Chapter 6 (128): 1. He Shows How The Two Fears Differ By The Analogy Of Two
Distinction XXXIV | 141 chaste one. But if there it shows us an eternal fear, does the Epistle contradict it, when it says: There is no fear in charity, but perfect charity casts out fear?' No, because the latter is said by John, the former is said by David. But do not believe that there is more than one Spirit. If one breath fills two pipes, cannot one Spirit fill two hearts and move two tongues? If the two pipes filled by the one spirit, that is, by the one breath, sound in unison, can two tongues filled with the Spirit of God be discordant? And so there is some consonance here and some concord, but it requires an attentive listener, and not a lazy one [to hear it].—See, this
Spirit of God has moved two tongues, and we have heard from the one:
There is no fear in charity; we have heard from the other: The fear of the Lord is chaste, perduring forever and ever. How is this? Are they in discord? No! Open your ears, hear the melody. It is not without cause that here he added chaste, there he did not, because there is one fear which is called chaste, and there is another fear which is not called chaste. Let us distinguish these two fears, and understand the harmony of the pipes.
How are we to distinguish?—Let your charity attend. There are men who fear God lest they be cast into hell, lest perhaps they burn with the devil in the eternal fire. This is the fear which introduces charity, but it comes so that it may depart. For if you fear God because of punishments, you do not yet love him whom you so fear. You do not desire the good things, but are afraid of the evil things. But because you are afraid of evil things, you correct yourself and begin to desire the good things. When you have begun to desire the good, the chaste fear shall be in you. What is the chaste fear? To fear losing the good things themselves, to fear that God depart from you. But when you fear God lest his presence abandon you, you embrace him and you long to enjoy him."'°
Chapter 6 (128)
1. HE SHOWS HOW THE TWO FEARS DIFFER BY THE ANALOGY OF TWO
WOMEN.—AUGUSTINE: "You cannot better explain the difference between these two fears than by positing the case of two married women, one of whom, say, is willing to commit adultery, but fears being condemned by her husband. She fears her husband because she still loves wickedness.
To this woman, the presence of her husband is not welcome, but burdensome; and if perhaps she lives evilly, she fears that her husband might come. Such are they who fear the day of judgement.—Posit that the other woman loves her husband, that she owes him chaste embraces, that she has no desire to stain herself with the uncleanness of adultery: this one desires the presence of her husband. The one woman fears, the other also
"ijn: 418:
Augustine, /n J Joannis, 4, 18, tr. 9 n5.
142 | THE SENTENCES, BOOK 3
fears. Let them be questioned as to why they fear. The one will say: I fear that my husband might come; the other will say: 1 fear that my husband might leave. The one will say: I fear lest my husband condemn me; the other will say: I fear lest my husband abandon me. Ponder these things in your mind, and you find the fear which charity casts out, and the other chaste fear which will perdure forever and ever."' Perfect charity casts out that fear "because fear contains torment: the awareness of sins torments [the heart] and justification has not yet occurred. There is in it that which titillates, which pricks, which goads. That fear does goad, but charity enters in, and she heals the wound that fear inflicts."* A chaste fear
"makes for assurance in the soul."
2. "We have heard two pipes, John and David, sounding in harmony.
The one speaks of the fear of God by which the soul fears being damned, the other speaks of the fear by which the soul fears being forsaken.
The first is the fear which charity casts out, the second is the fear that shall perdure forever and ever.'* See, in the above words Augustine plainly shows which is the chaste fear and which the servile one, and how they differ.
3. And he also indicated the initial fear, which is neither entirely servile, nor entirely chaste, but a sort of middle one. It has something from servile fear and something from the chaste one. For it leads one to serve in part by fear of punishment, in part by love of justice; through it, we fear to be punished, and we fear to offend. This fear exists in an initial, but not yet perfect, charity, and as charity increases, so this fear decreases, both as to the fear of punishment, that is, as to that which makes for the fear of punishment, and as to the torment of conscience; indeed, as much as we love, so much less do we fear.—This fear is signified in those words of Augustine where he does not deny that there is fear in an initial charity, but not in the perfect one. This could not be said of servile fear because, as he himself said above, servile fear does not remain, once charity has come; nor does charity enter, unless that fear has first gone out; nor does anyone in that fear believe in God, even though he believes
God; nor does he act well, even if he does that which is good.° And so that fear does not exist in charity, even the initial one, because anyone who has charity, even if it is not perfect, both believes in God and does good things well. And so that fear is not servile which he granted exists in charity begun, and which he said decreases as charity increases; that 'Augustine, /n J Joannis 4, 18, tr. 9 n6,
"Ibid., n4.
*Tbid.
"Ibid., n8.
"In c5 n2.
'Above, c4 n3.