CONTENTS OF THE ENCHIRIDION. CHAP. I.-The author desires the gift of true wisdom for Laurentius, CHAP. III.—God is to be worshipped through faith, hope, and love, CHAP. V.-Brief answers to these questions, CHAP. VI.-Controversy out of place in a hand-book like the present, CHAP. VII.—The Creed and the Lord's Prayer demand the exercise of faith, hope, and love, CHAP. VIII. The distinction between faith and hope, and the mutual dependence of faith, hope and CHAP. IX.-What we are to believe. In regard to nature it is not necessary for the Christian to know CHAP. XI.-What is called evil in the universe is but the absence of good, CHAP. XII.—All beings were made good, but not being made perfectly good, are liable to corruption, the same subject. Evil springs up in what is good, and cannot exist except in what is good, CHAP. XVI. It is not essential to man's happiness that he should know the causes of physical convulsions; but it is, that he should know the causes of good and evil, . . 242 CHAP. XVII.-The nature of error. All error is not hurtful, though it is man's duty as far as possible to avoid it, • 242 CHAP. XVIII.—it is never allowable to tell a lie; but lies differ very much in guilt, according to the intention and the subject, 243 CHAP. XIX.-Men's errors vary very much in the magnitude of the evils they produce; but yet every error is in itself an evil, 243 CHAP. XX.-Every error is not a sin. An examination of the opinion of the academic philosophers, 245 . CHAP. XXVI.-Through Adam's sin his whole posterity were corrupted, and were born under the penalty of death, which he had incurred, 246 CHAP. XXVII.-The state of misery to which Adam's sin reduced mankind, and the restoration effected through the mercy of God, CHAP. XXVIII.-When the rebellious angels were cast out, the rest remained in the enjoyment of eternal happiness with God, . 246 CHAP. XXIX. The restored part of humanity shall, in accordance with the promises of God, succeed to the place which the rebellious angels lost, . 247 CHAP. XXX.-Men are not saved by good works, nor by the free determination of their own will, but by the grace of God through faith, CHAP. XXXI.-Faith itself is the gift of God; and good works will not be wanting in those who believe, CHAP. XXXII.-The freedom of the will is also the gift of God, for God worketh in us both to will and to do, CHAP. XXXIV.-The ineffable mystery of the birth of Christ the Mediator through the virgin Mary, 249 249 CHAP. XXXIII.-Men, being by nature the children of wrath, needed a Mediator. In what sense God is said to be angry, CHAP. XXXVI.-The grace of God is clearly and remarkably displayed in raising the man Christ Jesus to the dignity of the Son of God, CHAP. XXXVII.—The same grace is further clearly manifested in this, that the birth of Christ according to the flesh is of the Holy Ghost, CHAP. XXXVIII.—Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, was not born of the Holy Spirit in such a sense CHAP. XXXIX.-Not everything that is born of another is to be called a son of that other. CHAP. XLI.-Christ, who was himself free from sin, was made sin for us, that we might be reconciled CHAP. XLII.-The sacrament of Baptism indicates our death with Christ to sin, and our resurrection with Him to newness of life, .252 CHAP. XLIII.-Baptism and the grace which it typifies are open to all, both infants and adults, 252 252 CHAP. XLV. In Adam's first sin, many kinds of sin were involved, 252 CHAP. XLVII.-It is difficult to decide whether the sin's of a man's other progenitors are imputed to him, CHAP. XLVI.-It is probable that children are involved in the guilt not only of the first pair, but of their own immediate parents, 252 253 CHAP. XLVIII.—The guilt of the first sin is so great that it can be washed away only in the blood of the 253 CHAP. XLIX.-Christ was not regenerated in the baptism of John, but submitted to it to give us an example of humility, just as he submitted to death, not as the punishment of sin, but to take away the sin of the world, . . 253 CHAP. L.-Christ took away not only the one original sin, but all the other sins that have been added to it, CHAP. LI.-All men born of Adam are under condemnation, and only if new born in Christ are freed from condemnation, . 253 CHAP. LII.-In baptism, which is the similitude of the death and resurrection of Christ, all, both infants and adults, die to sin that they may walk in newness of life, .254 . 254 CHAP. LIII.-Christ's cross and burial, resurrection, ascension, and sitting down at the right hand of 254 CHAP. LIV.-Christ's second coming does not belong to the past, but will take place at the end of the world, .255 CHAP. LV. The expression, "Christ shall judge the quick and the dead," may be understood in either of two senses, 255 CHAP. LVI.-The Holy Spirit and the Church. The Church is the temple of God, 255 CHAP. LVII.-The condition of the Church in heaven, CHAP. LVIII.-We have no certain knowledge of the organization of the angelic society, 256 256 CHAP. LIX.-The bodies assumed by angels raise a very difficult, and not very useful, subject of discussion, .256 CHAP. LX. It is more necessary to be able to detect the wiles of Satan when he transforms himself into an angel of light, CHAP. LXI.-The Church on earth has been redeemed from sin by the blood of a Mediator, CHAP. LXIII.—The peace of God, which reigneth in heaven, passeth all understanding, CHAP. LXIV. Pardon of sin extends over the whole mortal life of the saints, which, though free from crime, is not free from sin, CHAP. LXV.-God pardons sins, but on condition of penitence, certain times for which have been fixed CHAP. LXVI.—The pardon of sin has reference chiefly to the future Judgment, CHAP. LXVIII.-The true sense of the passage (1. Cor. III. 11-15) about those who are saved, yet so as by fire, CHAP. LXIX.-It is not impossible that some believers may pass through a purgatorial fire in the future life, 259 260 CHAP. LXXVI.-To give alms aright, we should begin with ourselves, and have pity upon our own souls, CHAP. LXX.-Almsgiving will not atone for sin unless the life be changed, CHAP. LXXI.-The daily prayer of the believer makes satisfaction for the trivial sins that daily stain his life, CHAP. LXXIII.-The greatest of all alms is to forgive our debtors and to love our enemies, CHAP. LXXVII.—If we would give alms to ourselves, we must flee iniquity; for he who loveth iniquity hateth his soul, 262 CHAP. LXXVIII.-What sins are trivial and what heinous is a matter for God's judgment, . . 262 264 CHAP. LXXXII.-The mercy of God is necessary to true repentance, 264 CHAP. LXXXIII.-The man who despises the mercy of God is guilty of the sin against the Holy Ghost, CHAP. LXXXV.-The case of abortive conceptions, CHAP. LXXXVI.-If they have ever lived, they must of course have died, and therefore shall have a share in the resurrection of the dead, CHAP. LXXXVII.-The case of monstrous births, CHAP. LXXXVIII.-The material of the body never perishes, CHAP. LXXXIX.-But this material may be differently arranged in the resurrection body, CHAP. XC.-If there be differences and inequalities among the bodies of those who rise again, there CHAP. XCI.-The bodies of the saints shall at the resurrection be spiritual bodies, CHAP. XCIII.-Both the first and the second deaths are the consequence of sin. CHAP. XCIV. The saints shall know more fully in the next world the benefits they have received by grace, CHAP. XCVI.-The omnipotent God does well even in the permission of evil, CHAP. XCVII.-In what sense does the Apostle say that "God will have all men to be saved," when, as a matter of fact, all are not saved? CHAP. XCVIII.-Predestination to eternal life is wholly of God's free grace, CHAP. XCIX.-As God's mercy is free, so His judgments are just, and cannot be gainsaid, CHAP. CIII.—Interpretation of the expression in—1 Tim. 11. 4: "Who will have all men to be saved," . 270 . 271 .271 CHAP. CVI.-The grace of God was necessary to man's salvation before the fall as well as after it, CHAP. CIX. The state of the soul during the interval between death and the resurrection, . CHAP. CXII.-There is no ground in Scripture for the opinion of those who deny the eternity of future CHAP. CXIII.-The death of the wicked shall be eternal in the same sense as the life of the saints, CHAP. CXIV. Having dealt with faith, we now come to speak of hope. Everything that pertains to hope is embraced in the Lord's Prayer, 273 273 CHAP. CXV.— The seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, according to Matthew, CHAP. CXVII.-Love, which is greater than faith and hope, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy CHAP. CXVIII.-The four stages of the Christian's life, and the four corresponding stages of the CHAP. CXIX.-The grace of regeneration washes away all past sin and all original guilt, 275 276 THE ENCHIRIDION, ADDRESSED TO LAURENTIUS; BEING A TREATISE ON FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE. ARGUMENT. LAURENTIUS HAVING ASKED AUGUSTIN TO FURNISH HIM WITH A HANDBOOK OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, CONTAINING IN BRIEF COMPASS ANSWERS TO SEVERAL QUESTIONS WHICH HE HAD PROPOSED, AUGUSTIN SHOWS HIM THAT THESE QUESTIONS CAN BE FULLY ANSWERED BY ANY ONE WHO KNOWS THE PROPER OBJECTS OF FAITH, hope, and LOVE. HE THEN PROCEEDS, IN THE FIRST PART OF THE WORK (CHAP. IX.-CXIII.), TO EXPOUND THE OBJECTS OF Faith, TAKING AS HIS TEXT THE APOSTLES' CREED; AND IN THE COURSE OF THIS EXPOSITION, BESIDES REFUTING DIVERS HERESIES, HE THROWS OUT MANY OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF LIFE. THE SECOND PART OF THE WORK (CHAP. CXIV.-CXVI.) TREATS OF THE OBJECTS of Hope, AND CONSISTS OF A VERY BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE SEVERAL PETITIONS IN THE LORD'S PRAYER. THE THIRD AND CONCLUDING PART (CHAP. CXVII.-CXXII.) TREATS OF THE OBJECTS OF LOVE, SHOWING THE PRE-EMINENCE OF THIS GRACE IN THE GOSPEL SYSTEM, THAT IT IS THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT AND THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW, AND THAT GOD HIMSELF IS LOVE. CHAP. I.—THE AUTHOR DESIRES THE GIFT OF | can be wise of himself, but only by the enlightening influence of Him of whom it is TRUE WISDOM FOR LAURENTIUS. WISDOM. The true wisdom of man is piety. You find this in the book of holy Job. For we read there what wisdom itself has said to man: I CANNOT express, my beloved son Lauren-written," All wisdom cometh from the Lord." tius, the delight with which I witness your progress in knowledge, and the earnest desire CHAP. 2.—THE FEAR OF GOD IS MAN'S TRUE I have that you should be a wise man: not one of those of whom it is said, "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" but one of those of whom it is said, "The multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world," and such as the apostles wishes those to become, whom he tells," I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."3 Now, just as no one can exist of himself, so no one II Cor. i. 20. 2 Wisd. vi. 24. [Greek text, ver. 25: #λñdos σooŵv σwrηpia κόσμου.—Ρ. S.] 3 Rom. xvi. 19. Behold, the fear of the Lord [pietas], that is wisdom."s If you ask further what is meant in that place by pietas, the Greek calls it more definitely soßeta, that is, the worship of God. The Greeks sometimes call piety evolßera, which signifies right worship, though this, of course, refers specially to the worship of God. But when we are defining |