St. Augustine Protestant mindset?

[dcs6f4]

On what grounds do some Protestants claim that Augustine was Protestant in mindset?

Also, how is this Augustine quote thought to have a Protestant mindset?

“God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us.” -St. Augustine, Sermo 169, 11, 13: PL 38, 923.

This is the translation from the CCC on the vatican website (just saying where it came from not claiming it is the ‘best one’)

Pope Benedict XVI uses this translation in his book ‘God Near Us’. “He who created us without our aid did not wish to save us without our aid.”

Anyway, just curious because I had not heard this until recently and I am intrigued.

Thanks in advance for all replies.

Pax
Dave

 

[Soutane]

Was St. Augustine a Protestant?
St. Augustine is one of the greatest of catholic saints. He is revered by Western christians both Roman Catholic and Protestant, and especially by Calvinists and Lutherans. Dr. R. C. Sproul, a leading Calvinist theologian and writer in the U.S. has written that he (Sproul) is an “Augustinian”. On a theological forum sponsored by Dr. Sproul’s ministry, a participant made the audacious statement that “Calvin and Luther did not teach anything that Augustine did not teach.” Such statements are severely misinformed. After listening to these Protestants make the “Augustinian” claim, I have come to realize that what they mean is that they accept Augustine’s ideas of absolute predestination and salvation by grace. Catholics affirm with Protestants that salvation is by God’s grace. However, in regards to predestination, the Catholic Church has not made a dogmatic statement on the matter. In his writings on predestination, St. Augustine gave his private opinions and not the catholic consensus of the church. It is noteworthy that St. Augustine is nearly alone in affirming absolute predestination. His contemporaries and those who followed him did not follow such a rigid system but allowed the freedom of the will.
In his writings outside of his speculations on predestination, St. Augustine was generally reflecting the catholic consensus of the time, and the beliefs which he held as the catholic bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Here are some of the catholic beliefs of Aurelius Augustine, catholic Bishop of Hippo:

The canon of Scripture includes the Septuagint OT canon (deuterocanonicals, Apocrypha)
Authoritative Tradition
Baptismal regeneration and grace
Necessity of baptism for salvation
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper)
The Mass is a sacrifice
Necessity of the Lord’s Supper for salvation
Purgatory and praying for the departed
The communion of saints and saintly intercession
Authority of the Catholic Church
Apostolic Succession
Possibility of falling from grace
The sacrament of penance
Mary was ever virgin
After looking at these beliefs, if someone claimed to be Augustinian, I think it is rather obvious that they would not be a Calvinist or a Protestant, but Catholic. Although some Protestant denominations such as the Lutherans may accept some of these beliefs, no Protestant denomination will accept them all. Calvinists reject every single one of these beliefs of Augustine. If anyone was to preach all these beliefs in a Protestant church, he would immediately be branded an arch heretic–yet, Protestants quote Augustine and consider him a hero. A heretic is a hero? At one of his ministry conferences, Dr. Sproul made the statement that (paraphrased), “Anyone who believes in Purgatory knows nothing of the Gospel.” The implications of Dr. Sproul’s extreme statement is that St. Augustine was not even a Christian. It seems somewhat hypocritical and logically contradictory to me for people like Dr. Sproul to count Augustine as “one of their own”, yet in other places to make statements that would exclude him from even being a Christian.

 

[Soutane]

Continuing…
It is time for Calvinists to be honest and admit that they are really not Augustinian, but that they follow Calvin alone. Remember one other thing: If Calvin and Luther taught the same doctrines as Augustine, they would not have been excommunicated. St. Augustine is considered an orthodox Doctor of Theology for the Catholic Church and the patron saint of theologians whereas Luther and Calvin are not. For more information, see Dave Armstrong’s page on St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Augustine believed the canon of Scripture to contain the Greek OT canon also known today as the deuterocanonicals or “Apocrypha”
“The whole canon of the Scriptures, however, in which we say that consideration is to be applied, is contained in these books: the five of Moses . . . and one book of Joshua [Son of] Nave, one of Judges; one little book which is called Ruth . . . then the four of Kingdoms, and the two of Paralipomenon . . . . [T]here are also others too, of a different order . . . such as Job and Tobit and Esther and Judith and the two books of Maccabees, and the two of Esdras . . . . Then there are the Prophets, in which there is one book of the Psalms of David, and three of Solomon. . . . But as to those two books, one of which is entitled Wisdom and the other of which is entitled Ecclesiasticus and which are called `of Solomon’ because of a certain similarity to his books, it is held most certainly that they were written by Jesus Sirach. They must, however, be accounted among the prophetic books, because of the authority which is deservedly accredited to them” (Christian Instruction 2:8:13 [A.D. 397]).

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Augustine Believed in Authoritative Tradition
“[T]he custom [of not rebaptizing converts] . . . may be supposed to have had its origin in Apostolic Tradition, just as there are many things which are observed by the whole Church, and therefore are fairly held to have been enjoined by the Apostles, which yet are not mentioned in their writings” (On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5:23[31] [A.D. 400]).
“But the admonition that he [Cyprian] gives us, ‘that we should go back to the fountain, that is, to Apostolic Tradition, and thence turn the channel of truth to our times,’ is most excellent, and should be followed without hesitation” (ibid., 5:26[37]).
“But in regard to those observances which we carefully attend and which the whole world keeps, and which derive not from Scripture but from Tradition, we are given to understand that they are recommended and ordained to be kept, either by the Apostles themselves or by plenary [ecumenical] councils, the authority of which is quite vital in the Church” (Letter to Januarius [A.D. 400]).

 

[Soutane]

Continuing…
Augustine believed in Baptismal Regeneration and Grace
“It is this one Spirit who makes it possible for an infant to be regenerated . . . when that infant is brought to baptism; and it is through this one Spirit that the infant so presented is reborn. For it is not written, Unless a man be born again by the will of his parents' or by the faith of those presenting him or ministering to him,’ but, `Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit.’ The water, therefore, manifesting exteriorly the sacrament of grace, and the Spirit effecting interiorly the benefit of grace, both regenerate in one Christ that man who was generated in Adam” (Letters 98:2 [A.D. 412]).
“Baptism washes away all, absolutely all, our sins, whether of deed, word, or thought, whether sins original or added, whether knowingly or unknowingly contracted” (Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3:3:5 [A.D. 420]).

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Augustine Believed Baptism was Necessary for Salvation
“There are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptism, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized” (Sermons to Catechumens, on the Creed 7:15 [A.D. 395]).
“[According to] Apostolic Tradition . . . the Churches of Christ hold inherently that without baptism and participation at the table of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and life eternal. This is the witness of Scripture too” (Forgiveness and the Just Deserts of Sin, and the Baptism of Infants 1:24:34 [A.D. 412]).

However, he did allow for exceptions–what he called baptism of desire or blood(martyrdom).
“That the place of baptism is sometimes supplied by suffering is supported by a substantial argument which the same blessed Cyprian draws from the circumstance of the thief, to whom, although not baptized, it was said, `Today you shall be with me in paradise’ [Luke 23:43]. Considering this over and over again, I find that not only suffering for the name of Christ can supply for that which is lacking by way of baptism, but even faith and conversion of heart * if, perhaps, because of the circumstances of the time, recourse cannot be had to the celebration of the mystery of baptism” (ibid., 4:22:29).

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Augustine Believed in the Real Presence
“Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own Body, he said, ‘This is my Body’ [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands” (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).
“I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know that you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ” (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]).

“What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice is the Blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction” (ibid., 272).

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Augustine Believed the Mass to be a Sacrifice
“In the sacrament he is immolated for the people not only on every Easter Solemnity but on every day; and a man would not be lying if, when asked, he were to reply that Christ is being immolated. For if sacraments had not a likeness to those things of which they are sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all; and they generally take the names of those same things by reason of this likeness” (Letters 98:9 [A.D. 412]).
“For when he says in another book, which is called Ecclesiastes, ‘There is no good for a man except that he should eat and drink’ [Eccl. 2:24], what can he be more credibly understood to say [prophetically] than what belongs to the participation of this table which the Mediator of the New Testament himself, the priest after the order of Melchizedek, furnishes with his own body and blood? For that sacrifice has succeeded all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were slain as a shadow of what was to come. . . . Because, instead of all these sacrifices and oblations, his body is offered and is served up to the partakers of it” (The City of God 17:20 [A.D. 419]).*

 

[Soutane]

Continuing…
Augustine Believed in the Necessity of the Lord’s Supper for Salvation
“[According to] Apostolic Tradition . . . the Churches of Christ hold inherently that without baptism and participation at the table of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and life eternal. This is the witness of Scripture too” (Forgiveness and the Just Deserts of Sin, and the Baptism of Infants 1:24:34 [A.D. 412]).

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Augustine Believed in Purgatory and Praying for the Departed
“That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire” (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Charity 18:69 [A.D. 421]).
“We read in the books of the Maccabees [2 Macc. 12:43] that sacrifice was offered for the dead. But even if it were found nowhere in the Old Testament writings, the authority of the Catholic Church which is clear on this point is of no small weight, where in the prayers of the priest poured forth to the Lord God at his altar the commendation of the dead has its place” (The Care to be Had for the Dead 1:3 [A.D. 421]).

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Augustine Believed In the Communion of Saints and Saintly Intercession
“A Christian people celebrates together in religious solemnity the memorials of the martyrs, both to encourage their being imitated and so that it can share in their merits and be aided by their prayers” (Against Faustus the Manichean [A.D. 400]).
“At the Lord’s table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps” (Homilies on John 84 [A.D. 416]).
“For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by his sacraments or by the prayers or relics of his saints . . . The miracle which was wrought at Milan when I was there. . . [and when people] had gathered to the bodies of the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius, which had long lain concealed and unknown but where now made known to the bishop Ambrose in a dream and discovered by him” (City of God 22:8 [A.D. 419]).
This last quote showed that Augustine believed there was something special about the relics of the saints. Show me a Protestant who believes that!

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Augustine Believed in the Authority of the Church
“We must hold to the Christian religion and to communication in her Church, which is Catholic and which is called Catholic not only by her own members but even by all her enemies. For when heretics or the adherents of schisms talk about her, not among themselves but with strangers, willy-nilly they call her nothing else but Catholic. For they will not be understood unless they distinguish her by this name which the whole world employs in her regard” (The True Religion 7:12 [A.D. 390]).
“If you should find someone who does not yet believe in the gospel, what would you [Mani] answer him when he says, ‘I do not believe’? Indeed, I would not believe in the gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so” (Against the Letter of Mani Called ‘The Foundation’ 5:6).
See also the section on Purgatory whence Augustine claims belief in Purgatory would be proper if even only based on the teaching of the Church. Augustine’s belief in the authority of the church shows that he did not teach sola scriptura.

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Augustine Believed in Apostolic Succession
“If the very order of episcopal succession is to be considered, how much more surely, truly, and safely do we number them [the bishops of Rome] from Peter himself, to whom, as to one representing the whole Church, the Lord said, ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not conquer it.’ Peter was succeeded by Linus, Linus by Clement . . . In this order of succession a Donatist bishop is not to be found” (Letters 53:1:2 [A.D. 412]).
“[T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15-17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house” (Against the Letter of Mani Called ‘The Foundation’ 4:5 [A.D. 397]).

 

[dcs6f4]

Was St. Augustine a Protestant?
St. Augustine is one of the greatest of catholic saints. He is revered by Western christians both Roman Catholic and Protestant, and especially by Calvinists and Lutherans. Dr. R. C. Sproul, a leading Calvinist theologian and writer in the U.S. has written that he (Sproul) is an “Augustinian”. On a theological forum sponsored by Dr. Sproul’s ministry, a participant made the audacious statement that “Calvin and Luther did not teach anything that Augustine did not teach.” Such statements are severely misinformed. After listening to these Protestants make the “Augustinian” claim, I have come to realize that what they mean is that they accept Augustine’s ideas of absolute predestination and salvation by grace. Catholics affirm with Protestants that salvation is by God’s grace. However, in regards to predestination, the Catholic Church has not made a dogmatic statement on the matter. In his writings on predestination, St. Augustine gave his private opinions and not the catholic consensus of the church. It is noteworthy that St. Augustine is nearly alone in affirming absolute predestination. His contemporaries and those who followed him did not follow such a rigid system but allowed the freedom of the will.
In his writings outside of his speculations on predestination, St. Augustine was generally reflecting the catholic consensus of the time, and the beliefs which he held as the catholic bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Here are some of the catholic beliefs of Aurelius Augustine, catholic Bishop of Hippo:

The canon of Scripture includes the Septuagint OT canon (deuterocanonicals, Apocrypha)
Authoritative Tradition
Baptismal regeneration and grace
Necessity of baptism for salvation
Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper)
The Mass is a sacrifice
Necessity of the Lord’s Supper for salvation
Purgatory and praying for the departed
The communion of saints and saintly intercession
Authority of the Catholic Church
Apostolic Succession
Possibility of falling from grace
The sacrament of penance
Mary was ever virgin
After looking at these beliefs, if someone claimed to be Augustinian, I think it is rather obvious that they would not be a Calvinist or a Protestant, but Catholic. Although some Protestant denominations such as the Lutherans may accept some of these beliefs, no Protestant denomination will accept them all. Calvinists reject every single one of these beliefs of Augustine. If anyone was to preach all these beliefs in a Protestant church, he would immediately be branded an arch heretic–yet, Protestants quote Augustine and consider him a hero. A heretic is a hero? At one of his ministry conferences, Dr. Sproul made the statement that (paraphrased), “Anyone who believes in Purgatory knows nothing of the Gospel.” The implications of Dr. Sproul’s extreme statement is that St. Augustine was not even a Christian. It seems somewhat hypocritical and logically contradictory to me for people like Dr. Sproul to count Augustine as “one of their own”, yet in other places to make statements that would exclude him from even being a Christian.

Brother… or sister. Would you be kind enough… if it doesn’t take up too much of your time to reply with the sources for the specific beliefs that you listed? I am sure you are correct but it would not be very good of me to just take your word for it. Be as specific or general as you like / have time to be.

Thanks

HAHA disregard this request… you are one step ahead of me.

 

[Soutane]

continuing…
Augustine Believed in the Possibility of Falling from Grace
“I assert, therefore, that the perseverance by which we persevere in Christ even to the end is the gift of God; and I call that the end by which is finished that life wherein alone there is peril of falling. Therefore it is uncertain whether any one has received this gift so long as he is still alive. For if he fall before he dies, he is, of course, said not to have persevered; and most truly is it said.” (On The Gift Of Perseverance)

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Augustine Believed in the Sacrament of Penance
“When you shall have been baptized, keep to a good life in the commandments of God so that you may preserve your baptism to the very end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin, but they are venial sins which this life is never without. Baptism was instituted for all sins. For light sins, without which we cannot live, prayer was instituted. . . . But do not commit those sins on account of which you would have to be separated from the body of Christ. Perish the thought! For those whom you see doing penance have committed crimes, either adultery or some other enormities. That is why they are doing penance. If their sins were light, daily prayer would suffice to blot them out. . . . In the Church, therefore, there are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptisms, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance” (Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed 7:15, 8:16 [A.D. 395]).
“I realize what the incontinent can say: . . . that if a man, accusing his wife of adultery, kills her, this sin, since it is finished and does not perdure in him *, if it is committed by a catechumen, is absolved in baptism, and if it is done by one who is baptized, it is healed by penance and reconciliation” (Adulterous Marriages 2:16:16 [A.D. 419]).
Augustine’s belief in penance (and the necessity of baptism and the Eucharist) puts a death knell in the opinion that he taught sola fide.

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Augustine Believed Mary To Be Ever Virgin
Mary “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin.” (Sermon 186)
“Heretics called Antidicomarites are those who contradict the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was joined as one with her husband” (Heresies 56).

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Augustine On Mary’s Sinlessness/Sinfulness
We must except the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin. (On Nature and Grace, XXXVI)
Augustine does not come out and say whether he thinks Mary is sinless. Out of “honour to the Lord” he is silent about whether Mary was sinful or sinless. Augustine shows some restraint which would be good to remember and to emulate.

Source:willcoxson.net/faith/augprot.htm#sacrifice

I defy ANYONE to point out ANY non-Catholic Faith that embraces the totality of Augustinian Belief as the Catholic Church does.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

 

[Soutane]

My favourite quotes from St Augustine:

“God Who made us without our help will not save us without our consent”

“You have made us for Yourself,O Lord,and our hearts are restless,until they rest in Thee.”

And also because it sounds so truthfully human"Give me chastity and continence,Lord,but not yet."

 

[Soutane]

If we didn’t have St Monica,his mom,we probably wouldn’t have had one of the greatest Saints of thr Holy Catholic Church.She prayed for his conversion constantly:

Monica bore Patricius(her husband) four children, among them Augustine. Augustine made her very happy with his successes as a scholar and teacher, but he also made her very ashamed with his debauchery. For ten years, Augustine lived with his mistress and subscribed to Manichaeism.

Monica sent Augustine to a bishop to be convinced of his errors. The bishop, however, was unable to prevail, and he advised St. Monica simply to continue to pray for her son. He told her, “it cannot be that the son of these tears should perish.”[8]

Some years later, Patricius and Monica joined Augustine in Italy. There, some time later, they had the pleasure of seeing their son, at the age of 33, converted and baptized by Ambrose. Not long after, as Monica was preparing to return to Africa, she died at the age of 56 at the port of Ostia.

As recounted by Augustine, before she died she told him: “There was indeed one thing for which I wished to tarry a little in this life, and that was that I might see you a CATHOLIC before I died. My God hath answered this more than abundantly, so that I see you now made His servant and spurning all earthly happiness. What more am I to do here?”[9]

YAY GOD!!!

 

[Too_Blest_x3]

I’m not sure there is anything left to say after this exemplary display by Soutane. Phenominal work my brother/sister in Christ. May I copy this for future reference? May God continue to bless you and grace you with even more enthusiasm for His Son and His Church.

 

[Hesychios]

Saint Augustine’s beliefs seem to be compatible both with Latin Catholicism and Calvinism. He does not fit as well within Holy Orthodoxy.

As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong) he taught double-Predestination (familiar to Calvinists) although this ultimately did not get the full nod of the Latin Catholic church. He also seems to have taught the total depravity of humankind which led to a whole bunch of consequences in western theology, through both Latin Catholic and (later) Protestant thinkers.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

It’s about time for Soutane to post a five page post LOL

 

[josie_L]

Saint Augustine’s beliefs seem to be compatible both with Latin Catholicism and Calvinism. He does not fit as well within Holy Orthodoxy.

As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong) he taught double-Predestination (familiar to Calvinists) although this ultimately did not get the full nod of the Latin Catholic church. He also seems to have taught the total depravity of humankind which led to a whole bunch of consequences in western theology, through both Latin Catholic and (later) Protestant thinkers.

The total depravity of human nature was wholly a Protestant thing, i.e., this was condemned by the Church at the Council of Trent. And as delineated by Soutane, Calvinism is not compatible with Saint Augustine’s beliefs, moreover, Saint Augustine did believe in free will (unlike Calvin who believed free will was hindered by the fall and moreover that we do not consent to being saved) as ascertained from one of the quotes given by Soutane:

“God Who made us without our help will not save us without our consent”

p.s. If he believed in consent, i.e., free will, I do not see how St. Augustine could possibly believe in double predestination.

 

[SyCarl]

The total depravity of human nature was wholly a Protestant thing, i.e., this was condemned by the Church at the Council of Trent. And as delineated by Soutane, Calvinism is not compatible with Saint Augustine’s beliefs, moreover, Saint Augustine did believe in free will (unlike Calvin who believed free will was hindered by the fall and moreover that we do not consent to being saved) as ascertained from one of the quotes given by Soutane:

“God Who made us without our help will not save us without our consent”

p.s. If he believed in consent, i.e., free will, I do not see how St. Augustine could possibly believe in double predestination.

Augustine on total inability or the free will of the unregenerate.

It is not, therefore, true, as some affirm that we say, and as that correspondent of yours ventures moreover to write, that “all are forced into sin,” as if they were unwilling, “by the necessity of their flesh;” but if they are already of the age to use the choice of their own mind, they are both retained in sin by their own will, and by their own will are hurried along from sin to sin. For even he who persuades and deceives does not act in them, except that they may commit sin by their will, either by ignorance of the truth or by delight in iniquity, or by both evils,—as well of blindness as of weakness. But this will, which is free in evil things because it takes pleasure in evil, is not free in good things, for the reason that it has not been made free. Nor can a man will any good thing unless he is aided by Him who cannot will evil,—that is, by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For “everything which is not of faith is sin.”

(Against Two Letters of the Pelagians, Chapter 7)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf105.xviii.iii.vii.html?scrBook=Rom&scrCh=1&scrV=17#xviii.iii.vii-p5.1

Augustine on predestination

These are the great works of the Lord, sought out according to all His pleasure, and so wisely sought out, that when the intelligent creation, both angelic and human, sinned, doing not His will but their own, He used the very will of the creature which was working in opposition to the Creator’s will as an instrument for carrying out His will, the supremely Good thus turning to good account even what is evil, to the condemnation of those whom in His justice He has predestined to punishment, and to the salvation of those whom in His mercy He has predestined to grace.

(The Enchiridion, Chapter 100)
newadvent.org/fathers/1302.htm

 

[SyCarl]

Augustine on belief in Purgatory as optional

And it is not impossible that something of the same kind may take place even after this life. It is a matter that may be inquired into, and either ascertained or left doubtful, whether some believers shall pass through a kind of purgatorial fire, and in proportion as they have loved with more or less devotion the goods that perish, be less or more quickly delivered from it.

(The Enchiridion Chapter 69)
newadvent.org/fathers/1302.htm

Augustine on the Mother of God

But He rather admonishes us to understand that, in respect of His being God, there was no mother for Him, the part of whose personal majesty He was preparing to show forth in the turning of water into wine….Nor, again, should we be moved by the fact that, when the presence of His mother and His brethren was announced to Him, He replied, “Who is my mother, or who my brethren?” etc. But rather let it teach us, that when parents hinder our ministry wherein we minister the word of God to our brethren, they ought not to be recognized by us.

(A Treatise on Faith and the Creed, Chapter 4, Paragraph 9)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf103.iv.iv.v.html

He was in an extraordinary manner begotten of the Father without a mother, born of a mother without a father; without a mother He was God, without a father He was man; without a mother before all time, without a father in the end of times…9. Why, then, said the Son to the mother, “Woman, what have I to do with you? mine hour is not yet come?” Our Lord Jesus Christ was both God and man. According as He was God, He had not a mother; according as He was man, He had. She was the mother, then, of His flesh, of His humanity, of the weakness which for our sakes He took upon Him.

(Tractates on John, Number 8, Paragraphs 8-9)
newadvent.org/fathers/1701008.htm

Augustine on there was only one without sin.

This being the case, ever since the time when by one man sin thus entered into this world and death by sin, and so it passed through to all men, up to the end of this carnal generation and perishing world, the children of which beget and are begotten, there never has existed, nor ever will exist, a human being of whom, placed in this life of ours, it could be said that he had no sin at all, with the exception of the one Mediator, who reconciles us to our Maker through the forgiveness of sins

(On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants, Book 2 Chapter 47)
newadvent.org/fathers/15012.htm

 

[SyCarl]

Augustine on penal substitution

Christ, though guiltless, took our punishment, that He might cancel our guilt, and do away with our punishment.

(Contra Faustum Book 14, Chapter 4)
newadvent.org/fathers/140614.htm

1. The believer in the true doctrine of the gospel will understand that Christ is not reproached by Moses when he speaks of Him as cursed, not in His divine majesty, but as hanging on the tree as our substitute, bearing our punishment, any more than He is praised by the Manichæans when they deny that He had a mortal body, so as to suffer real death. In the curse of the prophet there is praise of Christ’s humility, while in the pretended regard of the heretics there is a charge of falsehood. If, then, you deny that Christ was cursed, you must deny that He died; and then you have to meet, not Moses, but the apostles. Confess that He died, and you may also confess that He, without taking our sin, took its punishment.

(Contra Faustum Book 14, Chapter 7)
newadvent.org/fathers/140614.htm

Augustine on Scripture

1. In all these books those who fear God and are of a meek and pious disposition seek the will of God. And in pursuing this search the first rule to be observed is, as I said, to know these books, if not yet with the understanding, still to read them so as to commit them to memory, or at least so as not to remain wholly ignorant of them. Next, those matters that are plainly laid down in them, whether rules of life or rules of faith, are to be searched into more carefully and more diligently; and the more of these a man discovers, the more capacious does his understanding become. For among the things that are plainly laid down in Scripture are to be found all matters that concern faith and the manner of life, to wit, hope and love, of which I have spoken in the previous book. After this, when we have made ourselves to a certain extent familiar with the language of Scripture, we may proceed to open up and investigate the obscure passages, and in doing so draw examples from the plainer expressions to throw light upon the more obscure, and use the evidence of passages about which there is no doubt to remove all hesitation in regard to the doubtful passages. And in this matter memory counts for a great deal; but if the memory be defective, no rules can supply the want.

(On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, Chapter 9, Paragraph 14)
newadvent.org/fathers/12022.htm

Note that Scripture alone does not say all truth is in the Bible but that the things we need are plainly set out in it.

Augustine also seems to be saying Scripture interprets Scripture.

Augustine on the rock of Matthew 16:18

And Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And this he heard from the Lord: “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven.” See what praises follow this faith. “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” What means, “Upon this rock I will build my Church”? Upon this faith; upon this that has been said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon this rock,” says He, “I will build my Church.”

(Homilies on 1 John, Homily 10, paragraph 1)
newadvent.org/fathers/170210.htm

 

[SyCarl]

Augustine on the Lord’s Supper and John 6

1. If the sentence is one of command, either forbidding a crime or vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it is figurative. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,” says Christ, “and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” This seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure, enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us.

(On Christian Doctrine, Book 3, Chapter 16, Paragraph 24)
newadvent.org/fathers/12023.htm

Wherefore, the Lord, about to give the Holy Spirit, said that Himself was the bread that came down from heaven, exhorting us to believe in Him. For to believe in Him is to eat the living bread. He that believes eats; he is sated invisibly, because invisibly is he born again.

(Tractates on the Gospel of John. Tractate 26, Paragraph 1)
newadvent.org/fathers/1701026.htm

1. “But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at it,”—for they so said these things with themselves that they might not be heard by Him: but He who knew them in themselves, hearing within Himself,—answered and said, “This offends you;” because I said, I give you my flesh to eat, and my blood to drink, this forsooth offends you. “Then what if you shall see the Son of man ascending where He was before?” What is this? Did He hereby solve the question that perplexed them? Did He hereby uncover the source of their offense? He did clearly, if only they understood. For they supposed that He was going to deal out His body to them; but He said that He was to ascend into heaven, of course, whole: “When you shall see the Son of man ascending where He was before;” certainly then, at least, you will see that not in the manner you suppose does He dispense His body; certainly then, at least, you will understand that His grace is not consumed by tooth-biting.

(Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 27, Paragraph 3)
newadvent.org/fathers/1701027.htm

Augustine on the true church and body of Christ being the true believers, not the visible church

1. The second rule is about the twofold division of the body of the Lord; but this indeed is not a suitable name, for that is really no part of the body of Christ which will not be with Him in eternity. We ought, therefore, to say that the rule is about the true and the mixed body of the Lord, or the true and the counterfeit, or some such name; because, not to speak of eternity, hypocrites cannot even now be said to be in Him, although they seem to be in His Church. ** And hence this rule might be designated thus: Concerning the mixed Church. Now this rule requires the reader to be on his guard when Scripture, although it has now come to address or speak of a different set of persons, seems to be addressing or speaking of the same persons as before, just as if both sets constituted one body in consequence of their being for the time united in a common participation of the sacraments**.

(On Christian Doctrine, 3:32)
newadvent.org/fathers/12023.htm

 

[SyCarl]

Augustine on final authority

“Well, let us suppose that those bishops who decided the case at Rome were not good judges; there still remained a plenary Council of the universal Church, in which these judges themselves might be put on their defence; so that, if they were convicted of mistake, their decisions might be reversed.”

(Letter 43, Paragraph 19)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.XLIII.html

Augustine on the Eucharist

1. You know that in ordinary parlance we often say, when Easter is approaching, “Tomorrow or the day after is the Lord’s Passion,” although He suffered so many years ago, and His passion was endured once for all time. In like manner, on Easter Sunday, we say, “This day the Lord rose from the dead,” although so many years have passed since His resurrection. But no one is so foolish as to accuse us of falsehood when we use these phrases, for this reason, that we give such names to these days on the ground of a likeness between them and the days on which the events referred to actually transpired, the day being called the day of that event, although it is not the very day on which the event took place, but one corresponding to it by the revolution of the same time of the year, and the event itself being said to take place on that day, because, although it really took place long before, it is on that day sacramentally celebrated. Was not Christ once for all offered up in His own person as a sacrifice? and yet, is He not likewise offered up in the sacrament as a sacrifice, not only in the special solemnities of Easter, but also daily among our congregations; so that the man who, being questioned, answers that He is offered as a sacrifice in that ordinance, declares what is strictly true? For if sacraments had not some points of real resemblance to the things of which they are the sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all. In most cases, moreover, they do in virtue of this likeness bear the names of the realities which they resemble. As, therefore, in a certain manner the sacrament of Christ’s body is Christ’s body, and the sacrament of Christ’s blood is Christ’s blood, in the same manner the sacrament of faith is faith.

(Letters, Number 98, Paragraph 9
newadvent.org/fathers/1102098.htm

Augustine on the keys and binding and loosing

He has given, therefore, the keys to His Church, that whatsoever it should bind on earth might be bound in heaven, and whatsoever it should loose on earth might be loosed in heaven; that is to say, that whosoever in the Church should not believe that his sins are remitted, they should not be remitted to him; but that whosoever should believe and should repent, and turn from his sins, should be saved by the same faith and repentance on the ground of which he is received into the bosom of the Church. For he who does not believe that his sins can be pardoned, falls into despair, and becomes worse as if no greater good remained for him than to be evil, when he has ceased to have faith in the results of his own repentance.

(On Christian Doctrine, Book 1, Chapter 18)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.v.iv.xviii.html?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=16&scrV=19#v.iv.xviii-p3.1

Source is my own reading of Augustine of which I still have a lot to do.

 

[TheQuestioner]

Augustine on final authority
(Letter 43, Paragraph 19)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.XLIII.html

Hmmm again out of context. You do realize here that Augustine was comparing a local council to an Ecumenical one here right?

Augustine on the Eucharist

(Letters, Number 98, Paragraph 9
newadvent.org/fathers/1102098.htm

First off, this passage you posted works to defend infant baptism. Second, you highlighted out of context. Augustine really just explains how it is appropriate and fitting that the sacraments are called what they are called since those names mirror what happened to Christ in His life too. It really has nothing to do with the true presence.

Augustine on the keys and binding and loosing

(On Christian Doctrine, Book 1, Chapter 18)
ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.v.iv.xviii.html?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=16&scrV=19#v.iv.xviii-p3.1

Augustine is clearly defending the sacrament of Reconciliation. In fact, he defends the Church’s authority since he says by the Churches authority we receive blessings of forgiveness.

Source is my own reading of Augustine of which I still have a lot to do.

Keep reading, and read over. If you are gleaning a protestant prospective from Augustine’s work you are not reading it right.

 

[TheQuestioner]

Augustine on the Lord’s Supper and John 6

(On Christian Doctrine, Book 3, Chapter 16, Paragraph 24)
newadvent.org/fathers/12023.htm

Troubling at first, till I read the entire paragraph are realized what Augustine was talking about. The symbolism does not lie in the body and blood being Christ’s actual body and blood, but on the latter part, “you have no life in you.” Now those who do not eat those the body and blood still have life. They still live and breathe. It is this part that is the figure.

from Sermons 82

As we heard when the Holy Gospel was being read, the Lord Jesus Christ exhorted us by the promise of eternal life to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. You that heard these words, have not all as yet understood them. For those of you who have been baptized and the faithful do know what He meant. But those among you who are yet called Catechumens, or Hearers, could be hearers, when it was being read, could they be understanders too? Accordingly our discourse is directed to both.** Let them who already eat the Flesh of the Lord and drink His Blood**, think What it is they eat and drink, lest, as the Apostle says, They eat and drink judgment to themselves. But they who do not yet eat and drink, let them hasten when invited to such a Banquet.

(Tractates on the Gospel of John. Tractate 26, Paragraph 1)
newadvent.org/fathers/1701026.htm

Yes…eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ should be an act of faith.
Anyway, same link, paragraph 13 starts off as…

I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. For that reason living, because I came down from heaven. The manna also came down from heaven; but the manna was only a shadow, this is the truth. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. When did flesh comprehend this flesh which He called bread? That is called flesh which flesh does not comprehend, and for that reason all the more flesh does not comprehend it, that it is called flesh. For they were terrified at this: they said it was too much for them; they thought it impossible. Is my flesh, says He, for the life of the world. Believers know the body of Christ, if they neglect not to be the body of Christ. Let them become the body of Christ, if they wish to live by the Spirit of Christ.

(Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 27, Paragraph 3)
newadvent.org/fathers/1701027.htm

Yeah…you can’t just eat the body and blood physically, that’s not enough. You have to receive it spiritually as well, for man is body and spirit…again, same link.

Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 26, Paragraph 13

None lives by the Spirit of Christ but the body of Christ. Understand, my brethren, what I mean to say. You are a man; you have both a spirit and a body. I call that a spirit which is called the soul; that whereby it consists that you are a man, for you consist of soul and body. And so you have an invisible spirit and a visible body. Tell me which lives of the other: does your spirit live of your body, or your body of your spirit? Every man that lives can answer; and he that cannot answer this, I know not whether he lives: what does every man that lives answer? My body, of course, lives by my spirit.

Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 26, Paragraph 16

1. In a word, He now explains how that which He speaks of comes to pass, and what it is to eat His body and to drink His blood. He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. This it is, therefore, for a man to eat that meat and to drink that drink, to dwell in Christ, and to have Christ dwelling in him. Consequently, he that dwells not in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells not, doubtless neither eats His flesh [spiritually] nor drinks His blood although he may press the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ carnally and visibly with his teeth], **but rather does he eat and drink the sacrament of **so great a thing to his own judgment, because he, being unclean, has presumed to come to the sacraments of Christ, which no man takes worthily except he that is pure: of such it is said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8