the bishop caught them with a neat left and right to the jaw, so to speak—in the best of causes, to
SERMON 209 117
NOTES
1. Again, I think, to be dated after Sermon 207, but perhaps before 208. A tentative arrangement of these five short Lenten sermons in chronological order would then be: 207 about 400; 209 a year or two later; then 208 about 410-412; 205 about 415, and 206, about 416 or 417. That they were all preached within Augustine's own jurisdiction, whether in the city itself or in outlying parishes or villages, there can in my view be very little doubt.
2. See 2 Cor 5:19. 3. See Eph 4:26.
4. There must have been some rueful grins in the congregation at the shameless way in which the bishop caught them with a neat left and right to the jaw, so to speak—in the best of causes, to be sure.
5. It is clear that he is not here warning against scrupulosity, but against some kind of supersti¬ tious conception of Lenten abstinence—though I suppose scruples could be called a kind of super¬ stition.
6. Tempt you, presumably, to commit adultery, because you lack the self-control to forgo sexual relations totally.