and unity. To explain this Augustine considers the roles of Christ and of the Holy Spirit as coalescing into a single action. This is easily understood when it is realized that while Christ is the Head of His Body, the Holy Spirit is its soul. Consequently to belong to Christ one must accept His Spirit.192 As the soul of Christ's Body the Holy Spirit is its life-giving principle, in the same manner as the soul gives life to a human body.193 This function of the human soul in its body warrants a further comparison to the action of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. To be vibrant with physical life each member of the body-whether it be the hand, eye, or any other part-must be organically united to the whole. Likewise to share in the life of Christ's Body or in grace the member must be incorporated into it through charity.194 Since the

192

Ibid., Tr. 9, 7 (PML 35, 1461): "item scriptum est, Quisquis autem Spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus (Rom. VIII, 9). Cf. Prat, op. cit., II, 292-293. "The points of contact between Christ and the Spirit concern only the glorified Christ, and even this is not in his physical, personal life at the right hand of the Father, but in his mystical life in the bosom of the Church. In other terms, the Holy Spirit and the glorified Christ, who appear everywhere else as two distinct Persons, seem to become identical in their role of sanctifiers of souls. There, indeed, their sphere of influence is the same and their fields of action blend; for Christ is the head or, under a somewhat different figure, the organism of the mystical body, the soul of which is the Holy Ghost; now in ordinary language, chiefly in that of St. Paul, almost all vital phenomena can be referred equally to the soul or to the head. . . . It is an identity of operations without confusion of Persons."

193

Serm. 267, 4, 4 (PML 38, 1231): "videtis quid faciat anima in corpore. Omnia membra vegetat; per oculos videt, per aures audit, per nares olfacit, per linguam loquitur, per manus operatur, per pedes ambulat: omnibus simul adest membris, ut vivant; vitam dat omnibus, officia singulis. Non audit oculus, non videt auris, non videt lingua, nec loquitur auris et oculus; sed tamen vivit: vivit auris vivit lingua; officia diversa sunt, vita communis. Sic est Ecclesia Dei: in aliis sanctis facit miracula, in aliis sanctis loquitur veritatem, in aliis sanctis custodit virginitatem, in aliis sanctis custodit pudicitiam conjugalem, in aliis hoc, in aliis illud; singuli propria operantur, sed pariter vivunt. Quod autem est anima corpori hominis, hoc est Spiritus sanctus corpori Christi, quod est Ecclesia: hoc agit Spiritus sanctus in tota Ecclesia, quod agit anima in omnibus membris unius corporis."

104 In Jo. Ev., Tr. 27, 6 (PML 35, 1618): "Spiritum tuum dico animam tuam: anima tua non vivificat nisi membra quae sunt in carne tua; unum

Holy Spirit gives both charity and grace, His sanctifying action is summed up in these concepts-soul, unity, life. The effects obtained through this unity and new life-a remission of sin,195 a restoration of God's image in man,196 and the gift of divine adoption197 must be attributed to the Holy Spirit as their primary

cause.

The Holy Spirit and moral sanctity.-Though the question of moral sanctity is beyond the scope of this work a few words on the Holy Spirit's action in such a field appear necessary. Since to avoid sin and perfect his initial sanctity man must subdue the concupiscence remaining in his nature, he is given the Holy Spirit.198 The Spirit enlightens man's mind and influences his will199 by guiding it, restraining its wanderings, regulating the rhythm of its movement, and disciplining its activity.200 Thus by adhering to si tollas, jam non vivificatur ex anima tua, quia unitati corporis tui non copulatur. . . . Nihil enim sic debet formidare christianus, quam separari a corpore Christi. Si enim separatur a corpore Christi, non est membrum ejus: non vegetatur Spiritu ejus."

195

Contra Crescon., 2, 16, 20 (CSEL 52, 379; PML 43, 478): "per donum eius proprium, hoc est sanctum eius spiritum, per quem diffunditur caritas in cordibus nostris, mundari sanarique poteritis."

196

De spir. et litt., 27, 47 (CSEL 60, 201; PML 44, 229): "hoc enim agit spiritus gratiae, ut imaginem dei, in qua naturaliter facti sumus, instauret in nobis."

197 De corrept. et grat., 15, 47 (PML 44, 945): “De ipso quippe Spiritu, alio loco dicit, Accepimus Spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus, Abba, Pater (Rom. VIII, 15)."

198

Op. imp. contra Jul., 2, 137 (PML 45, 1198-1199): "Contra infirmitatem vero carnis nunc Christi gratia certamen instituit, postea ejus perficiet sanitatem: cujus sanitatis futurae atque perpetuae nunc pignus Spiritum sanctum dedit (II Cor. V, 5), per quem diffunditur in nostris cordibus charitas (Rom. V, 5), ut nos ad agonem interim relicta carnis non vincat infirmitas." 199 De grat. Christi, 1, 14, 15 (CSEL 42, 138; PML 44, 368): "ac per hoc quando deus docet non per legis litteram, sed per spiritus gratiam, ita docet, ut quod quisque didicerit non tantum cognoscendo videat, sed etiam volendo appetat agendoque perficiat."

200 Combes, op. cit., p. 65. “Le Saint-Esprit ne se contente pas de prévenir et de guider la volonté, il contient ses écarts possibles, réprime ses élans trop prononcés, règle le rythme de son mouvement, et discipline, pour la rendre plus conquérante, son activité. . . . Cette action régularisatrice du Saint-Esprit met bien en évidence le caractère spécifique de la charité. Chacun de nos élans vers Dieu est dirigé avec tant de précision qu'il ne perd rien de l'ardeur qui l'anime."

the Spirit of God man overcomes his concupiscence to such an extent that he can say, It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20).201

201 De continent., 13, 29 (CSEL 41, 179; PML 40, 369): "Spiritus itaque hominis adhaerens spiritui dei concupiscit adversus carnem, id est adversus se ipsum, sed pro se ipso, ut motus ille sive in carne sive in anima secundum hominem, non secundum deum, qui sunt adhuc per adquisitum languorem, continentia cohibeantur propter adquirendam salutem, ut homo non secundum hominem vivens iam possit dicere: vivo autem iam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus."

CHAPTER III

THE CREATED MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION:

BAPTISM, CHARITY, AND GRACE

In the preceding chapter the role of the Trinity, the uncreated cause of sanctification, was considered. Now the created means, baptism, charity, and grace will be treated. These three are not all inclusive, but the particular character of Augustine's writings against the heresies determines their choice here. In each section the development will be obvious if the heretical opinions are briefly recalled. The Donatists maintained that baptism conferred outside their sect was invalid since the Donatist Church alone was the true Body of Christ. The Pelagians denied the necessity of baptism to remit original sin. There is no dispute between Augustine and the Donatists as to the nature and qualities of charity. The question revolves around union with the true Body of Christ as a condition of possessing it. Against the Pelagians, however, Augustine insisted upon the gratuitous character of this virtue. The section on grace is almost entirely motivated by the Pelagian controversy. Though the Manichean heresy is relegated to a minor position as a motive for this chapter, it must be remembered that against Mani's followers Augustine showed the necessity of baptism through which the Holy Spirit, charity, and grace were given.

BAPTISM

The part Augustine attributes to baptism in sanctification can best be shown by treating the sacrament as a bath of regeneration and renovation. Such a manner of procedure presupposes a knowledge of what Adam lost and incurred by his sin. In his original state Adam was endowed with two types of life, physical and spirtual. The physical was commensurate with his nature; the spiritual exceeded it and was due to a gratuitous gift of God. Since the immediate consequence of original sin was the loss of spiritual life, there arose the anomalous condition of Adam transmitting to his progeny physical life and spiritual death. This

death was not a mere negation of life but there was involved also a principle termed the vetus homo by St. Paul.' Consequently the renewal of sanctity in man involves a remission of sin, the restoration of spiritual life, and the neutralization of the vetus homo.

Before baptism is considered as a bath of regeneration and renovation it must be first pointed out that through this sacrament the member is incorporated into Christ's Body.2 This is not a union of the faithful in Christ barren of all communication. As the sacrament of Christ's passion and death, baptism reproduces in the member the death, resurrection, and life of the Head. Consequently just as Christ's death sanctified man by destroying sin and renewing his spiritual life, so baptism sanctifies by destroying sin in the Christian and giving him the life of Christ.5

Baptism as a Bath

Augustine explains the remission of sin by comparing baptism to a bath of cleansing water. He applies this idea both to the

1F. Prat, The Theology of St. Paul, trans. from the eleventh French edition by John Stoddard (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1926) I, 222. "By associating us with his death, he neutralizes the active principle which sin had implanted in us, and which constituted the old man; by associating us with his life, he destroys all the germs of death and confers upon us the privilege of an endless life: life of the soul and life of the body, life of grace and life of glory."

2 Contra Jul., 6, 9, 27 (PML 44, 838): "Non autem habere parvulos vitam, nisi habeant Christum (quem procul dubio habere non possunt, nisi induerint eum, eo modo quo scriptum est, Quotquot in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis (Galat. III, 27)."

3

De spir. et litt., 6, 10 (CSEL 60, 162; PML 44, 205): "consepulti ergo sumus illi per baptismum in mortem."

4

* Ibid., 6, 10 (CSEL 60, 162; PML 44, 205): "consepulti ergo sumus illi per baptismum in mortem, ut quemadmodum surrexit Christus a mortuis per gloriam patris, ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus."

5 Contra Jul., 2, 10, 33 (PML 44, 697): “sed primorum hominum peccatum, in posteros propagatione trajectum. Etiam hujus mali reatus, Baptismatis sanctificatione remittitur." De nat. et gratia 7, 7 (CSEL 60, 237; PML 44, 250): "tanto et multo ardentiore zelo nos oportet accendi, ne evacuetur crux Christi. evacuatur autem, si aliquo modo praeter illius sacramentum ad iustitiam vitamque aeternam pervenire posse dicatur."