Of the Morals of the Catholic Church

St. Augustine of Hippo

  1. 1. — How the Pretensions of the Manichæans are to Be Refuted. Two Manichæan Falsehoods
  2. 2. — He Begins with Arguments, in Compliance with the Mistaken Method of the Manichæans
  3. 3. — Happiness is in the Enjoyment of Man's Chief Good. Two Conditions of the Chief Good: 1st, Nothing is Better Than It; 2d, It Cannot Be Lost Against the Will
  4. 4. — Man — What?
  5. 5. — Man's Chief Good is Not the Chief Good of the Body Only, But the Chief Good of the Soul
  6. 6. — Virtue Gives Perfection to the Soul; The Soul Obtains Virtue by Following God; Following God is the Happy Life
  7. 7. — The Knowledge of God to Be Obtained from the Scripture. The Plan and Principal Mysteries of the Divine Scheme of Redemption
  8. 8. — God is the Chief Good, Whom We are to Seek After with Supreme Affection
  9. 9. — Harmony of the Old and New Testament on the Precepts of Charity.
  10. 10. — What the Church Teaches About God. The Two Gods of the Manichæans
  11. 11. — God is the One Object of Love; Therefore He is Man's Chief Good. Nothing is Better Than God. God Cannot Be Lost Against Our Will
  12. 12. — We are United to God by Love, in Subjection to Him
  13. 13. — We are Joined Inseparably to God by Christ and His Spirit
  14. 14. — We Cleave to the Trinity, Our Chief Good, by Love
  15. 15. — The Christian Definition of the Four Virtues
  16. 16. — Harmony of the Old and New Testaments
  17. 17. — Appeal to the Manichæans, Calling on Them to Repent
  18. 18. — Only in the Catholic Church is Perfect Truth Established on the Harmony of Both Testaments
  19. 19. — Description of the Duties of Temperance, According to the Sacred Scriptures
  20. 20. — We are Required to Despise All Sensible Things, and to Love God Alone
  21. 21. — Popular Renown and Inquisitiveness are Condemned in the Sacred Scriptures
  22. 22. — Fortitude Comes from the Love of God
  23. 23. — Scripture Precepts and Examples of Fortitude
  24. 24. — Of Justice and Prudence
  25. 25. — Four Moral Duties Regarding the Love of God, of Which Love the Reward is Eternal Life and the Knowledge of the Truth
  26. 26. — Love of Ourselves and of Our Neighbor
  27. 27. — On Doing Good to the Body of Our Neighbor
  28. 28. — On Doing Good to the Soul of Our Neighbor. Two Parts of Discipline, Restraint and Instruction. Through Good Conduct We Arrive at the Knowledge of the Truth
  29. 29. — Of the Authority of the Scriptures
  30. 30. — The Church Apostrophised as Teacher of All Wisdom. Doctrine of the Catholic Church
  31. 31. — The Life of the Anachoretes and Cœnobites Set Against the Continence of the Manichæans
  32. 32. — Praise of the Clergy
  33. 33. — Another Kind of Men Living Together in Cities. Fasts of Three Days
  34. 34. — The Church is Not to Be Blamed for the Conduct of Bad Christians, Worshippers of Tombs and Pictures
  35. 35. — Marriage and Property Allowed to the Baptized by the Apostles

1. Enough, probably, has been done in our other books in the way of answering the ignorant and profane attacks which the Manichæans make on the law, which is called the Old Testament, in a spirit of vainglorious boasting, and with the approval of the uninstructed. Here, too, I may shortly touch upon the subject. For every one with average intelligence can easily see that the explanation of the Scriptures should be sought for from those who are the professed teachers of the Scriptures; and that it may happen, and indeed always happens, that many things seem absurd to the ignorant, which, when they are explained by the learned, appear all the more excellent, and are received in the explanation with the greater pleasure on account of the obstructions which made it difficult to reach the meaning. This commonly happens as regards the holy books of the Old Testament, if only the man who meets with difficulties applies to a pious teacher, and not to a profane critic, and if he begins his inquiries from a desire to find truth, and not in rash opposition. And should the inquirer meet with some, whether bishops or presbyters, or any officials or ministers of the Catholic Church, who either avoid in all cases opening up mysteries, or, content with simple faith, have no desire for more recondite knowledge, he must not despair of finding the knowledge of the truth in a case where neither are all able to teach to whom the inquiry is addressed, nor are all inquirers worthy of learning the truth. Diligence and piety are both necessary: on the one hand, we must have knowledge to find truth, and, on the other hand, we must deserve to get the knowledge.

2. But as the Manichæans have two tricks for catching the unwary, so as to make them take them as teachers — one, that of finding fault with the Scriptures, which they either misunderstand or wish to be misunderstood, the other, that of making a show of chastity and of notable abstinence — this book shall contain our doctrine of life and morals according to Catholic teaching, and will perhaps make it appear how easy it is to pretend to virtue, and how difficult to possess virtue. I will refrain, if I can, from attacking their weak points, which I know well, with the violence with which they attack what they know nothing of; for I wish them, if possible, to be cured rather than conquered. And I will quote such testimonies from the Scriptures as they are bound to believe, for they shall be from the New Testament; and even from this I will take none of the passages which the Manichæans when hard pressed are accustomed to call spurious, but passages which they are obliged to acknowledge and approve. And for every testimony from apostolic teaching I will bring a similar statement from the Old Testament, that if they ever become willing to wake up from their persistent dreams, and to rise towards the light of Christian faith, they may discover both how far from being Christian is the life which they profess, and how trul