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CHAPTERI T W E L V E Wisdom and Sensuality At the end of his introspective study of memory, Augustine has turned to a poetic chant of praise directly addressed to God as the source ofbeauty, justice, wisdom, and all higher values. This hymn continues in chapters 28 through 30, with which our commentary will terminate. Analysis 10.28.39: Throughout book 10, Augustine expresses his hopes ofattaining some sort ofmeeting with God in a future life. His expectation of this event is described at the start of chapter 28: ''When I shall cleave to Thee with all my being, sorrow and toil will no longer exist for me" (Cum inhaesero tibi ex omni me, nusquam erit mihi dolor et labor). He feels that he can look forward to eventual release from his earthly burdens. At present he is torn between conflicting emotions: "My joys, which are to be lamented, struggle against my sorrows, which are cause for joy, and I know not on which side victory may stand" (contendunt maerores mei et ex qua parte stet victoria nescio). We are reading the admission of a man at midlife, occupying a leading position in his community, to whom many of his parishioners go for advice and settlement oftheir problems, and he is uncertain about the state ofhis own innermost feelings. "Amid adversities, I long for successes; amid successes, I fear adversities. What is the middle area?" (prospera in adversis desidero; adversa in prosperis timeo. quis inter haec medius locus?). The way of moderation is not easy to find, even for a thoughtful person like Augustine. Comment: We have noticed at the start of our commentary (see Chapter Five above) how Augustine thought that time is measured by one's mind looking at the past, the momentary present, and the future. Here in chapter 28, he mentions one aspect ofhis expectations for a future life with God. Among other things, he anticipates a I 202 203 I Wisdom and Sensuality cessation ofhis temporal trials ofsorrow and hard work (dolor et labor ). The reader might expect that Augustine derived a good deal of satisfaction from his position as a prominent administrator in the Catholic Church ofNorth Africa, and no doubt he did, but he continued to suffer from criticisms and attacks by adversaries both within and without his congregation. He was fiercely opposed by some of the Donatist Christians, and he knew that Christianity was being blamed for the decline ofthe imperial power of Rome because ofits teaching ofmildness and humility. In particular, some ofthe pagan families still important in the empire worried about the gradual weakening of Roman authority throughout the world. Within ten years of the completion of the Confessions, Rome itself would be sacked by invading Vandals (A.D. 411). Augustine's troubled mind around the year 400 was not simply due to personal concern; he was already worried about the future of the shaky peace (the pax Romana) that the empire had established throughout the Mediterranean world. He was soon to write the City ofGod, in which the first halfwas devoted to a defense ofChristianity against the charge that it was responsible for the deterioration ofimperial power and peace. Noteworthy at the end ofthis chapter in book 10 is Augustine's reference to the middle place (medius locus) between extremes of success and adversity. Of course, this is an echo of Stoic ethics as popularized by Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Cicero. Among pagan moralists, both Greek and Latin, the ideal state of mind was described as the happy medium between excess and defect ofthe mental passions. But Augustine had also devoted much thought, as we have seen several times, to the concept of measure or moderation (modus) in the biblical triad ofnumber, measure, and weight from the Book ofWisdom (11:21). This combination ofStoic moderation of feelings with biblical measure is an important feature in Augustine's ethical position.1 It is the key to the meaning of the virtue of temperance. Analysis 29.40: "My whole hope is nowhere but in Thy exceedingly great mercy" (Et tota spes mea non est nisi in magna ualde misericordia tua). Of the three great Christian virtues, we have heard a good deal about faith and charity but not so much about hope (spes). In regard to this virtue ofhope, which later writers will call a "theological" virtue, Augustine first quotes Paul (Rom. 8:24) in the City ofGod (19.4): "For we must be content to hope that we shall...

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