Christian Instruction; Admonition and Grace; The Christian Combat; Faith, Hope and Charity

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THE CHRISTIAN COMBAT Chapter 1 nHE CROWN of victory is promised only to those who engage in the struggle. Moreover, in the divine Scrip- . tures we repeatedly read that we are to receive a crown if we emerge victorious. To obviate a lengthy enumeration of these passages, we mention St. Paul's unmistakable testimony: 1 'I have completed the work, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; now there remains for me a crown of justice. We ought to know, then, who that very adversary is, at whose defeat we are going to receive a crown. It is he whom our Lord first overcame, so that, by abiding in Him, we, too, might be victorious. In fact, the power and wisdom of God, and the Word of God-Gad's only Son, through whom all things have been made-remains alone unchangeable, superior to every creature. And, since even sinless creatures are subject to Him, how much more so are sinful creatures? Seeing, therefore, that all the good angels are subject to Him, how much more so are all the wicked angels, whose chief is the Devil? But, since the Devil had deceived our nature, God's only-begotten Son deigned to take upon Himself our human nature, so that the Devil might thereby be vanquished and that, having always been subject to Him, he might be made subject to us also. 1 2 Tim. 4.7,8. 315 316 SAINT AUGUSTINE He is referring to the Devil where He says: 2 'The prince of this world has been cast out.' Not that he has been cast out of the world, as certain heretics suppose, but that he has been cast out of the souls of men who holds fast to the word of God and are not lovers of the world, of which he is the prince. The Devil rules over lovers of temporal goods belonging to this visible world, not because he is lord of this world, but because he is ruler of those covetous desires by which we long for all that passes away. Consequently, those who neglect God, who is eternal, and love what is fleeting and changing, are made subject to Him. 'For covetousness is the root of all evil, and some in their eagerness to get rich have strayed from the faith and have involved themselves in many troubles.'3 By this covetousness the Devil rules within man and takes possession of his heart. Such are all the lovers of this world. But the Devil is cast out when we renounce this world with all our heart. The Devil, who is prince of this world, is thus renounced when we renounce his corruption, his pomp, and his angels. Therefore, when the Lord Himself was already invested with His victorious human nature, He said: 4 'Know that I have overcome the world.' Chapter 2 (2) Many people, however, ask this question: 'How can we overcome the Devil, since we do not see him?' The answer is that we have a Master who has deigned to show us how invisible foes are conquered, for the Apostle said of Him: 1 'Freeing Himself of His body, He made an example of the 2 John 12.3l. 3 1 Tim. 6.10. 4 John 16.33. 1 Col. 2.15. THE CHRISTIAN COMBAT 317 principalities and powers, confidently triumphing over them within Himself.' Consequently, when invisible and sinful desires are overcome, we then overcome the unseen power of our enemy. Hence, by overcoming within ourselves the inordinate love for things temporal, we are necessarily, within ourselves, overcoming him also who rules within man by these sinful desires. For, at the time when it was said to the Devil: 'Thou shalt eat earth,' it was said to the sinner: 'Thou art earth, and into earth shalt thou gO.'2 What is here implied is that the sinner has been handed over as food for the Devil. And so, if we would not be eaten by the Serpent, we should not become earth. Just as the food our body assimilates becomes a part of us, so by a bad life of wickedness, pride, and ungodliness do we become ourselves one with the Devil. That is to say, we become like the Devil and, just as our body is subject to us, so we are made subject to him. This is the meaning of the expression...