi~ J)J'CSCncc. Cluist celebrates Chrisl in the liturgy. Por not only &lster but cvet·y cclcbrntion of the Eucharist is a memot·inl of the death and resurrection of Chri11. and it is Christ who cele-
In the school of Christ. the citcle of disciples that Christ gnthen:d around lumself during his canhly life lives on.1!6 The work done in the school is chiefly the re.'lding and explanation of the sacred Scriptures. all of which are concerned with Christ.'" Thus. Christ speaks both in the Scriptures and in the expo>itor. Ju,t a< fonncrl)• he was not silent either in the prophets or during his days on earth, so he is not silent now.'s11 /\1 the -same 1imc. Christ proclaims him\clf: "Christ preaches Christ.·••$') Augustine doe..' not fol'gcl, however, that Clu·bt doe' 1 his work with the help of human beings.,.. lie takes for grnnrcd, above all, that Christ nms his school in the worship of the Church."'' There Chri'l breaks llOI only his bread but also his word.
hrn tc~ this memorial of himscli'.172
58 The Grace of Chrisi
The Chrlstocentri:;m of Augusiine 59 mation of tbe whote Christ thus proves to be a continual victory of the Just One and h.is followers over the ooe who has been the adversary from the beginning. This basic concept in Auguslinian theology is found above all in The Ciry of God. as well as in many sermons and expositions of the psalms that re·
So, too, Christ is hungry in the community of d1ose who believe in him, while in their poor, Christ himself receives the gills of compassion. With this in mind, Augustine reminds his faithful: "Look, Christ is JlOt commanding you anyway; Christ is asking you, Christ is in need. I was Jumg l)~ says Christ, and you did not give me to e(IJ (Mt25:42}. It's for youl' sake he was wi Uing to be in need, so that you would have somewhere to sow the e<H1hly things he has given you. and from them reap eternal lifc.''17Z Because Christians can receive Chris( tlect Lhc same apologetic situation. tn these writings. Augustine develops the antithesis between the two loves, the love of Christ and the love of the world or of the devi1.184 He expresses the same idea in the politic.aHy oriented images of the city of God and the city of the devil or, in terms that are even more bibin the poor, dley aJ'e not deprived of the presence of Christ.'" 1n the final analysis therefore, Christ Uves in Lhe love of ChrisLians for Lhcir neighbors: "And there will be one Christ loving himself. for when the members love one another, the body loves itself."'" Io the members, Christ fulfiUs his own commandment.
lical. in the contrast between Jerusalem and Babylon' " He regards Christ himself as king of the citizcnry of God."' We must not, however, overlook the fact that in The Cif)• of God, Augustine not only describes Christ as the true king.'., but also speaks of God as "founder and king of the glorious city of God."'''
But in Lhis one human being, lhc suffering of Chri::a also cominues lO lhe end of d1e world. Thus, Augustine says in commenting on the words "you all kill'' of Psalm61:4:
The ftrst source of his historical conception of the opposition between Christ and the devil was the Bible, in which the Christ event was foretold by the prophets and then reponed in the story of Christ and the first commu-
Can thel'e be so much I'Oom in one human being thm this one can be killed by aH? Dol by this 'one hUJnari being· we mo::;t urldei'Stand oul' owrl person. lhc person of our Church. lhc person of lhe body or Christ f<)r the one human being with its head ~utd body is Jesus Ch1is1 . . . two in one body. speaking with one voice, enduring the same suffering, and nity.'"' But an impulse also came from Porphyry, according to whom. a "uni· versa! way" cannot be historically demonstrated either in tlte ''truest philosophy" or in the teachings of Indian sages or in the expel'ience of the Chaldeans. 190 Ln aoswer to this entirely negative view, Augustine sought tO sho\v rrorn the his[ory of the city of God-from its origin, iL~ conlinued exiswbetl evil is past, enjoying. oue rest. Christ's su.fferiog i~ thel'dol'e not i1 ~ Christ alone. yclthc stlllcrin,gs of Christ art only in Christ.17<> tence. and its end-thnt in Christ, the <lnc true mediator. God wills to lead nll. even otdin:wy human beings, to eternaJ salvation.191 To this end. he refers es-
Consequently. in one human being. Christ is tempted and Christ overcomes the tempter. 177 [rt a very special way Christ sutl'ers in his martyrs.1i 8 pecially to the "Christian ages,''192 tlle time between the first and second comings of Cluist. ill which the prophetic promises have been fulfilled, as can be shown to anyone from the very wl'irings preserved by the Jews. Thi$ is true especially of the age of Theodosius, which most clearly manifests the fulfill-
Finally, in the glory of the resurrection. Christ ascends to heaven and thereby begins the ascension of his whole body, which in hope already dwells with him at the Farber's side. 1711 Augustine does not say anything more about how he understands the presence of Christ in heaven and in us, although he does offer some points of depanwe for such an understanding.'"'
ment of the promise of a universal Church.'93 d) The Whole Christ c) f'oundel' and King of the City
In the 5nal analysis, the history of the city of God that is gradual! y esu.blishing itself on earth is nothing other than the incarnation of God in the most comprehensive sense. Foretold by the prophets. established in principle by Jesus' binh from Mary and his death and resurrection. the formation of the
The "passing over of Ciw-istians" (zransitus chrissimtorum), which has its exemplar in "the passing over of Cluist" (transiws Chrisri), tsl does not how· ever t~lke place all at once. Rather, il is accornplished in a hislodcal process that began witl1 Abet and will be complete only in the resurrection of all the just. Augustine often returns to the theme of ''the Church beginning with whole Christ takes place in the Church. where the unparalleled presence of God in Christ takes its full fonn. Augustine refers to this basic reality not only by speaking. as he does from early on, of the head and members thttt make up the whole Christ. He also coins a teclmical terminology to deal with this reality, for he speaks not only of the one person of Christ but also of ''the one person of the Church.""'
Ahel.''t" He also le;wes no doubt about the 1\Jct that only in the future will the one human being reach the perfection of the full Christ. The images of a journey~ a sea voyage, and a ,;walking with spiritual swps,'' as well as the. frequent anli Lhesis of hope and reality. are very clear in this regard.
Augustine presents this doctrine of the whole Christ, of the comprehensive incarnation of God. in an entire-ly realistic sen.ing. fn a theology thar is marked
The lengthy histori~.al development of the whole ChriSl is ofK~n prc..'itnttd by Augt1stine as a struggle be.lwecn Christ and the dev iJ. 'S~ The gradual for-