Augustine silencing or blaming domestic violence victims?

[JSRG]

Physically injured domestic violence victims speaking of their maltreatment are told not to defy their abusers because their marriage contracts made these victims slaves.
Does this imply that domestic violence victims should be silent about their maltreatment? Is domestic violence the fault of the victim for not obeying their master husband and not the fault of their abuser? Didn’t the Catholic Church raise the dignity of women?

Oddly, the quotation you give doesn’t match what is said in your link–it’s a different translation. (for example, the link’s text uses “servant” rather than “slave”–I think the word can be translated either way) Anyway, if someone looks at it in context, the context of the statement you quoted is that it’s not something Augustine himself is saying, but Augustine reporting that his mother said it to others. Granted, Augustine probably agrees with it, but does not explicitly state as such in the text (his last sentence in which he talks about “the wisdom of it” appears to be in reference to the rule she had about not defying a husband while they are angry, not any idea that women bring beatings upon themselves).

So what is occurring is that Augustine is mentioning advice his mother gave to other women on how to deal with angry husbands to prevent them from actually being abusive. Given that time period there wasn’t that much else they could do, so this should really be read as Augustine noting someone else’s time-period-specific advice rather than saying him giving general advice.

It should further be noted the reason Augustine brings this up at all: He’s listing examples about how his mother was, through patience and submission, able to win people over. The next paragraph talks about how his mother winning over her mother-in-law through submission to her.

So I would caution against reading too much into a brief remark that is reporting what someone else said and in which the point isn’t to say anything about domestic abuse but is used as an example of how his mother was able to win people over and defuse conflicts through patience and meekness.

 

[ewohdrol]

Care to elaborate on that?
What exactly do you mean?

 

[Dan_Defender]

St Augustine was just reflecting the attitudes towards women in the 5th century. We cannot judge him by our modern standards.

 

[Neithan]

Physically injured domestic violence victims speaking of their maltreatment are told not to defy their abusers because their marriage contracts made these victims slaves.

It looks like he is quoting St. Monica, and this is some practical advice to wives to avoid agitating their abusive husbands because of the civil limitations on the rights of wives at the time. Backbiting and detraction are sins if the intent is to ruin someone’s reputation; but if we read this in context, it looks like some encouragement to be heroically virtuous in the face of abuse. St. Monica was heroically virtuous not to complain about Augustine’s father. How do you interpret that he is actually blaming his mother for her suffering?

This is not a treatise on how just or unjust the Roman civil law was regarding the rights of wives. I’m guessing Augustine would advise women not to marry at all.

 

[Neithan]

Maybe, just maybe, slavery isn’t actually as evil as the modern world thinks it is.

if slave traders are compared with perverts, liars and perjurers (I Timothy 1:10) then we can be sure it’s evil.

 

[D.Erasmus.R]

he is quoting St. Monica, and this is some practical advice to wives to avoid agitating their abusive husbands

Augustine is mentioning advice his mother gave to other women on how to deal with angry husbands to prevent them from actually being abusive.

What Augustine claims Monica said to those DV survivors sounds more like harsh criticism than consoling advice. Moreover, Augustine never says anything consoling for those afflicted by DV nor does he say anything against inflicting DV on others. Telling women to be subservient to avoid DV whilst not offering any sympathy for DV victims & not condemning the infliction DV can imply that DV is the fault of those who suffer it.

 

[Neithan]

I think you’re reading into it. St. Monica admonishes the other wives “as if in jest” which would suggest she is not actually blaming them for not being silent in the face of abuse, but offering compassionate advice as a victim herself and setting an example as a heroically virtuous peacemaker. Augustine notes the suffering of the victims, as well as the violent anger and fury that Monica “endured.” There is no indication — entirely the opposite — that he is absolving his father of any wrongdoing and it seems clear that Patricius is described as a sinful man married to a saintly wife.

 

[Juansavage]

Some types of slavery aren’t inherently evil. Only those where the slave isn’t considered human and has no rights are inherently evil. Some are grey areas like people under communist rule. The church was trying to regulate a social reality. Rules about slavery emphasize moral obligations