Writings in Connection with the Donatist ControversyAugustine, of Hippo, Saint
ReligionChristian
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint
Donatists; Donatists -- Controversial literature
CHAP. LI.--99. Taking all these things, therefore, into consideration,
I think that I am not rash in saying that there are some in the
house of God after such a fashion as not to be themselves the very
house of God, which is said to be built upon a rock,[619] which is
called the one dove,[620] which is styled the beauteous bride without
spot or wrinkle,[621] and a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed,
a well of living water, an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant
fruits,[622] which house also received the keys, and the power of
binding and loosing.[623] If any one shall neglect this house when it
arrests and corrects him, the Lord says, "Let him be unto thee as an
heathen man and a publican."[624] Of this house it is said, "Lord,
I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine
honour dwelleth;"[625] and, "He maketh men to be of one mind in an
house;"[626] and, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into
the house of the Lord;"[627] and, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy
house, O Lord; they will be still praising Thee;"[628] with countless
other passages to the same effect. This house is also called wheat,
bringing forth fruit with patience, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold,
and some an hundred-fold.[629] This house is also in vessels of gold
and of silver,[630] and in precious stones and imperishable woods. To
this house it is said, "Forbearing one another in love, endeavouring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;"[631] and, "For
the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."[632] For this house is
composed of those that are good and faithful, and of the holy servants
of God dispersed throughout the world, and bound together by the unity
of the Spirit, whether they know each other personally or not. But we
hold that others are said to be in the house after such a sort, that
they belong not to the substance of the house, nor to the society of
fruitful and peaceful justice, but only as the chaff is said to be
among the corn; for that they are in the house we cannot deny, when the
apostle says, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold
and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and
some to dishonour."[633] Of this countless multitude are found to be
not only the crowd which within the Church afflicts the heart of the
saints, who are so few in comparison with so vast a host, but also the
heresies and schisms which exist in those who have burst the meshes of
the net, and may now be said to be rather out of the house than in the
house, of whom it is said, "They went out from us, but they were not
of us."[634] For they are more thoroughly separated, now that they are
also divided from us in the body, than are those who live within the
Church in a carnal and worldly fashion, and are separated from us in
the spirit.
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