The Effect of God’s Love on Man According to St. Augustine

THE EFFECT OF GOD'S LOVE ON MAN ACCORDING TO ST. AUGUSTINE T HE many writings of St. Augustine against the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians have led many to think that St. Augustine made light of the Catholic doctrine of renovation grace or as it is otherwise known in Western theology , sanctifying grace.1 A cursory examination of Augustine 's anti-pelagian writing would certainly give this impression. The enormity of this heresy was such that St. Augustine was obliged to emphasize aspects of incipient, persevering and 1 The Bibliography is so great in this field that it would be useless to begin to cite even the best works. There are the works of both a general and specific nature that we have cited in the compilation of this article. V. Capanata, " La deificacion en Ia soteriologia Augustiniana," Augustinus Magister, II (International Congress on St. Augustine, August 1954), Paris, 1954, pp. 745-754; E. M. Carney, The Doctrine of St. Augustine on Sanctity (Washington, D. C., 1945); J. Chene, "Saint Augustin et Ia Grace Sanctifiante," in La Theologie de Saint Augustin (Lyon, 1961), pp. 53-57; I. Chevalier, Saint Augustin et la pensee grecque. Les relations Trinitaires (Fribourg, 1940); G. Eyren, The Augustinian Conception of Grace II (Studia Patristica: Texte u. Unt., 64, Leiden, 1957), pp. 258-269; N. Merlin, Saint Augustin et les dogmes du peche originel et de la grace (Paris, 1931), pp. 17-25; F. Moriones, ed., Enchiridion Theologicum S. Augustini (Madrid, 1961), pp. 399-549; E. Portalie, A Guide to the Thought of St. Augustine (Chicago, 1960), pp. 190-229; H. Rondet, Gratia Christi (Paris, 1948), pp. 99-143; J. A. Stoopio, Die deificatio hominis in die Sermones en Epistulae van Augustinus (Leiden, 1952), pp. 60-78; A. Turrado, "La inhabitacion de Ia S. Trinidad en los justos segun Ia doctrina de San Augustin," Augustinus Magister, I (Paris, 1954), pp. 583-593; F. Bourassa, "Adoptive Sonship: Our union with the divine persons," Theological Studies, 13 (1952), 309-355; G. Brady, art. "Divinisation," in Dictionnaire de la Spirit., III, 1957, Col.1390-1397; J. Grabowski, " The Holy Ghost in the Mystical Body of Christ according to St. Augustine," Theological Studies, 5 (1944), 453-483; i. d., "St. Augustine and the Presence of God," Theological Studies, 13 (1952), 386-858; Ch. Moehler, "Theologie de Ia grace et oecumenisme," Irenikon (1955), 19-56. English translation from The Fathers of the Church (FC), Ancient Christian Writers (ACW) and The Nicene and post-Nicene Fathers, First Series (NF) whenever available. Latin texts from Patrologia Latina (PL) supplemented by the Corpus Scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL) when available. 366 GOD's LOVE ON MAN ACCORDING TO ST. AUGUSTINE 367 consummating grace.2 The whole Pelagian system was basically naturalistic and rationalistic in spirit and intent. This last point was especially felt in Augustine's polemics with Julian, bishop of Eclan.3 Pelagianism was a system with a completely abstract and superficial psychology which did not sufficiently take into account the universality of sin in the original fall of Adam.4 With this denial of original sin on the part of the Pelagians, the mystery of Redemption and salvation, as well as the act of faith, change completely. Man could sin but human nature did not fall; it was intact just as it came from the Creator's hand.5 In such a view, human nature did not need to be redeemed. In baptism, for instance, the child received a higher generation, but there was no question of a regeneration.6 The human birth of the Son of Man was thereby reduced to a simple moral example given to men for their edification and example, not for their spiritual life and salvation/ Christ became a master and a model; He did not become another life for and in the Christian. Thus, by really freeing man from God in this way, Pelagianism ruined a great part of the Christian religion. It reduced religion to a coarse moralism; man had only to obey the law and do his duty. God had only to ascertain whether this duty was fulfilled or not and whether His law was faithfully observed or not. Creditor and debtor kept their accounts...