AUGUSTINE'S GNOSTICISM AND OTHER WRONG ACCUSATIONS (3)
On Romans 5:12 and Augustine's Alleged Hypnotic Effect.
St. Augustine remains one of the pillars, not just of the theology of the Western Church, but of Western civilization. His impact extends beyond the borders of the Catholic church, to the Protestant church; even beyond theology, to philosophy, politics, and culture as a whole. This does not in any way confer infallibility on him, but the Doctor of Grace must be read for his merit and not through smoky lenses of contortions and falsehood. This is why I have undertaken the task of giving a broad overview of his theology while dispelling the myths.
Augustine was no doctrinal innovator, but he is credited as the most thorough synthesizer of Christian doctrine in his time. To whatever extent one agrees with the great Bishop of Hippo, everyone ought to be accorded an opportunity to read him through untainted eyes. For this reason, we must strongly rebut unfounded accusations.
One such accusation is that Augustine was so terrible with the Greek language that he built his entire system on a mistranslation of Romans 5:12. But how true is this claim?
Romans 5:12 and Augustine’s Greek Difficulties
It is first important to highlight that Augustine did not build his doctrine of Original Sin around a single text. Other texts he referenced include: Job 14:4, Psalms 51, Psalms 58:3, Genesis 8:21, John. 3:3-5, 1 Corinthians 15:21. One cannot then say that the doctrine of Original Sin crumbles at the absence of Romans 5:12.
It is interesting to note that the notion of Augustine’s lack of Greek prowess is mainly derived from his self-confession where he attributes it to the high handedness of his teacher.
Why then did I hate the Greek classics, which have the like tales? For Homer also curiously wove the like fictions, and is most sweetly-vain, yet was he bitter to my boyish taste. And so I suppose would Virgil be to Grecian children, when forced to learn him as I was Homer. Difficulty, in truth, the difficulty of a foreign tongue, dashed, as it were, with gall all the sweetness of Grecian fable. For not one word of it did I understand, and to make me understand I was urged vehemently with cruel threats and punishments. Time was also (as an infant) when I knew no Latin; but this I learned without fear or suffering, by mere observation, amid the caresses of my nursery and jests of friends, smiling and sportively encouraging me.
But notice first that though he at first knew not one word of the Greek, he was made to learn, albeit with cruel punishments. That he had a teacher at all should tell you that his knowledge of the Greek language is probably way better than most non-expert pastors who attempt to exegete the language on the pulpit. Secondly, he at the time also knew no Latin. What language then did he know? This should signal to you that he deliberately overblows his language difficulties for a rhetorical flourish.
Augustine merely notes that he had difficulties learning languages in his youth, but was able to learn the Latin better than the Greek since he did so without much threatening.
The evidence shows that he did in fact learn to use the Greek as time went on. In the City of God, Book XVIII, Chapter 42 and 43, Augustine can be seen comparing other Greek translations to the Septuagint and making informed criticisms.
In his dialogue with Jerome, Augustine again demonstrates familiarity with the Septuagint.
I beseech you not to devote your labour to the work of translating into Latin the sacred canonical books, unless you follow the method in which you have translated Job, viz. with the addition of notes, to let it be seen plainly what differences there are between this version of yours and that of the Septuagint, whose authority is worthy of highest esteem.
He even read the Psalms in the Septuagint as well as Greek commentators and disputed certain translation points with the learned Jerome, though ultimately deferring to his language superiority.
The facts then do not show Augustine as a severely handicapped Greek exegete as is often touted.
Finally, it is important to know that the debate about how best to translate Romans 5:12 still rages even among scholars today. The majorly disputed phrase “ἐφ' ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον” is translated as “because all have sinned” in most translations today. Augustine’s Latin text had it translated as “in whom all sinned”. Many scholars today advocate it should be translated as “on account of which all sinned”.
Whatever the case, scholars have noted that a causative or communal link between Adam’s sin and our sins can still be maintained.1
Augustine, the Hypnotist
It is often asserted that Augustine had such a huge sway in the Nicene Era making all he espoused law and canon. Other teachers of the church, both contemporaneous and subsequent, were so moved as to uncritically assimilate all Augustine taught. Apart from the possibility that people could have held to Augustine’s views simply because they were correct, there has in fact been a thorough sieving of Augustine’s theology by the teachers of the church through the centuries. Every single point has been tested.
In what way are we related to Adam; real or mystical unity, or federal representative? In what way are we guilty of Adam’s sin; imputed, inherited, or no guilt at all? What is the fate of unbaptized infants? Where is the mean point between sovereignty and free will?
Just after the triumph of Augustinianism over Pelagianism, there was a Semi-Pelagian reaction (431-529 AD) led by John Cassian and Vincent of Lerins. St. Prosper of Aquitane, a follower of Augustine engaged the Semi-Pelagians, skillfully distilling Augustine’s points and clarifying knotty areas. Also, the council of Orange (529AD) was convened where Augustine’s theology was again weighed against Semi-Pelaginism. Its core was accepted, while a few other points were clarified.
Augustine’s rigorous view of the fate of unbaptized infants was rejected and the particulars remained a subject of discourse over centuries in the Catholic church.2
Perhaps the most hotly contested portion of his theology has been the relationship between sovereignty and free will. To name a few of the debates across the centuries:
1. Gottschalk Controversy (848-849 AD): Gottschalk of Orbais vs. Hincmar of Reims
2. Molinist Controversy (1588-1607 AD): Luis de Molina vs. Dominican theologians
Synod of Dort (1618-1619 AD): Reformed vs. Remonstrants.
4. Jansenist Controversy (1640-1653 AD): Cornelius Jansen vs. Jesuits
It is obvious then that the idea that Augustine simply held the church’s theology hostage for centuries does not hold water.
Till date, the Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed churches all claim a heritage in Augustine, yet they differ on many important points. Even the classical Arminians have a great deal of agreement with St. Augustine’s theology. Thus, drawing a straight line from Augustine to Calvin betrays a lack of understanding of the nuances of the Augustinian tradition.
Lessons from St. Augustine
Some four years before Augustine’s death, he wrote to the abbot Valentine of Hadrumetum and the brethren with him in 426AD counseling:
Take good heed, then, to these fearful words of the great apostle; and when you feel that you do not understand, put your faith in the meanwhile in the inspired word of God, and believe both that man's will is free, and that there is also God's grace, without whose help man's free will can neither be turned towards God, nor make any progress in God. And what you piously believe, that pray that you may have a wise understanding of. And, indeed, it is for this very purpose,--that is, that we may have a wise understanding, that there is a free will.3
Finding the mean is the heart of the Augustinian enterprise. For Augustine, what was most important was to heed the inspired word of God and pray for a wise understanding. Augustine never thought of himself as infallible or unchallengeable.
Two works that reveal the heart of Augustine are his Confessions and Retractions. In Confessions, he bares open the errors of his past. In Retractions, he critiqued his own Christian walk and theology and corrected whatever he found to be amiss. St. Augustine was an open book!
This is such a good lesson for pastors and Christian leaders to learn today. Rather than use Augustine’s self-confessed weaknesses to pummel him, we ought to like Augustine be open to our weaknesses and be willing to adjust where necessary.
Augustine knew how to defer to the experts. Concerning translation, he deferred to the superior prowess of Jerome. Ministers today ought to know their limits and avoid posing as subject matter experts in domains beyond their expertise. Christianity today is blessed with countless historians, doctors, scholars, philosophers, etc. past and present. We have a rich heritage to feast from. We do not need to reinvent the wheel.
Chesterton’s fence
One final point I will leave you with is the wisdom of Chesterton’s fence.
If you were to find a 1000-year-old fence in the middle of nowhere obstructing your path, do you just decide to knock it down in that instance? Not until you understand why your forbears expended their time and energy to erect the fence are you qualified to make modifications to it or take it down. Short of this, you may be breaking down the supposed useless barricade keeping wolves from gaining access to prey on the community’s sheep.
TL;DR: Do not destroy what you don’t understand.
Even if you do not agree with tradition, and you will like to change it or annul it, it behooves you to thoroughly understand it first before undertaking your venture. Straw-manning and distorting the reasoning behind the tradition would only end up hurting you who are being supported insensibly by said tradition.
Christianity thrives in its traditions. Our goal must then be to retrieve apostolic tradition everywhere possible. This, we shall do; God’s grace on our side.
This is by no means a comprehensive review—for such is the job of experts. Thus, as I bring this to a close, I leave you with book recommendations for further study on St Augustine and Church History in general.
Book Recommendations
On Augustine
Robert Dodaro and George Lawless (2000), ed., Augustine and His Critics: Essays in Honour of Gerald Bonner (London; New York: Routledge).
Hunter, D. G. & Yates, J. P. (Eds.) (2021) Augustine and tradition: Influences, contexts, legacy. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
I have hyperlinked most of the referenced publicly available works of Augustine in the course of these articles.
On Church History
Ferguson, E. (2013). Church history, Volume 1 From Christ to pre-Reformation: the rise and growth of the church in its cultural, intellectual, and political context (2nd edition). Zondervan.
Ferguson, E. (2013). Church history: Volume 2: From pre-Reformation to the present day (2nd ed.). Zondervan Academic.
Wilken, R. L. (2012). The first thousand years: A global history of Christianity. Yale University Press.
For more discussion, see James W. Haring. (2018). Romans 5:12, Once Again: Is It a Grammatical Comparison? Journal of Biblical Literature, 137(3), 733–741. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1373.2018.309293 and
Schreiner, T. (2014). Original sin and original death: Romans 5:12-19. In H. Madueme & M. Reeves (Eds.), Adam, the fall, and original sin (pp. 127-148). Baker Academic.
International Theological Commission (2007). The Hope of Salvation for Infants who Die Without Being Baptized. Vatican.va. Accessed 27 Aug, 2024. (2024https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070419_un-baptised-infants_en.html#*)