The wisdom of St. Augustine

Sometimes, we in Northern Ireland are quick to write off those who don't quite fit into our little theological box. Conservative evangelicalism in my home province, in its attempts to fight against the unbiblical teaching of the Roman Catholic church has, in effect thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Saints, because they are revered, yes and sometimes worshipped, are rejected in toto which is to our shame. If we look at what many of them said in their own writings, and forget about the hagiographical hogwash which the church of Rome has built up around them, then we would be a lot better off. St. Patrick is one keen example of this. He was a very humble man, conscious of his own sin and need of God. Another was St. Augustine.

Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo is a figure who most evangelicals don't even realise is key to their whole outlook. If there had been no Augustine there probably would have been no Martin Luther. Luther was an Augustinian monk and it was the founder of his order who keenly influenced his thinking.

Augustine's prayer, "God, command what You will and give [or "grant"] what you command” stressed his belief in man's bondage to sin commonly known as the total depravity of man. Essentially, the Saint is expressing his desire to do whatever God asked him to do but knowing his own corruption, he knew that God's grace was essential for the believer to do God's will. This view enraged a notable monk at the time called Pelagius who believed that Christians could live a righteous life without God's grace. He believed that God's grace was helpful but not essential! This view is of course totally unbiblical as we know from Augustine's hero St. Paul that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3v23), that "no one is made righteous by the works of the law" (Romans 3v20) and that "the just shall live by faith". St. Paul also said "for by grace you are saved through faith,and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God not of works so that no man can boast." (Ephesians 2v8-9). This controversy between Augustine and Pelagius was repeated with Calvin and Arminius, Luther and Erasmus and continues to this day. What this does show is that Augustine was thoroughly Pauline in his view of grace. Although he believed in transubstantiation and other things that might not sit well with some Protestants one read of the confessions, his auto-biography shows this was a man of faith with a great desire for God, who firmly believed that without God man was lost.

One prayer of Augustine's that really is immense and reflects his intense pursuit of God says:

"Oh! that Thou wouldest enter into my heart, and inebriate it, that I may forget my ills, and embrace Thee, my sole good!" In other words He wants God to so captivate (he uses inebriate which means to intoxicate or make drunk!) that nothing else would satisfy and that he would chase after God alone not for His gifts but for who He is, acknowledging that God is the only true benefit of life and the One whom we are created to enjoy and to glorify. This prayer is reminiscent of King David who said "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." (Psalm 42v1) How many people do you know like that, that want God to come in and make them fall head over heels in love with Him, so much so that nothing else matters? We could do with a few more Christians like that I reckon!

Blessings!

Andy.