Epistula 93 (PL 33-321—347; and FOTC 18.56—106). My presentation relies (continued)
18 ST. AUGUSTINE lies had easily, readily, and sincerely converted. Then, as he continually faced what he saw as stubbornness and intractability on the part of the Donatists, and their use of violence, he was reluctantly convinced that a forced reunion was justifiable; and so he invited and cooperated with the regulation and prohibition of Donatism by the Roman government. He found this view justified both scripturally and theologically.
(21) Among the Hebrews of the Old Testament, because of their relatively low level of moral development, God had used the constraints of fear to promote unity; although earlier in his life he had optimistically believed that in the Christian era moral fife was progressing to an ever higher level, the realities of his pastoral work led him to conclude that most men were still at the moral stage of the Old Testament Hebrews, hence fear could be put to use as a divinely sanctioned means of promoting goodness. Then, too, Jesus himself in the parable of the wedding feast had said, Quoscumque inveneritis cogite intrare: "Whomever you shall find, compel them to enter."^^ Moreover it is quite clear that God, at work among men, uses external pressure to effect the soul's inner moral and spiritual growth. So as God used this "disciplina," and could effect growth through "correctio" and "per molestias eruditio," in Augustine's own terminology, the Christian church and its ministers could aid in the process by the same means.
(22) Also he had by now developed his theory of the Roman state's role in the divine plan for the world's salvation, and of its function in promoting the welfare of the Church. Although he never felt comfortable with the infliction of severe physical punishment or the death penalty,^^ there was clearly a shift in his views about how to deal with heresy. He no longer considered it a wholly internal ecclesiastical problem but one involving the intervention of the state in the affairs of the Church.
59. Cf. Lk 14.23 as quoted in Epistula 93.2.4. (PL 33. 323; CSEL 34(1). 449; and FOTC 18.61).
60. Augustine, quite properly, felt that such actions would justify the claim of persecution made by the Donatists against the Catholics and persecution was clearly counterindicted by the historical experience of the Christian church.