In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines two more fourth century church fathers and their legacies : Ambrose (the Church Supremacist) and Augustine (The Legacy Provider). Augustine’s influence has been particularly significant on the Western church and even Western civilization.
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well good morning welcome back to Sunday school and let’s pray heavenly father thank you that you are the Lord of History teach us more about those who came before us and the legacies they’ve left us so we might be encouraged warned enlightened and most of all God see just how great a God you are and working all things well in Jesus name amen well we have come to our last lesson on notable leaders in the early church really our whole course is nearly at an end we began this course by looking at the broad issues and developments that came about in the first four to five centuries of the church we started by considering or yes so we talked about the broad movements and developments and then we started considering specific persons our church fathers and the notable legacies that they have left us sometimes helpful legacies sometimes not so helpful sometimes encouraging sometimes a word of warning an example of warning but all of it enlightening all of it Illuminating our understanding for where we are where Christianity is and where the world is today well last week we looked at an important three important Church fathers and their legacies from the 4th Century we first looked at athanasius do you remember what’s his big contribution what’s his significance I called athanasius the what did he defend the Trinity he’s the Trinity Defender one of the foremost Defenders of the Trinity against arianism and we also looked at John chrysostom what’s John chrysostom all about he’s that golden mouth preacher he’s the foremost Expositor of the fourth century and we also finished by looking at Jerome what’s Jerome’s significance that’s right this translation a translation which would have a profound impact on the history of the church The Vulgate translation now as significant as these three men are in our history in Christian history no Theologian was more important in the early period And in the centuries that proceeded from the early period Then Augustine two ways that people pronounce his name some say Augustine oh let’s say Augustine I prefer Augustine but either one is fine even today 15 1600 years later we are still being profoundly influenced by Augustine’s thought for instance when people critique a war as being unjust they are invoking Concepts from Augustine over people explain original sin total depravity Divine election they often draw upon explanations given by Augustine and when theologians talk about someone seeking ultimate happiness in God the joy of the Lord well Augustine stands out as one of the finest examples of somebody doing so of course Augustine like the other men that we’ve studied wasn’t perfect he had some really weird parts to his Theology and his interpretive method but he was definitely a spiritual Giant highly influential in our history so this morning let’s learn about Augustine as well as the man who helped lead Augustine to Christ a man significant in his own right Ambrose so we’re learning about Ambrose and Augustine in lesson 11 of our church history one-on-one course and we’re going to start with Ambrose Ambrose of Milan he came first chronologically so it makes sense to start with him if you want a phrase to remember what’s the primary significance of this Church Father then I think a good description is church supremacist Ambrose the church supremacist and you’ll see why I’ve given that title in a moment who was Ambrose by the way I gave a little aside last week about how the pictures I show are not necessarily accurate but this picture this Mosaic may actually be a contemporary representation of Ambrose that actually may be what Ambrose look like rare but who was Ambrose Ambrose was born to an aristocratic Christian family in Augusta trevororum which is Monday Trier in Germany his father was governor of the Roman province of Gaul which was the territory that extended from France to Germany a large territory and Ambrose like his father sought a career in government Ambrose received his education in Rome he was trained there in rhetoric literature and law and in 372 Ambrose became the regional governor of Northern Italy ruling out of the city of mediolanum or Milan as we call it today and Ambrose served in this position for three years governor of Northern Italy bonambrose made a sudden switch from secular Governor to church leader how did that come about well the circumstances are pretty remarkable remember that after the Council of nicaea and when was that again what year 325 that’s the date in history that’s useful to remember councilman I see in 325 after that remember even though aryanism was condemned it didn’t go away it would be another 60 70 years of arianism existing in the empire in a strong way well in 374 so this is about 50 years after nicaea the bishop of Milan died and there was a power struggle between the Aryan Christians and the Catholic or that is the Nicene trinitarian Christians as to who would become the next Bishop each side wanted their own bishop and they couldn’t agree to who would succeed who would become the lead Pastor or Elder of this church so fearing a riot in his own City Ambrose went to the church where the next Bishop was to be elected and he pleaded with those present to peaceably elect a new bishop but during Ambrose speech a voice call called out from the crowd Ambrose for Bishop and this idea seemed to satisfy both parties and soon everyone inside the church was chanting Ambrose for Bishop Ambrose for Bishop dismay though Ambrose had already confessed himself to be a Christian at this point he had never studied Theology and had never even been baptized he did not want to be Bishop he actually exited the church hid at a friend’s house but later a letter arrived from the emperor approving Ambrose appointment as Bishop approving the popular support for Ambrose and because of these two things Ambrose friend eventually gave him up and Ambrose accepted the appointment so in just one week Ambrose was baptized and ordained the bishop of Milan obviously that’s not something that we should try at home but something that they did here and like many other Bishops in this time period as soon as Ambrose took the post he renounced his worldly goods and became an aesthetic he would never get married well despite his lack of theological training Ambrose as soon as he took the post he vigorously applied himself to the ministry as a bishop it became an extremely eloquent preacher according to the alexandrian School of interpretation which is what again symbolic allegorical more metaphorical interpretation of the Bible but he was an elegant preacher and he became a prolific writer as well many of Ambrose treatises sermons letters survived today Roman Catholic Church considers Ambrose along with Jerome one of the four doctors of the church in the patristic period they assigned four people as doctors eminent teachers Jerome Ambrose and we’re going to see Augustine is another one and then Gregory the Great who comes in the early medieval period but he’s considered very very important to them Ambrose even wrote hymns for the Latin West and is credited with popularizing antiphonal chanting in the church antifungalows call and response that might not be true but it’s often credited with it certainly did work in hymns Ambrose after being elected Bishop of Milan he continued to serve in that post until his death in 397.
today his remains are now lavishly decorated and on display and decrypt in a Milanese Church so there’s the summary of his life but why do I call Ambrose the church supremacist well it all has to do with how specifically he dealt with government as a Churchman now the authors of one of the books I’ve used for this course Through the Ages history of the Christian Church they give a very helpful breakdown of Ambrose’s views when it came to government in the church and I’m going to use their outline and share it with you Ambrose promoted three main ideas when it came to the church and government the first is that it is the government’s Duty to promote True Religion and discourage false religion and heresy government can’t be laissez-faire in Ambrose’s View and just tolerate everybody you need to promote the truth and you need to demote you need to even persecute error and heresy and false religion and to illustrate this listen to a letter sent from Ambrose to Emperor theodosius the first in the context of this letter a bishop and a mob of Christians have recently burnt down a synagogue and theodosius consequently has ordered the Christians to pay for and rebuild it is the context Christians have just burnt down the synagogue Theodosia says you have to rebuild it now here’s an excerpt from Ambrose’s letter in response to those two things and yet how great a thing it is O emperor that you should not think it necessary to inquire or to punish in regard to a matter as to which up to this day no one has inquired no one has ever inflicted punishment it is a serious matter to endanger your salvation for the Jews when Gideon had slain the sacred calf the Heathen said the gods will themselves Avenge the injury done to them who is to avenge the synagogue Christ whom they slew whom they denied will God the Father avenge those who do not receive the father since they have not received the son who is to avenge the heresy of the valentinians that’s gnostics how can your piety avenge them seeing it has commanded them to be excluded and denied and denied them permission to meet together if I said before you Josiah as a king to proved of God will you condemn that in them which was approved in him what’s Ambrose’s main point when it comes to this rebuilding of the synagogue that’s right in Ambrose’s View it was good that it was burnt down and the emperor should not require it to be rebuilt should not punish Christians for what they did and why not okay go ahead true why should we get close to work exactly so Ambrose’s View the Jews are heathens heathens so they don’t deserve the same benefits and protections as Christians do now what does Ambrose use to support this point of view it uses the example of the Old Testament he goes to the scriptures he had people like Gideon Andrew Zaya destroying false places of worship they weren’t going around being like well you know they got their way and I got my way and we’ll just continue worshiping in our own different ways he says no Gideon went and destroyed the idol that was in his town and Josiah went into the northern kingdom and killed all the false priests and got rid of their idols why are you doing differently than them so you can see that to use the Old Testament in this way as support Ambrose is assuming something about Christian rule about Christian rulers and Ambrose’s mind what nation should Christian rulers use as the example for their government it would be Old Testament Israel how should a Christian rule will like the Kings and godly persons did in the Old Testament now this is a significant argument because there was no Toleration no accommodation of false religion in Israel at least there wasn’t supposed to be God commanded the Israelites and their kings to kill false prophets destroy Idols defile Pagan altars good Kings did this bad kings did not do this and in the minds of the Christians of the fourth century God had rejected and judged the Jews so they’re not really Israel anymore who’s the new Israel well the Christians are and even the Christian Empire is therefore where Israel failed in following God in the Old Testament Christian Rome could succeed if Roman emperors would do what Old Testament Israelite King sometimes failed to do root out false religion this is his argument but what’s the fundamental problem with this way of thinking well Israel was a theocracy and the current form of government was not at least not as ordained by God exactly even though there are some parallels maybe between Old Testament Israel and and Christian kingdoms they’re not the same Christianity is not the new Israel and Christian government is not necessarily to be the same as Old Testament Israel’s government it was a unique government at that time and this is important for us even in our own life’s day we must remember that God did some things with Israel that were unique and not necessarily to be imitated by us as Christians certainly in the New Testament you don’t see commands or examples of Christians going to foreign temples and smashing Idols destroying synagogues using political power to promote the church if converts wanted to destroy their own Idols like the Ephesians did with their magic books well praise God that is a that is a mark of repentance that is a wonderful thing but we are not called in the New Testament to take to vandalize to destroy the worship property of other religions instead we Christians are called by the power of the spirit to destroy something else what are we to destroy yes but not in the physical form but spiritually so second Corinthians 10 verses 3 to 5 says this second Corinthians 10 3-5 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses what kind of fortresses we are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to The Obedience of Christ we’re in a war for minds and souls with scripture we destroy the deceptive fortresses raised up in men’s Minds against the truth in our own minds and in those around us within message of Salvation we annihilate the prideful Notions of men but we don’t go around destroying churches or synagogues so we can understand where Ambrose is coming from in this letter but we nonetheless we nonetheless must disagree with his interpretation regarding the role of Christian government according to the Old Testament Ambrose is thinking while I think biblically in error it actually did Prevail on the emperor he chose to follow Ambrose’s advice I mentioned before but theodosius the first theodosius the great he is the first Christian Emperor to Outlaw other religions and subject them to official persecution you can actually hear that in the letter he’s like you forbid the valentinians from meeting why are you not going to do the same thing for the Jews because theodosius at first just forbid Christian heresies but later it was all religions outside of Christianity I think there’s a small Toleration for the Jews but really it was Limited so theodosius went along with Ambrose’s View Ambrose maintained that it is the government’s duty to discourage religion outside the true church he wanted the bonds of church and state in one sense to be extremely close and in many ways that was consistent with the spirit of the era there’s no separation of church and state whatever the emperor’s religion is is to be the religion of the empire anyone outside of that is to be persecuted so this is the first main idea that Ambrose promoted but what about the government’s role inside the church outside the church promote the church inside the church well Ambrose’s second idea is that the government should have no Authority inside the church particularly when it comes to spiritual matters this may seem like the opposite of what we just saw with the government in one sense he wanted the church and state to become closer but that was just to external matters when it came to the Christian church and who’s going to be Bishop what the decisions of a church Council should be Ambrose believed that the church should be completely independent from the secular government there should be no bond between the state and church when it came to that situation and we can see this in another letter from Ambrose to an emperor this time not theodosius this is earlier to the Western Emperor valentinian II in the context of this letter Ambrose has been summoned by valentinian to a theological debate and the emperor is going to serve as the judge or the Arbiter of this debate but Ambrose chose not to go what the emperor summoned the emperor himself summoned you to the theological debate you’re not going to go listen to his explanation excerpt here Noah not to consider me contemaceous that is stubbornly rebellious when I affirm that your father of August memory not only replied By Word of Mouth but also sanctioned by his laws that in a matter of Faith or any ecclesiastical ordinance he should judge who was not unsuited by office nor disqualified by equity for these are the words of the rescript that is it was his desire that priests should judge concerning priests remember if a bishop were accused of other matters also and a question of character was to be inquired into it was also his will that it this should be reserved for the Judgment of Bishops when have you heard most gracious emperor that Layman gave judgment concerning a bishop in a matter of faith are we so prostrated the flattery of some as to be unmindful of the rights of the priesthood and do I think that I can entrust to others what God has given me if a bishop is to be taught by a Layman what will follow let the Layman argue and the bishop listen let the bishop learn of the Layman but undoubtedly whether we go through the series of the Holy scriptures or of times of old who is there who can deny that in a matter of faith and a matter I say of faith and Bishops are wants or accustomed to judge a Christian emperors not Emperors of Bishops and that’s pretty strongly presented why didn’t Ambrose go to the debate judged by the emperor what’s his answer yeah Emperor has no Authority theological matters are to be judged by church leaders Bishops not emperors is emphatic ambroseism fatigue that the emperor is not the head of the church and so it doesn’t have a right the emperor does not have a right to make judgments for the church the ones with the right of church Authority are the elders or the Bishops chosen by the people and chosen by other Bishops no I think there’s a sense in which those words should resonate with us we should agree in part with what Ambrose is saying but there’s also a little bit of discomfort there at least there should be we might first be asking wait can’t every Christian can’t any Christian understand the Bible and make judgments come to conclusions make decisions about it well what do you think can any Christian understand the Bible yes it is a perspicuous document it is meant to make wise the simple so we should maybe feel a little discomfort about Ambrose saying hey Layman what do they have to say when it comes to spiritual matters but that being said Ambrose is right to say that biblically the ones given leadership Authority the ones given decision-making Authority for God’s Church are not Emperors but qualified elders presbyters overseers and this is why we have commands like Hebrews 13 17 Hebrews 13 17.
obey your leaders and submit to them that is leaders in the church for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable for you it’s never that Bishops elders that they are to be unquestioned that it’s just blind’s Mission but God did ordain for the leadership the government of his church that it would be elder-led and that authoritative decisive decisions when it comes to various matters it would be ultimately decided by them under the headship of Christ so the scripture is still over the elders but in terms of Spiritual Authority God is ordained the elders certainly we would be aghast today if the local mayor the township or the New Jersey governor or even our president started to make decisions the theology or ecclesiology of the church oh well we’re going to decide who’s going to be the pastor here we’re going to decide what you’re allowed to pray what you’re allowed to teach Ambrose has a similar kind of outrage all right outrage is a little too strong but he he is quite convinced that the emperor secular leaders cannot decide matters for the church spiritual matters for the Church of course this has intersected with our own time in a very obvious way when it came to the pandemic right there’s a lot of questions about what is the government really allowed to tell the church to do especially when it infringes on what the Bible what Christ has commanded us to do and what the Elders of a church have felt led in their study of the scriptures to lead the church in yeah so they so then what he’s just saying it there is certainly a connection to that passage in First Corinthians First Corinthians 6 where he says why are you bringing your lawsuits before unbelievers is there nobody in the church here to decide those matters that is a something that takes maybe extended thought though because um there might be some matters it’s not as if to say oh Christian should never go before the secular Law Courts but it does say like if there’s a matter that can be decided by the church just within your uh your own setting it’s way better for that to happen than for you to go before unbelievers and to denigrate the witness of Christ now sometimes somebody in the church will not submit to the direction of the church the direction of the elders and it does become a matter of secular judgment so it’s not as if God or God was saying through Paul never go before the secular Law Courts but you’re right Glenda Ambrose in many ways is saying the same thing as Paul does there um spiritual matters are to be decided in the context that God gave for their spiritual matters to be decided which is the church so I think we can see with the second idea a certain amount of agreement that Ambrose was saying some true things here even if maybe the way he sent it said it and the extent to which he said it was a little bit uncomfortable but do you notice that last statement he he says here in this excerpt Bishops are to judge emperors non-emperist Bishops well this concept would appear also in a stronger way in the third idea that Ambrose promoted not only should government promote True Religion and discourage false religion and have no Authority when it comes to spiritual matters in the church but government and Ambrose’s mind is subject to the Spiritual Authority of the church so you’re not deciding matters for the church the church is actually deciding matters for you this is the way it ought to be according to Ambrose the church has the right to make moral judgments on the government’s actions and even apply censure and call for repentance and this claim is only logical with Christ as the ultimate Authority for the church the Bible asks Christ’s authoritative revelation Christian Bishops as the authorities of interpreting and explaining the Bible it follows an Ambrose’s mind that Bishops have authority over emperors and he asserted this Authority in a very famous way with emperor theodosius in a uh in a certain instance 390 emperor theodosius had heard that one of his officials had been murdered by a mob in thessalonica he was enraged over this and he immediately ordered a massacre of the people there seven thousand people were put to death by Emperor theodosius and thessalonica for killing this one official now he issued that statement in his anger he did later think he shouldn’t have done that but it was done well amrost didn’t think it was done that issue was not finished here’s what he actually wrote to the emperor one of his letters here’s an excerpt I urge I beg I exhort I warn for it is a grief to me that you were an example of unusual piety who were conspicuous for clemency who would not suffer single offenders to be put in peril should not mourn so many have perished though you have waged battle most successfully though in other matters too you are worthy of Praise yet piety was ever the crown of your actions the devil envied that which was most your was your most excellent possession conquer him whilst you still possess that wherewith you may conquer do not add another sin to your sin by a course of action which has injured many just from this first part what is it that bothers Ambrose about the emperor’s actions say that again oh not that theodosis is feeling guilty it’s the fact that he’s not feeling guilty about it notice he says there I uh there’s a grief to me that you who are such an example of piety should not mourn over what you’ve done so many have perished do not add another sin to your sin by not repenting it’s like the Ambrose can understand the emperor making a mistake in his hot anger but not feeling bad about it not repenting over it that’s the big concern for Ambrose and he goes on I indeed though a debtor to your kindness for which I cannot be ungrateful that kindness which has surpassed that of many Emperors has been equaled by own by one only I I say have no cause for a charge of consumency against you but have cause for fear I dare not offer this sacrifice if you intend to be present is that which is not allowed after shedding the blood of one innocent person allowed after shedding the blood of many I do not think so what does Ambrose mean by sacrifice here yes this is a reference to communion the Lord’s table you say why is he calling it sacrifice unfortunately by the 4th Century we’re starting to see a change in understanding of the Lord’s supper or at least a change in the articulation of it it is being referred to at times as a sacrifice it’s not what the Bible teaches us about the Lord’s Supper but it is an idea that has begun to infiltrate the church from paganism and from that putting Judaism on to Christianity they were offering sacrifices in the Old Testament where the new priests we offer a sacrifice now the sacrifice of Christ this isn’t full-blown transubstantiation what we see later on in the Roman Catholic church but it’s trending in that direction he refers to the Lord’s table by sacrifice but would that understanding what is Ambrose warning theodosius about in this excerpt if he says I dare not offer the sacrifice if you be president what is he saying that’s right basically saying you are in a state of unrepentence and I don’t want to risk you taking up the Lord’s table when you’ll be bringing a curse upon yourself basically you are not allowed to take of communion until you repent now this is a bold move from Ambrose and we’re actually going to see similar moves made in the Reformation period people trying to protect the Lord’s table and protect people others from the Lord’s table but this is bullet for Ambrose to say theodosius unlike many Emperors in the west at this time he had real power he just massacred seven thousand people on a whim he could easily add Ambrose to that number for refusing communion by shaming the emperor publicly like that how a theodosius respond to this challenge well the emperor submitted he acknowledged his fault and he engaged in several months of public repentance showing his repentance mourning and doing various things in public before Ambrose felt like okay it’s real I relent you can partake in communion again this was quite a showdown but Ambrose didn’t buckle the emperor was the one who caved and this was a very significant moment in church State relations in the west at least a powerful Emperor theodosius he allowed his authority to be checked by a bishop from the church who was explaining the Bible now this episode would have future implications for political authority of church leaders we’re gonna see when we do get to the Middle Ages the papacy is going to take this concept much much further and even depose Christian leaders who in the Pope’s mind don’t deserve to be there but this is a concept that really was promoted by Ambrose the church and those leaders in the church are the judges of secular rulers not the other way around now of course there is still a sense in which that’s true and again in the pandemic we did see that also to a certain degree and even beyond the pandemic where pastors church leaders will call out the actions of government rulers that are sinful call for repentance though we are not deposing government rulers we are not uh justifying Rebellion against them but we can certainly see some parallel to what Ambrose was saying so this is why I call Ambrose the church supremacist he had a somewhat complex relationship with government and very interesting considering his own background in government but he was not pro-government he was pro-church over government he asserted the authority of the true church over false religion and even even government now again I’m just highlighting this as one of the most significant aspects of Ambrose’s Legacy he did also have a fruitful Ministry of declaring the gospel but this is one of the main things I want you to remember the other significant Legacy from Ambrose has to do with someone he led to Salvation or had a pardon leading to Salvation and that’s where we turn to our last and the most significant Church leader this period Augustine Augustine of Hippo I call Augustine the Legacy provider it really has to be a catch-all description because he has been so significant in Christian history and in world history he was a philosopher Theologian preacher Church leader thinker lover of God Legacy providers meant to illustrate just what a fundamental influence he has had on western church and western civilization what are Augustine’s two most famous literary Works anybody know city of God and the confessions yes he had many others besides those but those were two of the most famous and as I explained in summarize Augustine’s biography I’ll be drawing on his confessions because they are basically an autobiography are largely an autobiography of him so who was Augustine Augustine was born in sagost in the Roman province of Africa so imagine Central North Africa modern Algeria that would be where he was born and lived he was born to an upper class family his father was a pagan but his mother Monica was a devout Christian and she raised Augustine to be the same at 17 though Augustine went to study rhetoric at Carthage in modern Tunisia and he began living a dissolute life he became a manichaean remember that’s one of the forms of gnosticism he began living with a young woman who later became pregnant with his son and and the son was born and also during this time Augustine uttered his famous Blasphemous prayer to God grant me Chastity and self-control but not yet it’s the kind of life that he lived he finished school later became a teacher of rhetoric taking posts in Carthage and then Rome until at the age of 30 he became professor of rhetoric at the Imperial Court in Milan this is the most prestigious academic position available in the West but while in Milan Augustine heard that there was a bishop who was particularly gifted in the art of redic rhetoric Bishop none other than Ambrose and Augustine though at this point he had long abandoned his faith even moved away from manichaeism and other Greek philosophy towards skepticism he decided that he would go and listen to Ambrose and let’s hear Augustine describe his encounter from his confessions and to Milan I came to Ambrose the bishop Fame for the whole world is one of the best of men thy devoted servant he’s talking to God here that’s the way the confessions are written his eloquent discourse in those times abundantly provided thy people with the flower of thy wheat the gladness of thy oil and the sober intoxication of thy wine to him I was led by thee without my knowledge that by him I might be led to thee in full knowledge that man of God received me as a father would and welcomed my coming as a good Bishop should and I began to love him of course not at the first as a teacher of the truth for I had entirely despair to finding that in thy church but as a friendly man and I studiously listen to him but not with the right motive as he preached to the people I was trying to discover whether his eloquence came up to his reputation and whether it flowed Fuller or thinner than others said it did and thus I hung on his words intently but as to a subject matter and I was only a careless and contemptuous listener I was delighted with the charm of his speech which is more erudite though less cheerful and soothing than Faustus Style as for subject matter however there could be no comparison for the latter was wandering around in manakee interceptions while the foreman was teaching salvation most soundly but Salvation is far from the wicked such as I was then when I stood before him and I was drawing nearer gradually and unconsciously Augustine loved to listen to Ambrose but the more he did the more the suppressed questions he had about Christianity and the guilt he felt about his sin came back to his mind he was amazed at how reasonably Ambrose explained Christianity and was able to answer the questions that the manichaeans could not answer and also that Ambrose was just so happy in God despite living an honorable and ascetic life Ambrose’s contented celibacy was particularly astonishing to Augustine more and more Augustine’s skepticism was fading away and was replaced by a conviction that Christianity was true but he couldn’t seem to fully drive out the doubts while listening to Ambrose God used others in Augustine’s life different Christian friends even athanasius remember I told you athanasius wrote her biography about Anthony The Hermit in the desert well Augustine read that and was affected by that as we’ll see in just a moment Monica too Augustine’s mother never stopped praying for her son Augustine that he would be saved and when she had opportunities she would speak about the gospel with him so more and more Augustine salvation God is bringing different people in his life to bring him to salvation but he just couldn’t seem to break with his old life of sin but then God finally did what Augustine could not do himself is another section of Augustine’s confessions this is about his conversion I flung myself down under a fig tree how I know not and gave free course to my tears the streams of my eyes gushed out an acceptable sacrifice to thee and not indeed in these words but to this effect I cried to thee and thou O Lord how long how long O Lord will thou be angry forever oh remember not against us our former iniquities for I felt that I was still enthralled by them I sent up these sorrowful cries how long how long tomorrow and tomorrow why not now why not this very hour make an end to my uncleanness I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter Contrition of my heart when suddenly I heard the voice of a boy or girl I know not which coming from the neighboring house chanting over and over again pick it up read it pick it up read it immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song but I could not remember ever having heard the like so damning the torrent of my tears I got to my feet for I could not but think that this was a Divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon if I’d heard how Anthony accidentally coming into church while the gospel was being read received the admonition as if what was read had been addressed to him go and sell what you have and give it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me by such an oracle he was forthwith converted to thee so I quickly returned to the bench where olympius that’s his friend was sitting from there I had put down the apostles book when I had left there I snatched it up opened it and in silence read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell not in writing and drunkenness not in chambering and once-ness not in strife and envying but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof I wanted to read no further nor did I need to for instantly has the sentence ended there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the Gloom of Doubt vanished away praise the Lord right that’s how God does it you you don’t even it can’t be fully explained but he just gives you faith it regenerates you causes you to believe just in hearing the scripture finally making it connect in your mind and that’s what happened to Augustine Augustine believed he was saved he was baptized baptized by Ambrose actually along with Augustine’s son who also believed actually Monica that faithful witness and prayer Warrior she got to see her whole family Redeemed by God her husband believed her mother who had lived with them believed her son her grandson they were all saved and God used her as a big part of that a few years later though tragically when Augustine was returning with his family from Italy to North Africa his mother died and a few years later his son died also Augustine then decided to become an ascetic he sold all his Goods except for his estate gave the money from the sale to the poor and he turned his house into a monastic Community for himself and for some of his friends and this is the origin of the augustinian order of monks which still exists I think in the Roman Catholic Church so he became an aesthetic but God didn’t let Augustine stay in isolation in 391 he became priest in hippo Regis a city major city on the coast of modern Algeria and drawing on his extensive background in rhetoric Augustine became an eloquent and popular preacher in the alexandrian tradition so he’s also moving towards allegorical interpretation about five years later he became the bishop in hippo Regis and he would remain that until the end of his life once serving as Bishop no one was more a prolific writer or preacher than Augustine producing apologies sermons commentaries polemics systematic theologies rules for clerical living letters and more this man wrote so much and many of his works are still preserved today of course that’s one of the reasons why they would have such an impact in the medieval period Augustine died during the siege of Hippo by vandals in 430 so vandals they were a barbarian tribe that’s actually where we get the word Vandal in a negative sense he died in The Siege and his body was eventually transferred to a tomb and pavya itala Italy where it is there to this day I want to read you a little bit more from Augustine we’ve already heard from his confessions which are considered a classic in Christian literature even today and increase it wasn’t clear the confessions are an account of Augustine’s life leading up to his conversion it’s written as a work of praise to God really confession and praise but I want you to hear from Augustine’s other most famous work that city of God the city of God is a long work and it’s actually an apologetic it’s primarily an apologetic work does anybody know what historical circumstances prompted that work well in 410 the unthinkable happened Rome was sacked by barbarians the Visigoths specifically attacked and sacked Rome the city was looted many women were raped now for Christians observing this and having observed that the Empire had become increasingly christianized This calamity made no sense why would God let this happen why would God allow Christian women in that City to be ravished isn’t the Empire more Christian than it ever was aren’t we living in a more honorable way why would God allow this great City to be overcome pagans were saying that Rome fell and there are still many pagans in the Empire at this time Rome fell because the Romans had abandoned their old gods what were Christians to say in response well Augustine decided to write something Augustine wanted to con Comfort the suffering confused Christians of Rome and give a response that pagans who were saying this is because we abandon our Gods on Augustine produced was a unique history of mankind from the Viewpoint of two metaphorical cities the city of God and the City of man and you can hear him describing these two cities in one of the excerpts from his book I’ll give this to you accordingly two cities have been formed by two loves the Earthly by the love of self even to the contempt of God the Heavenly by the love of God even to the contempt of self the former in a word glory is in itself the latter and the Lord for the one seeks Glory from men but the greatest glory of the other is God the witness of conscience the one lifts up its head in its own Glory the other says to it’s God you are my glory and the lifter up of mine had and the one that princes and the Nations that subdues are ruled by the love of ruling and the other the princes and the subjects serve one another in love the latter obeying while the former take thought for all the one Delights in its own strength represented in the persons of its rulers the other says to it’s God I will love You O Lord my strength so Augustine is constructing this picture of two different cities two metaphorical cities and they’re driven by a primary love one loves God the other loves self and this city metaphor isn’t really one original to Augustine we actually see it in the Bible right a city of God Philippians 3 20-21 says for our citizenship is in heaven for which we eagerly wait for a savior the Lord Jesus Christ will transform the body of our humble State into Conformity with the body of His Glory by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself Hebrews 11 16 is even more explicit Hebrews 11 16 but as it is they that is the faithful Patriarchs who did not receive the promise in their own lifetime he just talked about that in that section they desire a better country that is a Heavenly one therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them Augustine is taking this biblical metaphor and applying it to the Christian’s historical situation he’s telling them brethren don’t be distressed about the trials that you see in the physical world it’s true that righteous Behavior often results in temporal blessing as a natural consequence but that isn’t always the case because sometimes God is doing things in history that we don’t fully understand but what we can understand is that all many live only for this world the city of this world we are part of the city of God we are going to that City and I’m already part of that City in a limited way through the church while the Earthly City May wax or Wane in its prosperity and its strength the Heavenly City of God stands permanently in its security joy and Hope the Earthly City will eventually be destroyed the Heavenly City will never be destroyed this is his fundamental assertion in this book we ought to live for the city of God not for the city of man the city of this world don’t be too concerned about your circumstances in this world now in explaining these Concepts this large work ends up covering many different areas of life in this book Augustine talks about clothing sexuality before the fall suicide when it’s right to expand a kingdom by War philosophy the pagan gods and more it is quite a work and it would serve as like a guidebook to Medieval theology for centuries though medieval interpretation of Augustine’s work wasn’t always consistent with Augustine’s intended meaning in the work sometimes they took his words out of context that’s as much as I can say on the city of God the last work I want to share with you that relates to Augustine is what he wrote against Pelagius who was Pelagius well before I get to that maybe you’ve heard of pelagianism before what is pelagianism say that again believe that copying oh you’re thinking of plagiarism does sound similar but no this is actually something probably worse than plagiarism what is pelagianism yeah Steve that’s right that’s right yes so inflationism you can you don’t need Christ to save you or to to do holy works you are actually able to do them on your own the fall didn’t really affect anybody except Adam now where did this come from well it came from the person it’s named after Pelagius a British monk who came to Rome and then North Africa Plagueis was someone who presented his teaching maybe from a zealous origin he was appalled by the sinfulness and willingness of the Roman people even Roman Christians and he thought the solution to rediscovering holy living was to correct people about their ability to do righteousness so many people going around saying man I sin I sin I’m such a sinner oh man thank the Lord for Jesus Christ and he’s like man these people don’t realize that they have the ability to do holy living they can live holy and the reason that they can do that is because they’ve always been able to do that he came up with a teaching where man never lost the ability to do good Adam when he sinned he was a bad example but man there’s no worse for wear because of Adam’s sin man only needs a law to show him what’s right so he can choose righteousness and when a man chooses to follow Christ and to do good works well that person will be saved this was Billie just his teaching now when Augustine encountered Pelagius and pelagianism he was appalled and you can see why just listening to his confessions earlier his whole conversion struggle was related to his inability to stop sinning no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t give up his old life so everything Pelagius was saying was contradicting Augustine’s own experience so what did Augustine do he went to the scriptures to see what was really so and he thereby became a staunch opponent of Pelagius he said this guy is wrong and it’s because of Pelagius that we get that we get Augustine’s explanation really of the doctrines of grace before Calvin and before the Reformation period because Augustine himself argued against Pelagius that God is the only one who can accomplish salvation it is a work totally of God must be the one to do everything because man cannot save himself here’s a little bit from Augustine speaking about the doctrines of Grace and God’s sovereignty and salvation in his work on nature and Grace against Pelagius men’s nature indeed was created at first faultless and without any sin but that nature of man in which everyone is born from Adam now wants the physician it needs the physician because it is not sound all good qualities no doubt which it still possesses in its make life senses intellect it has of the most high God its creator and maker but the flaw which darkens and weakens all those natural Goods so that it is has need of Illumination and healing it is not contracted from its blameless Creator but from that original sin which it committed by free will accordingly criminal Nature has its part in most righteous punishment for if we are now newly created in Christ we were for all that children of Wrath even as others but God who is rich in Mercy for his great love with where wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins have quickened us together with Christ by whose Grace we are saved you can see he’s quoting the scriptures directly no we did inherit something from Adam something that darkened everything about us and that’s why we needed the physician to heal us that’s why we were children of Wrath before and we need God to create us anew couldn’t have contradicted Pelagius more strongly now amazingly even though he presents these things in his work it clearly explains biblical salvation in his writings the Roman Catholic church and the Greek Orthodox Church would end up adopting a view going into the Middle Ages of the fall and of Salvation that’s actually not what Augustine argued they would embrace uh I’ll actually let me back up much of what Augustine wrote and preached over time would become Twisted to mean something else maybe even notice in the excerpt I just gave you we talked about his darkened weakened you could interpret that in a way as if to say but we’re not totally dead just mostly dead this would come the view that would emerge in the Middle Ages semi-pelagianism what is semi-palatianism anybody explain that I think he started to explain it it’s having some ability I would do it I don’t know if you see this is accurate but we’re we’re not dead we’re just injured that’s right right that’s exactly it yeah so semi-plagiarism rather than plagiarism that says hey we weren’t affected by the Fall at all and augustinian’s explanation of biblical theology which says we were made dead spiritually dead at the fall we inherited that original sin semi platonism says we were just wounded we were wounded through Adam um so we we find ourselves sinning so easily but we still have enough ability to choose God if Jesus helps us we can choose God in Good Works it’s just really uh toned down form of pelagianism that doesn’t really represent what the scripture says in this view the grace God gives for salvation is not salvation itself but the ability to choose salvation for yourself some will choose God by this grace and some will not and this of course is still the view of the Roman Catholic church and the Greek Orthodox church today it is a semiplegian view which says you have some contribution to make in your own salvation you can choose God because your spirit was only wounded at the fall but that’s not what the scripture says as we’ve seen we were dead in our transgressions and sins God had to make us alive we would have never have chosen him he had to create a new heart in US so that when we were made alive we could do nothing but choose him and gladly do so now as we’ve emphasized before just because semiplagen became the dominant View didn’t mean that the true articulation of Salvation from the scriptures even the true gospel was totally lost we’re going to see as we go into the medieval period obviously not today or anytime soon but when we come back to that part when we do that next level of the course right when it seems like the true understanding of Salvation has totally disappeared that’s when you start to see the seeds of reformation different groups in in the western church and I think the Eastern Church too are saying wait let’s get back to what the Bible says you see these pre-reforming movements and then they bloom in the Reformation period but what’s interesting about those movements especially in the Reformation period is that when some of the church fathers in those days are trying to get back to a Biblical view of salvation what is the church father who is the church father that they look to most prominently in doing so it’s Augustine when Martin Luther and others are talking about biblical salvation they say but this is what Augustine was saying way back when we didn’t come up with something new this is what the Bible has always taught in Augustine articulated it himself so there’s much more we can say about Augustine but we will have to stop here I do want to close with one other excerpt from his confessions this is from the beginning this is how it opens really it shows Augustine’s heart would really ought to be our heart it is you can say a lot about maybe where Augustine got some things wrong but one thing he didn’t get wrong is that he loved his savior he worshiped and enjoyed God and we really can learn from that here’s what Augustine writes in his confessions Great Are You O Lord and greatly to be praised great is your power and of your wisdom there is no end and man being a part of your creation desires to praise you a man who Bears about with his mortality the witness of his sin even the witness that you resist the proud get man this part of your creation desires to praise you you move us to Delight in praising you for you have formed us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they find Rest In You Lord and those who seek the Lord shall Praise Him for those who seek shall find him and those who find him shall Praise Him let me Seek You Lord and calling on you and call on you in believing in you for you have been preached unto us O Lord my faith calls on you that Faith which you have imparted to me which you have breathed into me through incarnation of your son through the ministry of your preaching amen next time we will finish our course by talking about the fall of Rome and the church’s transition into the medieval period let’s pray Lord we thank you you are indeed the god to be praised oh it’s encouraging just to hear these testimonies from the past these men weren’t perfect their Bible interpretation needs work and yet you converted them you truly saved them and they loved you and they love to preach your gospel thank you for Ambrose and Augustine and these other people Lord and for Monica and these righteous women of the past Lord who were instrumental even in the salvation of some of these Church fathers Lord we pray that as they were faithful we would be faithful and the same love that they had for you we would have that love and even in a double portion Lord let us truly know you and love you and love to praise you and make you known pray that that would be something that increases even by the service today in Jesus name amen all right thank you