On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants — Book 2

St. Augustine of Hippo

1. 0. Greeting
2. 1. [I.]— What Has Thus Far Been Dwelt On; And What is to Be Treated in This Book.
3. 2. [II.]— Some Persons Attribute Too Much to the Freedom of Man's Will; Ignorance and Infirmity.
4. 3. [III.]— In What Way God Commands Nothing Impossible. Works of Mercy, Means of Wiping Out Sins.
5. 4. [IV.]— Concupiscence, How Far in Us; The Baptized are Not Injured by Concupiscence, But Only by Consent Therewith.
6. 5. [V.]— The Will of Man Requires the Help of God.
7. 6. — Wherein the Pharisee Sinned When He Thanked God; To God's Grace Must Be Added the Exertion of Our Own Will.
8. 7. [VI.]— Four Questions on the Perfection of Righteousness: (1.) Whether a Man Can Be Without Sin in This Life.
9. 8. [VII.]— (2) Whether There is in This World a Man Without Sin.
10. 9. — The Beginning of Renewal; Resurrection Called Regeneration; They are the Sons of God Who Lead Lives Suitable to Newness of Life.
11. 10. [VIII.]— Perfection, When to Be Realized.
12. 11. [IX.]— An Objection of the Pelagians: Why Does Not a Righteous Man Beget a Righteous Man?
13. 12. [X.]— He Reconciles Some Passages of Scripture.
14. 13. — A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
15. 14. — Job Was Not Without Sin.
16. 15. — Carnal Generation Condemned on Account of Original Sin.
17. 16. — Job Foresaw that Christ Would Come to Suffer; The Way of Humility in Those that are Perfect.
18. 17. [XII.]— No One Righteous in All Things.
19. 18. [XIII.]— Perfect Human Righteousness is Imperfect.
20. 19. — Zacharias and Elisabeth, Sinners.
21. 20. — Paul Worthy to Be the Prince of the Apostles, and Yet a Sinner.
22. 21. [XIV.]— All Righteous Men Sinners.
23. 22. [XV.]— An Objection of the Pelagians; Perfection is Relative; He is Rightly Said to Be Perfect in Righteousness Who Has Made Much Progress Therein.
24. 23. [XXI.]— Why God Prescribes What He Knows Cannot Be Observed.
25. 24. — An Objection of the Pelagians. The Apostle Paul Was Not Free From Sin So Long as He Lived.
26. 25. — God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy.
27. 26. [XVII.] — (3) Why No One in This Life is Without Sin.
28. 27. — The Divine Remedy for Pride.
29. 28. [XVIII.]— A Good Will Comes from God.
30. 29. — A Subterfuge of the Pelagians.
31. 30. — All Will is Either Good, and Then It Loves Righteousness, or Evil, When It Does Not Love Righteousness.
32. 31. — Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy; Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth.
33. 32. — God's Sovereignity in His Grace.
34. 33. — Through Grace We Have Both the Knowledge of Good, and the Delight Which It Affords.
35. 34. [XX.]— (4) That No Man, with the Exception of Christ, Has Ever Lived, or Can Live Without Sin.
36. 35. [XXI.]— Adam and Eve; Obedience Most Strongly Enjoined by God on Man.
37. 36. [XXII.]— Man's State Before the Fall.
38. 37. [XXIII.]— The Corruption of Nature is by Sin, Its Renovation is by Christ.
39. 38. [XXIV.]— What Benefit Has Been Conferred on Us by the Incarnation of the Word; Christ's Birth in the Flesh, Wherein It is Like and Wherein Unlike Our Own Birth.
40. 39. [XXV.]— An Objection of Pelagians.
41. 40. — An Argument Anticipated.
42. 41. — Children of Believers are Called Clean By the Apostle.
43. 42. — Sanctification Manifold; Sacrament of Catechumens.
44. 43. [XXVII.]— Why the Children of the Baptized Should Be Baptized.
45. 44. — An Objection of the Pelagians.
46. 45. [XXVIII.]— The Law of Sin is Called Sin; How Concupiscence Still Remains After Its Evil Has Been Removed in the Baptized.
47. 46. — Guilt May Be Taken Away But Concupiscence Remain.
48. 47. [XXIX.]— All the Predestinated are Saved Through the One Mediator Christ, and by One and the Same Faith.
49. 48. — Christ the Saviour Even of Infants; Christ, When an Infant, Was Free from Ignorance and Mental Weakness.
50. 49. [XXX.]— An Objection of the Pelagians.
51. 50. [XXXI.]— Why It is that Death Itself is Not Abolished, Along with Sin, by Baptism.
52. 51. — Why the Devil is Said to Hold the Power and Dominion of Death.
53. 52. [XXXII.]— Why Christ, After His Resurrection, Withdrew His Presence from the World.
54. 53. [XXXIII.]— An Objection of the Pelagians.
55. 54. [XXXIV.]— Why Punishment is Still Inflicted, After Sin Has Been Forgiven.
56. 55. — To Recover the Righteousness Which Had Been Lost by Sin, Man Has to Struggle, with Abundant Labour and Sorrow.
57. 56. — The Case of David, in Illustration.
58. 57. [XXXV.]— Turn to Neither Hand.
59. 58. [XXXVI.]— Likeness of Sinful Flesh Implies the Reality.
60. Chapter 59

In which Augustine argues against such as say that in the present life there are, have been, and will be, men who have absolutely no sin at all. He lays down four propositions on this head: and teaches, first, that a man might possibly live in the present life without sin, by the grace of God and his own free will; he next shows that nevertheless in fact there is no man who lives quite free from sin in this life; thirdly, he sets forth the reason of this — because there is no man who exactly confines his wishes within the limits of the just requirement of each case, which just requirement he either fails to perceive, or is unwilling to carry out in practice; in the fourth place, he proves that there is not, nor has been, nor ever will be, a human being — except the one mediator, Christ — who is free from all sin.