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
74. And yet you know, as you prove by your quotation, that the Holy
Spirit descended in such wise, that those who were then filled with
it spake with divers tongues: what was the meaning of that sign and
prodigy? Why then is the Holy Spirit given now in such wise, that no
one to whom it is given speaks with divers tongues, except because
that miracle then prefigured that all nations of the earth should
believe, and that thus the gospel should be found to be in every
tongue? Just as it was foretold in the psalm so long before: "There
is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." This was
said with reference to those men who were destined, after receiving
the Holy Spirit, to speak with every kind of tongue. But because this
passage itself signified that the gospel should be found hereafter in
all nations and languages, and that the body of Christ should sound
forth throughout all the world in every tongue, therefore he goes on
to say, "Their sound is gone out throughout all the earth, and their
words to the ends of the world." Hence it is that the true Church is
hidden from no one. And hence comes that which the Lord Himself says
in the gospel, "A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."[789] And
therefore David continues in the same psalm, "In the sun hath He placed
His tabernacle," that is, in the open light of day; as we read in the
Book of Kings, "For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing
before all Israel, and before the sun."[790] And He Himself is "as a
bridegroom coming out of His chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run
His race. His going forth is from the end of heaven:" here you have
the coming of the Lord in the flesh. "And His circuit unto the ends
of it:" here you have His resurrection and ascension. "And there is
nothing hid from the heat thereof:"[791] here you have the coming of
the Holy Spirit, whom He sent in tongues of fire, that He might make
manifest the glowing heat of charity, which he certainly cannot have
who does not keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace with the
Church, which is throughout all languages.
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