Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects

Introduction

INTRODUCTION IIHE SHORT WORK entitled Faith and the Creed was occasioned by the Plenary Council of Hippo celebrated in October, 393.1 The task of addressing the Council on the subject of the Creed was entrusted to Augustine , who had been ordained priest scarcely two years before by the aging Valerius, Bishop of Hippo. The choice of Augustine as spokesman for the Council is all the more significant when it is recalled that local custom in Africa reserved to bishops the right of preaching to the faithful. This action of the African bishops in making Augustine their spokesman shows clearly the esteem and authority already enjoyed by the future Doctor of the Church. In his Retractations (1.7) Augustine acknowledges that it was at the insistence of close friends that he was prevailed upon to publish the discourse delivered before the African episcopate. If due allowance is made for possible expansion and literary revision, it may be assumed that the treatise Faith and the Creed reproduces, in substance, Augustine's historic address to the Council of Hippo in 393. The present work of Augustine is but the first of several devoted to the general theme of faith and the articles of the 1 Cf. Hefele, History of the Councils of the ChuTch (Edinburgh 1896) 2 894-895. 311 312 SAINT AUGUSTINE Creed. There follows next in order The Christian Combat,Z composed in 397, which is closer to the first treatise not only in time but also in content and form. Important stylistic differences, however, separate these works widely. The Christian Combat was written purposely 'for the brethren who were not proficient in the Latin language.'3 The present work, a written account of Augustine's discourse to the African bishops, conforms in literary quality to the high standards of composition set by the ecclesiastical documents of the time and place. From a literary point of view, Faith and the Creed has been judged one of Augustine's finest compositions.4 A third work, bearing the title On Faith in Things Unseen5 and written about 399, shows first the reasonableness of faith and its necessity even in human affairs and then demonstrates the credibility of faith which is divine and supernatural. In Faith and Good Works, Augustine insists that adult candidates for baptism resolve firmly upon a good life before being admitted to the sacrament and stresses the important teaching that faith alone, without good works, is insufficient for eternal salvation. Augustine's most complete and systematic handling of the subject of faith and the Creed is to be found in his Enchiridion, or Handbook, On Faith, Hope, and Charity.6 The treatise is mostly given over to the subject of faith. Hope is limited to an explanation of the Lord's Prayer and the closing chapters extol briefly the dignity and primacy of charity in the Christian life. 2 Translated by R. P. Russell, O.S.A., in Volume 2 of this series (rev. ed., New York 1950). 3 Retractatio1les l!.3. 4 Cf. F. Di Capua. 'II ritmo prosaico in S. Agostino: in Miscellanea Agostiniana (Roma 1931) 2.665. 5 Translated by Roy J. Deferrari and Sister Mary Francis McDonald, D.P., in Volume 4 of this series (New York 1947). 6 Translated by Bernard M. Peebles in Volume 2 of this series. FAITH AND THE CREED 313 A span of nearly thirty years separates Augustine's initial effort from his definitive work known as the Enchiridion. These three decades bear witness to the development of Augustine's theological thought and remind us of his admonition that readers of his works observe the proper chronological sequence if they would properly understand the history of his intellectual and religious evolution.7 The Enchiridion, which has been aptly described as the saint's 'only systematic treatment of the Church's doctrine as a whole,' is a work of theological maturity and one wherein the reader may find those typically Augustinian positions on the nature and necessity of grace as well as the related problems of original sin and predestination. The earlier and more compendious work, Faith and the Creed, is distinguished for its simplicity and brevity in the formulation of the main articles of belief. Here Augustine sets the pattern, followed later in The Christian Combat, of setting forth the doctrines of faith together with appropriate references to the specific heresies in question. Faith and the Creed is...