Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei 9783666551611, 3525551614, 9783525551615

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V&R

Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte

Herausgegeben von Adolf Martin Ritter

Band 53

Göttingen · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht · 1993

Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei von Miikka Ruokanen

Göttingen · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht · 1993

Die Deutsche Bibliothek -

CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Ruokanen, Miikka: Theology of social life in Augustine's De civitate Dei / von Miikka Ruokanen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1993 (Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte; Bd. 53) ISBN 3-525-55161-4 NE: GT

© 1993 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen Printed in Germany. - Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmung und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Druck: Guide-Druck GmbH, Tübingen Bindearbeit: Hubert & Co., Göttingen

Acknowledgements I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. R.A. Markus, Prof. Simo Knuuttila, Prof. Roland J. Teske, S.J., Prof. Robert B. Eno, S.S., and Prof. Iiro Kajanto, who kindly read my manuscript and provided me with a great deal of invaluable advice for the improvement of my work. I am also thankful to Ms. Virginia Nikkilä and Dr. Carolyn Norris, who made a significant contribution in editing my English, and to Prof. Adolf Martin Ritter and Dr. Arndt Ruprecht, who accepted my work to be published in the series Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte.

Helsinki, August 1992

Miikka Ruokanen

Zusammenfassung Aufgrund seines Werkes De civitate Dei kann Augustin als ontologischer Optimist bezeichnet werden: Er glaubt an die ursprüngliche vollkommene Harmonie und Schönheit des Schöpfungswerkes Gottes. Die Theologie des Kirchenvaters wird von dem Begriff des sozialen Lebens strukturiert. Das höchste Ziel der schöpferischen und erlösenden Tätigkeit Gottes ist eine Gemeinschaft rationaler Wesen, die ihren Schöpfer demütig lieben, die civitas Dei. Augustins Lehre von ordo, Liebe und civitas drücken zentrale Aspekte seiner Theologie der Schöpfung, seiner theologischen Anthropologie, der Theologie der Liebe, der Sündenlehre, der Eschatologie und der Moraltheologie aus. Auf der anderen Seite kann Augustin auch als moralischer Pessimist bezeichnet werden: Ihm zufolge haben die Sünde und die Folgen der Sünde das Leben des Menschen auf allen Ebenen in Unordnung gebracht. Zu den guten Ordnungen des göttlichen Schöpfungswerkes gehören u. a. die Beziehungen in der Familie und Sippe, obwohl auch sie von der Sünde geschädigt wurden. Aber zum Bereich des natürlichen Moralgesetzes gehören keinerlei Machtstrukturen des politischen Lebens; sie sind kein Teil des göttlichen Schöpfungszweckes, sondern die gesellschaftliche Machtausübung beruht auf dem Phänomen der dämonischen Machtgier, der libido dominandi. Der vom Teufel verführte Mensch vermeint, Gott "nachahmen" zu können, indem er die Mitmenschen seiner Gewalt unterwirft. Die blutige Geschichte der Menschheit ist geprägt von dem Kampf um Macht, und dies ist der wichtigste einzelne Erklärungsfaktor für den Aufstieg und den Niedergang der verschiedenen Reiche in der Weltgeschichte. Nach dem Sündenfall kann das gesellschaftliche Leben nicht auf das Ideal der Gerechtigkeit gegründet werden. In dem Werk De civitate Dei ist die Gerechtigkeit ein transzendental-eschatologischer Begriff - die vera iustitia herrscht nur in der civitas Dei. In der menschlichen Gesellschaft herrscht dagegen der Wettstreit um Macht, und deswegen kann das gemeinschaftliche Leben nur auf einem unidealistischen Vertrag über die Ziele der kollektiven, eigennützigen Liebe der Gemeinschaft beruhen. Der Gesellschaftsvertrag ist an Zeit und Kultur gebunden; die politische Realität ist somit ständig in Bewegung und Veränderungen unterworfen. Der Kirchenvater entmythologisiert die Illusionen des Idealismus und Sakralismus der triumphalistischen Politik der Römer. Seine Auffassung von der politischen Wirklichkeit ist eine realistische und dynamische, und sie enthält den Keim des Demokratiegedankens. Ciceros Auffassung von der Gesellschaft ist geprägt von dem absoluten Naturrecht und einem humanistischen Optimismus, während das Denken Augustins gekennzeichnet wird von seiner theologischen Auffassung der überall im menschlichen Leben wirkenden Macht der Sünde. Die christlichen Herrscher Europas haben Jahrhunderte hindurch die Menschen in gehorsames Untertanentum gezwungen, indem sie sich mit Unterstützung der Kirche berufen haben auf die natürliche Ungleichheit der Menschen und auf ihre von Gott gegebene Gewalt. In dem Werk De civitate Dei findet sich nichts, was die traditionelle Augustin-Interpretation stützen würde, wonach der Kirchenvater der ideologische Vater der hierarchischen und statischen Gesellschaftslehre gewesen sei, welche die Theologie Jahrhunderte hindurch beherrscht hat.

Contents

Acknowledgements

5

Zusammenfassung

6

1. Introduction

9

1.1. The Two Schools of Interpretation

9

1.2. The Aim of the Study

19

1.3. The Concept of civitas

21

2. The Doctrine of ordo

29

2.1. Lex naturae: The Goodness of Nature

29

2.2. Lex iustitiae: Human Existence under Punishment

37

3. The Doctrine of Love

43

3.1. The Limits of Rational Eudaemonism

43

3.2. Ordo amoris as the Determinant of the Quality of Life

50

3.3. The Various Concepts of Love

55

3.4. The Predominance of Love in the Constitution of the S o u l . . . .

59

3.5. The Concept of iustitia

69

4. The Doctrine of civitas

77

4.1. The Transcendental Basis of Social Life

77

4.2. Civitas Dei in History

83

4.3. Civitas terrena in History

90

4.4. Libido dominandi and the Perverse Structure of Social Power

96

4.5. The Naturally Good Social Structures

102

4.6. The Misery of Social Life

108

8

Contents

5. The Political Society of Men

112

5.1. The Dominance of civitas terrena in Historical States

112

5.2. The Discussion with Cicero on the Definition of Political Society

121

5.3. Political Society as an Association of Collective Selfish Love

131

5.4. The Christian as a Member of Political Society

142

6. Epilogue: God's Hidden Providence

157

Abbreviations

163

Sources

164

Literature

166

Index of Personal Names

177

1. Introduction

1.1. The Two Schools of Interpretation

De civitate Dei (CD, written 413-426), the magnum opus of Augustine in his later years, has probably had a greater impact on western social thought than any other single literary work. It has been called "one of the outstanding landmarks in the history of European civilization." 1 CD has proved to be an inexhaustible source of reference when discussing not only the theological concept of social life but also when touching the fundamental theological issues inseparably related to it, such as the theology of creation, theological anthropology, theology of love, the doctrine of sin, soteriology, eschatology, or the various aspects of moral theology. In CD, Augustine examines most of the central themes of Christian theology from the point of view of social life. The very title of this great apology of Christianity expresses the key idea of the work: civitas is a social concept. Augustine's opus is very much a theological conception of social life, including the whole range of aspects from the abovementioned areas of theology to the problems of social power and of the definition of the nature of the political society of men. It is remarkable that Augustine's concept of human social life or human society in CD cannot be understood only as a question of moral theology; the issue of social life is deeply rooted in the fundamentals of his entire theological thinking. It seems quite justified to speak of a theology or of a theological concept of social life in CD. The idea of social life is an organizing principle of Augustine's thought in this work; it opens an insight into all the essential areas of theology contained in CD, from the theology of creation to eschatology. Augustine develops and expresses the various dimensions of theology in terms on social life, as social phenomena: God created man a being who exists in relation to his Creator and to his fellow men. When speaking of Augustine's theology of social life in CD, we do not 1

Burleigh 1949, 217.

10

Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

move on the periphery of his thought but in the very centre of his theological thinking in this major work of his later years. Civitas is an ambiguous concept, and it is in itself a symptom of the difficulties which an interpreter of this opus of Augustine is bound to deal with. Augustine's masterpiece stimulates various kind of approaches of theological analysis, and in the history of the interpretation of this work of his, conflicting schools of thought have emerged. Roughly speaking, there are two main paradigms for interpreting the mature Augustine's main work: the traditional school of interpretation, which has its roots far back in medieval times, and the modern school of interpretation, which has slowly emerged, especially in the Englishlanguage Augustinian scholarship since the 1910's and has been partly embraced in the German-language research since the Second World War. In Augustinian research, his concept of social life has been traditionally understood very much through Scholasticism; this has been especially true in Catholic theology. 2 It is a peculiar phenomenon in the history of the interpretation of CD that this work of Augustine was also a particular object of interest among the Neo-Kantian or kulturprotestantische German liberal theologians in the early decades of this century. The traditional paradigm with its idea of an ideal Christianized society was well in accord with the idealistic ethical pathos in the liberal theological conception of Christianity. In surveying the research into CD in the 20th century, it is, however, not helpful to indicate in each case the confessional background of the researcher. Although of course the Catholic and the Protestant interpreters of Augustine have their own nuances, the real paradigmatic differences of interpretation do not necessarily match the confessional boundaries. The traditional interpretation understands Augustine's concept of civitas in terms of concrete immanent reality: civitas Dei, the city of God, is identified with the church and civitas terrena, the earthly or terrestrial city, with naturally good or neutral social or political bodies. 3 Etienne Gilson has tried to elaborate the traditional, in a sense quite simple interpretation of civitas by stating that, according to Augustine, the city of God proper is the heavenly civitas coelestis, whereas the church is ecclesia peregrina, the church on pilgrimage. Civitas

2 Good guides to the abundance of literature on Augustine are the modem bibliographies Bavel 1963, Andresen 1973, Miethe 1982, and Donnelly & Sherman 1991. The annual review of Augustinian scholarship, Bulletin Augustinien, published in Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes, offers research information up to date. CC 47, IX-XX, and Vigna 1978 offer bibliographies of the research on CD. Gilson 1943, 338-340, gives a list of studies on CD up to the 1930's. For older research on CD, see also Figgis 1921, 118-122. 3 Heinrich Scholz is a typical representative of the traditional paradigm in his identification of the city of God with the church; he explains Book XX of CD: "Das 20. Buch stellt plötzlich und unerwartet vor die Identität von Reich Gottes und Kirche." Scholz 1911, 109. A similar Statement is made by Joseph Mausbach. Referring to the data of CD, he says: "Die sichtbare Verkörperung des himmlischen Reiches ist die Kirche - -" Mausbach 1929a, 332. Cf. Dougherty 1979 and Piret 1988, 272-273.

1. Introduction

11

terrena cannot, however, be directly identified with the concrete political state.4 In spite of this modification, the model of Gilson is lacking the eschatological tension which can be seen in Augustine's concept of civitas. In the traditional school of interpretation, Augustine's theological view of social life is comprehended in the category of natural moral law, ius naturale: the divinely ordained hierarchical order of society is an inherent part of natural life, it belongs to the original good creation of God. Natural moral law, perceived through reason, is the bridge between the two civitates. Klaus Demmer, for instance, establishes this rational connection and neutralizes the eschatological tension between the two cities.5 Demmer sees the terrestrial city as material which is formed by the city of God; the good but yet imperfect mode of human social life is perfected by God's revelation and grace. It is no wonder that Demmer identifies Augustine's concept of civitas with "juridical theology" (Rechtstheologie). 6 Understanding civitas in terms of natural moral law results in a parallel definition of the social bodies and organizations of human life; they are based on the unalterable laws of the order of being which reflect the goodness of the will of the Creator. Joseph Mausbach, a Catholic authority on Augustine's theory of ethics, says that, according to Augustine, the laws of the state derive their right from the natural and eternal law manifested in the order of the creation.7 Anton-Hermann Chroust echoes the same line of thought when saying that, in Augustine's CD, the secular state constitutes a naturally good institution.8 According to the traditional school, the political authority among men is based on the just order of nature given in the creation. Gustave Combes and Chroust, among others, say that in CD political order is understood as an inherently good order of life, comparable with the domestic order; the secular state is an extension of family life. 9 Heinrich Scholz speaks of "the divine right of the 4

Gilson 1943, 237-238. Cf. Lavere 1983. "Damm bleibt ein Briickenschalg von der 'civitas Dei' zur 'civitas terrena' auf der Basis eines beiden gemeinsamen Vernunftrechtes möglich - -" Demmer 1961, 185. 6 Demmer 1961, 244.S 7 "Die Staatsgesetze, so heißt es allgemein, deren Zweck die communis utilitas, die Abwehr äußerer und innerer Feinde ist, deren Gestalt und Strenge aber mannigfachen Änderungen unterliegt, haben ihre verpflichtende Macht aus dem natürlichen und ewigen Gesetze, aus der Ordnung alles Seienden." Mausbach 1929a, 335-356. See also Mausbach 1929b, 411. 8 "Consequently, the secular State constitutes a 'natural institution' which is in its way good. For the temporal order of things, the social order among mortal man, also belongs to the hierarchial order of the created Universe." Chroust 1944, 201. Donelly, 1977, 119, says that Augustine does not object to the idea of state, "rather he conceives of it as part of God's universe". For a further positive view of Augustine's political thought, see Raschini 1987. 9 Commenting on CD, Combes states: "II suit que la vie civique est le prolongement de la vie familiale et que la charite domestique doit etendre son rayonnement sur l'Etat." Combes 1934, 199. Referring to CD, Chroust says: "In other words, the secular state, and the legal order or social structure promulgated by it, essentially is nothing other than the further or progressive 'evolution' of the same principles which constitute the foundation of the family and of the domestic order." Chroust 1977, 77. A similar statement 5

12

Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

state," according to which the "Landesvater" of a nation is, on the basis of natural justice, comparable with a "Hausvater."10 Subjection in social life is analogous to the subjection of a creature to his Creator, of the body to the soul, or a child to his father; in short, a lower entity is justly subjected to the higher. In this line of interpretation, political authority and the state are seen either as a part of the genuine order of the original creation or at least as a divine ordination for the maintenance of life after the Fall. In both cases the state is based on justice, constituted in the harmonious order of God's creation and perceived through reason." According to Mausbach, Augustine sees "the state as such" as an institution founded in natural justice, and thus it belongs to the naturally good "middle area" between duae civitates, the two opposed cities.12 The natural moral goodness of the state concerns, of course, all cases, irrespective of religion or other cultural factors that prevail in a political society.13 According to the traditional paradigm of the CD interpretation, Augustine's theological concept of social life is in harmony with classical philosophical social thought: a just political state makes a virtuous life possible; the good of the individual presupposes a rightly organized political society. Augustine's concept of political authority is understood as parallel to that of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero; the state is based on objective absolute justice, analogous to the smaller scale organization of paterfamilias, the patriarchal structure of family.14 The school of thought, according to which Augustine believes that justice, based on natural moral law, is the essence of the society and state, was confirmed by the

is made by Bliemetzrieder 1913, 107: "Die häusliche Gemeinschaft der Familie ist der Anfang der bürgerlichen." •ο Scholz 1911, 105-106. 11 Commenting on Augustine's CD, Bruno Seidel defines: "Es ist die auf der Vernunft beruhende natürliche Gerechtigkeit, welche Augustin dem Staate als wesentlich zuschreibt." Seidel 1909, 21. "Der Staat beruht nach Augustin auf der von Gott zum gesellschaftlichen Leben bestimmten und veranlagten Natur der Menschen." Ibid., 41. 12 "- - der Staat als solcher - - gehört wie die Güter der Menschennatur und der Familie zu einem Mittelbezirke zwischen den beiden Gegensätzen, dessen sich beide bedienen und bemächtigen müssen." Mausbach 1929a, 332-333. "Mit großem Nachdruck zeigt er vielmehr auch die naturrechtliche Bedeutung des Staates." Ibid., 335. Similarly, justice as the establishment of the state in the natural sphere of civitas terrena is emphasized by the modern Italian Augustine research. See Cotta 1960 and Giordano 1984, e.g. 13 Referring primarily to CD, Otto Schilling states: "Der Staat an sich, auch der heidnische Römerstaat, besitzt sittlichen Character; der Grad der Güte bemißt sich nach dem verschiedenen ethischen Werte der Ideale, die angestrebt werden." Schilling 1910, 41. The analogy between state and family is strongly emphasized also by Schilling; both belong to the good natural order. See ibid. ,51, 59-60. 14 Schilling, 1914, 183, says: "Aus der Familie erwächst in organischer Entwicklung der Staat; dieser Überzeugung huldigt Augustinus gleich Cicero, gleich Aristoteles und anderen griechischen Philosophen - -" Viktor Stegemann comments on CD XIX, 21 & 24: "Indes hält sich doch seine Begriffsbestimmung der Civitas Dei innerhalb der ciceronianischen Definition. Denn auch für Augustin ist die Iustitia das gemeinsame Band." Stegemann 1928, 37. Similarly also Ernst Troeltsch, who says: "Der Staat ist ihm gleich den andern Vätern an sich geradeso eine Ausformung des sittlichen Naturgesetzes wie die Familie, die er in der Nachfolge Ciceros geradezu als principium et quasi seminarium rei publicae betrachtet. So ist er an sich völlig gut." Troeltsch 1915, 130.

1. Introduction

13

great medieval Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas.*5 This line of interpretation became the normative paradigm of the Catholic understanding of Augustine. Augustine's theological concept of social life is not only in harmony with the best part of the classical tradition but also improves on it. The representatives of the traditionalistic Augustine interpretation hold the view that he believed in the positive impact of Christianity on social and political life. The church, being the embodiment of civitas Dei on earth, contributes to the moral perfection of the state, the Christian church thus being the divine leaven within the society. The church teaches true morality, the natural moral law crystallized by divine revelation, and Christian rulers put the teaching into practice. In this respect, Augustine is understood as a follower of the Reichstheologie of Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, and others, widely embraced in Christendom by the time of Augustine: the Catholic Church will contribute to the greatness of the Roman Empire. 16 Joseph Mausbach regards Augustine's concept of civitas Dei as the idea of Christian improvement of the state, emphasizing the role of the church in the "ennoblement" of the state.17 In perfect harmony with the main intention of Mausbach, the liberal Protestant Ernst Troeltsch speaks of Augustine's idea of purgatio Christiana of the society or "the new culture" brought about through the amending influence of the Christian religion. 18 The idea of a Christian society and state is accepted by all the representatives of the traditional paradigm in Augustinian scholarship, though with variable nuances. Augustine's view of a Christian society, based on the divinely revealed and confirmed true justice, iustitia vera, completes the classical idea of the state, based on justice. The church is seen as the divinely ordained instrument for the benefit of society. This thought contains the seed of the medieval "political Augustinianism," according to which political authority is subjected to the ecclesiastical authority, who has the key to true justice. 19 Heinrich Scholz sees Augustine as the initiator of "the whole programme of the medieval clerical state," and, according to Franz Offergelt, Augustine founded the theory of "the theocratic relationship of dependence of the state on 15

For the Augustine interpretation of Thomas in this respect, see Figgis 1921, 95. See Mommsen 1951, 357-363, and Markus 1970,48-51. 17 "Aber die volle Klärung, Festigung und Veredlund des Staatsgedankens brachte erst das Christentum. Die civitas Dei nimmt den Zweck des Staates teilnehmend auf und 'bezieht ihn' auf ihren eigenen, himmlischen Zweck." Mausbach 1929a, 342. 18 Troeltsch 1915,152. According to Bruno Wendorff, Augustine believed that Christian virtues would transform the state into a family-like society: "Durch das Beispiel christlicher Pflichttreue und christlichen Gehorsams, als der wahren Stützen des Staates, wird auch das ganze öffentliche Leben des Reiches im familienhaften Sinn umgestaltet werden können." Wendorff 1926, 45. 19 On the interpretation of Augustine's theology of social life in the Middle Ages, see Arquilliere 1934 and Markus 1970, 163-165, 174-176, 211-230. Kilzer, 1952, 305, says: "The city of God as seen by St.Augustine was not a political but a theological conception of society. Later ages, misunderstanding it in a political sense, were to attempt to translate it into political reality by the formation of the Holy Roman Empire - -" 16

14

Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

the church."20 Demmer states that in Augustine's theology of civitas the Christianized state is elevated to the level of "the divine plan of salvation."21 Carl-Victor von Horn goes as far as to argue that, according to CD, "the empirical state is nothing else but an image of the civitas Dei " a good state contributes to the eternal destiny of man.22 It is self-evident that an individual Christian citizen of a Christian state, being in the lowest rank in the hierarchy of God-church-king-citizen, has to observe unquestioned subservient loyalty to the Christian government based on God's divine order of nature. As a typical expression of this static view of the traditional school of Augustinian research, Schilling, referring to CD, says that the Christians rejoice in being subjected to rulers who function as "representatives of God."23 The modern trend in interpretation has become more and more sceptical about the traditional paradigm. The "political Augustianism" of the Middle Ages was not based on the thoughts of Augustine, at least not at all on his conception of social life in CD. The whole normative school of interpretation has become problematic.24 Historically speaking, the new trend of interpreting CD began with a few British scholars noticing that Augustine, quite shockingly, does not agree with Cicero on the definition of political society. In his own definition, he excludes the idea of justice and compensates for it with a concept of social life based on his theology of love. In 1915 A.J. Carlyle noticed, to his own embarrassment, that Augustine abandons the classical philosophical and patristic

20 Scholz 1911, 108. Offergelt 1914,73. Hermann Reuter says: "Der Staat ist in demselben Maße nur Staat, in welchem er sich den christlichen Normen unterstellt - -" Reuter 1887,142. For similar statements of the German interpreters of Augustine, see Seidel 1909, 28-29, Schilling 1910, 101-102, Scholz 1911, 107-108, Offergelt 1914,54-57,73, Schröder 1922, and Salin 1926,186-197. Gustave Combes promotes the idea of a Christian state when declaring: "C'est lä le noeud de la politique d'Augustin. - - II en proclame bien haut la valeur civique et sociale; et s'il insiste si souvent sur les vertus chritiennes de justice, de chasteti, d'abnegation et de fratemiti, c'est qu'il les regarde comme les pierres angulaires de la cite. L'id6e de l'Etat chritien appelle comme un corollaire l'union etroite de cet Etat avec l'Eglise." Combes 1927, 459. For a similar Catholic view, see Lauras & Rondel 1953, 155-159. Donald X. Burt elucidates Augustine's thought: "The king is the representative of God. - - In such a state there was to be found the perfection of justice. Logically it followed that this commonwealth must be Christian - -" Burt 1963,9092. 21 Demmer 1961, 244, 254-255. 22 "Gegenüber der Einrichtung Staat verhielt sich Augustin durchaus positiv und sah sehr gut das Vorzügliche, das ein guter Staat auch für das jenseitige Leben der Menschen zu leisten vermag. Er suchte das Ideal eines guten Staates zu fördern und weiB von dem christlichen Staate ein sehr schönes Loblied zu singen. Ist ihm doch auch der empirische Staat nichts anderes als ein Abbild der civitas Dei, des seligen Lebens der Heiligen in der Gemeinschaft mit Gott." Horn 1934, 33. 23 "Das Christentum macht den Gehorsam der Untertanen zu einem willigen und freudigen, und bewirkt durch die Lehre, wonach der Herrscher und Vorgesetze Stellvertreter Gottes ist, daß der Bürger aus religiösen Gründen der staatlichen Gewalt erfurchtsvolle und treue Gesinnung entgegenbringt." Schilling 1910, 101. For a more modern German representative of the customary line of interpretation, see Diesner 1954. 24 For critical remarks, see Kamlah 1951, 159-160, and Spörl 1955, 68-69.

1. Introduction

15

theological tradition in this regard.25 Later Carlyle commented specifically on CD XIX, 24 saying, "this definition is indeed practically the definition of Cicero, but with the element of law and justice left out, and no more fundamental difference could well be imagined, for Cicero's whole conception of the State turns upon this principle, that it is a means for attaining and preserving justice." 26 John Neville Figgis was the first to produce a solid monograph (1921) on CD, based on the new insight into the great work of Augustine. Figgis puts forward the thesis that Augustine has a realistic empirical, not a moral, concept of the state. Commenting on the above-mentioned chapter of CD, Figgis says: "So he proceeds to give a definition of his own from which the word justice is excluded." Instead: "It is some kind of consent and harmony that is necessary."27 Figgis denies that Augustine would see the state as "a natural and therefore a Divine necessity." He, rather, inclined to compare political life with slavery.28 Norman H. Baynes clarified (1936) Augustine's alternative definition of the state: the Father of the church emphasizes the idea of collective love.29 Political society is justified neither by metaphysical criteria nor by reference to the natural moral law. It is a matter of the kind of social agreement which Augustine describes in terms of love. A crucial turning point in the history of the interpretation of CD is the rediscovery of the eschatological character of Augustine's doctrine of civitas. According to Baynes, a distinction must be made between Augustine's theoretical (transcendental-theological) and empirical ideas of civitas.30 Hans Daniel Friberg noted in 1944 the transcendental-eschatological nature of duae civitates and made clear regarding Augustine's position: "Therefore citizenship in any political state cannot be enjoyed apart from concurrent citizenship in one or

25 Carlyle wrote in 1915: "It must be recognized that St. Augustine is compelled to abstract the quality of justice from the definition of the state, not by any course of reflection upon the nature of the state but by his theological conception of justice, a conception which might be regarded as true upon his premises, but which can only be understood as related to those premises." Carlyle 1927, 168. " Carlyle 1928, 50. 27 Figgis 1921, 61. The British Catholic Augustine scholar Joseph Rickaby in 1925 published a commentary on CD. It is interesting to note that he is aware of the difference in the definition of political society between Cicero and Augustine, the former basing it on a concept of justice and the latter on a concept of love. After noting that, Rickaby, however, does not develop the theme any further. Rickaby 1925, 81-82. 28 Figgis 1921, 52-53, 58. 29 Baynes 1960, 293, 305. In 1930 Ernest Barker expressed his criticism of the medieval theocratic understanding of Augustine; the state cannot be based on absolute justice, although it "has its own relative 'righteousness.'" See Barker 1950, xviii-xix. 30 "When Augustine is expounding the theory of his conception of history the civitas terrena - the society of earth - is not the State: the civitas caelestis, the heavenly society, is not the Church, but when he comes to consider the representatives of these two societies on earth - when he is treating the matter, not purely theoretically, but empirically - then the Roman State comes to be regarded as the earthly civitas, and the Church as the divine society." Baynes 1960, 291.

16

Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

other of the cities of bliss and damnation."31 In 1950, F.Edward Cranz presented an insight into the dialectic of Augustine's thought in CD: there exists no positive relation between the earthly city, represented by political societies, and the heavenly city, represented by the society of the faithful; even the christianized Rome "is still Babylon."32 It is easy to notice immediately how different is this eschatological-theological position in understanding the basic idea of CD from the traditional interpretation based on the notion of natural justice. The eschatological character of Augustine's doctrine of civitas was recognized in the 1950's also by some German researchers - by Wilhelm Kamlah, Franz Georg Maier, and Joseph Ratzinger above all. For instance, Kamlah compares Augustine's view with the apocalyptic trends of the first Christian centuries and states that both concepts of civitas, the city of God and the terrestrial city, are of eschatological nature.33 On the whole, modern interpreters emphasize that any idea of a Christian state or the Eusebian Reichstheologie is alien to the thought of the elderly Augustine.34 The researchers of the traditional school seem not to have recognized the profound change which took place in the thought of Augustine a few years before he began composing CD. It is a basic source of error to try to harmonize his concept of social life with the views he held earlier. Augustine is a man who

3' Friberg 1944, 70. 32 "He feels himself a member of a Christian society which from various aspects may be called the city of God or the kingdom of God or the ecclesia. This society is heavenly in essence and destination, but it was foreshadowed on earth by Israel and a part of it has been given earthly reality by Christ. Over against this true Christian society, there is human society in general, the earthly city and the earthly kingdom. This society, which includes human kingship and empire, has no positive relation, in particular no relation of image, to the Christian society of heaven. Nor has the coming of Christ and the spread of Christianity destroyed the continuity of the earthly city and its kingship; the Roman empire is still Babylon." Cranz 1972b, 411. 33 "Augustin folgt also nicht allein mit dem eschatologischen Begriff civitas Dei, sondern auch mit dem eschatologischen Gegenbegriff civitas terrena alter Überlieferung." Kamlah 1951, 167. See also Maier 1955, 155-167, Ratzinger 1954, 979, and Spörl 1955, 67. There are, of course, differences among the researchers who have rediscovered the eschatological character of civitas. For, instance, Ratzinger speaks of a "sacramental-ecclesiological" concept of eschatology in CD, criticizing Kamlah for an "existentialistic-actualistic" conception of Augustine's eschatology. Ratzinger 1954, 978-979. Hans Trebst pointed as early as 1921 to the fact that, in CD, Augustine does not identify the city of God with the church and the terrestrial city with the state: "Das Ergebnis ist also, daß Augustin für seine Gegenwart wohl mit einer göttlich und widergöttlich orientierten Sozietät (caelestis und terrena societas) operiert als Teilbegriffe der civitas Dei und diaboli, sie aber keineswegs durch die Grössen 'Staat' und 'Kirche' gedeckt sieht, die vielmehr beide unter Vorbehalt der permixtio der civitas Dei zuzurechnen sind." Trebst 1921, 128. Nevertheless, Trebst was not yet able to see what consequences his discovery would have on the conception of the state. According to Trebst, Augustine holds to the idea of imperium Romanum Christianum. Ibid., 161—162. For a recent exposition of the eschatological nature of Augustine's concept of civitas, see Oort 1991, 115-131. 34 Wilhelm Kamlah says: "Es war ein christliches Reich entstanden, sofern der öffentliche Kult Christuskult geworden war. Jedoch nicht einmal in diesem Sinne kennt Augustin einen 'christlichen Staat', am wenigsten in der Situation von De civitate Dei." Kamlah 1951, 179. For further negations of the possibility of a Christian state, see, for example, Cranz 1972b, 411, and Maier 1955, 205.

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underwent a change. Augustine did not devote much thought to the problem of political authority before 401. Through a more profound study of the apostle Paul, in the mid 390's, however, he gradually became aware of the power of sin over human nature. This led him to new insights in understanding social life. 35 In his analysis of developments in Augustine's social thought, F.Edward Cranz says that the first changes began to take place around 393. Before that Augustine's ideas of society were "characterized by a harmonious synthesis of his Christianity and of his Platonism." 36 Gradually, however, he lost his confidence in the ability of human beings to comprehend the grounds of justice. In CD the idea of civitas terrena, "which is often represented by the Roman Empire, loses its neutrality, and Augustine organizes a dualistic history around the contrast between it and the city of God." 37 R.A. Markus assumes that between the years 410-413, after the shocking fall of the Eternal City under the Goths in 410, new ideas formulated in the mind of the bishop of Hippo, which is recognizable especially in his letters and sermons of that period. 38 Augustine expressed the profound view, according to which the element of the tragic and the power of sin dominate human existence, the reality of social life not yielding to control and organization by reason. Consequently, "human society cannot be treated in terms appropriate to the natural order." 39 According to Markus, the change that took place in Augustine's thinking concerned most deeply his conception of society: "The shift from an early optimism is nowhere more marked than in his reflection on society." 40 Augustine both lost his faith in the idea of a Christian empire and secularized the idea of political authority and state.41 Similarly Peter Brown, also an outstanding representative of the new paradigm in Augustine scholarship, notes: "The central problem of Augustine's thought is one which we all have to face: to what extent is it possible to treat man as having a measure of rational control over his political environment?" 42 In his mature years Augustine grew into a consciousness of the disordering power of sin; if man cannot determine his own moral intentions, much less can he claim self-determination in politics. He begins to

35 Markus 1965, 80-81. 36

Cranz 1972a, 352. 37 Cranz 1972a, 384. 38 "Among the confused emotions of these letters and sermons some of the great themes of the City of God were born." Markus 1970, 44. 39 Markus 1970, 92. Markus expounds the eschatological character of Augustine's thought: "Tension, strife and disorder are endemic in this realm. There can be no resolution, except eschatologically. Human society is irremediably rooted in this tension-ridden and disordered saeculum." Ibid., 83. "0 Markus 1970, 209. 41 "The whole myth of the christianisation of the Empire is blown away - -" Markus 1970, 39. "- - Rome, both pagan and Christian, is assimilated to the new Babylon." Ibid., 61. 42 Brown 1972, 313.

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Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

see the classical theories of society as unrealistic; they exclude too many of the gloomy realities of human social life.43 According to the modern school of Augustinian research, in the interpretation of the later Augustine's main opus, justice must be seen as a transcendental concept, society cannot directly be based on the idea of justice. No family analogies from nature, or ideas of the perfection of naturally good political structures through the amending impact of God's city are possible on the basis of CD. Augustine's view of the "radically 'tragic' character of existence" led him to a total break with the classical idea of "creative politics." 44 Here Augustine is seen in sharp contrast to the classical theories of society. He distances himself especially in his discussion with a representative of the classical view, the Roman statesman and philosophical writer Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC). Augustine objects to Cicero's combination of Platonic and Stoic theories of society, according to which political power is justified on the basis of objective natural moral law. Like civitas, iustitia is also seen as a transcendental-eschatological concept in CD.45 According to modern Augustinian scholarship, coercive social power is based neither on nature nor on justice; it is rather a condition of slavery caused by sin. Augustine sees social life as such as a part of the good creation of God, but political authority is not based on this inherent goodness of social life. 46 This modern view is the diametric opposite to the traditional concept, according to which Augustine's CD contains the idea of a divinely designed, naturally good order of political society, perfected in a Christian society under a Christian ruler.

« Brown 1972, 314-315, 324. 44 Markus 1970,83. According to Ο 'Donovan, 1987,96, by excluding the connexion between society and virtue, Augustine has "set up the first standard of modern political thought against ancient, casting the political community off from its moorings in justice to drift on the tide of popular consensus." 43 Ernest L. Fortin sees the kernel of Augustine's realism in relating a theory of social life to the actual state of human societies "which fall short of the standards established by reason and nature." This view contradicts the Platonic scheme which "studies human behaviour in the light of man's highest possibilities or the noblest goals to which one may aspire." Fortin 1972, 7-8. R.T. Marshall states in his analysis of CD: "The question of iustitia as noted above is not raised in connection with the term civitas in a political signification." Marshall 1952,44. Lavere, 1980,144, describes Augustine's "political realism:" "Nor can the state make men good or even just, since it lacks a proper conception of the universal human good which is the basis for justice." John O'Meara speaks about "absolute" and "relative" justice in CD: in relation to true justice, "our duty to the true God," the state has no justice at all, "but if judged by less absolute standards," "some kind of justice" exists. O'Meara 1961, 101. O'Meara's view is somewhat problematic, because he does not specify the idea of justice as a religious concept and as a moral concept. See also Maurer 1982, 350-352, and Dalsgaard Larsen 1976, 17. 46 "Political authority, coercive power and its apparatus are what transform society into a state. Society, so we may summarize Augustine's view, has its origins in the order of nature; the state is a dispensation rooted in sin." Markus 1965, 77-78.

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1.2. The Aim of the Study A solid monograph on CD in which the new paradigm of interpretation has been tested does not exist at present. The aim of the study at hand is to analyze Augustine's concept of social life in the main work of his later years, De civitate Dei. The study covers an analysis of the substance of Augustine's thought in that work, starting from the fundamentals of his theology and ending in the consequences of his theology to the understanding and organizing of human life in political societies. The contradictions and misunderstandings in Augustinian research, when interpreting the idea of social life in CD, are very much due to the one-sided application of a diachronic or historical method of interpretation. An analysis of Augustine's concept of social life in CD cannot be separated from the analysis of the main substance of his theological thought in the same opus. His theology of social life is an inherent part of the fundamental theological issues in the work. Augustine's true intentions cannot be understood without an analysis of the inner logic of his thought, and this cannot be perceived if the peculiarity of each work and of the various phases of the development of Augustine's thought is not sufficiently emphasized. This is especially true in the case of CD: it is misleading to try to explain the thought structure of this great work by depending too much on the earlier works of Augustine. In addition, a diachronic comparison of his concepts with those which appear in the history of philosophical or religious thought, or in sacred or profane literature on the whole, may not help much in trying to preceive Augustine's own intention; basing the interpretation of Augustine's thought on criteria alien to his own mode of thinking may in some cases even obscure correct understanding. The diachronic approach must be complemented by a synchronic or systematic approach. A systematic analysis of the specialized use of concepts, the inner logic and the structures of thought within Augustine's magnum opus itself is a method which helps us in understanding his thinking. This is the approach applied in the present study; neither the development nor the historical origin of Augustine's concepts but rather the actual use of them as an organic part of his entire structure of thought in CD is the object of our interest here. Our study concentrates on Augustine's De civitate Dei as the primary source, but his other works written simultaneously with CD or just previous to it are referred to as additional sources insofar as they are relevant to our theme. The Latin text of CD used is that of Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, 47-48; the English translation primarily used is that of Henry Bettensen.41 This translation

47 Bettenson's text is available in the Penguin Classics. In references to the Latin text of CD, the number of the book and of the chapter and the numbers of the lines in the CC edition are mentioned. In references to the additional sources the edition of the text and the page numbers are also indicated.

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Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

is, however, not accurate throughout, and cannot, therefore, be used in all cases. 48 On the whole, the most important references to Augustine's text are given - in full or in part - in the original Latin. The major literature concerning the research on CD in this century is referred to in the text and in the footnotes. In addition to the above-illustrated inner development of Augustine's thought on social life, the Donatist schism and the question of coercion involved therein were important stimuli that made Augustine aware in a new way of the problems of social and political life. The analysis of both Paul's influence on Augustine's social thought and his position in the Donatist schism is, however, omitted from the present study. I refer here especially to the studies of F.Edward Cranz and Bernhard Lohse.49 The edict against Donatism in 412 settled the situation to some extent; when Augustine started writing CD, the immediate concrete stimulus was no longer Donatism, but the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410, as indicated above by R.A. Markus. "His philosophy is a philosophy of a world that is rapidly going to ruin." 50 The study at hand concentrates on the theology of the elderly Augustine, because his views of social life were not fully developed until the late years of his life. His disillusionment in respect to how the Roman government was compelled to handle Donatism made Augustine more independent i a his social thought and more critical towards any idea of a Christian state as well as towards any philosophical conception of the state as a prerequisite of a good life. The accusations of the still pagan Romans against the Christians after 410 incited him to his great apology for Christianity. All this means that in everything he says in CD in respect to social life, Augustine expresses his own genuine thought. His argumentation leans very much on biblical reference. 51 Although the basic structure of the later Augustine's theology to a large extent maintains its original Neo-Platonic character, one is justified in saying that especially in his theological concept of social life Augustine became more and more independent in his later years. Not only the study of Paul and the concrete social events in the midst of which the bishop of Hippo lived but also the conflict with Pelagius invigorated Augustine's doctrine of original sin, giving a touch of originality and realism to his social thought when compared with the much more idealistic traditional pagan or Christian views of social life. F.Edward Cranz touches the core of the issue as he says: "He begins as a Christian and a Platonist. Why did he move away from the first position? To a first approximation, because he found that the Greco-Roman forms of thought which dominated

48 Bettenson's text will be used whenever possible without losing the accuracy of Augustine's meaning. 49 See Cranz 1972a and Lohse 1962. 50 O'Connor 1982, 265. See also O'Donnell 1979. 51 For instance, House, 1983, underlines Augustine's critical distance to Platonism in CD.

1. Introduction

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his first position were not adequate as a statement of his own commitment and own experience." 52 In the thinking of Augustine, the possibility of social life is the specific characteristic of the rational beings in God's creation, of the angels and of human beings. The fact of sin is most apparent in the deterioration of the originally good nature of social life. Social life consists of relationships between the rational beings and their Creator and among the rational beings themselves. Consequently, an analysis of Augustine's theology of social life is bound to be simultaneously an analysis of his concept or of his conception of the various forms of love. In our study the examination of the concept of love is restricted in its relevance to his idea of social life. 53 The same restriction is applied to Augustine's anthropological concepts such as the soul, reason, or will.54 But above all, an analysis of the masterpiece of the elderly Augustine is bound to be an inquiry into his doctrine of sin. His realism or pessimism, as it were, is based on the fact that he understands the overwhelming power of sin and its consequences penetrating all the spheres of human life. As Figgis says, the doctrine of original sin "is the point of the whole book." 55 The only true counterweight to this aggravating weight or pondus of human misery is the eschatological hope of civitas Dei.

1.3. The Concept of civitas

Augustine uses the term civitas in CD in two main senses. First, he employs the word in a theologically neutral, general sense, meaning the geographical or sociological existence of cities, towns, or states. This is a usage discernible throughout Augustine's writings. In CD Augustine himself gives the following definition of a concrete city which is "a united multitude of people" (cum aliud civitas non sit quam concors hominum multitudo; I, 15:47^18). Or: a city "is nothing but a multitude of people bound together by some tie of fellowship" (civitas nihil est aliud quam hominum multitudo aliquo societatis vinculo conligata; XV, 8:66-67). A city is a type of rational association of human beings. Augustine applies this general meaning at various times in CD, for example in V, 25:7 and XIX, 5:41,45 & 6:1 & 7:1,14-15. But in CD, Augustine does not show 52 Cranz 1972a, 383. 53 On other aspects of Augustine's concept of love, see Burnaby 1947 and O'Donovan 1980. 54 For example, Holte 1958 and Dalsgaard Larsen 1982 are profound introductions into the problems of Augustinian anthropology. « Figgis 1921, 30.

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Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei

any interest in developing the concept or giving any special attention to civitas as a physical city. Civitas in this sense belongs to his general vocabulary without any profound theological