Augustine's Theology of the Resurrection 9781009269018, 1009269011

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Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection In this volume, Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P., provides a comprehensive study of Augustine’s theology of the resurrection, the human return from death to life. Contextualizing Augustine within the early Church and the intellectual and religious cultures of the late Roman Empire, he interrogates the development of Augustine’s thoughts on the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the spiritual resurrection of the soul in time, and the fleshly resurrection of the body at the end of time. Augustine offers profound insights into issues of personal and communal identity, human continuity and transformation, historical and eschatological events, and the God of the resurrection. He also elaborates a biblical paradigm that acknowledges how the resurrected Christ offers an intrinsic participation in his paschal mystery to the souls and bodies of the rest of humanity. Proposing fresh ideas regarding a central topic in Christian theology, Reisenauer’s study also reveals Augustine’s defenses of the resurrection against its pagan, philosophical, and heretical opponents. Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P.,  is an assistant professor in the Department of Theology, Providence College. A scholar of patristics and medieval theology, he is a Catholic priest and a Dominican friar of the Order of Preachers.

Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection Augustine M. Reisenauer Providence College, Rhode Island

Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8EA, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India 103 Penang Road, #05–06/07, Visioncrest Commercial, Singapore 238467 Cambridge University Press is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a department of the University of Cambridge. We share the University’s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781009269063 DOI: 10.1017/9781009269032 © Augustine M. Reisenauer 2023 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. First published 2023 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Reisenauer, Augustine M., author. Title: Augustine’s theology of the Resurrection / Augustine M. Reisenauer, Providence College, Rhode Island. Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022038649 | ISBN 9781009269063 (hardback) | ISBN 9781009269032 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354–430. | Resurrection – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600. Classification: LCC BR65.A9 R38 2023 | DDC 189/.2–dc23/eng/20230106 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022038649 ISBN 978-1-009-26906-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press & Assessment has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection In this volume, Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P., provides a comprehensive study of Augustine’s theology of the resurrection, the human return from death to life. Contextualizing Augustine within the early Church and the intellectual and religious cultures of the late Roman Empire, he interrogates the development of Augustine’s thoughts on the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the spiritual resurrection of the soul in time, and the fleshly resurrection of the body at the end of time. Augustine offers profound insights into issues of personal and communal identity, human continuity and transformation, historical and eschatological events, and the God of the resurrection. He also elaborates a biblical paradigm that acknowledges how the resurrected Christ offers an intrinsic participation in his paschal mystery to the souls and bodies of the rest of humanity. Proposing fresh ideas regarding a central topic in Christian theology, Reisenauer’s study also reveals Augustine’s defenses of the resurrection against its pagan, philosophical, and heretical opponents. Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P.,  is an assistant professor in the Department of Theology, Providence College. A scholar of patristics and medieval theology, he is a Catholic priest and a Dominican friar of the Order of Preachers.

Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection Augustine M. Reisenauer Providence College, Rhode Island

Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8EA, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India 103 Penang Road, #05–06/07, Visioncrest Commercial, Singapore 238467 Cambridge University Press is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a department of the University of Cambridge. We share the University’s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781009269063 DOI: 10.1017/9781009269032 © Augustine M. Reisenauer 2023 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. First published 2023 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Reisenauer, Augustine M., author. Title: Augustine’s theology of the Resurrection / Augustine M. Reisenauer, Providence College, Rhode Island. Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022038649 | ISBN 9781009269063 (hardback) | ISBN 9781009269032 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354–430. | Resurrection – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600. Classification: LCC BR65.A9 R38 2023 | DDC 189/.2–dc23/eng/20230106 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022038649 ISBN 978-1-009-26906-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press & Assessment has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection In this volume, Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P., provides a comprehensive study of Augustine’s theology of the resurrection, the human return from death to life. Contextualizing Augustine within the early Church and the intellectual and religious cultures of the late Roman Empire, he interrogates the development of Augustine’s thoughts on the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the spiritual resurrection of the soul in time, and the fleshly resurrection of the body at the end of time. Augustine offers profound insights into issues of personal and communal identity, human continuity and transformation, historical and eschatological events, and the God of the resurrection. He also elaborates a biblical paradigm that acknowledges how the resurrected Christ offers an intrinsic participation in his paschal mystery to the souls and bodies of the rest of humanity. Proposing fresh ideas regarding a central topic in Christian theology, Reisenauer’s study also reveals Augustine’s defenses of the resurrection against its pagan, philosophical, and heretical opponents. Augustine M. Reisenauer, O.P.,  is an assistant professor in the Department of Theology, Providence College. A scholar of patristics and medieval theology, he is a Catholic priest and a Dominican friar of the Order of Preachers.

Augustine’s Theology of the Resurrection Augustine M. Reisenauer Providence College, Rhode Island

Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8EA, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India 103 Penang Road, #05–06/07, Visioncrest Commercial, Singapore 238467 Cambridge University Press is part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a department of the University of Cambridge. We share the University’s mission to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781009269063 DOI: 10.1017/9781009269032 © Augustine M. Reisenauer 2023 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press & Assessment. First published 2023 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Reisenauer, Augustine M., author. Title: Augustine’s theology of the Resurrection / Augustine M. Reisenauer, Providence College, Rhode Island. Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022038649 | ISBN 9781009269063 (hardback) | ISBN 9781009269032 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354–430. | Resurrection – History of doctrines – Early church, ca. 30–600. Classification: LCC BR65.A9 R38 2023 | DDC 189/.2–dc23/eng/20230106 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022038649 ISBN 978-1-009-26906-3 Hardback Cambridge University Press & Assessment has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

For Jesus, my resurrected love.

Contents

Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Approximate Dates



Introduction

page ix x xiv

1

I  E A RL Y CON S IDE R AT ION S OF TH E R E S UR R E CT IO N 17

1 The Adumbration of the Resurrection

19

2 The Restoration of Humanity to the Pristine Stability of Paradise

44

3 The Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body

57

I I   TH E R E S UR R E CT IO N O F JE S U S CHR IST 73

4 The Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

75

5 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

87

6 The Sacramentality and Exemplarity of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

103

vii

viii Contents I I I   TH E R E S UR R E CT IO N O F T HE HUMAN SP I RI T 119

7 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection 

121

8 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul

138

9 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection

157

I V   TH E R E S UR R E CT IO N O F H U MAN FLESH 173

10 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection

177

11 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned

200

12 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints

215



Epilogue – Augustine Advancing toward the Resurrection241 Bibliography247 Index271

Acknowledgments

I would first like to express my deep gratitude to John Cavadini at the University of Notre Dame, whose love for Augustine has been catching, and whose teaching and friendship have immeasurably enhanced the course of my scholarship and the path of my life. I am also grateful to my other teachers at Notre Dame who have contributed much to the stretching of my mind, notably Cyril O’Regan, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Brian Daley, Khaled Anatolios, Ann Astell, Stephen Gersh, and Robin Jensen. This project owes its existence to the communal and financial support of the University of Notre Dame and its de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. Its dissemination, however, would not have amounted to much without a publisher. Accordingly, special thanks are due to Beatrice Rehl at Cambridge University Press for taking an interest in the manuscript, sharing it with such considerate reviewers, and guiding it to publication. To these anonymous reviewers, I am indebted for your clever insights and valuable suggestions. I also thank you, my reader, for the kindness of your attention to my book. Finally, I am bound to offer notes of gratitude to my family and friends. For their fraternal charity, I am grateful to my brethren in the Order of Preachers, especially at Providence College, and specifically Justin Brophy, Stu McPhail, and Bernard Timothy. Profound thanks go to my good friends, each of whom has proven to be a solid blessing, particularly Bryce Davisson, Douglas Finn, Justin Serafin, Zvonimir Sola, and Christopher Rios-Sueverkruebbe. Most of all, I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to my family: to my parents, Daniel and Karen Reisenauer, for their love and provision; to my brothers and sisters-in-law, Brian and Anne Reisenauer, Danny and Katie Reisenauer, for their affection and good cheer; and to my nephews and nieces, Brooks, Elle, Liv, Ernest, and Alice Reisenauer, for their sharing with me all the fun of life. For each and for all, I give humble thanks to God. ix

Abbreviations

Works of Augustine Acad.

De Academicis libri tres

c. Adim.

Contra Adimantum Manichei discipulum liber unus

agon.

De agone christiano liber unus

an. quant.

De animae quantitate liber unus

beata u.

De beata uita liber unus

cat. rud.

De cathecizandis rudibus liber unus

ciu.

De ciuitate dei libri uiginti duo

conf.

Confessionum libri tredecim

cons. eu.

De consensu euangelistarum libri quattuor

corrept.

De correptione et gratia liber unus

cura mort.

De cura pro mortuis gerenda ad Paulinum episcopum liber unus

diu. qu.

De diuersis quaestionibus octoginta tribus liber unus

doctr. chr.

De doctrina christiana libri quattuor

duab. an.

De duabus animabus liber unus

en. Ps.

Enarrationes in Psalmos

ench.

Enchiridion ad Laurentum de fide spe et caritate liber unus

ep.

Epistulae

ep. Io. tr.

In epistulam Iohannis ad Parthos tractatus decem

ep. Rm. inch.

Epistulae ad Romanos inchoata expositio liber unus



x



These abbreviations are mostly adopted from those in Robert Dodaro, Cornelius Mayer, and Christof Müller, eds., Augustinus-Lexikon, vol. 4 (Basel: Schwabe, 2018), pp. xi–lxv.

list of Abbreviations xi exp. Gal.

Expositio epistulae ad Galatas liber unus

exp. prop. Rm.

Expositio quarundam propositionum ex epistula apostoli ad Romanos

c. Faust.

Contra Faustum Manicheum libri triginta tres

c. Fel.

Contra Felicem Manicheum libri duo

f. et symb.

De fide et symbolo liber unus

c. Fort.

Acta contra Fortunatum Manicheum liber unus

Gn. litt.

De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim

Gn. litt. inp.

De Genesi ad litteram liber unus inperfectus

Gn. adu. Man.

De Genesi aduersus Manicheos libri duo

gr. et lib. arb.

De gratia et libero arbitrio liber unus

haer.

De haeresibus ad Quoduultdeum liber unus

imm. an.

De immortalitate animae liber unus

Io. eu. tr.

In Iohannis euangelium tractatus CXXIV

c. Iul. imp.

Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum

lib. arb.

De libero arbitrio libri tres

loc.

Locutionum in Heptateuchum libri septem

mag.

De magistro liber unus

mor.

De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manicheorum libri duo

mus.

De musica libri sex

nat. b.

De natura boni liber unus

ord.

De ordine libri duo

pecc. mer.

De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo paruulorum ad Marcellinum libri tres

qu.

Quaestionum in Heptateuchum libri septem

qu. c. pag.

Quaestiones expositae contra paganos numero sex (= ep. 102)

retr.

Retractationum libri duo

c. Sec.

Contra Secundinum Manicheum liber unus

s.

Sermones

s. dom. mon.

De sermone domini in monte libri duo

Simpl.

Ad Simplicianum libri duo

sol.

Soliloquiorum libri duo

xii list of Abbreviations spec.

Speculum

trin.

De trinitate libri quindecim

uera rel.

De uera religione liber unus

uid. deo

De uidendo deo liber unus (= ep. 147)

uirg.

De sancta uirginitate liber unus

util. cred.

De utilitate credendi liber unus

Latin Editions and English Translations of Augustine AS

The Augustine Series (Selected Writings from “The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century”), ed. John E. Rotelle (New York: New City Press, 1990–)

CCL

Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout: Brepols, 1953–)

CSEL

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1865–)

EcOr

Ecclesia Orans (Rome: Pontificio Istituto Liturgico, 1984–)

FaCh

The Fathers of the Church, ed. Roy J. Deferrari (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1947–)

Fredriksen

Augustine on Romans: Propositions from the Epistle to the Romans; Unfinished Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, ed. and trans. Paula Fredriksen Landes, Text and Translations 23, Early Christian Literature Series 6 (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1982)

MA

Miscellanea Agostiniana: Testi e studi pubblicati a cura dell’ordine eremitano di s. Agostino nel XV centenario dalla morte del santo dottore, ed. Germain Morin and Antonio Casamassa, 2 vols. (Rome: Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1930–1931)

list of Abbreviations xiii PG

Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne. (Paris: Migne, 1857–1866)

PL

Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne (Paris: Migne, 1844–1855)

PLS

Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, ed. AdalbertGautier Hamman, 3 vols. (Paris: Éditions Garnier Frères, 1958–1963)

Plumer

Eric A. Plumer, Augustine’s Commentary on Galatians: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)

RechAug

Recherches Augustiniennes (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1958–)

REAug

Revue des Études Augustiniennes (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1955–)

RB

Revue Bénédictine (Namur: Abbaye de Maredsous, 1890–)

SC

Sources Chrétiennes (Paris: Cerf, 1942–)

SPM

Sermones selecti duodeuiginti, ed. Cyril Lambot, Stromata Patristica et Mediaevalia 1 (Utrecht – Brussels: In Aedibus Spectrum, 1950)

Weiskotten

Sancti Augustini uita scripta a Possidio episcopo, ed. and trans. Herbert T. Weiskotten (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1919)

WSA

The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, ed. John E. Rotelle (New York: New City Press, 1990–)

Approximate Dates

Acad. 386/387 c. Adim. 393/394 agon. 396/397 an. quant. 387/388 beata u. 386/387 cat. rud. 403 ciu.1 Books 1–3

412/413

Books 4–5

413/415

Books 6–11

415/417

Books 12–13

417/418

Books 14–16

418/420

Books 17–18

420/425

Books 19–22

425/427

conf.2 Books 1–9

397/400

Books 10–13

403

cons. eu.3 403/404 corrept. 426/427 cura mort.

421/424

diu. qu. 388/396

xiv







1



2



3

Except as noted otherwise, these dates of Augustine’s works have mostly been taken from volumes of The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, ed. John E. Rotelle (New York: New City Press, 1990–); and from Allan D. Fitzgerald, ed., Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999). The ranges of these dates represent some of the most recent scholarly opinions on Augustine’s compositions and publications, many of whose dates cannot be determined with absolute certainty or precision. See Johannes van Oort, Jerusalem and Babylon: A Study into Augustine’s City of God and the Sources of His Doctrine of the Two Cities (Leiden: Brill, 1991), p. 62. See Pierre-Marie Hombert, Nouvelles recherches de chronologie augustinienne (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 2000), pp. 9–23. See Hombert, Nouvelles recherches, pp. 81–87.

Approximate Dates xv doctr. chr. Books 1–3.25.35

395/396

Books 3.25.36–4

426/427

duab. an.

392/393

4

en. Ps. 391/422 ench. 421/422 386/430

ep.

ep. Io. tr. 407 ep. Rm. inch. 394/395 exp. Gal. 394/395 exp. prop. Rm. 394/395 c. Faust.5 400/402 c. Fel.

December 12, 404

f. et symb.

October 8, 393

c. Fort.

August 28–29, 392 6

Gn. litt.

Books 1–3.10.15

404/405

Books 3.11.16–12

412/414

Gn. litt. inp. 1.1–16.60 393/395 16.61–16.62 426/427 Gn. adu. Man. 388/390 gr. et lib. arb. 426/427 haer. 428/429 imm. an. 386/387 Io. eu. tr. Homilies 1–16, 17–19, 23–54

406/407

Homilies 20–22

419/420

Homilies 55–124

Begun 419

c. Iul. imp. 429/430 lib. arb.



4



5 6

Book 1

387/388

Books 2–3

391/395

For a table of scholarly proposals, see Michael Fiedrowicz, Psalmus vox totius Christi: Studien zu Augustins Enarrationes in Psalmos (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1997), pp. 430–439. See Hombert, Nouvelles recherches, pp. 25–29. See Hombert, Nouvelles recherches, pp. 137–188.

xvi Approximate Dates loc. 419/420 mag. 389 mor.

387/389

mus. 387/391 nat. b. 399 ord. 386/387 pecc. mer. 411 qu.

419/420

qu. c. pag. 406/412 retr. 426/427 c. Sec.7 403/405 s. 391/430 s. dom. mon. 393/395 Simpl. 396 sol. 386/387 spec. 427 trin.8 Book 1

400/405

Books 2–4

411/414

Books 5–12.14.23

414/418

Books 12.15.24–15

419/427

uera rel. 390/391 uid. deo 413/414 uirg.9

404; 412

util. cred. 391/392



7



9

8

See Hombert, Nouvelles recherches, pp. 31–32. See Lewis Ayres, Augustine and the Trinity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 118–120. See Hombert, Nouvelles recherches, pp. 109–136.

Introduction



The Centrality of the Resurrection With an intriguing turn of phrase, Nicholas of Cusa (AD 1401–1464) once wrote, “Therefore, the world machine will have, as it were, its center everywhere and its circumference nowhere, for its circumference and center is God, who is everywhere and nowhere.”1 Something similar could almost be said about the resurrection in the works of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). In the entire collection of Augustine’s works – his dialogues, treatises, letters, sermons, scriptural commentaries, questions and answers, and public debates – the circumference of the resurrection is almost nowhere. A circumscribed treatment of it almost does not exist. A reader searches only in vain for a single bounded volume on the resurrection in the library of Augustine. “Augustine never wrote a treatise on the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” as Gerald O’Collins notes,2 not to mention an extant one on the resurrection of humanity. Except for a handful of sermons, Augustine never devoted a circumscribed discussion entirely and exclusively to the resurrection.3 While its circumference is almost nowhere in Augustine’s works, however, the center of the resurrection is almost everywhere. Once his discussions of the resurrection emerge, they reveal the fact that, and the degree to which, the event and mystery of the resurrection

1



2



3

Nicholas of Cusa, De docta ignorantia 2.12.162 (ed. Ernest Hoffman and Raymond Klibansky, Opera omnia, vol. 1 [Leipzig: Felicis Meiner, 1932], p. 103, l. 21–p. 104, l. 3; On Learned Ignorance, in Selected Spiritual Writings, trans. H. Lawrence Bond, The Classics of Western Spirituality [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1997], p. 161). Gerald O’Collins, Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 1. See Possidius, Indiculus (PL 46, col. 6, ll. 7–8; WSA I/2, p. 171): “Sermm. 240, 241, etc. uel 361, 362. – De Resurrectione, tractatus duo” (“Two sermons on the resurrection”).

1

2 Introduction is at the center and heart of Augustine’s theological project. This is not to say, of course, that Augustine always and everywhere focuses explicitly on the resurrection; or even that he displays, or has in mind, how the resurrection might impact or connect with certain other theological, exegetical, or pastoral matters to which, instead, he is presently attending. Rather, the ubiquitous centrality of the resurrection in Augustine’s theology goes much deeper, even to the point of being radical. While his treatments of it certainly break ground and land on many of the pages of his many works, some of these explicit statements indicate that the resurrection also stands beneath the surface of his entire Christian thought and practice. For Augustine, the entirety of his theological life and work emerges from, and is sustained by, the life-giving root of the resurrection. In fact, according to him, the paramount resurrection of Jesus is what permits and enables the project of Christian theology to be undertaken in the first place. As Augustine grows to appreciate and learns to articulate, the resurrection is what structures the life of Christ and the life of Christians. Augustine makes several statements to confirm this point. For instance, with respect to the life of Christ, he preaches that Jesus’s resurrection constitutes the focal target of the entire Christ event: Indeed, that God from God, God without any time, was born human from human at a certain time, therefore, that he was born in mortal flesh, in the likeness of the sin of flesh (see Rom 8:3), that he endured infancy, passed through boyhood, arrived at young manhood, and continued in this until death – all of this was in service of the resurrection.4

Everything about Jesus Christ intends the resurrection of humanity. As Augustine comments, “And the whole preaching and dispensation through Christ is this, brethren, and is not anything else: that souls should resurrect and bodies should resurrect.”5 Furthermore, with respect to the life of Christians, Augustine

4 5

s. 229H.1 (MA 1, p. 479, ll. 2–7; WSA III/6, p. 295). Io. eu. tr. 23.6 (CCL 36, p. 236, ll. 26–28; WSA III/12, p. 410).

The Meaning of the Resurrection 3 locates its framework in the resurrection. As he preaches, “Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is our hope; the resurrection of the dead is our faith. It is also our charity […]. Therefore, when faith in the resurrection of the dead is taken away, the whole of Christian doctrine c­ollapses.”6 The centrality of the resurrection is certainly not missed by Augustine. Acknowledging the fact of the resurrection’s centrality for Augustine, however, prompts us to investigate what kind of centrality this actually is. If Augustine makes the resurrection so structurally vital for Christian belief and practice, does this require him to evacuate it of its actual contents so that the resurrection becomes a mere skeleton, an empty signifier, for Christian faith, Christian hope, Christian charity, or even Christianity itself? In grasping its centrality, does Augustine – even unintentionally or perhaps even despite his best intentions – let go of its integrity, such that his discourses on the resurrection serve a merely rhetorical or metaphorical function? Conversely, if the resurrection furnishes everything or almost everything in Christianity, does this mean that Augustine so overloads its furniture with such a massive amount of concrete detail that it no longer can credibly bear the weight of Christian revelation? None of these hypotheticals seem to be the actual case, as this study hopes to show.

The Meaning of the Resurrection In deeply careful and considerate ways, Augustine elaborates his theology of the resurrection from his Catholic Christian faith in the resurrected flesh of Jesus and in the witness of Scripture to the resurrection. With respect to the biblical terminology for the resurrection, he acknowledges that the frequent scriptural translation of the Latin word resurrectio has been taken from the Greek word ἀνάστασις or ἐξανάστασις.7 Furthermore, quoting the Gospel of John, he provides a concise description of the structure of the resurrection when he asks,



6 7

s. 361.2 (PL 39, col. 1599, ll. 33–35, 44–46; WSA III/10, p. 225). See loc. 1.19 (CCL 33, p. 383, ll. 80–87; WSA I/14, p. 488). As N. T. Wright notes, in his The Resurrection of the Son of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God,

4 Introduction “But what else is it to resurrect (resurgere) than to revive, that is, to return ‘from death to life’ (Jn 5:24)?”8 Similarly, Augustine describes the resurrection as the return from death to life when he wonders: In fact, how do we understand what is meant by resurrection (resurrectio), which we have never experienced? Is it not because we perceive what it is to live, and the deprivation of that reality we call death, and the return from this to what we perceive we call resurrection (resurrectionem)?9

In essence, Augustine understands that the resurrection, or rising again, consists in human revivification, the return of humans from death to life.10 Moreover, for Augustine, the only life that unconditionally deserves the designation life is the eternal life of happiness. Thus, he preaches: Indeed, the only [life] that is called and understood to be life itself, without any qualification, is eternal and happy, so as it alone should be called life, in comparison with that which we lead, should be called death, rather than life. That kind is in the Gospel: “If you wish to come to life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17). Did he add eternal or happy? Likewise, when he was speaking about the resurrection of the flesh, he said, “Those who have done good [will enter] into the resurrection of life” (Jn 5:29); neither here did he say eternal or happy.11

Accordingly, Augustine believes and understands that “resurrection” (resurrectio) – in its least qualified, yet most precise sense – means





8 9 10

11

vol. 3 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), on p. 8, n. 12: “The Latin resurrectio seems to be a Christian coinage; the earliest ref[erences] noted in [Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary] 1585 are Tert[ullian, On the] Res[urrection] 1 and Aug[ustine,] City of God 22.28, and then the Vulgate of the gospels.” trin. 8.5.8 (CCL 50, p. 278, ll. 65–66; WSA I/5, p. 248). Gn. litt. 8.16.34 (CSEL 28.1, p. 255, l. 25–p. 256, l. 3; WSA I/13, p. 366). Isabelle Bochet observes, in her “Resurrectio,” in Augustinus-Lexikon, vol. 4, fasc. 7/8, ed. Robert Dodaro, Cornelius Mayer, and Christof Müller (Basel: Schwabe, 2018), cols. 1163–1176, on col. 1163, that Augustine very often uses resurrectio and resurgere, each about 2030 times, to express the act of bringing back to eternal life, in the manner of Christ. en. Ps. 118.19.4 (CCL 40, p. 1728, ll. 4–11; WSA III/19, p. 431).

The Current Scholarship 5 nothing less than the revivification of dead humanity to the e­ternal life of beatitude in God. The resurrection is humanity’s crowning comeback. It is our finest moment of resilience, the gracious accomplishment of which belongs to the God of the resurrection. As Augustine fleshes out the bones of this resurrection structure, he always retains an awareness of the provisional and speculative character of his rather moderate descriptions of its details. While his faith confirms the basic facts of the resurrection, his understanding explores its finer points with a balanced amount of theological flexibility and imagination. In exploring the contents of this structure throughout the course of his theological career, Augustine develops a more extensive and intensive focus on the scriptural and ecclesial witness to the resurrection. In this process, he deploys, contrasts, and adjusts the intellectual and cultural resources that are available to him, especially those of the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophers. These deployments, contrasts, and adjustments enable him to acquire deeper insights into, and to craft finer articulations of, these resurrection contents. All the while, Augustine often enough expresses his constant allergies to bold assertions and hubristic speculations about our eschatological resurrection, of which none of us, in and of ourselves, have any actual and direct experience yet. Reflective of this exploratory approach, we find certain variances and nuances in Augustine’s descriptions and evaluations of the kinds and degrees of both death and life, from which and to which the resurrection respectively returns humans.

The Current Scholarship While the resurrection holds a central place in Augustine’s theology, scholars have recently brought attention to a discrepant paucity in the number of studies on this topic in the current scholarship on Augustine. Thus, Marie-Anne Vannier has remarked that, despite the fact that “the question of the resurrection has […] a decisive place in the oeuvre of Augustine,” his treatments of the resurrection remain

6 Introduction “paradoxically little studied.”12 Furthermore, given the  d­ ecisive im­portance of the resurrection for Augustine, and “[g]iven th[e] significance assigned to Christ’s own resurrection from the dead in establishing the faith and identity of Christians,” one can hardly disagree with the recent assessment of Gerald O’Collins that “it is surprising that we lack substantial studies of Augustine’s thought in this area.”13 This “lack” of current scholarship on Augustine’s understanding of Christ’s resurrection, in particular, has motivated O’Collins to attempt “to fill this important gap”14 and “to remedy this situation” of “neglect” by “the writing of [his] book,” Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception.15 Due to his flagging this “lack,” “gap,” and “neglect,” O’Collins has opened up a field for theological explorations, to which he makes certain contributions in his study. And yet, there still seems to be further research that could be done to bring into brighter light and sharper relief Augustine’s teaching and preaching on the resurrection not only of Jesus Christ, but also of the entire human race. Along such lines, John Cavadini acknowledges, in his review of O’Collins’s book, that its “major achievement” consists in its opening up space for further theological investigations.16 As Cavadini writes: O’Collins does not simply notice a gap that he then fills, but rather that he actually opens a gap where there had been none before. Put more neutrally, he opens a space for continuing significant theological work on a topic whose significance had not been noticed, and where no space had therefore been given.17

12



13



17

14 15 16

Marie-Anne Vannier, “Saint Augustin et la résurrection,” in La résurrection chez les Pères, Cahiers de Biblia Patristica 7 (Strasbourg: Université Marc Bloch, 2003), pp. 247–254, on p. 247: “Paradoxalement peu étudiée, la question de la Résurrection a, pourtant, une place décisive dans l’oeuvre d’Augustine, […].” O’Collins, Resurrection of Christ, p. 3. O’Collins, Resurrection of Christ, p. vi. O’Collins, Resurrection of Christ, p. 115. John C. Cavadini, review of Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception, by Gerald O’Collins, International Journal of Systematic Theology 20 (2018): 586–588, on p. 588. Cavadini, review, p. 588.

Two Modern Trends 7 Cavadini appreciates that O’Collins’s study has provided “a sense of the terrain that Augustine covered and of the enduring s­ignificance of his contribution, thus in effect not closing the gap for f­urther adventuresome scholarship on the same topic.”18 In another review, Frances Young suggests two possible advancements beyond O’Collins’s t­hematic study: (1) the addition of tracking chronological developments and (2) the expansion of treating the resurrection not only of Christ, but also of humanity.19 Hence, there has recently emerged a significant amount of room for finer investigations, es­ pecially with respect to development, and for wider searches, especially with respect to focus, into how Augustine handles the resurrection.

Two Modern Trends Among previous studies of Augustine’s treatments of the resurrection, there are a couple whose contributions epitomize both the merits and the limits of modern scholarly trends in approaching this topic. The first of these modern trends focuses almost exclusively on the resurrection of the body.20 With such an interest, Caroline Walker Bynum, in her The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336, explores not only the “ideas about resurrection” of the body, but also “the metaphors, tropes, and arguments in which the ideas were garbed” that patristic and medieval thinkers, including Augustine,

18



20

19

Cavadini, review, p. 588. See Frances Young, review of Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception, by Gerald O’Collins, Theology 121 (2018): 312–313, p. 312. For Augustine’s theology of bodily resurrection, see Pablo Goñi, La resurrección de la carne según San Agustín, The Catholic University of America Studies in Sacred Theology, Second Series, 122 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1961); Fredrick van Fleteren, “Augustine and the Resurrection,” Studies in Medieval Culture 12 (1978): 9–15; Margaret R. Miles, Augustine on the Body, AAR Dissertation Series 31 (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979), pp. 106–125; Paula Fredriksen, “Vile Bodies: Paul and Augustine on the Resurrection of the Flesh,” in Biblical Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective: Studies in Honor of Karlfried Froehlich on His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Mark S. Burrows and Paul Rorem (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), pp. 75–87; Caroline Walker Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), esp. pp. 94–104; Johanna Rákos-Zichy, “The Resurrection Body in Augustine,” Studia Patristica 24 (2017): 373–384.

8 Introduction formulate.21 Accordingly, Bynum offers insights into Augustine’s basic view that “resurrection is restoration both of bodily ma­terial and of bodily wholeness or integrity, with in­ corruption (which includes – for the blessed – beauty, weightlessness, and im­passibility) added on.”22 In contrast to more organic, dynamic, and developmental images, Augustine, on her reading, basically depicts the resurrection as “the re-collection of bodily bits.”23 While Bynum provides a clever sketch of Augustine’s ideas and images of the bodily resurrection, her exclusive focus on the physical resurrection of the body leaves out of consideration his concept of the spiritual resurrection of the soul and his articulations of how these two resurrections mutually impact each other. Thus, even her presentation of the bodily resurrection in Augustine’s thought evinces certain limitations due to its l­ess-than-comprehensive approach to the resurrection itself, as Augustine describes it. The second of these modern trends places greater emphasis both on the plenitude of the resurrection and on the integral wholeness of the resurrected person and community.24 Thus, Henri Marrou, in his The Resurrection and Saint Augustine’s Theology of Human

21 22 23 24

Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body, p. 7. Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body, p. 95. Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body, p. 99. For Augustine’s theology of the resurrection in its plenitude, see Henri I. Marrou, The Resurrection and Saint Augustine’s Theology of Human Values, The Saint Augustine Lecture 1965 (Villanova, PA: Villanova University Press, 1966); Kari E. Børresen, “Augustin, interprète du dogme de la résurrection: Quelques aspects de son anthropologie dualiste,” Studia Theologica 23 (1969): 141–155; Ramón Areitio, “Tiempo, inmortalidad y resurrección en San Agustín,” Estudios de Deusto 21 (1973): 327–342; Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 141–146; Brian E. Daley, “Resurrection,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), pp. 722–723; Vannier, “Saint Augustin et la resurrection”; Marie-Anne Vannier, “L’anthropologie de S. Augustin,” in Körper und Seele: Aspekte spätantiker Anthropologie, ed. Barbara Feichtinger, Stephen Lake, and Helmut Seng, Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 215 (Munich and Leipzig: K. G. Saur, 2006), pp. 207–236, esp. pp. 222–231; Bochet, “Resurrectio.” Additionally, Maria Boulding, in her Gateway to Resurrection (New York: Burns and Oates, 2010), provides a moving meditation on the human journey toward the resurrection, which draws from Augustine’s writings, and which this English translator of conf. and en. Ps. composed during the twilight of her terminally ill life on earth.

The Present Course of Investigation 9 Values, emphasizes how Augustine explores, with “prudence and ci­ rcumspection,” his “Christian faith” in the resurrection, whose “exemplary type” and “first fruits” have already been accomplished in Christ’s paschal mystery, and whose proclamation in Scripture p­rovides the foundation of its theological elaboration.25 In elaborating on the resurrection, Augustine articulates a vision of the human person and community, and of human history and destiny, that is more holistic than the anthropologies of the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophers and of the Manichaean heretics.26 As Marrou argues: Through all these variations of vocabulary and viewpoint St. Augustine tries to express a single fundamental truth: man is at one and the same time soul and body, flesh and spirit; and if man is to be truly saved his salvation must embrace his whole being, and therefore the body must also, by glorious resurrection, be taken up into eternity.27

Although Marrou’s study well highlights, in rather broad strokes, Augustine’s insights into the integral wholeness of resurrected persons, it nevertheless indicates the limits of its attention to the finer details and deeper implications of Augustine’s various writings on the resurrection.

The Present Course of Investigation As a contribution to modern scholarship on Augustine and the resurrection, the present study seeks to investigate Augustine’s teaching and preaching on the resurrection of dead humanity to life. Its scope focuses intensively and extensively on the historical resurrection of the dead human flesh of Christ; on the historical resurrection of the dead human souls of Christians; and on the eschatological resurrection of the dead human bodies not only of the saints, but also of the damned, as Augustine describes them, develops his understanding

25 26 27

Marrou, The Resurrection, pp. 16–17. See Marrou, The Resurrection, pp. 9–14. Marrou, The Resurrection, p. 16.

10 Introduction of them, and draws their interrelationships or signals their lacks thereof. In our exploration, we will seek to track, or at least to mark, momentous chronological developments in Augustine’s thoughts on the resurrection, including those shifts and advances that he himself acknowledges later on, especially, though not exclusively, in Retractationes. Furthermore, we will also endeavor to articulate the theological significances of these developments, especially in consideration of the particular occasions and contexts from which they emerge and to which they belong. Over the course of its four parts and epilogue, our study brings into focus and investigates the general contours and detailed c­ontents of Augustine’s treatments and defenses of his Catholic faith in the resurrection. Although these parts and their chapters are organized thematically, according to the theological and historical taxis of these resurrections, as Augustine presents them, this organization is somewhat convenient and cosmetic in comparison to how he often handles them in his works. Augustine’s treatments of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of the human soul, and of the human body tend to bleed organically into one another precisely because he views Christ, head and members, as an inseparable unity and cohesive totality. For him, these kinds of resurrection to life are mutually and intrinsically implicated in one another. The organization of this study, therefore, is designed to serve not so much as a series of discrete investigations into disparate kinds of resurrection, but rather as a panoramic and orderly survey of the common space of the multidimensional resurrection in Augustine’s theology. To draw an analogy, our investigation is less like going through a chronologically arranged exhibit of Picasso’s works of art, distinct period by distinct period, discrete frame by discrete frame. Instead, it is more like entering into the Sistine Chapel or the Boston Public Library, being enveloped all around by the frescos of Michelangelo or the murals of John Singer Sargent, and turning our attention this way, and that way, and this way again, to explore these artistic masterpieces in full and in detail, with an ever-increasing appreciation of their compositional

The Present Course of Investigation 11 and thematic interconnections and interconnectedness. Given this more fluid and less rigid organization, it should come then as little or no surprise if certain aspects of the resurrection which ostensibly or arguably belong to other parts or chapters, crop up elsewhere along with those related aspects on which a particular part or chapter intends to be focusing. The first part examines some of the earliest writings of Augustine to determine his initial documentary placement of the resurrection and to describe two common features of his early theology of the resurrection. Chapter 1 begins its analysis before the resurrection takes a bold step out into the light and makes its first unambiguous appearance in the writings of Augustine. It first surveys other patristic t­heologies of the resurrection for some contextualization, and then shows that Augustine explicitly, but ambiguously mentions the resurrection in his earliest works. It next moves, in Chapter 2, to inspect one of Augustine’s early considerations of the bodily resurrection when he envisions it as the restoration of humanity to our pristine stability of paradise. Chapter 3 focuses on another of Augustine’s early considerations of the bodily resurrection when he experiments with it as the transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body. The second part searches into Augustine’s developing understanding of the fleshly resurrection of Jesus Christ. Picking right up after Augustine’s early considerations, Chapter 4 investigates the c­ulminating moment of Contra Faustum Manicheum when he begins to defend the enduring substance and enhanced condition of Christ’s resurrected flesh. It then explores, in Chapter 5, how Augustine’s preaching on the events comprising and surrounding Christ’s historical resurrection serves to put him, his audience, and his readers into living contact with the risen Jesus. Chapter 6 examines Augustine’s unparalleled discussions, in De trinitate, of how Christ’s single resurrection mediates our double resurrection, serving as the sacrament of our spiritual resurrection and the example of our fleshly resurrection. The third part explores Augustine’s explanations and experience of the present resurrection of the human spirit during the course

12 Introduction of time. For him, the spiritual resurrection to eternal life in Christ constitutes one of the most important historical experiences of the Church. It first searches, in Chapter 7, into Augustine’s descriptions and analyses of the soul’s resurrection from its godless, faithless, and unrighteous death in sin to its godly, faithful, and righteous life in Christ. Along with this, it inspects the three gravities of death from which Christ resurrects the soul, the figures of which Augustine reads in the three miraculous resurrections of the Gospel. Having established this framework of the spiritual resurrection, Chapter 8 next examines Augustine’s complex narration, in Confessiones, of his own experience of the spiritual resurrection. The study then explores, in Chapter 9, how Augustine presents the various expressions of the spiritual resurrection and of hope for the fleshly resurrection which are embodied in the lifestyles, practices, and sacrifices, even unto death, of the Church living on earth. It focuses particularly on how Augustine views dying for Christ, celebrating and invoking the saints, burying and commemorating the faithful departed, and consoling the grieving survivors as some of the most extreme embodiments of the actual spiritual resurrection and the hoped-for fleshly resurrection. The fourth part inspects Augustine’s speculations on the future resurrection of human flesh at the end of time. For him, the fleshly resurrection to eternal life in God constitutes one of the most important eschatological experiences of the Church. With particular focuses on De ciuitate dei and other select writings, Chapter 10 c­onsiders Augustine’s arguments for the credibility and intelligibility of the future resurrection, particularly against the Roman pagans and the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophers, and their denials or alternative versions of human eschatology. It then considers Augustine’s speculations concerning the qualities of the resurrected flesh and existential conditions of the godless damned, in Chapter 11, and of the godly saints, in Chapter 12. A brief epilogue observes how Augustine himself approaches the resurrection of his flesh during the final approaches to his death. It considers the record of the ecclesiastical proceedings, Epistula 213, during which Augustine appoints the priest Heraclius to s­ucceed

The Guidance of the Resurrected Christ 13 him as the bishop of Hippo after his death. It then c­oncludes with a consideration of how Augustine, hoping for the resurrection of his flesh, spends the final days of his life on earth, as Possidius of Calama (c. AD 370–c. 440) recounts them in his Sancti Augustini uita.

The Guidance of the Resurrected Christ In these explorations, we will carefully follow Augustine along the course of his theological career and thus strive to become better acquainted with his thoughts on the resurrection. In this process, we hope also to become better familiarized with Augustine himself not only as a theologian and preacher of the resurrection, but also as a participant and promoter of the spiritual resurrection in hope of the fleshly resurrection to eternal life. This course that Augustine once traveled – which we are seeking not only to explore, but also to travel in his company as well – consisted in his following, above all else, the guidance of the resurrected Christ. This most expert and humble of guides has already gone ahead of us in his resurrection and has borne living witness to the resurrection within Augustine’s heart, as Augustine often confesses. Through the obscurities and opacities of this mortal life, Christ shepherds the hearts of his faithful from their darkness and shadows to his own marvelous light. To the opened eyes of believers, this same kenotic witness of Christ also remains conspicuously alive in the Church’s faith, Scriptures, sacraments, and practices, even if none of the realities to which they testify are yet totally transparent. Even since the time of De magistro, Augustine has acknowledged the dwelling of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit within the innermost chambers of the human heart.28 For him, the human heart is the place not only of Trinitarian dwelling, but also of Christological teaching. Thus, Augustine advises his son, Adeodatus (AD 372–c. 389): Now we should not only believe, but also begin to understand how truly it is written by divine authority, that we should not

28

See mag. 2 (CCL 29, p. 158, l. 42–p. 159, l. 55; FaCh 59, pp. 8–9).

14 Introduction call anyone on earth our teacher, since there is one teacher of all in heaven (see Mt 23:8–9). Moreover, what is in heaven, he himself will teach, by whom we are also advised through humans, with external signs, so that we, having turned to him within, might be taught.29

For Augustine, the twofold way of investigation – that is, (1) the way of authority, which leads to faith, and (2) the way of reason, which leads to understanding – finds its origin in, its conduction by, and its orientation to, the person of Christ. This Christological way to truth appears all the more indispensable when we take into consideration how Augustine understands the scriptural witness that God alone is truthful (Rom 3:4), but every man is a liar (Ps 115:11; Rom 3:4). No man, in and of himself, is dependable enough to provide the way to truth, either for himself or for others. This is because every man on earth – including Augustine himself and, self-admittedly, the author of this study – is either a liar or a recovering liar. As Augustine comments on these verses, “Indeed, God is truthful, but every man is a liar; because man is not truthful, except him in whom God is speaking.”30 To learn and to speak anything true in a truthful way, including any truth about the resurrection, Augustine admits that we need God, “who raises the dead,” to lift up our hearts from lying down in their death-dealing lies to standing up in his life-giving truth.31 For Augustine, the resurrection can only truly be viewed and handled from the inside, from an intrinsic participation in the resurrection itself. Any other approach from the outside cannot but be devoid of the kind of living engagement that is vital for a proper investigation into the resurrection. An outsider perspective fails to see and touch in faith the one who has already risen, who has verbally declared and visually manifested himself to be the resurrection and



29 30 31

mag. 46 (CCL 29, p. 202, ll. 20–25; FaCh 59, p. 60). en. Ps. 108.2 (CCL 40, p. 1585, ll. 5–6; WSA III/19, p. 242). See en. Ps. 115.4 (CCL 40, p. 1654, l. 3–p. 1655, l. 7; WSA III/19, p. 329).

The Guidance of the Resurrected Christ 15 the life (see Jn 11:25), and who fulfills all his prophecies and will fulfill all his promises. To the extent that it fails in this, every outsider perspective can only yield fragmentary glimpses and partial grasps. The outsider approach, therefore, cannot but distort the reality and meaning of the resurrection itself. Instead, it is only by entering into the event and mystery of the resurrection through living faith in the resurrected Christ – which is to say, only by entering into the Spiritfilled community of the Church, whose very constitution comes from, gives access to, and is consummated in the resurrection – that Augustine can begin and continue to make good progress in exploring the resurrection from its highest corners to its deepest pockets. Hence, he writes to Volusian (c. AD 382–437): These [matters concerning the generation, resurrection, and ascension of the flesh of God] are discussed extensively, and all the folds of the necessary questions are unfolded, investigated, and analyzed. But faith opens the approach to understanding, while unbelief closes it.32

Although Augustine’s journey into the resurrection has already advanced quite far, it has not yet reached its completion. For Augustine still expectantly awaits, along with the rest of us, the dawning of the day of the final resurrection.



32

ep. 137.4.15 (CSEL 44, p. 117, ll. 6–8; WSA II/2, p. 221).

I  Early Considerations of the Resurrection

Augustine comes to believe in the resurrection and to articulate his understanding of that resurrection faith as a member of the Church. His theology of the resurrection, therefore, contributes to the ecclesial tradition of discovering the intelligible contents of Scripture concerning the resurrection, and of handing these discoveries onto others. By surveying the theological articulations of the resurrection by certain eminent theologians of the early Church, whose connections with Augustine are rather close, we can better locate Augustine in his ecclesial and theological contexts. Even from the earliest of Augustine’s writings during his retreat at Cassiciacum, while awaiting his sacramental initiation into the Catholic Church at baptism, he does not let his faith in the resurrection go unmentioned. However, his initial mentions and allusions to the resurrection are not unambiguous. At this earliest point, it remains unclear whether Augustine intends its expressions and indications to refer to the spiritual resurrection of the soul, the physical resurrection of the body, or the integral resurrection of the whole human person. Nevertheless, when he begins to describe the resurrection more precisely, he evinces his unretracted commitment to the scriptural revelation of and the ecclesial faith in the resurrection, rather than to those features of the Platonic and Neoplatonic anthropology, cosmology, and eschatology whose tensions with it have become manifest. There are two common dimensions of Augustine’s early descriptions of the resurrection that display important, but insufficient contributions to his theological understanding of this central 17

1

The Adumbration of the Resurrection

Other Patristic Theologies of the Resurrection One of the most significant features of Augustine and his theology of the resurrection is their intrinsic belonging to the Church, whose members believe in the resurrection, and whose teachers and preachers seek to understand this mystery further. Augustine contributes to an ecclesial collection of writings and sermons on the resurrection, the contents of which not only influence his thoughts on occasion but also highlight, by contrast, the distinctive points of his theology. By surveying some of the notable ways in which the resurrection is articulated by certain influential theologians of the early Church – whose cultural, personal, or contemporaneous connections with Augustine are quite close – we can gather where his thoughts either converge with or diverge from theirs. Three patristic theologians recommend themselves for our consideration: (1) Tertullian of Carthage (c. AD 160–c. 225), who shares the culture of North African Christianity with Augustine; (2) Ambrose of Milan (c. AD 339–397), who makes personal, intellectual, and pastoral impacts on Augustine; and (3) Gregory of Nyssa (c. AD 335–394), who represents an older contemporary of Augustine. Such theologians as these contribute to the promotion of ecclesial faith in and understanding of the resurrection, which Augustine begins to appropriate for himself when he coverts to Catholic Christianity in 386–387. Thus, as John Rist remarks: Belief in bodily resurrection was a constant note of the authentic Church in antiquity, and nowhere was it urged more strongly

19

20 The Adumbration of the Resurrection than in North Africa. Augustine certainly accepted it at the time of his conversion.1

Seeking to understand the Church’s resurrection faith, the  most prominent contributions that these theologians make include (1) Tertullian’s defense of the salvation of human flesh in its resurrection; (2) Ambrose’s affirmation of the gradual redemption of the whole person, soul and body, through sacramental resurrection from the baptismal font and eschatological resurrection from the grave; and (3) Gregory’s speculations on the enduring psychosomatic links beyond death that factor in the resurrection; on the restorative purification of all resurrected humans; and on the weightless, genderless, and sexless character of all resurrected bodies.

Tertullian of Carthage To be sure, Augustine’s anti-Manichaean and anti-Platonic defenses of Christ’s fleshly resurrection contribute to an apologetic tradition within Catholic Christianity, of Roman North African accent, that goes back at least to Tertullian of Carthage.2 Against pagan,  Marcionite, and Gnostic detractors of the flesh and its resurrection, Tertullian famously declares that “the flesh is the hinge of salvation.”3 The fleshly resurrection of Christ enables Tertullian to grasp, in faith and with soteriological purchase, the full reality of what God has done for us and the deep mystery of who God himself is. Affirming that

1



2



3

John M. Rist, Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 110. For Tertullian’s theology of the resurrection, see Ernest Evans, “Introduction,” in Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis, ed. and trans. Ernest Evans (London: S.P.C.K., 1960), pp. lix–lxxiii; Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 34–36; Eric Osborn, Tertullian, First Theologian of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), esp. pp. 214–224; Jérôme Alexandre, Une chair pour la gloire: L’anthropologie réaliste et mystique de Tertullien (Paris: Beauchesne, 2001), esp. pp. 486–517. Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis 8.2 (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, ed. and trans. Ernest Evans [London: S.P.C.K., 1960], p. 24, l. 7; p. 25). For Tertullian’s appreciation of the flesh, see Emmanuel Falque, God, the Flesh, and the Other: From Irenaeus to Duns Scotus, trans. William C. Hackett (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2015), pp. 143–166.

Tertullian of Carthage 21 “nothing is impossible for God, except what he does not want,”4 Tertullian confesses, “And the Son of God died; it is entirely credible because it is foolish. And he who was buried resurrected; it is certain because it is impossible.”5 For Tertullian, Christian faith in the fleshly death and resurrection of the incarnate God serves to reconfigure our limited or mistaken views on the unreal and the real, on the impossible and the possible, on what is of human sensibility and what is of divine folly. In fact, the resurrection of Christ’s flesh provides the cardinal point upon which Tertullian hangs, in an intersecting and cohesive way, the theology of God,6 the economy of creation and salvation,7 and the practice of the Christian life.8 Like Tertullian, Augustine understands that what is at stake in his defenses of the resurrection of Christ’s true flesh is nothing less than our grasp of God and of created reality as good and salvageable. Our grasp of these realities, however, is neither simply an outcome of an intellectual exercise nor merely a hermeneutical matter of perception, for either Tertullian or Augustine. Instead, how the Christian approaches and apprehends the fullness of reality is impacted by, and has impacts on, the kind of salvation for which he hopes and into which he will hopefully enter. While Tertullian resources Stoicism and its corporeal notion of the soul, even against Platonism, and Augustine resources Platonism and its incorporeal notion of the soul, even against Stoicism, to articulate two expressions of a dichotomous Christian anthropology which, arguably, are more complementary than contradictory, these North African theologians bear a common witness to the integral salvation of the whole human person, soul and body.9

4



5 6 7 8 9

Tertullian, De carne Christi 3.1 (On the Flesh of Christ, ed. and trans. Ernest Evans [London: S.P.C.K., 1956], p. 8, l. 4; p. 9). Tertullian, De carne Christi 5.4 (p. 18, ll. 24–26; p. 19). See Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis 9.1–9.5 (p. 26, l. 3–p. 28, l. 23; pp. 27–29). See Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis 2.2 (p. 6, ll. 7–18; p. 7). See Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis 11.1 (p. 30, ll. 4–5; p. 31). Although Augustine criticizes Tertullian’s understanding of the human soul as corporeal on a few occasions, Augustine denies, in haer. 86 (CCL 46, p. 338, l. 1–p. 339, l. 25; WSA I/18, pp. 54–55), that Tertullian can be considered a heretic just because he holds not only the soul, but also even God to be a body, insofar as his use of the term body can be understood to mean not nothing.

22 The Adumbration of the Resurrection

Ambrose of Milan Similarly, Ambrose of Milan insists upon the holistic nature of human salvation and resurrection in Christ.10 Furthermore, he identifies its gradual process that begins now in the present resurrection of baptismal regeneration and ends later in the future resurrection of eternal regeneration. As Ambrose explains: Therefore, what is resurrection (resurrectio), but when we rise again from death to life? Thus, therefore, also in baptism, since there is a likeness of death, without doubt when you plunge and rise again, there is a likeness of the resurrection. And so, according to the interpretation of the apostle [Peter], as that resurrection [of the Son] was a regeneration, so also is this resurrection a regeneration.11

Although Augustine develops more elaborate descriptions of these two resurrections and explains more precisely how they relate to the single resurrection of Christ, Ambrose nevertheless presents the same structure of the resurrection, as a rising again from death to life, and likewise applies it to the whole human person, soul and body. Ambrose expresses his Christian hope that, while death does not put an end to our human nature, but only to this life of misery and guilt, the resurrection restores and even enhances our nature.12 In fact, he distinguishes, from the Scriptures, between three kinds of death: (1) the mystical and good death, by which we die to sin and



10



11



12

For Ambrose’s theology of the resurrection, see Daley, The Hope of the Early Church, pp. 99–100; J. Warren Smith, Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue: The Theological Foundations of Ambrose’s Ethics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 125–157. Ambrose, De sacramentis 3.1.2 (= Über die Sakramente, trans. Josef Schmitz, Fontes Christiani 3 [Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1990], p. 116, l. 17–p. 118, l. 4; On the Sacraments, ed. James H. Srawley, trans. Tom Thompson [London: S.P.C.K., 1950], p. 71). See, e.g., Ambrose, De bono mortis 4.15 (CSEL 32.1, p. 716, ll. 18–22; Death as a Good, in Saint Ambrose Seven Exegetical Works, ed. Bernard M. Peebles, trans. Michael P. McHugh, FaCh 65 [Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1972], p. 81).

Ambrose of Milan 23 live for God; (2) the remedial and neutral death, by which the soul is separated from the body and released from this life; and (3) the penal and evil death, by which not only the flesh, but also the soul, dies through sin.13 In overcoming the evil of death, Ambrose acknowledges that Christ “worked out the course of the resurrection itself”14 when he, as the immortal God, raised up his own dead flesh.15 Accordingly, Christ invites us to share in his paschal mystery, beginning with b­aptism, since there is “in him the everlasting resurrection of humankind.”16 In Christ’s altruistic resurrection, Ambrose locates not only the salvation of the human race, but also the renovation of the entire cosmos. Thus, he writes: For if [Christ] did not resurrect for us, he did not resurrect at all because there was no reason why he should resurrect for himself. The universe resurrected in him, the heaven resurrected in him, the earth resurrected in him; for there will be a new heaven and a new earth (see Rev 21:1).17

Whereas Augustine envisions the fleshly resurrection to be a simultaneous event for everyone, Ambrose suggests that, for the members of the Church, the fourfold order of their being resurrected instantaneously will mirror that of their coming to believe.18 Like Augustine, Ambrose accepts the resurrection on the irreplaceable basis of Christian faith in God’s scriptural witness and



13



14



16

15

17 18

See, e.g., Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.36–2.37 (CSEL 73, p. 268, l. 1–p. 269, l. 5; On the Death of His Brother Satyrus, in Funeral Orations by Saint Gregory Nazianzen and Saint Ambrose, ed. Roy J. Deferrari, trans. John J. Sullivan and Martin R. P. McGuire, FaCh 22 [Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press], 1953, pp. 211–212). Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.83 (CSEL 73, p. 294, l. 10; FaCh 22, p. 234). See, e.g., Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.90–2.91 (CSEL 73, p. 298, l. 5–p. 299, l. 7; FaCh 22, pp. 236–237). See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.43 (CSEL 73, p. 272, ll. 5–11; FaCh 22, pp. 214–215). Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.102 (CSEL 73, p. 305, ll. 3–6; FaCh 22, p. 243). See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.116 (CSEL 73, p. 315, l. 1–p. 316, l. 18; FaCh 22, pp. 251–252).

24 The Adumbration of the Resurrection divine power.19 Nevertheless, also somewhat like Augustine, Ambrose shows how resurrection faith finds support in four kinds of arguments which are based on: (1) experience, insofar as our eschatological resurrection will prevent us from falling back into this evil age; (2) reason, insofar as justice demands the reward of good conduct and the punishment of evil conduct done in and by the body; (3) example, insofar as the world of nature displays similar processes of falling and rising again; and (4) fittingness, insofar as our practice of virtue befits Christian faith in the resurrection.20 Ambrose further argues that the doctrine of the resurrection excels the pagan philosophers’ idea of a disembodied and only p­artial redemption,21 and their theory of the transmigration of souls even into the bodies of beasts.22 Warning against the temptation to measure God’s resurrection power and design by merely human s­tandards,23 Ambrose observes: [The resurrection] will be celebrated more easily if, emptied of our sins, we attain to the fullness of the spiritual mystery, and the flesh receives renewed grace from the Spirit, and the soul borrows the brightness of eternal light from Christ.24

Augustine shares with Ambrose, and even elaborates on, this pivotal notion of the integral resurrection of the whole human person in the resurrected Christ.



19



20



21



22



23 24

See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.66–2.84 (CSEL 73, p. 285, l. 1–p. 295, l. 10; FaCh 22, pp. 225–234). See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.50–2.62 (CSEL 73, p. 275, l. 1–p. 284, l. 11; FaCh 22, pp. 217–224). For Ambrose, these natural examples of the resurrection include the series of generations, the constellations, day and night, moisture, fruits and grains, and the phoenix. See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.126 (CSEL 73, p. 320, l. 1–p. 321, l. 12; FaCh 22, pp. 255–256). See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.130–2.131 (CSEL 73, p. 323, ll. 5–6; FaCh 22, pp. 257–258). See Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.114 (CSEL 73, p. 314, ll. 1–13; FaCh 22, p. 250). Ambrose, De excessu fratris 2.114 (CSEL 73, p. 314, ll. 13–17; FaCh 22, p. 250).

Gregory of Nyssa 25

Gregory of Nyssa Whereas Augustine defines the resurrection as the human return from death to life, Gregory of Nyssa defines “resurrection” (ἀ νάστασίς) as “the restoration (ἀ ποκατάστασις) of our nature to its original condition.”25 Several of Gregory’s speculations on the procedure, the extent, and the character of this eschatological restoration evince significant contrasts with features of Augustine’s theology of the resurrection.26 Like

Augustine,

Gregory

insists

that

the

resurrection

r­eintegrates the same constituent components of the whole human p­erson. In the resurrection, as Gregory remarks, “the same body is constructed again around the same soul, fitted together from the same elements.”27 However, whereas Augustine thinks that the soul departs from the body at death and returns at the resurrection, Gregory surmises that the nonspatial soul remains constantly present to all the elements of the body even after death, “holding on to its own by its cognitive power and remaining with it until the separated elements are combined again into the same body to reconstitute what was dissolved, which properly both is and is called resurrection.”28 Each soul recognizes and draws together, at the divinely empowered resurrection, the particular elements of its own body on account of the impressing and impressed formal signs of composite identity which persist in the soul and in the bodily remnants.29



25



26



27 28 29

See, e.g., Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (ed. Andreas Spira with Ekkehard Mühlenberg, Gregorii Nysseni Opera 3/3 [Leiden – Boston: Brill, 2014], p. 112, ll. 18–19; The Soul and the Resurrection, trans. Catharine P. Roth [Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993], p. 113). For Gregory’s theology of the resurrection, see Daley, The Hope of the Early Church, pp. 85–89; Caroline Walker Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200–1336 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), pp. 81–86; Brian E. Daley, “‘The Human Form Divine’: Christ’s Risen Body and Ours According to Gregory of Nyssa,” Studia Patristica 41 (2006): 301–318; Rowan A. Greer with J. Warren Smith, One Path for All: Gregory of Nyssa on the Christian Life and Human Destiny (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015), pp. 202–225. Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 82, ll. 1–2; p. 90). Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 54, ll. 21–24; p. 67). See, e.g., Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 55, l. 17–p. 57, l. 20; pp. 68–69).

26 The Adumbration of the Resurrection Another significant difference concerns the extent of human salvation and how the resurrection factors in each person’s eter­ nal destination. Whereas Augustine articulates two kinds of fleshly r­esurrection, namely, (1) the one beatific of the saints to eternal life and (2) the other miserable of the damned to eternal death, Gregory proposes that the resurrection of each human contributes to the u­niversal restoration of all humanity in God. Thus, Gregory writes: But when God brings our nature back to the first state of humanity by the resurrection, […] when the whole fullness of our nature has been perfected in each human, some straightaway even in this life purified from evil, others healed hereafter through fire for the appropriate length of time, and others ignorant of the experience equally of good and of evil in the life here, God intends to set before everyone the participation of the good things in him.30

A final distinguishing feature regards Gregory’s speculations on the character of the resurrected body. With a considerable amount of reservation, Gregory admits that the expectation of eschatological transformation prevents everyone not only from knowing and describing the characteristic marks of the resurrected body but also from drawing detailed analogies with those of the present body.31 Nevertheless, he suspects that the useful “slag-like qualities,” which our bodies have accumulated on account of our fall into sin, will no longer exist in our resurrected and divinized condition.32 Thus, having put off the garment of irrational skin (see Gen 3:21),33 we will put on this same material body, but its presently “coarse and heavy



30



31



32 33

See Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 115, ll. 15–16, 19–p. 116, l. 1; pp. 115–116). See Gregory of Nyssa, De mortuis (ed. Günter Heil, Gregorii Nysseni Opera 9/1 [Leiden: Brill, 1967], p. 62, ll. 9–18; In Regard to Those Fallen Asleep, in Rowan A. Greer with J. Warren Smith, One Path for All: Gregory of Nyssa on the Christian Life and Human Destiny [Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015], p. 113). See Gregory of Nyssa, De mortuis (p. 59, l. 23–p. 62, l. 5; pp. 112–113). See, e.g., Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 113, l. 15–p. 114, l. 11; p. 114).

An Approach to the Resurrection 27 texture” will be made “subtler and lighter.”34 Among these bodily transformations,35 Gregory suggests that the present distinction between male and female will likely be transcended in the resurrection “when all of us become one body of Christ,”36 in whom, as our prototype, there is neither male nor female (see Gal 3:28).37 Along with this restoration to God’s original design, our procreative function will be transformed from the physical and sexual propagation of children, for which God has made providential accommodations, to the spiritual and angelic production of salvation (see Is 26:18).38 While Augustine, in his early years, speaks about the transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body, he still affirms the resurrection of the gendered and sexed bodies of males and females, the functions of whose reproductive organs will nevertheless be transformed in the end.

An Approach to the Resurrection in Augustine’s Early Works The attention which these other patristic theologians devote to the resurrection raises the question of the extent to which Augustine either acknowledges or ignores this paramount mystery during the first decade or two after his conversion to Catholic Christianity in 386–387. If the early collection of his writings was subjected to a kind of litmus test for a doctrine of the resurrection of human flesh to an advanced condition in the kingdom of God, then the overall results would be negative. The reason for this is that Augustine only begins to affirm and defend this version of the resurrection in



34



38

35 36 37

See Gregory of Nyssa, De anima et resurrectione (p. 79, ll. 13–15; p. 88). See Gregory of Nyssa, De mortuis (p. 62, l. 18–p. 63, l. 3; pp. 113–114). Gregory of Nyssa, De mortuis (p. 63, l. 9; p. 114). See Gregory of Nyssa, De hominis opificio 16.7 (PG 44, col. 181, ll. 5–16; On the Making of Man, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. William Moore and Henry A. Wilson, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, vol. 5 [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1954], p. 404). See, e.g., Gregory of Nyssa, De hominis opificio 17.2–17.5 (PG 44, col. 188, l. 25–col. 192, l. 2; p. 406).

28 The Adumbration of the Resurrection Contra Faustum Manicheum. It is there, for the first time, where he provides substantive and coherent discussions of this doctrine against the Manichaean detraction of human flesh and its resurrection. Such a blunt measure, however, could perhaps conceal more than it would reveal. Although it would reveal that substantive and coherent treatments of the fleshly resurrection are largely absent from Augustine’s early works, this revelation, if flatly taken on its own, could perhaps conceal the variety of ways in which Augustine explores the different kinds and features of the resurrection even before this culminating moment. This combination of revelation and concealment might give the impression that, during the first couple of decades of his postconversion career, Augustine was uninterested in, or even averse to, the resurrection, particularly of the flesh, and even the flesh itself. For quite some time, Augustine might seem to be much more interested in the spirit, even to the point of spiritual myopia. For an epitome of such a myopic spiritual interest, a reader would have to look no further than Augustine’s confession to his reason: “I desire to know God and the soul. […] Nothing more whatsoever.”39 The spiritual focus of this twofold investigation could seem to exhaust the scope of the philosophical program to which Augustine devotes himself in pursuit of wisdom and the happy life.40 Based on such comments as these from the time of his retreat at Cassiciacum, this impression might lead some of us to characterize Augustine, during these early years, to be so absorbed in the things of the spirit and so allergic to the things of the flesh that he bears a greater resemblance to a student of Plato (c. 427–c. 347 BC) than to a disciple of Jesus Christ, or that he continues to evince the dregs of an approximately decade-long involvement with Manichaeism whose dualistic legacy has not yet been sufficiently purged from his mind. Such characterizations of Augustine – particularly concerning



39 40

sol. 1.2.7 (CSEL 89, p. 11, ll. 15–17; AS 2, p. 25). See ord. 2.18.47 (CCL 29, p. 133, ll. 12–16; FaCh 5, p. 324).

An Approach to the Resurrection 29 his suspicious crypto-Manichaeism – surfaced even while he was still alive. They have not yet ceased to resurface in modern scholarship on Augustine.41 Now, it is undeniable that Augustine was influenced by various streams of thought and practice that were coursing through the intellectual, cultural, and religious landscapes of the Roman Empire from the mid-fourth to the early fifth century. Many methods and contents of these streams not only flowed but also were filtered through his mind, entering or exiting, surging with crescendos or subsiding with decrescendos, at different occasions in the course of his life. Each of these influences contributed, whether positively or negatively, to the progressive formation of Augustine’s eclectic thought and practice. Without them, he could hardly become the thinker and practitioner he became. However, Augustine is not quite reducible to any of these influences, taken either singularly or collectively. Beyond these streams of influence, and in transposing these influences into a new register, Augustine operated as a genius. With a high degree of ingenuity, he handled what he had received from various persons and groups. Throughout his theological career, Augustine displayed how critical, constructive, and creative his thought and practice were not only in adopting and adapting these precedent methods and contents but also in articulating new and unprecedented methods and contents of his own, which he strove to interweave synthetically with the transposed old. Augustine confessed, however, that his genius neither began nor ended with himself in any radical sense. At the heart of his genius was the Lord Jesus Christ.



41

For Augustine’s Platonism, see Robert Crouse, “Paucis mutatis verbis: St. Augustine’s Platonism,” in Augustine and His Critics: Essays in Honour of Gerald Bonner, ed. Robert Dodaro and George Lawless (London and New York: Routledge, 2000), pp. 37–50. For Augustine’s Manichaeanism, see Paul R. Eddy, “Can a Leopard Change Its Spots? Augustine and the Crypto-Manichaeism Question,” Scottish Journal of Theology 62 (2009): 316–346.

30 The Adumbration of the Resurrection Throughout his entire life, Augustine found himself in­capable of providing any deep cohesion for his self-fragmented and selffragmenting self, or any deep coherence for his thought and practice which tended, on their own, toward an abyss of incoherence. What provided Augustine a certain degree of personal cohesion and theological coherence, amidst the tempestuous instabilities of this temporal and mortal life, was nothing and no one other than the resurrected Son of God. Augustine acknowledges that the guiding light of his genius came from Jesus Christ who, by his presence and activity within Augustine’s heart, brought about his spiritual resurrection and guided his theological explorations into the resurrection. Augustine confesses to have experienced, in 386–387, a revolutionary encounter with the resurrected Christ whose grace of Christian baptism so unhinged him from the old things of sin and death, and so hinged him to the new things of resurrection and life, that Augustine never retracted the outcomes of this encounter.42 Among these outcomes was his reception of the fundamentals of the Catholic faith, into the facets and details of which he continued to search for greater and finer understanding over the course of his theological career. Once Augustine has entered into the resurrection, he never departs from the resurrection, but rather advances further into its mystery.

An Appreciation of the Resurrection in Augustine’s Early Works Even in his earliest writings, Augustine does not discount the scriptural witness to the resurrection from the dead, as if he had an absolute preference for the Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Such an antithesis between the anthropologies and eschatologies of Christianity and of Platonism has been proposed



42

For Augustine’s mentions and accounts of his conversion to Jesus Christ before his definitive account of conf., see James J. O’Donnell, Augustine: Confessions, 1: Introduction and Text (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. li–lvi.

An Appreciation of the Resurrection 31 by Oscar Cullmann43 and echoed by Wolfhart Pannenberg.44 Along with f­aulting patristic theology, in general, for combining these two “totally heterogeneous” ideas, Pannenberg criticizes Augustine, in particular, for “spiritualizing” the resurrection by adding a present resurrection of the soul, and thus flattening the New Testament’s “concrete hope” of the resurrection to “bodily life.”45 But such an antithesis does not fit within Augustine’s theological framework, even from the time of the Cassiciacum dialogues. Instead, Augustine expresses his confidence in the vast congruence between the doctrines of Platonism and the Scriptures of Christianity.46 As he affirms: Therefore, I am determined not to depart utterly anywhere from the authority of Christ; for I find none more powerful. However, what is to be pursued by the subtlest reason – for indeed, I am now in such a state of mind that I impatiently desire to grasp what is truth not only by believing, but also by understanding – I am confident that I will meanwhile find among the Platonists what is not repugnant to our sacred [Scriptures].47

Instead of any stark antithesis between Christianity and Platonism, what we find in these earliest writings is a series of investigations whose make is predominantly philosophical, and whose model is preeminently Neoplatonic, but whose source and consummation are none other than the God of Jesus Christ. In these texts, there

43



44



45



47

46

See Oscar Cullmann, Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? The Witness of the New Testament (London: Epworth, 1958). See Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus–God and Man, trans. Lewis L. Wilkins and Duane A. Priebe, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1968/1977), pp. 86–87; Wolfhart Pannenberg, The Apostles’ Creed in Light of Today’s Questions, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1972), pp. 106–107; Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), pp. 563–573. Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, pp. 570–571. For Augustine’s exposure at Milan to the compatibilities and incompatibilities between Catholicism and Neoplatonism, see Pierre Courcelle, Recherches sur les Confessions de saint Augustin, new ed. (Paris: E. de Boccard, 1950/1968), pp. 93–138, 153–178, 251–254. Acad. 3.20.43 (CCL 29, p. 61, ll. 18–24; FaCh 5, p. 220).

32 The Adumbration of the Resurrection is an abundance of evidence that Augustine occupies himself and his dialogue partners with pursuing a philosophical course toward the achievement of wisdom and the happy life. Augustine structures this course as a kind of spirituality of purifying ascent, inward and upward, along an ordered hierarchy of sensible and intelligible realities until the exercised mind reaches the contemplation of God. Thus, on the whole, he inflects his educational and philosophical program along some of the basic patterns not only of the eclectic philosophy of Cicero (106–43 BC), with which he has been acquainted for quite some time, but also of Neoplatonism, with which he has more recently started to become familiar. Nevertheless, right alongside his version of the Neoplatonic spirituality of philosophical ascent to the contemplation of God, Augustine places certain mentions of and allusions to the resurrection. None of these earliest mentions or allusions, however, are unambiguous. But the significances of its documentary placement remain. The placement of the resurrection, still ambiguously adumbrated, right alongside certain Platonic and Neoplatonic doctrines, generates a certain amount of tension within the collection of his earliest texts, or at least within Soliloquia, where all these mentions and allusions occur. But these tensions go unnoticed, or at least untreated, by Augustine precisely because his concept of the resurrection has yet to emerge unambiguously into the light. Along with the meaning of the resurrection, the tensions themselves remain shrouded in ambiguity. Their possible components are clarified only in the light of later developments. When the resurrection does emerge fully into the light, significant alterations to a couple of Platonic and Neoplatonic doctrines which Augustine has adopted, but without much adaption, will have to be made to relieve these now manifest tensions and to advance his project toward a higher degree of theological coherence. In this procedure, Augustine’s decision to alter these philosophical doctrines, rather than the contents of his resurrection faith, further elucidates his continuous commitment to Jesus Christ. Two tenets will be

The Structure of the Human Person 33 significantly altered to become more compatible with his faith in and understanding of the resurrection: (1) a philosophical version and account of the immortality of the human soul and (2) the exclusion of the human body from the happy life, along with the directive to take flight from all sensible things.

The Structure of the Human Person Of particular importance for the resurrection, Augustine explores, in his earliest writings, the anthropological structure of the human person.48 On several occasions, he acknowledges that it is not only the human “soul” (anima) which is constitutive of man, but also the human “body” (corpore).49 While the soul is of a higher excellence and the body is of a lower excellence, both of these human components are intrinsically good.50 The basic features of this composite and hierarchical view of the human person will remain with Augustine throughout his entire career.51 In sharp contrast to the experientially

48



49 50 51

Rist argues, in his Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized, on pp. 100–101, that Augustine uses the language of “person” (persona) for the first time, in ep. 137.3.11 (411), to describe the human union or mixture of soul and body, which he compares with the “person” (persona) of Christ, the union of God and man. Accordingly, our uses of the term person, when discussing Augustine’s pre-411 writings, are not intended to either undermine or anachronistically retroject this development. Rather, they are meant to be taken as being synonymous with “man, human being” (homo). See, e.g., beata u. 2.7 (CCL 29, p. 68, ll. 1–2; FaCh 5, p. 51). See ep. 3.4 (CSEL 34.1, p. 8, ll. 1–14; WSA II/1, p. 21). For Augustine’s anthropology of the human person as a hierarchical and integral unity of soul and body, see Robert E. Buckenmeyer, “Augustine and the Life of Man’s Body in the Early Dialogues,” Augustinian Studies 3 (1972): 131–146; Tarsicius J. van Bavel, “The Anthropology of Augustine,” trans. Catherine Romanik, Louvain Studies 5 (1974): 34–47; Margaret R. Miles, Augustine on the Body, AAR Dissertation Series 31 (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979); George Lawless, “Augustine and Human Embodiment,” Augustiniana 40 (1990): 167–186; J. Patout Burns, “Variations on a Dualist Theme: Augustine on the Body and the Soul,” in Interpreting Tradition: The Art of Theological Reflection, ed. Jane Kopas, The Annual Publication of the College Theology Society 29 (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984), pp. 13–26; Paula Fredriksen, “Beyond the Body/Soul Dichotomy: Augustine on Paul against the Manichees and the Pelagians,” Recherches Augustiniennes 23 (1988): 87–114; Margaret R. Miles, “The Body and Human Values in Augustine of Hippo,” in Grace, Politics and Desire: Essays on Augustine, ed. Hugo A. Meynell (Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Press, 1990), pp. 55–67; Tarsicius J. van Bavel, “‘No One Ever Hated His Own Flesh’: Eph. 5:29 in Augustine,” Augustiniana 45 (1995): 45–93; Marie-Anne Vannier, “L’anthropologie de S. Augustin,” in Körper

34 The Adumbration of the Resurrection dualistic anthropologies of the Platonists and the Manichaeans – both of whom deny, for different reasons, that the body is a constitutive component of the human person – Augustine affirms that the body and the soul are the two constitutive components of the single, yet dichotomous human person.52 Moreover, he not only locates our humanity within the economy of God’s “creat[ion of] this world from nothing”53 but also articulates our orientation to God, who “made man to [his] image and likeness (see Gen 1:26), which he who has come to know himself acknowledges.”54 Along with this nondualistic, yet dichotomous description of the human creature, Augustine defines the human person according to the classical definition: “Man is an animal, rational [and] mortal.”55 He explains that, to the generic description of man as animal, two distinguishing descriptions have been added: (1) the description rational distinguishes man from the bestial and (2) the description mortal distinguishes man from the divine and the angelic. By returning to himself and his rationality, man is kept from becoming a beast. By taking flight from mortal things and his mortality, man can become divine.56 In this explanation, Augustine shows a tendency to overlap or blend the ontological and the moral, or the constitutional and the conditional, aspects of the human person. While he values the human soul and body as ontologically and constitutionally good, he sometimes speaks about the body in moral and conditional terms that can sound rather dismissive.





und Seele: Aspekte spätantiker Anthropologie, ed. Barbara Feichtinger, Stephen Lake, and Helmut Seng, Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 215 (Munich and Leipzig: K. G. Saur, 2006), pp. 207–236; Brian Stock, The Integrated Self: Augustine, the Bible, and Ancient Thought (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017). 52 Whereas a “dualistic” anthropology holds there to be two separate and incompatible substances juxtaposed conditionally in man, Augustine’s “dichotomous” anthropology holds there to be two distinct and compatible substances integrated constitutionally in man. 53 See sol. 1.1.2 (CSEL 89, p. 4, ll. 5–10; AS 2, p. 20). 54 sol. 1.1.4 (CSEL 89, p. 9, ll. 1–3; AS 2, p. 23). 55 ord. 2.11.31 (CCL 29, p. 124, ll. 17–18; FaCh 5, p. 309). 56 See ord. 2.11.31 (CCL 29, p. 124, ll. 18–25; FaCh 5, p. 309).

The Essence of the Happy Life 35

The Essence of the Happy Life In searching for our greatest and most satisfying good, Augustine locates the happy life and appreciates it as the gift of God.57 He identifies the happy life as having wisdom in the mind58 or having God in the soul.59 Augustine sets three pairs of terms in binary relationships of opposition: (1) wisdom and foolishness, (2) life and death, and (3) the happy life and the miserable life.60 Augustine follows Plato in recognizing that to advance toward the happy life of the wise, and to depart from the miserable life of the foolish, the rational and immortal soul must engage in a purifying, healing, and liberating kind of spiritual ascent. This ascent elevates the mind from the lower sensible world of fluctuating things – where it can, at best, acquire only an opinion by perceiving the similitudes of truth – to the higher intelligible world of enduring things – where it can enjoy the knowledge of truth itself.61 When the soul ascends through philosophy to understanding, it can “not only take flight from death, but also enjoy the happiest life.”62 The hierarchical worldview that structures this ascent has deep affinities with that of Platonism and Neoplatonism. Whereas only the soul can access the higher, intelligible, and immaterial world, the body belongs inescapably to the lower, sensible, and material world. Augustine appreciates that the body contains, “as it were, a certain image of truth,”63 and that it has a praiseworthy beauty that consists of “the congeniality of its parts with a certain charm of its color.”64 Nevertheless, although he includes the body in the human person as intrinsic to him, he excludes the body from the happy life as extrinsic to it.65 “For,” he assumes, “the soul



57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65

See beata u. 1.5 (CCL 29, p. 68, ll. 125–127; FaCh 5, p. 49). See, e.g., Acad. 3.12.27 (CCL 29, p. 51, ll. 8–19; FaCh 5, p. 200). See, e.g., beata u. 4.34 (CCL 29, p. 84, ll. 249–267; FaCh 5, pp. 82–83). See beata u. 4.28 (CCL 29, p. 80, ll. 112–117; FaCh 5, p. 76). See, e.g., Acad. 3.17.37 (CCL 29, p. 57, ll. 6–32; FaCh 5, pp. 212–214). See ord. 1.8.24 (CCL 29, p. 100, l. 49–p. 101, l. 77; FaCh 5, pp. 261–262). sol. 2.18.32 (CSEL 89, p. 90, ll. 11–12; AS 2, p. 90). ep. 3.4 (CSEL 34.1, p. 8, ll. 5–6; WSA II/1, p. 21). See beata u. 4.25 (CCL 29, p. 78, ll. 34–43; FaCh 5, p. 72).

36 The Adumbration of the Resurrection itself, in which the happy life resides, does not need the necessities for the body.”66 Thus, Augustine considers the condition of the body to be useful not so much for the happy life of being wise, but rather for the social life of being among men.67 With its limited usefulness, he simply entrusts his mortal body and its health to the care of God.68 In these earliest texts, Augustine thus refrains from granting the body access to the happy life, since he evaluates its ontological constitution as belonging to the lower world of sensible similitudes and, therefore, incapable of the higher world of intelligible truths.

The Status of the Body At this earliest stage, Augustine gathers that the body’s unfitness for the happy life not only pertains to its physical constitution but also has been aggravated by its moral condition. Accordingly, he describes the moral condition of the mortal body as burdening,69 staining,70 defiling, and darkening the soul.71 The harshest description of the body comes from the mouth not of Augustine but rather of Licentius, one of his students and Cassiciacum dialogue partners, when he comments, “However, I think that God alone knows that truth or perhaps the soul of the man when it has left behind this body, that is, its dark prison (carcerem).”72 While Augustine refrains from describing the body as a “prison”  (carcerem), his reason describes it as a “cage” (cauea). As reason directs him:



66 67 68 69 70 71 72

beata u. 4.25 (CCL 29, p. 78, ll. 36–37; FaCh 5, p. 72). See Acad. 3.2.3 (CCL 29, p. 36, ll. 42–45; FaCh 5, p. 170). See sol. 1.1.6 (CSEL 89, p. 10, l. 19–p. 11, l. 4; AS 2, p. 24). See Acad. 2.1.2 (CCL 29, p. 19, ll. 44–45; FaCh 5, p. 136). See sol. 1.6.12 (CSEL 89, p. 20, ll. 4–6; AS 2, p. 33). See, e.g., ord. 1.8.23 (CCL 29, p. 100, ll. 36–45; FaCh 5, pp. 260–261). Acad. 1.3.9 (CCL 29, p. 8, ll. 68–70; FaCh 5, p. 116). For this conception of the body as a prison of the soul in antiquity, see Pierre Courcelle, “Tradition platonicienne et traditions chrétiennes du corps-prison (Phédon 62b; Cratyle 400c.),” Revue des Études Latines 43 (1965): 406–443, esp. pp. 430–433 on Augustine.

The Status of the Body 37 There is one thing of which I can advise you, I know nothing more: these sensible things are to be thoroughly fled from and vehemently guarded against, as long as we are conducting this body, lest, by the birdlime of them, our wings should be impeded. We need intact and perfect wings to fly up to that light from this darkness. That light does not deign even to show itself to those confined in this birdcage (cauea), unless they should be of such a kind that, when that [birdcage] has been either broken open or broken up, they are able to escape into their own air. Therefore, when you will be of such a kind that none of the earthly things delights you at all, believe me, at that same moment, at that same point of time, you will see what you desire.73

Augustine echoes here the philosophical trope that “these sensible things are to be thoroughly fled from” (penitus esse ista sensibilia fugienda). While sounding quite philosophical, these earliest descriptions of the body align as well with the moral evaluations and exhortations that Augustine has found in the Scriptures.74 One of the most significant indications that he already has, at heart, a biblical view and evaluation of the human body is his affirmation of the embodiment of the Wisdom and Son of God.75 Thus, Augustine affirms: God the Most High, with a certain clemency for the human population, has bent down and submitted the authority of his divine intellect all the way to a human body itself not only by whose precepts, but also by whose deeds souls could be aroused to return to themselves and to recover the fatherland [of the intelligible world], even without the conflict of argument.76

The dichotomy between the soul and the body, however, is so sharp in these earliest works that Augustine simply ascribes

73 74 75 76

sol. 1.14.24 (CSEL 89, p. 37, ll. 4–13; AS 2, p. 46). See van Bavel, “‘No One Ever Hated His Own Flesh,’” pp. 51–55. See beata u. 4.34 (CCL 29, p. 84, ll. 249–255; FaCh 5, p. 82). Acad. 3.19.42 (CCL 29, p. 60, ll. 14–19; FaCh 5, p. 219).

38 The Adumbration of the Resurrection immortality to the soul and mortality to the body. He provides philosophical accounts for such ascriptions, the most relevant of which are based on three pairs of distinctions: (1) the soul is a locus of the immutable and imperishable truth, whereas the body is a locus of a mutable similitude of the truth;77 (2) the soul, as a certain principle of life, gives life to the body, whereas the body receives life from the soul;78 and (3) the soul is a substance which nonabsolutely subsists through itself, whereas the body is a substance which nonabsolutely subsists through the soul, through which it receives its form from God.79 In his earliest version and accounts of the immortality of the incorporeal soul, he agrees with those of Platonism and Neoplatonism, but disagrees with the Stoic80 and Epicurean81 notions of the soul as mortal and corporeal.

The Adumbration of the Resurrection During these earliest investigations, Augustine importantly adumbrates the resurrection. All its earliest mentions and allusions are expressed in the prayers of Soliloquia. He mentions resurrection once, return once, and revivification once when he prays: God, from whom to turn away is to fall, to whom to turn toward is to resurrect (resurgere), in whom to remain is to stand firm. God, from whom to go away is to die out, to whom to return is to revive, in whom to dwell is to live.82

In light of his later, but previously mentioned description of the resurrection – that is, the return from death to life – we can count not only the first of these two triads of departing, returning, and remaining as a placement of the resurrection, both in substance and



77 78 79 80 81 82

See, e.g., sol. 2.13.23–2.13.24 (CSEL 89, p. 76, l. 8–p. 79, l. 9; AS 2, pp. 79–81). See, e.g., imm. an. 9.16–10.17 (CSEL 89, p. 117, l. 17–p. 119, l. 22; FaCh 4, pp. 34–37). See, e.g., imm. an. 15.24 (CSEL 89, p. 125, l. 20–p. 127, l. 2; FaCh 4, pp. 43–45). See Acad. 3.17.38–3.17.39 (CCL 29, p. 58, ll. 38–69; FaCh 5, pp. 214–216). See mag. 41 (CCL 29, p. 199, ll. 7–11; FaCh 59, p. 56). sol. 1.1.3 (CSEL 89, p. 5, l. 17–p. 6, l. 1; AS 2, p. 21).

The Adumbration of the Resurrection 39 in terminology, but also the second as well, if not in te­rminology, then at least in substance.83 In addition to this double placement, Augustine alludes to the structure of the resurrection as the return from death to life. Thus, he prays, “God […], the Father of true and supreme life, […] by whom we are admonished to return to you.”84 As he further addresses him, “God, true and supreme life, in whom and by whom and through whom live all things which truly and supremely live.”85 And further, “God, through whom we receive, lest we entirely perish.”86 In the living and life-giving God, there is “no death,” but rather “supreme life.”87 Augustine even personalizes “my God” as “my life.”88 To his God and his life, he acknowledges, “I realize that I must return to you.”89 In another prayer, he further links the theme of return and the enhancement of life. As he prays: God, our Father, who exhort us to pray, and who bestow that for which you are asked, since, when we ask you, we live better and we are better, hear me, trembling in this darkness, and stretch out



83



84 85 86 87 88 89

Plotinus, in his Ennead III, ed. Jeffrey Henderson, trans. Arthur H. Armstrong, rev. ed., Loeb Classical Library 442 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967/1980/1993), 3.6.6, Greek, p. 238, ll. 72–76; English, p. 239, deploys the term resurrection (ἀ νάστασις) once to signify the rising of the soul from its embodied slumbering in sense perception to its disembodied wakening in intellectual perception. Augustine does not appear to treat explicitly this Plotinian version of the resurrection. When he comes to defend the bodily resurrection against the Platonists, Augustine argues mostly against Plato and Porphyry, but not so much against Plotinus. Even if Marius Victorinus had translated “ἀ νάστασις” as “resurrectio” in his nonextant translation of Plotinus, Augustine suggests, in conf. 7.9.13–7.9.14 (CCL 27, p. 101, ll. 5–6; p. 102, ll. 28–29, 32; WSA I/1, pp. 169–170), that he has not read about the resurrection in Plotinus when he admits that any mention that “God raised him [i.e., Jesus Christ] (Phil 2:9) from the dead […], those books do not have.” For Augustine’s exposure at Milan to the Platonists and their books, see James J. O’Donnell, Augustine: Confessions, 2: Commentary on Books 1–7 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 413–424. sol. 1.1.2 (CSEL 89, p. 5, ll. 2–3, 5; AS 2, p. 20). sol. 1.1.3 (CSEL 89, p. 5, ll. 8–10; AS 2, p. 21). sol. 1.1.3 (CSEL 89, p. 6, l. 8; AS 2, p. 21). sol. 1.1.4 (CSEL 89, p. 7, ll. 16–18; AS 2, p. 22). sol. 1.1.4 (CSEL 89, p. 9, ll. 3, 6; AS 2, p. 23). sol. 1.1.5 (CSEL 89, p. 10, l. 1; AS 2, p. 24).

40 The Adumbration of the Resurrection [your] right hand to me. Stretch forth your light to me, call me back from [my] wanderings; conduct yourself to me and let me return to you. Amen.90

Besides these mentions of and allusions to the resurrection, Augustine also suggests the outcomes of the eschatological resurrection through his deployments of Scripture. Thus, he prays: God, through whom death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:54). God, who converts us. God, who strips off of us that which is not, and clothes us with that which is (see 1 Cor 15:53–54).91

These two scriptural references – the first by quotation, the second by allusion – to 1 Corinthians 15:53–54, where Paul discusses the eschatological resurrection of the body, further contribute to his adumbration of the resurrection. In fact, Augustine indicates that Scripture is what provides him the language and grammar of the resurrection, which he already holds in faith, even while he has not yet come to understand and articulate it clearly. He hints, therefore, at his unwavering commitment to the scriptural language and grammar which propel him toward conceptual and linguistic refinements. In light of these emergent clarifications, we can retrospectively gather that the continuity of Augustine’s biblical faith in the resurrection is already seminal in these cryptic shadows.

The Ambiguity of the Resurrection Despite its ambiguity, the significances of the resurrection’s adumbration remain. At the heart of its ambiguity, it remains unclear what the subject of the resurrection is exactly. Only later does Augustine articulate two basic kinds of resurrection for us: (1) the historical resurrection of the soul and (2) the eschatological resurrection of the body. Its earliest mentions and allusions, therefore,

90 91

sol. 2.6.9 (CSEL 89, p. 57, ll. 6–11; AS 2, p. 65). sol. 1.1.3 (CSEL 89, p. 6, l. 18–p. 7, l. 1; AS 2, p. 22).

The Ambiguity of the Resurrection 41 remain ambiguous, insofar as it is not entirely clear whether any or all of them refer to the resurrection of the soul, to the resurrection of the body, or to both. In light of this later clarification, we can further see that it is not the resurrection alone which remains in the ambiguous shadows of his earliest texts. The tensions which its adumbration generates also remain as ambiguous as the resurrection itself. (1) For if the resurrection refers here to that of the soul, then a tension arises with Augustine’s earliest appropriation of certain aspects of the Platonic and Neoplatonic version and accounts of the immortality of the soul. In tension with this is the fact that, as a precondition for the soul to resurrect, it must, in some sense, truly be dead. Otherwise, the resurrection loses its concrete structure and devolves into the merely symbolic. But if the soul admits some kind of death, and if it is, therefore, in some sense, mortal, then the immortality of the soul cannot be quite so simple as his earliest version and accounts of it indicate. (2) But if the resurrection refers here to that of the body, then a tension arises with Augustine’s earliest appropriations of certain aspects of the Platonic and Neoplatonic evaluation of the body. These include the exclusion of the body from the happy life and the advice of reason to take flight from the things of the sensible world where the body remains grounded. In tension with this is the fact the resurrected body must, in some way, participate in the eternal life of happiness and, hence, the body can no longer be that from which the soul happily takes flight. (3) Finally, if the resurrection refers here to both kinds, then its placement generates both kinds of tension. Despite these ambiguous tensions, Augustine has not yet made any adjustments to resolve them in either direction. He has left them to linger in the texts and to remain in the shadows. In its placement, however, the resurrection shakes, if not also shatters, the merely human grasp of heaven and earth. The resurrection upsets some of the basic foundations of even the best of philosophical worldviews. As Augustine develops his theological understanding of his Christocentric faith, he refuses to displace or replace the resurrection.

42 The Adumbration of the Resurrection He also refuses to resolve these tensions in favor of Platonism and Neoplatonism by adjusting or attenuating his faith in the resurrection. Even with these tensions, Augustine’s deep commitments to Christ and the Christian faith remain unshaken and unshakeable. Instead, he allows the resurrection to make significant adjustments to and attenuations of these two Platonic and Neoplatonic theses: (1) the immortality of the soul and (2) the d­ispensability of the body.92

Later Adjustments and Attenuations The extent to which Augustine later adjusts and attenuates the second of these theses can be gleaned from his emendations, in Retractationes. He not only repents of lavishing too much praise on Plato and the Platonists, “against whose great errors Christian teaching must especially be defended”93 but also, in light of the resurrection, retracts (1) the exclusion of the body from beatitude and (2) the flight from the body for beatitude. (1) In correcting the contents of Soliloquia, Augustine postpones the happy life from our historical to our eschatological c­ondition;94 includes the resurrected body in beatitude; and admits the prospect that the senses of the body, when no longer mortal, will perhaps not be ignorant of God and of the new heaven and new earth (see Rev 21:1) of the world to come.95 Likewise, he expresses similar regrets concerning the contents of De beata uita: I said that the happy life resided only in the soul of a wise person during the time of this life, in whatever state his body might be, although the apostle hopes for the perfect knowledge of God – that is, than which none greater can be for a person – in the



92



93 94 95

See John A. Mourant, Augustine on Immortality, The Saint Augustine Lecture 1968 (Villanova, PA: Villanova University Press, 1969), pp. 12–18. See retr. 1.1.4 (CCL 57, p. 10, ll. 99–102; WSA I/2, p. 29). See retr. 1.4.3 (CCL 57, p. 14, ll. 29–30; WSA I/2, p. 34). See retr. 1.4.2 (CCL 57, p. 14, ll. 12–25; WSA I/2, pp. 33–34).

Later Adjustments and Attenuations 43 life to come, which alone can be called the happy life when the incorruptible and immortal body will be subordinate to its spirit without any disturbance or reluctance.96

(2) In clarifying the contents of Soliloquia, Augustine cautions against taking his statement, “These sensible things are to be thoroughly fled from” (Penitus esse ista sensibilia fugienda), as agreeing with the opinion of Porphyry (c. AD 234–c. 301), who claims, in his De regressu animae, that “every body is to be fled from” (omne corpus esse fugiendum). Augustine clarifies that it is not all sensible things from which a person must flee, but rather those sensible things which are corruptible. Such corruptible things, however, will no longer exist in the new heaven and new earth (see Rev 21:1) of the world to come.97 At this earliest stage, the resurrection remains in ambiguity, and the tensions it generates stay buried beneath the surface of Augustine’s texts. For him, anthropology, cosmology, and eschatology are so deeply interconnected that, when the resurrection leaps forth from the shadows into the light, its shock and aftershocks cannot but profoundly and even catastrophically reshape the known landscape of the human person, the cosmos, and the eschaton. To the emergence of the resurrection in the early writings of Augustine we will turn our attention in the next chapter.



96 97

retr. 1.2 (CCL 57, p. 11, ll. 9–15; WSA I/2, p. 30). See retr. 1.4.3 (CCL 57, p. 15, ll. 37–42; WSA I/2, pp. 34–35).

2

The Restoration of Humanity to the Pristine Stability of Paradise

The Emergence of the Resurrection When the resurrection takes its initial leap from the shadows into the light of his early writings, Augustine expends a considerable amount of effort in attempting to grasp its meanings. What emerge from these efforts are articulations of the multidimensional resurrection and its features, some of which will prove to be essential and long-lasting contributions, others nonessential and short-lasting. Of enduring value, Augustine begins to speak about the resurrection of the soul, which no longer only ascends from the lower world to the higher world, but also starts to rise up from the death of vice to the life of virtue. He also begins to speak about the resurrection of the body, which he envisions as the restoration of human flesh to its pristine stability in the garden paradise of Eden. This early description of the fleshly resurrection focuses more on a return to the original creation and less on an advance to an eschatological transformation. Reinforcing this notion of resurrection as repristination, Augustine flirts not only with a spiritual change of man already at the beginning of time, but also with a version of millennialism at the end of time. At the center of these early considerations, he begins to explore the fleshly resurrection of Christ, which serves as an example for our instruction and a conduit for our sanctification. The emergence of the resurrection, along with the tensions it generates, induces Augustine to make significant alterations to a couple of Platonic and Neoplatonic tenets which he had earlier adopted, but has only now begun to adapt. Among these modifications, he complicates his previously simple notion of the soul’s immortality, 44

Human Constitution and Human Conditions 45 such that now the constitutionally immortal soul has become susceptible to a certain kind of conditional death and, therefore, a candidate for the spiritual resurrection. He also begins to modify the Platonic and Neoplatonic exclusion of the body from the happy life, such that now the body – while it can be neither happy nor miserable, in and of itself1 – can be resurrected to the eternal life of happiness. His initial clarifications of the resurrection evince that he has begun to resolve these previously ambiguous tensions in the direction of the faith of the Catholic Church, rather than in the direction of the philosophy of the Platonic and Neoplatonic schools. Endeavoring to grasp his faith in the resurrection with greater understanding, Augustine begins to bend those tenets of Platonism and Neoplatonism, which allow for such bending, to reconfigure them to the resurrection. But he also begins to distance himself from those tenets which forbid such a reconfiguration, and which he will, in due course, definitively cast aside.

Human Constitution and Human Conditions Augustine continues to affirm and even deepens – particularly against the Manichaeans – the basic features of his anthropology: the composite and hierarchical structure of the human person whose soul and body are both constitutive and good.2 But with the emergence of the resurrection, he begins to complicate his understanding of the human constitution and conditions. He diagnoses two kinds of human death: (1) that of the soul and (2) that of the body. Both of these deaths are the results of human sin and its just punishment. Despite his acceptance that God made the soul immortal,3 he also admits that the soul has been justly thrust into death on account of sin.4 In an early anti-Manichaean work, De duabus animabus, Augustine explains how the immortal soul can suffer death. He identifies Christ as the life through which human souls not only have

1 2 3 4

See ep. 18.2 (CSEL 34.1, p. 45, ll. 11–26; WSA II/1, p. 51). See, e.g., mor. 1.4.6 (CSEL 90, p. 8, l. 4–p. 9, l. 11; WSA I/19, pp. 33–34). See, e.g., an. quant. 2.3 (CSEL 89, p. 133, ll. 18–19; p. 134, ll. 4–5; FaCh 4, p. 61). See an. quant. 36.81 (CSEL 89, p. 230, ll. 17–22; FaCh 4, p. 149).

46 The Restoration of Humanity been created and established, but also are kept alive.5 Insofar as the soul constitutionally lives and participates in life, it is immortal.6 Nevertheless, the soul can experience a conditional kind of death – the death of sin, the death of vices7 – when it turns away from God and Christ.8 As Augustine explains: And indeed, although the soul is immortal, nevertheless, because the turning away from the knowledge of God is rightly said to be its death, when it turns towards God, it merits to attain eternal life, so that eternal life, as it is said, is that knowledge.9

As he admits, “Indeed, by a certain punishment for the sin of transgression, we have become mortal from having been immortal.”10 Augustine explains that the soul experiences the death of wickedness when it affectively defects from God, the supreme life and the fountain of life; turns downwards to delight in some body, which is lower than any kind of life; and thus verges and bends itself towards nothing.11 He identifies the only death of which the immortal soul is capable as sin. Therefore, he applies to the souls of sinners the words of Christ, “Leave the dead to bury their dead” (Mt 8:22), and the words of Paul, A widow who is living in delights is dead (1 Tim 5:6). Such a sinful soul goes on living constitutionally, even while it is dead conditionally.12 To merit eternal life, the soul must affectively turn back to God and turn itself away from this world.13 On the level of our spiritual condition, Augustine thus describes life and death in terms of love. How a soul loves – in either an ordered or a disordered way – is a critical matter of life and death. At heart,



5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

See duab. an. 1.1 (CSEL 25.1, p. 51, l. 18–p. 52, l. 2; WSA I/19, p. 117). See, e.g., duab. an. 2.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 52, l. 3–p. 53, l. 8; WSA I/19, pp. 117–118). See duab. an. 13.21 (CSEL 25.1, p. 77, l. 19–p. 78, l. 3; WSA I/19, p. 133). See, e.g., duab. an. 8.10 (CSEL 25.1, p. 64, l. 20–p. 65, l. 1; WSA I/19, p. 125). duab. an. 8.10 (CSEL 25.1, p. 65, ll. 1–4; WSA I/19, p. 125). duab. an. 13.19 (CSEL 25.1, p. 76, ll. 2–3; WSA I/19, p. 132). See, e.g., uera rel. 11.21–12.23 (CCL 32, p. 200, l. 1–p. 201, l. 4; WSA I/8, pp. 42–43). See, e.g., duab. an. 2.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 53, ll. 4–10; WSA I/19, p. 118). See duab. an. 8.10 (CSEL 25.1, p. 65, ll. 3–6; WSA I/19, p. 125).

Human Constitution and Human Conditions 47 “death itself is not to love God.”14 In wrestling with the complexities of death, Augustine does not simply equate death with the separation of the life-donor from the life-recipient, either God from the soul, or the soul from the body. Death remains an obscure mystery of radical incoherence because, at the heart of its darkness, death is nothing other than the incoherent choice of not loving the infinitely loving and infinitely loveable God. In this respect, the resurrection, as the victory of life over death, not only reunites what has been separated – either the soul to God, or the body to the soul – but also restores the human person to existential coherence as a good and wholesome lover. The resurrection returns us not only to life, but also to love; and, for Augustine, love itself is at the very heart of what it means to be a person, human or divine. Augustine does not hesitate to affirm the goodness of life and to expose the evil of death. Thus, he acknowledges that there is “no life which is not from God,”15 and he insists, echoing Scripture, that “death is not from God. For God did not make death and he does not delight in the perdition of the living” (see Wis 1:13).16 Augustine further describes death as the diminished participation in the supreme being of God, such that the more humans die, the less they are, although without the possibility of arriving at nothing.17 He further admits that the evil of human death, both of the soul and of the body, results from the sin of the soul and the just punishment of sin,18 the divine execution of which displays the Lord’s clemency more than his severity.19 From as early as De Genesi aduersus Manicheos, Augustine expresses his conviction that God created humanity in an original condition of incorruptibility and immortality, and that man would not have experienced corruption or death if he had not sinned.

14 15 16 17 18 19

See, e.g., mor. 1.11.19 (CSEL 90, p. 22, l. 16–p. 23, l. 1; WSA I/19, p. 40). uera rel. 11.21 (CCL 32, p. 200, l. 1; WSA I/8, p. 42). uera rel. 11.22 (CCL 32, p. 201, ll. 22–23; WSA I/8, p. 43). See, e.g., uera rel. 11.22 (CCL 32, p. 201, ll. 23–29; WSA I/8, p. 43). See uera rel. 12.23 (CCL 32, p. 201, l. 4–p. 202, l. 15; WSA I/8, pp. 43–44). See uera rel. 15.29 (CCL 32, p. 205, ll. 1–13; WSA I/8, p. 47).

48 The Restoration of Humanity As he argues, although God made the human body from the mud of the earth (Gen 2:7), and not from celestial material, it was not before sin, but only after sin that the human body began to be perishable, fragile, and destined to death.20 Intriguingly, he articulates his early view that man was first made animal, and then was made spiritual when he was placed in the happy life of paradise, where there is no death and where man could become consummated by the Word of God.21 Speculating that man had already been made spiritual in the pristine condition of paradise, Augustine can describe the resurrection of the body – whose outcomes include the spiritual body – as simply a return to, and not an advance beyond, this pristine and paradisiac condition. Thus, he comments: Therefore, after [man] sinned, receding from the precept of God, and was dismissed from paradise, it remained in him that he should be animal. And for that reason, all of us, who are born from him after sin, conduct the earlier animal man, until we reach the spiritual Adam, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did not commit sin (1 Pet 2:22), and we are restored, having been recreated and revived, by him to paradise.22

Reinforcing this early notion of resurrection as repristination to our original spiritual condition, Augustine interprets God’s blessing of human fecundity (see Gen 1:28) as the blessing of our spiritual fecundity before sin, which then turned into the blessing of our carnal fecundity after sin. As he suggests, the future life of the resurrection will restore us to a condition better than the present life of this carnal generation, but not much better than the past life of Eden.23 Augustine holds that the human condition now is not the same and not quite as good as our pristine condition had once been in paradise when man was spiritual and immortal. Due to the first

20



21 22 23

See, e.g., Gn. adu. Man. 2.7.8–2.7.9 (CSEL 91, p. 127, l. 4–p. 128, l. 17; WSA I/13, pp. 76–77). See, e.g., Gn. adu. Man. 2.8.10 (CSEL 91, p. 129, ll. 1–18; WSA I/13, p. 77). Gn. adu. Man. 2.8.10 (CSEL 91, p. 129, l. 19–p. 130, l. 24; WSA I/13, pp. 77–78). See Gn. adu. Man. 1.19.30 (CSEL 91, p. 97, l. 1–p. 98, l. 18; WSA I/13, p. 58).

Christ’s Fleshly Resurrection 49 and ancient sin of humanity by which we have fallen from that im­mortality into this mortality,24 our bodies have been changed for the worse and now are subject to corruption and death.25 In its corruptibility and mortality, our body has become our heaviest chain, shackling the soul with the fear of its death,26 and captivating the soul with the allure of its beauty.27 Augustine exposes human death from under the Genesis figure of the skin tunics (see Gen 3:21). He observes that God changed the bodies of Adam, Eve, and their descendants into this mortal flesh, where lying hearts lie hidden. The thoughts and movements of truthful hearts, however, cannot remain hidden in that transparency and simplicity of heavenly bodies into whose angelic form the saints deserve to be changed.28 Augustine follows Paul in presenting the two conditions of the human race, embodied in two men: (1) the miserable condition of sin and death in Adam, who embodies the old, exterior, and earthly man in his corruption; and (2) the happy condition of resurrection and life in Christ, who embodies the new, interior, and heavenly man in his renovation.29

Christ’s Fleshly Resurrection for Our Integral Resurrection Quite early, Augustine grasps the soteriological significance of Christ and his fleshly resurrection. He presents the Son of God who has assumed man – without sin, but not without the condition of sin – as the “sacrament” (sacramento)30 and the “example” (exemplum) of our salvation.31 For Augustine, the ultimate purpose of the Christ event is human repristination in and through the resurrected flesh of God. As he acknowledges, the Son of God came not in some ethereal body, but rather in true and total humanity to liberate us

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

See, e.g., Gn. adu. Man. 2.19.29 (CSEL 91, p. 150, ll. 1–10; WSA I/13, p. 90). See mus. 6.4.7 (CSEL 102, p. 198, ll. 14–16; FaCh 4, p. 332). See mor. 1.22.40 (CSEL 90, p. 45, l. 17–p. 46, l. 1; WSA I/19, p. 50). See mus. 6.4.7 (CSEL 102, p. 198, ll. 13–18; FaCh 4, pp. 331–332). See, e.g., Gn. adu. Man. 2.21.32 (CSEL 91, p. 154, l. 1–p. 156, l. 27; WSA I/13, pp. 92–93). See, e.g., mor. 1.19.35–1.19.36 (CSEL 90, p. 39, l. 13–p. 41, l. 13; WSA I/19, pp. 47–48). See mus. 6.4.7 (CSEL 102, p. 198, l. 18–p. 199, l. 24; FaCh 4, p. 332). See an. quant. 33.76 (CSEL 89, p. 225, ll. 3–7; FaCh 4, p. 143).

50 The Restoration of Humanity from sin and death, to remind us of our excellence among creatures,32 and to recall us to the “pristine and perfect [human] nature” of such a condition God made before our sin.33 By “his resurrection from the dead,” Christ has shown that “nothing of human nature is lost, since all things are safe and sound to God.”34 Accordingly, Augustine expresses his confidence in the God of the resurrection: Therefore, this man is not crushed by the death of anyone, since he, who loves God with his whole soul, knows that what is not lost to God, is not even lost to himself. Moreover, God is the Lord of both the living and the dead.35

Augustine sees that Christ’s paschal mystery of dying and r­ising p­ rovides not only an example for our imitation,36 but also the resources for our resurrection. Considering the structure of the incarnate God, Augustine specifies Christ’s death and resurrection as experiences of his flesh. He confesses that the one and whole Christ consists of the Word, his rational human soul, and his human flesh. Within this triadic constitution of the singular God–man, Augustine invariably locates Christ’s paschal mystery in his flesh alone, from which and to which the double life of his immortal Word and of his immortal, God-adhering soul departed and returned. Even while Christ, as dead flesh, was lying in the tomb, one and the same Christ, as Word, was welcoming the believing thief’s soul into paradise.37 As Augustine insists: If we should deny [his] death, then we also deny [his] resurrection. Thence he died, whence he deigned to be human; thence he resurrected, whence he deigned to be human; because we too are human, and we are going to die, and we are going to resurrect.38



32 33 34 35 36 37 38

See uera rel. 16.30 (CCL 32, p. 205, l. 1–p. 206, l. 16; WSA I/8, pp. 47–48). See uera rel. 46.88 (CCL 32, p. 245, ll. 37–38, 49–50; WSA I/8, p. 89). See, e.g., uera rel. 16.32 (CCL 32, p. 207, ll. 44–49; WSA I/8, p. 49). uera rel. 47.91 (CCL 32, p. 247, ll. 45–48; WSA I/8, pp. 91–92). See, e.g., util. cred. 15.33 (CSEL 25.1, p. 42, ll. 3–16; WSA I/8, p. 144). See s. 375B.4–375B.8 (MA 1, p. 25, l. 27–p. 29, l. 18; WSA III/10, pp. 334–337). s. 375B.4 (MA 1, p. 25, ll. 24–27; WSA III/10, p. 334).

Christ’s Fleshly Resurrection 51 In and through his paschal mystery, the Word of God, having taken up human soul and human flesh, has delivered our entire humanity, soul and flesh, from sin and death, “not by losing life, but by giving life.”39 Christ celebrates with us an exchange of his divine life, which he has given to us, for our human death, which he has received from us.40 The brilliance of Augustine’s Christology – which respects not only the full divinity and full humanity of Christ, but also their deep and personal integration in one and the same Christ – shines forth when he discusses Jesus’s approach to and experience of the resurrection. Christ not only has the divine power to lay down and take up again his life (see Jn 10:18), when he wanted and how he wanted, but also the human power to express his solidarity with us unto and even beyond death.41 Augustine values how advantageous for us are “both the humanity of [Christ’s] divinity, so that [he] could have died, and the divinity of [Christ’s] humanity, so that [he] could have resurrected.”42 Augustine even makes the rather unparalleled observation that Christ “prayed for the resurrection,”43 that his would come not at the end of time, as with other humans, but at once.44 God answered his prayer when, with the Father, the Son raised up his own dead flesh after three days.45 Even now, the resurrected and ascended Christ continues to pray for our resurrection.46 Augustine grasps the logic of Christ’s fleshly resurrection h­aving already happened in the course of history before that of the rest of humanity at the end of history. As he preaches, the dead Jesus has already resurrected on the third day in his true flesh,47 so that our dead hearts could now resurrect through the confession of living faith in the resurrected Jesus,48 and our dead flesh could experience, at the end of the

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

See s. 375B.6 (MA 1, p. 27, ll. 6–14; WSA III/10, p. 335). See s. 375B.5 (MA 1, p. 26, ll. 29–31; WSA III/10, p. 335). See, e.g., en. Ps. 3.5 (CCL 38, p. 9, l. 1–p. 10, l. 33; WSA III/15, pp. 78–79). en. Ps. 15.3 (CCL 38, p. 90, ll. 8–9; WSA III/15, p. 182). See, e.g., en. Ps. 20.5 (CCL 38, p. 115, ll. 1–2; WSA III/15, p. 218). See en. Ps. 21.1.20 (CCL 38, p. 119, ll. 1–3; WSA III/15, p. 224). See, e.g., en. Ps. 21.1.1 (CCL 38, p. 117, ll. 1–9; WSA III/15, p. 221). See, e.g., en. Ps. 19.7 (CCL 38, p. 114, ll. 1–10; WSA III/15, p. 216). See s. 214.8 (RB 72, p. 19, ll. 174–179; WSA III/6, p. 155). See s. 214.1 (RB 72, p. 14, ll. 5–9; WSA III/6, p. 150).

52 The Restoration of Humanity age, the resurrection of life, rather than the resurrection of j­udgment.49 In and through the resurrection of Christ, our head, the whole body and each member of Christ, his Church, is in the process of being resurrected from the death of sin to the life of eternity, both in spirit and in flesh.50 As Augustine comments, the Church’s “salvation consists in the resurrection of him, who deigned to die for us.”51 On account of our ecclesial unity in and through Christ’s flesh, he observes: For in that man, [Christ,] the Church also has been taken up by the Word because he was made flesh and dwelt among us (see Jn 1:14); and because he made us sit, as one, with him in the heavens (see Eph 2:6). Indeed, who will separate us from the charity of Christ (see Rom 8:35)?52

Integral Repristination When Augustine interlaces the theme of the soul’s inward and upward ascent, and the thesis of the soul’s resurrection, he accentuates the integral repristination of the human person whose flesh will be reestablished and restabilized in its resurrection. He explains that the soul can, with God’s help, “restore itself to the condition such as it was made by God.”53 Furthermore, toward the end of De quantitate animae, Augustine engages in a sevenfold gradual ascent of the soul from its activities in the body, through its activities in itself, to its activities in God’s presence.54 At its seventh step and climactic destination, he locates not only the soul’s vision of God, but also the flesh’s resurrection, which seems doubtful or unbelievable to others, but “so certain [to Augustine], that the future rising of the sun, after its setting, is not more certain to [him].”55

49 50 51 52 53 54 55

See, e.g., s. 214.9 (RB 72, p. 19, l. 200–p. 20, l. 221; WSA III/6, p. 156). See, e.g., Gn. litt. inp. 1.4 (CSEL 28.1, p. 460, l. 23–p. 461, l. 5; WSA I/13, pp. 115–116). en. Ps. 3.9 (CCL 38, p. 12, ll. 47–48; WSA III/15, p. 82). en. Ps. 3.9 (CCL 38, p. 12, ll. 17–21; WSA III/15, p. 82). See, e.g., an. quant. 3.4 (CSEL 89, p. 135, ll. 8–13; FaCh 4, p. 63). See an. quant. 33.70–35.79 (CSEL 89, p. 217, l. 18–p. 229, l. 5; FaCh 4, pp. 136–147). See an. quant. 33.76 (CSEL 89, p. 223, l. 17–p. 225, l. 18; FaCh 4, pp. 142–144).

Integral Repristination 53 Particularly in De musica and De uera religione, Augustine fleshes out how the resurrection returns the body to its pristine stability. After its death, due to its destabilization in and through humanity’s first sin, “this body, in its own time and order, will be restored to its pristine stability.”56 The stability of the resurrected body, however, will come not through itself, but rather through its soul, which itself will also be stabilized not through itself, but rather in and through God. Moreover, the resurrected body will thrive not only through its soul, but also through the Son of God and the Spirit of God.57 The beautiful numbers of health and movement in the body will be even more intensely felt and constantly perceived in its resurrected condition.58 Augustine believes that the resurrected body will repossess its pristine qualities: whole health in each of its members; pure peace in each of its activities;59 an external beauty which will no longer deceive;60 an incorruptibility which will annul such needs as nutrition and procreation;61 and a perfect subjection to the soul, which itself will be perfectly subject to God.62 As he further remarks, once the regenerated soul has been restored to its pristine integrity and the resurrected body to its pristine stability, the integrally repristinated man will begin to reign in and over the new heaven and new earth (see Rev 21:1).63 Beyond these constructive features, Augustine’s integral v­ersion of human repristination serves to criticize the Manichaean version of a purely spiritual repristination. As Fortunatus describes it, the simulated death and resurrection of their disincarnate Christ



56



57 58 59 60 61 62 63

See mus. 6.5.13 (CSEL 102, p. 203, ll. 1–10, 14–18; FaCh 4, pp. 337–338); uera rel. 12.25 (CCL 32, p. 202, ll. 29–31; WSA I/8, p. 44). See uera rel. 12.25 (CCL 32, p. 202, l. 31–p. 203, l. 45; WSA I/8, pp. 44–45). See, e.g., mus. 6.15.49 (CSEL 102, p. 227, l. 1–p. 228, l. 14; FaCh 4, pp. 370–371). See, e.g., mus. 6.5.14 (CSEL 102, p. 203, l. 1–p. 204, l. 18; FaCh 4, pp. 338–339). See uera rel. 21.41 (CCL 32, p. 212, l. 1–p. 213, 23; WSA I/8, pp. 55–56). See, e.g., uera rel. 44.82 (CCL 32, p. 241, l. 1–p. 242, l. 18; WSA I/8, p. 86). See, e.g., mus. 6.5.13 (CSEL 102, p. 203, ll. 10–14; FaCh 4, p. 338). See uera rel. 23.44 (CCL 32, p. 214, l. 7–p. 215, l. 15; WSA I/8, pp. 57–58). For an alternative interpretation, see Andrea Nightingale, Once Out of Nature: Augustine on Time and the Body (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), pp. 1–54.

54 The Restoration of Humanity function to restore the souls of the Manichaeans to the memory of their pristine origin in the divine substance of light, and to deliver them from their embodiment in the alienating substance of darkness.64 In response to Fortunatus’s exclusion of the substance of human flesh and blood from the economy and kingdom of God (see 1 Cor 15:50),65 Augustine argues that our flesh intrinsically belongs to our integral repristination, for “afterwards, the very same flesh, which tortures us with punishments, so long as we remain in sins, will become subject to us in the resurrection.”66 Rather early, Augustine recognizes that although the bodily resurrection will be a universal event, it will be of two kinds: (1)  the beatific resurrection of the godly saints to eternal life and (2) the miserable resurrection of the godless damned to eternal punishment. Augustine expresses his belief that when the resurrected Christ comes in glory on the day of judgment, we all will resurrect, but not all will be changed (1 Cor 15:51). Whereas godly people, due to their justice and virtue, will be transformed into the new man and begin to live the angelic life, godless people, due to their sin and vice, will remain the old man and be cast down into the second death.67

Flirtation with Millennialism Contributing to his early description of the resurrection as repristination, Augustine preaches a version of millennialism. According to his millennialism, the resurrected saints will enjoy a sabbatical rest and will share in Christ’s reign on this earth for the temporal duration of a seventh day of history. Then, on the eighth day of eternity, the resurrected saints will return to that immortal and blessed condition, from which sinful man has fallen into this mortal and miserable condition.



64 65 66 67

See, e.g., c. Fort. 20 (CSEL 25.1, p. 99, ll. 22–23; WSA I/19, p. 155). See c. Fort. 19 (CSEL 25.1, p. 97, ll. 1–7; WSA I/9, p. 153). c. Fort. 22 (CSEL 25.1, p. 106, ll. 15–17; WSA I/19, p. 158). See, e.g., uera rel. 27.50 (CCL 32, p. 219, l. 1–p. 220, l. 28; WSA I/8, pp. 62–63).

Later Revisions 55 Beyond the alterations of daytime and ni­ghttime, the r­esurrected saints will abide in an eternal perichoresis of wakeful rest and leisurely activity.68 At least by the time he writes the last three books of De ci­uitate dei, Augustine has not only reconsidered his early view of the resurrection as repristination, but also retracted his early and evidently only version of millennialism.69 As he acknowledges: [Some millenarians suppose that] the saints will resurrect evidently for the sake of celebrating this Sabbath. This opinion would be somewhat tolerable, if it were believed that some spiritual delights will be at hand for the saints during that Sabbath through the presence of the Lord. For even we once supposed this.70

Moreover, Augustine counts the number of ages as of days, and seamlessly locates the end of the seventh and sabbatical day, which begins after the six days of historical time, in the eighth and et­ernal day of the Lord, which Christ’s resurrection has consecrated. He f­urther identifies the saints themselves – integrally resurrected to the et­ernal rest of spirit and body in God – as “the seventh day, which we o­urselves will be.”71

Later Revisions The extent to which Augustine comes to revise his early notion of the resurrection as the restoration to our pristine stability can be gleaned from his Retractationes, where he reconsiders his earlier treatments of it, in De musica and De uera religione. At this later point, Augustine does not want these earlier descriptions of repristination to be taken to mean that the resurrected body will not be



68



69 70 71

See s. 259.2–259.3 (PL 38, col. 1197, l. 10–col. 1198, l. 45; WSA III/7, pp. 177–179); s. 260C.3–260C.6 (MA 1, p. 335, l. 10–p. 338, l. 16; WSA III/7, pp. 195–198). See ciu. 20.7 (CCL 48, p. 709, ll. 20–43; WSA I/7, p. 399). ciu. 20.7 (CCL 48, p. 709, ll. 30–33; WSA I/7, p. 399). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 865, l. 124–p. 866, l. 145; WSA I/7, p. 554).

56 The Restoration of Humanity better than the paradisiacal body, since the resurrected body will have this pristine stability more abundantly. Like the paradisiacal body, the resurrected body will have such felicity that it will neither suffer sickness nor decline into the decrepitude of old age. But unlike the paradisiacal body, the resurrected body will no longer need to be nourished by physical nutrients. Although the first body would not have died if man had not sinned, it was nevertheless made animal and was animated by the living soul. By contrast, the final body will be made spiritual when it resurrects as a life-giving spirit and will be vivified by the spirit.72 Moreover, Augustine disapproves of his statement, in De Genesi aduersus Manicheos, that God’s blessing to increase and multiply (see Gen 1:28) was directed to carnal fecundity only after sin, if it cannot be taken but to imply that humans would not have had children unless they had sinned.73 These retractions express Augustine’s mature view that the non-nutritive and ­nonreproductive condition of the resurrection will not simply be a return to paradise, but rather an advancement beyond Eden. In these early texts, Augustine thus evinces that his view of the resurrection as repristination contributes an important collection of contents to his developing theology of the resurrection. But these contents are not quite sufficient for explaining how the body advances, in and through its resurrection, to a condition better than any humanity has ever experienced before. The advancement of the resurrection is foretold in certain passages of Scripture and in the  professed faith of the Church, to whose collective witness Augustine holds himself responsible. The most prominent features of this promotion are indicated to him by Christ’s bodily ascension. In attempting to imagine such an improvement, Augustine experiments with the transmutation of human flesh and blood into a more sublime substance. On this substantial transmutation we will focus our attention in the next chapter.

72



73

See retr. 1.11.3 (CCL 57, p. 34, ll. 28–35; WSA I/2, p. 56); retr. 1.13.4 (CCL 57, p. 37, l. 40–p. 38, l. 51; WSA I/2, p. 60). See retr. 1.10.2 (CCL 57, p. 30, l. 27–p. 31, l. 31; WSA I/2, p. 52).

The Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body

3

The Resurrection as Substantial Transmutation As Augustine ponders the depths of the scriptural and ecclesial witness to the resurrection, he encounters, in a complicating way, the heavenly heights to which Jesus’s resurrected body has been elevated.1 This encounter with the resurrected and ascended Christ reveals to him the insufficiencies of envisioning the resurrection simply in terms of the restoration of humanity to its pristine stability of paradise on earth. In endeavoring to handle the advanced human condition in heaven – whither the resurrected body of Jesus has already ascended, and whither the resurrected bodies of the saints will eventually follow him – Augustine describes the beatific resurrection of Christ and his saints as involving the transmutation of human flesh and blood into an angelic, celestial, and ethereal substance. This experiment with such a substantial transmutation allows Augustine to deflect philosophical and exegetical objections to the Catholic faith in the resurrection of the body. In deflecting the philosophical objection of unbelievers that no earthly body can exist in heaven, he argues that due to its angelic transmutation, the substance of the resurrected body will no longer be of earth, but rather it will be of heaven and thus suitable for dwelling in heaven. In deflecting the exegetical objection of the Manichaeans and other like-minded heretics to the bodily resurrection, he argues that due to its angelic transmutation, the substance of the resurrected body will no longer be flesh and blood, the very substance of which, as Augustine at this early stage agrees, will not

1

For Augustine’s understanding of Christ’s ascension, see William H. Marrevee, The Ascension of Christ in the Works of St. Augustine (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1967).

57

58 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50). In these deflections, however, he largely acquiesces, at least for now, to the philosophical premise and the exegetical conclusion of his opponents. This ac­quiescence accounts, in part, for his experimental theory of celestial transmutation. However, erforms this experiment for philosophical and although Augustine p­ e­xegetical reasons, what motivates this experiment is the ascension of the resurrected Christ into heaven, and what permits this experiment is the God of the resurrection, who himself ensures the continuity of human identity.2 As his considerations of this transmutation show, Augustine never wavers from his commitments to the resurrected Jesus and the God of the resurrection, even if these commitments stretch him to think experimentally beyond the familiar.

Advancement and Enhancement in and through the Resurrected Christ In articulating these experimental considerations, Augustine does not so much reject the return to pristine stability, but rather supplements it with an advancement to the angelic substance. For example, he observes that “the human creature itself, by its own transmutations, was recalled to pristine firmness.”3 However, Augustine appreciates more deeply that the risen Christ not only restores humanity back to its former condition of pristine stability, but also advances humanity forward by “chang[ing] it for the better through the resurrection.”4 Augustine centers the promotion of humanity on the events of Christ’s paschal mystery, which signify the integral enhancement of the whole human person, soul and body. He explains that “the crucifixion of the old man is signified in the cross of the Lord, just as the restoration of the new man is signified in [his] resurrection.”5 Moreover, Augustine describes these Christ-signified events not so much as simple recoveries, but rather as changes for the better. He

2



3 4 5

For Augustine’s approaches to human and divine continuities, see Jaroslav Pelikan, The Mystery of Continuity: Time and History, Memory and Eternity in the Thought of Saint Augustine (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986), pp. 1–68. agon. 11.12 (CSEL 41, p. 115, ll. 2–3; FaCh 2, p. 328). See agon. 23.25 (CSEL 41, p. 126, ll. 7–13; FaCh 2, p. 340). exp. prop. Rm. 32–34.2 (CSEL 84, p. 14, ll. 4–6; Fredriksen, p. 13).

Advancement and Enhancement 59 observes that a certain death of the soul happens when its former way of life is forsaken through repentance, just as the death of the body happens when its former form of life is released. The soul, after its death, is reformed for the better, just as the body, after its death, is “transmuted for the better at the time of its resurrection.”6 For Augustine, the integral enhancement of humanity in and through the resurrection results from the self-abasement of God in the body. Certainly in dying, but even in rising, God humbles himself to be with us on our level, no matter how sunken or elevated. Augustine recognizes that, according to the logic of divine p­ redestination, God’s promotion of humanity has first and foremost taken place in the resurrected Christ so that he might serve as the paragon for the rest of his brothers and sisters to follow him. As Augustine explains, Christ was predestined not so much “by [his] resurrection from the dead” (ex resurrectione a mortuis), which Paul did not write, but rather by the resurrection of the dead (ex resurrectione mortuorum) (Rom 1:4), as the apostle wrote. Christ has d­isplayed his divine identity and power not so much in his resurrection itself, since other dead humans will also be resurrected, but rather in resurrecting ahead of and before the others, precisely as the predestined Son of God (Rom 1:4). As the head of the Church and the firstborn from the dead (see Col 1:18), Christ has already shown a certain preeminence of the resurrection so that he might serve as the leader and example of the resurrection. However, the resurrected Christ serves as the exemplary leader only for those godly humans who follow him into the resurrection to eternal life, since he serves only as the judge of those godless humans who will be resurrected to the punishment of damnation.7 Augustine admits that if Christ had delayed his resurrection until the time of our resurrection, then there would have been no one in whom we could believe, no paragon in whose advancement into heaven we could hope to share.8 Therefore, Jesus has already “resurrected to show us an example of the resurrection.”9

6 7 8 9

See doctr. chr. 1.19.18 (CCL 32, p. 16, ll. 1–7; WSA I/11, p. 113). See ep. Rm. inch. 5.1–5.17 (CSEL 84, p. 150, l. 15–p. 153, l. 16; Fredriksen, pp. 57–61). See s. 264.6 (PL 38, col. 1218, ll. 15–30; WSA III/7, pp. 232–233). s. 263.1 (MA 1, p. 507, l. 6; WSA III/7, p. 219).

60 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body Besides the exemplarity of the resurrected Christ for us, Augustine highlights his solidarity and identity with us. As he comments: In fact, before [Christ] there was no resurrection of the dead, that [humans] might die no longer, but after him there is [the resurrection] of many saints, whom he is not confused to call brothers and sisters on account of the very communion of humanity.10

Augustine gathers that, by his preeminent resurrection, Christ has introduced the resurrection into our human condition as the undying basis for our living community and our collective identity as the family of God. The solidarity of Christ with us goes so deep that Christ has made us not only his family, but also his very body, his very self. Thus, Augustine hears the whole Christ singing as one man, one congregation, one Church of hope in God’s mercy and of expectation of God’s judgment.11 Quite emphatically, Augustine insists and iterates, “We are Christ; […] I said, ‘We are Christ.’”12 This unity of Christ, head and members, is so seamless that “he is still dying in [us] and [we] have already resurrected in him.”13

The Church of the Resurrection On the basis of this Christological unity, Augustine grasps the p­rofound and sublime unity of the Church. Although the conditions of the Church are two, its constitution is one.14 The two miraculous catches of fish – the one before Christ’s passion (see Lk 5:1–11) and the other after Christ’s resurrection (see Jn 21:1–14) – and the two periods of forty and fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection – during the first of which Christ spent with his disciples on earth, and concluding the second of which Christ sent the Holy Spirit upon his disciples from

10 11 12 13 14

exp. prop. Rm. 56.5 (CSEL 84, p. 31, ll. 8–11; Fredriksen, p. 29). See en. Ps. 100.3 (CCL 39, p. 1408, ll. 30–65; WSA III/19, pp. 32–33). en. Ps. 100.3 (CCL 39, p. 1408, ll. 55–57; WSA III/19, p. 33). en. Ps. 100.3 (CCL 39, p. 1408, l. 38; WSA III/19, p. 33). For Augustine’s understanding of the one single Church, which is both historical and eternal, see Pelikan, The Mystery of Continuity, pp. 90–122.

The Continuity of Human Identity 61 heaven – bear ecclesial significances for Augustine. In these biblical events, Augustine detects the two times and conditions of the one Church: (1) the Church of this time, whose condition is one of labor and anxiety with its mixture of imperfect members and experiences, both good and bad, and (2) the Church of the future time, whose condition is one of joy and security with all its members and experiences perfected and sanctified.15 These two conditions of the Church can seem to be separated off from one another by the disruptive forces of death and sin. However, Augustine sees that the one Church has a unity that goes deeper and higher than these forces because its constitution has been, is being, and will be given to it continuously by Christ in and through his paschal mystery. United in Christ, the Church exists in two conditions that not only are contiguous, but also mutually impact and interpenetrate each other. For Augustine, the unity and identity of the Church derives from and depends on the resurrection of Christ, head and body. He sees, therefore, that, in the final analysis, the Church ultimately, at its most radical and constitutive level, is nothing other than the Church of the resurrection. As the one resurrected body of Christ in two conditions of hope and of reality, the Church is not only the means of the beatific resurrection, but also its ultimate destination beyond which there is nowhere better for the saints to graduate further. The event of the integral resurrection, however, does not concern the person without also concerning, at the same time, the community. It cannot but occur as an integration of its personal and communal dimensions, since it constitutes the salvation of our complete humanity, which God has designed, in his image and likeness, to be both personal and communal.

The Continuity of Human Identity Augustine grasps that the continuity of human identity in all its dimensions – corporeal and spiritual, personal and communal – runs much deeper and higher than the event of death. It even runs deeper and

15

See, e.g., diu. qu. 81.2–81.3 (CCL 44A, p. 241, l. 44–p. 243, l. 90; WSA I/12, pp. 152–154).

62 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body higher than the substance of the body, the substance of the soul, and both of these substances integrally united together. Every s­­elf-seeking attempt to locate the self-assured integrity of our identity in some such thing – including what belongs to our constitution – inevitably serves to disintegrate and dehumanize us because it does not go far enough to reach anything secure enough. Since we are created from nothing, all these human components are so fragile and unreliable that they cannot, in and of themselves, bear the permanence and responsibility of our human identity. None of us, and nothing within us, has the wherewithal to sustain all of us. As Augustine is concerned, our various proud attempts to secure our identity for ourselves alone – particularly through assorted theories or technologies of the self – cannot but result in our own expropriation and misappropriation of ourselves and, therefore, cannot but be inappropriate, inhumane, and even downright cruel. Instead, it is the resurrection itself – or better, the God of the resurrection – who appropriately grounds and crowns the continuity and integrity of our human identity.16 For Augustine, this does not mean that humanity is identified or identifiable with the divine, as if we were the trickling emanations of the Neoplatonic One or the alienated particles of the Manichaean Father. Rather, it means that our identity as the creatures of God is a continuous process of God’s gratuitous giving, which is being given for nothing and being garnered from nothing. Augustine recognizes that this creative process of divine generosity comes to consummate realization in our integral resurrection in Christ. From the gifts God lavishes upon us, we find ourselves given by and given to nothing other than the glory of God, who is the source and consummation of our humanity. On account of his boundless generosity, God promises to continue giving us ourselves as integrally resurrected for all eternity. Our unending dependence on God to continue giving us our entire selves from top to bottom, at each and every moment, constitutively



16

See John A. Mourant, Augustine on Immortality, The Saint Augustine Lecture 1968 (Villanova, PA: Villanova University Press, 1969), pp. 23–24, 33–34.

The Transmutation of Human Flesh 63 uggests, this belongs to our ontological poverty. As Augustine s­ poverty does not come to an end at the end of our lives here. Not even our entrance into the kingdom of God permits us to claim the self-assurance of ontological riches. Our poverty, in and of ourselves, endures forever. It is one of our most distinctive features that remind us of the fact that we are not God, who alone is the unchangeable Selfsame. But God promises to redeem our poverty forever by the continuous outpouring of his kenotic love into our resurrected souls and bodies through the eternalized poverty of his incarnate Son. When we come to participate most fully in the ontological abundance of God, then we will thrive most fully in God and in our own human way.17 As Augustine preaches, “[Men] are not truly rich unless they are rich of God.”18 This divine redemption transfigures our poverty so that it no longer hurts and pains us, but rather enables us to be always open to, always enriched by, and always grateful for, the cascading treasure of God’s love in Jesus Christ lavished through the Spirit.19 Even in its redemption, this poverty of self endures forever precisely because the entire good of the self always belongs to Christ and in Christ.20

The Transmutation of Human Flesh This divine guarantee of our human identity has already been shown in the resurrection of Jesus, the identity of whose body even survived death. Thus, Augustine affirms that “such a body of the Lord resurrected as that which was placed in the tomb.”21 To such a body, Christ himself witnesses after his resurrection, inviting his disciples, “Touch and see, because a spirit does not have bones and nerves (neruos), as you see I have” (Lk 24:39).22 It is highly significant that, in this perhaps earliest quotation of Luke 24:39, Augustine specifies “nerves” (neruos), rather than “flesh” (carnem) as he does all the other

17 18 19 20 21 22

See, e.g., en. Ps. 122.11–122.12 (CCL 40, p. 1823, l. 1–p. 1825, l. 39; WSA III/20, pp. 40–42). s. 177.7 (SPM 1, p. 69, l. 15; WSA III/5, p. 284). See, e.g., s. 177.1–177.11 (SPM 1, p. 64, l. 1–p. 73, l. 21; WSA III/5, pp. 279–288). See en. Ps. 39.27 (CCL 38, p. 444, ll. 3–9; WSA III/16, p. 220). agon. 24.26 (CSEL 41, p. 126, ll. 24–25; FaCh 2, p. 341). See agon. 24.26 (CSEL 41, p. 126, l. 25–p. 127, l. 4; FaCh 2, p. 341).

64 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body forty-four or so times when he quotes these words from this verse, with one exception. The only other instance when Augustine specifies “nerves” (neruos), instead of “flesh” (carnem), can be found in Sermo 264.6, an arguably early sermon on the ascension, during the course of which Augustine also discusses the angelic transmutation.23 Augustine’s reluctance to specify “flesh” (carnem) in these e­arliest quotations of Luke 24:39 coheres with his insistence on the resurrection of Christ’s human body, with which he, for whose divine power all things are possible, does whatever he wants. Just as before his passion Christ could make his body walk on water and could transfigure his body to have a splendor like that of the sun, so also after his resurrection he could make his body suddenly enter through closed doors (see Jn 20:26).24 Augustine admits that the power of God could even transmute the earthly flesh of a human into the heavenly body of an angel. Despite its unsuccessful outcome, Augustine’s license to experiment with this theory of substantial transmutation comes from his confidence that the continuity of human identity, both personally and communally – from this life through death into the resurrection – has not been placed into the frail hands of man, but rather remains secure in the strong hands of God. As Augustine considers Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven,25 he envisions Christ’s human body to be so malleable and mutable in the hands of God that even its very substance can be and, in fact, has been transmuted from flesh and blood into an angelic, celestial, and ethereal body. Augustine confesses that the resurrected “Christ no longer lives a mortal way of life; but life in the flesh is mortal.”26

23



24 25 26

See s. 264.6 (PL 38, col. 1218, ll. 9–15; WSA III/7, p. 232). For a relatively early dating of this sermon, see Edmund Hill’s note in Augustine, Sermons, ed. John E. Rotelle, trans. Edmund Hill, WSA III/7 (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1993), pp. 230–231, n. 1; Mamerto Alfeche, “The Rising of the Dead in the Works of Augustine (1 Cor. 15,35–57),” Augustiniana 39 (1989): 72–84. Alfeche notes, on p. 76, n. 42: “Nervos is not found in other old Latin versions of the Bible, Vetus Latina. Augustine is the only one to preserve this reading.” See agon. 24.26 (CSEL 41, p. 127, ll. 4–15; FaCh 2, pp. 341–342). See agon. 25.27–26.28 (CSEL 41, p. 127, l. 16–p. 129, l. 2; FaCh 2, pp. 342–343). exp. Gal. 17.9 (CSEL 84, p. 74, ll. 10–11; Plumer, p. 151).

The Transmutation of Human Flesh 65 At this early stage, Augustine equates the substance of the flesh with mortality. Accordingly, he proposes that “the body of the Lord, after its resurrection, was raised up into heaven in such a way as to receive a celestial transmutation in conformity to the celestial dwelling place itself.”27 When Christ ascended bodily into heaven, he introduced our immortalized humanity into the place where transmuted humans will be just as and equal to the angels of God in heaven (Mt 22:30), not only in qualitative and conditional terms, but also in substantive and constitutional terms.28 Augustine speculates that in conformity to Christ’s resurrected body, our earthly and animal body will also be resurrected and transmuted into a heavenly and spiritual body (see 1 Cor 15:44, 48), so as to become suitable for dwelling in heaven.29 Such a resurrected body has been “transmuted and converted from every earthly fragility and blemish into a heavenly stability and purity.”30 Moreover, Augustine describes the bodily resurrection and transmutation as a kind of divine agriculture. Thus, he regards the animal body itself as seed that is sown in tears to rise up a spiritual body at the eschatological harvest of joy (see 1 Cor 15:44; Ps 125:5).31 Such a rising advancement into heaven involves neither just the body nor just the soul, but rather the whole human person. Augustine acknowledges that it is not only our earthly body, but also our sinful soul, which renders us unsuitable for the celestial abode with the angels of God.32 The soul must now imitate the visible humility of the Word and rule its body through the virtues to make it worthy of the angelic transmutation and dwelling place.33 Augustine

27



29



30

28

31 32 33

c. Adim. 12.4 (CSEL 25.1, p. 142, ll. 8–10; WSA I/19, p. 193). For Augustine’s speculations on the common life of the beatified angels and the resurrected saints, see Elizabeth Klein, Augustine’s Theology of Angels (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), pp. 85–97. See, e.g., c. Adim. 12.4 (CSEL 25.1, p. 140, l. 22–p. 142, l. 15; WSA I/19, pp. 192–193). See Mamerto Alfeche, “The Transformation from Corpus Animale to Corpus Spirituale According to Augustine,” Augustiniana 42 (1992): 239–310; Frederick van Fleteren, “Augustine and Corpus Spirituale,” Augustinian Studies 38 (2007): 333–352. f. et symb. 6.13 (CSEL 41, p. 15, l. 22–p. 16, l. 1; WSA I/8, p. 164). See exp. Gal. 61.1–61.14 (CSEL 84, p. 136, l. 3–p. 137, l. 16; Plumer, pp. 229–231). See lib. arb. 3.9.27–3.9.28 (CSEL 74, p. 113, l. 9–p. 114, l. 29; FaCh 59, pp. 191–192). See, e.g., lib. arb. 3.10.30 (CSEL 74, p. 115, l. 29–p. 116, l. 19; FaCh 59, pp. 193–194).

66 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body gathers that the eternal reward of the righteous in heaven is given not primarily in “the higher regions of this visible world,” but rather in the “spiritual firmaments, where everlasting justice dwells.”34 While they can even now experience certain foretastes of that reward, the righteous will receive its perfection only after the resurrection of the flesh when, like the angels, their spirits will be completely obedient to and enlightened by God alone,35 and their bodies will receive “the utter transmutation into the angelic form.”36 This ascent from earth into heaven requires the resurrection from carnal death to spiritual life. Intriguingly, Augustine even describes both resurrections of the human person – not only that of the body, but also that of the soul – as two kinds of resurrection of the flesh. He explains that, on account of its carnal affections, the soul can be called flesh, and that, on account of its sinful habits, it can be called corruptible and mortal. As he confesses, “Of course, the death of the soul is to apostatize from God.”37 He recognizes, therefore, that the reordering of the soul to its spirit, which is ordered to Christ and God, constitutes a resurrection of the flesh.38 Furthermore, Augustine gathers that we graciously rise up from our carnal and mortal condition in Adam – by whose original offense we all have become “a certain single mass of sin” – to our spiritual and living condition in Christ.39 For Augustine, the resurrection of the human person is a g­radual process.40 Thus, he reads the stages of Lazarus’s resurrection as signifying the comeback of the soul to spiritual life from the universal human condition of being dead and buried in earthly sins. As the emergence of Lazarus from the tomb indicates, the resurrected soul can continue not only to be delivered from sin, but also to advance



34



36

35

37 38 39 40

See, e.g., s. dom. mon. 1.5.15 (CCL 35, p. 15, ll. 311–322; WSA I/15 and I/16, p. 30). See s. dom. mon. 2.6.20–2.6.24 (CCL 35, p. 109 l. 424–p. 113, l. 514; WSA I/15 and I/16, pp. 78–80). See, e.g., s. dom. mon. 1.4.12 (CCL 35, p. 12, ll. 245–248; WSA I/15 and I/16, p. 28). f. et symb. 10.23 (CSEL 41, p. 30, ll. 13–15; WSA I/8, p. 172). See f. et symb. 10.23 (CSEL 41, p. 28, l. 9–p. 30, l. 15; WSA I/8, p. 172). See, e.g., Simpl. 1.2.16 (CCL 44, p. 41, l. 467–p. 42, l. 471; WSA I/12, p. 198). See, e.g., diu. qu. 51.1–51.3 (CCL 44A, p. 78, l. 1–p. 81, l. 69; WSA I/12, pp. 62–64).

Theological and Exegetical Defense 67 into the resurrected life, until it sees God face to face.41 Similarly, Augustine comments that the resurrection continues to expand and intensify within the believer, whose interior man has become the dwelling place of Christ, and whose body will be “transmuted into a celestial quality” in and through its beatific resurrection.42

The Theological and Exegetical Defense of the Bodily Resurrection Augustine speculates that the equality of the resurrected saints to the angels will consist in neither only their spiritual lifestyle as contemplative nor only their corporeal condition as incorruptible and immortal, but also their physical constitution as disincarnate. This theory of substantial transmutation enables him to deflect (1) the philosophical arguments of the Gentiles and (2) the exegetical objections of the heretics, against not only the fact, but also the possibility, of the resurrection of the body and its ascension into heaven.43 However, Augustine stipulates: But to seek where and how the Lord’s body is in heaven is most curious and superfluous; it is only necessary to believe that it is in heaven. For it does not belong to our fragility to shake down the secrets of heaven, but it belongs to our faith to think sublime and honorable thoughts about the dignity of the Lord’s body.44

(1) In response to those whose denial of the fleshly resurrection is based on the philosophical premise that no earthly body can exist in heaven,45 Augustine argues that the saints’ resurrected bodies, “at the moment of their angelic transmutation, will no longer be flesh and blood, but only a body.”46 In support of this claim, he observes that Paul does not mention “celestial flesh” (caro caelestis) when

41 42 43 44 45 46

See diu. qu. 65 (CCL 44A, p. 147, l. 1–p. 149, l. 56; WSA I/12, pp. 101–102). See, e.g., exp. prop. Rm. 51.1–51.3 (CSEL 84, p. 23, l. 22–p. 24, l. 8; Fredriksen, p. 21). See f. et symb. 6.13 (CSEL 41, p. 15, l. 8–p. 16, l. 5; WSA I/8, p. 164). f. et symb. 6.13 (CSEL 41, p. 16, ll. 5–10; WSA I/8, p. 164). See f. et symb. 10.24 (CSEL 41, p. 32, ll. 3–6; WSA I/8, p. 174). See f. et symb. 10.24 (CSEL 41, p. 30, ll. 16–20; WSA I/8, p. 173).

68 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body cataloguing the various kinds of flesh (see 1 Cor 15:39), but he does speak about celestial bodies (caelestia […] corpora) (1 Cor 15:40).47 Augustine admits that every flesh is also a body, but denies that every body is also flesh. On earth, whereas each tree is a body, but not flesh, each man and beast are both a body and flesh. In heaven, however, there is no flesh, but only “simple and lucid bodies, which the apostle calls spiritual, while others call ethereal,” and into which God will instantaneously transmute our earthly flesh at its resurrection.48 (2) In response to those heretics, including the Manichaeans, whose denial of the resurrection of bodies is based on the exegetical conclusion that the substance of flesh and blood will not possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50), Augustine argues that the body of each saint, which is now flesh and blood, “will no longer be flesh and blood, but a celestial body.”49 In and through the beatific resurrection, “flesh and blood will be transmuted and become a celestial and angelic body” in its very substance.50 On account of this substantial transmutation, therefore, he upholds both of these claims as true: (1) the substance of flesh will resurrect and (2) the substance of flesh and blood will not possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50).51 Likewise, Augustine preaches: [F]lesh and blood, he says, will not possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50). Why will they not possess it? Because the flesh will not resurrect? God forbid! The flesh will resurrect, but what does it become? It is transmuted and itself becomes a celestial and angelic body. Can it be that angels have flesh? But this is the difference, that this flesh will resurrect, this very flesh, which is buried, which dies; this flesh, which is seen, which is touched, which needs to eat and drink so that it can endure; which gets sick, which suffers pains, itself has to resurrect, the

47 48 49 50 51

See f. et symb. 10.24 (CSEL 41, p. 30, l. 20–p. 31, l. 3; WSA I/8, p. 173). See f. et symb. 10.24 (CSEL 41, p. 31, l. 3–p. 32, l. 3, 6–11; WSA I/8, pp. 173–174). See agon. 32.34 (CSEL 41, p. 136, ll. 14–20; FaCh 2, p. 351). See agon. 32.34 (CSEL 41, p. 136, l. 20–p. 137, l. 1; FaCh 2, pp. 351–352). See, e.g., agon. 32.34 (CSEL 41, p. 137, ll. 1–3; FaCh 2, p. 352).

Theological and Exegetical Defense 69 bad to everlasting punishments, but the good so that they may be transmuted. When it will be transmuted, what will it become? It will now be called a celestial body, not mortal flesh, because this corruptible thing must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal thing must put on immortality (1 Cor 15:53).52

At this point, Augustine simply accepts the philosophical premise that denies earthly bodies from existing in heaven, and the exegetical conclusion that denies the substance of flesh and blood from possessing God’s kingdom. Nevertheless, at a deeper level, he remains committed to the God of the resurrection, for whom nothing is impossible, and in whose hands are the personal identities and integrities of all humans.53 He further speculates that, “after the resurrection and transmutation of the body,” the saints will be able to see their thoughts because their “angelic bodies” will be “most lucid and ethereal.”54 Such a transmutation is neither incredible nor unreasonable to Augustine. As he points out, if the element of earth can be liquefied into water, vaporized next into air, and etherealized finally into the ether of heaven, then the prospect of God transmuting a fleshly and earthly body into an ethereal and heavenly body not gradually, but rather suddenly is not so unacceptable.55 Even more radically, the prospect of God making a celestial body from flesh should not be so astounding, given his making of everything from nothing.56 As Augustine acknowledges, the bodies of the damned will also resurrect, but not to this celestial transmutation, and rather to hell’s eternal punishments. Denying the possibility of their annihilation, he holds that “neither the [human] soul nor the human body will suffer utter extinction.”57 He laments that the bodies of the godless



52 53 54 55 56 57

s. 264.6 (PL 38, col. 1217, ll. 34–48; WSA III/7, p. 232). See doctr. chr. 1.19.18 (CCL 32, p. 16, ll. 7–12; WSA I/11, pp. 113–114). See diu. qu. 47 (CCL 44A, p. 74, ll. 1–11; WSA I/12, p. 61). See f. et symb. 10.24 (CSEL 41, p. 31, l. 11–p. 32, l. 3; WSA I/8, p. 174). See s. 264.6 (PL 38, col. 1217, ll. 48–56; WSA III/7, p. 232). See doctr. chr. 1.20.19–1.21.19 (CCL 32, p. 16, ll. 1–4; WSA I/11, p. 114).

70 Transmutation of Human Flesh into an Angelic Body will resurrect to an adversarial condition that expresses the infernal hatred of their hearts, where “each one is hurtful to himself, and all are harmful to one another.”58

Later Reconsiderations In Retractationes, Augustine evinces the extent to which he has developed beyond his experiment with the substantial transmutation of humanity. He reconsiders his previous statements that our resurrected and transmuted bodies will no longer be flesh and blood, but rather will be angelic bodies,59 whose lucidity and ethereality will allow us to see our thoughts.60 Augustine clarifies that these statements should not be read as denying existence in God’s kingdom “either to the members or to the substance of our flesh.”61 He has come to learn about the substantial endurance of the flesh from the resurrected Christ, who invited his disciples, “Touch and see, because a spirit does not have bones and flesh (carnem), as you see I have” (Lk 24:39). He has also come to interpret the flesh and blood of 1 Corinthians 15:50 as referring either to humans who persist in carnal lifestyles, or to fleshly corruption which will no longer exist in the beatific resurrection of incorruptible flesh.62 Thus, in considering the advancement of the resurrection, even beyond its Edenic repristination, Augustine focuses more intently on Christ’s bodily ascension into heaven and experiments with the substantial transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body. His acceptance of the cosmological premise of the philosophers, and of the exegetical conclusion of the heretics, along with substantive, rather than qualitative, interpretations of earthly flesh, which does not belong in God’s kingdom, and of heavenly bodies, which do belong, propel him in this direction. But what gives him license to

58



60

59

61 62

See agon. 7.8 (CSEL 41, p. 110, ll. 5–12; FaCh 2, p. 323). See retr. 1.17 (CCL 57, p. 53, l. 9–p. 54, l. 33; WSA I/2, pp. 77–78); retr. 1.22.3 (CCL 57, p. 65, ll. 50–54; WSA I/2, p. 90); retr. 2.3 (CCL 57, p. 92, ll. 5–17; WSA I/2, pp. 112–113). See retr. 1.26 (CCL 57, p. 80, ll. 123–129; WSA I/2, p. 103). See, e.g., retr. 1.17 (CCL 57, p. 53, ll. 16–20; WSA I/2, p. 77). See, e.g., retr. 1.17 (CCL 57, p. 53, ll. 20–31; WSA I/2, pp. 77–78).

Later Reconsiderations 71 move in this direction in the first place is his conviction that the personal and communal identity of humanity rests entirely in the hands of God. Augustine trusts that God, for whom nothing is impossible or even difficult, can bring us from a sunken condition into an elevated condition and even an enhanced constitution just as easily as he once brought us from nothing into existence. These deep insights that the resurrection opens up into our human constitution and conditions remain operative for Augustine, even while he moves beyond these early considerations. To be sure, whereas his notion of repristination emphasizes aspects of continuity between historical and resurrected humanity, his notion of transmutation emphasizes aspects of discontinuity. These aspects, however, are not completely synthesized into an integrated whole in Augustine’s early considerations. Still, what prevents him from finally settling for any of these considerations is the fact that none of them can sufficiently account for the entire data of the scriptural witness. The biblical language and grammar of the resurrection not only exceed Augustine’s early attempts to provide a fully coherent account of it, but also exhibit the inadequacies of these early attempts and, therefore, summon him to theological coherence, which he reaches in Contra Faustum Manicheum. To this culminating moment we will devote our attention in the next chapter.

II  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

In his early considerations of the resurrection, Augustine has not only posited the resurrection, but also featured it as repristination and as substantial transmutation. Despite their insights, these features are not quite sufficient for handling, in a completely coherent way, the scriptural witness and the ecclesial faith concerning the resurrection. Augustine still needs to take one further step to reach a coherent grasp of its essential contents. As evidenced in Contra Faustum Manicheum and other anti-Manichaean works around this time, Augustine comes to this culminating moment of theological coherence by concentrating further on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In defending the goodness of human flesh and its resurrection against the Manichaean denials of both, he begins to articulate an understanding of the resurrection of the flesh according to which its advancement to an enhanced condition does not transmute its substantial constitution. The flesh of the resurrection remains the same flesh of the same human person, even while it is qualitatively changed for the better. Although occasioned by the Manichaean challenge, what motivates Augustine’s developments in this direction, above all else, is the resurrected Christ’s self-witness to his Church that the substance of his true flesh endures, even while it is elevated and enhanced, after his true resurrection from his true death. Augustine appreciates that Christ’s witness within his Church has endured down the centuries and will endure forever. Accordingly, in the proclamation of and preaching on Jesus’s resurrection, including many of Augustine’s sermons, the faithful can even now come into living contact with Christ, whose flesh has resurrected. Through their encounters with the risen Christ, Christians 73

The Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

4

The Opening and Freeing of the Mind In Contra Faustum Manicheum  – written in response to, and containing the extant contents of, Faustus of Milevis’s (c. AD 340–c. 390) polemical Capitula (AD 386/390)  – Augustine expresses his faith-informed and experience-impacted understanding of how great a difference the real flesh of the resurrected Jesus makes, particularly in contrast to the phantom flesh of one of the Manichaean Christs.1 Despite the Manichaean claims to promote the resurrection of the soul, the soul of Augustine – so long as he had not yet come to know the incarnate Christ and the power of his fleshly resurrection  – remained spiritually lifeless. Thus, he confesses that under the influence of Manichaeism, his soul descended further into the spiritual death of “hell” (inferi) by entertaining its own carnal fantasies.2 In due course, however, Augustine has come to see that, although garbed in religious words and images, the fantasies of the Manichaeans are nothing more than the delusions of a certain rationalism. By its rationalistic self-commitment, the Manichaean mind closes itself off from those dimensions of reality which are greater than its own comprehensive limits. As Augustine learns, only Christ’s resurrected flesh has the power to bring about the integral resurrection of humanity, which includes the opening and self-transcending of the human mind to grasp the fullness of reality beyond itself.



1



2

In c. Faust. 20.11 (CSEL 25.1, p. 550, ll. 14–19; WSA I/20, p. 271), Augustine shows his awareness of three Christs in Manichaeism: (1) the suffering Jesus, imprisoned in matter and hanging from every tree; (2) the historical Jesus, who appeared human; and (3) the splendorous Jesus, delivered and distended through the sun and the moon. See conf. 3.6.11 (CCL 27, p. 32, l. 53–p. 33, l. 57; WSA I/1, p. 83).

75

76 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh In fact, Augustine traces the entire constellation of Manichaean errors to their denial of the reality of Christ’s human flesh, which truly was born, truly died, and truly resurrected. On the resurrected flesh of the Son of God, according to Augustine, hinges the entire economy of salvation. He remarks that, since the Manichaeans reject the reality of Christ’s flesh, they “have remained in the old condition of the flesh and have introduced the novelty of error.”3 Despite their claim to hold only onto the new promises of God, they actually hold onto the novel and erroneous claim of Hymenaeus and Philetus that the resurrection has already happened (2 Tim 2:18).4 Thus, Augustine rebukes Faustus: Recognize that you flow from this vein of falsity, for you say that there is now only the resurrection of souls through the preaching of truth, but you deny that there will be [the resurrection] of bodies which the apostles preached. What, however, can you think in a spiritual way according to the interior man, who is being renewed in the knowledge of God, when, because of the old condition of the flesh and because of images of carnal things, in which your whole error is involved, you do not hold bodily realities in your possession, but you are inspired by a phantom?5

Seeking to enlighten the Manichaeans, Augustine exposes their rejection of Christ’s flesh as what keeps them captivated in the carnal delusions of their own alternative reality. Although the Manichaean fabrication of an alternative reality emerges from religious mythology that features a radical dualism and uncompromising materialism, Augustine sees that their system has developed into a rationalistic form of ideology that keeps them entrapped in a mental space fundamentally at odds with empirical and objective reality. Their avowed rationalism attracted Augustine

3 4 5

c. Faust. 4.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 270, ll. 12–13; WSA I/20, p. 83). See c. Faust. 4.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 270, ll. 13–19; WSA I/20, p. 83). c. Faust. 4.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 270, ll. 19–26; WSA I/20, p. 83).

The Opening and Freeing of the Mind 77 to the Manichaeans in the beginning,6 but the irredeemable incoherence of their fabricated worldview severed him from them in the end.7 Augustine laments that apart from living faith in Christ’s resurrected flesh, and devoid of resources for the resurrection of their souls, the minds of the Manichaeans cannot but remain undelivered from their own rationalistic and ideological constraints.8 These constraints include their inability to think about God, except in corporeal images. Ironically, it is the concrete revelation of Christ’s resurrected flesh that has the power to deliver the Manichaean mind from its imaginative rationalizations of God. Thus, Augustine admonishes Faustus: [T]o the death of your soul, you do not believe in the death of Christ’s body. Nevertheless, how much you persuade others that the death of Christ was not real, but simulated, as if you would not dare to deceive people by the Christian name, unless you made Christ himself a teacher of deception.9

Augustine repeatedly emphasizes that the Manichaeans imagine Christ to have simulated his flesh, death, and resurrection. As Augustine presents Manichaean Christology, their disincarnate and purely spiritual Savior showed to his doubting disciples fake scars of false wounds in the false members of fake flesh, which neither truly died nor truly resurrected, since Christ lied with his whole body.10 In denying the true flesh of Christ, the Manichaeans accept the subversion of truth by deception. The logic of Manichaeism makes not only Christ, the truth, a liar, but also Christ’s true disciples liars, who follow Christ’s example of deception.11 Augustine reports that this disincarnate and deceptive Christ eschews human flesh as one of the diabolical devices that keep the divine particles of light trapped in darkness.12

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

See, e.g., conf. 3.6.10–3.7.12 (CCL 27, p. 31, l. 1–p. 33, l. 16; WSA I/1, pp. 80–84). See, e.g., conf. 5.3.3–5.7.13 (CCL 27, p. 58, l. 1–p. 64, l. 41; WSA I/1, pp. 115–122). See c. Faust. 14.11–14.12 (CSEL 25.1, p. 411, l. 10–p. 414, l. 22; WSA I/20, pp. 180–182). c. Faust. 14.12 (CSEL 25.1, p. 414, ll. 22–25; WSA I/20, p. 182). See, e.g., c. Sec. 25 (CSEL 25.2, p. 943, l. 4–p. 945, l. 11; WSA I/19, pp. 387–389). See, e.g., c. Faust. 29.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 745, ll. 3–5; WSA I/20, p. 399). See, e.g., c. Faust. 20.15 (CSEL 25.1, p. 555, l. 8–p. 556, l. 7; WSA I/20, pp. 274–275).

78 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh Augustine acknowledges that the fundamental obstacle of the Manichaeans is that they have not yet opened themselves up to experiencing the power of Christ’s fleshly resurrection. As he insists, “Hence, if the Manichaeans were justified by the resurrection of the Lord, […] then truly they would be stripped of the carnal veil of mortal desires and would be rejoicing in the circumcision of heart.”13 As spiritually circumcised, they would no longer despise, but would begin to appreciate, the fleshly economy of salvation which has been consummated in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Word of God.14 For Augustine, grasping Jesus’s resurrected flesh involves experiencing the enactment of Christ’s paschal mystery within the soul, which thereby dies to the carnality of ideology, rises to the justice of faith, and becomes a resurrected member of Christ’s ecclesial body.

The Vindication of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh In deconstructing the Manichaean ideology of the phantom Christ and in constructing a Catholic theology of the incarnate and resurrected Christ, Augustine advances for the first time beyond his experiment with the substantial transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body. At this culminating moment, he begins to show how Jesus’s human flesh is of permanent value, precisely as the gift of divine creation and the locus of human salvation. Christ’s resurrected flesh displays how much God loves us and vindicates our history and eschatology. Augustine admits, however, that God could have done otherwise than he did in bringing about human salvation. The omnipotent Son of God could have created true human flesh for himself, either from anything or even from nothing. But what Augustine believes and understands about Jesus’s flesh concurs with what the Catholic Church has received from the authoritative testimony of Scripture.15 As he confesses:

13 14 15

c. Faust. 6.3 (CSEL 25.1, p. 286, ll. 15, 17–19; WSA I/20, p. 94). See, e.g., c. Faust. 6.3 (CSEL 25.1, p. 286, l. 19–p. 288, l. 11; WSA I/20, pp. 94–95). See c. Faust. 26.7 (CSEL 25.1, p. 735, l. 10–p. 736, l. 16; WSA I/20, pp. 392–393).

The Vindication of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh 79 We believe, therefore, that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary because thus it is written in the Gospel. We believe that he was crucified and died because thus it is written in the Gospel. He both truly was born and truly died because the Gospel is the truth.16

With his mind thus framed by Scripture, Augustine allows his thoughts to advance more deeply into Christ’s self-witness which has been inscribed in the living word of God. In distinguishing more precisely between the constitutional substance of the flesh and its conditional qualities, Augustine comes to grasp the enduring reality of Christ’s resurrected flesh, believing and understanding it to be “the truth of the Gospel” which Christ has shown and spoken to his Church.17 As Augustine explains, Christ’s fleshly resurrection serves to enhance humanity, but without changing the unchangeable God, either for the better or for the worse.18 Accordingly, he acknowledges that the immortal Son of God was made the Son of man through his assumption of true human flesh, not through any investiture of deceptive elements, so that he could die for our sins and resurrect for our justification (see Rom 4:25).19 In his fleshly death and resurrection, Christ manifests how he is like us as man, who died a true death of the mortal body, and yet unlike us as God, whose will conditioned his sinless death,20 and “in [whose] own power he was holding the times of his suffering and resurrection.”21 Thus, although Christ allowed his flesh to suffer the wounds of crucifixion unto death, he did not allow his dead flesh to see corruption (Ps 15:10) and to suffer disintegration.22 Against the Manichaean notion of human flesh as an agent of deterioration, Augustine argues that the immutable Word of God “was not made worse in that flesh, but rather the flesh was made

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

c. Faust. 26.7 (CSEL 25.1, p. 736, ll. 2–6; WSA I/20, p. 392). See c. Faust. 26.6 (CSEL 25.1, p. 734, l. 3–p. 735, l. 9; WSA I/20, pp. 391–392). See, e.g., nat. b. 39 (CSEL 25.2, p. 873, l. 25–p. 874, l. 14; WSA I/19, p. 336). See, e.g., c. Faust. 5.4 (CSEL 25.1, p. 274, l. 21–p. 276, l. 20; WSA I/20, pp. 86–87). See c. Faust. 16.15 (CSEL 25.1, p. 455, l. 16–p. 457, l. 8; WSA I/20, pp. 209–210). See c. Faust. 16.29 (CSEL 25.1, p. 474, ll. 14–20; WSA I/20, p. 221). See nat. b. 20 (CSEL 25.2, p. 863, l. 23–p. 864, l. 1; WSA I/19, p. 330).

80 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh better in him.”23 In his paschal mystery, Christ has shown “to us from us – that is, to man from man, to flesh from flesh” – two examples of how we ought to live two lives in human flesh:24 (1) Christ’s suffering unto death has provided us the demonstrative example of patience in this life of history, whose miseries and labors we are to endure, and (2) Christ’s resurrection has provided us the demonstrative example of justice in that life of eternity, for whose happiness and rest we are to hope.25

Coherent Reading of Scripture on the Fleshly Resurrection In plunging more deeply into Scripture, Augustine comes to read certain key verses with a greater degree of coherence and sophistication than he had previously done. These developments in his scriptural reading enable him to grasp both (1) the enduring substance of Christ’s resurrected flesh and (2) its enhanced condition in and through its beatific resurrection. Augustine now reads Luke 24:39 in such a way that he learns from the resurrected Christ that the same substance of his “flesh” (carnem), in which he once lived and died, continues to exist and to thrive in its resurrected condition. In many of his sermons, Augustine preaches that the risen Christ corrected his disciples, who mistakenly thought that they were seeing a spirit, by exhibiting the enduring substance of his flesh for them to see and touch (see Lk 24:36–40). In his resurrected flesh, Jesus wanted to keep the scars of his crucifixion not only to heal the wounds of doubt in the hearts of these disciples and to save them from the spiritual death of disbelief, but also to heal ours and to save us as well.26 To demonstrate further the enduring reality of his flesh, the risen Christ freely ate and drank before his disciples (see Acts 10:41). But to remove all possible ambiguities, the risen Christ “sent forth his hand to the Scriptures” and opened their minds, as he now opens our minds, to understand those writings

23 24 25 26

c. Fel. 2.9 (CSEL 25.2, p. 838, ll. 16–18; WSA I/19, p. 305). See c. Fel. 2.9 (CSEL 25.2, p. 838, ll. 1–18; WSA I/19, p. 305). See, e.g., c. Fel. 2.11 (CSEL 25.2, p. 840, l. 24–p. 841, l. 2; WSA I/19, p. 307). See, e.g., s. 116.1–116.3 (PL 38, col. 657, l. 50–col. 659, l. 3; WSA III/4, pp. 203–204).

Scripture on the Fleshly Resurrection 81 which have prophesied his resurrection and which his resurrection has fulfilled (see Lk 24:41–46).27 Thus, Augustine preaches and prays: So now come, Lord, make keys, [and] open, so that we may understand. Behold, you are saying it all, and you are not being believed. You are thought to be a spirit; you are touched, you are pushed against, and still, they who are touching you are in a state of confusion. You remind them of the Scriptures, and still, they do not understand. Their hearts are closed; open and enter. He did so: Then he opened their minds (Lk 24:45). Open, Lord, and for the one who has doubts about Christ, open the heart. Open also the mind, which believes that Christ was a phantom. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45).28

Despite all this documented evidence, however, Augustine often laments that the Manichaeans, the Priscillianists, and other like-minded heretics have persisted in entertaining similarly mistaken thoughts about Christ. To their own detriments, these heretics assert him to be a pure spirit and deny his true flesh and fleshly experiences.29 Against such docetism, by which “the heretics endeavor to evacuate […] the entire dispensation of our salvation” in Christ,30 Augustine warns, “No one should believe anything about Christ, except what Christ wanted to be believed about himself.”31 Christ makes himself known as the Word of God, who – to redeem the whole man, whom he created – took up the whole man, not only soul, but also flesh, which once truly hung on the cross, once was truly dead, but now is truly living once again in and through its resurrection.32



27



30

28 29

31 32

See, e.g., s. 229J.3–229J.4 (MA 1, p. 583, l. 11–p. 584, l. 26; WSA III/6, pp. 305–307). s. 116.5 (PL 38, col. 659, ll. 41–48; WSA III/4, p. 205). See, e.g., s. 238.2 (PL 38, col. 1125, l. 13–col. 1126, l. 10; WSA III/7, pp. 56–57). In haer., Augustine catalogues thirteen heretical groups which deny the fleshly resurrection, without including the Priscillianists, however, whose other heretical teachings he treats in haer. 70.1–70.2 (CCL 46, p. 333, l. 1–p. 334, l. 32; WSA I/18, pp. 51–52). See s. 237.1 (SC 116, p. 282, ll. 17–25; WSA III/7, p. 51). See s. 237.4 (SC 116, p. 288, ll. 93–98; WSA III/7, p. 53). See, e.g., s. 237.1–237.4 (SC 116, p. 280, l. 2–p. 292, l. 140; WSA III/7, pp. 51–54).

82 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh Augustine believes that the resurrection has not only returned Christ’s flesh from death to life, but also enhanced its condition from one of corruptibility and mortality to one of incorruptibility and immortality. According to this conditional enhancement, Augustine now begins to read 1 Corinthians 15:50 in such a way that the flesh and blood which are ineligible for God’s kingdom, refer no longer to the substance of the flesh, as these terms do for Faustus. Rather, these words now signify to Augustine the corruptibility and mortality of the flesh which will no longer exist in the beatific resurrection, as Paul explains by immediately adding, nor will corruption possess incorruption (1 Cor 15:50). Furthermore, Augustine points out, against the Manichaeans, that the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 15:35–57 is concerned with how our mortal and corruptible bodies, not our souls, will be changed in their resurrection.33 As Christ’s exemplary resurrection shows to Augustine, human flesh is neither dispensable nor disposable in the economy of God. The transfigured, yet unexchanged vestments of Christ figuratively indicate to him that, in the beatific resurrection, the flesh itself is changed for the better, not exchanged for something better.34 Accordingly, Augustine distinguishes between the enduring substance of resurrected flesh, as Luke 24:39 attests, and the exchangeable quality of corruption, as 1 Corinthians 15:50 adumbrates.35 At this culminating moment, through a deeper engagement with the resurrected Christ of the Gospel, Augustine has come to believe and begun to understand that the beatific resurrection brings about not only the persistence of human flesh, according to its substantial constitution, but also its enhancement, according to its qualitative condition.36 For Augustine, it is not only the New Testament that witnesses to Christ’s fleshly resurrection. He also shows how the Old



33

See c. Faust. 11.3 (CSEL 25.1, p. 317, ll. 1–7, 19–26; p. 318, ll. 18–27; WSA I/20, pp. 117–118). See Mamerto Alfeche, “The Use of Some Verses in 1 Cor. 15 in Augustine’s Theology of Resurrection,” Augustiniana 37 (1987): 122–186. 34 See c. Faust. 11.3 (CSEL 25.1, p. 318, ll. 7–18; WSA I/20, p. 117). 35 See c. Faust. 11.7 (CSEL 25.1, p. 322, l. 5–p. 324, l. 6; p. 325, ll. 5–11; WSA I/20, pp. 120–121). 36 See c. Faust. 16.29 (CSEL 25.1, p. 474, l. 22–p. 475, l. 18; WSA I/20, pp. 221–222).

Scripture on the Fleshly Resurrection 83 Testament contributes prophetically to this same witness.37 Thus, Augustine writes: For this reason, after the Lord resurrected from the dead and offered himself not only to be seen by the eyes of his disciples, but also to be touched by their hands, nevertheless, lest they should think, with their mortal and carnal senses, that something was done deceptively, he confirmed them more completely from the testimony of the old books, saying, “It was necessary that all the things be fulfilled which were written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms” (Lk 24:44).38

Augustine further acknowledges that the Old Testament abounds in testimonies not only to eternal life, but also to the bodily resurrection, as the debate between its Pharisaical and Sadducean readers evinces. Nevertheless, the conditional transformation of the animal and earthly body into the spiritual and heavenly body was reserved for Christ to reveal in the New Testament.39 Augustine laments that the Manichaeans have so eschewed faith in this collective scriptural witness that “not listening to Moses and the prophets, they not only do not believe Christ resurrecting from the dead, but also do not at all believe that Christ resurrected from the dead.”40 The Manichaean refusal to believe emerges from their privileging their own ideas over the living word of God. Moreover, Augustine points out that the Manichaeans, without any standards higher than their own reason, have invented another Christ, howsoever they fancy, whose phantom construct neither the patriarchs and prophets prophesized, nor the apostles and disciples preached.41 Against their innovation, Augustine argues that,



37 38 39 40 41

See, e.g., c. Faust. 4.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 269, ll. 10–13; WSA I/20, p. 82). c. Faust. 4.2 (CSEL 25.1, p. 269, ll. 13–19; WSA I/20, p. 82). See c. Faust. 19.31 (CSEL 25.1, p. 534, l. 4–p. 535, l. 21; WSA I/20, pp. 260–261). See c. Faust. 12.4 (CSEL 25.1, p. 333, ll. 11–27; WSA I/20, pp. 127–128). See c. Faust. 16.12 (CSEL 25.1, p. 450, l. 21–p. 451, l. 29; WSA I/20, p. 206).

84 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh by the authority of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Christ has refuted those who deny the fleshly resurrection, including not only the Sadducees, but also the Manichaeans.42

The Advancement of Believers toward the Kingdom of God While Augustine sees that the Old and New Testaments converge in witnessing to the reality of Christ’s resurrection, he detects that this event has advanced the explicit hope of believers from the Old Testament hope for a temporal and carnal kingdom to the New Testament hope for an eternal and spiritual kingdom.43 Furthermore, he declares that our Christian hope for the fleshly resurrection is so certain that although “we have certainly not yet resurrected as Christ has, nevertheless, in terms of the hope that we have in him, [Paul] testifies that we have already resurrected with him.”44 Adducing one of his favorite rhyming pairs to designate our historical and eschatological conditions,45 Augustine observes that our flesh has resurrected “not yet in reality (in re), but in hope (in spe), for our hope is in Christ, because in him has already been accomplished that for which we hope as something promised to us.”46 Along with this advancement of our explicit hope, the fleshly resurrection of Christ has brought about the transfiguration of the sacramental economy. Augustine explains that, whereas the Old Testament sacraments were fitting for the prediction that Christ would be born, suffer, and resurrect, the New Testament sacraments are fitting for the proclamation that Christ has been born, suffered, and resurrected. The Christ event has changed the sacramental expressions of faith and hope from Jewish circumcision to Christian baptism, from the Sabbath rest to the celebration of the



42 43 44 45 46

See c. Faust. 16.24 (CSEL 25.1, p. 467, l. 28–p. 468, l. 10; WSA I/20, p. 217). See, e.g., c. Faust. 11.8 (CSEL 25.1, p. 325, l. 12–p. 328, l. 7; WSA I/20, pp. 122–123). See c. Faust. 11.7 (CSEL 25.1, p. 324, l. 7–p. 325, l. 5; WSA I/20, p. 121). Another favorite rhyming pair is “now” (nunc) and “then” (tunc). c. Faust. 11.7 (CSEL 25.1, p. 325, ll. 3–5; WSA I/20, p. 121).

Believers toward the Kingdom of God 85 Lord’s Day on which his buried flesh resurrected, and from animal sacrifices to the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ’s flesh and blood. Despite these changes to these signs, however, Augustine perceives that the same faith and hope of all God’s people  – whether they lived before, during, or after the Christ event – converge in one and the same reality of the beatific resurrection to eternal life, exemplified in Christ.47 This faith in Christ’s resurrected flesh belongs distinctively to those who distinctively belong to Christ.48 Thus, Augustine proclaims: This is our faith. And since, as Paul recounts the prophetic testimony, the just person lives by faith (Rom 1:17; Hab 2:4), this is our justification. Even the pagans, to be sure, believe that Christ died; that Christ resurrected, however, is the proper faith of Christians.49

What enables humanity to behold the full reality of the Christ event – including not only his fleshly death, but also his fleshly resurrection – is the distinctive faith of the Church. As Augustine sees it, the consummation of this ecclesial faith is nothing less than that ecclesial vision into which God will welcome his integrally resurrected saints. After the universal resurrection of the flesh, the faithful will be able to see not only the Son of man – the sight of whose humanity will be granted to both the good and the bad at the last judgment – but also the Son of God – the vision of whose divinity is reversed exclusively for “the clean of heart” (Mt 5:8).50 For Augustine, what precludes the damned from seeing the full reality of Christ is nothing other than their own final decision to filter all reality through the self-constructed lenses of their own ideologies. The damned have so fully committed themselves to seeing and living according to their ideological slants, and so closed themselves off

47 48 49 50

See, e.g., c. Faust. 19.9–19.16 (CSEL 25.1, p. 507, l. 5–p. 514, l. 3; WSA I/20, pp. 243–247). See c. Faust. 16.29 (CSEL 25.1, p. 474, l. 11–p. 475, l. 16; WSA I/20, pp. 221–222). c. Faust. 16.29 (CSEL 25.1, p. 475, l. 26–p. 476, l. 4; WSA I/20, p. 222). See c. Faust. 5.4 (CSEL 25.1, p. 275, ll. 6–27; WSA I/20, pp. 86–87).

86 Enduring Reality of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh from the fullness of reality, that they will never be able to see Christ for who he truly is. Even what they see of Christ in his resurrected flesh, and how they see it, clashes with reality.51 For the damned fail to see Christ’s resurrected flesh, even in judgment, as the greatest expression of God’s love for us. What should have been an experience of the greatest jubilation and confidence is, for the damned, an experience of the greatest lamentation and confusion.52 By contrast, seeing Christ’s resurrected flesh with the opened eyes not only of the flesh, but also of the heart is ironically what opens the eyes of the saints, resurrected both in heart and in flesh, to see God. For Augustine, beholding now Christ’s resurrected flesh as the consummate revelation of God’s love for us is a necessary requirement for entrance into the beatific resurrection of humanity and the beatific vision of God. The everlasting endurance of Christ’s resurrected flesh enables this consummate love always to be shown to and shared by the integrally resurrected community of the Church. From this culminating moment of Contra Faustum Manicheum onwards, Augustine believes and understands that the resurrection of the body, for all humans, reconstitutes the substance of the flesh, and also, for Christ and his saints, reconditions it for the better. No longer does he entertain the prospect of human flesh being transmuted into an angelic body. Rather, in and through its resurrection, human flesh – Christ’s and ours – truly endures forever. As the consummate revelation of God’s love for us, Christ’s resurrected flesh provides and displays the everlasting value of all human flesh. Augustine indicates, therefore, that the enduring reality of resurrected humanity goes well beyond not only the limits of the most adventurous imaginations, but also the perversions of the most delusional ideologies. To encountering even now the reality of Christ’s resurrected flesh, as Augustine presents it, we will turn our attention in the next chapter.



51 52

See s. 265F.3 (PLS 2, col. 829, ll. 54–55; WSA III/7, p. 265). See, e.g., en. Ps. 5.14 (CCL 38, p. 25, ll. 4–7; WSA III/15, p. 101).

The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

5

Contact with the Resurrected Christ While all humanity will eventually come to behold the enduring reality of Jesus’s resurrected flesh at the end of history, Augustine acknowledges that Christ makes his resurrected flesh available for believers to contact in faith during the course of history. This present encounter with the resurrected Lord especially takes place in hearing the proclamation and preaching of Scripture within the context of the Church. For Augustine, the living word of God has the power to uplift the human heart whose eyes, ears, and hands thereby become open to see, hear, and touch the risen Christ with living faith. Patterned on the Gospel appearances of the resurrected Jesus, the grace of this Christological encounter displays the humble and gentle pedagogy of divine persuasion. Augustine suggests that just as Christ did not show himself in the flesh to anyone after his resurrection, except his friends,1 so also now he does not appear to anyone to show them from the Scriptures the power of his resurrection, except his believers and disciples.2 Augustine speculates that the reason why the resurrected Christ appeared only to his faithful disciples and friends, but not to unbelieving strangers and enemies, was lest it seem that he was more interested in taunting and reproaching the latter with the truth than in instructing the former in humility.3 Christ’s appearances thus express how slow God is to overwhelm humans, of every time and place, with the full light of his truth.



1 2 3

See, e.g., en. Ps. 34.2.11 (CCL 38, p. 319, ll. 18–33; WSA III/16, p. 68). See en. Ps. 65.6 (CCL 39, p. 844, l. 1–p. 845, l. 49; WSA III/17, pp. 291–293). See, e.g., s. 284.6 (PL 38, col. 1292, ll. 31–35; WSA III/8, p. 92).

87

88 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh For Augustine, reading, hearing, and handling Scripture with the eyes, ears, and hands of Christian faith is what now provides us access to our resurrected Lord. As he preaches, although the apostles saw, heard, and touched Jesus’s resurrected flesh, Christ nevertheless proclaimed us, his believing disciples of future generations, to be “blessed” (Jn 20:29). While we are unable to contact with our physical hands Christ’s ascended flesh, now seated in heaven, we are still able, having heard the apostolic message, to touch him by one and the same faith of the apostles.4 In fact, the continuity of this contact with Christ unites the Church not only across the ages, but also across the juncture between time and eternity. Augustine preaches that, when the risen Christ appeared on Easter to his disciples, walking along the road to Emmaus and gathered behind closed doors, he showed the firm foundation in the Scriptures for our faith in his resurrection, “looking forward to us in the future [who] would not have [his flesh] to touch, but would have [his word] to read.”5 The place where Christ opens our minds to grasp the predictions and proclamations of his resurrection is his Church, “whose beginning and first fruits is the flesh of Christ.”6 This Church not only is recognizably spread “throughout all the nations” (Lk 24:47), but also continues to recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread.7 Augustine speculates that the Lord wanted to be recognized by the two disciples at Emmaus in the Eucharistic breaking of the bread “on account of us, who were not going to see him in the flesh, but nevertheless were going to eat his flesh.”8 Moreover, the pattern of hospitality whereby they recognized Christ, the stranger, invites us to recognize and serve Christ in the stranger.9 The summons to enact mercy upon the poor, therefore, contains within itself an invitation to encounter the risen Lord. For Augustine, the recognition of the

4 5 6 7 8 9

See ep. Io. tr. 1.3 (PL 35, col. 1979, l. 51–col. 1980, l. 27; WSA III/14, p. 23). See ep. Io. tr. 2.1 (PL 35, col. 1988, l. 45–col. 1989, l. 50; WSA III/14, p. 38). See ep. Io. tr. 2.1–2.2 (PL 35, col. 1989, l. 50–col. 1990, l. 15; WSA III/14, pp. 38–39). See ep. Io. tr. 2.2–2.3 (PL 35, col. 1990, ll. 16–55; WSA III/14, pp. 39–40). s. 235.3 (RB 67, p. 138, ll. 38–39; WSA III/7, p. 41). See, e.g., s. 235.3 (RB 67, p. 138, l. 36–p. 139, l. 56; WSA III/7, p. 41).

Specular Preaching 89 resurrected Christ constitutes the reception of eternal life,10 which now takes place in the Church’s opening the Scriptures, celebrating the sacraments, and practicing the works of mercy. Seeing that the Church on earth exists from the beginning to the end of human history, Augustine gathers that the entirety of history is intended for people of every nation and generation to behold Jesus’s resurrection, either in the mode of prophecy about its future occurrence or in the mode of proclamation about its past occurrence.

Specular Preaching In preaching on the events comprising and surrounding Christ’s resurrection, Augustine endeavors to help open the hearts of his audience and readers to behold the Lord’s risen flesh.11 He patterns this present beholding on the past encounters of the first disciples with the resurrected Christ. This beholding, however, is hardly transparent in this life. Instead, Augustine, his audience, and his readers set the eyes of their hearts on looking into an obscure mirror at the risen Christ, whom they hope to see eventually face to face. As Augustine fashions this mirror: In all my words, I am displaying a mirror. Not that they are my words; on the contrary, I speak when the Lord commands, I do not keep silent when he frightens.12

10



12

11

See s. 239.2 (PL 38, col. 1127, ll. 49–50; WSA III/7, p. 60). For Augustine’s preaching on the paschal mystery, in general, and on the resurrection, in particular, see Suzanne Poque, “Introduction,” in Augustine, Sermons pour la Pâque, ed. and trans. Suzanne Poque, Sources Chrétiennes 116 (Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1966), pp.  9–115; Cyril Lambot, “Les sermons de saint Augustin pour les fêtes de Paques,” Revue Bénédictine 79 (1969): 148–172; Anne-Marie La Bonnardiére, “Augustine, Minister of the Word,” in Augustine and the Bible, ed. and trans. Pamela Bright, The Bible through the Ages 2 (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999), pp. 245–251; Anthony Dupont, Preacher of Grace: A Critical Reappraisal of Augustine’s Doctrine of Grace in His Sermones ad Populum on Liturgical Feasts and During the Donatist Controversy, Studies in the History of Christian Traditions 177 (Leiden  – Boston: Brill, 2014), pp.  29–65; Marie-Anne Vannier, “Augustine’s Mystagogical Strategy in Some Easter Sermons,” in Seeing through the Eyes of Faith: New Approaches to the Mystagogy of the Church Fathers, ed. Paul van Geest, Late Antique History and Religion 11 (Leuven: Peeters, 2016), pp. 163–168. s. 82.15 (PL 38, col. 513, ll. 45–48; WSA III/3, p. 378).

90 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh Augustine thus characterizes his preaching as specular and speculative, not in the sense of pitching around ungrounded conjectures, but rather in the Pauline sense of concentrating on the finalities of realities in and through the proximities of signs, which now function collectively as a mirror (see 1 Cor 13:12).13 In fact, in De trinitate, when Augustine employs Paul to discuss our looking through a mirror and in an enigma at the human image and glory of God, he insists that this speculation cannot be reduced to mere introspection. For this image, which is now being transformed in and through Christ, consists of “the whole nature of man,” whose soul and body come to visibility as candidates for the beatific resurrection by looking at the risen flesh of God’s Word, even in and through the mirror of specular preaching.14 However, Augustine can only present the specular words of his preaching as a divinely requisitioned mirror because his words are predicated on the words of other mirrors: the specular words of the mirror of the Church’s creed;15 the specular words of the mirror of the Scriptures;16 and ultimately the specular Word of God incarnate, who is not only the mirror of humanity,17 but also the mirror of the majesty of God (Wis 7:26).18 These specular words together constitute a single collective witness to the resurrected Jesus. Among these mirrors, and at the heart of them all, stands the best witness to the resurrected Christ, who is none other than the resurrected Christ himself.19 Moreover, Augustine observes that Christ, in making himself known to us in and through the mirror of the Scriptures, opens our eyes to see not only him, but also

13



14



17

15 16

18 19

See Frederick van Fleteren, “Per Speculum et in aenigmate: I Corinthians 13:12 in the Writings of St. Augustine,” Augustinian Studies 23 (1992): 69–102. See trin. 15.8.14 (CCL 50A, p. 479, l. 1–p. 480, l. 41; WSA I/5, pp. 405–406). See s. 58.13 (EcOr 1, p. 131, l. 238–p. 132, l. 255; WSA III/3, pp. 124–125). See, e.g., en. Ps. 103.1.4 (CCL 40, p.  1476, ll. 19–27; WSA III/19, pp.  110–111). Augustine composed a work entitled spec., which almost entirely consists of moral precepts drawn from the Old and New Testaments. See s. 375B.3 (MA 1, p. 25, ll. 16–23; WSA III/10, pp. 333–334). See s. 117.11 (PL 38, col. 667, ll. 16–21; WSA III/4, p. 216). See s. 238.2 (PL 38, col. 1125, ll. 13–21, 27–30; WSA III/7, p. 56).

The Impacts of Contact with the Resurrected Christ 91 the faces of his many members, who reflect the one face of God through their participation in the righteous life of the resurrected Christ.20 Eventually, on the day of judgment, Christ will vindicate the preaching of the resurrection, at which “not only a pagan, or a Jew, or a heretic, but sometimes a Catholic brother as well, twists his mouth.”21 But even now, the events of Christological preaching are the favorable moments when the resurrected Son of God comes on the clouds of the Church and its preachers to touch us and we come to touch him.22

The Impacts of Contact with the Resurrected Christ This contact with the risen Christ fulfills the purpose of his incarnation. As Augustine questions and answers, “Why, therefore, did he come in the flesh? Because we had to be shown the hope of the resurrection.”23 Accordingly, Augustine beholds Jesus as the man with a divine heart so deep that it has both concealed and revealed the mystery of the resurrection.24 As the satchel of a merchant contains and conveys fine merchandise, so the deep heart of Christ contains and conveys the resurrection. Augustine often styles Christ as a merchant of heaven who trades with us the new and exotic merchandise of his resurrection and eternal life, for the old and cheap wares of our birth and death.25 Augustine frequently observes that in freely making this exchange, Jesus provides us a twofold example in his flesh: (1) an example of patience and humility in his suffering unto death on a cross and (2) an example of strength and exuberance in his resurrection. Although the crucified Son of God had the power to come down from the cross, as some of the Jews were demanding, he did not have

20 21 22 23 24 25

See, e.g., en. Ps. 10.11 (CCL 38, p. 81, ll. 11–22; WSA III/15, pp. 168–169). See en. Ps. 73.25 (CCL 39, p. 1021, l. 1–p. 1023, l. 96; WSA III/18, pp. 34–37). See ep. 199.11.41–199.11.45 (CSEL 57, p. 279, l. 14–p. 284, l. 9; WSA II/3, pp. 347–350). ep. Io. tr. 6.13 (PL 35, col. 2028, ll. 17–18; WSA III/14, p. 102). See, e.g., en. Ps. 63.13–63.14 (CCL 39, p. 814, l. 1–p. 815, l. 11; WSA III/17, pp. 255–256). See, e.g., s. 124.4 (PL 38, col. 688, ll. 25–34; WSA III/4, p. 250).

92 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh the heart to do so, since he wanted, instead, to manifest the greater power of his resurrection.26 Thus, Augustine preaches: Why this [incarnation of the Word]? To [give us] an example. He took up from you that in which he could die for you; he took up from you what he could offer for you, by which example he could teach you. What could he teach you? That you are going to resurrect. For from where could you believe [that], unless the example of the flesh assumed from the mass of your death preceded? Therefore, in him, the first, we resurrected; because even when Christ resurrected, we resurrected. Indeed, it was not the Word who died and resurrected, but in the Word the flesh died and resurrected. There Christ died where you will die; and there Christ resurrected where you will resurrect. By his own example, he taught what you should not fear [and] what you should hope for. You used to fear death; he died. You used to despair of the resurrection; he resurrected. But you say to me, “He resurrected; it is possible that I [will resurrect]?” But he resurrected in that which for you he accepted from you. Therefore, your nature in him preceded you.27

Augustine further explains that, while Christ’s death was a necessary precondition for his resurrection,28 Christ’s resurrection was a necessary precondition for us to appreciate and appropriate the soteriological value of his death. For, Augustine admits, “his being dead would have profited us nothing, unless he had resurrected from the dead.”29 Along his journey to the beatific resurrection, Christ transfigured and expanded the entire spectrum of the human experience, from our lowest and loneliest abasement to our highest and noblest elevation.30 Thus, Augustine speculates that Christ, “who



26 27 28 29 30

See, e.g., s. 340A.5 (MA 1, p. 566, l. 27–p. 568, l. 13; WSA III/9, pp. 298–299). en. Ps. 70.2.10 (CCL 39, p. 968, l. 18–p. 969, l. 31; WSA III/17, p. 448). See, e.g., en. Ps. 101.2.7 (CCL 40, p. 1442, ll. 26–28; WSA III/19, p. 67). s. 246.3 (SC 116, p. 298, ll. 51–52; WSA III/7, p. 104). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 60.1–60.5 (CCL 36, p. 478, l. 1–p. 480, l. 26; WSA III/13, pp. 201–204).

The Event of Christ’s Resurrection 93 transfigured the body of our lowliness in conformity with the body of his glory (see Phil 3:21), also transfigured in himself the affection of our weakness, suffering compassionately with us by the affection of his soul.”31 Christ’s reconfiguration of the human experience bangs open the passage from the sealed chambers of our hearts to the boundless summits of heaven.32 Christ not only provides himself as our cruciform passage from the depths of eternal death to the heights of eternal life, but also has trampled and grinded down the roughness of this road by the comeback of his resurrection.33 Augustine preaches that, already in hope and later in reality, we are resurrected in and through the resurrected Jesus, who “wanted not only to foretell, but also to demonstrate what he has promised us at the end. […] Christ resurrected, the matter is concluded.”34

The Event of Christ’s Resurrection Augustine speculates that the depths from which God brought Christ back in his resurrection were not only the depths of the tomb, but also the depths of hell. With the insights of Christian faith, Augustine locates the broken Christ during the three days between his crucifixion and resurrection. While Christ’s dead flesh alone – separated from his soul, which was not separated from the Word – descended into the tomb, his soul descended into hell and his divinity remained everywhere as always. Despite death’s fragmentation, Augustine insists that all three of these components are one and the same Christ. Christ’s personal identity remains so grounded in God that even his dead flesh remains identifiable as Christ, the Son of God, who was buried.35 Better than even the best of philosophical anthropologies,

31



35

32 33 34

Io. eu. tr. 60.2 (CCL 36, p. 478, ll. 8–10; WSA III/13, p. 202). See, e.g., en. Ps. 33.1.9 (CCL 38, p. 280, ll. 1–38; WSA III/16, pp. 20–21). See, e.g., s. 96.3 (PL 38, col. 586, ll. 11–43; WSA III/4, p. 31). See, e.g., s. 242.1 (PL 38, col. 1139, ll. 2–38; WSA III/7, pp.  78–79). See Mamerto Alfeche, “The Basis of Hope in the Resurrection of the Body According to Augustine,” Augustiniana 36 (1986): 240–296. See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 78.1–78.3 (CCL 36, p. 523, l. 1–p. 525, l. 30; WSA III/13, pp. 277–280).

94 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh Augustine understands that the contents of the Catholic faith provide the profoundest insights into personal identity. The solid ground of who we are, even during the interim of death, always remains nothing less than the God of Jesus Christ, whose love for us brought him down to the depths of our grave and of our hell.36 Furthermore, Augustine explains that, to bring freedom everywhere, the Son of God freely descended into, and freely ascended out from, our two hells: (1) our hell in this world, where bodies are practically dead, and (2) our hell beyond this world, where souls are practically dead.37 In resurrecting his own flesh from the grave and in rescuing his own soul from hell, Christ has displayed his divine power to resurrect our flesh and to rescue our souls too.38 Accordingly, Augustine counts Christ’s resurrection among the inseparable works of the Trinity. Jesus’s resurrection has been accomplished not only by God the Father, but also by God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.39 As lifeless flesh, Christ received the resurrection, but as the living Word of God, Christ gave the resurrection to himself,40 not only when he wanted, but also how he wanted. For in the early darkness of the third day, before the breaking light of dawn,41 as Augustine suggests, Christ rose from the grave of death more easily than a man rises from a bed of sleep.42 By the power of the Word, Christ’s soul returned to his resurrecting flesh43 and



36



37



38



39



40 41 42 43

For Augustine’s treatment of Christ’s descent into hell, see, e.g., ep. 164.2.3–164.7.21 (CSEL 44, p. 523, l. 18–p. 540, l. 19; WSA II/3, pp. 64–72). See, e.g., en. Ps. 85.17–85.18 (CCL 39, p.  1189, l. 1–p.  1191, l. 37; WSA III/18, pp. 236–238). See, e.g., en. Ps. 88.2.10–88.2.11 (CCL 39, p.  1241, l. 1–p.  1242, l. 14; WSA III/18, pp. 299–300). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 91.2–91.4 (CCL 36, p. 553, l. 1–p. 555, l. 24; WSA III/13, pp. 327– 330). For similar insights to those of Augustine into the Trinitarian event of the resurrection, see Emmanuel Falque, The Metamorphosis of Finitude: An Essay on Birth and Resurrection, trans. George Hughes (New York: Fordham University Press, 2012), pp. 62–90. See s. 22.10 (CCL 41, p. 300, ll. 278–285; WSA III/2, p. 48). See, e.g., s. 221.4 (SC 116, p. 216, l. 83–p. 220, l. 132; WSA III/6, pp. 204–205). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 43.9 (CCL 36, p. 376, ll. 25–39; WSA III/13, pp. 37–38). See Io. eu. tr. 47.10 (CCL 36, p. 410, ll. 21–22; WSA III/13, p. 91).

The Gospel Appearances of the Resurrected Christ 95 Christ’s flesh took up again his soul.44 Augustine remarks that Christ has led his flesh from death, through himself as the way, to himself as the truth and the life.45 The Lord’s right hand has not only raised up Jesus’s flesh, but also refashioned it from the shame of death to the glory of immortality.46

The Gospel Appearances of the Resurrected Christ In his specular preaching, Augustine often discusses the Gospel accounts of the appearances of the risen Lord to his disciples on three different days, whereby he revealed the resurrected and enhanced condition of human flesh.47 After his resurrection, Christ spent forty days on earth with his friends, walking and talking with these chosen women and men, freely entering and exiting their company, and transcending the limits of closed doors and unopened eyes.48 The resurrected Son of man was eating and drinking no longer from any need of hunger and thirst, but rather with power, wanting to provide his disciples a way from these things of the flesh to the truth of his flesh.49 Along these lines, Augustine remarks, “Therefore, the body of the future resurrection will be of imperfect happiness, if it cannot consume food, [and] of imperfect happiness, if it needs food.”50 As the paragon of the beatific resurrection, Christ has shown God’s design for the integral thriving of our humanity in God, now and forever unconstrained by the forces of death and unrestricted by the frontiers of this world.



44



48



49

45 46 47

50

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 47.11 (CCL 36, p. 411, ll. 46–47; WSA III/13, p. 93). See Io. eu. tr. 69.3 (CCL 36, p. 501, ll. 1–36; WSA III/13, pp. 240–241). See, e.g., en. Ps. 117.11 (CCL 40, p. 1661, ll. 1–10; WSA III/19, p. 337). For Augustine’s explanation of the frequency and recording of the resurrected Christ’s appearances, see, e.g., cons. eu. 3.25.83–3.25.84 (CSEL 43, p. 388, l. 21–p. 390, l. 21; WSA I/15 and I/16, pp. 314–315). See, e.g., s. 247.2–247.3 (PL 38, col. 1157, l. 19–col. 1158, l. 37; WSA III/7, pp. 108–109). For Augustine’s discussion of the nonrecognition of the risen Christ, see ep. 149.3.31 (CSEL 44, p. 376, l. 20–p. 377, l. 3; WSA II/2, pp. 375–376). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 64.1–64.3 (CCL 36, p. 488, l. 1–p. 489, l. 17; WSA III/13, pp. 218–220). qu. c. pag. 6 (CSEL 34.2, p. 549, ll. 19–21; WSA II/2, p. 24).

96 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

Christian Faith in the Resurrected Christ Augustine highlights how Christ corrected and confirmed the faith of his disciples in the truth of his fleshly resurrection, so that they could become credible and reliable witnesses of it to the world, which would come to believe in it through their apostolic preaching.51 Augustine speculates that the distinctive content of faith in the resurrected Christ and its distinctive condition of being fervent with charity are what distinguishes Christians and their Christian faith, both (1) from the pagans and the Jews, and their non-Christian faith that Jesus was born, was crucified, and died, but not also that he resurrected, and (2) from the demons and their demonic faith that Jesus died and resurrected, but conditioned by fear, not by love.52 While this distinctive Christian faith in Christ’s resurrection is renowned throughout the world,53 it is not uncontested by the world. In fact, Augustine recognizes that it is above all in his resurrection that Christ remains a sign of contradiction to the world. The world of contradiction includes those pagan philosophers who contest the Christian faith so vehemently on no other point than the fleshly resurrection.54 It also includes those who propagate an incoherent story about the theft of Jesus’s corpse (see Mt 28:11–15), the spread of which has been not only funded by money, bribes, and corruption, but also fueled by “[the desire] to kill Christ [by] extinguishing the account of his resurrection.”55 Augustine even rebukes those pagans and Jews who contradict the Lord’s resurrection, simply “because they are unwilling to be changed themselves.”56 Nevertheless, Christ’s tolerance of this world of contradiction endures until his vindication of the fleshly resurrection at the end of time.57

51 52 53 54 55 56 57

See en. Ps. 48.2.5 (CCL 38, p. 569, ll. 11–15; WSA III/16, p. 372). See, e.g., s. 234.3 (PL 38, col. 1116, l. 21–col. 1117, l. 44; WSA III/7, pp. 37–39). See en. Ps. 101.2.7 (CCL 40, p. 1442, ll. 14–20, 29–30; WSA III/19, p. 67). See, e.g., en. Ps. 88.2.5 (CCL 39, p. 1236, l. 1–p. 1237, l. 66; WSA III/18, pp. 292–294). See, e.g., en. Ps. 58.1.3 (CCL 39, p. 731, l. 1–p. 732, l. 32; WSA III/17, p. 150). See en. Ps. 88.2.13 (CCL 39, p. 1242, l. 1–p. 1243, l. 19; WSA III/18, pp. 300–301). en. Ps. 88.2.5 (CCL 39, p. 1236, ll. 39–40; p. 1237, l. 48; WSA III/18, p. 293).

Christian Faith in the Resurrected Christ 97 From the encounters between the risen Christ and his disciples, Augustine speculates that seeing and touching Jesus’s resurrected flesh with the eyes and hands of the flesh does not quite provide humans the depth of access to him that seeing and touching with the eyes and hands of the believing heart does. Believers of every generation, therefore, can have access equal to, though not independent from, that of his first disciples.58 For Augustine, Christ’s resurrection consummates the revelation of God on earth. In and through his risen flesh, Jesus invites believers to see and touch not only the paramount reality of man, but also the paramount reality of God. Thus, Augustine preaches that the risen Christ, as a gardener, sows and germinates the seed of the Church’s faith within the heart of Mary Magdalene and of us, whom he summons to ascend to touch not only his resurrected flesh, but also his divine equality with God the Father, which neither the Photinians nor the Arians have grasped.59 Likewise, the risen Christ invites Thomas and us to see and touch him as “the always hidden God of gods […] still hiding even in the flesh of the one resurrecting.”60 In encountering the resurrected Jesus, the disciples encounter the God who offers life to the dead, pardon to sinners, and peace to deserters. The signs of these mercies remain forever inscribed in the side, hands, and feet of the resurrected Jesus.61 Augustine preaches, therefore, that God has poured forth the love of the Church and the forgiveness of sins from Christ’s flesh into our hearts, not only through the Holy Spirit, but also through the wounds of his pardon and the scars of his peace.62 Furthermore, Augustine speculates that although the Lord could have resurrected without any scars, he chose not to erase the vestiges of his wounds, but instead to retain them forever not only as evidence of his human identity, but also as

58



59 60 61 62

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 109.1–109.5 (CCL 36, p.  618, l. 1–p.  621, l. 44; WSA III/13, pp. 436–441). See, e.g., s. 244.2–244.4 (PL 38, col. 1148, l. 36–col. 1151, l. 20; WSA III/7, pp. 96–99). See, e.g., en. Ps. 49.5 (CCL 38, p. 578, l. 1–p. 579, l. 64; WSA III/16, pp. 383–385). See s. 16A.10 (CCL 41, p. 226, ll. 333–338; WSA III/1, pp. 355–356). See Io. eu. tr. 121.4 (CCL 36, p. 667, ll. 1–27; WSA III/13, p. 514).

98 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh efficacious signs of his divine mercy.63 The resurrected Lord extends forgiveness to even the homicides, even the deicides, who once shed his innocent blood in their madness, but whom he now invites to imbibe that outpoured blood.64 As a function of God’s mercy, Augustine observes that the risen Jesus raises and firms up the shaken and fallen faith and hope of those apostolic pillars who, at his crucifixion, death, and burial, had gone to, or even beyond, the brink of unbelief and the verge of despair.65 As he remarks: [Christ’s disciples] would see him after death, living and ascending to the Father; by seeing this, they would believe that he himself was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16), who was able to do this when he had predicted it and to predict it before he did it. However, they would believe this not with new faith, but with increased faith, or at least with faith defunct when he died, but repaired when he resurrected. For it was not that they were not believing, even before, that he was the Son of God; but when that was done in him which he had predicted before, that faith, which then when he was speaking to them was small, and then when he died was almost nonexistent, both revived and thrived.66

Elsewhere, Augustine even speculates that before Christ’s resurrection, his disciples had not yet come to believe in him fully, since they were thinking that he was a man, but did not raise their faith to his divinity until after his resurrection.67 Thus, he observes that “the man resurrected, and he was discovered to be God.”68 With such a distinction between the durable contents of preresurrection and postresurrection faith, Augustine suggests that the revelation of the

63 64 65 66 67 68

See, e.g., en. Ps. 74.6 (CCL 39, p. 1028, l. 1–p. 1029, l. 34; WSA III/18, pp. 44–45). See, e.g., en. Ps. 65.5 (CCL 39, p. 843, l. 72–p. 844, l. 80; WSA III/17, p. 291). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 103.3 (CCL 36, p. 600, ll. 1–37; WSA III/13, pp. 403–404). Io. eu. tr. 79.1 (CCL 36, p. 526, ll. 34–43; WSA III/13, p. 282). See, e.g., s. 244.3 (PL 38, col. 1149, ll. 23–52; WSA III/7, p. 97). s. 261.7 (SPM 1, p. 92, l. 23; WSA III/7, p. 212).

Christian Faith in the Resurrected Christ 99 Trinity effectively coincides with, and is even contingent upon, the revelation of the resurrected Jesus. Along with the revivification of their faith, Augustine speculates that the resurrected Jesus arouses the dead hope of his disciples. On the road to Emmaus, the living Christ found the hearts of two disciples to be dead, having fallen into the death of unbelief that he had resurrected and of despair that he could resurrect.69 Therefore, Christ lifted up their dead hearts and opened up the life-giving Scriptures to them, breathing new life into them, setting them on fire,70 and irrigating them with the spring of water that leaps up to eternal life.71 Augustine further acknowledges that the resurrected Jesus confirms the disciples’ faith not only in himself, but also in his Church. The risen Christ has revealed the full extension of his Catholic Church, whose preaching and performance of mercy is spread “throughout all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Lk 26:47). Augustine reminds Catholics, while rebuking Donatists, that the inseparable mysteries of the resurrected Christ and his universal Church constitute the fulfillment of the Scriptures.72 Moreover, he explains that contemporary believers share with the apostles a mixed experience of knowing, by sight and by faith, the whole servant form of Christ. Whereas the apostles could see Christ, the head, but had to believe in the worldwide spread of his Church, the body, Augustine, his audience, and his readers can see the latter, but have to believe in the former. Therefore, the seamless unity of the whole Christ enables Christians to come into contact, through Jesus, with his transnational body, even though not yet evident, and through his Church, with his risen flesh, even though no longer evident.73



69 70 71 72 73

See, e.g., s. 235.2–235.3 (RB 67, p. 138, l. 18–p. 139, l. 56; WSA III/7, pp. 40–41). See, e.g., s. 236.2 (PL 38, col. 1120, l. 41–col. 1121, l. 23; WSA III/7, p. 45). See en. Ps. 113.1.11 (CCL 40, p. 1640, ll. 1–12; WSA III/19, p. 310). See, e.g., ep. Io. tr. 2.1–2.3 (PL 35, col. 1988, l. 45–col. 1992, l. 9; WSA III/14, pp. 37–42). See, e.g., s. 116.5–116.6 (PL 38, col. 659, l. 25–col. 660, l. 42; WSA III/4, pp. 205–206).

100 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

The Elevation of Humanity into God After these events and encounters on earth, as Augustine explains, the resurrected Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father, elevating and establishing his incorruptible and immortal human nature in heaven,74 where his flesh continues to remain in the same condition as when he first ascended into heaven.75 In treating the destination of Christ’s past and our future ascension, Augustine gives “place” (locus) a theological definition.76 The eternal place of Christ, where he desires us to be with him, is nowhere else than God the Father, whose eternal place is nowhere else than God the Son. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are our place, and we are the place of God.77 In and through Christ’s resurrection and ascension, God has reestablished our place in himself to house not only our uplifted hearts, but also our revitalized flesh. Although we have dislocated ourselves from God through the disordering of our loves, the disfiguring of our hearts, and the disintegrating of our flesh, we can nevertheless be relocated in and through Christ, who reorders our loves, reconfigures our hearts, and reintegrates our flesh. Thus, Augustine admits that our entire persons  – our souls and our bodies – can become the members of Christ, who assumed a human soul and a human body, and whose body is the Church.78 Moreover, Augustine preaches that during our sojourn as pilgrims on earth and our expedition as soldiers in warfare, we dwell in the tent of God, making and being made a place for the Lord, while still yearning to come home to the house of God.79 This seamless





74

See Io. eu. tr. 78.3 (CCL 36, p. 525, ll. 18–30; WSA III/13, p. 280). See ep. 205.1.2–205.2.16 (CSEL 57, p. 324, l. 11–p. 337, l. 14; WSA II/3, pp. 378–384). 76 For Augustine’s approach to the place of the self, see Jean-Luc Marion, In the Self’s Place: The Approach of Saint Augustine, trans. Jeffrey L. Kosky (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012). 77 See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 111.3–111.4 (CCL 36, p.  630, l. 1–p.  632, l. 20; WSA III/13, pp. 455–457). 78 See s. 161.1 (PL 38, col. 878, ll. 4–18; WSA III/5, p. 135). 79 See, e.g., en. Ps. 131.4–131.5 (CCL 40, p. 1913, l. 1–p. 1914, l. 31; WSA III/20, pp. 157–159). 75

The Elevation of Humanity into God 101 tent of God is the flesh in which the Word dwelt80 and the Catholic Church.81 When we come to perfection in eternity, then, as God will truly be for us, so we will truly be for God, the one house, temple, Church, city,82 Jerusalem,83 body of Christ, face of God, bosom of Abraham, heaven, paradise, and whatever other such names Scripture uses to gesture toward the ineffable dwelling place of us in God and of God in us.84 As Augustine preaches at the dedications of churches, Christ, our foundation, has already been dedicated in his resurrection and ascension, so that we, the Church, can be constructed during this age and dedicated at its end when we are raised from the rubble, never again to fall into ruins.85 To accomplish this mutual divine–human indwelling, as Augustine acknowledges, the resurrected and ascended Christ has lavished his Spirit upon his Church.86 Augustine speculates that one of the reasons why Christ gave his Spirit more abundantly only after his resurrection is that he wanted first to show us, in his own flesh, the beatific resurrection for which our hearts should be on fire with the Spirit’s charity. Christ’s sending down of his Spirit into our hearts lifts them up to resurrected life now, and the same indwelling Spirit will also lift our flesh up to resurrected life later.87 Thus, in his specular preaching on the Gospel events centered on Christ’s resurrection, Augustine endeavors to facilitate present encounters of living faith with the risen Lord. By concentrating their hearts on Christ’s scriptural and ecclesial self-witness, Augustine, his audience, and his readers can touch and be touched by Jesus. In this way, the historical events of Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial,



80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87

See en. Ps. 90.2.5 (CCL 39, p. 1270, l. 1–p. 1271, l. 41; WSA III/18, pp. 334–335). See en. Ps. 30.4.8 (CCL 38, p. 218, l. 14–p. 219, l. 44; WSA III/15, pp. 353–354). See en. Ps. 131.3 (CCL 40, p. 1913, ll. 21–31; WSA III/20, p. 157). See en. Ps. 64.8 (CCL 39, p. 830, l. 1–p. 831, l. 61; WSA III/17, pp. 274–276). See, e.g., en. Ps. 30.4.8 (CCL 38, p. 218, ll. 1–14; WSA III/15, p. 353). See, e.g., s. 336.1–336.5 (PL 38, col. 1471, l. 41–col. 1475, l. 4; WSA III/9, pp. 266–270). See Io. eu. tr. 94.5 (CCL 36, p. 564, ll. 1–19; WSA III/13, pp. 344–345). See Io. eu. tr. 32.9 (CCL 36, p. 305, l. 1–p. 306, l. 40; WSA III/12, pp. 522–523).

102 The Encounter with Christ’s Resurrected Flesh descent into hell, resurrection, appearances, ascension, and sending of the Spirit are made available to the preachers, hearers, and readers of Scripture, so that they can come to grasp the total Christ, the resurrecting Son of God and the resurrected Son of man, our already risen head and his still rising body. On the sacramentality and exemplarity of Christ’s resurrection for the spiritual and fleshly resurrections of his Church’s members we will focus our attention in the next chapter.

The Sacramentality and Exemplarity of Christ’s Resurrected Flesh

6

The Sacrament and Example of Christ and His Paschal Mystery As Augustine ponders the event of encountering the risen Christ in living faith, he comes to articulate how the resurrected flesh of the Son of God serves to bring about the integral resurrection of the rest of dead humanity to eternal life. The most brilliant of these articulations occurs in De trinitate 4, where Augustine crafts a matchless discussion of how the single paschal mystery of Christ’s dead and resurrected flesh harmonizes with our double, serving as the “sacrament” (sacramentum) of the spiritual death and resurrection of our interior man, and the “example” (exemplum) of the fleshly death and resurrection of our exterior man. As Augustine demarcates the frontier between these two men of the single human person, (1) the interior man consists of the human mind, whose Trinitarian image of memory, understanding, and will is being renewed through the spiritual resurrection, and (2) the exterior man consists not only of the human body, but also of its life and such activities as vitalization, sensation, and imagination, whose Trinitarian vestiges and Christological images will be renewed through the fleshly resurrection.1 According to Augustine, this twofold configuration of the



1

For Augustine’s demarcations of the interior and exterior man, see, e.g., trin. 12.1.1– 12.1.2 (CCL 50, p. 356, l. 1–p. 357, l. 22; WSA I/5, pp. 322–323). For Augustine’s identifications of their features as images and vestiges of God, see, e.g., trin. 11.1.1–11.5.8 (CCL 50, p. 333, l. 1–p. 344, l. 41; WSA I/5, pp. 303–311). For Augustine’s analyses of the interior and exterior man, see Charles T. Mathewes, “Augustinian Anthropology: Interior intimo meo,” The Journal of Religious Ethics 27 (1999): 195–221; John C. Cavadini, “The Darkest Enigma: Reconsidering the Self in Augustine’s Thought,” Augustinian Studies 38 (2007): 119–132; Joseph Rivera, “Figuring the Porous Self: St. Augustine and the Phenomenology of Temporality,” Modern Theology 29 (2013): 83–103.

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104 Sacramentality and Exemplarity whole human person to Christ and his paschal mystery progressively reconciles sinful and dead man to the holy and living God; befriends and socializes humanity within the community of the Church; and vanquishes the prideful and deceptive stratagems of the devil, the demons, and their human associates to keep us submerged in the region of death. Augustine’s analysis of Christ’s paschal mystery, in terms of its sacramentality and exemplarity, has an intrinsic orientation to Christ, who is himself our “sacrament” (sacramentum) and our “example” (exemplum). Thus, Augustine writes: According to this notion, our thought is framed when we believe that God was made man for us as an example (exemplum) of humility and to demonstrate the love of God for us. Indeed, it is advantageous for us to believe this and to hold, firm and unshaken in our hearts, that the humility by which God was born of a woman and led by mortal men through such abuse to his death, is the supreme medicine, by which the tumor of our pride is healed, and the high sacrament (sacramentum), by which the chain of our sin is broken.2

Augustine’s presentation of Christ and his paschal mystery as sacrament and example only makes sense within the entire framework of salvation history, whose course toward eschatological finalization includes those of us who are now following Christ on the road to recovery that God has laid down for us in the humanity of his Son.3 In view of this journey’s end, Augustine suggests that the exemplarity and sacramentality of Christ’s experienced flesh go deeper and last longer than the limits of human history. As Augustine



2 3

trin. 8.5.7 (CCL 50, p. 276, ll. 1–8; WSA I/5, p. 247). See trin. 4.P.1 (CCL 50, p. 160, ll. 32–34; WSA I/5, p. 153). See Lewis Ayres, “The Christological Context of Augustine’s De trinitate XIII: Toward Relocating Books VIII–XV,” Augustinian Studies 29 (1998): 111–139.

THE SACRAMENT AND THE EXAMPLE 105 exegetes 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, once the resurrected Christ hands the kingdom of his believers over from faith to unmediated sight of God, then he will remain with us in his humanity, fully subject to his divinity, but never subject to any transmutation of the creature into the Creator.4 Like his humanity, Christ’s exemplarity and sacramentality will endure forever, even though they also will be transfigured. Thus, Augustine suggests that, whereas the crucified and risen Christ now serves fallen humans as the example (and sacrament) of returning to God, he will then serve the resurrected saints, like he serves the unfallen angels, as the example (and sacrament) of remaining with God.5

The Sacrament for Our Interior Man and the Example for Our Exterior Man With such importance for our salvation, Augustine’s treatment of the sacramentality and exemplarity of Christ’s death and resurrection reaches its most sophisticated and systematic exposition in De trinitate 4.2.4–4.3.6. As Basil Studer observes, this rare and exceptional deployment of the coupled terms “sacramentum et exemplum” does not come at the expense of how Augustine elsewhere treats its double theme of the renewal of life and the resurrection of the flesh.6 For Augustine, the double feature of our paschal passage treats our double disqualification from an integral participation in God’s life. He explains that we were dead both (1) in soul because of sin and (2) in body because of the punishment of sin and, thus, also because of sin. The death of the soul consists in its godlessness when God, its life, departs from it, leaving the soul devoid of wisdom. The death of the body consists in its corruption when the soul, its life, departs from it, leaving the body devoid of vitality.7

4



7

5 6

See trin. 1.8.15–1.10.21 (CCL 50, p. 46, l. 1–p. 59, l. 87; WSA I/5, pp. 75–81). See trin. 7.3.5 (CCL 50, p. 252, l. 50–p. 254, l. 84; WSA I/5, p. 223). See Basil Studer, “‘Sacramentum et exemplum’ chez saint Augustin,” Recherches Augustiniennes 10 (1975): 87–141, esp. pp. 89, 93, 101. See, e.g., trin. 4.3.5 (CCL 50, p. 165, ll. 4–13; p. 166, ll. 28–37; WSA I/5, pp. 155–156).

106 Sacramentality and Exemplarity To become fit for an integral participation in God, Augustine sees that man, defiled and dead, needs to be cleansed and revived in his totality.8 Thus, he writes: However, each thing of ours, that is, both soul and body, was in need of medicine and resurrection, so that what had changed for the worse could be renovated for the better.9

Totally unable to cleanse and revive himself, man needs God to cleanse and revive him through God’s becoming, in Christ, a participant of humanity. Isabelle Bochet argues that, in De trinitate 4, Augustine details this program of human purification in and through Christ as a corrective and constructive criticism of the twofold purification which Porphyry recommends: (1) through theurgy and (2) through philosophy.10 As Augustine presents the logic of this Christological purification: Furthermore, the one cleansing agent for the wicked and the proud is the blood of the just man (Mt 27:24; 1 Jn 1:7) and the humility of God, seeing that to contemplate God, which we are not by nature, we should be cleansed by him who was made what we are by nature and what we are not by sin. For we are not God by nature; we are human by nature; we are not just by sin. Therefore, God became the just man to intercede with God for sinful man. In fact, the sinner is not congruent with the just, but man is congruent with man. Therefore, applying to us the similitude of his humanity, he took away the dissimilitude of our iniquity, and made a participant of our mortality, he made us participants of his divinity.11



8 9 10

11

See trin. 4.2.4 (CCL 50, p. 163, ll. 1–6; WSA I/5, pp. 154–155). trin. 4.3.5 (CCL 50, p. 165, ll. 7–10; WSA I/5, p. 155). See Isabelle Bochet, “La puissance de Dieu à l’oeuvre dans le monde: Le livre III du De Trinitate d’Augustin,” in Le De Trinitate de saint Augustin: Exégèse, logique et noétique; Actes du colloque international de Bordeaux, 16–19 juin 2010, ed. Emmanuel Bermon and Gerard O’Daly, Collection des Études Augustiniennes, Série Antiquité 192 (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 2012), pp. 67–97, esp. pp. 92–93. trin. 4.2.4 (CCL 50, p. 163, l. 6–p. 164, l. 16; WSA I/5, p. 155).

THE SACRAMENT AND THE EXAMPLE 107 Augustine believes that the Son of God, in freely abasing himself all the way down to a participation in our fleshly death, has broken the death of the sinner through his own death as the just man, and has reconfigured how man can experience bodily death itself.12 In the sinless Christ, the human experience of death can no longer simply be equated to the punishment for sin, since the dying Jesus has become the sacrifice for sin.13 While death as such remains irredeemably evil, privative, and useless, Augustine gathers that Christ’s obedience to his Father unto death – “because he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted” – enables us to unite ourselves, even in dying, to Christ in a sacrificial and salvific way.14 Augustine describes the Christological application of his paschal mystery to our whole persons in terms of joining, co-adaptation, and harmonization. He explains that God’s soteriological design brings about the “joining” (compaginatione), the “co-adapting” (coaptatione), and the “harmonizing” (ἁρμονίαν) of the one death and resurrection of Christ’s flesh to our two deaths and resurrections, that is, of our interior man and of our exterior man.15 As Augustine observes, Jesus could experience death and resurrection neither as the Word nor in his soul, which have remained fully alive as God and to God. Therefore, it is in his flesh, through its death and resurrection, that Christ has forged the harmonic hinge of human salvation.16 Christ harmonizes his single paschal mystery with our double, so that we no longer have to carry around our dead souls throughout our lives, and so that we neither have to suffer bodily death alone as punishment nor experience bodily resurrection alone to punishment. Christ orchestrates each of our paschal mysteries into a single duet with his, through which we, dying to death and resurrecting to life, become singers of praise to God with Christ, in Christ, and as



12 13 14 15 16

See trin. 4.2.4 (CCL 50, p. 164, ll. 16–19; WSA I/5, p. 155). See trin. 4.12.15 (CCL 50, p. 180, l. 17–p. 181, l. 47; WSA I/5, pp. 163–164). See trin. 4.13.16 (CCL 50, p. 181, l. 7–p. 182, l. 20; WSA I/5, p. 164). See trin. 4.2.4 (CCL 50, p. 164, l. 19–p. 165, l. 34; WSA I/5, p. 155). See, e.g., trin. 4.3.6 (CCL 50, p. 167, ll. 52–57; WSA I/5, p. 156).

108 Sacramentality and Exemplarity Christ.17 Augustine gets to the heart of God’s soteriological design when he explains: Therefore, the Savior expended his single [death] for this double death of ours, and to accomplish each resurrection of ours he placed first and placed on display his one [resurrection] by way of sacrament and by way of example (sacramento et exemplo). For he was not a sinner or godless that he would need to be renewed in the interior man, as if he were dead in the spirit, and to be recalled to the life of justice, as if he were recovering his senses. But being clothed in mortal flesh, in that alone he died, in that alone he resurrected, and in that alone he harmonized with each part of us when he became in that [flesh] the sacrament (sacramentum) for the interior man [and] the example (exemplum) for the exterior [man].18

For Augustine, the applications of this soteriological design expand and multiply one and the same paschal mystery of Christ into the souls and bodies of Christians. Or, seen from another perspective, these applications condense and unify the Christian multitude of deaths and resurrections into one and the same paschal mystery of Christ.19 As dying and rising members of the once dead, but now risen Christ, our two deaths and resurrections are neither discrete repetitions nor parallel rehearsals of the dramatic events of salvation in us. Rather, by virtue of our seamless unity in Christ, each and all of our paschal mysteries belong intrinsically to the one death and resurrection of Jesus. This Christological reduction does not deprive our experiences of their unique characters and expressions, but rather guarantees and enhances them. For, as Augustine highlights, the ecclesial body of Christ is the

17 18 19

See trin. 4.2.4 (CCL 50, p. 164, l. 24–p. 165, l. 34; WSA I/5, p. 155). trin. 4.3.6 (CCL 50, p. 166, l. 49–p. 167, l. 57; WSA I/5, p. 156). In ep. 55.1.2 (CSEL 34.2, p. 170, l. 3–p. 171, l. 14; WSA II/1, pp. 216–217), Augustine distinguishes Easter as not only a commemoration, by which the Church remembers the historical events of Christ’s death and resurrection, but also a sacrament, by which the Church sacredly receives the signified reality of his passage from death to resurrected life.

THE SACRAMENT AND THE EXAMPLE 109 one and only society where the Spirit’s lavish gifts of communal unity and personal diversities are fully integrated as one and many in a completely harmonious and charitable way. This ecclesial integration occurs by one and the same Spirit whom Christ, after his resurrection, both gave from heaven as our head and received on earth as his members.20 Thus, the one Spirit revivifies the one body of the total Christ, the Church, through one, yet complex resurrection. Resorting exclusively to Scripture, Augustine fleshes out the sacramental and exemplary applications of Christ’s paschal mystery. (1) Through the sacramental application of his death and resurrection to us, now in time, Christ brings about the death of our interior man to our old life of sin, godlessness, unbelief, and falsehood, and the resurrection of our interior man to our new life of justice, godliness, faith, and truth, which continues to grow unto eschatological perfection. In and through the crucified Christ, our souls descend into the sorrows of repentance, the torment of continence, and the death to godlessness, so as to rise up, in and through the resurrected Christ, to touch and taste the resurrected Son of God not in a carnal way, but in a spiritual way. (2) Through the exemplary application of his death and resurrection to us, the first at the end of each person’s lifetime and the second at the end of all time, the crucified Christ transforms the death of our exterior man from being utterly horrible into being sacrificial, and the resurrected Christ transfigures our lowly bodies to conform to his own glorified body.21 As Augustine recapitulates: Therefore, the one death of our Savior was the salvation from our two deaths, and his one resurrection furnishes two resurrections to us, since in either reality, that is, both in death and in resurrection, his body is furnished as the sacrament (sacramento) of the interior man and the example (exemplo) of the exterior [man] by a kind of medicinal convenience.22



20 21 22

See trin. 15.19.34 (CCL 50A, p. 509, l. 30–p. 511, l. 83; WSA I/5, pp. 422–423). See trin. 4.3.5–4.3.6 (CCL 50, p. 165, l. 1–p. 169, l. 107; WSA I/5, pp. 155–157). trin. 4.3.6 (CCL 50, p. 169, ll. 107–112; WSA I/5, p. 157).

110 Sacramentality and Exemplarity Even with their distinctions, however, Augustine indicates that neither these sacraments nor these examples can operate independently of one another, since both pairs mutually implicate and impact each other. Accordingly, the interior man cannot now be sacramentally configured to Jesus’s death and resurrection without hoping for the exemplary configuration of his exterior man to these same events as well. Likewise, the exterior man cannot later be exemplarily configured fully without the reality of the sacramental configuration of his interior man having already been accomplished.23

The Semiotics and Optics of Our Salvation These sacraments and examples of Christ’s paschal mystery are furnished to us out of consideration for our spiritual blindness. Basil Studer observes that, despite their operative distinction, the meaning of both sacrament and example, for Augustine, is basically the same: They are “both signs, which demonstrate and obligate.”24 Studer further highlights that Augustine, from his exegetical training, would have considered a sacrament to be a sacred sign or figure, indicative of a religious reality, and, from his rhetorical education, an example to be a demonstrative and exhortative sign or resemblance, commemorative of a historical reality.25 For Augustine, neither of these signs operates independently of the other, since each of them is intrinsically implicated in the other. Together, sacrament and example form a complex unity that signifies and communicates the efficaciousness of Christ’s paschal mystery to our complex, yet unified humanity, consisting of soul and body.26 Moreover, if a Christological example is and acts basically like a sacrament, at least in this theological context, then both are not mere signposts for some distant realities. Rather, as Emmanuel Cutrone describes Augustine’s understanding

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25 26

See Robert Dodaro, Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 147–159. Studer, “‘Sacramentum et exemplum,’” on p. 102: “Sacrement et exemple sont donc, tous les deux, des signes qui démontrent et obligent.” See Studer, “‘Sacramentum et exemplum,’” pp. 102–124. See trin. 13.9.12 (CCL 50A, p. 398, l. 1–p. 399, l. 31; WSA I/5, pp. 352–353).

The Semiotics and Optics of Our Salvation 111 of sacraments, they “are visible signs of invisible realities” which not only “reveal and veil their inner reality”, but also “are one with their inner reality.”27 In this respect, the sacrament and example of Christ’s paschal mystery draw us into contact and communion with the reality of his total identity, not only as crucified and resurrected in his own flesh, but also as himself dying and rising in our interior and exterior man. Accordingly, Augustine beholds these as one: Christ dying and rising in us, we dying and rising in Christ. As he affirms elsewhere: [T]herefore, we died in [Christ] and we resurrected in him, and [Christ] himself dies in us and he resurrects in us (for [Christ] himself is the unity of the head and of the body).28

Augustine sees that Christ’s flesh, forever marked by the events of his crucifixion and resurrection, provides the groping and sickly eyes of our hearts a steady focus and progressive convalescence. It is by means of our present faith in these past events of history that we can come to the future sight of eternal realities.29 Although the modality of seeing changes from mediated to unmediated, the focus of believers and seers remains one and the same Christ, who is one God with the Father and the Spirit, and one man with us.30 Augustine gathers that the incarnate Son of God consolidates in himself realistic signs and signified

27



28



30

29

Emmanuel J. Cutrone, “Sacraments,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), pp. 741–747, on pp. 744–745. For Augustine’s approaches to signs and things in doctr. chr., see Michael Cameron, Christ Meets Me Everywhere: Augustine’s Early Figurative Exegesis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 231–234. For an alternative interpretation, see Phillip Cary, Outward Signs: The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine’s Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). en. Ps. 62.2 (CCL 39, p. 795, ll. 33–35; WSA III/17, p. 231). See trin. 4.18.24 (CCL 50, p. 191, l. 21–p. 192, l. 26; WSA I/5, pp. 169–170). See Basil Studer, “History and Faith in Augustine’s De Trinitate,” The Saint Augustine Lecture 1996, Augustinian Studies 28 (1997): 7–50. See John C. Cavadini, “God’s Eternal Knowledge According to Augustine,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine, ed. David V. Meconi and Eleonore Stump, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001/2014), pp. 37–59, esp. p. 42; Khaled Anatolios, “Oppositional Pairs and Christological Synthesis: Rereading Augustine’s De Trinitate,” Theological Studies 68 (2007): 231–253.

112 Sacramentality and Exemplarity realities, contains in himself the fullness of history and eternity, and communicates to us the plenitude of knowledge and wisdom.31 With respect to our knowledge of Jesus’s historical resurrection, Augustine insists that our faith in it necessarily precedes and frames our understanding of it. Since we must believe before we can understand (see Is 7:9), it is Christian faith which opens our hearts up  to loving in Christ the fact that he resurrected from the dead, despite the fact we have never seen anyone resurrect. Even if we, from our experiences of living and dying, can have some notion of its resemblance,32 it is Christian faith which now provides us access to its reality. “But this faith,” Augustine confesses, “according to its own belief, has been given actual definite content in Christ who resurrected in the flesh from the dead to die no more (Rom 6:9).”33 Seeing that the thematic content of Christian faith  – as Christian faith itself believes – is definitively given in and predicated on Jesus’s resurrection, Augustine suggests that this faith is, in a fundamental and irreducible way, the condition of its own possibility.34 Thus, there is no one other than Christ, and nothing other than Christ’s resurrection, that can generate faith in him and his resurrection. Furthermore, Augustine insists that intrinsic to Christ’s resurrection is its power to bring about the integral resurrection of the rest of humanity, which begins now in Christian faith. The risen flesh of Jesus inaugurates, advances, and consummates the entire process of our salvation and justification.35 Christ’s resurrection, therefore, provides neither only the condition of the possibility of faith nor only its thematic content, but also its soteriological value. As Augustine observes, “But as regards this flesh of his, it is faith in its resurrection



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32 33 34

See, e.g., trin. 13.19.24 (CCL 50A, p. 416, l. 50–p. 417, l. 55; WSA I/5, pp. 363–364). See trin. 8.5.8 (CCL 50, p. 277, ll. 37–40; p. 278, ll. 59–66; WSA I/5, pp. 247–248). trin. 13.20.25 (CCL 50A, p. 417, l. 13–p. 418, l. 19; WSA I/5, p. 364). For a grammatical and phenomenological approach toward a similar conclusion, see Brian D. Robinette, Grammars of Resurrection: A Christian Theology of Presence and Absence (New York: Crossroad, 2009), pp. 7, 22–23, 55–56, 68–70. See Lewis Ayres, “Augustine on Redemption,” in A Companion to Augustine, ed. Mark Vessey (Chichester, West Sussex: Blackwell, 2012), pp. 416–427.

The Theophany to Moses of God’s Resurrected Back 113 that saves and justifies.”36 Not even Christ’s death, but only his resurrection, provides such value. Thus, Augustine specifies: So, it is the resurrection of the Lord’s body that gives value to our faith. For even his enemies believe that that body died on the cross of the passion, but they do not believe that it resurrected (2 Tim 2:8).37

For Augustine, it is seeing the crucified and resurrected flesh of God, with living and steadfast faith, that changes humans from being God’s enemies into being God’s friends.

The Theophany to Moses of God’s Resurrected Back Augustine elaborates on the befriending and socializing character of resurrection faith when he discusses the theophany to Moses, the friend of God (see Ex 33:11–23), in De trinitate 2.16.27–2.17.31.38 He observes that God grants to Moses a prophetic vision, in faith, not yet of God’s face – that is, his divine form of God – but rather of God’s back – that is, his human form of flesh, in which God was born, died, and resurrected. Augustine explains that Christ does not want his back to be seen until he passes over from this world to the Father (Jn 13:1) because he wants us to believe in the resurrection of his flesh. It is faith in Christ’s resurrection, invigorated by the twofold love of God and neighbor, that makes such people as Moses friends with God. The more God’s friends are kindled by this love, the more they make progress in dying to carnal things and resurrecting to spiritual things. In God’s back, once bloodied, but now glorified, Augustine sees and shows how much Christ first loved us.39 According to Augustine’s exegesis, there is no other person for us to look for than the incarnate God, and there is no other place

36

trin. 2.17.29 (CCL 50, p. 119, ll. 50–51; WSA I/5, p. 118). trin. 2.17.29 (CCL 50, p. 119, ll. 54–57; WSA I/5, p. 118). 38 For Augustine’s similar treatment of the theophany to Moses, see, e.g., qu. 2.154.1–2.154.8 (CCL 33, p. 140, l. 432–p. 144, l. 574; WSA I/14, pp. 163–167). 39 See trin. 2.16.27–2.17.29 (CCL 50, p. 115, l. 1–p. 120, l. 66; WSA I/5, pp. 116–118). 37

114 Sacramentality and Exemplarity for us to look from than the rock of his Catholic Church. While faith in the resurrected Christ and the beatific resurrection of the whole human being that this faith initiates are profoundly personal, Augustine acknowledges that they are neither individualistic nor sectarian, but rather always communal and ecclesial. He observes that schismatic and heretical Christians, despite their claims to believe in Christ’s resurrection, cannot see it in a healthy way because they refuse to stand on the rock of the Catholic Church. Apart from the Church, not even those Christians can see Jesus’s resurrection for what it actually is and actually accomplishes in establishing believers most firmly within this solid community of love. Christ’s resurrection so solidifies us in and as the Church that nothing, not even physical death, can rend our head and his members apart. Augustine further emphasizes that upon this rock of the Catholic Church, Christ dispenses his healing mercy and loving kindness. For when unbelievers open their hearts to receive baptism and the forgiveness of their sins through faith in his resurrection, then the Lord passes by and removes his hand from their covered eyes, so that they can now see his back which lovingly suffered, died, and resurrected for them.40 This mediated vision of ecclesial faith not only makes us friends with God, but also socializes us with God’s friends. For Augustine, the faith of the Catholic Church is what humanizes, personalizes, and socializes us anew, who have dehumanized, depersonalized, and desocialized ourselves in our unbelief. Nowhere else can our humanity be consolidated and solidified. Everywhere else we cannot but crumble and cut ourselves apart, both individually and collectively. Augustine explains that in forsaking the one God, we have crashed down into our dissociation from God, from each other, and even from ourselves. But despite our godforsaken self-fragmentation, God has revealed how he never forsakes us when he came down to lift us up through his resurrection into our reconciliation with God, with

40

See trin. 2.17.30–2.17.31 (CCL 50, p. 120, l. 67–p. 122, l. 122; WSA I/5, pp. 118–119).

Christ’s Victory over the Devil 115 each other, and even with ourselves.41 The mystery of this unification is the one Christ, head and body of the one Church. Through our ecclesial incorporation into and consummation by Christ, we are so enveloped in God’s love that the many of us are fused together, along with God’s angels, into one spirit of concordant will by the fire of charity.42 But just as our focus on Christ does not shift when he hands us over from faith to sight, so also our position on the rock of his Church does not move when we pass over in him from this world to the kingdom of God. Instead, it becomes transfigured. For what unites the Church of the resurrection as one, both here and hereafter, is the love of God which Augustine trusts to be deeper, higher, and stronger than all the corruptive forces of death, disintegration, and division.

Christ’s Victory over the Devil Augustine appreciates that the unitive friendship of God with us in Christ exposes and overcomes the divisive enmity of the demonic against us. In De trinitate 4.10.13–4.18.24 and 13.10.13–13.18.23, he contrasts the true mediation of Christ, the mediator of life, with the false mediation of the devil, the mediator of death.43 At the heart of these two different kinds of mediation are two different kinds of love: (1) God’s humble and self-sacrificial love for humans, which makes us his friends, and (2) the devil’s proud and perverse self-love, which, lusting to dominate humans, makes us his enemies. Whereas Christological mediation, which purifies and reconciles us to God, culminates in the resurrection to eternal life of Christ’s flesh and of those humans who belong to him, diabolical mediation, which defiles



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43

42

See trin. 4.7.11 (CCL 50, p. 175, l. 1–p. 176, l. 21; WSA I/5, pp. 160–161). See, e.g., trin. 4.9.12 (CCL 50, p. 177, l. 1–p. 178, l. 21; WSA I/5, p. 161). See John C. Cavadini, “Trinity and Apologetics in the Theology of St. Augustine,” Modern Theology 29 (2013): 48–82. For Augustine’s similar treatment of these two mediators, see, e.g., s. 198.38–198.44 (RechAug 26, p. 119, l. 882–p. 125, l. 1088; WSA III/11, pp. 209–214). See Brian E. Daley, “A Humble Mediator: The Distinctive Elements in Saint Augustine’s Christology,” Word and Spirit: A Monastic Review 9 (1987): 100–117.

116 Sacramentality and Exemplarity and alienates us from God, terminates in the casting down into eternal death of the devil and of those humans who belong to him. Even while we were still his enemies in our sins, the Son of God deigned to become our friend in our flesh, entered into companionship with us in our fleshly death, and resurrected in our flesh to eternal life, thereby changing us into his friends. Conversely, the devil has remained the enemy of the human race, has prided himself on clutching onto power over us at the expense of justice, and has refused to accompany us into the death of our flesh. As Augustine explains: [The devil] could have neither a participation in our death nor a resurrection of his own; certainly, he could apply his single death to our double [death]; but he could certainly not [apply] the single resurrection in which would be both the sacrament (sacramentum) of our renovation and the example (exemplum) of the general awakening which is going to happen in the end.44

The devil mediates our double death not only by persuading us to sin, but also by seducing us with false philosophies and sacrilegious rituals, which do not purify proud humans, but rather further contaminate and captivate them. Among the diabolical allurements to power, the devil vaunts the superiority of his aerial body over the inferiority of our terrestrial bodies and takes pride in his alienation from fleshly death. However, when the devil unjustly exercised his limited exterior power to strike down Christ’s mortal flesh, the devil’s interior power, by which he was holding the rest of the human race captive, was struck down. Augustine grasps that God did not first vanquish the devil with raw power because such a soteriological design would not offer us an alternative example by which we could be liberated from our demon-like addictions to power and domination. Rather, Christ first vanquished the devil by the supreme justice of obedience to God, even unto death on the cross, and afterwards by the paramount power of resurrecting from the dead. In maintaining

44

trin. 4.13.17 (CCL 50, p. 182, ll. 23–28; WSA I/5, p. 164).

Christ’s Vanquishing of Human Pride 117 this proper order, Jesus has provided the exemplary sequence for us to imitate in our vanquishing of the devil. We conquer our diabolical enemy first as mortals, by the justice of obedience to God, even unto the death of our bodies, and afterwards as immortals, by the power of the resurrection of our bodies, no longer doomed to the tortures of hell, but rather summoned to the ecstasies of heaven.45

Christ’s Vanquishing of Human Pride From the perspective which this analysis opens up, Augustine clarifies how the unique mediation of the incarnate God exposes and deals with the fact that all other rival theories and practices of mediation or nonmediation  – whether the theurgic rituals of the pagans, the self-directed introspection of the Neoplatonists,46 the creature or demigod Christology of the Arians,47 the self-willed and self-enacted sanctification of the Pelagians,48 or the episcopal and clerical sanctity of the Donatists49 – actually belong to the prideful stratagems of the demonic and their human associates.50 At the heart of true mediation, Christ’s paschal mystery serves to dethrone the enthronements of proud human reason, which searches only in vain for the way of

45



46



47



48



49



50

See trin. 4.10.13–4.18.24 (CCL 50, p. 178, l. 1–p. 193, l. 63; WSA I/5 pp. 162–170); trin. 13.10.13–13.18.23 (CCL 50A, p. 399, l. 1–p. 414, l. 46; WSA I/5, pp. 353–362). See Edmund Hill, “Introductory Essay on Book IV,” in Augustine, The Trinity, ed. John E. Rotelle, trans. Edmund Hill, WSA I/5 (Brooklyn, NY: New City Press, 1991), pp. 147–151; John C. Cavadini, “The Structure and Intention of Augustine’s De trinitate,” Augustinian Studies 23 (1992): 103–123. For the identification of Augustine’s Arian opponents in trin. as Latin Homoians, rather than Eunomians, see Michel R. Barnes, “The Arians of Book V, and the Genre of De Trinitate,” The Journal of Theological Studies 44 (1993): 185–195; Michel R. Barnes, “Exegesis and Polemic in Augustine’s De Trinitate I,” Augustinian Studies 30 (1999): 43–59; Michel R. Barnes, “The Visible Christ and the Invisible Trinity: Mt. 5:8 in Augustine’s Trinitarian Theology of 400,” Modern Theology 19 (2003): 329–355. For Augustine’s anti-Pelagian discussion of the grace of the resurrected Christ, see, e.g., c. Iul. imp. 6.36–6.37 (CSEL 85.2, p. 438, l. 91–p. 442, l. 197; p. 443, l. 26–p. 445, l. 72; WSA I/25, pp. 704–708). For Augustine’s anti-Pelagianism in trin., see Dodaro, Christ and the Just Society, pp. 147–181. For an alternative interpretation, see Studer, “‘Sacramentum et exemplum,’” pp. 124–139. See, e.g., s. 198.49–198.55 (RechAug 26, p. 128, l. 1191–p. 134, l. 1362; WSA III/11, pp. 218–223). See Lewis Ayres, Augustine and the Trinity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 171–173.

118 Sacramentality and Exemplarity purification and the ultimate meaning of all things.51 Augustine sees that all such human attempts have deep affinities with the demonic desire to exert control over reality. Along similar lines, Augustine exposes the epistemic limitations and distortions of those who censure Christians for believing in the fleshly resurrection, and who desire to be believed, instead, about the things of eternity. Despite the metaphysical insights of certain philosophers into the eternal ideas, Augustine acknowledges that their philosophical accomplishments have not allowed them to contemplate the future resurrection. Historians also do not have the credentials to write about such a future event which lies beyond human experience. Neither are soothsayers or demons reliable guides.52 Augustine recognizes that by their perverse love for their own reason and rational accomplishments, and in their mental closure to giving glory and thanks to God, the proud have blinded themselves from seeing the wisdom of the resurrection, which has been revealed in the flesh of Christ, who contains in himself the scrolls of the ages.53 Only those who humbly embrace the risen Christ have minds open enough to grasp the wisdom of the God of the resurrection, and hearts generous enough to give him glory and thanks for everything. Thus, Augustine provides, in De trinitate, a cogent theological analysis of the fleshly death and resurrection of Christ, whose sacramentality and exemplarity serve to bring about the deaths and resurrections of our interior and exterior man. These progressive applications of God’s soteriological design not only make us friends with the Trinity and socialize us within the Church, but also vanquish our diabolical enemies as we make our comeback from captivity in sin and death to freedom in resurrection and life. To the finer details of our double and integral resurrection – that is, the historical resurrection of our souls and the eschatological resurrection of our bodies – as Augustine believes and understands them, we will devote our attention in the next two parts.

51 52 53

See trin. 1.1.1 (CCL 50, p. 27, ll. 1–4; WSA I/5, p. 65). See trin. 4.16.21–4.17.22 (CCL 50, p. 188, l. 1–p. 189, l. 25; WSA I/5, pp. 167–168). See trin. 4.17.23 (CCL 50, p. 189, l. 26–p. 190, l. 38; WSA I/5, pp. 168–169).

III  The Resurrection of the Human Spirit

In investigating with Augustine into the fleshly resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have seen how the God of the resurrection has provided us, in and through Christ’s risen flesh, the divine resources for the integral resurrection of humanity. With these insights, we can now probe further into the details of how Augustine understands and articulates his faith concerning our integral resurrection, beginning with the historical resurrection of human souls. Whereas the future resurrection of bodies can be approached in faith and understanding, but cannot be experienced yet, the present resurrection of souls can not only be approached in faith and understanding, but also be experienced now. In fact, Augustine’s experience of the spiritual resurrection is what allows him and us to undertake this Augustinian exploration into the resurrection in the first place. Accordingly, we must attend not only to his descriptions and analyses of the spiritual resurrection, but also to his theological narration of this event which he confesses to have experienced. While his resurrection experience in 386–387 antedates his theological constructions of the spiritual resurrection, an investigation first into the latter will enable us to analyze the extents to which, and the theological reasons for which, he either aligns or does not align his narration of the former, in Confessiones, with these constructions whose basic foundations were already in place at the time of its composition. After these considerations, our study into the spiritual resurrection will then focus on how Augustine treats the embodiment and embodied expressions of the spiritual resurrection in the members and practices of the Church on earth as they journey in faith and hope toward the eschatological resurrection of their flesh. 119

The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection

7

The Scriptural Articulation of the Spiritual Resurrection Augustine acknowledges that not only the resurrection of the flesh, but also the resurrection of the spirit, is constitutive of the Christian faith and life. For him, whether someone’s flesh resurrects to eternal life or to eternal punishment at the end of time depends on nothing other than whether or not his spirit has already resurrected to eternal life and has remained alive during his lifetime.1 As he preaches: In fact, there is a resurrection according to faith, by which everyone who believes, resurrects in spirit. And indeed, he will resurrect well in body, who first resurrected in spirit. For those who have not previously resurrected in spirit through faith, will resurrect not to that change in the body, where every corruption will be taken away and swallowed up, but to that penal integrity.2

Besides acknowledging the spiritual resurrection, whose evidence he locates in Scripture and whose impacts he verifies in experience, Augustine also acknowledges that not everyone accepts such an attribution of the resurrection to the human spirit. Augustine makes this acknowledgment, in De ciuitate dei 20.5–20.10, when he treats the Johannine evidence, both from the Gospel (Jn 5:22–29) and from the Apocalypse (Rev 20:1–6), about the first resurrection of the soul and the second resurrection of the body.3



1 2 3

See Io. eu. tr. 19.14 (CCL 36, p. 198, ll. 38–44; WSA III/12, p. 349). s. 362.23 (PL 39, col. 1627, ll. 3–53; WSA III/10, p. 260). See ciu. 20.5–20.10 (CCL 48, p. 706, l. 108–p. 719, l. 22; WSA I/7, pp. 396–409).

121

122 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection In the course of this treatment, Augustine argues against the notion of some Christian millenarians that the first resurrection (Rev 20:5–6) will be the future resurrection of the body, whose purpose, they suppose, will be for the resurrected saints to celebrate a Sabbath of the most extravagant carnal feasts during the final thousand years of history.4 Augustine reports that those who limit the resurrection to bodies insist that only those things which fall can resurrect, a premise with which he does not disagree. But falling and resurrecting, they argue, belong only to bodies, because of whose “falling” (cadendo) into death they are called “corpses” (cadauera). “Therefore, they say,” Augustine writes, “there cannot be a resurrection of souls, but [only] of bodies.”5 In response, he provides the evidence of Scripture which describes souls as falling and resurrecting as well. He argues: But what do they have to say against the apostle who calls this [rising again of souls] a resurrection? For they certainly had resurrected according to the interior [man], not according to the exterior man, to whom he says, If you have resurrected with Christ, taste the things which are above (Col 3:1). He put the same meaning elsewhere in other words, saying, So that, just as Christ resurrected from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we ourselves might walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4). That [meaning] is also here: Arise, sleeper, and rise up from the dead and Christ will enlighten you (Eph 5:14). However, they say that it is not possible to resurrect, except for those things which fall, and, for that reason, they think that the resurrection pertains to bodies, not to souls, because it belongs to bodies to fall. Why do they not hear, Do not recede from him, lest you fall (Sir 2:7); and, Before his own Lord, he stands or falls (Rom 14:4); and, He who thinks that he is standing should watch out lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12)? I think [Scripture says this], in fact, because that fall in the soul, not in the body, is to be watched out for. Therefore, if the



4 5

See ciu. 20.7 (CCL 48, p. 708, l. 1–p. 709, l. 43; WSA I/7, pp. 398–399). See ciu. 20.10 (CCL 48, p. 719, ll. 1–6; WSA I/7, p. 408).

Scriptural Articulation of the Spiritual Resurrection 123 resurrection belongs to those things which fall, but souls also fall, then surely it is to be confessed that souls also resurrect.6

From the Scriptures, Augustine thus gathers that the event of the resurrection belongs not only to the body, but also to the soul. As such, his belief in and understanding of the integral resurrection of our whole humanity derives from his careful attention to the vocabulary and grammar of Scripture itself. By plunging into the depths of Scripture, Augustine enters into the way that Scripture communicates the fullness of the resurrection not only of the flesh, but also of the spirit. His theological paradigm of the integral resurrection of the whole human person, therefore, is a biblically dependent paradigm that Augustine not only first learns from Scripture, but also then teaches in and through Scripture’s words and contents. He displays a radically biblical approach and pedagogy that are themselves contoured to Christ’s paschal mystery, and not to some alternative version of human amelioration. In this respect, Augustine shows that, even from the time of his conversion to Catholic Christianity in 386–387, he has committed himself not to some version of Neoplatonic illumination or Manichaean enlightenment, as some of his readers imagine,7 but rather to the risen Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 13:14)8 and to the integral resurrection which he offers humanity, as God’s living and life-giving word bears witness. By embracing and sharing the fullness of the scriptural witness from the inside, Augustine refuses to truncate the extensive testimony of the Old and New Testaments to the resurrection – as if Scripture spoke only about the resurrection of the flesh alone – and he resists imposing some extrinsic framework upon, and inserting some exotic features into, the resurrection – as if it did not involve our complete and composite humanity. Accordingly, Augustine’s confession of the spiritual

6



8

7

ciu. 20.10 (CCL 48, p. 719, ll. 6–21; WSA I/7, pp. 408–409). See, e.g., Jason D. BeDuhn, Augustine’s Manichaean Dilemma, 1: Conversion and Apostasy, 373–388 C.E. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), pp. 175– 177; Jason D. BeDuhn, Augustine’s Manichaean Dilemma, 2: Making a “Catholic” Self, 388–401 C.E. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), pp. 29–30. See conf. 8.12.29 (CCL 29, p. 131, ll. 18–38; WSA I/1, pp. 206–207).

124 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection resurrection of the soul, which is constitutive of the integral resurrection of the human person, is not only saturated in Scripture, but also undetachable from the fleshly resurrection of the body to eternal life.

The Incarnational Character of the Spiritual Resurrection Augustine’s understanding of the intrinsically incarnational character of the spiritual resurrection can be seen from two directions. From one direction – that is, from spirit to flesh – he shows that intrinsic to the spiritual resurrection is belief in and hope for the fleshly resurrection to eternal life, along with the embodiment and embodied expressions of a resurrected lifestyle, even now, in the risen Christ. From the other direction – that is, from flesh to spirit – he shows that the fleshly resurrection to eternal life is inherently and coherently predicated on the spiritual resurrection. Thus, Augustine describes these two resurrections: How are we to understand those two resurrections? Can it perhaps be that those who resurrect now, will not resurrect then, so that the resurrection of some happens now, [and the resurrection] of others [will happen] then? It is not thus. For in that resurrection, if we believed correctly, we have resurrected; and we ourselves who have already resurrected are expecting the other resurrection at the end. But even now, we have resurrected to eternal life, if we remain perseveringly in this very faith; and we will resurrect to eternal life then, when we will be made equal to the angels (see Lk 20:36).9

By contrast, as Augustine laments, the bodies of those whose souls remain in the spiritual death of unbelief about the integral resurrection will resurrect not to eternal life, but rather to eternal death. Thus, he catechizes: Those, however, who ridicule the resurrection, thinking that this flesh, because it putrefies, is not able to resurrect, will be

9

Io. eu. tr. 19.10 (CCL 36, p. 193, ll. 1–8; WSA III/12, p. 342).

Handling the Resurrection from the Inside 125 resurrected for punishment in it, and God will show them that he, who was able to make these bodies before they existed, is able to restore them in a moment just as they were.10

For Augustine, the refusal to believe in the resurrection not only of the body, but also of the soul emerges from and aggravates spiritual death. As a remedy, he recommends living faith in the in­tegral esurrection, which inaugurates and advances our progressive r­ experience of it. From this perspective, such criticisms of Augustine as Wolfhart Pannenberg’s for supposedly “spiritualizing” the resurrection by re­cognizing the resurrection of souls, and thereby allegedly “leveling down of what is specific in NT hopes of salvation,” namely, “the concrete hope of the indestructible relationship of believers with the life of the risen Christ that is as such a bodily life,”11 underappreciate how Scripture itself – as Augustine indicates – describes the full extent of what resurrection is and the full intent of what resurrection means. As Augustine reads it, God’s scriptural word co­mmunicates, in a perlocutionary way, the integral resurrection of the human person, spirit and flesh, to eternal life in God. For him, such an appreciation of the resurrection cannot happen, except by entering into the resurrection, which means entering, even right now, into the resurrected Christ.

Handling the Resurrection from the Inside For Augustine, the resurrection can only truly be handled from the inside, by those whose once dead, but now resurrected, hearts have encountered, in Jesus Christ, the God of the resurrection in a resurrecting way.12 Whereas almost everyone can see the visible death of the body, Augustine insists that almost no one can see the invisible death



10



12

11

cat. rud. 27.54 (CCL 46, p. 176, l. 43–p. 177, l. 47; AS 5, p. 117). Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), p. 570. See s. 98.1 (PL 38, col. 591, ll. 42–48; WSA III/4, p. 43).

126 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection of the soul, except for the Lord and those whose dead hearts the Lord has resurrected.13 Thus, he elaborates on the spiritual resurrection: Now, in the meantime, make the crossing over to life. What is your life? Faith. The just man lives from faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17). What are unbelievers? They are dead. Among such dead was the man [living] in the body, concerning whom the Lord says, “Leave the dead that they may bury their dead” (Mt 8:22). Therefore, even in this life there are the dead [and] there are the living, even [though it may seem] as if all are alive. Who are the dead? Those who have not believed. Who are the living? Those who have believed. What is said to the dead by the apostle? Arise, sleeper (Eph 5:14). “But he spoke of sleep,” he says, “not death.” Hear what follows: Arise, sleeper, and rise up from the dead (Eph 5:14). And as though he were saying, “Whither shall I go?” And Christ will enlighten you (Eph 5:14). Right now, when Christ has enlightened you who are believing, you are making the crossing over from death to life. Remain in that to which you have crossed over, and you will not come to judgment.14

While it may seem as though everyone whose body is living is fully alive, Augustine sees that the basic reason for the failure to acknowledge the spiritual resurrection is spiritual death itself. Without the enlightenment of the spiritual resurrection, the dead soul cannot but slumber away in the darkness and death of unbelief, not even believing itself to be dead and in need of Christ to resurrect it.

The Disgraceful Death and the Graceful Resurrection of the Soul In developing his understanding of the spiritual resurrection by deepening his engagement with Scripture, Augustine makes significant modifications to his earliest version and accounts of the soul’s immortality, which were considerably indebted to Platonism and

13 14

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 22.6 (CCL 36, p. 226, ll. 1–21; WSA III/12, pp. 394–395). Io. eu. tr. 22.6 (CCL 36, p. 226, ll. 10–21; WSA III/12, p. 395).

Disgraceful Death and Graceful Resurrection 127 Neoplatonism. In this process, he observes that, whereas the s­elfsame God alone has immortality (1 Tim 6:16), the mutable soul, while constitutionally immortal, is still conditionally mortal, at least in this life.15 Thus, he insists: I dare to say, the soul can die, it can be slaughtered. Certainly, it is immortal. Look, I dare to say, it is both immortal and capable of being slaughtered. […] A body is living, and he is godless, he is faithless, hard-hearted when it comes to believing, ironclad when it comes to correcting his morals. While the body is alive, the soul, through which the body lives, is dead. Indeed, such a thing is the soul that it is able to furnish life to the body, even as dead itself. I say, such a thing is the soul, so excellent a creature, that it is able, even as dead itself, to make the flesh live.16

Augustine explains that the soul has suffered death in and through sin, originally in Adam and additionally in itself.17 According to him, the soul’s death admits of degrees such that we can aggravate our spiritual deaths, the more we conceive, enact, and habituate sin. While the soul is sufficient to sin on its own, once it has sinned and fallen, the dead soul cannot rise again on its own.18 Neither can any other creature, whose own salvation comes from the Lord, raise it up.19 Nor can any philosophical system or religious movement outside of the Church revive it, not even those sects that profess some version of spiritual resurrection.20 Neither can the general grace of human nature nor can the Mosaic law resurrect the dead soul.21 Therefore, Augustine specifies that only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ through the Spirit can the dead soul be raised to a participation in his eternal life.22

15

See, e.g., s. 65.4–65.7 (PL 38, col. 428, l. 10–col. 430, l. 17; WSA III/3, pp. 193–196). s. 65.4, 65.6 (PL 38, col. 428, ll. 26–28; col. 429, ll. 15–22; WSA III/3, pp. 194–195). 17 See, e.g., s. 165.7 (PL 38, col. 906, ll. 5–18; WSA III/5, p. 205). 18 See, e.g., s. 20.1 (CCL 41, p. 261, ll. 3–24; WSA III/2, p. 15). 19 See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 34.3–34.4 (CCL 36, p. 312, l. 1–p. 313, l. 26; WSA III/12, pp. 533–535). 20 See Io. eu. tr. 19.14 (CCL 36, p. 197, l. 1–p. 198, l. 56; WSA III/12, pp. 348–350). 21 See, e.g., s. 26.9–26.10 (CCL 41, p. 353, l. 170–p. 355, l. 224; WSA III/2, pp. 97–99). 22 See, e.g., en. Ps. 87.10–87.13 (CCL 39, p. 1214, l. 1–p. 1218, l. 47; WSA III/18, pp. 265–270). 16

128 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection

Christological Incorporation and Configuration Augustine gathers that this gracious process of Trinitarian p­ articipation occurs as a Christological incorporation and configuration. When we are incorporated into Christ and configured to him, we experience not only death to sin by being buried and “sown (se­minamur) in his death,” but also resurrection to justice by being raised up and “germinated (germinamus) in his resurrection.”23 For Augustine, the living of the Christian life takes place within, and is configured to, the historical events of Christ’s paschal mystery.24 He recognizes, moreover, that this Christological incorporation and configuration is initiated sacramentally in baptism,25 which he id­entifies as “the sacrament of the resurrection of Christ” (sa­ cramentum resurrectionis Christi).26 Christian baptism initiates both the sacramental integration of the soul and the exemplary integration of the flesh into Christ’s death and resurrection. For Augustine, the whole of the Christian life, even from its beginning in baptism, has an intrinsic eschatological cast, the consummation of which takes place in the beatific resurrection. Moreover, Augustine admits that each of us is completely powerless not only to come back from death to life, but also to remain alive on our own. Once God resurrects the soul, only God’s indwelling presence keeps it alive. For God alone is the life of the soul, and if God departs, the soul, left to itself, cannot but die.27 Augustine further explains that the soul’s participation in God’s life increases now in time, until its consummation through the Spirit later in eternity, when our resurrected bodies will adhere to and live from our



23



26

24 25

27

See, e.g., s. 236.1 (PL 38, col. 1120, ll. 9–27; WSA III/7, p. 44). See ench. 14.54 (CCL 46, p. 78, ll. 97–101; WSA I/8, p. 305). See ench. 13.42 (CCL 46, p. 73, ll. 28–33; WSA I/8, p. 300). See J. Patout Burns, “Baptism as Dying and Rising with Christ in the Teaching of Augustine,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 20 (2012): 407–438. s. 210.3 (PL 38, col. 1048, l. 48; WSA III/6, p. 119). See, e.g., en. Ps. 70.2.3 (CCL 39, p. 961, l. 30–p. 962, l. 68; WSA III/17, pp. 439–440).

The Paschal Mystery of the Soul 129 resurrected souls, which will adhere to and live from our resurrecting God.28 Thus, he observes: So then, to adhere to earthly things is the death of the soul. [… A]nd from this death, if one perseveres and continues to make progress, he is brought back to life every day, for [God] continues to give [him] life, by whose grace our interior man is renewed from day to day (see 2 Cor 4:16).29

Particularly to a long order of penitents, Augustine declares that, even after its resurrection, a soul can decline into death again. For “the resurrection of Christ is in us, [only] if we live well.”30 But the dead soul can be resurrected again, and the person can rise from the place of the excommunicated, at least before the end of this life.31

The Paschal Mystery of the Soul Quite often, Augustine describes the spiritual resurrection as a pasch. He explains that this Latin vocabulary of “pasch” (pascha) has been translated not from Greek to indicate “suffering” (passione; πάσχειν), but rather from Hebrew to indicate “a certain passing over from death to life.”32 The present pasch of the soul connects intrinsically with the pasch of the flesh, not only Christ’s in the past, but also ours in the future.33 Resourcing the Scriptures, Augustine recognizes that whereas spiritual death is identifiable with pride, foolishness, godlessness, unbelief, injustice, hatred, falsehood, and darkness, spiritual life is identifiable with their opposites: humility, wisdom, godliness, faith, justice, charity, truth, and light.34 Furthermore, he detects that

28



29 30 31 32 33 34

See, e.g., en. Ps. 118.10.1–118.10.2 (CCL 40, p. 1692, l. 1–p. 1693, l. 43; WSA III/19, pp. 382–383). en. Ps. 118.10.1–118.10.2 (CCL 40, p. 1692, ll. 15–16; 13–15; WSA III/19, pp. 382–383). s. 232.8 (SC 116, p. 274, l. 175; WSA III/7, p. 28). See, e.g., s. 232.8 (SC 116, p. 274, l. 174–p. 278, l. 222; WSA III/7, pp. 28–29). See ep. 55.1.2 (CSEL 34.2, p. 170, l. 17–p. 171, l. 6; WSA II/1, p. 216). See, e.g., ep. 55.1.2–55.2.3 (CSEL 34.2, p. 170, l. 3– p. 173, l. 15; WSA II/1, pp. 216–217). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 19.8–19.12 (CCL 36, p. 192, l. 14–p. 196, l. 49; WSA III/12, pp. 340–346).

130 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection our pasch occurs in and through Christ’s paschal mystery from this world to the Father (Jn 13:1), whereby we pass over from the devil to Christ, from this unstable age to that most solid kingdom, and from the transitory world to the enduring God.35 Although the soul can now graciously “cross over from death to life” (Jn 5:24), Augustine admits that every person still has to struggle with paying the penalty of corporeal death on account of sin. After fleshly death, the whole person will eventually be able to cross over from death to eternal life at the eschatological resurrection.36 Otherwise, if the resurrection of the soul had returned us at once to our original condition of freedom from physical death and mortality, then we would have considered our sinful falling into death to have been some kind of “game” (ludus).37 Augustine further argues that if bodily immortality had immediately followed the sacrament of regeneration and the grace of Christ, then Christians would have suffered the diminution, enervation, and deprivation of their resurrection faith and hope, having nowhere to exercise them by struggling, like the martyrs, to conquer the fear of death through their expectation of the final resurrection.38

Theological Analysis of the Two Resurrections In preaching a series of sermons on John 5:19–30, Augustine provides a theological analysis of the two resurrections about which Scripture speaks and Christ teaches: (1) that of the soul and (2) that of the body.39 From Christ’s instruction, Augustine distinguishes these two resurrections not only according to when, but also according to how, God performs them. Both converge, however, in one and the same Christological nexus. As Augustine preaches:



35



39

36 37 38

See Io. eu. tr. 55.1–55.2 (CCL 36, p. 463, l. 1–p. 465, l. 26; WSA III/13, pp. 176–178). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 22.6 (CCL 36, p. 226, ll. 1–21; WSA III/12, pp. 394–395). See s. 278.3 (PL 38, col. 1270, ll. 6–26; WSA III/8, pp. 51–52). See, e.g., pecc. mer. 2.31.50–2.31.51 (CSEL 60, p. 120, l. 18–p. 122, l. 12; WSA I/23, pp. 112–113). See Io. eu. tr. 19.10 (CCL 36, p. 193, ll. 9–15; WSA III/12, p. 342).

Theological Analysis of the Two Resurrections 131 And the whole preaching and dispensation through Christ is this, brethren, and is not anything else: that souls should resurrect and bodies should resurrect. Each, of course, was dead: the body from infirmity, the soul from iniquity. Because each was dead, each should resurrect. What are each? Soul and body. Therefore, through what [does] the soul [resurrect], except through Christ as God? Through what [does] the body [resurrect], except through Christ as man? […] Let your soul resurrect from iniquity through that which is God; let your body resurrect from corruption through that which is man.40

Whereas the resurrection of dead souls from their wickedness happens now, in time, through God’s divine substance, the resurrection of dead bodies from their corruption will happen later, at time’s end, through Christ’s human dispensation.41 Augustine grasps that these two distinct resurrections are not the preconditions, but rather the outcomes, of two distinct hearings of two distinct voices. Neither resurrection is of temporary duration, but rather both are of eternal duration.42 Augustine explains that the resurrection of minds happens now, when they hear, with the obedience of right faith, the divine voice of the Son of God, and believe in the Father who sent him to us (see Jn 5:24–25). For Augustine, “the Word [who] comes and is infused into [his] hearers”43 is emphatically one and the same Christ who experienced “dying in the flesh [and] resurrecting in the flesh, […] promising the resurrection to the flesh, promising the resurrection to the mind, to the mind before the flesh, to the flesh after the mind.”44 The spiritual infusion of the Word into the hearts of believers, therefore, cannot occur, except in and through Christ’s fleshly economy, whose contents of faith are thereby infused into these

40 41 42 43 44

Io. eu. tr. 23.6 (CCL 36, p. 236, ll. 26–32, 40–42; WSA III/12, pp. 410–411). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 23.6–23.7 (CCL 36, p. 235, l. 1–p. 237, l. 28; WSA III/12, pp. 409–412). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 19.9–19.10 (CCL 36, p. 192, l. 6–p. 193, l. 24; WSA III/12, pp. 341–342). Io. eu. tr. 19.12 (CCL 36, p. 195, l. 38; WSA III/12, p. 346). See Io. eu. tr. 19.10 (CCL 36, p. 193, l. 30–p. 194, l. 36; WSA III/12, p. 343).

132 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection hearts in a resurrecting way. Thus, the Father resurrects dead souls to a participation in his eternal life through his Son, whose dead flesh has been raised.45 Augustine shows that Scripture’s deployment of the paradigmatic language of resurrection – whose visible referent remains that of the flesh – not only to describe, but also to effect, in a perlocutionary manner, the revivification of souls appropriately befits the Christian experience and properly belongs to the Christian faith. Accordingly, Augustine’s linguistic deployment of resurrection does not and cannot refer to some self-rehabilitation of the soul, for example, in the fashion of Platonic purification or Manichaean extraction. Every resurrection, including that of the soul, is the proper work of the God of the resurrection, who has not only chosen to become flesh, but also decided never to leave the flesh behind or below. Augustine further explains that the resurrection of bodies, coming forth from lying dead in their tombs, either to eternal life or to eternal punishment, will happen in their hearing the human voice of the Son of man when he comes again in judgment (see Jn 5:27–29). Just as the Son of man alone was born, crucified, killed, and raised, so also he alone will be manifest in bringing about the resurrection of all human flesh, but without God being sidelined from this event.46 Thus, Augustine clarifies, “So then, God raises souls through Christ, the Son of God; God raises bodies through the same Christ, the Son of man.”47 Even with these analytical distinctions, Augustine sees that the Trinity progressively accomplishes the integral resurrection of whole human persons.48 However, whereas God graciously enables the saints to receive the fullness of this integral resurrection, the damned disable themselves from receiving it fully and happily, s­ettling instead to receive it only partially and miserably.

45



46



47 48

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 19.7–19.14 (CCL 36, p. 191, l. 1–p. 198, l. 56; WSA III/12, pp. 339–350). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 19.14–19.20 (CCL 36, p. 197, l. 1–p. 202, l. 11; WSA III/12, pp. 348–356). Io. eu. tr. 19.15 (CCL 36, p. 198, ll. 18–20; WSA III/12, p. 350). See Io. eu. tr. 23.15 (CCL 36, p. 243, ll. 9–13; WSA III/12, p. 422).

Theological Analysis of the Two Resurrections 133 Furthermore, Augustine fleshes out the spiritual resurrection, lest his audience imagine that it has nothing to do either with the resurrection of the body or with concrete actions and behaviors even now in the body.49 As he preaches: Depending on how we die according to the spirit and resurrect according to the spirit, so afterwards we die according to the flesh and resurrect according to the flesh. Death according to the spirit is no longer believing the vain things which one used to believe, no longer doing the evil things which one used to do. Resurrection according to the spirit is believing the salutary things which one used not to believe and doing the good things which one used not to do. He who used to regard earthly idols and figures as gods, has come to know the one God and to believe in him; he died to idolatry, he resurrected in the Christian faith. He was a drunkard, he is sober; he died to drunkenness, he resurrected in sobriety. In such a way, when it is withdrawn from all evil works, a certain death happens in the soul, and it resurrects in its good works. Put to death, says the apostle, your members which are on earth, uncleanness, disturbance, evil concupiscence, and avarice, he says, which is the servitude of idols (Col 3:5). Therefore, when those members have been put to death, we resurrect in goods which are contrary to them: in sanctity, in tranquility, in charity, in almsgiving. Moreover, just as death according to the spirit precedes resurrection which is according to the spirit, so death according to the flesh will precede resurrection which will be according to the flesh.50

The gravel and grit of the spiritual resurrection cannot get any more concrete than that toward which Augustine gestures here. The road to recovery and sobriety is a passageway of the spiritual resurrection for the alcoholic; so also are the graced paths to the dignity of



49 50

See s. 362.22–362.26 (PL 39, col. 1626, l. 32–col. 1630, l. 46; WSA III/10, pp. 258–263). s. 362.23 (PL 39, col. 1627, ll. 31–53; WSA III/10, pp. 259–260).

134 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection temperance for someone wallowing in the filth of debauchery, to l­iving as a praiser of God for the blasphemer of God, and to thriving as a worshipper of the Creator for the servant of the creature.51

The Grace of the Spiritual Resurrection Perhaps the comebacks from such nasty conditions to such neat ones might seem to some people, as it does to Pelagius and company, to be certainly challenging, demanding, and difficult, but not impossible for anyone on his own. But the fact that Augustine describes such comebacks in terms of the spiritual resurrection subverts any and every claim to self-rehabilitation. His description, therefore, reinforces the humble, if not also humiliating, confession that all of us need God to bring about our comeback from death to life, which none of us can bring about for ourselves. As Augustine is aware, only God has the power to resurrect the dead. But he is also aware that, in the dead and resurrected flesh of the Word, the God of the resurrection has already gone through our “humiliation” (humiliatio) of needing to be resurrected by God.52 Augustine appreciates that God thus p­rovides us a sanctuary in Christ where we, in our humiliation, can confess to him that we have slaughtered our souls, even in such deadly sins as m­urder and adultery; that we cannot come back to life on our own; and that, therefore, we need him to resurrect our dead hearts.53 Augustine gives voice to just how impossible it is for us, in and of ourselves, to make the comeback from spiritual death to spiritual life. Thus, his preaching on Lazarus’s fleshly resurrection becomes the Church’s prayer for sinners’ spiritual resurrection: Jesus says to her, “I am the resurrection” (Jn 11:25). You [Martha] say, “My brother will resurrect on the last day; it is true!” But the one through whom he will then resurrect, has the power [to resurrect him] even now because “I am,” he says, “the resurrection



51 52 53

See, e.g., en. Ps. 88.1.6 (CCL 39, p. 1223, l. 1–p. 1224, l. 29; WSA III/18, pp. 277–278). See s. 242A.1 (MA 1, p. 328, ll. 6–17; WSA III/7, p. 86). See, e.g., s. 306C.3 (MA 1, p. 648, l. 13–p. 649, l. 5; WSA III/9, pp. 37–38).

Scriptural Paradigm of the Spiritual Resurrection 135 and the life” (Jn 11:25). Listen, brethren, listen to what he says. Certainly, the whole expectation of those standing around was that Lazarus, someone dead for four days, would revive. Let us listen and let us resurrect. How many there are among this people whom the massive weight of habit oppresses! Perhaps there are some listening to me to whom it is said, Do not get drunk on wine in which there is debauchery (Eph 5:18). They say, “We are not able!” Perhaps some unclean persons are listening to me, stained by lascivious and shameful things, to whom it is said, “Do not do this, lest you perish.” And they respond, “We are not able to be lifted up from our habit!” O Lord, raise them up again. “I am,” he says, “the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25). Therefore, [he is] the resurrection because [he is] the life.54

Whether coming from oneself or another person, the human voice of encouragement is altogether insufficient to effect the spiritual resurrection. Running up against this human impossibility, Augustine can do nothing else but turn to the God of the resurrection in prayer, as Jesus himself has done.55

The Scriptural Paradigm of the Spiritual Resurrection The dramatic events of Lazarus’s resurrection provide Augustine insights into the pattern of how God accomplishes the spiritual r­esurrection. He observes that God alone has the power to perform the spiritual resurrection within the sealed and dark tomb of the cold and dead heart.56 The Lord growls with a loud and majestic voice, communicates grace within the heart, and calls the sinner forth into the daylight of the resurrection.57 Among such sinners, Augustine counts those whose sins have already been forgiven in baptism, but



54 55 56 57

Io. eu. tr. 49.14 (CCL 36, p. 427, ll. 5–18; WSA III/13, p. 119). See Io. eu. tr. 21.10 (CCL 36, p. 217, ll. 9–14; WSA III/12, p. 381). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 22.7 (CCL 36, p. 227, ll. 22–31; WSA III/12, p. 396). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 49.24 (CCL 36, p. 431, ll. 1–25; WSA III/13, p. 125).

136 The Contents of the Spiritual Resurrection who have since returned to the same sins. For the souls of all sinners, Christ weeps and sheds tears of love, thereby teaching their hardened hearts to weep for themselves.58 There was no motive other than God’s love for sinners that brought him down from heaven to earth,59 not only as the consoler of the sorrowful and the healer of the sick, but also as the raiser of the dead.60 As Augustine avers, Christ does not disdain to approach sinful souls – no matter how fetid, putrid, or corrupt – to resurrect them.61 Since the time of De sermone domini in monte, Augustine has figuratively interpreted the Gospel accounts of Christ’s resurrections of three dead bodies as three degrees of the spiritual resurrection from three gravities of spiritual death.62 Continuing this line of interpretation, he emphasizes that spiritual “death” (mors) is nothing other than “sin” (peccatum). “Let everyone look into his own soul,” he preaches; “if it sins, it dies; sin is the death of the soul (p­eccatum, mors est animae).”63 For Augustine, the death from which God re­surrects the soul is not just any fall, mishap, or misadventure. Rather, he explicitly identifies this death as sin, strictly speaking. As such, this identification derives from nothing other than Scripture’s diagnosis of sin as the death of the soul. Contrary to such critics as Wolfhart Pannenberg, Augustine “spiritualiz[es]”64 neither death nor resurrection any more than Scripture does. Instead, both recognize that the soul’s death in sin and resurrection in Christ are spiritual realities, even while they remain inseparable from what happens in and with the flesh. According to Augustine’s figurative exegeses, (1) the resurrection of the daughter of the synagogue official, lying inside the house, signifies the resurrection of the dead soul from internal sins of bad thoughts and desires; (2) the resurrection of the youthful son of the widow,

58 59 60 61 62 63 64

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 49.19 (CCL 36, p. 429, l. 1–p. 430, l. 42; WSA III/13, pp. 122–123). See Io. eu. tr. 49.5 (CCL 36, p. 422, ll. 9–21; WSA III/13, p. 111). See Io. eu. tr. 49.7 (CCL 36, p. 422, l. 1–p. 423, l. 4; WSA III/13, p. 112). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 49.12 (CCL 36, p. 426, ll. 31–33; WSA III/13, p. 118). See s. dom. mon. 1.12.35 (CCL 35, p. 38, l. 823–p. 39, l. 835; WSA I/15 and I/16, p. 42). Io. eu. tr. 49.3 (CCL 36, p. 421, ll. 8–9; WSA III/13, p. 109). Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, p. 570.

Scriptural Paradigm of the Spiritual Resurrection 137 being carried outside the city gates, signifies the resurrection of the dead soul from external sins of bad actions; and (3) the resurrection of Lazarus, buried for four days, signifies the resurrection of the dead soul from burdensome sins of bad habits.65 With such a scriptural paradigm of the spiritual resurrection, Augustine expresses his confidence in the extensive and even unlimited reach of the God of the resurrection. There is no spiritual death from the depths of which Christ does not have the power to resurrect the human soul. There is no sinful residue from the bindings of which Christ, through the ministers of his Church, does not have the power to unbind the human spirit. Even if someone has committed some deadly sin – adultery, murder, sacrilege, or even the betrayal of Judas – Augustine insists that no one should despair. For by God’s kindness toward sinners, “the weight of the grave yields to the voice of mercy, death yields to life, [and] hell yields to heaven.”66 Augustine’s confidence in the merciful power of the God of the resurrection, however, does not arise only from his theological reading of Scripture, contextualized within his pastoral ministry of caring for sinners.67 It also and primarily emerges from his own experiences of spiritual death and spiritual resurrection, which he narrates most famously in Confessiones. To this narration of Augustine we will turn our attention in the next chapter.



65



66 67

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 49.2–49.3 (CCL 36, p. 420, l. 1–p. 421, l. 41; WSA III/13, pp. 108– 110). For Augustine’s interpretation of Lazarus’s four-day death as signifying a fourfold progress of sin, see s. 98.6 (PL 38, col. 594, ll. 28–40; WSA III/4, pp. 46–47). For their signifying four types of sin, see, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 49.12 (CCL 36, p. 426, ll. 1–33; WSA III/13, pp. 117–118). See, e.g., s. 352.8 (PL 39, col. 1558, l. 28–col. 1559, l. 10; WSA III/10, pp. 147–148). See Paul R. Kolbet, Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010).

The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul

8

The Confession of Augustine’s Spiritual Resurrection Nothing of what Augustine taught and preached about the r­esurrection can be adequately accounted for apart from taking into consideration his confession that he had first encountered the God of the resurrection and experienced the power of his grace raising his soul up from death to life. The point of departure for all his treatments of the re­surrection can be located nowhere else than in his own experience of the spiritual resurrection. It is a point from which Augustine gives no evidence of ever departing, even though he bears witness to not yet having arrived at it perfectly. As such, this unretracted point is a kind of process, an event that has occurred and yet continues to grow within him and to unfold for him. The resurrection of his soul punctuates his life, se­parating everything of spiritual death that had come before and everything of spiritual life that has come, and continues to come, after. With such an impact on Augustine’s life, this punctuation point also marks all his theological works, in general, and his thoughts on the resurrection, in particular, whether more explicitly or more implicitly. Perhaps the work most explicitly marked by Augustine’s ex­perience of the spiritual resurrection is his Confessiones. This work consists of a series of mixed confessions, which he describes as confessions of disgust with himself as a sinner and confessions of praise to God who shows great mercy to sinners, confessions about himself and confessions not about himself.1 His confessions are born of kn­owledge and ignorance, brought forth from a heart that bears nebulous lights



138

1

See conf. 10.1.1–10.5.7 (CCL 27, p. 155, l. 1–p. 158, l. 16; WSA I/1, pp. 237–241).

The Confession of Augustine’s Spiritual Resurrection 139 and shadows.2 These confessions of Augustine, like Augustine himself, are marked by a degree of incoherence, even while he ge­stures, in and through them, toward the eventual accomplishment of personal and  narrative coherence, which he hopes will come about when his entire person resurrects to eternal life in God. At the heart of these confessions stands the God of the resurrection. Any degree of coherence that they have is due to the voice of God, who “called and shouted and shattered [Augustine’s] deafness.”3 Speaking through Scripture, this divine voice commanded him, “deaf” in his soul and “dead” in his sin,4 to resurrect in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Scripture has not only efficaciously communicated Christ’s resurrection to Augustine’s dead soul, but also provided the Christian grammar of the resurrection for the narration and the reading of his Confessiones. Despite the claims of such readers as Phillip Cary to the contrary, the heart and the hinge of Augustine’s Confessiones, around and upon which everything else therein circulates and depends, does not concern any philosophically conceived “project of awakening oneself to th[e] vision” of God,5 or movement of “turning inward [that] leads away from the flesh of Christ.”6 Nor does it concern any abstract and disincarnate working of divine grace. Rather, Augustine’s Confessiones is the story of how the God of Jesus Christ resurrected his soul from spiritual death in sin to spiritual life in the risen Lord. Apart from God’s voice commanding him to arise by putting on Christ in baptism, there would have been no story of Augustine not only with respect to narrative form, but also with respect to lived experience. Without the God of the resurrection, there would have been neither the Confessiones of Augustine nor the Augustine of

2



6

3 4 5

See conf. 10.5.7 (CCL 27, p. 158, ll. 13–16; WSA I/1, p. 241). conf. 10.27.38 (CCL 27, p. 175, ll. 5–6; WSA I/1, p. 262). See conf. 9.4.11 (CCL 27, p. 140, ll. 95–98; WSA I/1, pp. 217–218). Phillip Cary, Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 64. Cary, Augustine’s Invention, p. 47. See Cary, Augustine’s Invention, pp. 50–51, 60; Phillip Cary, “Book Seven: Inner Vision as the Goal of Augustine’s Life,” in A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Kim Paffenroth and Robert P. Kennedy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), pp. 107–126, esp. pp. 122–123.

140 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul Confessiones. Except for God, there would have been nothing but the downward falling of confused and confusing events, the g­odless defecting of a self-deceived and self-deceiving “man, [into] the immense depths” of absolute incoherence and total death.7 Because of nothing other than his mercy, the God of the resurrection has given, is giving, and will continue to give Augustine his story, his confessions, and his humanity, drawn up from the depths of sin’s death and darkness to the heights of God’s life and light.8 The storied person of Augustine and the personal story of his Confessiones are still in the process of coming to realization in God, a process bookended, on this side, by the resurrection of his restless and lifeless heart and, on that side, by the resurrection of his dissipated and disintegrated flesh.9 As Augustine writes: Fix there your dwelling place (see Jn 14:23), commend there whatever you have from there, my soul, at all events wearied by deceits. Commend whatever of truth you have from truth, and you will not lose anything, and your rotten [flesh] will flourish again (see Ps 27:7) and all your weariness will be healed (see Mt 4:23) and your fluctuating elements will be reformed and renovated (see Ps 102:3, 5) and bound fast to you and will not pull you down, by whom they collapsed, but they will stand firm (stabunt) with you and will abide amidst the always standing firm (stantem) and abiding God (see Ps 101:13, 27; Heb 1:11; 1 Pet 1:23).10

It is only after the resurrection of his soul that Augustine has the wherewithal to make confession of himself through the





7 8 9

10

See, e.g., conf. 4.14.22 (CCL 27, p. 51, ll. 14–29; WSA I/1, p. 106). See conf. 13.14.15 (CCL 27, p. 250, ll. 7–11; WSA I/1, p. 352). See Charles T. Mathewes, “Book One: The Presumptuousness of Autobiography and the Paradoxes of Beginning,” in A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Kim Paffenroth and Robert P. Kennedy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), pp. 7–23; Catherine Conybeare, “Reading the Confessions,” in A Companion to Augustine, ed. Mark Vessey (Chichester, West Sussex: Blackwell, 2012), pp. 99–110. conf. 4.11.16 (CCL 27, p. 48, l. 6–p. 49, l. 13; WSA I/1, p. 103).

The Depths of Augustine’s Spiritual Death in Sin 141 confession of his story, the beginning, progressing, and ending of which ul­timately belong not to himself, but rather to God. These co­nfessions are the consequences and further enactments of his spiritual resurrection, whose appreciation they serve him to deepen, and whose cognate they serve his audience and readers to experience for themselves.11 Encountering the God of the resurrection, experiencing the power of the risen Jesus, has given Augustine a new mentality and pe­rspective  – which he did not, and otherwise could not, have before – to see himself and the events of his life in the light of incarnate truth.

The Depths of Augustine’s Spiritual Death in Sin With this renovation of his mind, Augustine not only acknowledges, but also seeks to understand further, the depths of spiritual death from which, and the heights of spiritual life to which, God has resurrected his soul. Over and over again, he confesses that, for many years and through many misadventures, he had been carrying around a soul that was not only dead, but also proud to descend into a “[putrid] monstrosity of life and an immense depth of death.”12 In pursuing the shadows, he loved to take flight farther and farther away from God,13 “the life of [his] life,”14 into more and more grievous conditions of self-inflicted death. As Augustine confesses, “[M]eanwhile I, most miserable, [but] with dry [and tearless] eyes, was bearing myself dying in these things away from you, God, my life.”15 Further, he laments,

11



12 13 14 15

For Augustine’s protreptic intention in conf., see Erich Feldmann, “Das literarische Genus und das Gesamtkonzept der Confessiones,” in Die Confessiones des Augustinus von Hippo: Einführung und Interpretationen zu den dreizehn Büchern, ed. Norbert Fischer and Cornelius Mayer, Forschungen zur Europäischen Geistesgeschichte 1 (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1998), pp. 11–59; Serge Lancel, Saint Augustine, trans. Antonia Nevill (London: SCM Press, 2002), pp. 208–213; Annemaré Kotzé, Augustine’s Confessions: Communicative Purpose and Audience, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae: Texts and Studies of Early Christian Life and Language 71 (Leiden – Boston: Brill, 2004), pp. 45–85, 117–196. conf. 2.6.14 (CCL 27, p. 24, ll. 54–55; WSA I/1, p. 71). See conf. 2.6.14 (CCL 27, p. 24, ll. 44–56; WSA I/1, p. 71). conf. 7.1.2 (CCL 37, p. 93, l. 35; WSA I/1, p. 159). conf. 1.13.20 (CCL 27, p. 11, ll. 13–14; WSA I/1, p. 53).

142 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul “[H]owever, [I was] not weeping for [my] death, which was occurring by not loving you, God.”16 And further, he admits, “I was delaying from day to day (see Sir 5:8) to live in you, but I was not delaying daily to die in myself.”17 When Augustine investigates what has motivated his death drive by probing his adolescent sin of stealing pears, he confesses that his falling in love with his own self-destruction has emerged from nowhere else than his own heart of darkness. As he laments, “I loved to perish, I loved my defection.”18 But despite his experience of it, he can neither account for nor grasp this defective and defecting drive toward nothing and nonsense, to which dying and death, sinning and sin, belong. In living this privative campaign of dying in his sins, he was driving himself down into nothing, and “[making of himself] a region of poverty.”19 Augustine finds no better way to recount his death drive than to confess his self-enclosed death to the living and life-giving God. Thus, he confesses to God, “Let me not be my own life; evil was the life I lived of myself; I was death to myself; [but] in you I come back to life.”20 And again, he declares to God, “[Y]ou are the life of souls, the life of lives, you yourself are living and unchanging, the life of my soul.”21 And again, he acclaims to God, “You, indeed, you to be sure – for who else calls us back from the death of every wandering, if not life which does not know how to die?”22 Only in and through such repetitive confessions, and only after the resurrection of his soul from which they c­ascade, can Augustine cope with his former condition of spiritual death.23

16



20

17 18 19

21 22 23

conf. 1.13.21 (CCL 27, p. 11, ll. 16–19; WSA I/1, p. 53). conf. 6.11.20 (CCL 27, p. 87, ll. 48–49; WSA I/1, p. 152). conf. 2.4.9 (CCL 27, p. 22, ll. 17–18; WSA I/1, p. 68). See conf. 2.4.9–2.10.18 (CCL 27, p. 21, l. 1–p. 26, l. 8; WSA I/1, pp. 67–74). See John C. Cavadini, “Book Two: Augustine’s Book of Shadows,” in A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Kim Paffenroth and Robert P. Kennedy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), pp. 25–34. conf. 12.10.10 (CCL 27, p. 221, ll. 6–7; WSA I/1, p. 318). conf. 3.6.10 (CCL 27, p. 32, ll. 42–43; WSA I/1, p. 82). conf. 7.6.8 (CCL 27, p. 97, ll. 3–5; WSA I/1, p. 165). For Augustine’s exegesis of spiritual revivification, see, e.g., conf. 13.21.30–13.22.32 (CCL 27, p. 258, l. 27–p. 261, l. 27; WSA I/1, pp. 363–365).

Descending–Ascending Structure of

c o nf e s s i on e s

The Descending–Ascending Structure of confessiones As Frederick Crosson suggests, one way to approach the narrative structure of Confessiones is to read it as Augustine’s gradual descent into “increasing estrangement from God and Man” followed by his gradual ascent into increasing familiarization with God and man.24 As Crosson explains: This chiasmic narrative structure not only reinforces the perception of [Book] Five as the center of the narrative books, but displays it as the center of a descent into sin and isolation (he sails, apparently alone, for Rome, in the center of the center book), and an ascent into graced freedom and community with God and his friends.25

Augustine’s progressive descent into spiritual death can be seen to occur in three basic stages, structured according to the three sins of 1 John 2:16, with which he also structures his present examination of conscience in Book 10.26 Accordingly, Book 2 can be read as his descent into the lust of the flesh, when he begins his sexual fornications and steals pears; Book 3 as his descent into the lust of the eyes, when he frequents the spectacles of the theater and initiates his associations with the Manichaeans; and Book 4 as his descent into worldly ambition, when he advances his quest, through rhetoric, for human applause and approval. In Book 5, Augustine, the fugitive from God and from his mother, Monica (AD 331–387) – who functions as a synecdoche for the Church27 – hits rock bottom, as it were. In fleeing from Carthage to Rome, he becomes gravely ill and comes close to physical death. Verging toward the edge of the



24



25



26 27

Frederick J. Crosson, “Structure and Meaning in St. Augustine’s Confessions,” Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 63 (1989): 84–97, on p. 88. Fredrick J. Crosson, “Book Five: The Disclosure of Hidden Providence,” in A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Kim Paffenroth and Robert P. Kennedy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), pp. 71–87, on p. 83. See conf. 10.30.41–10.41.66 (CCL 27, p. 176, l. 1–p. 191, l. 8; WSA I/1, pp. 263–281). See John Sehorn, “Monica as Synecdoche for the Pilgrim Church in the Confessiones,” Augustinian Studies 46 (2015): 225–248.

143

144 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul afterlife, Augustine almost departs to nowhere else than “the fire and to­rments” (see Mt 25:41) which his sins deserve.28 Thus, he confesses: I was already going to hell (see Job 7:9), bearing all the evils which I had committed against you and against myself and against others, many and grave beyond the chain of original sin, by which we all in Adam die (see 1 Cor 15:22). For you had not forgiven me any of them in Christ, and he had not unbound by his cross the enmities which I had contracted against you by my sins.29

But unlike his boyhood self,30 and unlike his most charming friend,31 Augustine does not desire to ask for or to accept Christian baptism.32 For in his spiritual death of sin, and still under the influence of Manichaean ideology,33 he considers himself not to be a sinner,34 and Christ not to be a Savior, who was crucified,35 who “died a true death in the flesh for us,” and who “has already been glorified, resurrecting from the dead and ascending into heaven,” where he now intercedes with God for us.36 What keeps Augustine’s soul in death is his sin of unbelief in Jesus’s flesh. As he confesses: For how could he unbind [my sins] by the crucifixion of a phantom, which I had believed him to be? And so, as false the death of his flesh was seeming to me, so true was [the death] of my soul, and as true was the death of his flesh, so false [was] the life of my soul, which was not believing it.37



28

See conf. 5.8.14–5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 64, l. 1–p. 66, l. 12; WSA I/1, pp. 122–125). conf. 5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 65, l. 2–p. 66, l. 6; WSA I/1, p. 125). 30 See conf. 1.11.17–1.11.18 (CCL 27, p. 9, l. 1–p. 10, l. 35; WSA I/1, pp. 50–52). 31 See conf. 4.4.7–4.6.11 (CCL 27, p. 43, l. 1–p. 46, l. 26; WSA I/1, pp. 96–99). 32 See conf. 5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 66, ll. 10, 16–18; WSA I/1, p. 125). 33 For Augustine’s anti-Manichaean and pro-Catholic appeals to contemporary readers of conf., see Kotzé, Augustine’s Confessions, pp. 85–115, 197–247; Jason D. BeDuhn, Augustine’s Manichaean Dilemma, 2: Making a “Catholic” Self, 388–401 C.E. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), pp. 239–273, 314–402; Jason D. BeDuhn, “Anticipated Readers,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Tarmo Toom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 46–59. 34 See conf. 5.10.18 (CCL 27, p. 67, ll. 6–19; WSA I/1, pp. 126–127). 35 See conf. 5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 65, l. 1–p. 66, l. 7; WSA I/1, p. 125). 36 See conf. 9.4.9 (CCL 27, p. 138, ll. 42–64; WSA I/1, pp. 215–216). 37 conf. 5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 66, ll. 6–10; WSA I/1, p. 125). 29

The Weight of Sinful Habits 145 Despite Augustine’s obstinacy, God mercifully hears the constant prayers of his mother for “the salvation of the soul of her son.”38 God saves him from physical death, so as to prevent him from dying a worse death,39 and restores him to physical health, so as to d­ispense better health to him later.40 As narrated in Books 6, 7, and 8, this healing process occurs as a gradual ascent from those three deadly sins of 1 John 2:16, beginning with the last and ending with the first. Although agonizing, this ascent culminates in the resurrection of his dead soul.

The Weight of Sinful Habits Augustine emphasizes how oppressive and constrictive were the affective weights and bondages of sinful habits that held him down in death, especially his sexual lust of the flesh, from all of which God raised up his soul. Thus, with respect to his Manichaean habits of thought, he confesses: But those masses were most heavily weighing me down, as I was thinking in terms of bodies, captured and choked by a certain limit; under [their weight] I was gasping for the pure and simple air of your truth, [but] I could not breathe.41

Submergence in Manichaean materialism was keeping Augustine from being able not only to think about incorporeal substances as real, but also to understand Scripture as indicating anything real when it spoke about the soul’s death in sin.42 He likewise deploys the language of oppressive captivity to describe his “habit” (consuetudo) of sexual lust.43 Approaching his agony in the garden of Milan, Augustine suffers this worsening habit. As he writes:



38 39 40 41 42 43

See conf. 5.9.16–5.9.17 (CCL 27, p. 66, l. 12–p. 67, l. 43; WSA I/1, pp. 125–126). See conf. 5.9.16 (CCL 27, p. 66, ll. 18–20; WSA I/1, p. 125). See conf. 5.10.18 (CCL 27, p. 67, ll. 1–3; WSA I/1, p. 126). conf. 5.11.21 (CCL 27, p. 69, ll. 11–14, WSA I/1, p. 129). See conf. 5.11.21 (CCL 27, p. 69, ll. 1–11; WSA I/1, p. 129). See conf. 6.12.22 (CCL 27, p. 88, ll. 36–37; WSA I/1, p. 154).

146 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul In fact, from the perverse will lust is made, and when it is enslaved to lust, a habit (consuetudo) is made, and when it is not resistant to habit (consuetudini), a compulsion (necessitas) is made.44

At this point, Augustine’s habit has become so compulsive that when a new will to surrender himself fully to God begins to emerge in his soul, he finds his soul being torn apart, willing, yet not willing, to be chaste; wanting, yet not wanting, to be unchaste.45 Augustine further admits that he was asleep in spiritual death and needed Christ’s grace to raise him up to spiritual life. As he confesses: In this way, I was being sweetly oppressed by the burden of the world, just as one is wont by sleep […]. Indeed, there was nothing which I could respond to you saying to me, Arise, sleeper, and rise up from the dead and Christ will enlighten you (Eph 5:14), and showing everywhere that you spoke truly, there was nothing at all which I could respond, convinced by the truth, except only sluggish and sleepy words: “In a moment,” “Look, in a moment,” “Let me have a little longer.” But “in a moment and in a moment” were not having a limit, and “let me have a little longer” was lasting for a long time. In vain, I was delighting in your law according to the interior man, when another law in my members was fighting against the law of my mind and leading me captive under the law of sin, which was in my members (see Rom 7:22–23). For the law of sin is the violent force of habit (consuetudinis), by which even the reluctant mind is dragged and held fast deservedly because it slipped into [the habit] willingly. Therefore, miserable [as I am], who would liberate me from the body of this death, except your grace through Jesus Christ, our Lord (see Rom 7:24–25)?46

44 45 46

conf. 8.5.10 (CCL 27, p. 119, ll. 10–12; WSA I/1, p. 192). See conf. 8.5.10–8.5.12 (CCL 27, p. 119, l. 1–p. 121, l. 54; WSA I/1, pp. 194–196). conf. 8.5.12 (CCL 27, p. 120, l. 33, 42–p. 121, l. 54; WSA I/1, pp. 193–194).

The Weight of Sinful Habits 147 The Christological enlightenment and liberation to which Augustine is being invited and for which he is longing can be identified neither with the Neoplatonic flight of the soul from the body to the higher world of luminous truth nor with the Manichaean escape of divine particles from the flesh to the celestial region of pure light. Instead, these are expressions of the integral resurrection to eternal life: (1) first, the spiritual resurrection and enlightenment of the soul and (2) second, the fleshly resurrection and liberation of the body. Augustine does not desire deliverance from the body, but rather the deliverance of the body from its death and corruption due to sin.47 Despite this divine summons to the beatific resurrection, even the thought of being disabused of his sinful habit provokes unspeakable trembling in Augustine’s lifeless heart. As he confesses, “[A] dumb trepidation remained and [my soul] was dreading, as if it were death, to restrain the discharge of habit (consuetudinis) by which it was wasting away into death.”48 Further, he dramatizes his dread of putting to death his spiritual death of sinful “habit” (consuetudo), which has been, for a long time, his entire way of life.49 Dragging along his overburdened heart into the garden of Milan, Augustine continues to suffer the “struggling [of his] will, part of which was rising up, while another part was falling down.”50 As he admits: Therefore, to be partly willing [and] to be partly unwilling is not a monstrosity, but a sickness of the mind because, lifted up by truth, [yet] weighed down by habit (consuetudine), the whole of it does not rise up.51

Not yet wholly lifted up, and still “hesitating to die to death and to live to life,” Augustine is “pierced with terror” and left “hanging in



47 48 49 50 51

See conf. 10.31.43 (CCL 27, p. 177, ll. 1–4; WSA I/1, p. 265). conf. 8.7.18 (CCL 27, p. 125, ll. 41–42; WSA I/1, p. 199). See conf. 8.11.26–8.11.27 (CCL 27, p. 129, l. 18–p. 130, l. 50; WSA I/1, pp. 204–205). See conf. 8.8.29 (CCL 27, p. 125, l. 21–p. 126, l. 29; WSA I/1, p. 200). conf. 8.9.21 (CCL 27, p. 126, l. 16–p. 127, l. 18; WSA I/1, p. 201).

148 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul suspense.”52 He goes on “hesitating [and] hanging,”53 even after the voice of continence speaks encouraging words to him: Why are you standing (stas) by yourself and not standing (non stas)? Cast yourself on him, do not be afraid; he will not draw himself away so that you fall. Cast yourself free from care; he will catch and cure you.54

Fettered by his sinful habit, Augustine’s heart undergoes a torturous, yet liberating process of being configured to the Son of God, whose flesh was once handed over by the Father out of love for us; captured with fetters in a garden of agony; and pierced to, hung from, and suspended on a cross unto death, so that he could stand up in his resurrection.55 It is to Christ’s paschal mystery that Augustine’s soul is being configured during his conversion experience of Book 9 at the heart and the hinge of Confessiones.

Figurative Alignment Considering that Augustine repeatedly describes his deadly sin in terms of “habit” (consuetudo), we might expect him to align his spiritual death and resurrection with the figure of Lazarus. As we have seen, Lazarus’s resurrection signifies to him – both before and after the time of Confessiones – the resurrection of the dead soul from its sinful “habit” (consuetudo). However, Augustine aligns himself with the figure not of Lazarus, but rather of the widow’s son. Significantly, he places this figure at the beginning of Book 6 when he begins his gradual rise and informs his mother that he is no longer a Manichaean, though not yet a Catholic either.56 As he recounts: [Monica] leapt with joy, not as though she heard something unexpected, since she had already become serene with regard to

52 53 54 55 56

See conf. 8.11.25 (CCL 27, p. 129, ll. 13, 16–17; WSA I/1, p. 204). conf. 8.11.27 (CCL 27, p. 130, l. 45; WSA I/1, p. 205). conf. 8.11.27 (CCL 27, p. 130, ll. 42–44; WSA I/1, p. 205). See conf. 10.43.69 (CCL 27, p. 192, l. 13–p. 193, l. 27; WSA I/1, pp. 282–283). See conf. 6.1.1 (CCL 27, p. 73, ll. 6–14; WSA I/1, pp. 134–135).

Figurative Alignment 149 my miserable condition, regarding which she was weeping to you for me as dead, but as one who would be resuscitated, and she was offering [me to you] on the bier of her meditation, so that you might say to the son of this widow, “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Lk 7:14), and he might come back to life and begin to speak, and you might hand him over to his mother (see Lk 7:12–15).57

At this moment in Augustine’s life and narrative, the process of his spiritual resurrection from death in Manichaeism to life in Christ’s Church seems already to have started and happened partially, but not yet to have been accomplished entirely.58 One of the most obvious motivators for Augustine to align himself with the widowed mother’s son, whose death figuratively represents sinful “action” (factum), is the role of his mother, Monica, already widowed by the death of her husband, Patricius (died c. AD 370/371).59 Monica not only prayed with tears for the resurrection of her son’s dead soul, but also received with joy the good news of it. As Augustine remarks: And you sent forth your hand from on high (see Ps 143:7) and you snatched my soul (see Ps 85:13) from these murky depths, since my mother, your faithful, wept for me to you more than mothers weep at bodily funerals. For in faith and in spirit (see Gal 5:5), which she had from you, she was seeing my death.60

This alignment, however, does not merely emerge from symbolic convenience, but even more profoundly gestures toward the ecclesial context of his spiritual resurrection. Augustine suggests that such a living member of Christ as Monica, who stands in and for the Catholic household of faith, has contributed to the Christological mitigation of the gravity of his spiritual

57 58 59 60

conf. 6.1.1 (CCL 27, p. 73, ll. 14–18; WSA I/1, p. 135). See conf. 6.1.1 (CCL 27, p. 73, ll. 18–25; WSA I/1, p. 135). See conf. 3.4.7 (CCL 27, p. 30, ll. 12–13; WSA I/1, p. 79). conf. 3.11.19 (CCL 27, p. 37, ll. 1–4; WSA I/1, p. 89).

150 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul death, from sinful “habit” (consuetudo) to sinful “action” (factum). However, to whatever extent that Monica and the other members of the Church have contributed to this mitigation, they have done so only as constant beneficiaries of the mercy of God, whose grace has brought them back to life in Christ.61 The Church is the community of mercy not only through which Augustine’s soul dies less severely, but also into which it resurrects most gracefully. Moreover, Augustine attributes to God’s mercy the forgiveness not only of those sins that he has committed, but also of those he has not committed, but could have and would have, were it not for God’s grace.62 Nevertheless, as we have seen, Augustine excavates a downward progression of death that goes even deeper than “habit” (consuetudo) into “compulsion” (necessitas).63 The death of compulsion seems to lie beyond his threefold schematization and appears to push him off the grid.

The Unfathomableness of Spiritual Death These complications of Augustine’s spiritual death hardly make complete sense. From one perspective, in view of his self-representation as the dead son of the widow, Augustine suggests that he had fallen into actual death, but not quite habitual death. From a second perspective, in view of his repetitive deployments of “habit” (consuetudo), he suggests that he had fallen into habitual death. From a third perspective, in view of his carving out this deeper level of “compulsion” (necessitas) beyond habit, he suggests that he had fallen even further than habitual death. These complications suggest that for Augustine, there is no single perspective whereby he can grasp the depths of spiritual death into which he had descended and from which God has resurrected him. These depths of death are nothing but an inscrutable abyss of darkness and absurdity. Augustine has come to see that there always remains a graver degree of death into which his soul could have and would have

61 62 63

See, e.g., conf. 9.13.34–9.13.35 (CCL 27, p. 152, l. 1–p. 153, l. 27; WSA I/1, pp. 233–235). See conf. 2.7.15 (CCL 27, p. 24, l. 1–p. 25, l. 18; WSA I/1, pp. 71–72). See conf. 8.5.10 (CCL 27, p. 119, ll. 10–12; WSA I/1, p. 192).

The Hearing of God Anew 151 descended, perhaps even an unspoken and unspeakable death beyond that of “compulsion” (necessitas). There is no rock bottom for him or for anyone, no lowest point beyond which the decadent soul can fall no further, except that which God, in his unfathomable mercy, provides. Only in the light of the mercy shown to him can he confess the unknown and unknowable depths of his spiritual death into which God stretched down the right hand of Christ to resurrect his soul.64 Although the depths of his soul’s death reached beyond Augustine’s comprehension, the resurrecting power of God reached even further.

The Hearing of God Anew with the Ears of the Resurrected Heart Only after his spiritual resurrection can Augustine recognize that God’s voice had been calling and shouting out to him all along, even though the ears of his heart had been closed from hearing and accepting this divine voice. In Book 2, Augustine confesses that during his adolescence, when he was “on fire to be satisfied with hell,”65 God was not silent, but was chanting his words in Augustine’s heedless ears through Monica’s admonitions against fornication and adultery.66 In Book 3, Augustine confesses that God was exhorting him to wisdom through Cicero’s Hortensius, by the reading of which the unknowing Augustine “began to rise up to return to [God].”67 In Book 4, Augustine confesses that God was shouting incessantly throughout the fleshly career of Jesus, from conception to ascension, for Augustine to relocate his pursuit of the happy life, seeking it no longer in this lifeless region of death and finding it nowhere else than in God alone.68 As he confesses: And our life itself descended here and he took our death and he slaughtered it from the abundance of his life and he thundered,

64 65 66 67 68

See conf. 9.1.1 (CCL 27, p. 133, ll. 5–14; WSA I/1, p. 209). conf. 2.1.1 (CCL 27, p. 18, ll. 7–8; WSA I/1, p. 62). See conf. 2.3.7 (CCL 27, p. 20, l. 33–p. 21, l. 42; WSA I/1, pp. 65–66). See conf. 3.4.7–3.4.8 (CCL 27, p. 29, l. 1–p. 30, l. 37; WSA I/1, pp. 79–80). See conf. 4.11.17–4.12.19 (CCL 27, 49, l. 14–p. 50, 37; WSA I/1, pp. 103–105).

152 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul shouting out that we should return from here to him in that hidden place, from where he came forth to us at first into the very womb of the virgin, where a human creature, mortal flesh, was wedded to him, lest it always be mortal; and from there the bridegroom, coming forth from his bridal chamber, leapt for joy like a giant to run his course (see Ps 18:6). For he did not delay, but ran, shouting with his words, with his deeds, by his death, by his life, in his descent, in his ascent, shouting that we should return to him.69

The God of the resurrection continues to shout out, in and through Christ’s flesh, for Augustine’s restless and lifeless heart to resurrect and return to eternal life now, so that his flesh can eventually resurrect and return to eternal life as well. Until the proud heart of Augustine was cast down onto the humble flesh of God, he shrank from receiving its resurrection. About those who consider themselves strong in their self-inflated tumor of pride, he confesses:70 [T]hey should weaken as they see before their feet the Godhead weakened by a participation in our garments of skin, and the weary should be cast down upon him, so that he, rising, might lift them up.71

In and through the resurrection of his own skin, Christ raises up those downcast and downtrodden souls,72 who have humbled themselves to be configured to his paschal humility. Only when Augustine becomes “humble [enough to] hold onto the humble Jesus as [his] God” can he experience how God “raises the subdued up to himself.”73 Augustine makes the humble confession that he needed God’s powerful hand to do for him what he had neither the strength nor the vitality to do for himself.

69 70 71 72 73

conf. 4.12.19 (CCL 27, p. 50, ll. 18–25; WSA I/1, p. 104). See conf. 7.18.24 (CCL 27, p 108, ll. 1–14; WSA I/1, p. 178). conf. 7.18.24 (CCL 27, p. 108, ll. 14–17; WSA I/1, p. 178). See conf. 11.31.41 (CCL 27, p. 216, ll. 20–22; WSA I/1, p. 311). conf. 7.18.24 (CCL 27, p. 108, ll. 8, 11; WSA I/1, p. 178).

The Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul 153

The Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul At the dramatic climax of Augustine’s narrative, the grasping and lifting up of his dead soul by the hand of God, whose voice speaks to him through Scripture, is seamlessly interwoven into the single garment of the resurrected flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, in putting on whom in baptism Augustine is enabled to find himself chastely clothed (see Rom 13:13–14). Whereas beforehand his soul was decomposing and dead in his carnal lusts, Augustine now finds his soul graciously determined to be recomposed and resurrected in the love of God, whose light has been infused into his heart.74 From this moment of grace, he resolves to accept the sacrament of his spiritual resurrection in baptism the following Easter of 387.75 “And we were baptized,” he confesses, “and the anxiety of [our] past life fled from us.”76 As a baptized Catholic, Augustine now has the spiritual disposition “to consider the loftiness of [God’s] plan for the salvation of the human race” from the inside, as an intrinsic participant in and through Christ.77 In this way, the God of the resurrection reconciles Augustine not only to God, but also to neighbor in the Catholic Church, where God, his people, and his angels rejoice over the revivification of each dead soul.78 Augustine’s wholehearted conversion to Christ culminates in his “standing firm” (stans) on the rule of the Catholic faith,79 in fulfillment of the promise God once made to Monica in a dream of vision that Augustine would be “standing firm” (stantem) with her also “standing firm” (stantem) on the same wooden ruler and rule of the Catholic faith.80 Standing concretizes the stance



74

See conf. 8.12.29 (CCL 27, p. 131, ll. 33–38; WSA I/1, p. 207). See conf. 9.4.12 (CCL 27, p. 140, ll. 108–111; WSA I/1, p. 218). 76 conf. 9.6.14 (CCL 27, p. 141, ll. 20–21; WSA I/1, p. 219). 77 See conf. 9.6.14 (CCL 27, p. 140, l. 1–p. 141, l. 27; WSA I/1, pp. 219–220). 78 See conf. 8.3.6 (CCL 27, p. 116, l. 1–p. 117, l. 14; WSA I/1, p. 189). 79 See conf. 8.12.30 (CCL 27, p. 132, ll. 48–57; WSA I/1, pp. 207–208). See Marie-Anne Vannier, “Aversion and Conversion,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, ed. Tarmo Toom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), pp. 63–74. 80 See conf. 3.11.19–3.11.20 (CCL 27, p. 37, l. 1–p. 38, l. 39; WSA I/1, pp. 89–90). While much scholarly attention has been devoted to the place of their standing, more attention could be drawn to the significance of standing itself, which, for Augustine, signifies the posture of the resurrection. 75

154 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul of the resurrection,81 overcoming humanity’s sinful prostration in death under the influence of that ancient sinner who “did not stand firm (non stetit) in [God’s] truth” (see Jn 8:44).82 Thus, Augustine expresses his hope for standing completely revitalized in the Lord at the dawning of the eschatological resurrection of his body: Hope in the Lord (see Ps 41:6). In the morning I will stand up (astabo) (see Ps 5:5) and I will contemplate [him]; always I will confess to him (see Ps 42:5). In the morning I will stand up (astabo) and I will see (see Ps 5:5) my God, greeting my face with salvation (see Ps 42:5), who will bring back to life even our mortal bodies through the Spirit, who dwells in us (see Rom 8:11), because he has been mercifully borne over (see Gen 1:2) our dark and fluid interior being.83

The Ascent in Hope for the Future Resurrection Lifted up from the depths of spiritual death, Augustine stands to make progress in ascending to the heights of spiritual life, a foretaste of whose consummation he experiences with Monica at Ostia.84 Awaiting their navigational return across the sea to their North African country, son and mother briefly anticipate their paschal return across this world to the eternal homeland of the beatific resurrection, ascending in and through their intimate conversation about “what the eternal life of the saints would be like.”85 Augustine and Monica ascend inwards and upwards toward the synesthetic mystical experience of encountering “our Lord, abiding in himself, without growing old, and renewing all things” (see Wis 7:27).86 While their hope draws them up beyond the present condition of creation, including the tumult of the flesh and the commotion of the soul, this ascent toward the tranquility

81



82 83 84 85 86

See, e.g., conf. 11.29.39–11.31.41 (CCL 27, p. 214, l. 1–p. 216, l. 22; WSA I/1, pp. 310–311). See conf. 7.21.27 (CCL 27, p. 111, ll. 15–20; WSA I/1, p. 182). conf. 13.14.15 (CCL 27, p. 250, ll. 11–16; WSA I/1, pp. 352–353). See conf. 9.10.23–9.10.26 (CCL 27, p. 147, l. 1–p. 148, l. 61; WSA I/1, pp. 226–229). conf. 9.10.23 (CCL 27, p. 147, ll. 8–10; WSA I/1, p. 227). conf. 9.10.24 (CCL 27, p. 148, ll. 31–32; WSA I/1, p. 228).

The Ascent in Hope for the Future Resurrection 155 of absolute silence does not take place as a lone and lonely flight of isolation from either the body or the soul, from either themselves or each other.87 Instead, their colloquium of hope leads them together to arrive at once, in the beat of a heart and the flash of a thought, on the threshold of the ecclesial community of saints, resurrected already in soul and eventually in body.88 As they question each other: [S]hould everlasting life be such as was this moment of understanding, for which we sighed, is it not this: “Enter the joy of your Lord” (Mt 25:21)? And when will that be? When we all resurrect, but not all will be changed (see 1 Cor 15:51)?89

This hope of change effects the change of hope. Thus, venturing toward the edge of the afterlife, Monica expresses the fulfillment of her hope that her son Augustine would become Catholic, the abandonment of her hope that her body would be buried in North Africa alongside that of her husband, and the transference of her hope entirely to the God of the resurrection.90 As she testifies, “‘Nothing is far from God, and it is not to be feared that he will not know, at the end of the age, from where to raise me up.’”91 Christian hope for the integral resurrection of humanity gathers the Church around the altar of the Eucharist, where the dying Monica places her living hope and asks to be remembered there by her sons. This Eucharistic hope is memorialized at and dispensed from the Lord’s altar of merciful sacrifice to enliven the Church of the resurrection.92



87



88



89 90 91 92

For Plotinus’s solitary mysticism, see Plotinus, Ennead VI: 6–9, ed. Jeffrey Henderson, trans. Arthur H. Armstrong, Loeb Classical Library 468 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988), 6.9.11, Greek, p. 344, ll. 49–51; English, p. 345. For Augustine’s restructuring of the Plotinian ascent, see Bernard McGinn, The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century, The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, vol. 1 (New York: Crossroad, 1991), pp. 242–243, 255–256, 259, 262. conf. 9.10.25 (CCL 27, p. 148, ll. 48–51; WSA I/1, p. 229). See conf. 9.10.26–9.11.28 (CCL 27, p. 148, l. 52–p. 150, l. 39; WSA I/1, pp. 229–231). conf. 9.11.28 (CCL 27, p. 149, ll. 35–37; WSA I/1, p. 231). See, e.g., conf. 9.11.27 (CCL 27, p. 149, ll. 7, 12–14; WSA I/1, p. 230). For Augustine’s featuring of the Eucharist in conf., see John C. Cavadini, “Eucharistic Exegesis in Augustine’s Confessions,” Augustinian Studies 41 (2010): 87–108.

156 The Spiritual Resurrection of Augustine’s Soul Within this one Church of Christ, neither death nor distance, neither sin nor selfishness, has any ultimate power to separate and scatter its members from either God or each other.93 As Augustine confesses, eating, drinking, and distributing the sacrament of Christ’s redemptive bloodshed prevents him from once again taking flight away from God and neighbor into self-isolating solitude. The Eucharist keeps Augustine within the community of those who are being kept mindful of and grateful for the death of Christ, the head, for the life of Christ, the body.94 In sacramentally eating the flesh of Christ, “the fish raised up from the depths” of death “to nourish the dry land” of the baptized, believers receive from God’s table the reality of eternal life for their resurrected souls and the hope of et­ernal life for their mortal bodies.95 For Augustine, the Eucharist efficaciously communicates the fact that humanity subsists, now and forever, on God’s mercy, dispensed in and to Christ’s ecclesial body. Thus, in Confessiones, Augustine confesses that it is nothing other than God’s merciful resurrection of his dead soul that has lifted him up into this ecclesial community of Eucharistic hope for the eventual resurrection of his and of all human flesh. At the eschatological resurrection, in the company of his fellow saints, the once restless heart and once lifeless flesh of Augustine, progressively being grounded and crowned in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, will hopefully come to “rest on the Sabbath of eternal life in [God],”96 forever being “satisfied without ever being satiated” (insatiabili satietate).97 On extreme expressions of the spiritual resurrection and of hope for the fleshly resurrection, as Augustine articulates them, we will focus our attention in the next chapter.

93



96

94 95

97

See conf. 9.3.5–9.3.6 (CCL 27, p. 135, l. 1–p. 136, l. 43; WSA I/1, pp. 212–213). See conf. 10.43.70 (CCL 27, p. 193, ll. 28–32, 34–38; WSA I/1, p. 283). See, e.g., conf. 13.21.29 (CCL 27, p. 257, l. 1–p. 258, l. 26; WSA I/1, pp. 362–363). As Maria Boulding notes, in Augustine, The Confessions, ed. John E. Rotelle, trans. Maria Boudling, WSA I/1 (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1997), on p. 362, n. 175: “The initial letters of five Greek words (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior) spell ΙΧΘΥΣ, fish. A fish was therefore used from early times as a symbol of Christ, and particularly of his resurrection from the deep waters of death. The reference here is eucharistic.” For Augustine’s discussion of the “fish” (ɩ̓ χθύς) as a Christological acronym and symbol, see ciu. 18.23 (CCL 48, p. 614, ll. 58–64; WSA I/7, p. 303). conf. 13.35.50–13.38.53 (CCL 27, p. 272, l. 1–p. 273, l. 11; WSA I/1, pp. 379–380). conf. 2.10.18 (CCL 27, p. 26, l. 4; WSA I/1, p. 73).

Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection

9

The Christian Confrontation with Death In advancing toward the final resurrection of the flesh, Augustine ­testifies to the fact that the initial resurrection of the soul, even while spiritual, is not a disincarnate experience. Rather, it takes place and makes progress in and through the incarnate events, lifestyles, and practices of Christians. As we have seen, these involve their sacramental and moral configurations to the crucified and resurrected Christ. For Augustine, the embodied expressions of the spiritual resurrection, including hope for the fleshly resurrection, become extremely acute when Christians come to deal with the death of the body. How Christians approach their own bodily deaths and handle those of others make extremely visible and tangible their faith and hope not only in the resurrection, but also in the God of the resurrection. In teaching and preaching on Christian dying, in celebrating the Christian martyrs, in handling Christian funerary and commemorative practices, and in consoling Christian survivors, Augustine highlights how these embodiments of the Christian faith in and hope for the future resurrection of the flesh serve as concrete expressions of the present resurrection of the soul. As that condition from which we are resurrected to life, Augustine often treats the process and event of our death. In Book 13 of De ciuitate dei,1 he designates four types of death: (1) the death of

1

For Augustine’s treatment of human death in Book 13 of ciu., see John C. Cavadini, “Ambrose and Augustine De Bono Mortis,” in The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus, ed. William E. Klingshirn and Mark Vessey (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999), pp. 232–249.

157

158 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection the soul, (2) the death of the body, (3) the death of the whole human being, and (4) the second death. As he describes them: Indeed, although the human soul can truly be regarded as immortal, nevertheless, it also has a certain death of its own. On the one hand, therefore, [the soul] is called immortal because, in a certain and howsoever little a way, it does not cease to live and to sense; on the other hand, therefore, the body [is called] mortal because it can be abandoned by all life and it does not live through itself to any degree. Accordingly, the death of the soul happens when God abandons it, just as [the death] of the body [happens] when the soul abandons it. Therefore, the death of both things, that is, of the whole human being, is when the soul, abandoned by God, abandons the body. For in this way, neither [the soul] lives from God nor the body from [the soul]. This death of the whole human being, however, is followed by that [death] which the authority of divine speech calls the second death. The Savior signified this [death] when he said, “Fear him who has the power to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28).2

As Augustine acknowledges, none of these experiences of human death are good, natural, or even neutral for anyone. All of them for everyone are evil, unnatural, and the punishment of sin. Death would not have intervened in human life, as Augustine insists, if the first humans had not sinned. He further emphasizes that even the martyrs’ experience of bodily death for Christ is neither good nor advantageous, in and of itself. The martyrs endure the present evil of physical death to avoid the three other kinds of death.3 For Augustine, only their living configuration to Christ enables the saints to entrust their suffering of death to God, so that he can convert their dying to their advantage of being wholly integrated in Christ. For Christ not only once suffered death and has already resurrected from the

2 3

ciu. 13.2 (CCL 48, p. 385, ll. 2–15; WSA I/7, p. 69). See ciu. 13.1–13.8 (CCL 48, p. 385, l. 1–p. 391, l. 15; WSA I/7, pp. 69–74).

Martyred Contenders for the Resurrection 159 dead for them, but also continues to suffer death and will eventually re­surrect from the dead in them. From at least as early as De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum, Augustine rather consistently evaluates every instance of human death, including that of the body, as nothing other than evil.4 Augustine’s evaluation sharply contrasts with that of the Pelagians, who regard bodily death as a natural and neutral event, and that of the Platonists and such like-minded Christians as Ambrose, who regard bodily death as an actually, or at least potentially, beneficial event.5

Martyred Contenders for the Resurrection In many of his sermons, Augustine exposes and confronts death as an enemy of humanity to increase our confidence in the God of the resurrection. As he preaches, God neither disregards nor loses anything of what he has redeemed by his blood, not even “the smallest thing about us.”6 As a result of Christ’s regard for us, even down to each hair of our heads, our dead and disintegrated flesh will eventually be resurrected. Moreover, those martyrs who died with the conviction that our life is Christ “did not lose life, but won life.”7 In light of the fleshly resurrection, Augustine seeks to encourage his audience and readers to fear no one and no thing, but the Lord and any sin that denies him and severs the sinner from him. For the soul that fears its death and remains alive in its God “will deserve to receive its body back again in the end not for eternal punishment, as the godless, but for eternal life, as the just.”8



4



5



6 7 8

See mor. 1.2.3 (CSEL 90, p. 6, ll. 4–6; WSA I/19, p. 32). For Augustine’s even earlier implication that bodily death is evil, see sol. 1.12.20 (CSEL 89, p. 32, ll. 2–8; AS 2, p. 42). For Augustine’s views on human death, see Jean-Michel Girard, La mort chez saint Augustin: Grandes lignes de l’évolution de sa pensée, telle qu’elle apparaît dans ses traités, Paradosis, Études de littérature et de théologie anciennes 34 (Fribourg: Éditions Universitaires Fribourg Suisse, 1992); Éric Rebillard, In hora mortis: Évolution de la pastorale chrétienne de la mort aux IVe et Ve siècles dans l’occident Latin, BEFAR 283 (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1994), pp. 1–92. s. 62.15 (PL 38, col. 421, ll. 45–46; WSA III/3, p. 164). See, e.g., s. 62.14–62.16 (PL 38, col. 421, l. 27–col. 422, l. 35; WSA III/3, pp. 163–165). See, e.g., s. 65.1–65.8 (PL 38, col. 426, l. 52–col. 430, l. 46; WSA III/3, pp. 192–196).

160 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection In contending against eternal death and in striving for eternal life, Augustine celebrates the incarnate witness of Christ’s martyrs to the integral resurrection.9 As he preaches, despite their persecutors’ threat of a temporary destruction and promise of a temporary and carnal salvation, the martyrs have entrusted themselves totally to the Lord for an eternal and ineffable salvation.10 Only the Lord is the upholder of the soul (Ps 53:6) and the restorer of the body, which, “even if torn apart to pieces by dogs, is raised by the Lord.”11 Augustine grasps that in refusing to slaughter their souls, the martyrs’ refusal to spare their bodies witnesses not to a hatred for the body, which the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophers cultivate, but rather to their love for it and hope for its resurrection. Thus, he preaches: Therefore, the martyrs of Christ prudently did not despise their bodies. That is the perverse and worldly philosophy of those who do not believe in the resurrection of bodies. Indeed, they consider themselves as the great despisers of the body because they consider that they have their very bodies as prisons, into which they think souls have been thrust, since they have previously sinned elsewhere. But our God made both the body and the spirit; and he is the Creator of each and the Recreator of each; the Builder of each and even the Rebuilder of each. Therefore, the martyrs neither despised nor persecuted the flesh as though it were an enemy. For no one has ever hated his own flesh (Eph 5:29). [… T]hey have even prepared eternal glory for the flesh itself.12

According to their faith in the integral resurrection, for which these martyrs lived and died, the bodies of such faithful witnesses, even if reduced to dust and ashes, will finally resurrect not to “everlasting and the most savage of punishments,” but rather to eternal life.13



9 10 11 12 13

See, e.g., en. Ps. 89.14 (CCL 39, p. 1251, ll. 1–11; WSA III/18, p. 311). See, e.g., s. 20B.10 (REAug 40, p. 297, l. 146–p. 298, l. 164; WSA III/11, p. 34). See, e.g., s. 334.1 (PL 38, col. 1467, l. 44–col. 1468, l. 32; WSA III/9, pp. 204–205). s. 277.3 (PL 38, col. 1259, ll. 7–19, 22–23; WSA III/8, pp. 34–35). See s. 277.8 (PL 38, col. 1261, ll. 40–47; WSA III/8, p. 37).

Martyred Contenders for the Resurrection 161 The martyrs of Christ have accepted bodily death, which no one can now avoid, and have made of it a sacrifice in Christ, so that they might avoid coming to the resurrection of judgment and eternal fire.14 Augustine declares that Christ’s martyrs, by placing themselves entirely in God’s hands, subvert the claims of human hands and worldly structures, and expose these powers as limited, not absolute, and destined to crumble.15 Thus, he preaches: In fact, the flesh was oppressed, the soul was crowned; and the soul was driven out from the flesh, but nothing was done to the flesh which could hurt it for the future. The flesh may have been burned, the flesh may have been beaten, the flesh may have been torn to shreds; but because it was given into the hand of the persecutor, was it, for that reason, taken away from the Creator? Will he who created it from that which was not, not restore it better than it was?16

Augustine further insists that none of the savagery inflicted upon the martyrs’ dying and dead bodies, either by the hands and weapons of cruel men or by the teeth and claws of wild beasts and birds, can impede their total reintegration by God “from the secret recesses of nature,” no matter to what heights of the sky or depths of the earth their slaughtered and scattered bodies have gone.17 In fact, the hands of God never let go of his people’s flesh, as the miracles of the martyrs attest.18 As marvelous witnesses of the Lord to his witnesses and to his holding onto their flesh, the miracles of healing and revivification at the martyrs’ shrines evince that God n­either abandons nor despises their bodily relics, but rather safeguards them and “perform[s] wonderful works in connection with the bodies of the departed saints.”19 Augustine acknowledges that the

14 15 16 17 18 19

See, e.g., s. 277.2–277.3 (PL 38, 1258, l. 27–col. 1259, l. 22; WSA III/8, pp. 34–35). See, e.g., en. Ps. 36.3.13 (CCL 38, p. 376, l. 1–p. 377, l. 36; WSA III/16, pp. 138–139). en. Ps. 139.16 (CCL 40, p. 2023, l. 11–p. 2024, l. 17; WSA III/20, p. 298). See en. Ps. 78.5 (CCL 39, p. 1102, ll. 10–14; WSA III/18, p. 131). See ciu. 22.8 (CCL 48, p. 815, l. 1–p. 827, l. 481; WSA I/7, pp. 505–517). See, e.g., s. 275.3 (PL 38, col. 1255, ll. 21–48; WSA III/8, pp. 27–28).

162 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection miracles God performs through the martyrs witness, above all else, to the r­esurrection of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of human flesh, to eternal life. Not even the cruelty of death could silence the martyrs’ embodied witness of resurrection faith and hope.20 Moreover, these miracles indicate to Augustine that not only the bodiless souls of the martyrs, but also their soulless bodies, are already in some kind of living and life-giving contact with the God of the resurrection, whose healing power can touch the suffering and the perishing through them. But even if God, in his wisdom, does not restore the sick and the dying to temporal health, neither through the medical arts of physicians and surgeons nor even through the miraculous intercessions of the saints, Augustine seeks to discourage Christians from resorting to shady practices to procure temporary salvation for their flesh at the expense of their spiritual resurrection. Among these practices, he counts consulting soothsayers and astrologers, hanging amulets from the neck, binding ligatures on the body, manipulating wax and eggs, and performing incantations. When sick and dying Christians refuse such magical and diabolical devices, instead keeping alive their faith and hope in the God of the resurrection, then these martyrs enact on their sickbeds and deathbeds a victorious martyrdom for Christ. As Augustine encourages them, the Lord cares so deeply for their souls and bodies that he will reunite and reintegrate them at the resurrection, never again to suffer separation and disintegration.21 Augustine sees that at the heart of such Christian witness, along with faith and hope, there is love.22 He observes that charity so fiercely binds the hearts of Christians together in Christ that not even the violent death of their flesh is strong enough to tear them apart.23 Likewise, he preaches that only because their hearts were already set on fire with violent love for the living God could the martyrs permit their flesh to endure such violence as being set on fire in dying for

20 21 22 23

See ciu. 22.9 (CCL 48, p. 827, l. 1–p. 828, l. 25; WSA I/7, pp. 518–519). See, e.g., s. 335D.3–335D.5 (PLS 2, p. 777, l. 42–p. 780, l. 54; WSA III/9, pp. 229–233). See en. Ps. 85.6 (CCL 39, p. 1180, l. 1–p. 1181, l. 19; WSA III/18, pp. 225–226). See en. Ps. 121.12 (CCL 40, p. 1812, l. 1–p. 1813, l. 38; WSA III/20, pp. 27–28).

the Apostle Paul’s Reception and Promotion 163 the resurrection.24 With that same fierce charity of Christ, Augustine desires to set the hearts of his audience on fire. When their hearts, like coals, have come back to life from the death of being extinguished by the cold tempests of the world, then the fervor of Christ’s charity can burn so ardently within them that their op­ponents not only cannot extinguish it, but also can catch fire from it.25 Enkindled and increased by the Lord who dwells within the heart, the spiritual resurrection is not only communal, but also catching.26

The Apostle Paul’s Reception and Promotion of the Resurrection Augustine appreciates that such fervent love for the risen Christ has energized such a champion of the Christian life as Paul, the martyred apostle to the Gentiles. In celebrating the legacy of Paul, Augustine emphasizes how profoundly the resurrection impacted his spiritual life and his preaching of the Gospel. Augustine often preaches that the voice of the resurrected Christ from heaven once knocked down and slaughtered Saul, the proud and haughty persecutor of Christ and his Church, to raise up and bring to life Paul, the humble and little preacher of Christ who built up the Church of the Gentiles.27 Augustine sees that in experiencing the spiritual resurrection, Paul entered into a life centered on proclaiming the Gospel of the r­esurrection. Accordingly, he celebrates Paul’s preaching at Athens (see Acts 17:16–34), the homeland of the great philosophers, on “the resurrection of the dead, which is the most distinctive point of the faith of Christians.”28 As Augustine observes, the apostle’s sowing the word and scattering the seed of the resurrection elicited a threefold response among his Athenian audience: (1) scoffers fell, (2) doubters wavered, and (3) believers stood. Augustine acknowledges that Paul and his mixed audience of philosophers shared a common desire for the happy life.

24 25 26 27 28

See en. Ps. 47.13 (CCL 38, p. 548, ll. 1–30; WSA III/16, pp. 347–348). See, e.g., s. 198.7 (RechAug 26, p. 95, l. 136–p. 96, l. 169; WSA III/11, pp. 185–186). See en. Ps. 123.6 (CCL 40, p. 1829, ll. 16–25; WSA III/20, p. 48). See, e.g., ep. Io. tr. 8.2 (PL 35, col. 2037, ll. 20–33; WSA III/14, p. 117). s. 150.2 (REAug 45, p. 40, ll. 23–24; WSA III/5, pp. 30–31).

164 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection But whereas the Epicureans of Athens identified happiness with the body’s pleasures, and the Stoics of Athens identified it with the soul’s virtue, Paul testified to the Christian belief that happiness is rather God’s gift. The apostle of the resurrection invited his interlocutors to depart from the way of death, to rise above carnal lifestyles, and to be led by God’s Spirit through Christ, the way, toward Christ, the truth and the life. Surpassing the doctrines of the philosophers, Augustine insists on the distinguished excellence of the Christian way of resurrected life which Paul embodied and proclaimed.29 Augustine emphasizes that Paul witnessed to the resurrection not only in word, but also in flesh and blood. Paul followed his Lord into the sacrifice of being slaughtered for God.30 But like the apostle Peter and any of Christ’s other martyrs, Paul was both willing and unwilling to suffer sin’s punishment of fleshly death. Paul was willing to advance toward “the future resurrection of the body, and so great a transformation that death will be swallowed up in victory” (see 1 Cor 15:54), but unwilling to be stripped (2 Cor 5:4) of his body.31 “Death cannot be loved,” Augustine preaches, “it can be endured.”32 “The martyrs were lovers of life,” he further preaches, and “for that reason, they were endurers of death.”33 The life for which Christ’s martyrs died was nothing less than the endless and deathless life of their integral and beatific resurrection in God. For Augustine, Paul has provided not only testimonies to the resurrection, but also insights into the afterlife. Augustine considers the present location of Paul right now, after his fleshly death and before his fleshly resurrection. In seeking to locate Paul, Augustine articulates one of his most insightful discussions of the interim state of such a good and faithful man. He gathers that physical death has so disintegrated the apostle that he is now a broken man. Paul presently exists in two distinct places at once, both alive and dead: (1) his

29 30 31 32 33

See, e.g., s. 150.1–150.10 (REAug 45, p. 39, l. 5–p. 49, l. 249; WSA III/5, pp. 30–37). See, e.g., s. 299.3 (PL 38, col. 1368, l. 29–col. 1369, l. 30; WSA III/8, pp. 230–231). See, e.g., s. 299.8–299.10 (PL 38, col. 1373, l. 4–col. 1375, l. 29; WSA III/8, pp. 235–238). s. 299.8 (PL 38, col. 1373, l. 14; WSA III/8, p. 235). s. 335B.4 (MA 1, p. 561, l. 1; WSA III/9, p. 218).

the Apostle Paul’s Reception and Promotion 165 soul rests and lives with Christ and in Christ, while (2) his flesh lies dead in the tomb at Rome. Augustine refuses to identify Paul with his soul alone. Along with his soul, his flesh is and remains identifiable as one and the same Paul.34 According to Augustine, it is not the case, therefore, that the material constituents of his corpse had once, when alive, been part of Paul, but now, in death, are no longer identifiable as such. Rather, his entire body – even as lifeless, even as separated from his soul, even as disintegrating or disintegrated into the elements of the earth – is still Paul himself. The remains of Paul remain Paul. Thus, Augustine insists: Soul and body are two things, but one man; […] the soul which thrives immortally is one thing, the body which lies down corruptibly is another thing. But each of those two things, from which the consortium of flesh and soul has taken the name of the man, now also single and separated, has kept the name of the man.35

Therefore, the event of death, the breaking and crumbling apart of Paul as a person, does not and cannot annihilate, or even discontinue, his human reality and personal identity. The reason why such annihilations and discontinuations are impossibilities, for Augustine, is because the ground and crown of Paul are located neither in his soul nor in his body, either separately or even together. Rather, they are located in the God of the resurrection. Intrinsic to Paul is the ineradicable location of his personal human identity in God and, therefore, its shelter in the most substantial of all realities and the most absolute of all mysteries. For Augustine, however, the divine locus of Paul’s personal human identity is not so much extrinsic to him, but rather ever beyond him. This ever beyondness is characterized at once both by a greater intimacy to Paul than he, alone on his own, could ever come to have with himself, and by a greater alterity from Paul than he, alone on his own, could ever go to get away from himself. Augustine furnishes

34 35

See Io. eu. tr. 47.12 (CCL 36, p. 411, ll. 10–22; WSA III/13, p. 94). Io. eu. tr. 47.12 (CCL 36, p. 411, ll. 8–9, 21–24; WSA III/13, p. 94).

166 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection the cast of such theological and anthropological insights when he confesses to God, in Confessiones, “However, you were more intimate to me than my inmost being and higher than the highest peak of my spirit.”36 Moreover, God holds each man not only from these two poles of his innermost and uppermost being, but also at every anthropological point, including his outermost and lowermost. From this perspective, Augustine sees that the hands of God, always already within man entirely from beyond man, are what holds Paul together as one and the same human person, even in his condition of brokenness, even when Paul does not and cannot hold himself together. The continuity of human identity, therefore, does not so much begin to become a problem for Augustine at the moment of corporeal death. For this continuous identity of the human p­erson has already been held by God and in God, beyond human grasp, from the moment of his conception into this mortal life. In other words, with respect to problematizing personal continuity for man, Augustine does not give the end of mortal life any meaningful or noticeable privilege over its beginning. Neither start nor finish, let alone any of the stages in between, offers man a historical moment when he can secure his own identity for himself. Not even eternity offers this to him. Hence, Augustine gathers that human integrity and personal identity can never be grasped and secured by any human person alone, dead or alive, broken or whole. For these always remain the free and continuous gifts of God who has promised to bring each of us and all of us to fulfillment in and through our integral resurrection. Meanwhile, in the interim – not only after bodily death, but also before and during it – God holds in his hands all the parts and pieces of such breaking and broken humans as Paul, wherever they are, and keeps them safe in his divine providence as they await the breaking dawn of the eschatological resurrection. As Augustine thus articulates them, these contents of faith in the God of the resurrection are intrinsic components of the spiritual resurrection.

36

conf. 3.6.11 (CCL 27, p. 33, ll. 57–58; WSA I/1, p. 83).

Christian Funerals and Commemorations of the Dead 167

Christian Funerals and Commemorations of the Dead Besides the embodied faith, hope, and love unto death of Christ’s martyrs and faithful departed, Augustine acknowledges that the funerary and commemorative practices of the Church’s members on earth also express their spiritual resurrections, whose contents include their belief in and hope for the resurrection of all human flesh.37 From early in his priesthood to late in his episcopacy, Augustine concerned himself with the proper expressions of this resurrection faith and hope at the gravesites, shrines, and churches where Christians buried, remembered, and prayed to and for their martyred and ordinary dead. Thus, as a priest of Hippo, he encourages Aurelius, the bishop of Carthage (died AD 430), to endeavor to dissuade North African Catholics gently from their customary practices of feasting and drinking, even unto excess, at the tombs of the saints and martyrs.38 Augustine expresses his twofold concern: (1) he wants to regulate the carnal practices of feasting and drunkenness (Rom 13:13) at banquets which provide consolations neither to the living nor to the dead, and which lead to future punishment, and (2) he hopes to cultivate the

37



38

For Augustine’s theological and pastoral treatments of the funerary and commemorative practices of Christians for their dead, see Heikki Kotila, Memoria mortuorum: Commemoration of the Departed in Augustine, Studia Ephemeridis ‘Augustinianum’ 38 (Rome: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 1992), pp. 61–178; Éric Rebillard, “Nec deserere memorias suorum: Augustine and the Family-Based Commemoration of the Dead,” Augustinian Studies 36 (2005): 99–111; J. Patout Burns and Robin M. Jensen, Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), pp. 500–514; Peter Brown, The Ransom of the Soul: Afterlife and Wealth in Early Western Christianity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), pp. 52–114. Augustine repeatedly addresses these North African customs of feasting and drinking during the annual celebrations of the martyrs’ birthdays into heaven, which were known as laetitiae, and during the celebrations of gravesite meals for deceased familiars and friends, which were known as refrigeria or conuiuia. The latter took place not only on the anniversary of an individual’s death, but also during the annual Roman festival for deceased ancestors, the Parentalia, which occurred for nine days from February 13 to February 21. See, e.g., ep. 29.1–29.12 (CSEL 34.1, p. 114, l. 2–p. 122, l. 24; WSA II/1, pp. 95–100). In conf. 6.2.2 (CCL 27, p. 74, l. 1–p. 75, l. 29; WSA I/1, p.  135–136), Augustine recounts how the prohibitions of Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, served to convert Monica from such North African gravesite customs.

168 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection spiritual practices of offering prayers, celebrating the Eucharist, and almsgiving for the benefit of the dead. These traditional practices of the Church provide consolations to grieving survivors and the faithful departed, since they lead to future beatitude.39 In handling Christian burials, Augustine encourages grieving Christians to place their hope for the resurrection in God, rather than in funerals, graves, or monuments.40 Thus, in De cura pro mortuis gerenda,41 he responds to the bishop Paulinus of Nola (c. AD 355–431), who asked him whether there are any advantages in burying the dead near the memorials of the saints. This question was occasioned by the widow Flora, who buried the dead body of her son Cygenius in the basilica of Felix the confessor.42 Augustine identifies only two advantages: (1) the motivation of survivors to remember and supplicate for their dead by offering prayers, the sacrifice of the altar, or alms, and (2) the commendation of the dead to the intercessory patronage of the saint.43 The condition of the departed soul – kept until the eschatological resurrection “in hidden receptacles, as each one deserves, whether in rest or in affliction” – is not affected by the condition of the dead body, but rather by its embodied life on earth.44 As Augustine instructs, “[It is] not the flesh to the spirit, but the spirit to the flesh, [that] provides even the merit of its resurrection, whether it shall revive to punishment or to glory.”45 Augustine clarifies that, according to the Gospel assurances of Jesus, neither the location nor the dislocation of the corpse, neither the expensiveness nor the cheapness of its funeral, neither the fact nor the lack of its burial can impact either the present condition of the departed soul or the future resurrection of the dead body. All these things are more of a solace to the living than a relief for

39



42

40 41

43 44 45

See ep. 22.1.1–22.1.6 (CSEL 34.1, p. 54, l. 8–p. 59, l. 11; WSA II/1, pp. 58–60). See s. 172.1–172.3 (PL 38, col. 936, l. 6–col. 937, l. 40; WSA III/5, pp. 251–253). See Paula J. Rose, A Commentary on Augustine’s De cura pro mortuis gerenda: Rhetoric in Practice (Leiden – Boston: Brill, 2013). See cura mort. 1.1 (CSEL 41, p. 621, l. 3–p. 622, l. 9; FaCh 27, pp. 351–352). See, e.g., cura mort. 4.6–5.7 (CSEL 41, p. 629, l. 18–p. 633, l. 9; FaCh 27, pp. 358–361). See ench. 29.109 (CCL 46, p. 108, ll. 1–4; WSA I/8, p. 336). cura mort. 5.7 (CSEL 41, p. 633, ll. 7–9; FaCh 27, p. 361).

Christian Funerals and Commemorations of the Dead 169 the dead. Augustine recalls that after the barbarian devastation of Rome in the year 410, there was such a great heap of massacred corpses that they could not be buried. But even confronted with such a l­amentable scene of human carnage, he denies that the prevention or neglect of burial, or even the consumption of the flesh by wild animals, can now harm the departed soul, can now hurt the insentient body, or can later hinder the person from resurrecting in the flesh. Instead, he affirms that the God of the resurrection, whose presence fills heaven and earth, “knows from where to raise up what he has created.”46 Likewise, the exposure of the slaughtered bodies of the Christian martyrs in Gaul by their persecutors – first to the teeth of dogs, second their scraps and bones to the consuming flames of fire, and third their ashes to the flowing waters of the Rhone River – cannot diminish either the present rest of their victorious souls or the future resurrection of their bodies, as if they would resurrect less than fully intact. Lest faith in the resurrection should either fear the obliteration of bodies or doubt that the Creator cannot lose anything of the creature, the martyrs conquered the fear of being deprived of not only the body’s safety, but also its burial.47 Thus, in a theological effort to display the resurrection promise of Christ and the resurrection witness of Christ’s martyrs, and in a pastoral attempt to correct popular misconceptions even among Christians, Augustine firmly grounds the Church’s hope for the resurrection nowhere else than in the God of the resurrection.48 Although Augustine denies any causal link between burial and the afterlife condition of either the departed soul or the resurrected body, he nevertheless affirms the intrinsic value of Christian funerary

46



48

47

See cura mort. 2.3–2.4 (CSEL 41, p. 624, l. 3–p. 627, l. 12; FaCh 27, pp. 353–356). See cura mort. 6.8–8.10 (CSEL 41, p. 633, l. 10–p. 638, l. 7; FaCh 27, pp. 361–365). Augustine acknowledges that he is drawing these graphic details about the martyrs of Gaul from Eusebius’s Ecclesiastica historia 5.1.57–5.1.63, which Rufinus translated from Greek into Latin. For Augustine’s responses to popular Christian beliefs regarding the dead human body, its burial, and its resurrection, see Yvette Duval, Auprès des saints corps et âme: L’inhumation « ad sanctos » dans la chrétienté d’Orient et d’Occident du IIIe au VIIe siècle (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1988).

170 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection practices in fostering and expressing resurrection faith and hope. In burying the bodies of their dead, as Scripture commends, Christians “signify, for the sake of building up faith in the resurrection,” to the fact that the body intrinsically pertains not only to human nature, but also to divine providence, and as such, it is destined for the eschatological resurrection.49 While the practice of Christian burial cannot secure the salvation of the dead, it nevertheless embodies and expresses not only the duty of human affection for the flesh, but also the Christian faith in and hope for its resurrection.50

The Consolation of Hope for the Resurrection Besides handling the funerary practices of Christians, Augustine also handles, with the tenderness of pastoral care, the grief of survivors. In several of his letters, Augustine writes to console those Christians, such as the widow Italica, who are mourning the deaths of their family members;51 to correct some, such as the widower Cornelius, perhaps Romanianus, whose misdirected attempts to console themselves are leading to spiritual death;52 and to buoy up their hope for the resurrection of all human flesh. Amid death and sadness, the consolation of resurrection hope comes to paramount expression when Augustine writes to console the consecrated virgin Sapida who is mourning the death of her brother Timothy, a deacon of the Church of Carthage. Augustine reassures her that he has accepted and already begun to wear the tunic which she had woven for her brother, but had given to him after Timothy’s death. But even more resolutely, he seeks to console her with resurrection faith and hope. Although her “heart is pierced and the tears of her heart are gushing out like blood,”53 Augustine encourages Sapida to lift up her heart to savor the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col 3:1–2). By focusing on the resurrected Christ, who

49 50 51 52 53

See, e.g., cura mort. 3.5 (CSEL 41, p. 627, l. 13–p. 629, l. 17; FaCh 27, pp. 356–358). See cura mort. 18.22 (CSEL 41, p. 658, l. 19–p. 659, l. 5; FaCh 27, p. 383). See ep. 92.1–92.2 (CSEL 34.2, p. 436, l. 2–p. 438, l. 2; WSA II/1, pp. 371–372). See ep. 259.1–259.5 (CSEL 57, p. 611, l. 2–p. 615, l. 17; WSA II/4, pp. 197–199). ep. 263.2 (CSEL 57, p. 632, ll. 19–20; WSA II/4, p. 209).

The Consolation of Hope for the Resurrection 171 conquered death, its fear, and its grief, she can see that Timothy has not only withdrawn from the land of the dying, but also entered into the land of the living.54 Further, Augustine contextualizes the sorrow of Christians within the horizon of the integral resurrection. Although the Lord wept over the dead Lazarus, whom he was going to resurrect, and thus provided Christians, who believe that their dead are going to be resurrected, an example of weeping for them, Augustine encourages Sapida neither to prolong her sorrow nor to be sad like the pagans, who do not have hope (1 Thess 4:13). For her brother remains alive in his spirit, even while he is asleep in his flesh, which God will eventually resurrect to eternal life.55 As Augustine writes: God, who has already received his spirit, will restore his body to him, which he did not take away to ruin, but set aside to return. Therefore, there is no reason for prolonged sadness because there is better reason for everlasting joy when even that mortal part of your brother, which was buried in the earth, will not be lost to you, in which he used to be present to you, through which he used to speak to you and converse with you, from which he used to bring forth his voice to your ears in such a familiar way as that which he used to offer his face to your eyes, such that, wherever he spoke, even without being seen, he used to be recognized.56

With these reminders of Sapida’s past familiarity with her brother, Augustine seeks to enhance her expectation that every aspect of their embodied interactions will be so reconstituted and reconditioned by the God of the resurrection that nothing will ever be lost again. In delivering this message of consolation and hope to Sapida, and in accompanying her through the valley of her tears, Augustine touches upon one of the deepest meanings of the Gospel of the resurrection, which is intended for every human. That is, God has promised that,

54 55 56

See ep. 263.1–263.2 (CSEL 57, p. 631, l. 15–p. 633, l. 6; WSA II/4, pp. 209–210). See ep. 263.3–264.4 (CSEL 57, p. 633, l. 7–p. 634, l. 23; WSA II/4, pp. 210–211). ep. 263.4 (CSEL 57, p. 633, l. 25–p. 634, l. 5; WSA II/4, p. 210).

172 Extreme Expressions of the Spiritual Resurrection in the end, everything that makes us who we are, including our embodied relationships of love, will be not only restored by him, but also enhanced in him, so as never to be squandered by us or snatched from us again. Our resurrection will constitute our full and final comeback. Thus, Augustine appreciates that the spiritual resurrection gives Christians a personal and communal orientation, in the risen Christ, toward the dawning of their fleshly resurrection. For him, the Church’s historical experience of the spiritual resurrection involves its various embodied expressions in how Christians handle not only their own souls and bodies in approaching and suffering physical death, but also the souls and bodies of those whom death has snatched away for a while. As resurrected, the hearts of Christians are now lifted up toward the God of the resurrection and thereby set on the eschatological resurrection. Although this second resurrection remains beyond our actual experience, its substance, already contained and offered to us in Christ, does not lie beyond Christian belief, hope, and theological speculation. In the fourth and final part, we will devote our attention to how Augustine treats this resurrection of all human flesh at the end of all time.

IV  The Resurrection of Human Flesh

With the revelries of some pagan festival carousing around in the background, and with the echoes of their rallying call, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor 15:32), infiltrating the content and furnishing “the hinge” of his sermons,1 Augustine preaches a couple of lengthy, yet masterful sermons on the resurrection of human flesh, Sermo 361 and Sermo 362. The sequence of these sermons is instructive for how he approaches, in faith, the fleshly resurrection, an ineffable and incomprehensible event which only Christ has immediately experienced, but which we can access now mediately in the risen Christ, since we will immediately experience it only at the end of all time.2 As Augustine recapitulates: Indeed, any of you who were present at the previous sermon, remember with us that the question proposed about the resurrection was divided by us into a twofold discussion: first, we would discuss, for the sake of those who doubt it, or even who deny it, whether there will be a resurrection of the dead; while afterwards, we would seek, as best we could, according to the Scriptures, what kind of life the just will have in the resurrection.3

According to this sequence, which our study follows, Augustine discusses (1) the factual event of the fleshly resurrection and (2) the qualitative life of the fleshly resurrection. With respect to the second

1 2 3

See s. 361.1 (PL 39, col. 1599, ll. 26–30; WSA III/10, p. 225). See s. 362.4–362.6 (PL 39, col. 1613, l. 18–col. 1614, l. 42; WSA III/10, pp. 243–244). s. 362.1 (PL 39, col. 1611, ll. 45–53; WSA III/10, p. 241).

173

10 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection

The Credibility and Intelligibility of the Fleshly Resurrection against Pagan Denials Before delving into the details of the fleshly resurrection, Augustine first seeks to establish, in Sermo 361, that its future event is credible and intelligible. He argues against two kinds of pagan opponents who refuse this resurrection, either (1) because they doubt or deny human immortality and eschatology of any kind or (2) because they assume or assert some alternative version of them. Augustine shows his concern not only for the persuasion of pagans, but also and even more for the prevention of Christians from being crestfallen or seduced by their mockeries and murmurings.1 As he contends elsewhere, “However, we would not believe in Christ himself, because he resurrected on the third day, if the faith of Christians were afraid of the laughter of pagans.”2 As Augustine portrays the first kind of opponents, these pagans think that this present life is the only life, and that nothing of man survives after death.3 He laments that these hopeless pagans “ridicule the faith of those who assert that the dead are going to resurrect,” and question whether anyone has risen from the dead.4 Although almost none of them would dare to disparage Christ’s resurrection, many of them do object to our resurrection.5 As Augustine preaches



1 2 3 4 5

See s. 361.4–361.5 (PL 39, col. 1600, l. 36–col. 1601, l. 41; WSA III/10, pp. 226–228). qu. c. pag. 31 (CSEL 34.2, p. 570, l. 21–p. 571, l. 1; WSA II/2, p. 35). See s. 361.1 (PL 39, col. 1599, ll. 19–27; WSA III/10, p. 225). See, e.g., s. 361.6–361.7 (PL 39, col. 1601, l. 44–col. 1602, l. 36; WSA III/10, pp. 228–229). See, e.g., s. 361.8 (PL 39, col. 1603, ll. 26–34; WSA III/10, p. 230).

177

178 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection elsewhere, this pagan objection to the universal resurrection, coupled with their admission of Christ’s singular resurrection, is raised on the grounds of Christ’s twofold distinction from us: (1) on account of his divine power, which accomplished his resurrection,6 and (2) on account of the integrity of his dead, but uncorrupted flesh, which allowed it.7 In responding to these pagans and providing Christians apologetic arguments to respond likewise, Augustine invites his audience and readers to consider three kinds of testimonies for the resurrection: (1) the restorative processes of nature, (2) the omnipotence of God, for whom nothing is difficult, and (3) the commonly accepted resurrection of Christ. Against the hopelessness of pagan arguments and practices of eating and drinking, he encourages Christians to provide reasons for their hope not only by their words, but also in their embodied practices of fasting and praying.8 With respect to the first testimony of empirical nature, Augustine endeavors to open the ears of his audience to hear “all creation [which] speaks of the resurrection, if we are not deaf.”9 He points out four recurrent events that resemble the one-time resurrection: (1) the annual sowing and harvesting of grain, (2) the annual falling and sprouting of leaves, (3) the monthly waning and waxing of the moon, and (4) the daily sleeping and waking of animals.10 Augustine admits that this resurrection “cannot now be shown to [our] eyes, but experience [of it] has been given [to us] from the one principal grain,” namely, Jesus Christ.11 With respect to the second testimony of God’s omnipotence, Augustine argues that if God has the power to make human bodies, which once did not exist, from nothing, then God certainly has



6 7 8 9 10 11

See s. 242A.1 (MA 1, p. 327, ll. 11–19; WSA III/7, p. 85). See s. 242A.2 (MA 1, p. 328, ll. 18–24; WSA III/7, p. 86). See s. 361.18–361.21 (PL 39, col. 1609, l. 43–col. 1611, l. 37; WSA III/10, pp. 237–239). See s. 361.10 (PL 39, col. 1604, ll. 22–26; WSA III/10, p. 231). See, e.g., s. 361.9–361.11 (PL 39, col. 1603, l. 35–col. 1605, l. 8; WSA III/10, pp. 230–232). See s. 361.10 (PL 39, col. 1604, ll. 13–26; WSA III/10, p. 231).

CREDIBILITY & INTELLIGIBILITY AGAINST PAGAN Denials 179 the power to remake human bodies, which once did exist, from their bones and dust.12 Moreover, he observes that in “the secret recesses of nature, all things are kept safe for the Maker, even when they are withdrawn from mortal senses.”13 Even if the flesh has lost its security and integrity, God never loses them and will even restore them.14 By displaying God’s omnipotence, Augustine combats the popular, but mistaken stipulation that bodily integrity is a necessary precondition for bodily resurrection.15 Regardless of the posthumous condition of the body, whether intact or decomposed, God’s omnipotence is the necessary and sufficient condition for its resurrection.16 With respect to the third testimony of the resurrected Christ, Augustine argues that Christ’s solidarity in the flesh with us, and the soteriological imports of his paschal mystery for us, render his resurrection not exceptional, but rather exemplary for our resurrection.17 As he explains, despite the distinctions of Christ’s bodily conception without male seed, and Christ’s bodily death without posthumous decay, the future resurrection of our bodies will be configured to Christ’s bodily resurrection to eternal life.18 Our resurrection from the dead, even from the ashes, will expand and heighten its wonder beyond that of Christ’s uncorrupted flesh.19 Moreover, Augustine criticizes those pagans who mistake Christ’s divine majesty and attempt to isolate Christ from us, in the supposed singularity of his resurrection. Against this attempt, Augustine displays the “humanity,” the “humility,”20 and even the “humiliation” of Christ,21 who not only descended to be resurrected for us, but also remains always with and in those of us who are neither only his servants nor only his

12

See, e.g., s. 215.6 (RB 68, p. 23, ll. 126–130; WSA III/6, p. 163). s. 361.12 (PL 39, col. 1605, ll. 16–19; WSA III/10, p. 232). 14 See cat. rud. 25.46 (CCL 46, p. 170, ll. 16–19; AS 5, p. 103). 15 See s. 361.12 (PL 39, col. 1605, ll. 10–21; WSA III/10, p. 232). 16 See s. 240.2 (PL 38, col. 1131, ll. 19–38; WSA III/7, p. 66). 17 See, e.g., s. 361.3 (PL 39, col. 1600, ll. 3–22; WSA III/10, p. 226). 18 See, e.g., qu. c. pag. 2–5 (CSEL 34.2, p. 545, l. 17–p. 549, l. 12; WSA II/2, pp. 22–24). 19 See s. 169.12 (PL 38, col. 922, ll. 23–39; WSA III/5, p. 230). 20 See s. 361.14–361.15 (PL 39, col. 1606, ll. 11–14; col. 1607, ll. 2–22; WSA III/10, pp. 233–234). 21 See s. 242A.1 (MA 1, p. 327, l. 20–p. 328, l. 17; WSA III/7, pp. 85–86). 13

180 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection members, but also Christ himself.22 Emptying himself into our flesh and seeking no benefit for himself, the incarnate Son of God “died for us and resurrected for us.”23 Christ’s solidarity with us and in us combats not only the pagan exaggeration of the exceptionality of Christ’s resurrection, but also their evaluation of the resurrection according to a heroic paradigm. Augustine suggests that these pagans sever the flesh of Christians from the resurrected flesh of Christ because they do not value the resurrection in terms of divine gift, and view it, instead, in terms of human accomplishment. The pagans inscribe the resurrection in the registry of heroic feats and glories, no different from the supposed apotheoses of their heroes who have reportedly earned their status as gods. For Augustine, however, such a heroic paradigm is ill equipped to appreciate the resurrection, which Jesus reveals to be nothing other than the gracious accomplishment of the self-emptying God, who has cast himself down to lift unheroic sinners up into his eternal life. However, as Augustine notes, even if the pagans attribute Christ’s resurrection to his merits as a most just man, this attribution would still not make it singular and exceptional. For the most just Jesus could not deceive us when he promised us the resurrection of our flesh as well.24

The Credibility and Intelligibility of the Fleshly Resurrection against Pagan Alternatives Augustine defends the Christian faith in and hope for the universal resurrection of human flesh not only against those pagans who deny human immortality of any kind, but also against those who affirm some alternative version and account of human immortality that excludes the resurrected body. Particularly in a series of sermons25 and in sections of De ciuitate dei,26 he argues against those

22



25

23 24

26

See s. 361.14–361.15 (PL 39, col. 1606, l. 6–col. 1607, l. 35; WSA III/10, pp. 233–235). See s. 361.16–361.17 (PL 39, col. 1607, l. 39–col. 1609, l. 33; WSA III/10, pp. 235–237). See s. 361.17 (PL 39, col. 1609, ll. 34–41; WSA III/10, p. 237). For Augustine’s treatment of the already and not yet fulfilled promises of Christ, see, e.g., cat. rud. 24.45 (CCL 46, p. 168, l. 14–p. 169, l. 35; AS 5, pp. 101–102). These sermons are s. 240, s. 241, and s. 242. Particularly, in Book 10, Book 13, and Book 22 of ciu.

CREDIBILITY & INTELLIGIBILITY AGAINST PAGAN Alternatives 181 pagan philosophers, especially the Platonists and Neoplatonists, who thus deny the fleshly resurrection.27 These philosophers raise two basic objections: (1) the happiness of the human soul demands its disembodiment and (2) heaven’s inhospitality to and inhabitability by earthly bodies prevents the human body from its ascent and accommodation there. In these discussions, Augustine indicates the extents to which his considerations of the resurrection have led him to adjust or reject many signature features of Platonic and Neoplatonic anthropology, cosmology, and eschatology. He has come to grasp how much the resurrected and ascended Christ has shaken the foundations and shattered the ceilings of even the best of philosophical worldviews. While much of this philosophical material – especially its negative attitude toward the body – remains unsalvageable, certain philosophical insights can nevertheless be revised and reinserted into a Christian theological framework that upholds the fleshly resurrection. Augustine’s relationships to the pagan philosophers are complicated, in general, and his confrontations with them over the resurrection bring these complications to some of their knottiest moments. On the one hand, he commends Plato and Porphyry for not only recognizing, but also arguing extensively that the soul is immortal. He considers these Platonists and Neoplatonists to excel other



27

For Augustine’s defenses of the fleshly resurrection against the Platonists and Neoplatonists, see Pablo Goñi, La resurrección de la carne según San Agustín, The Catholic University of America Studies in Sacred Theology, Second Series, 122 (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1961), pp. 1–14, 72–103; Goulven Madec, “Augustin, disciple et adversaire de Porphyre,” Revue des Études Augustiniennes 10 (1964): 365–369; Eugene TeSelle, “Porphyry and Augustine,” Augustinian Studies 5 (1974): 113–147, esp. pp. 133–147; John J. O’Meara, “Parting from Porphyry,” Congresso Internazionale su S. Agostino nel XVI Centenario della Conversione, Roma, 15–20 settembre 1986, Atti 2 (Rome: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 1987, pp. 357–369; Mamerto Alfeche, “Augustine’s Discussions with Philosophers on the Resurrection of the Body,” Augustiniana 45 (1995): 95–140; Lance B. Richey, “Porphyry, Reincarnation and Resurrection in De Ciuitate Dei,” Augustinian Studies 26 (1995): 129–142; Eric Dubreucq, “La chair, la grâce et l’esprit: Métempsycose et résurrection de Porphyre à saint Augustin,” Archives de Philosophie 60 (1997): 25–45; Victor Yudin, “Porphyry against the Resurrection in Augustine,” Studia Patristica 50 (2011): 301–307.

182 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection philosophers who deny the afterlife of man.28 On the other hand, Augustine reproaches Plato for disparaging the body and deeming it a chain and prison for the soul as punishment for the sins of its previous life.29 According to Plato, the embodiment of the soul is a constituent of the miserable life and an impediment to the happy life, neither good in itself nor desirable to the wise.30 As Augustine reports, the Platonists and Neoplatonists do not regard death as a punishment for sin, but rather a benefit for the good soul. Once death has liberated the soul from the evils of earthly bodies, the disembodied soul, simple and alone, returns to God along an upward ascent to abide in perfect happiness.31 Breaking forth from the body, the soul flies up to rest with the gods in the heaven of heavens. But the soul does not and cannot endure this condition of purity forever. After some duration or moment of time – longer for the wiser and just soul, shorter for the stupider and sinful soul – it falls away from remembering into forgetting the past miseries of its previous embodiment.32 Plato, followed by Plotinus (c. AD 204/205–270), thinks that from this lapse of memory, the soul delights to return to a mortal body, whether human or even bestial.33 Augustine observes that Plato’s cyclical version of embodied history and disembodied eschatology appears to have influenced Vergil (70–19 BC) (see Aeneid 6.750–6.751), who embellishes with scenery this dramatic story of the soul’s escape to the joys of the Elysian Fields and reconfinement by the oblivion of the River Lethe.34 Nevertheless, the horrification of Vergil and Aeneas at the idea that the exalted souls of noble Romans would feel a dread desire to revert from disembodiment in heaven to re-embodiment on earth (see Aeneid 6.719–6.721) suggests either their imperfect happiness in

28 29 30 31 32 33 34

See, e.g., s. 240.4 (PL 38, col. 1132, ll. 6–18; WSA III/7, p. 67). See, e.g., ciu. 12.27 (CCL 48, p. 383, l. 10–p. 384, l. 33; WSA I/7, pp. 65–66). See s. 241.6 (PL 38, col. 1136, l. 53–col. 1137, l. 9; WSA III/7, p. 74). See ciu. 13.16 (CCL 48, p. 396, l. 1–p. 397, l. 7; WSA I/7, p. 80). See, e.g., ciu. 13.19 (CCL 48, p. 401, l. 1–p. 402, l. 38; WSA I/7, pp. 85–86). See, e.g., ciu. 10.30 (CCL 47, p. 307, ll. 2–5; WSA I/6, p. 341). See ciu. 10.30 (CCL 47, p. 307, ll. 31–36; WSA I/6, p. 342).

CREDIBILITY & INTELLIGIBILITY AGAINST PAGAN Alternatives 183 knowing their future miseries or their false happiness in not knowing them.35 Augustine further gathers that the soul would be caught up in frustrating cycles not only of alternating realities, but also of alternating hopes: hoping now in this life of true misery for that beatific life, hoping then in that life of false happiness for this miserable life. Apart from the body’s resurrection, the soul’s beatitude becomes so destabilized that it vanishes even from those presumed periods of celestial bliss.36 Moreover, the pagans endorse a cyclical notion of history consisting of the eternal recurrence of the same banal events. Accordingly, Plato achieves an immortality of eternal return, teaching forever the same students at the same school of the Academy in the same city of Athens.37 Augustine observes that the Platonic and Neoplatonic tradition has been not only influential, but also fluid, evincing certain modifications from Plato to Porphyry. While searching for “the universal way of liberation for the soul,”38 Porphyry insists, in De regressu animae, that “every body is to be fled from, so that the soul may be blessed to remain with God.”39 However, Porphyry makes significant alterations to Plato’s teachings, even rejecting some out of sheer embarrassment. Among Porphyry’s alterations, Augustine identifies two of the most significant: (1) the limitation of the return of human souls to human bodies and (2) the eventual liberation of purified and informed souls from the evils of this world.40 Augustine deduces that Porphyry not only teaches these altered doctrines “so as not to seem to be conquered by Christ,” but also “den[ies] the resurrection of incorruptible bodies to oppose Christ.”41



35 36 37 38 39 40 41

See, e.g., s. 241.5 (PL 38, col. 1135, l. 53–col. 1136, l. 41; WSA III/7, p. 73). See ciu. 12.21 (CCL 48, p. 376, l. 1–p. 378, l. 61; WSA I/7, pp. 58–60). See ciu. 12.14 (CCL 48, p. 368, l. 1–p. 369, l. 48; WSA I/7, pp. 50–51). See ciu. 10.32 (CCL 47, p. 309, l. 5–p. 311, l. 57; WSA I/6, pp. 344–345). ciu. 10.29 (CCL 47, p. 305, ll. 62–64; WSA I/6, p. 340). See, e.g., ciu. 10.30 (CCL 47, p. 307, l. 1–p. 308, l. 65; WSA I/6, pp. 341–343). See ciu. 13.19 (CCL 48, p. 402, ll. 39–63; WSA I/7, p. 86).

184 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection To defend the fleshly resurrection against these disincarnate versions of human immortality and eschatology, Augustine displays the paragon of the resurrected Christ.42 As he preaches: The resurrection of the dead is the characteristic belief of Christians. Christ our head showed this in himself, that is, the resurrection of the dead, and presented us the example of faith, so that the members might hope for themselves what preceded in the head.43

God’s revelation of the resurrection in and through Christ’s risen flesh is what provides Augustine the basis not only for his criticisms of these philosophical versions and accounts, but also for his construction of a theological version and account. Thus, he explains that the Word of God, in and through his incarnation, death, and resurrection, has revealed that what is “evil” and punishable by death is “not the substance or nature of the flesh,” but rather “sin.”44 Unlike Porphyry, he recognizes not only that the Word of God is the one divine principle of our purification, but also that Christ’s human flesh – in which he died and resurrected – and his human soul are the great sacrament of humility and the universal sacrifice of our entire cleansing, both flesh and soul, from sin.45 In the incarnate God, Augustine discovers and declares “the universal way of liberation” which Porphyry longed to locate, but could not, so long as he found human flesh repulsive.46 For Augustine, God vindicates the intrinsic goodness and salvageability of our flesh in and through its resurrection. Thus, he learns from God that human flesh is not “to be fled from,” as Porphyry insists, “as if every body were a wretched chain of the soul.”47 Instead, the flesh is praiseworthy even now – with its unique beauty, disposed members, distinct senses, and upright stature – and

42 43 44 45 46 47

See, e.g., s. 242.1 (PL 38, col. 1139, ll. 1–36; WSA III/7, pp. 78–79). s. 241.1 (PL 38, col. 1133, ll. 30–34; WSA III/7, p. 70). ciu. 10.24 (CCL 47, p. 297, ll. 23–24; WSA I/6, p. 331). See, e.g., ciu. 10.24 (CCL 47, p. 297, l. 1–p. 298, l. 50; WSA I/6, pp. 331–332). See ciu. 10.32 (CCL 47, p. 309, ll. 1–5; p. 311, l. 58–p. 313, l. 174; WSA I/6, pp. 344–348). s. 241.7 (PL 38, col. 1137, ll. 16–18; WSA III/7, p. 74).

The Humility to Accept the Fleshly Resurrection 185 will be even more so in its resurrection when “it will be entirely incorruptible, entirely immortal, entirely agile and facile in its movements.”48 What will be discarded in the beatific resurrection is “not the nature and substance of the body,” but rather the punitive outcomes of our sin, including the afflictions of our flesh.49 As Augustine argues against the pagan theory of reincarnation, God will resurrect the flesh as incorruptible, immortal, and spiritual, thus fulfilling the soul’s desire for the body, which it “will never lay down [again], absolutely or for however brief a time, by any death.”50 The resurrection of the flesh not only embodies our immortality and eschatology, but also vindicates our embodied and noncyclical history as meaningful in its unrepeatability. Thus, Augustine celebrates the historical facts that Christ died once for our sins, and once rising from the dead, he dies no longer, and death will no more dominate him (Rom 6:9), thereby inaugurating and finalizing in his flesh our deathless eschatological condition. In and through the one-time bodily death and resurrection not only of Christ, but also of each human person, God breaks the human mind out from those philosophical circles where eternally recurring cycles of the same history are taught.51

The Humility to Accept the Fleshly Resurrection With acute diagnosis, Augustine traces the fundamental reason why Plato, Porphyry, and their disciples reject the fleshly resurrection back to their pride. As their cases indicate to him, the proud have accumulated a vested interest in themselves, funded by their own versions of what it means to be human. Augustine laments that their self-investment, inflated by empty knowledge, inhibits the proud from accepting Christ’s wholesome humility which saturates the resurrection.52



48 49 50 51 52

See, e.g., s. 241.7 (PL 38, col. 1137, ll. 11–28; WSA III/7, p. 74). See ciu. 14.3 (CCL 48, p. 416, l. 1–p. 418, l. 63; WSA I/7, pp. 101–103). See ciu. 22.26 (CCL 48, p. 854, ll. 27–44; WSA I/7, p. 544). See, e.g., ciu. 12.14 (CCL 48, p. 369, ll. 48–57; WSA I/7, p. 51). See ciu. 10.28–10.29 (CCL 47, p. 303, l. 1–p. 307, l. 109; WSA I/6, pp. 337–341).

186 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection From their pride, torrents of fears spew forth. Augustine s­uspects that the proud are afraid of the shame of being associated with Christ’s resurrected flesh, which once bore the shame of the cross, now bears the scorn of the self-exalted,53 and always will bear the scars of his crucifixion wounds.54 He further surmises that the proud are afraid and ashamed to learn from the teacher of uneducated fishermen, through whose witness the world has come to believe in the resurrection.55 These philosophers are afraid of forfeiting their elite distinction of being called or being Platonists in exchange for sharing the common name and identity of Christ with the vulgar crowd of Christians. They are eager to excoriate the soul of its flesh, but ashamed to divest themselves of the prestige sewn into their philosopher “cloaks” (palliatorum).56 Thus, Augustine gathers that they fear becoming social pariahs in the eyes of the savants of this world by upholding the eternal value of human flesh in its resurrection. Moreover, Augustine implies that these philosophers fear the intellectual abasement of admitting the limitations of their own minds, and of confessing that God’s design for the resurrection excels everything that they have ever grasped, and could ever grasp, for themselves. Above all, he sees that the proud fear bending down to enter into the humble and self-sacrificial Christ whose resurrection has mercifully established for all peoples the universal way of liberation and immortalization not only for the soul, but also for the body.57 In essence, the resurrection is the human experience of God’s mercy. From the perspective of Christ’s universal sacrifice of mercy,58 Augustine’s dispute with the philosophers concerns not only the logic of rational argumentation, but also the tethers of personal affection. What and how a person loves either opens or closes his mind to the resurrection of his flesh. Acceptance or rejection of this resurrection

53 54 55 56 57 58

See ciu. 10.28 (CCL 47, p. 303, ll. 21–24; WSA I/6, p. 338). See ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 839, ll. 53–56; WSA I/7, p. 530). See, e.g., ciu. 22.5 (CCL 48, p. 810, ll. 1–p. 812, l. 72; WSA I/7, pp. 500–502). See ciu. 13.16 (CCL 48, p. 398, ll. 52–60; WSA I/7, p. 81). See ciu. 10.32 (CCL 47, p. 310, l. 45–p. 312, l. 132; WSA I/6, pp. 345–347). See, e.g., ciu. 10.6 (CCL 47, p. 278, l. 1–p. 279, l. 55; WSA I/6, pp. 310–312).

The Humility to Accept the Fleshly Resurrection 187 respectively results from one of the two basic kinds of love, which constructs one of the two ultimate cities: (1) the “heavenly” city of God constructed by the humble and spiritual “love of God, even to the contempt of self,” or (2) the “earthly” city of this world constructed by the proud and carnal “love of self, even to the contempt of God.”59 Augustine suggests that the affective self-enclosure of the pagan philosophers contributes not only to their disparagement of the flesh and its resurrection, but also to their reluctance to share their insights with others. This reluctance embodies the impious and imperialistic “lust for domination” which pathologically treats others not so much as partners in a common quest for wisdom, but more as competitors to be bested and beaten down.60 If Plato and Porphyry had been not only contemporaries, but also generous and receptive enough to exchange their insights, as Augustine admits with tongue in cheek, then together they might have approximated the Christian doctrine of the fleshly resurrection and “perhaps would have become Christians.”61 Doing for these pagans what they were unable and unwilling to do for themselves, Augustine reconstructs the doctrine of the resurrection from their insights. With insight that resurrection faith alone can provide, he inserts their insights into its doctrinal structure.62 As he constructs it: Therefore, if Plato and Porphyry, or rather whoever esteem them and are still living, agree with us that even holy souls will return to bodies, as Plato says, and yet will not return any evils, as Porphyry says, so that from these it might consequently happen, as Christian faith preaches, that they will receive such bodies, in which they can live happily in eternity without any evil, then let them also take this from Varro [116–27 BC], that they return to the same bodies in which they existed before.63

59 60 61 62 63

See ciu. 14.28 (CCL 48, p. 451, l. 1–p. 452, l. 27; WSA I/7, pp. 136–137). See ciu. 1.P (CCL 47, p. 1, ll. 15–23; WSA I/6, p. 2). See ciu. 22.27 (CCL 48, p. 854, ll. 1–2; WSA I/7, p. 544). See ciu. 22.27–22.28 (CCL 48, p. 854, l. 1–p. 856, l. 42; WSA I/7, pp. 544–547). ciu. 22.28 (CCL 48, p. 856, ll. 32–40; WSA I/7, p. 546).

188 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection “And so,” Augustine exclaims with irony, “the whole question about the resurrection of the flesh to eternity will be solved by them.”64 For he recognizes that the resurrection is not a doctrine that can be constructed entirely from the outside by the aggregation of philosophical or classical insights, however much revised. None of these pagans have the wherewithal to see the structure of the resurrection into which Augustine, guided by faith in the resurrected Christ, fits their insights. In this respect, Augustine even disagrees with his fellow Christians who so “love Plato [that] they assert that he thought something similar to [them] even about the resurrection of the dead.”65 Instead, he insists that the resurrection is a mystery of faith that can only truly be handled from the inside by those humble and self-sacrificial believers who are being integrally configured to the resurrected Christ.

The Revisions of Cosmological and Anthropological Paradigms Augustine shows how much he has sacrificed of his previous adherence to certain elements of the standard philosophical cosmology. Having advanced beyond his earlier experimentation with the transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body, in keeping with this standard cosmology, he now focuses on altering the cosmological paradigm in light of his faith in the fleshly resurrection and ascension. According to the standard cosmological assumptions, as Augustine reports them, each body gravitates in virtue of its natural weight, either sinking downwards due its heaviness or rising upwards due to its lightness. Certain cosmologists have learned from Plato that the cosmos is hierarchically structured in an ascending order of four weighted elements: (1) earth, (2) water, (3) air, and (4) heaven or ether. According to them, the topmost sphere of heaven, inhabited by celestial bodies, cannot accommodate terrestrial bodies, originated from



64 65

ciu. 22.28 (CCL 48, p. 856, ll. 41–42; WSA I/7, p. 546). See ciu. 22.28 (CCL 48, p. 855, ll. 1–4; WSA I/7, p. 545).

Cosmological and Anthropological Paradigms 189 the bottommost sphere of earth.66 As Augustine further observes, certain learned men cite Cicero’s statement that “nature would not permit that which is from earth to remain anywhere, except on earth” (De re publica 3.40), as if this disproves not so much the reported apotheoses of Hercules and Romulus, but rather the resurrection of the body.67 He suspects that this standard cosmology has value for these pagans not as an objective and scientific paradigm, but as funding and fueling the closure of the human mind to the resurrection of human flesh. They deploy their cosmic design not only in support of their self-constructed notions of human excellence – which generate and are reinforced by the cults and culture of their gods and heroes – but also in defiance of the God of the resurrection and his design for his resurrected saints. According to Augustine, the story which these pagans tell about the cosmos merges with the stories which they tell about their heroes. In his euhemeristic critique of pagan pantheons, Augustine observes that the pagans are accustomed to making up epic, yet mythic stories to apotheosize their dead men as gods.68 These fabulous stories are designed to promote versions of human immortality and glory alternative to those about which the Scriptures speak, and for which the apostles and martyrs followed Christ in laying down their flesh and pouring forth their blood. Expressing the attitude of the earthly city, the vainglory of Rome opposes the glory of the resurrection. Reading their documented history, Augustine gathers that what has motivated the Roman pagans, even from the beginning, in their pursuit of an empire and the imperialistic virtues to acquire and sustain it, has been their “‘boundless glory,’ […] for [which] they wanted to live, for [which] they did not hesitate to die.”69 As Augustine reads it, the story of Rome is a collective story of quests and conquests for self-glorification. The Romans live their

66 67 68 69

See, e.g., ciu. 22.11 (CCL 48, p. 829, l. 1–p. 831, l. 100; WSA I/7, pp. 520–522). See ciu. 22.4 (CCL 48, p. 809, ll. 1–9; WSA I/7, p. 499). See, e.g., ciu. 18.8 (CCL 48, p. 598, l. 13–p. 599, l. 19; WSA I/7, p. 286). ciu. 5.12 (CCL 47, p. 142, ll. 16–18; WSA I/6, p. 159). Augustine quotes here from Sallust, Catilinae coniuratio 7.6.

190 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection lives and die their deaths all for the sake of glory not so much in the eyes of God, but rather in the eyes of men.70 The pagans of Rome are eager to be praised by the tongues of mortals and honored by the styluses of those destined to fall into perdition. But, as Augustine acknowledges, they hold onto a mythic hope that Rome would be, in the words of Vergil, “an empire without end” (Aeneid 1.279).71 With such a mythic hope, the heroes of Rome seek a version of immortality that finds life after death on the lips of those who recount their glorious achievements, and in the books of those who record their “many admirable and splendid [deeds, done] from the desire for glory.”72 Thus, Augustine writes: But since [the Romans] belonged to an earthly city, and since the end proposed to them in all their services on its behalf was to secure its safety and to gain a kingdom not in heaven, but on earth, not in eternal life, but in the egression of those who are dying and the succession of those who will be dying, what else should they have loved other than glory, by which they were yearning even to live after death, so to speak, in the mouth of those who are praising them?73

Augustine recognizes that so long as these pagans seal and secure themselves within the confines of their city on earth, the only kind of glorious immortality toward which they can aspire is one of legacy and legend. It is pure word, disincarnate and unrisen. Due to its exclusion of the resurrection, the heroic way by which these pagans attempt to become metaphorically immortal is nothing other than a way of literal death. As purely oral and literary, the posthumous glory of the Romans does not admit living human flesh, even though it demands the subjugation of their lauders’ flesh as the organs of  their immortalizing praise. Through the telling and retelling of

70



73

71 72

See ciu. 5.12 (CCL 47, p. 145, ll. 106–110; WSA I/6, p. 161). See ciu. 2.29 (CCL 47, p. 64, ll. 14–25; WSA I/6, p. 69). See ciu. 5.12–5.13 (CCL 47, p. 142, l. 1–p. 147, l. 36; WSA I/6, pp. 159–164). Augustine references this phrase to Cicero’s De re publica, whose fragment is found only here. ciu. 5.14 (CCL 47, p. 148, ll. 46–52; WSA I/6, p. 165).

Cosmological and Anthropological Paradigms 191 the glorious virtues and honorable sacrifices, even unto brutal and bloody deaths, of such heroes as Marcus Regulus (before 307–c. 250 BC), the flesh of these pagans becomes word.74 This verbalization of human flesh, in service of their pagan versions of immortality and glory, subversively opposes the incarnation of the Word for the sake of our integral resurrection to eternal life and divine glory. Unlike the words and writings of Christians, those of these pagans are oriented not toward, but rather defiantly against, the afterlife of the flesh. Augustine explicitly contrasts the vainglory of Rome’s heroes with the glory of Christ’s disciples. In the thick of treating the heroism of the Romans, he celebrates the apostles and martyrs of Christ who, with hearts graciously set on God’s eternal glory, selfsacrificially followed in the footsteps of Jesus, preached the name of Christ, and sought the salvation of their fellow humans.75 In and through such witnesses, Augustine recognizes that everything finds its proper order not in an absolutized cosmic or social hierarchy, constructed by the ideology of the earthly city, but rather in the reference of each person and the entire cosmos to God, according to his design for the transfiguration not only of resurrected humanity, but also of the new heavens and new earth (2 Pet 3:13) which will be completely hospitable to them.76 Despite these contentions of the pagans and their philosophers, Augustine clings faithfully to God’s promises and the incarnate witness of “Christ, who has demonstrated in his own resurrection that which seems absurd to [unbelievers].”77 As he preaches: Let us believe this, brethren; and if we dissolve only with difficulty the arguments of the philosophers, let us hold, without any difficulty of faith, that which was demonstrated in the Lord. Let them chatter, let us believe.78

74 75 76 77 78

See, e.g., ciu. 1.24 (CCL 47, p. 25, l. 7–p. 26, l. 33; WSA I/6, pp. 26–27). See, e.g., ciu. 5.14–5.16 (CCL 47, p. 147, l. 1–p. 149, l. 16; WSA I/6, pp. 164–166). See ciu. 20.18 (CCL 48, p. 729, l. 1–p. 730, l. 54; WSA I/7, pp. 418–419). See, e.g., ciu. 22.25 (CCL 48, p. 852, l. 1–p. 853, l. 45; WSA I/7, pp. 542–543). s. 242.6 (PL 38, col. 1141, ll. 8–12; WSA III/7, p. 80).

192 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection However, Augustine neither rests his mind on faith alone nor retires from endeavoring to dissolve the cosmological objections of the Platonists and Neoplatonists. As he argues, God has the power to transfigure the resurrected bodies of his saints, whose substantial constitution will remain earthly and fleshly, but whose qualitative condition will become heavenly and spiritual, and thus suitable for dwelling even in heaven.79 When God removes the burdensome weight of their corruptibility and mortality, the saints will be able to go wherever they want in their bodies, and to move however they wish in their members, with perfect facility of locomotion and motion, such as Christ and his angels have displayed.80 Seeing that the resurrected saints will be welcome everywhere in the heights and depths of the entire cosmos,81 Augustine insists: You will be where you will want [to be], but you will not recede from God. You will be where you will want [to be], but wherever you will go, you will have your God. You will always be with him, from whom you will be happy.82

In support of the eternal endurance of human flesh, Augustine exposes inconsistencies within Platonism concerning the immortality of the body, in general, and of the earthly body, in particular. He observes that, for Plato, the luminous bodies of the celestial gods, although mortal on account of their composite nature, have nevertheless been promised immortality by the supreme God (see Timaeus 41b [Cicero, 40]).83 Plato further holds that the world soul, which is called Jupiter or Hecate, never takes flight from the earth to achieve happiness (see Timaeus 30b [Cicero, 10]).84 Moreover, in support of the residence of human flesh in heaven, Augustine disturbs the standard cosmology by noting that wooden objects and leaden watercrafts,

79 80 81 82 83 84

See ciu. 13.22–13.23 (CCL 48, p. 405, l. 1–p. 408, l. 132; WSA I/7, pp. 89–92). See, e.g., ciu. 13.18 (CCL 48, p. 400, l. 1–p. 401, l. 55; WSA I/7, pp. 83–85). See s. 255.7 (PL 38, col. 1190, ll. 10–27; WSA III/7, pp. 162–163). s. 242.11 (PL 38, col. 1143, ll. 1–3; WSA III/7, pp. 82–83). See, e.g., ciu. 13.16 (CCL 48, p. 397, l. 15–p. 398, ll. 48, 60–63; WSA I/7, pp. 80–82). See, e.g., s. 241.7 (PL 38, col. 1137, l. 37–col. 1138, l. 3; WSA III/7, p. 75).

The Human Recipients of the Fleshly Resurrection 193 which are of earth, float on water. The weights of bodies cannot dictate their r­elative behaviors even now, when the heavy horse outraces the lightest spider, and the heavier, but healthier man the lighter, but sicklier man.85 Above all, Augustine highlights that, even more wonderful than the elevation of earthly bodies into heavenly, yet still corporeal abodes, God has already interwoven, in humans, incorporeal souls and earthly bodies. He laments that those who fail to see the everyday miracle of man cannot but find the future condition of resurrected and ascended man unenthralling and unbelievable.86 Thus, Augustine appreciates that the wonders of the cosmos, especially the marvel of man, encourage an epistemic humility which puts into question the philosophical claim that fleshly resurrection cannot but be incredible and unintelligible. For him, the sacrament of this epistemic humility is Christian faith in Christ’s resurrection. Humbly believing in the risen Jesus opens and lifts up the human mind, in and through its spiritual resurrection, to grasp the resurrected flesh of the ecclesial head as the example for the resurrected flesh of the ecclesial body. With such resurrection faith, Augustine argues that there are no good philosophical, cosmological, or anthropological reasons to deny the resurrection of human flesh to the eternal life of heaven.87

The Human Recipients of the Fleshly Resurrection Augustine not only argues for the fleshly resurrection, but also identifies its recipients. He specifies who is eligible for it, and what of them is suitable material for it. As Augustine affirms, anyone and everyone, anywhere and anytime, “whoever has been or will be [conceived or] born human and has died or will die,” will receive the resurrection of



85 86 87

See, e.g., s. 242.8–242.10 (PL 38, col. 1141, l. 32–col. 1142, l. 41; WSA III/7, pp. 81–82). See, e.g., ciu. 22.4 (CCL 48, p. 809, l. 10–p. 810, l. 38; WSA I/7, pp. 499–500). See ciu. 22.11 (CCL 48, p. 829, l. 1–p. 831, l. 100; WSA I/7, pp. 520–522). See John C. Cavadini, “Ideology and Solidarity in Augustine’s City of God,” in Augustine’s City of God: A Critical Guide, ed. James Wetzel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 93–110.

194 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection the flesh.88 He counts as human anyone who is a rational and mortal animal, who derives from Adam,89 who consists of soul and body,90 and who has thus been created by God as the image and vestige of God.91 For Augustine, the resurrection indisputably reveals not only the perfection of humanity, but also the members of humanity. He admits that human history is not innocent of attempts to marginalize and exclude certain persons and peoples from the one human family. Such attempts are often reactions against certain physical or mental deficiencies or disabilities of individuals – whether actual or apparent, whether congenital or acquired. As Augustine recognizes, some humans bear in their flesh such strange congenital conditions as hermaphroditism or conjoined twinning.92 These people not only have to endure the hardships of their conditions, but also are vulnerable to the suspicion that they are freaks of nature who do not belong entirely, or even at all, to the human race. Augustine expects that the resurrection will not only vindicate their humanity, but also rectify it by restoring the figure of human nature, the integrity of the body, and the perfection of its members.93 Augustine further acknowledges that even those whose bodies and minds are not so much deformed, but just different from those of others, are not excluded from the history of being viewed and treated as less than human. He specifies that these human differences include the gendered sexes of females and males,94 the stages of biological development,95 the shapes of the body, the colors of skin, the varieties of movement, and the tonalities of voice.96 Furthermore, he generalizes that they include any of the diversities “in any power,

88



90

89

91 92 93 94 95 96

See ench. 23.84 (CCL 46, p. 95, ll. 1–8; WSA I/8, p. 323). See ciu. 16.8 (CCL 48, p. 508, l. 20–p. 509, l. 27; p. 509, l. 63–p. 510, l. 65; p. 510, l. 82; WSA I/7, pp. 195–197). See ciu. 5.11 (CCL 47, p. 141, l. 1–p. 142, l. 18; WSA I/6, p. 158). See ciu. 12.28 (CCL 48, p. 384, ll. 1–14; WSA I/7, p. 66). See ciu. 16.8 (CCL 48, p. 509, ll. 29–57; WSA I/7, p. 196). See ench. 23.87 (CCL 46, p. 96, ll. 34–49; WSA I/8, p. 324). See, e.g., ciu. 22.17 (CCL 48, p. 835, l. 1–p. 836, l. 46; WSA I/7, pp. 526–527). See ciu. 22.13–22.16 (CCL 48, p. 833, l. 1–p. 835, l. 18; WSA I/7, pp. 524–526). See ciu. 16.8 (CCL 48, p. 508, l. 24; WSA I/7, p. 195).

The Human Contents of the Fleshly Resurrection 195 in any part, in any quality of [human] nature whatsoever.”97 None of these disabilities or differences can disqualify anyone either from belonging to the human race or from receiving the resurrection of human flesh. No degree of physical deformity, mental deficiency, or even moral depravity can totally dehumanize any human person or render any human flesh ineligible for its resurrection, whether to eternal life or to eternal death. What some people might see as detestable or lamentable deformities might actually be admirable wonders, which will be definitively revealed and undeniably seen as such at the resurrection.98 As Augustine advises, Christian hope for the resurrection forewarns us that our judgments on who and what belong to humanity are always subject to the supreme judgment of the God of the resurrection. The rising of our flesh at the dawning of our eternity will vindicate the humanity and embodied history of every human, no matter how long or how short lived. Thus, Augustine refutes objections to the resurrection, and even to the humanity, of miscarried or aborted fetuses, each of whom lived and died in his or her mother’s womb. He argues that if these little ones are not excluded from the number of the dead, then he sees no reason why the resurrection of the dead should not pertain to them.99 Augustine further affirms the bodily resurrection of infant children,100 another vulnerable and often discounted group of humans.101

The Human Contents of the Fleshly Resurrection Augustine affirms not only that the flesh of every human, but also that  every part and particle of human flesh, will be resurrected.102



97 98

99 100 101 102

ciu. 16.8 (CCL 48, p. 508, l. 25; WSA I/7, p. 195). See ciu. 16.8 (CCL 48, p. 509, ll. 27–35, 57–p. 510, l. 82; WSA I/7, pp. 195–197). See Brian Brock, “Augustine’s Hierarchies of Human Wholeness and Their Healing,” in Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader, ed. Brian Brock and John Swinton (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012), pp. 65–100. See, e.g., ciu. 22.13 (CCL 48, p. 833, ll. 1–16; WSA I/7, p. 524). See, e.g., ciu. 22.14 (CCL 48, p. 833, l. 1–p. 834, l. 26; WSA I/7, pp. 524–525). See ep. 98.1–98.6 (CSEL 34.2, p. 520, l. 5–p. 528, l. 7; WSA II/1, pp. 426–430). See ciu. 22.18 (CCL 48, p. 836, l. 1–p. 837, l. 43; WSA I/7, pp. 527–528).

196 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection Thus, he explains that all the material from which the mortal flesh has been created will be returned to the soul which first animated it. The history of the flesh and of each fleshly particle, after being separated from the soul, does not and cannot hinder its resurrection. No matter what changes the inanimate flesh undergoes – whether into dust or ashes, liquids or vapors, other substances or basic elements, the bestial flesh of carnivores or the human flesh of cannibals – all of it will be raised up and reunited with its original soul.103 Augustine further specifies that the resurrected body will consist not only of all the limbs that have been amputated and organs that have been excised, but also of all the numerous, yet divinely numbered particles of hairs that have been cut and nails that have been clipped.104 As he recounts, in Confessiones, these hairs and nails are precisely the particles of the human body on which the Manichaeans had focused in ridiculing the Catholic belief in the Creator God of the Old Testament, in whose own image he created man (see Gen 1:27).105 Whereas the stumbling block of these hairs and nails had once tripped the younger Augustine into the Manichaean trap, they now provide the older Augustine the springboard by which he leaps forward into the full extent of God’s resurrection design for even our slightest particles. He sees that these hairs and nails are iconic of what is most unlike God about our human nature: coarse, secreted, shedding, tiny, and seemingly disposable scraps. Nevertheless, these scrappy little icons have been invited by God to a participation in one and the same eternal life of God to which what in us is most like him – that is, our soul – has also been invited. Perhaps even more poignantly than the soul, the image of God, these scrappy little icons represent how unworthy all of us are of God’s sheer grace in resurrecting the dead parts of our humanity.

103



104 105

See, e.g., ciu. 22.19–22.21 (CCL 48, p. 838, ll. 19–24, 31–38; p. 839, l. 1–p. 841, l. 9; WSA I/7, pp. 529–532). See, e.g., ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 837, ll. 1–5; WSA I/7, p. 528). See conf. 3.7.12 (CCL 27, p. 33, ll. 1–16; WSA I/1, pp. 83–84).

The Human Contents of the Fleshly Resurrection 197 By the inclusion of these cut hairs and clipped nails, Augustine opens up the prospect that the resurrection of all flesh will not be to the exclusion of all the flakes of skin and all the drops of blood that have ever been shed. The resurrection might gather all the particles of the body, even down to its smallest, that have ever been separated and scattered from the soul not only at the moment of death, but also during the entire course of this mortal life. Augustine describes this life – “if, however, it should be called life at all, which is rather death”106 – as a constant process of disintegrating and dying, even from its beginning, “never [having a moment] when death does not come.”107 As he proposes, “Therefore, whatsoever perishes from living bodies or from corpses after death will be restored, and, together with that which remains in the tombs, […] will resurrect.”108 For Augustine, the God of the resurrection always and everywhere has care and concern for each and every particle of our flesh, dead or alive, separated from or united with our souls, even when we have little or no concern for these particles of our own or our neighbors’ bodies.109 Without detriment to its figure, all these dead p­articles might be revived and restored to the resurrected body, perhaps even being differentiated again into other parts. Augustine likens this p­rocess to the refashioning of a metallic statue or ceramic vessel by its  craftsman, the entirety of whose pulverized, yet conserved material is forged again into the same and even enhanced shape, regardless of the distribution or redistribution of its particles.110 Thus, he speculates: [I]n such a way, God the Craftsman will wonderfully and ineffably restore our flesh from the whole of which it had been constituted, with wonderful and ineffable swiftness. Nor will it matter at all to its reintegration whether hairs should return to hairs and nails to nails, or whatever of them had perished should

106 107 108 109 110

See ciu. 12.21 (CCL 48, p. 376, ll. 1–5; WSA I/7, p. 58). See ciu. 13.10 (CCL 48, p. 391, l. 1–p. 392, l. 37; WSA I/7, pp. 75–76). ciu. 22.21 (CCL 48, p. 841, ll. 1–4; WSA I/7, p. 532). See en. Ps. 145.14 (CCL 40, p. 2115, l. 21–p. 2116, l. 26; WSA III/20, p. 413). See, e.g., ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 837, l. 5–p. 838, ll. 19, 24–31; WSA I/7, pp. 528–529).

198 The Future Event of the Fleshly Resurrection be changed into flesh and should be recalled into other parts of the body when the providence of the Craftsman is taking care lest anything become indecent.111

Augustine hopes that, through the salvation of our flesh and the beautification of its figure, God will reveal his overwhelming solicitude for our entire constitution, even down to our scrappiest and littlest icons. Augustine expresses his confidence that God can even reshape the resurrected body so that any unwanted thinness or thickness, any undesired shortness or tallness, would no longer be a feature of disfiguration or distaste. The Creator has the resources to supply for any material deficiencies, as he has the greater power to create everything from nothing. With respect to size and stature, Augustine speculates that perhaps every body will be of the same weight and height, or perhaps each will retain their individual differences. Perhaps every person will resurrect to a measure of the body whose age matches that of Christ (see Eph 4:13) when he died and resurrected, that is, the age of youth around thirty years old; or perhaps each will resurrect to that measure in which he or she died. Although Augustine thinks it more credible and reasonable that everyone will resurrect at the peak of youth, he does think it entirely possible for the bodies of the youngest and oldest people to resurrect at their respective ages, but without the return of any generational infirmities, either of the mind or of the body.112 With a gesture of generosity toward adventurous eschatolog­ ical imaginations, within the parameters set by Scripture, Augustine formulates, “At last, subtract corruption and add what you want.”113 Whatever turns out to be the actual case, Augustine articulates and allows a range of eschatological prospects which put the flesh of imagery on the bones of belief. As the central feature of his speculations, he accentuates the complete configuration of each



111 112 113

ench. 23.89 (CCL 46, p. 97, ll. 72–77; WSA I/8, p. 325). See, e.g., ciu. 22.14–22.16 (CCL 48, p. 833, l. 1–p. 835, l. 18; WSA I/7, pp. 524–526). See s. 242.4 (PL 38, col. 1140, ll. 15–28; WSA III/7, p. 80).

The Human Contents of the Fleshly Resurrection 199 person, integrally resurrected in his interior and exterior man, to the re­surrected Christ.114 For Augustine, just as the full experience of the resurrection, so also the wide field of speculations about it, can only truly be approached in and through the narrow gate of the risen Jesus. With the prospective restoration of all its parts and particles, Augustine speculates that the resurrected body will not be spiritualized in the sense of becoming rarefied and etherealized. Rather, he suggests that the resurrection will bring about the densification of our flesh and the intensification of our fleshliness.115 With respect to their spiritual bodies, the saints will perhaps be even more incarnate, more densely and intensely flesh, than they could ever be during the course of this mortal life when we cannot but constantly shed and lose the parts and particles of our bodies in our inability to hold ourselves together. At present, we are almost shades, never not far from the brink of shedding even the last particle of our bodies, vaporizing and vanishing, disincarnated, into thin air.116 As the overcoming of our corporeal frailty and fragility, the prospective densification and intensification of our resurrected flesh will embody and express our full thriving in God, who will keep us from crumbling apart and lapsing into death again. Thus, Augustine speculates that the mystery of our fleshly resurrection not only makes the presumptuous human grip on the cosmos less secure, but also renders the pretentious human grasp of ourselves less certain. This eschatological event stands as an unfading witness against the lust within our hearts to dominate our world and our flesh, by means of which we diminish our own humanity. As Augustine beholds it, the horizon of our future resurrection beckons us to open ourselves up to the wonderful mystery of God’s design for our flesh, the fullest realization of which still awaits each and all of us, both the saints and the damned. To Augustine’s speculations on the fleshly resurrection of the damned we will turn our attention in the next chapter.

114



116

115

See ciu. 22.16 (CCL 48, p. 835, ll. 1–9; WSA I/7, p. 525). See Virginia Burrus, “Carnal Excess: Flesh at the Limits of Imagination,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 17 (2009): 250–256. See, e.g., ciu. 22.20 (CCL 48, p. 840, ll. 27–29; WSA I/7, p. 531).

11 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned

The Scriptural Witness to the Fleshly Resurrection to Eternal Damnation Even from some of his earliest articulations of the resurrection, as we have seen, Augustine has clung to Christ’s prophetic testimony that there will be two kinds of fleshly resurrection: (1) a beatific resurrection of the saints to eternal life and (2) a miserable resurrection of the damned to eternal death.1 As the context for the fleshly resurrection, Augustine itemizes those eschatological events which Scripture has preannounced, and suggests their prospective order of occurrence:2 [T]here will come Elijah the Tishbite, the faith of the Jews, the Antichrist who will persecute, Christ who will judge, the resurrection of the dead, the separation of the good and the evil, the conflagration of the world, and its renovation.3

Augustine expects that hearing the voice of the Son of man, the flesh of all humans will be resurrected, both the good and the bad, to see

200



1



2



3

For Augustine’s approaches to the everlasting hell of the damned, see Alan E. Bernstein, The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993), pp. 314–333; Herbert Vorgrimler, Geschichte der Hölle (Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 1993), pp. 117–127; Thomas A. Smith, “The Pleasure of Hell in City of God 21,” Augustinian Studies 30 (1999): 195–204; John Bowlin, “Hell and the Dilemmas of Intractable Alienation,” in Augustine’s City of God: A Critical Guide, ed. James Wetzel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 186–204. See ciu. 20.30 (CCL 48, p. 757, l. 161–p. 758, l. 174; WSA I/7, pp. 445–446). See Isabel Moreira, “Book 20: The Last Day; Judgment, Purification, and Transformation,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine’s City of God, ed. David V. Meconi (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), pp. 251–275. ciu. 20.30 (CCL 48, p. 757, l. 166–p. 758, l. 170; WSA I/7, p. 445).

The Scriptural Witness to the Fleshly Resurrection 201 the flesh of Christ and of each other. On that day of final judgment, the resurrected Lord will decisively separate and send resurrected humans to one of two destinations: (1) either the eternal ecstasies, eternal “kingdom” (Mt 25:34), and “eternal life” (Mt 25:46) of heaven, the euphoric realm of fulfilled desires, where humans are always living in and of God, or (2) the eternal torments, “eternal fire” (Mt 25:41), and “eternal burning” (Mt 25:46) of hell, the dystopian realm of “frustrated desire[s],”4 where humans are always dying in and of themselves.5 Augustine recognizes that none of the members of the human race and none of the events of human history can elude the evaluation of God, whose “judgment [is] profound and just, […] good and right.”6 Augustine realizes that the standard of final judgment is ineradicably Christocentric. He affirms that this judgment will be based on people’s conversion to and following of Christ, or their damnable lacks thereof, during their historical lives.7 Moreover, he even reduces this damnable lack of participation in Christ’s life to the damnable participation in Christ’s crucifixion: “Therefore, will only those who crucified [Christ] be damned? I dare to say, only [they].”8 Augustine further explains that the eternal conditions of the saints and the damned, both groups of whom will experience the second resurrection of their bodies, are predicated on whether or not they have not only experienced the first resurrection of their souls, but also persevered in it until the end.9 As he preaches: As a matter of fact, he who first resurrected in the spirit will resurrect well in the body. But those who did not previously resurrect in the spirit through faith will not resurrect in the body to that change whereby every corruption will be taken away



4 5 6 7 8 9

See ciu. 21.3 (CCL 48, p. 761, ll. 68–70; WSA I/7, p. 450). See, e.g., en. Ps. 48.1.5 (CCL 38, p. 554, l. 31–p. 555, l. 77; WSA III/16, pp. 355–356). See ciu. 20.1 (CCL 48, p. 699, l. 1–p. 700, l. 53; WSA I/7, pp. 389–391). See, e.g., en. Ps. 48.1.6 (CCL 38, p. 555, l. 1–p. 556, l. 27; WSA III/16, pp. 356–357). en. Ps. 48.1.5 (CCL 38, p. 555, ll. 45–46; WSA III/16, p. 355). See, e.g., ciu. 20.5–20.6 (CCL 48, p. 706, l. 108–p. 708, l. 82; WSA I/7, pp. 396–398).

202 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned and swallowed up, but to that penal integrity. For the bodies of the godless will also be intact, nothing from them will appear diminished. But the integrity of the body will be for punishment, and there will be a certain, if I may say so, a certain firmness of the body, a corruptible firmness.10

Augustine admits that the resurrection to eternal damnation is one of the hardest tenets of the Christian faith to accept. He points out that some people try to contravene the divine testimonies about the final judgment and its outcomes “by false and fallacious little syllogisms of human reasoning, […] either contend[ing] that the testimony taken from the sacred literature signifies some other thing or deny[ing] altogether that the statements are divinely inspired.”11 But despite such merely human opinions and sensitivities, Augustine insists on the Christocentric standard of judgment which God has revealed in Scripture. Therefore, he resists any move to displace or replace this standard with some alternative notion of justice and judgment whose standard fails to transcend the limits of the human mind to reach the mind of Christ. Thus, Augustine preaches: So, they do evil when they say to themselves, “Christ will come, and he will grant pardon to all.” Thus, therefore, he is a liar who said that he will separate the wicked on the left and will separate the just on the right. To the just, he will say, “Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the origin of the world” (Mt 25:34). To the wicked, he will say, “Go into eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). Therefore, how will he grant pardon to all? How will he condemn no one? Therefore, he lies. That is to say, He is not God (Ps 52:1). Well now, see whether you are perhaps not lying. For you are man, he is God. Indeed, God is truthful, but every man is a liar.12

10 11 12

s. 362.23 (PL 39, p. 1627, ll. 5–14; WSA III/10, p. 259). See ciu. 20.1 (CCL 48, p. 699, ll. 1–7; WSA I/7, p. 389). en. Ps. 52.4 (CCL 39, p. 640, ll. 15–25; WSA III/17, p. 34).

The Eternal Self-Alienation from God 203 Instructed and even frightened by these Gospel words of Jesus, Augustine recognizes that the denial of the resurrection to eternal damnation entails the denials of the truthfulness of Christ, of his self-emptying love into crucified flesh and outpoured blood for s­inners, and, therefore, of his divinity as Son of God who, to save us, became the Son of man. Augustine faithfully accepts that the fleshly resurrection not only of the saints, but also the damned, will fulfill these predictions of the Lord, vindicate him as the truthful God of the resurrection, and manifest the destinies of the two cities which will arrive at their final terms, either in the upright love of God or in the incurved love of oneself. He sees that every attempt to doubt or deny the inscrutable, yet most just judgments of God13 involves some failure to accept and affirm the events and significances of Christ’s paschal mystery. For Augustine, what is at stake in these discussions about resurrected human flesh, in beatitude and in damnation, is not only our grasp of the future of man, but also our acceptance of the identity of God.

The Eternal Self-Alienation from God As Augustine gathers, God will resurrect the flesh of godless humans for the eternal enactment not only of his justice, but also perhaps of his mercy, upon all humans. For this to occur, however, none of us will be allowed to go or to take ourselves out of existence into nonexistence. As the subjects of God’s ever-enduring justice, perhaps tempered by his ever-enduring mercy, even the souls and bodies of the damned will endure forever in the hellish punishments of eternal death.14 The common core of hell’s punishments, as Augustine identifies it, is nothing other than the self-deprivation of God, the self-determined “alienation from the life of God,” the godless and endless death of the damned.15 Theirs will be a penal and painful condition of self-perverting confusion, both fulfilling their own will to

13 14 15

See ciu. 20.2 (CCL 48, p. 701, ll. 33–50; WSA I/7, pp. 391–392). See s. 306.5 (PL 38, col. 1402, ll. 26–28; WSA III/9, p. 19). See ench. 29.112–29.113 (CCL 46, p. 110, ll. 66, 72–73; WSA I/8, p. 338).

204 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned remain proudly and hatefully “alienated from the life of God” in his beatitude, and frustrating their own will to depart from themselves in their misery.16 The confusion of hell results from and reflects their self-willed pandemonium. Augustine observes that the denizens of hell doom themselves to perpetual internal warfare neither only of will and passion fighting against each other, nor only of spirit and flesh lusting against each other, but also of soul and body hating even itself.17 The damned are forever laureled in their self-defeating t­riumph of always privileging themselves above all else, and because of this, forever bound in their self-accomplishing failure of never getting away from their distorted and distorting selves. Following Scripture’s refusal to designate their hellish existence as life – whose name, on its own, implies happiness – Augustine acknowledges that the resurrected damned will exist forever dying without end in eternal death, which Scripture calls the second death (Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14), death itself without death, in which “nobody ever is living [and] nobody ever is dead.”18 “For,” he admits, “to live in pains is not to live.”19 While the unrisen spirits and risen flesh of the damned will endure forever in a certain kind of immortality, they will always retain a certain kind of corruptibility. Their souls will remain corrupt in unrepentant sin and their bodies will remain corrupt in undying suffering.20 In their self-perversion, the damned cannot receive God’s universal gift of immortality, in soul and in body, except in perverse ways. Although the lifeless and godless hearts of the damned cannot frustrate God from lavishing his gift of existence upon them, because they have alienated themselves from God, who is eternal life itself, their receptivity to and reception of this immortality cannot but be in the modality of death and dying, never rising to the modality of life and living. Thus, while God never ceases from



16 17 18 19 20

ciu. 19.28 (CCL 48, p. 698, ll. 3–4; WSA I/7, p. 388). See, e.g., ciu. 19.28 (CCL 48, p. 698, l. 1– p. 699, l. 21; WSA I/7, p. 388). See, e.g., ciu. 13.11 (CCL 48, p. 394, ll. 79–87; WSA I/7, p. 78). See s. 306.5 (PL 38, col. 1402, ll. 39–40; WSA III/9, p. 20). See, e.g., ep. 205.2.14–205.2.15 (CSEL 57, p. 335, l. 5–p. 336, l. 6; WSA II/3, pp. 383–384).

The Possibility of the Fleshly Resurrection 205 bestowing their personal identities upon the damned, the damned never cease from inflicting upon themselves a condition of personal disintegration. This divine preservation of their hellish existence exposes the vanity of their attempts to self-license their lifestyles of sin. Thus, Augustine explains: Indeed, if [the sinner] does not exist, then he will not be tormented; now then, security is given to the sinner, so that he can say, “I will do whatever I want so long as I live; afterwards I will not exist.”21

The frustration of the sinner’s hope to escape punishment through annihilation prevents the manifest displays of God’s justice and mercy from being frustrated by the sinner.

The Possibility of the Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned In exploring the contours of the resurrected flesh of the damned, Augustine shows remarkable development, even rather late, from the early 420s to the mid-420s. Thus, in Enchiridion ad Laurentium de fide spe et caritate, Augustine considers such detailed explorations to be neither worthwhile nor imperative. As he remarks: What need is there to labor in inquiring whether, surely, [the damned] resurrect with defects and deformities of their bodies, whatever defective and deformed members they bore in them? Neither indeed ought we to weary ourselves with the uncertainties about the condition or beauty of those whose damnation will be certain and everlasting. Nor should it disturb [us] how the body subject to them will be incorruptible, if it will be able to suffer pain, or how it will be corruptible, if it will not be able to die.22

He deems it sufficient to affirm that the damned “will indeed also resurrect, each with his own flesh, but to be punished with the devil

21 22

en. Ps. 36.1.11 (CCL 38, p. 345, ll. 3–5; WSA III/16, p. 100). ench. 23.92 (CCL 46, p. 98, ll. 119–125; WSA I/8, p. 326).

206 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned and his angels.”23 The damned can neither live a true and happy life nor die, neither have a true and painless incorruption nor have their painful corruption be ended.24 Augustine laconically remarks, “This is what is called the second death in sacred Scripture.”25 Of no f­urther interest to him, at this point, is the resurrection to hell. A few years later, however, Augustine devotes the entire Book 21 of De ciuitate dei to exploring and arguing for the fleshly resurrection of the damned. While evincing how his theological taxis is not incongruous with the various orderings of Scripture, he offers a rationale for placing the treatment of the resurrection to eternal death in Book 21 before that of the resurrection to eternal life in Book 22. He explains that a demonstrative argument, first, for the resurrection of human bodies to the endurance of eternal tortures, which seems more incredible to some people, will serve to render the resurrection of human bodies to the permanence of eternal beatitude more readily credible to them.26 Augustine remarks that what motivate him to explore arguments for the possibility of human bodies remaining alive in the torments of eternal fire are the dissatisfaction of unbelievers when believers ascribe this hellish endurance to God’s omnipotence, and their demand for an analogy. Responding to this demand, Augustine presents two sets of facts: (1) the noncorruptive exposure of certain flesh (e.g., worms in hot springs,27 salamanders in fire) and certain bodies (e.g., volcanoes in Sicily) to intense heat28 and (2) the nonfatal infliction of intense pain on the immortal soul.29 Despite these empirical and rational pieces of evidence, and despite the natural wonders and divine miracles which he catalogues to expand their minds to the realities of the unfamiliar,30 Augustine admits that



23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

ench. 23.92 (CCL 46, p. 98, ll. 117–119; WSA I/8, p. 326). See ench. 23.92 (CCL 46, p. 98, l. 115–p. 99, l. 130; WSA I/8, p. 326). ench. 23.92 (CCL 46, p. 99, l. 130; WSA I/8, p. 326). See ciu. 21.1 (CCL 48, p. 758, l. 1–p. 759, l. 24; WSA I/7, p. 448). See ciu. 21.2 (CCL 48, p. 759, ll. 1–20; WSA I/7, pp. 448–449). See ciu. 21.4 (CCL 48, p. 761, l. 1–p. 762, l. 10; WSA I/7, p. 451). See, e.g., ciu. 21.3 (CCL 48, p. 759, l. 1–p. 761, l. 80; WSA I/7, pp. 449–451). See ciu. 21.4–21.8 (CCL 48, p. 761, l. 1–p. 774, l. 128; WSA I/7, pp. 451–463).

The Possibility of the Fleshly Resurrection 207 unbelievers may still refuse to accept the resurrection of the damned for no other reason than their methodological complacency in their own sense and experience of the familiar. Thus, he laments: [W]hat else is said [by unbelievers], except what humans have gathered by the sense and experience of the body? For they know no flesh, except mortal [flesh]; and the whole method of their reasoning is this: that, what they have not experienced, they judge to be by no means possible.31

Augustine admits that no better reason can be given than that the omnipotent God is always able to accomplish what he has foretold, as previous fulfillments of his promises reveal. Even if it seems impossible to man, God has the power to resurrect and sustain human flesh in eternal perdition.32 By the power of God, both resurrected flesh and eternal death will have enduring qualities that transcend our familiar experiences with mortal flesh and temporal death.33 Thus, Augustine remarks: Then, however, the soul will be connected to such a body and in such a way that, just as no length of time will dissolve that bond, so no pain will break it. Hence, even if there is now no sort of flesh which can endure the feeling of pain and not suffer death, nevertheless, there will then be flesh of a sort that does not exist now, just as there will also be death of a sort that does not exist now. For there will not be no death, but rather everlasting death when the soul, not having God, will be able neither to live nor to be free from bodily pains by dying. The first death expels the unwilling soul from the body; the second death detains the unwilling soul in the body. What is common to both deaths is that the soul suffers from its body what it does not want.34

31 32 33 34

ciu. 21.3 (CCL 48, p. 759, ll. 7–11; WSA I/7, p. 449). See ciu. 21.7 (CCL 48, p. 770, ll. 79–85; WSA I/7, p. 459). See ciu. 21.4 (CCL 48, p. 762, ll. 11–13; WSA I/7, p. 451). ciu. 21.3 (CCL 48, p. 760, ll. 22–33; WSA I/7, p. 449).

208 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned Howsoever one assigns Scripture’s prophecies of the undying worm and unquenchable fire (see Is 66:24; Mk 9:43–48), Augustine holds that fleshly resurrection to eternal punishment will be an experience of the entire sinner, soul and body, who has hardened his impenitent heart to the Spirit’s gift of forgiveness.35

The Suitability of the Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned Besides the possibility of the fleshly resurrection to eternal death, Augustine also argues for its suitability. In this argument, he focuses most intently on the affective dispositions and intellectual commitments from within which people evaluate how suitable or unsuitable hell seems to them. From the perspective of the earthly city, hell cannot but seem repugnant. Resurrection to eternal damnation is the self-selected end of this city, but its denizens cannot bear to view or experience hell according to its truest reality. Unable to bear the sight of its own disfiguration, this dystopian city hides from itself, attempting to conceal its eventual realization under the pretensions of hell’s impossibility or repugnance. Even when they will have gone into everlasting punishment, the damned will remain so absorbed in themselves, so closed off from God, and so dominated by their own constructs of domination that they will never open their hearts to perceive and experience hell for what it truly is.36 Striving to falsify hell itself, they consider it to be nothing other than a cruel chamber of torture, constructed and operated by a loveless potentate. But to see the true reality of hell, the damned would need to forsake their warped and warping perspective, to abandon their hellish take on reality, and to be saved from hell through Christ’s paschal mystery. In and through his self-emptying descent even into hell, Christ has exposed hell’s self-blinding darkness by the light of his truth, by the

35 36

See, e.g., ciu. 21.9 (CCL 48, p. 774, l. 1–p. 775, l. 63; WSA I/7, pp. 463–464). See John C. Cavadini, “The Kingdom of Irony: Augustine, Sin, and Dante’s Inferno,” in Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person, ed. Leonard J. DeLorenzo and Vittorio Montemaggi (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017), pp. 29–44, esp. pp. 30–34.

The Suitability of the Fleshly Resurrection 209 price of his blood, and by the certitude of his judgment.37 The de­nizens of hell blind themselves from seeing how, even in the depths of hell, God always remains loving toward them in the eternal enactments of his justice and perhaps even of his mercy. Augustine perceives that such closure to the truth of hell, h­owever, does not belong only to the denizens of the earthly city. Even the pilgrim citizens of the heavenly city, who still bear the marks of that other city’s perverse self-love, are not immune from foreclosing the prospect of damnation. As he admits: But eternal punishment, therefore, seems cruel and unjust to human sensibilities because, in this infirmity of the moribund senses, [man] lacks the sense of the highest and purest wisdom, by which it can be perceived how great a crime was committed in that first transgression.38

Augustine provides an extensive exposition and refutation of seven erroneous ways that Christians limit the punishments of hell, deny the eternality of damnation, and mistake the mercy of God.39 Before this discussion, however, he celebrates how “great God’s mercy is towards the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared for glory.”40 At every moment of our mortal lives, from birth to death, God offers to deliver us from eternal punishments. Far from draining its greatness, Augustine realizes how unfathomable and inscrutable is the mercy that God shows us even now in and through “Christ Jesus, who was made a participant of our mortality, to make us participants of his divinity.”41

37



40

38 39

41

See ciu. 20.15 (CCL 48, p. 725, l. 28–p. 726, l. 36; WSA I/7, p. 415). ciu. 21.12 (CCL 48, p. 778, ll. 1–5; WSA I/7, p. 467). See ciu. 21.17–21.27 (CCL 48, p. 783, l. 1–p. 805, l. 228; WSA I/7, pp. 472–494). These seven erroneous ways are based on claims about: (1) the noneternality of human and even angelic punishment, contextualized within a cyclical version of eschatology (i.e., “the more merciful [view of] Origen”) (ciu. 21.17), (2) the noneternality of human punishment after the last judgment (ciu. 21.17), (3) the intercession of the saints (ciu. 21.18), (4) Christian baptism and Eucharist (ciu. 21.19), (5) Catholic membership (ciu. 21.20), (6) ecclesial foundation on Christ and salvation through fire at the last judgment (ciu. 21.21), and (7) the works of mercy (ciu. 21.22). ciu. 21.16 (CCL 48, p. 782, ll. 1–2; WSA I/7, p. 471). See ciu. 21.16 (CCL 48, p. 782, l. 1–p. 783, l. 48; WSA I/7, pp. 471–472).

210 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned Augustine’s attention to these concerns represents a shift in his discussion of eternal hell, from an engagement primarily with the philosophical objections of pagans to one with the theological objections of “certain merciful persons among us.”42 Clinging to the Church’s Scripture and tradition, he argues, in a conciliatory tone, but with corrective intent, that all these denials of the resurrection to eternal death are predicated on personal preferences and human sentiments, rather than on the candid words of God.43 Thus, Augustine concludes: Let these [words] suffice for my response to those who do not spurn the authority of the sacred literature which we have in common, but by understanding them badly, they think that this is going to be, not what those [Scriptures] speak, but rather what they themselves want.44

About such a mistakenly merciful Christian, Augustine remarks, “And yet, the more clemently he seems to himself to think, the more deformedly and perversely he is found out to err against the right words of God.”45 Such deformations and perversions of divine mercy gesture toward certain departures from the ultimate principle of justice and the definitive standard of judgment, which Augustine locates nowhere else than in the crucified and resurrected Lord.46

The Contrastive Sights of the Two Resurrected Cities Beyond these self-assertive and self-enclosed perspectives, whether infernal or mundane, Augustine reserves the truest human insight into the depths of hell for the resurrected Christ and his resurrected saints.



42



44

43

45 46

See ciu. 21.17 (CCL 48, p. 783, ll. 1–6; WSA I/7, p. 472). See Gerard O’Daly, Augustine’s City of God: A Reader’s Guide (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 224–225. ciu. 22.27 (CCL 48, p. 805, ll. 223–227; WSA I/7, p. 494). ciu. 22.17 (CCL 48, p. 783, ll. 30–32; WSA I/7, p. 473). For complaints against Augustine’s biblical acceptance of the eternality of hell in ciu., see David Bentley Hart, That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2019), esp. pp. 166–167.

The Contrastive Sights of the Two Resurrected Cities 211 As he gathers, the resurrected hearts and flesh of the saints will be so fully committed to glorifying God that they alone among humans will truly see God’s glorious design not only in all good, beautiful, and useful things – including the nature of hell’s eternal fire47 – but also in God’s bringing about good, beauty, and utility from evil, ugliness, and futility – including the hellish punishments of the damned.48 The saints have so sacrificed themselves in Christ to God, and so configured their thoughts and ways to his thoughts and ways, that they have transcended the self-centered evaluation of reality “according to their own convenience or inconvenience,” and thus, are open to seeing how every “nature gives glory to its Artist.”49 Augustine speculates that the saints will have a penetrating knowledge of the everlasting misery of the damned, but will not be emotionally pained at this sight. From the perspective of the city of God, the inglorious reality of hell is transparent to the glory of God.50 Seeing God’s enactment of justice on the damned, “the saints will know more fully what kind of good grace has conferred on them” and “will sing of mercy and judgment to the Lord (Ps 100:1) because no one is delivered, except by an undeserved mercy, and no one is damned, except by a deserved judgment.”51 Augustine explains that these divine enactments of justice and mercy are how God keeps his resurrected saints ever more mindful of the temporal and eternal miseries from which he has delivered them through the gracious outpouring of Christ’s blood.52 The saints are able truly to remember and know the past and eternal miseries of the human race because Christ’s paschal mystery has liberated their resurrected minds and bodies from every evil and filled them with every good.53 Only in and through Christ’s merciful sacrifice

47 48 49 50 51 52 53

See, e.g., ciu. 12.4 (CCL 48, p. 359, ll. 32–39; WSA I/7, pp. 40–41). See, e.g., ciu. 21.9 (CCL 48, p. 775, ll. 56–63; WSA I/7, p. 464). See ciu. 12.4 (CCL 48, p. 358, l. 30–p. 359, ll. 32, 39–45; WSA I/7, pp. 40–41). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, ll. 74–99; WSA I/7, p. 553). See ench. 24.94 (CCL 46, p. 99, ll. 1–6; WSA I/8, p. 327). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, ll. 93–99; WSA I/7, p. 553). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, ll. 74–78; WSA I/7, p. 553).

212 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned can anyone see or hope to see not only what constitutes the justice of eternal damnation, but also how it contributes to God’s glorification. As Augustine suggests, when our minds come to an impasse in trying to probe not only the abysmal depths of hell, but also the inscrutable depths of a God who allows and wills its eternality, our hearts can be moved by the psalmic rhythms of glorifying God in and through Christ, trusting that even the apparent aporia of hell will eventually give way to the transparent euphoria of heaven. For Augustine, any and every attempt to deny hell and, therefore, to diminish God’s glory, cannot but involve some refusal to accept the plenitude of Jesus’s saving witness not only in his outspoken word, but also in his outpoured blood. Furthermore, Augustine speculates that the eternal enactments of God’s justice, and perhaps even mercy, upon the resurrected damned will be both common and diversified.54 Although eternal perdition and punishment will be the common lot of all the damned, each of them will perish more heavily or more lightly, suffering heavier or lighter punishments which are somehow proportioned to the gravities of their sins.55 However, unlike the diverse degrees of heavenly beatitude in the one glorified Church, the diverse degrees of infernal misery will be a source not of unity and mutual sharing, but rather of division that drives the damned even farther apart from each other in their self-isolating hatred toward God and neighbor.

The Divine Enactments of Eternal Justice and Mercy Augustine gathers that, not only to the resurrected community of heaven, but also to the resurrected horde of hell, God will never cease to pour forth his love, to display his justice, and perhaps even to apportion his mercy. However, in demarcating these two groups, Augustine rather neatly allots justice to the damned and mercy to the saints.56 Although he sees that the mercy of eternal salvation belongs



54 55 56

See, e.g., ench. 29.111 (CCL 46, p. 109, ll. 32–40; WSA I/8, p. 337). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 89.4 (CCL 36, p. 550, ll. 1–33; WSA III/13, pp. 321–322). See ciu. 21.12 (CCL 48, p. 778, ll. 12–18; WSA I/7, p. 467).

The Divine Enactments of Eternal Justice and Mercy 213 exclusively to the saints and the justice of eternal damnation belongs exclusively to the damned, he also indicates that such expressions of mercy and justice are not exhaustive of God’s resources. God will also distribute portions of justice to the saints, in the form of differential rewards, and perhaps portions of mercy to the damned, in the form of differential reliefs. In considering the prospect of God’s eternal mercy toward the damned, Augustine maintains that their eternal punishments will be interminable,57 but develops his thoughts on their mitigation and intermission.58 After commenting that perhaps their miseries may, “in some measure, be mitigated,” Augustine reserves for a more diligent discussion the claim that their punishments, once assigned, can either be further mitigated or “have some pause for certain intervals.”59 Several years later, however, Augustine capitulates to permitting the popular opinion that the eternal punishments of the damned may, “in some measure, be mitigated,” with God even supplying an alleviation or intermission of their torments “for certain intervals of times.”60 Augustine does not oppose, but still does not necessarily approve, the opinion that the damned will “suffer milder and lighter punishments than they actually deserve.”61 Moreover, Augustine speculates that, even after the resurrection of the dead, God will bestow mercy upon those Christians who have already suffered for their sins and residual imperfections in “purgatorial punishments” (poenas purgatorias) of temporary and noneternal durations.62 Such purgation is administered not only to humans in this mortal life, but also to the spirits of departed, perhaps in “a fire of transitory tribulation,” before the last judgment, which will come after the fleshly resurrection.63 Receiving the forgiveness

57



59

58

60 61 62 63

See, e.g., ciu. 21.24 (CCL 48, p. 790, l. 68–p. 791, l. 91; WSA I/7, p. 480). See Georges Folliet, “Tolerabilior damnatio: La thèse augustinienne de la mitigation des peines de l’enfer et ses sources scripturaires,” Augustinianum 41 (2001): 149–167. See en. Ps. 105.2 (CCL 40, p. 1554, ll. 43–54; WSA III/19, p. 205). See ench. 29.112–29.113 (CCL 46, p. 109, l. 41–p. 110, l. 77; WSA I/8, pp. 337–338). See ciu. 21.24 (CCL 48, p. 791, ll. 92–101; WSA I/7, p. 480). See ciu. 21.13 (CCL 48, p. 779, l. 28–p. 780, l. 48; WSA I/7, p. 468). See, e.g., ciu. 21.26 (CCL 48, p. 798, l. 103–p. 799, l. 116; WSA I/7, pp. 487–488).

214 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Damned of their sins and being spared from being cast into the eternal fire of hell, these Christians will be invited, instead, into the eternal kingdom of heaven.64 For Augustine, the eternality of hell quantitatively mirrors that of heaven. As he remarks: [I]t is of excessive presumption for anyone to say that the punishment of those about whom God said that they would go into eternal punishment will not be eternal, and through the persuasion of this presumption, to make people also feel either despair or doubt about [the eternality of] eternal life itself.65

Without either preventing or predetermining the portions of divine mercy for those humans who suffer punishments in the afterlife, Augustine thus shows his openness to being shown how God will bestow his love, his justice, and perhaps even his mercy on the immortal souls and resurrected flesh of all humans, even the damned. On Augustine’s speculations on the fleshly resurrection of the saints, who have graciously opened their souls and bodies to receive the merciful gift of the integral resurrection in its fullness, we will focus our attention in the next chapter.



64 65

See ciu. 21.24 (CCL 48, p. 790, ll. 43–67; WSA I/7, p. 479). ciu. 21.24 (CCL 48, p. 790, ll. 63–67; WSA I/7, p. 479).

12 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints

Christocentric Speculations on the Fleshly Resurrection to Eternal Beatitude Augustine treats the fleshly resurrection of the saints with such greater frequency and intensity than he does that of the damned that he represents a theologian of ardent hope more than a doomsayer of ominous gloom. Focusing on the paramount resurrection of Christ’s flesh to the unfathomable wonders of God’s eternal life, he endeavors to inspire his audience and readers with love for their fleshly resurrection.1 Augustine observes that, from beginning to end, the city of God has existed among man from resurrection to resurrection: from faith in the resurrection of Christ as head to participation in the ­resurrection of Christ as body.2 Considering the names of its first citizens, he explains: In hope, therefore, “man” [i.e., Enosh] lives as a son of the resurrection; in hope, the city of God lives, so long as it is on pilgrimage here, itself born from faith in the resurrection of Christ. For from those two men – Abel, which is interpreted “lamentation,” and his brother Seth, which is interpreted “resurrection” – the death of Christ and his life from the dead are



1



2

See, e.g., en. Ps. 126.7 (CCL 40, p. 1862, l. 1–p. 1863, l. 44; WSA III/20, pp. 89–91). For Augustine’s approaches to the everlasting heaven of the saints, see J. Kevin Coyle, “Adapted Discourse: Heaven in Augustine’s City of God and in His Contemporary Preaching,” Augustinian Studies 30 (1999): 205–219; David V. Meconi, “Heaven and the ecclesia perfecta in Augustine,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine, ed. David V. Meconi and Eleonore Stump, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001/2014), pp. 251–272. See ciu. 15.17–15.18 (CCL 48, p. 479, l. 1–p. 481, l. 40; WSA I/7, pp. 164–166).

215

216 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints prefigured. From faith in this, the city of God is born here, that is, man, who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God (see Gen 4:26).3

As far as Augustine can see, everything about the resurrected saints derives from their living configuration to the resurrected Christ. As he preaches: Now then, brethren, no one should inquire with perverse subtlety what sort of figure bodies will have in the resurrection of the dead, what size of stature, what sort of motions, what sort of gait. It is enough for you [to believe] that your flesh resurrects in that form in which the Lord appeared, in the form, certainly, of man.4

He seeks to enhance and refine our understanding of this incomprehensible mystery, but not with an exactitude and overconfidence that would so predetermine its details as to undermine Christian faith in its substance. While Augustine neither prohibits theological investigation nor proscribes eschatological imagination, he nevertheless prescribes, and holds himself to the prescription, that these tasks are to be performed with a self-critical awareness of their limits and our limitations, which arise mostly from the fact that “we have not yet experienced” the resurrection of our flesh.5 Not only does the fleshly resurrection, as object, remain beyond our present experience, but also, as unrisen and untransformed subjects, we are not yet competent enough to handle our eschatological realization. Augustine warns that unseasonable precisions could generate a false image about the beatific resurrection, divert believers from the way of Christ into the way of error, and thus prevent them from arriving at its reality.6 Hence, he tentatively explores its contents to articulate provisional descriptions and depictions that not only are



3 4 5 6

ciu. 15.18 (CCL 48, p. 480, ll. 3–9; WSA I/7, pp. 165–166). s. 362.27 (PL 39, col. 1630, ll. 48–53; WSA III/10, p. 263). See, e.g., s. 362.28 (PL 39, col. 1631, ll. 22–31; WSA III/10, p. 264). See s. 362.27 (PL 39, col. 1631, ll. 1–19; WSA III/10, pp. 263–264).

The Spiritual Body of the Beatific Resurrection 217 not unworthy of Christian faith and hope, but also incentivize the ­deepening of them. Within this theological framework, whose parameters Christ has established in his resurrected flesh, Augustine allows a wide range of acceptable prospects concerning its specific contents. Such generosity betokens his willingness to sacrifice predeterminations of its details in preference for a kind of “learned ignorance.”7 “For,” he preaches, “it can more easily be said to you what will not be there, than what will be there.”8 Augustine keeps himself open, therefore, to being surprised by God’s ultimate revelation of our resurrected identity.9 As he preaches: Certainly, we will be what we will be, and we cannot grasp what we will be. It surpasses all our weakness, it surpasses all our thought, it surpasses all our understanding; and yet, [that is what] we will be.10

The goal of his speculations is not to find conclusive determinations, but rather to explore intelligent and imaginative ways to open, and to keep open, our minds to the resurrection of our flesh so that we can resurrect not to eternal death, but rather to eternal life.

The Spiritual Body of the Beatific Resurrection Augustine evinces his pastoral responsiveness to the kinds of questions about the beatific resurrection which Christians often ponder.11 In pursuing these considerations, he accentuates the scriptural adumbrations that the beatific resurrection will consist of the consummation of all goods and the destruction of all evils, for both the spirit and the flesh, for both the individual and the community. He grasps that one of its most vital features – from which many, if not most, of its other features derive – is the transfiguration of the entire human



7 8 9 10 11

See ep. 130.14.28 (CSEL 44, p. 72, l. 13–p. 73, l. 14; WSA II/2, pp. 197–198). s. 362.28 (PL 39, col. 1631, ll. 24–25; WSA III/10, p. 264). See s. 305A.9 (MA 1, p. 63, l. 16–p. 64, l. 11; WSA III/8, pp. 331–332). s. 305A.9 (MA 1, p. 63, ll. 23–26; WSA III/8, p. 331). See s. 361.3 (PL 39, col. 1600, ll. 22–34; WSA III/10, p. 226).

218 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints person into being fully spiritual and completely imbued with God’s Spirit. This includes the flesh which is sown an animal body and resurrects a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:44), its conditional qualities being changed from corruptibility and mortality into incorruptibility and immortality, in conformity to Christ’s resurrected flesh.12 While dreading making any rash declarations about “what the spiritual body will be and how great its grace because it has not yet come into [our] experience,” with God’s assistance, Augustine attempts to conjecture, from the experience of God’s present gifts, what God’s future gift of beatific resurrection will be like.13 Ever since Contra Faustum Manicheum, as we have seen, Augustine understands that the spiritual body of the beatific resurrection, which the risen Christ has exemplified, will substantially remain flesh and blood, but its conditional qualities will be enhanced. Although now “we carry death with the infirmity of the body,”14 the saints’ resurrected bodies will then “carry God.”15 The burden of corruptibility and the hostility of carnal lust will no longer exist when the body resurrects and receives its eternal life and peace16 from “the Spirit of God, [who] dwells in the soul and, through the soul, in the body.”17 Augustine gathers that the peace of God’s kingdom will so saturate each and all of the resurrected saints as to perfect their intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships.18 In the triumph of the beatific resurrection, every internal warfare of flesh against spirit and spirit against flesh (Gal 5:17) will be crushed and “the whole [person] will be led into victory.”19 When “death, the last

12



13 14 15 16 17 18 19

See, e.g., ep. 205.2.8–205.2.16 (CSEL 57, p. 329, l. 12–p. 337, l. 14; WSA II/3, pp. 380–384). See, e.g., ciu. 22.21 (CCL 48, p. 841, l. 1–p. 842, l. 37; WSA I/7, pp. 532–533). en. Ps. 127.16 (CCL 40, p. 1880, ll. 37–38; WSA III/20, p. 114). See en. Ps. 101.2.14 (CCL 40, p. 1449, ll. 21–25; WSA III/19, p. 75). See, e.g., ciu. 19.27 (CCL 48, p. 698, ll. 36–46; WSA I/7, p. 387). See, e.g., s. 161.6 (PL 38, col. 880, l. 36–col. 881, l. 16; WSA III/5, pp. 138–139). See ench. 23.91 (CCL 46, p. 98, ll. 93–97, 111–114; WSA I/8, pp. 325–326). See, e.g., en. Ps. 143.5–143.6 (CCL 40, p. 2075, l. 1–p. 2078, l. 74; WSA III/20, pp. 363–366).

The Perfection of Human Freedom 219 enemy, is demolished,” he remarks, “[then] my flesh will forever be my friend.”20 Augustine pines for the true friendship of the resurrection, where “no enemy intrudes, no friend lapses”21 and lets us down, not even our flesh, our soul’s closest friend.22 All the disappointments and betrayals, suspicions and deceptions, heartaches and heartbreaks, that enemies inflict upon each other and that supposed friends tender to each other will no longer occur within the loving community of the resurrected saints, the glorified angels, and the Trinity.23 For the Spirit – the “Friendship” (amicitia) and the “Charity” (caritas) – of God24 will purify, elevate, and integrate the egoistic and altruistic aspects of our love.

The Perfection of Human Freedom Augustine looks forward to the liberation, expansion, and consummation of human freedom in our beatific resurrection when “the divine fire consumes us whole.”25 This sacrificial “holocaust” (holocaustum) of our souls and bodies will accomplish our victory over not only sin and death, but also our ability to sin and die.26 As he explains, the more lavish gift of participating in God, who is not able to sin or die, will so enhance the freedom and immortality of his saints that they also will not be able to sin or die, thus excelling even our original freedom and immortality by which we were able not to sin and die, but still able to sin and die.27 Augustine acknowledges that the saints will experience an embodied freedom not only from the evil works of iniquity, but also from the mundane works of necessity and the good works of



20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

s. 155.15 (PL 38, col. 849, ll. 13–14; WSA III/5, p. 93). en. Ps. 49.22 (CCL 38, p. 592, ll. 52–53; WSA III/16, p. 401). See en. Ps. 118.29.7 (CCL 40, p. 1766, l. 9; WSA III/19, p. 483). See, e.g., en. Ps. 99.8–99.11 (CCL 39, p. 1397, l. 1–p. 1400, l. 33; WSA III/19, pp. 19–22). See trin. 6.5.7 (CCL 50, p. 235, ll. 16–20; WSA I/5, pp. 209–210). en. Ps. 50.23 (CCL 38, p. 615, ll. 8–9; WSA III/16, p. 428). See, e.g., en. Ps. 50.23 (CCL 38, p. 615, ll. 1–17; WSA III/16, pp. 428–429). See, e.g., corrept. 12.33–12.34 (CSEL 92, p. 259, l. 1–p. 261, l. 32; WSA I/26, pp. 132–133).

220 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints mercy.28 Whereas iniquitous works will be absent because malice will no longer exist, necessary and merciful works will be absent because fragility will no longer exist.29 No longer will the saints need to replenish their bodies by eating and drinking (although, like the risen Jesus, they will retain the power to eat and drink),30 to refresh it by sleeping,31 to protect it with shelter and clothing,32 or to heal it with therapies and balance its four humors through medicine.33 No longer will anybody perform good works of mercy, since there will be nobody in misery upon whom such mercy could thus be enacted.34 The excellent service of Martha will be rewarded with the exquisite feasting of Mary.35 No longer will the saints need to fend off boredom and fatigue by the constant alternations of activities, for example, between sleeping and waking, or between sitting and walking, “some deaths [being] routed by other deaths.”36 Moreover, the resurrected saints will neither grow up nor grow old, neither grow larger nor grow smaller, neither be born nor die.37 For Augustine, the saints’ liberation from fluctuation through their stabilization in God does not demand that they be frozen, either motionless in a static position or immobilized in a fixed location. Instead, they will be even more free to move and migrate however and wherever they want, without ever departing from God.38 Augustine explores the swiftness of the spiritual body when it not only resurrects, but also moves at the speed of the blink of an eye (1 Cor 15:52). He refers this eyeblink not to the closing and opening an eyelid, but rather to the instantaneous emitting and arriving of



28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

See, e.g., en. Ps. 85.24 (CCL 39, p. 1197, ll. 53–59; WSA III/18, p. 244). See, e.g., s. 211A.2 (RB 84, p. 261, ll. 2–19; WSA III/6, pp. 133–134). See, e.g., s. 362.10–362.12 (PL 39, col. 1617, l. 7–col. 1619, l. 20; WSA III/10, pp. 247–250). See, e.g., en. Ps. 49.22 (CCL 38, p. 592, ll. 51–52; WSA III/16, p. 401). See, e.g., s. 217.5 (MA 1, p. 599, l. 29–p. 600, l. 2; WSA III/6, p. 180). See, e.g., ep. 205.1.3–205.1.4 (CSEL 57, p. 325, l. 11–p. 327, l. 5; WSA II/3, pp. 378–379). See, e.g., en. Ps. 49.22 (CCL 38, p. 592, ll. 40–48; WSA III/16, p. 401). See, e.g., s. 179.3–179.6 (PL 38, col. 967, l. 30–col. 970, l. 15; WSA III/5, pp. 299–302). See, e.g., s. 305A.8 (MA 1, p. 62, l. 15–p. 63, l. 6; WSA III/8, pp. 330–331). See, e.g., s. 339.5 (SPM 1, p. 117, ll. 22–24; WSA III/9, p. 284). See ep. 205.1.4 (CSEL 57, p. 326, l. 20–p. 327, l. 5; WSA II/3, p. 379).

The Vigor and Beauty of the Resurrected Body 221 a ray of light from our eye.39 The risen flesh might likewise be able to travel astronomical distances more quickly than an eyelid travels the short distance to its eyebrow.40 In opening the mind up to such a prospect, however, Augustine refuses to assert any bold claim that would prevent our arrival at this reality. As he warns: Now, about such a body, about such facility, such swiftness, such health of this body, human fragility should venture rashly and presumptuously to define nothing. What we will be like, we will know when we will be. Before we are that, we should not be rash, lest we not be that.41

The Vigor and Beauty of the Resurrected Body Along with the consummation of their internal and external freedom, Augustine envisions that the saints will resurrect to enhancements in physical activities and appearances. Every dysfunction and disfigurement will be taken away. Every function and figure will be brought to perfection.42 Augustine is awestruck in trying to envision how beautiful will be the splendor of God’s resurrected saints.43 As he speculates, “the charm of [their] complexion will be great then, when the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (see Mt 13:43).44 Augustine suggests that the splendorous flesh of the saints will manifest a total transparency that is not only the signification, but also the realization, of their openness to God and neighbor.



39



40 41 42 43 44

For Augustine’s extramission theory of vision, see Margaret R. Miles, “Vision: The Eye of the Body and the Eye of the Mind in Saint Augustine’s De trinitate and Confessions,” The Journal of Religion 63 (1983): 125–142; Kari Kloos, Christ, Creation, and the Vision of God: Augustine’s Transformation of Early Christian Theophany Interpretation, The Bible in Ancient Christianity 7 (Leiden – Boston: Brill, 2011), pp. 46–50. See, e.g., s. 277.6–277.12 (PL 38, col. 1260, l. 55–col. 1264, l. 18; WSA III/8, pp. 36–40). s. 277.13 (PL 38, col. 1264, ll. 21–25; WSA III/8, p. 40). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 8.2 (CCL 36, p. 83; ll. 32–36; WSA III/12, p. 170). See en. Ps. 144.15 (CCL 40, p. 2099, l. 1–p. 2100, l. 30; WSA III/20, pp. 392–393). See ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 839, ll. 48–53; WSA I/7, p. 530).

222 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints The  saints will see each other and will be seen by each other not in a spirit of voyeurism or exhibitionism, but rather in a spirit of gratitude and generosity. Their hearts and flesh will be so purified by the spousal love between Christ and his Church that every man and woman, perhaps every boy and girl, will behold all bodies – including those external members which are now shrouded modestly with clothing – to the pure praise of God.45 This publication of resurrected flesh will overcome not only its privatization behind the fig leaves of our shame, but also its objectification and abjection, as if the body were some piece of property or some heap of rubbish, rather than the gift and temple of God. As Augustine expects, male and female saints will behold even their genitals, which now perform such useful functions as sexual reproduction, but which then will be converted to purely aesthetic displays and appreciations.46 Such beatific sights of the flesh, however, will occasion neither lust nor shame, neither disgust nor disgrace.47 “[O]n the contrary,” Augustine declares, “they will evoke praise for the wisdom and clemency of God, who both made what was not and liberated from corruption what he made.”48

The Vindication of Human History This integral resurrection of Christ, head and members, will display and vindicate all the embodied events of human history, however meaningful or meaningless they might have seemed at the time, or even after a time of our struggling to deal with them. The beatific resurrection will unveil the heights and depths of these historical



45



47

46

48

See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 862, ll. 1–15; WSA I/7, p. 551). For Augustine’s treatments of human sexuality in the resurrection, see Margaret R. Miles, “Sex and the City (of God): Is Sex Forfeited or Fulfilled in Augustine’s Resurrection of Body?,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 73 (2005): 307–327; Margaret R. Miles, “From Rape to Resurrection: Sin, Sexual Difference, and Politics,” in Augustine’s City of God: A Critical Guide, ed. James Wetzel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 75–92; Michele Cutino, “La différenciation sexuelle et son accomplissement eschatologique chez Augustin,” Revue des Sciences Religieuses 91 (2017): 565–588. See, e.g., ciu. 22.17 (CCL 48, p. 835, l. 1–p. 836, l. 46; WSA I/7, pp. 526–527). ciu. 22.17 (CCL 48, p. 835, ll. 15–16; WSA I/7, p. 526).

The Vindication of Human History 223 events, which will endure forever in a twofold transfigured mode: (1) as inscribed in resurrected human flesh and (2) as contained in resurrected human memory. As Augustine speculates, just as the resurrected Christ has borne and displayed the enduring scars of his fleshly wounds for his disciples to behold and handle, so also Christ’s resurrected martyrs might likewise bear and display the enduring scars of their fleshly wounds for their fellow saints to behold and handle.49 As he proposes, “For it will not be deformity in them, but dignity, and a certain beauty, although in the body, not of the body, but of virtue, will shine.”50 All the amputated members of the martyrs will be restored to their resurrected bodies; none of them lost. The enduring “marks of their glorious wounds” will be manifest forever, thus bearing everlasting witness to their historical witness to Christ.51 Augustine suggests, therefore, that Christ’s martyrs will forever bear testimony, in their once slaughtered, but now resurrected flesh, to the fact that the paramount purpose of history, even in its most horrific moments, consists in the integral configuration of humanity to Christ. This manifestation of the heights and depths of human history, however, will not be limited to the saints’ resurrected flesh, but will extend also to their resurrected memories.52 Augustine preaches that, on account of the transparency of their spiritualized flesh, none of the contents of the saints’ resurrected and illuminated hearts will remain hidden in darkness (see 1 Cor 4:5), either from themselves or from each other.53 Their hearts will no longer contain any nasty, hateful, or delusional thoughts, which now people often conceal and are afraid of being publicized. Rather, they will contain nothing but what is good, honorable, and true (see Phil 14:8).54 The saints will even share the memories of their past histories, both the good and the bad.



49 50 51 52 53 54

See ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 839, ll. 53–56, 66–69; WSA I/7, p. 530). ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 839, ll. 69–71; WSA I/7, p. 530). See ciu. 22.19 (CCL 48, p. 839, ll. 71–80; WSA I/7, p. 530). See, e.g., ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 862, ll. 207–212; WSA I/7, p. 551). See, e.g., en. Ps. 109.15 (CCL 40, p. 1615, ll. 1–32, WSA III/19, pp. 277–278). See, e.g., s. 243.5 (PL 38, col. 1145, l. 39–col. 1146, l. 9; WSA III/7, pp. 91–92).

224 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints Despite Augustine’s earlier view that from the intoxicating chalice of the Lord (see Ps 22:5) the saints will drink themselves into oblivion of this world’s empty pleasures55 and past miseries,56 he later speculates that the indwelling Spirit of the resurrection57 will plunge the saints into the transparent depths58 not only of their own memories, but also of each other’s memories. No longer will they be frustrated by those wonderful memories onto which they now find hard to hold, or troubled by those painful memories with which they now find hard to deal. For the Spirit will empower them not only to encounter these countless memories, but also to behold them in a new way. Accordingly, Augustine makes a distinction between two kinds of remembering and forgetting of evils: (1) rational knowledge and oblivion that belong to the mind and (2) experiential knowledge and oblivion that belong to the senses. He speculates that the resurrected saints will no longer know, by experiential feeling, any past or eternal evils. But they will forever know, by rational mindfulness, “not only their own past [misery], but also the eternal misery of the damned, [which] will not be hidden [from them].”59 By contrast, as Augustine surmises, the self-enclosed memories of the damned might “torture [their own] soul[s, both] by [their] sterile penance” for their past evils and by their experiential sensations of their eternal evils.60 Unlike the damned, the enhanced memories of the saints will keep them ever mindful of and grateful for the mercies of the Lord, by whose blood they have been delivered from every evil,61 both the “hell [of] this miserable life” and the hell of “a more miserable and everlasting not life, but death.”62 For Augustine, not only the magnificent



55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62

See en. Ps. 22.5 (CCL 38, p. 135, ll. 6–10; WSA III/15, p. 245). See en. Ps. 4.9 (CCL 38, p. 18, l. 25–p. 19, l. 41; WSA III/15, p. 91). See, e.g., s. 155.14–155.15 (PL 38, col. 848, l. 27–col. 849, l. 32; WSA III/5, pp. 92–94). See en. Ps. 52.5 (CCL 39, p. 640, l. 1–p. 642, l. 59; WSA III/17, pp. 35–36). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, ll. 74–95; WSA I/7, p. 553). ciu. 21.9 (CCL 48, p. 775, ll. 35–36; WSA I/7, p. 464). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, ll. 95–99; WSA I/7, p. 553). See ciu. 22.22 (CCL 48, p. 845, ll. 111–115; WSA I/7, p. 535).

The Unity and Diversity of the Resurrected Church 225 events of human history, but also its haunting and hellish events will never be forgotten and will always be remembered by the saints to the praise of God for his mercy in Christ. In their eschatological remembering, the events of history will be so transfigured that the saints will perceive how the God of history has never and nowhere been either absent or inactive, but rather always and everywhere present and active, even in those moments and places which once might have seemed most godforsaken.

The Unity and Diversity of the Resurrected Church Augustine speculates that beyond simple facial recognition, the prophetic and divinized insights of the saints will enable them to know each other, even if they have never met during their lifetimes.63 In their mutual intimacy, they will celebrate their unity and diversity as the one, yet multifaceted Church. As Augustine preaches, all the saints together will receive an equal denarius (see Mt 20:9–10) of the beatific resurrection, an equal eternality of life,64 and an equal closeness to God. Nevertheless, each of the saints will also receive an apportioned degree of distinct glory,65 awarded according to his merit and “desire of love.”66 Augustine observes that Scripture likens these diverse glories among the resurrected saints in heaven to the diverse luminosities among the stars in the sky (see 1 Cor 15:41–42).67 The diversities of the saints and of the members of their resurrected bodies will not detract from, but rather contribute to, their ecclesial unity in love. Along with a measure of glory, each saint will receive the gifts of not wanting to have what he has not received, and of being bound in charity to those who have received greater, similar, and lesser gifts.68



63 64 65 66 67 68

See, e.g., s. 243.5 (PL 38, col. 1146, ll. 10–19; WSA III/7, p. 92). See s. 87.5–87.6 (PL 38, col. 532, l. 41–col. 533, l. 40; WSA III/3, pp. 409–410). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 67.2 (CCL 36, p. 495, l. 1–p. 496, l. 31; WSA III/13, pp. 230–231). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 68.3 (CCL 36, p. 499, ll. 12–22; WSA III/13, p. 237). See, e.g., uirg. 26.26 (CSEL 41, p. 262, l. 1–p. 263, l. 6; WSA I/9, pp. 83–84). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 863, ll. 37–48; WSA I/7, p. 552).

226 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints Augustine further speculates that the graded glories of the resurrected saints will be neither given by God nor received by them for their private enjoyment, but rather for their public sharing in love, such that “each one himself also has, when he loves in another, what he does not have himself.”69 The beatific resurrection so enhances the human person and ecclesial community that not even eternal glory can tempt any of the saints to cling onto themselves and close themselves off from one another.70 Where each member of Christ’s ecclesial body celebrates the glories of the other members with as much fervor as he celebrates his own glory, “there will be one Christ loving himself.”71

The Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection Augustine believes and hopes that the saints will forever see the Trinity most intimately and immediately. But he understands that their face-to-face vision of God will not be realized until after their fleshly resurrection.72 Thus, he preaches that no human has yet “seen [God] face to face” and beheld him “directly through [his] substance and nature by which [he is] whatever [he is].”73 “As a matter of fact,” Augustine continues, “that vision, face to face, is reserved for those who have been liberated by the resurrection.”74 Augustine speculates that the beatific vision of God not only was not had by the fathers of the Old and New Testaments, but also is not yet had by the



69



73

70 71 72

74

See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 67.2 (CCL 36, p. 496, ll. 26–31; WSA III/13, p. 231). See uirg. 27.27–29.29 (CSEL 41, p. 263, l. 7–p. 267, l. 12; WSA I/9, pp. 84–86). ep. Io. tr. 10.3 (PL 35, col. 2055, l. 50; WSA III/14, p. 148). For Augustine’s approaches to the vision of God, see Bernard McGinn, “Visions and Visualizations in the Here and Hereafter,” Harvard Theological Review 98 (2005): 229–331; Kloos, Christ, Creation, and the Vision of God, pp. 101–204; Gerald P. Boersma, “Augustine on the Beatific Vision as ubique totus,” Scottish Journal of Theology 71 (2018): 16–32; Hans Boersma, Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018), pp. 96–126. en. Ps. 43.5 (CCL 38, p. 483, ll. 7–10; WSA III/16, p. 268). en. Ps. 43.5 (CCL 38, p. 484, ll. 11–12; WSA III/16, p. 268).

Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection 227 disincarnated souls of the saints.75 These latter abide in a penultimate beatitude, awaiting the ultimate beatitude of their beatific resurrection and beatific vision. Thus, just as Jesus’s disciples were unable to have unwavering faith in the Trinity until the fleshly resurrection of Christ, the head, so also his saints will be unable to have unflinching sight of the Trinity until the fleshly resurrection of Christ, the body. In De Genesi ad litteram 12.34.67–12.35.68, Augustine elaborates on his reservation of the beatific vision until after the beatific resurrection.76 He distinguishes between three hierarchical heavens, in which he locates three graded kinds of human vision: (1) the first and lowest heaven of the corporeal sky is where bodily vision occurs when man sees, through his human body, the realities of present bodies; (2) the second and middle heaven of corporeal similitudes is where spiritual vision occurs when man sees, through his human spirit, the images of absent bodies; and (3) the third and highest heaven of the most sublime realities is where intellectual or mental vision occurs when man is “ineffably enabled to see and hear,” through his human mind, even “the very substance of God and God the Word […] through the charity of the Holy Spirit.”77 Augustine explicitly refrains here from entertaining the rather “difficult question” of “why the spirits of the departed would need to receive their bodies in the resurrection, if that supreme beatitude could be available to them even without bodies.”78 Nevertheless, he does not doubt that the mind of man, whether enraptured from the fleshly senses or even snatched away by death from the flesh itself, still “cannot see the unchangeable substance [of God] in the way that the holy angels



75



77

76

78

See en. Ps. 43.5 (CCL 38, p. 483, l. 1–p. 484, l. 31; WSA III/16, p. 268). In trin. 14.19.25 (CCL 50A, p. 456, l. 1–p. 457, l. 26; WSA I/5, p. 391), Augustine similarly reserves the face-to-face vision of God until after the fleshly resurrection and the final judgment. Augustine explains that the flesh will be perfected in its resurrection before the spirit will be perfected in its vision. See, e.g., Gn. litt. 12.34.67 (CSEL 28.1, p. 432, ll. 1–14; WSA I/13, p. 504). Gn. litt. 12.35.68 (CSEL 28.1, p. 432, ll. 15–18; WSA I/13, p. 504).

228 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints see it.”79 Intellectual glimpses of God, no matter how insightful, can neither be sustained nor rendered into beatific vision apart from the beatific resurrection of the flesh. Wrestling to grasp the reason for this, Augustine observes: [This may] either be due to another hidden reason or for the reason that there is within [the soul] a certain natural appetite for administering the body, by which appetite it is somehow delayed, lest it should proceed with total attention into that highest heaven, as long as its body is not subject, by the administration of which that appetite may find rest.80

The resurrection of the flesh is so vital for Augustine that he does not allow anyone to reach God in such a way that would ultimately frustrate the integrity of human nature and the natural desires of the soul and the body for each other. Although its corruptibility now weighs down the soul (see Wis 9:15) and averts the mind from the vision of God, the flesh will be resurrected and transfigured so that man will behold God face to face.81 Another possible reason why the beatific resurrection of the flesh may be prerequisite for the beatific vision of God emerges from developments in Augustine’s thoughts on the nature and extent of the human vision of God itself. Over the course of at least seventeen years, from before 408 to around 425/427, he occasionally wrestles with the question of whether the corporeal eyes of the resurrected and spiritualized body will be able to see the divine substance. No fewer than six of his letters82 and several sections of a sermon83 contain opening discussions of this quite nebulous and, at times, rather contentious topic. During the initial period of at least six years of tackling this question, from before 408 to around 414/415 – which



79 80 81 82 83

See Gn. litt. 12.35.68 (CSEL 28.1, p. 432, ll. 18–22; WSA I/13, p. 504). Gn. litt. 12.35.68 (CSEL 28.1, p. 432, l. 22–p. 433, l. 1; WSA I/13, pp. 504–505). See Gn. litt. 12.35.68 (CSEL 28.1, p. 433, ll. 1–11; WSA I/13, p. 505). These letters include ep. 92, ep. 92A, ep. 120, uid. deo (= ep. 147), ep. 148, and ep. 162. These sections of this sermon are s. 277.13–277.18.

Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection 229 also covers or approximates the above discussion of De Genesi ad litteram – Augustine tentatively denies, or at least seriously doubts, that the bodily eyes of the resurrected saints will ever see God. In these treatments, Augustine limits the human vision of God to the purified heart (see Mt 5:8) on account of its likeness (see 1 Jn 3:2) to the eternally incorporeal, and thus corporeally invisible (1  Tim 1:17), substance and nature of God, whose invisibility to bodily eyes is not only for now, but also forever.84 Like the angels of God, the souls of the resurrected saints will see God, being “filled with an ineffable narration [and] an ineffable vision of God,” but without ever either comprehending his fullness or seeing him “as these visible things are seen by the senses of the body.”85 Augustine strongly affirms that the divine substance is an absolutely immutable and incorporeal spirit, which is present everywhere whole. He strongly denies, therefore, that God either can or will be seen by the eyes of the human body in any spatial location at some distance from them, or even by the human spirit in its imagination. For God is neither a body nor a similitude of a body, and he has neither limits nor diffusions of larger and smaller parts that occupy greater and lesser spaces.86 But the prospect that the corporeal eyes of the saints will be so transfigured in the spiritual body of the beatific resurrection that they will then be able to see the substance of God remains rather doubtful to Augustine, “especially since we do not find, or have not yet found, anything definite about that in Scripture.”87 At least it remains open to further divine revelation (see Phil 3:15) through more diligent scriptural and theological investigations of the resurrected body exhibited and promised by Christ.88 Approximately a decade after this initial series of discussions, around 425/427, Augustine once again broaches and better explains



84 85 86 87 88

See, e.g., uid. deo 15.37 (CSEL 44, p. 310, l. 4–p. 312, l. 2; WSA II/2, pp. 338–339). See, e.g., uid. deo 8.20–9.22 (CSEL 44, p. 293, l. 13–p. 297, l. 1; WSA II/2, pp. 329–331). See, e.g., ep. 148.1.1–148.1.3 (CSEL 44, p. 332, l. 3–p. 334, l. 13; WSA II/2, pp. 350–352). See, e.g., s. 277.14 (PL 38, col. 1265, ll. 9–47; WSA III/8, pp. 41–42). See, e.g., s. 277.15 (PL 38, col. 1265, l. 49–col. 1266, l. 31; WSA III/8, pp. 42–43).

230 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints the beatific vision of the beatific resurrection, in De ciuitate dei 22.29. As he recounts, in Retractationes: I wrote a book, De uidendo deo, where I delayed a more diligent investigation about the spiritual body, which will exist in the resurrection of the saints, whether or how God, who is spirit, might be seen even through such a body. But afterwards I explained, as much as I consider satisfactory, this certainly most difficult question in the last, that is, in the twenty second, book of De ciuitate dei.89

In this investigation, Augustine confesses his belief that the resurrected saints are going to see God in the body with the eyes of the purified heart (see Mt 5:8). But whether they will also see God through the body with the eyes of the spiritual body is another and no small question.90 After rehearsing several pieces of evidence from Scripture which might incline an interpreter toward an affirmative answer, he admits that the scriptural witness remains ambiguous and inconclusive.91 Thus, he acknowledges: But we do not know how much access the spiritual body will have (of course, we are speaking about a reality beyond our experience), when some authority of the divine Scriptures, which cannot be understood otherwise, does not occur and succor.92

Augustine further admits that not only is scriptural authority unhelpful here, but so also is philosophical reasoning. As he reports, certain philosophers insist on a strict differentiation between two kinds of perception: (1) by the vision of the mind, intelligible realities are seen and (2) by the sense of the body, sensible bodies are seen. According to these philosophers, therefore, the mind can see



89



91

90

92

retr. 2.42 (CCL 57, p. 123, ll. 2–7; WSA I/2, pp. 146–147). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 857, l. 46–p. 858, l. 55; p. 859, ll. 119–125; WSA I/7, pp. 547, 549). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 859, l. 114–p. 860, l. 152; WSA I/7, pp. 548–549). ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 860, ll. 152–155; WSA I/7, p. 549).

Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection 231 neither intelligible realities through the body nor corporeal realities through itself. Augustine recognizes that if the reasoning of these philosophers were incontrovertible, then it would be certain that God cannot be seen in any way through the eyes of the body, even a spiritual one. However, both true reason and prophetic authority expose how ridiculous this philosophical reasoning is: (1) the incorporeal God knows corporeal realities93 and (2) the prophet Elisha saw his servant Gehazi receiving gifts from Naaman the Syrian not through his body, which was distant, but rather through his spirit (see 2 Kings 5:19–26).94 Shattering this philosophical dichotomization, Augustine establishes that bodies can be seen by the spirit and, therefore, he opens up the prospect that the spiritual body will have enhanced power to see even spirits, including God, who is Spirit and whose incorporeal nature is present everywhere whole.95 He further remarks that, while each man knows the life of his own body by an interior sense and not by bodily eyes, he sees with bodily eyes the invisible lives of others not apart from, but in their visible bodies.96 From all these indications, Augustine gathers: On account of this, it is possible and exceedingly credible that we will then see the worldly bodies of the new heaven and new earth in such a way that, in whatever direction we will turn our eyes, we will most clearly and most perspicuously see God, everywhere present and governing all things, even corporeal things – [seeing God] through the bodies, which we will be bearing, and through the bodies, at which we will be looking.97

In addition to offering this “exceedingly credible” prospect, Augustine proposes a couple of ways in which the eyes of the spiritual body might see the divine substance. (1) Perhaps these eyes will have an

93 94

95 96 97

See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 860, l. 156–p. 861, l. 168; WSA I/7, pp. 549–550). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 858, l. 55–p. 859, l. 88; p. 861, ll. 168–172; WSA I/7, pp. 547–548, 550). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 859, ll. 99–114; p. 861, ll. 172–174; WSA I/7, pp. 548, 550). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 861, ll. 175–181, 191–195; WSA I/7, p. 550). ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 861, ll. 182–187; WSA I/7, p. 550).

232 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints excellence similar to that of the mind by which they can perceive the incorporeal nature of God. (2) Alternatively and more understandably, God will be known and seen by both the resurrected human spirit and the resurrected human flesh.98 According to this second proposal, our resurrected spirits will see God abiding and thriving “in ourselves, in each other, in himself, in the new heaven and new earth, and in every creature, which will then exist.”99 Our resurrected bodies will also see God “in every body, wherever the eyes of the spiritual body will have been directed with [their] penetrating sight.”100 Thus, in terms of the three graded kinds of vision,101 Augustine speculates that the composite beatific vision of God will include: (1) the intellectual vision of the eyes of the purified heart, (2) the bodily vision of the open eyes of the spiritual body, and (3) even the spiritual vision of the eyes of the imaginative spirit, which retains the images of eschatological creatures, even when the bodily eyes are closed.102 The integrally resurrected saints will be so completely filled with God, who himself “see[s his creatures] in and through those who see them through [his] Spirit,”103 that they will immediately perceive the Trinity from the lowest to the highest levels of their reconstituted and enhanced humanity. This development in Augustine’s handling of the beatific vision of God is significant not only in itself, but also with respect to his rationale for holding that it will be delayed until after the beatific resurrection. If it is “exceedingly credible” that the divine substance will be seen in all the visible bodies of the new creation by all the

98



100

99

101 102 103

See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 861, l. 195–p. 862, l. 207; WSA I/7, pp. 550–551). ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 862, ll. 203–206; WSA I/7, p. 550). For Augustine’s affirmation of the eschatological transfiguration of the entire cosmos, including nonhuman animals, see Thomas E. Clarke, “St. Augustine and Cosmic Redemption,” Theological Studies 19 (1958): 133–164; Mamerto Alfeche, “The Coming of the New Cosmos,” Augustiniana 46 (1996): 5–44; David V. Meconi, “Saint Augustine on ‘Saving Both Men and Beasts,’” in Augustine and the Environment, ed. John Doody, Kim Paffenroth, and Mark Smillie (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016), pp. 89–104. ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 862, ll. 206–207; WSA I/7, pp. 550–551). See Gn. litt. 12.36.69 (CSEL 28.1, p. 433, l. 12–p. 434, l. 16; WSA I/13, pp. 505–506). See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 859, ll. 88–99; WSA I/7, p. 548). conf. 13.31.46 (CCL 27, p. 269, ll. 1–2; WSA I/1, p. 375).

Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection 233 spiritual bodies of the resurrected saints, then the beatific vision, in the fullest extent of its realization, will not quite be available before their flesh is resurrected to see God in visible creation. Until the fleshly resurrection, there is something that remains incomplete and unrealized not only about the human person and community, but also about the vision of God itself. For this beatific vision consists in seeing the divine substance of God not only in that which God is, but also in that which God is not. The Trinity will be seen in God’s substance and out of God’s substance, thereby revealing to human sight what the divine substance actually is. As Augustine suggests, it is not simply the case that, prior to our beatific resurrection, we are not yet ready to see God. It is also the case that, before then, God is not yet ready to be seen by us. Although the unchanging and unchangeable God is always already present everywhere whole, until our fleshly resurrection and the transfiguration of the entire cosmos – that is, until we will be “seeing, in eternity,” as Augustine remarks, “that he is God, by whom we will be filled, when he himself will be all in all” (erit omnia in omnibus) (see 1 Cor 15:28)104 – God is not yet definitively “all in all” (omnia in omnibus). Although God “will be” (erit), he is not yet. For the “all” (omnibus) – in which God eventually and eternally “will be” (erit), and will be seen to be, “all” (omnia) – is still in the historical process of coming to be realized. Whereas the first “all” (omnia) of God is always already the Selfsame, the second “all” (omnibus) of what is not God is now in the process of becoming itself. With the fullness of all creation still outstanding, therefore, God is not yet ready to be seen by humans as “all in all” (omnia in omnibus) without qualification and without question. This delay keeps time and space open not only for the rectification of human defection, but also for the perfection of cosmic imperfection. Before then, as Augustine admits, the presence and governance of God in and through the things which he made (see Rom 1:20) are now matters of faith, not

104

ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 865, ll. 113–115; WSA I/7, p. 553).

234 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints yet of sight.105 Even so, the eschatological consummation of the cosmos is not simply about divine ubiquity and totality. For Augustine, it is also, and more in keeping with its biblical adumbration, about God lavishing his “all” (omnia) upon everything and everyone, without reservation and without regard for whether his rational creatures have sacrificially opened themselves to receive this substantial “all” (omnia) of God or have selfishly closed themselves off from receiving him. God gives himself completely because of who he is, not because of who we are. Augustine sees that the beatific vision of God as all in all belongs to the inheritance of the Church of the resurrection. The fleshly resurrection of just one or just a few members of the human race, even of many or even of most, would not be enough to precipitate the beatific vision. For God to be seen as all in all without exception – as final reward for some and as final punisher for others – nothing less than the resurrection of all flesh – that of all the saints and that of all the damned – is unequivocally necessary. Augustine hints that whereas the resurrected saints will be both the transfigured subjects and objects of this beatific vision, the resurrected damned will not be its subjects, but will nevertheless be its transparent objects. Augustine has come to appreciate that, like the spiritual resurrection of the soul, the fleshly resurrection of the body is not only a requisite precondition for the beatific vision, but also an ineradicable constituent of it. What the saints will see with the eyes of their integrally resurrected hearts and flesh is the God whose love is so profound that he has wanted to lift their hearts and flesh up into his own divine heart and his own human flesh in Jesus Christ. So intimate and so interpenetrating is this consummate union of God and man that the saints can neither extract themselves from this vision of God’s love nor abstract this vision of God’s love from themselves. For Augustine, the fleshly resurrection does not simply augment in an extensive way some ultimate beatitude that an individual

105

See ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 861, ll. 187–191; WSA I/7, p. 550).

Beatific Vision from within the Beatific Resurrection 235 saint has already obtained for his own soul. Rather, it is what enables all the saints together – as Christ’s Church, integrally resurrected in soul and body – to enter fully and finally into the joy of their Lord (see Mt 25:21) in the first instance.106 Augustine grasps that resurrection and vision belong together in human happiness as much as flesh and spirit belong together in the human person. He sees, therefore, that the beatific vision does not come before nor does it simply come after, but it also comes from within the beatific resurrection. As Augustine suggests, the delay of the beatific vision until after the beatific resurrection betokens how much God loves to be with us from beginning to end, at each and every moment along the way. Even though God is always already ahead of us to meet and greet us in and as our eternal homeland, even though the resurrected Christ has already gone before us to guide and shepherd us along and as our temporal way, God also delays his being definitively all in all, so that he can accompany us during the entire course of human history.107 This divine accompaniment empowers the members of the Church to likewise accompany each other, even delaying our beatific vision until we are all integrally resurrected and ready to see God together as one. The Lord lingers to be with us not only at every step of our pilgrimage toward him, but also at every misstep of our wandering from him.108 God even delays so that he can come behind us, insofar as the beatific vision will come after the beatific resurrection. For Augustine, the beatific vision from within the beatific resurrection will include seeing the divine substance in itself, in all the creatures of the cosmos, and in all the events of history, the marks and memories of which



106



108

107

See conf. 9.10.25 (CCL 27, p. 148, ll. 48–51; WSA I/1, p. 229). Augustine’s positive evaluations of human history, its meaningful processes, and its eschatological vindication undercut the complaints of those critics who charge him with foreclosing and devaluing history by his supposed sublimation of apocalypse into an abstract eternity. For these complaints, see Catherine Keller, Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1996), pp. 97–103; Virginia Burrus, “An Immoderate Feast: Augustine Reads John’s Apocalypse,” Augustinian Studies 30 (1999): 183–194. See conf. 10.27.38 (CCL 27, p. 175, ll. 2–5; WSA I/1, p. 262).

236 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints will endure forever in human flesh and spirit. For us to see him fully, God must open not only the eyes of our hearts, but also the eyes of our flesh to see his living presence and life-giving activity within us and all around us, in the heights and depths of his whole creation, from the beginning to the end of its entire adventure. Augustine gathers, therefore, that the beatific vision of God will be nothing less than panoramic. Far and increasingly farther behind in the long and increasingly longer wake of Augustine’s stormy voyage to the tranquility of the happy life,109 seafaring with the other shipmates of the pilgrim Church, in the boat of Christ’s paschal mystery, across the sea of this age to their eternal homeland,110 floats the drift of his earlier statement of Soliloquia 1.6.12. There, he stipulated that all the soul needs to see its God are these three things: “that it should have eyes, which it can now use well; that it should look; that it should see.”111 In advancing toward the beatific resurrection, Augustine has come to see that the beatific vision of God cannot take place for any human person, no matter how pure of heart, except at the consummate end of all things, visible and invisible. Purity of heart is necessary, but not sufficient. This is because the plenitude of God cannot be seen apart from how he always has been, always is, and always will be involving and investing himself in everything that he has created by himself, summoned to himself, and consummated in himself. This includes the entire soul and body of every human person, down to our slightest mental thought, down to our smallest fleshly particle. As Augustine has come to appreciate, the beatific vision from within the beatific resurrection involves seeing the very substance of God, the very love of God – who and what God himself always is – in his historical and eternal kenosis, in his ecstatic self-emptying into human spirit and flesh, in his divine condescension into the humanity of Christ, head and members. Having absolutely no need of us whatsoever, God has so lovingly and so freely committed himself



109 110 111

See beata u. 1.1–1.5 (CCL 29, p. 65, l. 1–p. 68, l. 132; FaCh 5, pp. 43–50). See Io. eu. tr. 2.3 (CCL 36, p. 13, ll. 6, 19–21; WSA III/12, p. 57). See sol. 1.6.12 (CSEL 89, p. 20, ll. 2–4; p. 21, ll. 6–7; AS 2, pp. 32–33).

The Insatiable Satisfaction of God 237 to us that he cannot be seen by us to be separated from us. In other words, for Augustine, the beatific vision of God involves and invites beholding how the God of the resurrection – to lift us up and to keep us uplifted, in our integral resurrection – has thrown himself down, and never ceases to throw himself down, in and through Christ’s resurrected flesh. Without failing or falling himself, God freely throws himself down for no other reason than because he loves us with an immense and immeasurable love. In fact, this cascading love of God in Christ through the Spirit for us is so sublime and so unfathomable that the city of God will always contemplate its dashing loveliness and ravishing appeal, but without ever exhausting its crestless heights and bottomless depths.

The Insatiable Satisfaction of God Augustine admits that how God, in and through our beatific resurrection, will be all in all remains ineffable and incomprehensible, but nevertheless approachable, even from our present desires for food and drink, health and wealth, glory and honor, all of which God will be for us.112 In the beatific resurrection of the total Christ, God himself will so extensively and intensively be everything to everyone that no one will ever again be wanting anything or wanting in anything.113 This ending and endless satisfaction of every desire of our hearts and flesh,114 however, does not translate into a gross surfeiting of them.115 To gesture toward this kind of eschatological fulfillment, Augustine regularly deploys the phrase “insatiable satisfaction” (insatiabilis satietas).116 Thus, he preaches that in the beatific resurrection – “in comparison with [which], this whole life, which we are enduring, is shit (stercus)”117 – “there will be an insatiable satisfaction (Satietas erit insatiabilis), no nausea; we will always be hungry, we will always



112 113 114 115 116 117

See, e.g., s. 158.9 (PL 38, col. 867, ll. 7–20; WSA III/5, p. 119). See, e.g., en. Ps. 36.1.12 (CCL 38, p. 346, ll. 1–22; WSA III/16, p. 101). See, e.g., Io. eu. tr. 65.1 (CCL 36, p. 491, ll. 33–38; WSA III/13, p. 223). See ep. Io. tr. 10.7 (PL 35, col. 2059, ll. 51–54; WSA III/14, pp. 154–155). See, e.g., s. 362.29 (PL 39, col. 1633, ll. 1–6; WSA III/10, p. 266). s. 170.7 (PL 38, col. 931, ll. 3–5; WSA III/5, p. 243).

238 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints be sated.”118 Seeing from the Scriptures that God “both satisfies [his saints], and does not satisfy [them,]”119 Augustine speculates that the Church of the resurrection will always be both seeing and seeking God’s face, both having arrived at the perfection of finalized progress and constantly searching to praise and love God forever.120

The Indefatigable Celebration of the God of the Resurrection In considering the occupation or vacation of the resurrected saints, Augustine admits that he does “not know what [their] activity, or rather rest and leisure, will be like.”121 However, he infers from Scripture that they will forever engage in the restful activities of “seeing, loving, [and] praising God.”122 The saints will be totally occupied with embodying and expressing the eternal “Amen” – “it is true” – and the endless “Alleluia” – “praise the Lord,”123 “praise God.”124 As Augustine gathers, God’s entire household will partake in “the unoccupied occupation, the leisured non-leisure” (otioso negotio), of celebrating an exuberant festival of praise to God, from God, and in God.125 Having neither limited supplies nor low-grade refreshments, this most convivial of bashes in the house of God will be rapturously euphoric, radically awesome, and totally out of this world.126 The angels and saints will always be rejoicing together in eternal happiness;127 singing the choral hymns and performing the



118



121

119 120

122 123 124 125 126 127

s. 170.9 (PL 38, col. 931, ll. 50–52; WSA III/5, p. 243). See en Ps. 85.24 (CCL 39, p. 1197, ll. 70–90; WSA III/18, p. 245). See, e.g., en. Ps. 104.3 (CCL 40, p. 1537, ll. 31–40; WSA III/19, p. 186). See Alexander H. Pierce, “Augustine’s Eschatological Vision: The Dynamism of Seeing and Seeking God in Heaven,” Pro Ecclesia 29 (2020): 217–238. See, e.g., ciu. 22.29 (CCL 48, p. 856, l. 1–p. 857, l. 49; WSA I/7, pp. 546–547). See, e.g., s. 33A.1 (CCL 41, p. 418, ll. 5–21; WSA III/2, p. 160). See, e.g., s. 236.3 (PL 38, col. 1121, l. 54–col. 1122, l. 4; WSA III/7, p. 46). See, e.g., s. 243.8 (PL 38, col. 1147, ll. 8–41; WSA III/7, p. 93). See, e.g., en. Ps. 86.9 (CCL 39, p. 1206, l. 1–p. 1207, l. 70; WSA III/18, pp. 255–256). See en. Ps. 41.9 (CCL 38, p. 466, l. 35–p. 467, l. 62; WSA III/16, pp. 247–248). See, e.g., ciu. 22.1 (CCL 48, p. 805, l. 1–p. 807, l. 57; WSA I/7, pp. 496–497).

Celebration of the God of the Resurrection 239 orchestral praises of God;128 leaping more gracefully than any pantomime and dancing for joy in the Lord (Ps 32:1);129 imbibing from and being inebriated by Christ, the fountain of life and light (see Ps 35:9– 10);130 and enjoying the Trinity131 and each other in the Trinity.132 As Augustine adumbrates, “There we will be at leisure and we will see, we will see and we will love, we will love and we will praise. Behold what will be in the end without end.”133 These features of rest and activity which now seem to oppose each other in this life will coexist and coincide as transfigured. Augustine suggests what we might designate – borrowing from Nicholas of Cusa who borrows from Augustine – a kind of eschatological “coincidence of opposites” (coincidentiam oppositorum).134 The coincidence of opposites properly belongs to God alone, who transcends each and every opposition, who ineffably “both works resting and rests working,”135 and to whose absolute and simple being nothing is opposed. Nevertheless, God enables his saints to participate in his coincidence of opposites, to share as gods136 in God’s rest beyond rest which coincides with God’s activity beyond activity. Augustine speculates that the perichoreses of these coincident opposites will transfigure the integrally resurrected saints themselves into the eternal Amen, the endless Alleluia, and the eschatological seventh day of God’s rest,137 “when [they] will exist as long as [they]



128



129



135

130 131 132 133 134

136 137

See, e.g., en. Ps. 150.4–150.8 (CCL 40, p. 2194, l. 1–p. 2196, l. 27; WSA III/20, pp. 512–515). See en. Ps. 32.2.1 (CCL 38, p. 247, ll. 1–10; WSA III/15, p. 392). See, e.g., en. Ps. 35.14–35.15 (CCL 38, p. 332, l. 1–p. 334, l. 20; WSA III/16, pp. 85–86). See doctr. chr. 1.5.5 (CCL 32, p. 9, ll. 1–18; WSA I/11, p. 108). See doctr. chr. 1.32.35 (CCL 32, p. 26, ll. 17–19; WSA I/11, p. 122). ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 866, ll. 145–147; WSA I/7, p. 554). Nicholas of Cusa, De uisione dei 9.36, 10.40, 11.46 (ed. Adelaida D. Riemann, Opera omnia, vol. 6 [Hamburg: Felicis Meiner, 2000], p. 34, l. 2; p. 36, l. 1; p. 40, ll. 7–8; On the Vision of God, in Selected Spiritual Writings, trans. H. Lawrence Bond, The Classics of Western Spirituality [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1997], pp. 251, 252, 255). Io. eu. tr. 17.14 (CCL 36, p. 177, ll. 16–17; WSA III/12, pp. 316–317). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 865, ll. 110–111; WSA I/7, p. 553). See ciu. 22.30 (CCL 48, p. 864, l. 99–p. 866, l. 148; WSA I/7, pp. 553–554).

240 The Fleshly Resurrection of the Saints praise.”138 Their undying being will be coextensive with their undying activity.139 Who they are will be coterminous with what they do. Thus, the saints will participate, imitate, and image the Trinity, who is essentially himself that which he actively does within himself.140 For Augustine, the beatific resurrection opens humans up to the ­transcendent heights and unfathomable depths of the Trinity of the resurrection, who always fills and fulfills the being and activity, the emptiness and rest, of his saints. Advancing forward in hope for the beatific resurrection of the Church, Augustine indicates that he and his fellow companions already rejoice as the new man, singing the new song of Alleluia in their hearts and flesh.141 Even now, they are offering themselves as an uplifted and uplifting sacrifice of praise in and through the risen Christ to God, lauding him for accomplishing the past resurrection of their head, the present resurrection of their spirit, and the future resurrection of their flesh. Every evil, every sin, and every death will definitively be conquered by the resurrected Christ, who contains and bestows upon humanity the plenitude of goodness, love, and life. Seeing that God has permanently thrown himself down in Christ into our hearts and flesh, even when he has lifted them up to the heights of his glory, Augustine and company are being empowered likewise to throw themselves down in uplifting worship before the Lord, casting down the immortal crowns of their good merits, which are nothing else but God’s gracious gifts of mercy.142 In and through the resurrected flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, with never ceasing and ever increasing praise to the God of the resurrection, Augustine joins the ecclesial chorus of angels and saints, exuberantly crying out the eternal Gospel of the everlasting triumph of God and man: Christ is risen! Indeed, he is risen! Amen! Alleluia!



138 139 140 141 142

See en. Ps. 145.8 (CCL 40, p. 2110, ll. 1–10; WSA III/20, p. 406). See en. Ps. 103.4.17 (CCL 40, p. 1534, ll. 2, 8–9; WSA III/19, p. 181). See trin. 15.26.47 (CCL 50A, p. 528, ll. 87–89; WSA I/5, p. 432). See s. 255A.1–255A.2 (MA 1, p. 719, ll. 13–16; p. 332, ll. 12–27; WSA III/7, pp. 165–166). See, e.g., gr. et lib. arb. 14–15 (PL 44, col. 890, l. 15–col. 891, l. 4; WSA I/26, pp. 80–81).



Epilogue Augustine Advancing toward the Resurrection

A Look Backward at the Course of Our Journey with Augustine Our journey with Augustine toward the resurrection has led us along the productive path of his theological career. We have tracked how he has made significant progress in his ever-deepening appreciations of what the resurrection is and of how the resurrection of Christ, head and members, stands at the very center of the Christian life not only of faith, here and now, but also of sight, there and then. As we discovered, in Part I, Augustine advances from an initial adumbration of the resurrection, remaining in the shadows of ambiguity, to two early considerations of the resurrection, as the repristination of humanity, and as the transmutation of human flesh into an angelic body. We proceeded next to observe, in Part II, that Augustine comes to a culminating moment in his conceptualization of Jesus Christ’s resurrected and ever-enduring flesh, during his contentions against the Manichaean rejection of human flesh and its resurrection, particularly in Contra Faustum Manicheum. Our explorations showed how his specular preaching on the historical events of and around the resurrection of Jesus facilitates an encounter now with the living and life-giving Christ. We also appreciated his elaboration, in De trinitate, on how the single resurrection of Christ’s flesh sacramentally and exemplarily brings about the double resurrection of our souls and bodies. In Part III, we focused on Augustine’s descriptions and schematizations of the present spiritual resurrection of the human soul from three gravities of spiritual death. In light of these, we further analyzed his own experience of his spiritual resurrection, as he narrates it in Confessiones. Our study also investigated how he handles 241

242 Epilogue the embodied expressions of this historical resurrection by Christians as they advance toward the death and resurrection of their flesh. In Part IV, we attended to Augustine’s defense of the eschatological resurrection of all human flesh against its detractors, especially the Roman pagans and the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophers. Our search led us to explore his speculations on the miserable resurrection of the damned to the eternal death of hell and the beatific resurrection of the saints to the eternal life of heaven. Throughout this study, we have appreciated how the resurrection provides Augustine some of the profoundest insights not only into the human person and human community, but also into the God of the resurrection. While we have covered much ground with Augustine, we can still advance a couple of steps further by considering how he prepares his people and himself for the death of his flesh in hope for its resurrection to eternal life. In coming closer to the edge of eternity during his last years and final days, this theologian of the resurrection advances toward the universal resurrection at the threshold between the twilight of time and the dawn of eternity. Of significant moment, he shows concern for the life of the Catholic Church in Hippo after his death and for his own afterlife as a member of this Church. These two concerns are respectively recorded in the ecclesiastical proceedings of Epistula 213 and in the Sancti Augustini uita of Possidius.

The Preparation of the Church for Life after His Death As the record of Epistula 213 evinces, Augustine was concerned about the issue of episcopal succession and about the peace of the Church after his death. Out of these concerns, he convoked not only his two fellow bishops, seven priests, and other clergy, but also a crowd of people in the Basilica of Peace to publicly appoint the priest Heraclius his successor as the bishop of Hippo.1 In his address, Augustine voices his desire to prevent such a contentious transition to a new bishop

1

This ecclesial convocation took place on September 26, 426.

The Preparation of Augustine for Resurrection 243 as that which the Church in Milevis recently experienced. Having come into old age himself, beyond which there remains no further stage, except death and resurrection, Augustine transfers his earthly hope, in this mortal life, from a succeeding age for himself to a succeeding bishop for his congregation. He declares his will – which he believes to be the will of God – that Heraclius become his successor.2 At this word, the Church erupts in jubilation. Over and over again, “the people [acclaim], ‘Thanks be to God; praises be to Christ!’ […] ‘Hear us, Christ; long live Augustine!’ […] ‘You are our father; you are our bishop!’”3 Augustine hears these shouts of agreement as the signature of the Church on these proceedings, for which he made his final request.4 He concludes this convocation by turning with the Church in prayer to God: It is good that we are able to conduct these matters which are of God around [the time of] his sacrifice. In this hour of our supplication, I especially commend to your charity that you interrupt all your concerns and occupations, and you pour forth prayer to the Lord for this Church, for me, and for the priest Heraclius.5

In such a peaceful and prayerful manner, Augustine prepares the Church in Hippo for his passing over from this present life of mortality to that future life of immortality. Sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery, he would depart from this world, but not from the Church.

The Preparation of Augustine for Resurrection after His Death Having prepared his people for his successor several years in advance of his death, Augustine prepares himself for his resurrection several months in advance of his death. As Possidius recounts, the elderly

2 3 4 5

See ep. 213.1 (CSEL 57, p. 372, l. 13–p. 374, l. 18; WSA II/4, pp. 32–33). ep. 213.1 (CSEL 57, p. 374, ll. 18–21; WSA II/4, p. 33). See ep. 213.6 (CSEL 57, p. 378, l. 11–p. 379, l. 3; WSA II/4, p. 35). ep. 213.7 (CSEL 57, p. 379, ll. 4–9; WSA II/4, p. 35).

244 Epilogue Augustine used to praise and preach the words Ambrose once spoke on his deathbed: “I have not lived in such a way that I should be ashamed to live among you, but I am not afraid to die because we have a good Lord.”6 In these words, Augustine grasped the confidence that the dying Ambrose had not so much in his purity of life, but rather more in the goodness of the Lord, to whom he was daily praying, “Forgive us our sins” (Mt 6:12).7 Possidius writes that, during the third month of the Vandal siege of Hippo in the year 430, Augustine fell into a fever, at the end of whose course God would take his soul from this world to himself, much as Augustine was asking him to do.8 Up until his terminal illness, Augustine remained tireless in his devotion to preaching of the word of God in the Church, “vigorously and boldly, with sound mind and sound counsel.”9 But after its onset, he devoted himself to the performance of “worthy and proper penance, without [which,] after the reception [of] baptism, even laudable Christians and priests ought not to depart from the body.”10 Having had the shortest of the penitential psalms written out and affixed to his bedroom wall, Augustine kept reading and praying them, shedding copious and continual tears. About ten days before his death, Augustine requested that no one be allowed to enter his room and disturb him from his preparations for the death and resurrection of his flesh, except the visiting physicians and those bringing him nourishment. Thus, while not neglecting to care for his dying body, he was free to occupy himself in prayer. At the age of seventy-six, Augustine’s soul departed from his body, all of whose members remained intact, and whose sight and hearing remained unimpaired. Surrounded by his friends and held in their prayers, he went to sleep with his fathers



6 7

8 9 10

See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 27 (Weiskotten, p. 106, ll. 12–22; FaCh 15, p. 106). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 27 (Weiskotten, p. 106, l. 21–p. 108, l. 7; FaCh 15, pp. 106–107). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 29 (Weiskotten, p. 116, ll. 10–22; FaCh 15, p. 111). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 140, ll. 25–27; FaCh 15, p. 123). Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 140, ll. 13–15; FaCh 15, p. 122).

The Preparation of Augustine for Resurrection 245 (see 1 Kings 2:10).11 As Possidius testifies, “[A]nd in our presence, for the commendation and reposition of his body, the sacrifice was offered to God, and he was buried.”12 In and with the company of the Church, Augustine entrusted himself, body and soul, to the sacrificial mercy of God in Christ, whom he believed and hoped would awaken him from the sleep of death and resurrect his flesh from the grave on the last day. On a final note, Possidius reports that the legacy which Augustine, the poor man of God, bequeathed to the Church on earth consisted of not only a good number of clergy and monasteries of men and women, but also the books of his voluminous library.13 As Possidius encourages his readers, “[I]n [these books], by the gift of God, what kind and how great a man he was in the Church are discovered, and in them he is found by the faithful to be living always.”14 As evidence, Possidius resources the words of a secular poet: Do you want to know, O traveler, that the poet lives after death? Behold, what you are reading I am speaking, your voice is truly mine.15

Despite this literary kind of living presence in his surviving treatises and sermons, Possidius admits the paramount presence of Augustine alive in the flesh. As a Catholic priest and bishop, he spent his ordained life of almost forty years faithfully preaching the word of God in the Church.16 As Possidius confesses: [T]hose who are reading him, writing about divine things, derive profit. But I think those persons were able to derive greater



11



12



16

13 14 15

See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 140, l. 9–p. 142, l. 3; FaCh 15, pp. 122–123). Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 142, ll. 3–5; FaCh 15, p. 123). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 142, ll. 5–17; FaCh 15, p. 123). Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 142, ll. 17–19; FaCh 15, p. 123). Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 142, ll. 22–23; FaCh 15, pp. 123–124). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 140, ll. 9–12; FaCh 15, p. 122).

246 Epilogue profit from him, who were able to hear him speaking and see him present in the Church, and especially those who were not ignorant of his manner of life among men.17

With his entire person oriented toward and set on Christ, Augustine strove to integrate the words of his heart and the witness of his flesh. Obedient to the instructions of Scripture and the exemplary words and actions of Jesus, Augustine endeavored to be both a preacher and a practitioner (see Jas 2:12), both a teacher and a doer (see Mt 5:19), of the word of God.18 All of this was in service of the integral resurrection not only of himself, but also of his brothers and sisters in Christ to eternal life in God.

A Look Forward to the End of Our Journey with Augustine Augustine – living again in the flesh by the power of God, integrally configured to the resurrected Christ, and brought to consummation in the Spirit – is one of the well-known and well-beloved saints whom the Church now hopes eventually to hear, see, and embrace, and who now also hopes to hear, see, and embrace the other integrally resurrected members of the Church. Such an encounter will hopefully take place at the end of our journey into the resurrection when all of us together will be raised from the dust and will ascend from the ashes to behold forever the resurrected faces of each other and the resurrecting face of our God.



17 18

Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 144, ll. 1–4; FaCh 15, p. 124). See Possidius, Sancti Augustini uita 31 (Weiskotten, p. 144, ll. 4–10; FaCh 15, p. 124).

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250 Bibliography Augustine. De libero arbitrio libri tres. Edited by William M. Green. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 74, 3–154. Vienna: Hölder-PichlerTempsky, 1956. Augustine. Locutionum in Heptateuchum libri VII. Edited by Johannes Fraipont. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 33, 381–465. Turnhout: Brepols, 1958. Augustine. De magistro liber unus. Edited by Klaus-Detlef Daur, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 29, 157–203. Turhout: Brepols, 1970. Augustine. De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum libri duo. Edited by Johannes B. Bauer. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 90, 3–156. Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1992. Augustine. De musica. Edited by Martin Jacobsson. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 102, 69–233. Berlin – Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2017. Augustine. De natura boni liber. Edited by Joseph Zycha. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 25.2, 855–889. Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1892. Augustine. De ordine libri duo. Edited by William M. Green. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 29, 89–137. Turhout: Brepols, 1970. Augustine. De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo paruulorum ad Marcellinum libri tres. Edited by Charles F. Urba and Joseph Zycha. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 60, 3–151. Vienna: Hölder-PichlerTempsky, 1913. Augustine. Quaestionum in Heptateuchum libri VII. Edited by Johannes Fraipont. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 33, 1–377. Turnhout: Brepols, 1958. Augustine. Retractationum libri II. Edited by Almut Mutzenbecher. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 57, 5–143. Turhout: Brepols, 1984. Augustine. Contra Secundinum liber. Edited by Joseph Zycha. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 25.2, 905–947. Vienna: Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1892. Augustine. Sermones. (Arranged alphabetically by publication source, then by sermon number)

Corpus Christianorum Series Latina Augustine. Sermones de uetere testamento (1–50). Edited by Cyril Lambot. Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 41, 3–633. Turnhout: Brepols, 1961.

Ecclesia Orans Augustine. Sermo 58. Edited by Pierre-Patrick Verbraken. Ecclesia Orans 1 (1984): 119–132.

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Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, Supplementum Augustine. Sermones. Edited by Adalbert-Gautier Hamman. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, Supplementum 2, cols. 417–1360. Paris: Éditions Garnier Frères, 1960.

Recherches Augustiniennes Augustine. Sermo 198. Edited by François Dolbeau. Recherches Augustiniennes 26 (1992): 90–141.

Revue des Études Augustiniennes Augustine. Sermo 20B. Edited by François Dolbeau. Revue des Études Augustiniennes 40 (1994): 290–298. Augustine. Sermo 150. Edited by Jacques Elfassi. Revue des Études Augustiniennes 45 (1999): 39–49.

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Bibliography Augustine. Agreement among the Evangelists. Translated by Kim Paffenroth. In New Testament I and II. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/15 and I/16, 139–332. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2014. Augustine. Answer to Adimantus, a Disciple of Mani. In The Manichean Debate. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/19, 176–223. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2006. Augustine. Answer to Faustus, a Manichean. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/20, 69–431. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2007. Augustine. Answer to Felix, a Manichean. In The Manichean Debate. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/19, 280–316. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2006. Augustine. Answer to Secundinus, a Manichean. In The Manichean Debate. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/19, 363–390. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2006. Augustine. Answer to Skeptics. Edited by Ludwig Schopp. Translated by Denis J. Kavanagh. The Fathers of the Church 5, 103–225. New York: CIMA, 1948. Augustine. The Care to Be Taken for the Dead. Translated by John A. Lacy. In Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects. Edited by Roy J. Deferrari. The Fathers of the Church 27, 351–384. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1955. Augustine. The Christian Combat. Edited by Roy J. Deferrari. Translated by Robert P. Russell. The Fathers of the Church 2, 315–353. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1947. Augustine. The City of God, Part I. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by William Babcock. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/6, 1–348. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2012. Augustine. The City of God, Part II. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by William Babcock. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/7, 1–554. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2013. Augustine. Commentary on Galatians. Edited and translated by Eric A. Plumer, 124–235. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Augustine. The Confessions. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/1, 39–380. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1997.

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254 Bibliography Augustine. A Debate with Fortunatus, a Manichean. In The Manichean Debate. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/19, 144–162. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2006. Augustine. Divine Providence and the Problem of Evil. Edited by Ludwig Schopp. Translated by Robert P. Russell. The Fathers of the Church 5, 239–332. New York: CIMA, 1948. Augustine. The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Charity. Translated by Bruce Harbert. In On Christian Belief. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/8, 273–343. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2005. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 1–32. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/15, 67–424. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2000. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 33–50. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/16, 13–429. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2000. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 51–72. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/17, 13–492. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2001. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 73–98. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/18, 13–483. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2002. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 99–120. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/19, 13–526. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2003. Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms 121–150. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Maria Boulding. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/20, 13–515. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press 2004. Augustine. Expressions in the Heptateuch. Translated by Joseph T. Lienhard. In Writings on the Old Testament. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/14, 485–594. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2016. Augustine. Faith and the Creed. Translated by Michael G. Campbell. In On Christian Belief. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/8, 155–174. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2005. Augustine. The Free Choice of the Will. Edited by Roy J. Deferrari. Translated by Robert P. Russell. The Fathers of the Church 59, 72–241. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1968.

Bibliography Augustine. On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees. In On Genesis. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/13, 39–102. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2002. Augustine. Grace and Free Choice. In Answer to the Pelagians, IV. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/26, 71–106. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1999. Augustine. The Happy Life. Edited and translated by Ludwig Schopp. The Fathers of the Church 5, 43–84. New York: CIMA, 1948. Augustine. Heresies. In Arianism and Other Heresies. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/18, 31–77. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1995. Augustine. Holy Virginity. In Marriage and Virginity. Edited by David G. Hunter. Translated by Ray Kearney. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/9, 68–107. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1999. Augustine. Homilies on the First Epistle of John. Edited by Daniel E. Doyle and Thomas Martin. Translated by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/14, 19–158. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2008. Augustine. Homilies on the Gospel of John 1–40. Edited by Allan D. Fitzgerald. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/12, 39–604. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2009. Augustine. Homilies on the Gospel of John 41–124. Edited by Allan D. Fitzgerald. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/13, 7–548. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2009. Augustine. The Immortality of the Soul. Edited by Hermigild Dressler. Translated by Ludwig Schopp. The Fathers of the Church 4, 15–47. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1947. Augustine. Instructing Beginners in Faith. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Raymond Canning. The Augustine Series (Selected Writings from “The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century”) 5, 3–119. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2006. Augustine. Letters 1–99. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century II/1, 15– 434. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2001. Augustine. Letters 100–155. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century II/2, 15–415. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2003.

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Bibliography Augustine. Questions on the Heptateuch. Translated by Joseph T. Lienhard and Sean Doyle. In Writings on the Old Testament. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/14, 15– 430. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2016. Augustine. Rebuke and Grace. In Answer to the Pelagians, IV. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Roland J. Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/26, 109–145. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1999. Augustine. Revisions. Edited by Roland J. Teske. Translated by Boniface Ramsey. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/2, 21–168. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2010. Augustine. Sermons, (1–19) on the Old Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/1, 169–386. Brooklyn, NY: New City Press, 1990. Augustine. Sermons, (20–50) on the Old Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/2, 15–352. Brooklyn, NY: New City Press, 1990. Augustine. Sermons, (51–94) on the Old Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/3, 19–479. Brooklyn, NY: New City Press, 1991. Augustine. Sermons, (94A–147A) on the Old Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/4, 19–456. Brooklyn, NY: New City Press, 1992. Augustine. Sermons, (148–183) on the New Testament. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/5, 17–345. New Rochelle, NY: New City Press, 1992. Augustine. Sermons, (184–229Z) on the Liturgical Seasons. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/6, 17–344. New Rochelle, NY: New City Press, 1993. Augustine. Sermons, (230–272B) on the Liturgical Seasons. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/7, 17–310. New Rochelle, NY: New City Press, 1993. Augustine. Sermons, (273–305A) on the Saints. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/8, 17–334. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1994. Augustine. Sermons, (306–340A) on the Saints. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Edmund Hill. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century III/9, 17–308. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1994.

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268 Bibliography O’Meara, John J. “Parting from Porphyry.” Congresso Internazionale su S. Agostino nel XVI Centenario della Conversione, Roma, 15–20 settembre 1986, Atti 2, 357–369. Rome: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 1987. Osborn, Eric. Tertullian, First Theologian of the West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pannenberg, Wolfhart. The Apostles’ Creed in Light of Today’s Questions. Translated by Margaret Kohl. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1972. Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Jesus–God and Man. Translated by Lewis L. Wilkins and Duane A. Priebe. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1968/1977. Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Systematic Theology. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998. Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Mystery of Continuity: Time and History, Memory and Eternity in the Thought of Saint Augustine. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986. Pierce, Alexander H. “Augustine’s Eschatological Vision: The Dynamism of Seeing and Seeking God in Heaven.” Pro Ecclesia 29 (2020): 217–238. Plotinus. Ennead III. Edited by Jeffrey Henderson. Translated by Arthur H. Armstrong. Rev. ed. Loeb Classical Library 442. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967/1980/1993. Plotinus. Ennead VI: 6–9. Edited by Jeffrey Henderson. Translated by Arthur H. Armstrong. Loeb Classical Library 468. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988. Plumer, Eric A. Augustine’s Commentary on Galatians: Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Possidius. Indiculus. Edited by Jacques-Paul Migne. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina 46, cols. 5–22. Paris: Migne, 1842. Possidius. Life of Augustine. Translated by Mary Magdeleine Muller and Roy J. Deferrari. In Early Christian Biographies. Edited by Hermigild Dressler. The Fathers of the Church 15, 73–124. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1952. Possidius. Sancti Augustini uita. Edited and translated by Herbert T. Weiskotten. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1919. Poque, Suzanne. “Introduction.” In Augustine, Sermons pour la Pâque. Edited and translated by Suzanne Poque. Sources Chrétiennes 116, 9–115. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1966. Rákos-Zichy, Johanna. “The Resurrection Body in Augustine.” Studia Patristica 24 (2017): 373–384. Rebillard, Éric. In hora mortis: Évolution de la pastorale chrétienne de la mort aux IVe et Ve siècles dans l’occident Latin. BEFAR 283. Rome: École Française de Rome, 1994.

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Index

Abel, 215 Abraham, 83, 101 Adam, 47–49, 66, 127, 144, 194 Adeodatus, 13 Aeneas, 182 age, 198, 220 Alfeche, Mamerto, 64 Alleluia, 238–240 Ambrose of Milan, 19–20, 22–24, 159, 167, 243–244 analogies of nature, 24, 178, 206 anastasis, 3, 25, 39 angelic body. See transmutation angels, the communion with, 115, 153, 238–240 equality with, 65–68, 105, 124, 192, 227–229 anthropology Augustinian, 21, 33–38, 45, 103, 193–195 Manichaean, 33–34, 54, 62, 77 Platonic and Neoplatonic, 21, 33–34, 62, 181–183 apotheosis, 180, 189 appearances of the resurrected Christ, 87, 95 Arianism, 97, 117 ascension of Christ, 56–58, 67, 70, 100–101 of the Church, 57, 65–66, 100 ascent Augustinian, 44, 52, 154–155 Neoplatonic, 31–32, 35, 154–155 Augustine and his fleshly death, 143–145, 243–245 and his fleshly resurrection, 13, 15, 140, 146–147, 152, 154, 156, 242–246 and his spiritual death, 141–151 and his spiritual resurrection, 13, 30, 119, 138–141, 151–153, 156 Aurelius of Carthage, 167

baptism of Augustine, 17, 30, 139, 144, 153 and resurrection, 22–23, 84, 114, 128, 135, 156, 209 beatific vision. See vision of God, beatific beauty, 35, 49, 53, 184, 198, 205, 211, 221–223 Bochet, Isabelle, 4, 106 Boulding, Maria, 8, 156 burial of Christ’s body, 93–94 of the human body, 155, 167–170, 245 Bynum, Caroline Walker, 7–8 Cary, Phillip, 139 Cassiciacum, 17, 28, 31, 36 Cavadini, John, 6–7 children, resurrection of, 195 Christ and the Church, 51–52, 59–61, 88–89, 99, 113–115, 128–129, 236–237 components of, 50–51, 92–93 as contacted, 73, 87–89, 101–102 docetic, 75–78, 81, 83, 144 as fish, 156 Manichaean versions of, 75. See also Christ, docetic as mediator of life, 115–118 prayer of, 51, 135 as predestined, 59 as resurrected, 49–52, 58–60, 63–65, 73, 78–80, 86, 91–95, 179–180, 184–185 as teacher, 13–15, 29–30 Church. See also Christ, and the Church on earth, 61, 88–89, 100–101, 242–243, 245–246 in heaven, 61, 101, 246 of the resurrection, 60–61, 115, 149–150, 225–226, 234–235 as rock, 113–115 Cicero, 32, 151, 189–190

271

272 Index circumcision, 78, 84 city earthly, 187, 191, 208–209 of God, 101, 187, 209, 211, 215–216, 237 commemorations of the dead, 167–168 consolation, letters of, 170–172 conversion, 19–20, 27, 30, 123, 148, 153 1Corinthians 15:50, 54, 57–58, 68, 70, 82 Cornelius, 170 cosmology Augustinian, 191–193 Platonic and Neoplatonic, 67–69, 188–189 Crosson, Frederick, 143 Cullmann, Oscar, 31 Cutrone, Emmanuel, 110–111 Cygenius, 168 damned, the resurrected possibility of, 205–208 as self-alienated, 69–70, 85–86, 203–205 suitability of, 208–210 death eternal, 26, 54, 116, 124–125, 203–205, 207, 214 as evil, 47–49, 158–159 as inscrutable, 150–151 kinds of, 22–23, 45–49, 157–159 physical, 105, 107, 114, 130, 157–159, 164–166, 172, 197 spiritual, 45–47, 77, 80, 105, 124–127, 129, 136, 170 defense of the resurrection anti-Manichaean, 27–28, 57–58, 68–69, 73, 75–80, 83–84 anti-pagan, 177–180 anti-Platonic, 57, 67–68, 180–188 deformities, 194–195, 205, 223 descent into hell, 93–94, 208–209 devil as mediator of death, 115–117 punishment of, 116, 202, 205–206, 209 Donatism, 99, 117 Easter, 88, 108, 153 eating and drinking in this life, 68, 156, 167–168, 173, 178, 244 in the resurrection, 53, 56, 80, 95, 220, 223–224

Eden, 44, 48, 56, 70 Elijah, 200 Elisha, 231 Emmaus, 88, 99 Enosh, 215 Epicureanism, 38, 164 eternal return. See history, as cyclical Eucharist, 84, 88, 155–156, 168, 209 Eusebius of Caesarea, 169 Eve, 49 faith in the resurrection, 14–15, 23–24, 85, 96–97, 111–113, 169–170, 187–188, 191–192, 215–217 revivification of, 98–99 Faustus of Milevis, 75–77, 82 Felix the confessor, 168 females, resurrection of. See sex and gender fetuses, resurrection of, 195 fire of hell, 144, 161, 201–202, 206, 208, 211, 214 flight from the body, 33, 36–37, 41, 43, 147, 182–184, 192 Flora, 168 Fortunatus, 53–54 freedom, 94, 183–184, 186, 219–220 friendship, 113–116, 144, 218–219 funeral. See burial, of the human body Gehazi, 231 glory of Christ, 54, 92–93, 95, 109, 113, 144 of the earthly city, 189–191 of God, 62, 90, 211–212, 238–240 of the heavenly city, 191, 212, 225–226 Gnosticism, 20 grace. See resurrection, grace of Gregory of Nyssa, 19–20, 25–27 hairs and nails, 159, 196–198 heaven activity and rest of, 55, 156, 238–240 satisfaction of, 156, 237–238 three kinds of, 227 Hecate, 192 hell, 75, 94, 144, 151, 224–225 Heraclius of Hippo, 12–13, 242–243 Hercules, 189 heroes, 180, 189–191

Index 273 history as cyclical, 183, 209 as unrepeatable, 185 as vindicated, 222–225, 235 Holy Spirit and resurrection, 101, 108–109, 154, 217–219, 224 hope for the resurrection, 84, 155, 157, 169–172, 240 revivification of, 99 humility, 115–116, 118, 134, 152, 179–180, 185–188, 193 Hymenaeus and Philetus, 76 identity, continuity of, 58, 61–64, 69, 93–94, 164–166 immortality of the soul, 30, 33, 37–38, 41, 44–46, 126–127 incorruption, 53, 70, 82, 205–206, 218 interim. See continuity, identity of Isaac, 83 Italica, 170 Jacob, 83 Jerusalem, 99, 101 Jews, 84, 91, 96, 200 1John 2:16, 143–145 Judas Iscariot, 137 judgment, final, 54, 85–86, 91, 132, 200–203, 209, 213 Jupiter, 192 justice and mercy, divine, 60, 203, 208–214 justification, 78–79, 85, 112–113 Lazarus, 66–67, 134–137, 148, 171 Licentius, 36 life eternal, 4–5, 26, 46, 54, 88–89, 115, 121, 124, 214 happy, 4–5, 35–36, 42–43, 45, 163–164, 182–183, 236 social, 36 love and resurrection, 46–47, 162–163 two kinds of, 46, 115, 186–187, 203 Luke 24:39, 63–64, 70, 80, 82 magic, 162 males, resurrection of. See sex and gender Manichaeism

Augustine’s involvement with, 28–29, 75, 143–145, 196 ideology of, 75–78, 83, 144–145, 147 Marcionism, 20 Marrou, Henri, 8–9 Martha of Bethany, 134, 220 martyrs, 158–164, 169, 223 Mary Magdalene, 97 Mary of Bethany, 220 Mary, Virgin, 79 memories, 182, 211, 223–225 mercy. See also justice and mercy, divine of the resurrected Christ, 97–98, 151, 186 works of, 88–89, 133, 209, 219–220 millennialism, 44, 54–55, 121–122 miracles of the martyrs, 161–162 of resurrection, 136–137 Monica, 143, 148–151, 153–155, 167 mortality. See death Moses, 83, 113, 127 Naaman the Syrian, 231 new heaven and new earth, 23, 42–43, 53, 191, 200, 231–234 Nicholas of Cusa, 1, 239 O’Collins, Gerald, 1, 6–7 omnipotence, 78, 178–179, 206–207 Origen, 209 Ostia, vision at, 154–155 paganism, 20, 85, 91, 96, 117, 171, 173, 189 Pannenberg, Wolfhart, 31, 125, 136 paschal mystery of Christ, 23, 50–51, 58, 79–80, 148, 203, 208, 211–212, 236, 243 of Christians, 78, 107–110, 129–130 Patricius, 149, 155 patristic theologies of the resurrection, 17, 19–20 Paul the apostle and death, 46, 126 and resurrection, 40, 59, 67–68, 82, 84, 122, 163–166 writings of, 42, 49, 85, 90, 133, 175 Paulinus of Nola, 168 peace, 53, 97, 218–219, 242–243 Pelagianism, 117, 134, 159

274 Index penance, 129, 137, 224, 244 Peter the apostle, 22, 164 Pharisees, 83 Photinianism, 97 Plato, 28, 35, 39, 42, 174, 181–183, 185, 187–188, 192 Platonism and Neoplatonism contributions of, 5, 31–32, 38, 181–182, 187–188 oppositions of, 17, 32–33, 42, 44–45, 117, 159–160 Plotinus, 39, 155, 182 Porphyry, 39, 43, 106, 174, 181, 183–185, 187–188 Possidius of Calama, 1, 13, 242–246 poverty, 62–63, 88, 142, 245 preaching of the resurrection, 73, 101–102, 163–164, 173 specular, 89–91 pride, 115–118, 152, 185–186 Priscillianism, 81 prison, body as, 36, 160, 182 punishments eternality of, 214 mitigation of, 213 purgatorial, 213–214 reconsiderations, 10, 42–43, 55–56, 70–71 Regulus, Marcus, 191 reincarnation, 24, 182–183, 185 repristination Augustinian, 18, 44, 52–53, 58 Manichaean, 53–54 resurrection adumbration of, 17, 32, 38–40 ambiguity of, 17, 32, 43 analysis of, 130–134 centrality of, 1–3 circumference of, 1 grace of, 24, 127–129, 134–135, 137, 150, 180, 196, 204–205, 218 kinds of, 9–13, 54, 66, 241–242 meaning of, 3–5 seed of, 65, 97, 128, 163, 178, 218 terminology of, 3 as Trinitarian work, 51, 94–95, 130–132, 240, 246 resurrection of the body as described, 173–174, 201–202

and material continuity, 25, 195–199, 223 and material differentiation, 197–198 as mystery, 5, 26, 174–175, 198–199, 216–217 recipients of, 193–195 resurrection of the soul as described, 119, 121–125, 132–134 as experienced, 125–126 as expressed, 119, 157, 172 Rist, John, 19–20, 33 Romanianus, 170 Rome as eternal, 190 sack of, 169 Romulus, 189 Rufinus of Aquileia, 169 sacrament and example of Christ, 49–50, 104–105 of Christ’s paschal mystery, 73–74, 103–111, 118 sacraments, 84–85, 110–111 Sadducees, 83–84 saints, the resurrected, 54–55, 61, 67, 86, 105, 154–155, 210–111, 215–219 Sallust, 189 Sapida, 170–171 scars of Christ, 80, 97–98, 186, 223 of the martyrs, 223 Scripture, resurrection in New Testament, 80–83 Old Testament, 82–83 as a whole, 18, 40, 71, 78–79, 87–88, 121–125, 132, 210 Seth, 215 sex and gender, 27, 48, 53, 56, 194, 221–222 sin as action, 136–137, 149–150 as compulsion, 146, 150–151 as death, 136 as habit, 137, 145–150 original, 47–49, 66, 127, 144 as thought, 136 size and stature, 198 sleep, 39, 94, 122, 126, 146, 171, 178, 220, 244–245 Spirit, Holy. See Holy Spirit and resurrection

Index 275 spiritual body, 48, 56, 65, 199, 217–218, 228–233 standing, resurrected posture of, 140, 148, 153–154 Stoicism, 21, 38, 164 Studer, Basil, 105, 110 swiftness, 220–221

Vannier, Marie-Anne, 5–6 Varro, 187 Vergil, 182–183, 190 Victorinus, Marius, 39 vision of God beatific, 85–86, 104–105, 111, 226–237 theophanic, 113–115 Volusian, 15

Tertullian of Carthage, 4, 19–21 Thomas the apostle, 97 Timothy of Carthage, 170–171 transmigration of the soul. See reincarnation transmutation, 18, 27, 57–59, 63–71 transparency, 49, 69, 221–224

weight of the elements, 188–189, 192–193 of habitual sin, 135, 137, 145–147 of the resurrected body, 26–27, 192 world soul, 192 Wright, N. T., 3–4

universal restoration, 25–26

Young, Frances, 7