An Augustinian reminder for the Church in a world in crisis
Leave a CommentThe world right now can feel like it is falling apart. Power dynamics that have existed from long before I was born are changing. Many of the institutions in which people have put their hope have weakened, collapsed, or been shown to be toothless. The political parties which have held sway for generations have lost vast amounts of support and new, radical leaders are trying to take their place.
When the Church Father Jerome heard about the sack of Rome in 410 CE, he was distraught. Rome, the greatest city in the world, the symbolic head of an empire that had ruled the known world for hundreds of years had been pillaged by an army of Visigoths. In Jerome’s eyes, “the bright light of all the world was put out, or, rather, when the Roman Empire was decapitated, and, to speak more correctly, the whole world perished in one city” (Preface to Book 1 of his Commentary on Ezekiel). He could not comprehend that Rome had collapsed and many of its people forced to flee and seek refuge throughout the empire. (Prefaces to Books 3 and 7 of his Commentary on Ezekiel).
Jerome represents a view that had become common amongst the Christians. Since they had gained a significant level of political power they had wrestled with how to understand their new role and responsibilities, and more importantly how to understand how God was working. They often arrived at a very close association between the outworking of God’s will, and the continued success and triumph of the Roman empire.
The view held by Jerome is epitomised by the Christian historian Eusebius. Eusebius argued that Constantine was God’s instrument to bring the known world to Christ. He was a conqueror who brought the Kingdom of God through military victory. (Life of Constantine Book 1 Chapters 4 and 6). There was a clear association between the Roman state and the Kingdom of God. They were inextricably linked. Eusebius interpreted the predictions in Psalm 72 and Isaiah 2:4 that wars would cease when God’s Kingdom would come as having been fulfilled in the Pax Romana, the ‘Roman peace’, an idealised understanding of the world Rome had created. (Preparation for the Gospel Book 1 Chapter 4).
These interpretations were taken up by other prominent fourth century theologians like Jerome’s mentor Ambrose. Ambrose argued that the defence of the Roman Empire was necessary for the defence of the faith and was prophesied in scripture.(Exposition of the Christian Faith Book 2 Chapter 16). Like Eusebius, he associated the peace of God with the Roman Empire, and the defence of that peace with the maintaining of God’s Kingdom. The Roman Christian poet Prudentius described the empire extending its boundaries into the heavens now that it was under a Christian emperor. (Reply to Symmachus Book 1)
In all these Christian thinkers there was an interweaving of the political and the eternal. God’s salvation plan was seen as being worked out through Roman political power, through Roman conquest. They were operating within the ancient classical view of the state, where the political institutions were at the centre of the society and were seen as the place where human flourishing was brought about.
But, if the state is seen as synonymous with the outworking of the Kingdom of God, how then does one respond when the empire’s stability crumbles, when its security seems uncertain, and the symbol of its unchanging might is sacked by an enemy army.
Another student of Ambrose was Augustine. Much of his theological reflection took place after the sack of Rome, where the widespread Christian political understanding had been severely shaken. Augustine challenged the traditional classical understanding of the role of the state and how it related to the divine. He saw in classical Roman thinkers the argument that a state was united by a shared understanding of what was right, of what was just. (The City of God Book 19 Chapter 21).
But Augustine believed this to be impossible. He understood humans to be fallen, our desires disordered, so that we would not choose what was right; we would not choose power over peace, or loving God over love of self. (The City of God Book 19 Chapter 13). In an earthly state, true justice is impossible and injustice is unavoidable.
Augustine argued that only through the transforming power of Jesus’ sacrificial, humble love could humanity’s desire be reordered so that God was our supreme concern, and we could seek and understand true justice. In light of this there were two groups of people, the Heavenly City and the Earthly City. The Heavenly City were those who were in Christ and had had their desires reordered, and the Earthly City were those who were not. The Heavenly City were defined by love of God and care for others, whilst the citizens of the Earthly City were focused on themselves and sought to dominate others. (The City of God Book 14 Chapter 4). Whilst Augustine used the word ‘City’ he was not referring to physical political entities like the Roman Empire. Augustine saw the time in which he lived as the saeculum, a period where the members of both Cities were intermingled on earth and inhabited the same social structures. Whilst we live in the saeculum, no human society can fully realise true justice, no nation or institution can be considered the embodiment of the Kingdom of God.
Augustine does not argue that political structures and engagement in legislative affairs are unimportant. Where he lived in North Africa, most of the Church was made up by a Christian group called the Donatists. They were a separatist Christian movement who wanted a clear division and segregation between the Church, the people of God, and Roman society and politics, because they believed the holiness and internal integrity of the Church was primary. Augustine disagreed. In the saeculum no such divide between the Church and society could exist. But more importantly we have moral duties to our neighbours. Politics may cause us great upset because it can sometimes lead to harm, and justice will not be perfect. But Christian participation in political rule, in seeking temporal good is something we are obligated to do. (The City of God Book 19 Chapter 6). Augustine understood the role of a Christian as to preach the Christian gospel and advocate to the state policies which reflected the Kingdom of God. If this was done it would be to the benefit of the state. This can be seen in Augustine’s engagement with the pagan former official Nectarius. Augustine sought to convince Nectarius that Christianity was better for social reconciliation than his pagan philosophy (Letter 91). The example Augustine used to demonstrate a Christian engagement with the state was not Eusebius’ Constantine, but Theodosius I’s public atonement in AD 390 for the massacre of many of his own people. This repentant figure was portrayed as the opposite of those who sought their own glory. (The City of God Book 5 Chapter 26).
In the Augustinian understanding no political party or social movement can truly save. It would be naive to believe an ideal society can be created through human effort. But this does not mean that Christian’s should not seek the common good and protect the marginalised and oppressed. Whilst we await Christ’s return, and the restoration of all things, those who follow him are called to faithful witnesses to the God and King we profess to follow.
Alex Smith is a Parliamentary Researcher and an Ambassador for Christians in Politics.