21. De civ., II, 19.
INTRODUCTION XXI ate even the worst, and if need be, the most atrocious form of government [etiam pessimam, si ita necesse est, flagitiosissimamque rem publicam]."^^ And it is, he says finally, through just such dutiful tolerance—imitating Christ's tolerance of Pilate's power—that true Christians may hope to enter the republic of heaven, where God's will is the only law.
The first two chapters of this volume present selections from The City of God on the theory of coercive government and the law of history that regulates the rise and fall of nations. For the reader's convenience, related passages, widely separated in the original text, are brought together under descriptive headings supplied by the editor. The third chapter is made up of passages from the Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John, Sermons, and Letters, as well as from The City of God, in which
St. Augustine considers the responsibilities of
Christians as law-abiding citizens of worldly states, and especially the grounds of Christian cooperation in the regulation of civil rights under human law and in the prosecution of so-called just wars.
The selections in the fourth chapter, on the treatment of heretics, and those in the fifth, on the right of ecclesiastical intercession in the administration of civil justice (drawn from the Treatise Concerning the Correction of the Donatists and the Letters) complement one another. Doctrinaire libertarians are not likely to be persuaded by St. Augustine's arguments supporting
21. De civ., II, 19.
XXU INTRODUCTION the view that, when civil governments are willing to do so, they have a right to compel heretics to enter the Church. Yet, upon close examination, these arguments seem to stand up rather well as compared or contrasted with, say. President Lincoln's views on compelling the rebellious Southern
States to remain in the Federal Union, or the views of those who have justified the use of force to compel integration of the races in American schools, and of 3ie separated provinces in the old Belgian Congo. St. Augustine pleads eloquently for mercy in the administration of civil laws, and demands of Christian public officials that they respect his pleas. Yet, at the same time, he warns all concerned with the maintenance of civil order not to undermine the foundations of society by attempting to "legalize" or "legislate" mercy.
The readings presented in the sixth chapter, from the Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, and Sermons, are indispensable for a correct appreciation of the essentially Christian aspect of St.
Augustine's political theory. Most important in this respect is his interpretation of the fundamental texts of Scripture upon which all Christian political doctrine must ultimately depend. These include the account of Pilate's interrogation of Jesus in the Gospel of St. John and, of course, the utterances of St. Peter and St. Paul on the obligation of Christians to be subject to the higher powers. The sixth chapter ends with St. Augustine's magnificent discourse on the Psalm, "By the Waters of Babylon." His interpretation of the fanaticism of political vengeance with which that extraordinary Psalm ends should be of considerable interest to all who value the Judaic-Christian Scriptures.