with royal progeny. If she see not that ful- things are not so shown to be clear, as that
340 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
preferred and made subject, commends herself, '' They shall be mindful of thy name, even from generation to generation.'' If, by reason of the preaching of those same fathers, wherein they have without ceasing made mention of her name, there are not so great multitudes in her gathered together, and without end in their own tongues unto her confess the praise of grace, unto whom it is said, '* Therefore shall the people confess unto thee for ever, and for ever and ever.'' If these things are not so shown to be clear, as that the eyes of enemies find not in what direction to turn aside. where the same clearness strikes them not, so as by it to be obliged to confess what is evident: you perhaps assert with reason, that no proofs are shown to you, by seeing which you may believe those things also which you see not. But if those things, which you see, both have been foretold Jong before, and are so clearly fulfilled; if the truth itself makes itself clear to you, by effects' going before and following after, O remnant of unbelief, that ye may believe the things which you see not,blush at those things which ye see.
King the maidens after her; her companions shall be brought unto Thee. They shall be brought with joy and gladness, they shall be brought into the Temple of the King, Instead of thy fathers, there are born unto thee sons, thou shalt set them as princes over the whole earth. They shall be mindful of thy name, even from generation to generation. Therefore shall the people confess unto thee for ever, and for ever and ever.
6. If this Queen ye see not, now rich also with royal progeny. If she see not that fulfilled which she heard to have been promised, she, unto whom it was said, '*' Hear, O daughter, and see."' If she hath not left the ancient rites of the world, she, unto whom it was said, '' Forget thy own people and thy Father's house.'' If she confesses not every where Christ the Lord, she, unto whom it was said, ''The King hath desired thy beauty, for He is the Lord thy God.'' If she sees not the cities of the nations pour forth prayers and offer gifts unto Christ, concerning, Whom it was said unto her, '' There shall worship Him the daughters of Tyre with gifts." If the pride also of the rich is not laid aside, and they do not entreat help of the Church, unto whom it was said, '** Thy face shall all the. rich of the' people entreat."" If He acknowledges not the King's daughter, unto Whom she was bidden to say, '' Our Father, Who art in Heaven;"'* and in her saints in the inner man she is not renewed from day to day, concerning whom it was said, ''All the glory of that King's daughter is within:'? although she strike upon the eyes of them also that are without with the blaze* of the fame of her preachers, in diversity of tongues, as
7. ''Give heed unto me," the Church says unto you; give heed unto me, whom ye see, although to see ye be unwilling. For the faithful, who were in those times in the land of Judza, were present at, and learnt as present, Christ's wonderful birth of a virgin, and His passion, resurrection, ascension; all His divine words and deeds. These things ye have not seen, and therefore ye refuse to believe. Therefore behold these things, fix your eyes on these things, these things which ye see reflect on, which are not told you as things past, nor foretold you as things future, but are shown you as things present. What? seemeth it to you a vain or a light thing, and think you it to be none, or a little, divine miracle, that in the name of One Crucified the whole human race runs? Ye saw not what was foretold and fulfilled concerning the human birth of Christ, ** Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a Son;''5 but you see the Word of God which was foretold and fulfilled unto Abraham, "' In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.'?® Ye saw not what was foretold concerning the wonderful works of Christ, 'Come ye, and see the works of the Lord, what wonders He hath set upon the earth:"'7 but ye see that which was foretold, **The Lord said unto Me, My Son art Thou, I have this day begotten Thee; demand of Me and I will give
"fin fringes of gold, and raiment of divers colors."? If there be not, now that His fame is spread abroad in every place by His good odor,? virgins also brought unto Christ to be consecrated, of Whom it is said, and to Whom it is said, '' There shall be brought unto the King the virgins after her, her companions shall be brought unto Thee.'' And that they might not seem to be brought like captives, into some, as it were, prison, he says, °** They shall be brought in joy and gladness, they shall be brought into the King's temple.'' If she brings not forth sons, that of them she may have, as it were, fathers, whom she may appoint unto herself every where as rulers, she, unto whom it is said, '' Instead of thy fathers there are born unto thee sons, thou shalt set them as princes over the whole earth:"' unto whose prayers their mother both
4 The Prophecy might be called an cr ' effect" as well as its fulfillment; or read '' verdzs,'* for *' vobis,'' '* clear by words going before and effects following after."' For further illustration see St. Aug. on Ps, 45.
t Matt. vi. 9; 2 Cor. iv. 16. 2 Ben. cony. yeeentese for ''fulgentes." 3 Song of Sol. i.
5 Is, vii. 14. 7 Ps, xlvi. 8. 6 Gen. xxii. 18.
CONCERNING FAITH OF THINGS NOT SEEN. 341
Thee nations as Thy inheritance, and as Thy possession the bounds of the earth."' Ye saw not that which was foretold and fulfilled concerning the Passion of Christ, '' They pierced My hands and My feet, they numbered all My bones; but they themselves regarded and beheld Me; they divided among one place of God, in that it was said, '' Unto Thee shail the nations come from the extremity of the earth.'' Understand, if you can, that unto the God of the Christians, Who is the Supreme and True God, the peoples of the nations come, not by walking but by believing. For the same thing was by another prophet thus foretold, '' The Lord," saith he, them My garments, and upon My vesture they cast the lot;''? but ye see that which was in the same Psalm foretold, and now is clearly fulfilled; ''All the ends of the earth shall remember and be turned unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship in His sight; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and He shall rule over the nations." 3 Ye saw not what was foretold and fulfilled concerning the Resurrection of Christ, the Psalm speaking, in His Person, first concerning His betrayer and persecutors: '' They went forth out of doors, and spake together: against Me whispered all My enemies, against
shall prevail against them, and shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth: and all the isles of the nations shall worship Him, each man from his place.'' 9 Whereas the one says, '' Unto Thee all nations shall come;'' this the other says,
They shall worship Him, each man from his place.'? Therefore they shall come unto Him, not departing from their own place, because believing in Him they shall find Him in their hearts. Ye saw not what was foretold and fulfilled concerning the ascension of Christ; '*Be Thou exalted above the Heavens, O God;"' * but ye see what follows immediately after, '"And above all the earth Thy Glory." Those things concerning Christ already done and past, all of them ye have not seen; but these things present in His Church ye deny not that ye see. Both things we point out to you as foretold; but the fulfillment of both we are therefore unable to point out for you to see, because we cannot bring back into sight things past.
Me thought they evil for Me;" they set in order an unrighteous word against Me.4 Where, to show that they avatled nothing by slaying Him Who was about to rise again, He adds and says; '' What? will not He, that sleeps, add this, that He rise again?" And a little after, when He had foretold, by means of the same prophecy, concerning His betrayer himself, that which is written in the Gospel also, '' He that did eat of My bread, enlarged his heel upon Me,"' 5 that is, trampled
8. But as the wills of friends, which are not seen, are believed through tokens which are seen; thus the Church, which is now seen, is, of all things which are not seen, but which are shown forth in those writings wherein itself also is foretold, an index of the past, and a herald of the future. Because both things past, which cannot now be seen, and things present which cannot be seen all of them, at the time at which they were foretold, no one of these could then be seen. Therefore, since they have begun to come to pass as they were foretold, from those things which have come to pass unto those which are coming to pass, those things which were foretold concerning Christ and the Church have run on in an ordered series: unto which series these pertain concerning the day of Judgment, concerning the resurrection of the dead, concerning the eternal damnation of the ungodly with the devil, and concerning the eternal recompense of the godly with Christ, things which, foretold in like manner, are yet to come. Why therefore should we not believe the first and the last things which we see not, when we have, as witnesses of both, the things between, which we see, and in the books of the Prophets either hear or read both
Me under foot: He straightway added, °' But do Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon Me, and raise Thou Me up again, and I shall repay them,.'' This was fulfilled, Christ slept and awoke, that is, rose again: Who through the same prophecy in another Psalm says, 'I slept and took my rest; and I rose again, for the Lord will uphold Me.''*® But this ye saw not, but ye see His Church, concerning whom it is written in like manner, and _ fulfilled,
Lord My God, the nations shall come unto Thee from the extremity of the earth and shall say, Truly our fathers worshipped lying images, and there is not in them any profit."? This certainly, whether ye will or no, ye behold; even although ye yet believe, that there either is, or was, in those idols some profit; yet certainly unnumbered peoples of the nations, after having left, or cast away, or broken in pieces such like vanities, ye have heard say, '' Truly our fathers worshipped lying images, and there is not in them any profit; shall aman make gods, and, lo, they are no gods?''® Nor think that it was foretold that the nations should come unto some t Ps, ii. 7, 8; Heb. i. 5; v. 5; Acts. xiii, 33. 2 Ps, xxii. 16, 17, 18; John xix. 23, 24. 3 Ps. xxii. 27, 28. 4 Ps, xli. 6-8. 5 Ps. xli. 9, 10. 6 Ps, iv. 8. 7 Jer, xvi. 19. 8 Jer. xvi. 19, 20.
9 Zeph, ii. xr. TOPP Sh CVills 53