by St. Augustine
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
The Enchiridion is a briefer treatise on the grace of God and represents Augustine's fully matured theological perspective -- after the magnificent achievements of the De Trinitate and the greater part of the De civitate Dei, and after the tremendous turmoil of the Pelagian controversy in which the doctrine of grace was the exact epicenter. Sometime in 421, Augustine received a request from one Laurentius, a Christian layman who was the brother of the tribune Dulcitius (for whom Augustine wrote the De octo dulcitii quaestionibus in 423-425). This Laurentius wanted a handbook (enchiridion) that would sum up the essential Christian teaching in the briefest possible form. Augustine dryly comments that the shortest complete summary of the Christian faith is that God is to be served by man in faith, hope, and love. Then, acknowledging that this answer might indeed be _too_ brief, he proceeds to expand it in an essay in which he tries unsuccessfully to subdue his natural digressive manner by imposing on it a patently artificial schematism. Despite its awkward form, however, the Enchiridion is one of the most important of all of Augustine's writings, for it is a conscious effort of the theological magistrate of the Western Church to stand on final ground of testimony to the Christian truth.
For his framework, Augustine chooses the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer. The treatise begins, naturally enough, with a discussion of God's work in creation. Augustine makes a firm distinction between the comparatively unimportant knowledge of nature and the supremely important acknowledgment of the Creator of nature. But creation lies under the shadow of sin and evil and Augustine reviews his famous (and borrowed!) doctrine of the privative character of evil. From this he digresses into an extended comment on error and lying as special instances of evil. He then returns to the hopeless case of fallen man, to which God's wholly unmerited grace has responded in the incarnation of the Mediator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The questions about the appropriation of God's grace lead naturally to a discussion of baptism and justification, and beyond these, to the Holy Spirit and the Church. Augustine then sets forth the benefits of redeeming grace and weighs the balance between faith and good works in the forgiven sinner. But redemption looks forward toward resurrection, and Augustine feels he must devote a good deal of energy and subtle speculation to the questions about the manner and mode of the life everlasting. From this he moves on to the problem of the destiny of the wicked and the mystery of predestination. Nor does he shrink from these grim topics; indeed, he actually _expands_ some of his most rigid ideas of God's ruthless justice toward the damned. Having thus treated the Christian faith and Christian hope, he turns in a too-brief concluding section to the virtue of Christian love as the heart of the Christian life. This, then, is the "handbook" on faith, hope, and love which he hopes Laurence will put to use and not leave as "baggage on his bookshelf."
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER I THE OCCASION AND PURPOSE OF THIS "MANUAL"
CHAPTER II THE CREED AND THE LORD'S PRAYER AS GUIDES TO THE INTERPRETATION OF THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES OF FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE
CHAPTER III GOD THE CREATOR OF ALL; AND THE GOODNESS OF ALL CREATION
CHAPTER IV THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
CHAPTER V THE KINDS AND DEGREES OF ERROR
CHAPTER VI THE PROBLEM OF LYING
CHAPTER VII DISPUTED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LIMITS OF KNOWLEDGE AND CERTAINTY IN VARIOUS MATTERS
CHAPTER VIII THE PLIGHT OF MAN AFTER THE FALL
CHAPTER IX THE REPLACEMENT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS BY ELECT MEN (28-30); THE NECESSITY OF GRACE (30-32)
CHAPTER X JESUS CHRIST THE MEDIATOR
CHAPTER XI THE INCARNATION AS PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE ACTION OF GOD'S GRACE
CHAPTER XII THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
CHAPTER XIII BAPTISM AND ORIGINAL SIN
CHAPTER XIV THE MYSTERIES OF CHRIST'S MEDIATORIAL WORK (48-49) AND JUSTIFICATION (50-55)
CHAPTER XV THE HOLY SPIRIT (56) AND THE CHURCH (57-60)
CHAPTER XVI PROBLEMS ABOUT HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY DIVISIONS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER XVII FORGIVENESS OF SINS IN THE CHURCH
CHAPTER XVIII FAITH AND WORKS
CHAPTER XIX ALMSGIVING AND FORGIVENESS
CHAPTER XX SPIRITUAL ALMSGIVING
CHAPTER XXI PROBLEMS OF CASUISTRY
CHAPTER XXII THE TWO CAUSES OF SIN
CHAPTER XXIII THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION
CHAPTER XXIV THE SOLUTION TO PRESENT SPIRITUAL ENIGMAS TO BE AWAITED IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME
CHAPTER XXV PREDESTINATION AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD
CHAPTER XXVI THE TRIUMPH OF GOD'S SOVEREIGN GOOD WILL
CHAPTER XXVII LIMITS OF GOD'S PLAN FOR HUMAN SALVATION
CHAPTER XXVIII THE DESTINY OF MAN
CHAPTER XXIX "THE LAST THINGS"
CHAPTER XXX THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN LIVING: FAITH AND HOPE
CHAPTER XXXI LOVE
CHAPTER XXXII THE END OF ALL THE LAW
CHAPTER XXXIII CONCLUSION