Letters, Volume 6 (1*–29*)

Letter 23

LETTER 23* Introduction Both of the manuscripts of the new letters found and studied by Johannes Divjak have letters 23* and 23*A linked together as if they were one letter. The editor points out that while ep. 23* is addressed to Renatus (PCBE, "Renatus 1," pp. 959-960), section 3 of ep. 23*A refers to the books sent by Renatus from Caesarea. We mustconclude then with Divjak and others that we are dealing here with parts of two different letters. The first section ofthis letter is concerned with a work ofAugustine on the nature and origin of the soul. While Augustine was visiting Caesarea, the metropolitan see ofthe province ofMauretania Caesariensis and far to the west of Hippo on the North African coast, in September 418 because of some unspecified "ecclesiastical necessity" (ep. 190.1) of which we are ignorant, he spent a good deal of time renewing the old arguments against Donatism when confronted with an old adversary, Emeritus, former Donatist bishop of Caesarea (PCBE, "Emeritus 2," pp. 34-349). (Cf. Gesta cum Emerito; seroto ad Caesariensis ecclesiae plebem.) During these sessions at which many local Catholic bishops were also present, the monk Renatus gave him a copy of a letter from a Catholic bishop named Optatus. The latter's see is uncertain though some have suggested that it was in the province of Mauretania Tingitana, the westernmost province in North Africa, roughly equivalent to modern Morocco and so far from Carthage that it was attached to the civil diocese of Spain. Optatus' problems revolved around the question of the origin of the soul. Two general theories dominated the discussion: Creationism , the one more familiar to us, the idea that God creates the human soul ex nihilo each time a new human being is conceived; or, Traducianism , which asserted that the human soul was somehow produced from the parents at the moment of conception. The latter theory seems to be a more primitive view going back to earlier times when thinkers like Tertullian spoke of the soul in terms of a material substance. Augustine himself could never decide definitively which hypothesis he favored. Optatus, on the other hand, had come down definitively against Traducianism and some Africans considered such a stance untraditional. Optatus' letter sought guidance from the views of others and Renatus thought that Augustine above all should be 162 LETTERS 163 consulted. Augustine's letter 190 is directed to Optatus with further correspondence in ep. ~o~A (4~0). But a young layman, Vincentius Victor had written a book on the subject which Augustine thought badly misleading and erroneous. The treatise mentioned above was his answer to Vincentius Victor. The rest ofthe letter mentions the affair ofHonorius and the bishopric of Caesarea discussed at greater length in epp. ~~* and ~3*A. Date The date is clearly linked with the dates of epp. 22* and ~3*A. Divjak dates them all to 419. Further, he believes that the chronological order of the letters is the reverse of their numerical order so that ep. ~3* comes in the middle, written after ~3*A but before ~~*. Lancel, on the other hand, arguing that ep. ~3*A seems to regard bishop Honorius as absent but ep. ~3* says that he is in Hippo, claims that ep. ~3* is the last of the series and dates from January, 4~0. UGUSTINE SENDS GREETINGS in the Lord to the deservedly very dearand renowned and worthy ofhonor brother in Christ, Renatus. (1) The ideal opportunity presents itself for me to send to your holiness the book which I promisedl via the same messenger with whom you had sent me the books of our son Victor to which I responded [****] deservedly dear and esteemed and honored brother in Christ. I ask, however, that after the departure of the servant of God, our son, Marcellinus ,2 you will not be reluctant to inform us about the things which happened afterwards, since I have learned that messengers will be returning very soon. For we have doubts about the letters of the brethren which he brought to us because we did not recognize the signature of the holy primate and we had heard that he was not present in that council of fifteen bishops. Nor are we certain whether the others were there and signed. Whence we ask, sir, that you re-assure us with some evidence about which there can be no doubt. 1. Augustine, De natura et origine animae, BA 22.273-667. Noted...