My blog posts revolve around my interests and vocation as a historian: the intersection of history and contemporary church life, the intersection of history and contemporary politics, serendipitous discoveries in archives or on research trips, publications and research projects, upcoming conferences, and speaking engagements.
I sometimes blog for two other organizations, the Canadian Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Post-Christendom Studies. The views expressed in these blogs represent the views of the authors, and not necessarily those of any organizations with which they are associated. |
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vittore_carpaccio,_visione_di_sant%27agostino_01.jpg The subject of cessationism sometimes comes up in my courses, especially my course entitled “The Lives of the Saints.” Protestant students who hold to a view that charismatic gifts and miracles did not cease when the “age of the apostles” ended are often looking for theological allies to support their belief in the possibility of miracles today. And for some they think St. Augustine is just the man to have on their side (after all, he was the progenitor of the theology of the Protestant reformers). But there are surprises lurking in those dusty church history texts… Such as when St. Augustine says “why can the dead do such great things?[1] St. Augustine (354-430) is one of the giants of Western Christian history. The influence of Augustine cannot be overstated. Catholics and Anglicans consider him to be a saint, Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. Many Protestants consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June.
His writings (of which there are over 100 various titles) charted the course of the Western Church for over the next 1500 years. And love him or hate him, he “sowed the seeds of virtually the entire Western theological edifice that has been built from his day forward.”[2] While St. Augustine is an ally for those Protestants who argue for continued miracles, he also held to views on miracles that those same Protestants would find problematic. And that is one reason why historical research so fascinating – for you often find things that do not fit into a neat little box. In this case, what complicates things is the link St. Augustine makes between miracles, saints, and relics. A reading of City of God, book 22, chapter 8, reveals two key convictions of St. Augustine.
He noted how the biblical canon contained the account of God working mighty miracles, especially in the Gospel accounts of miracles and resurrections. There is no doubt in his mind that God also continued to carry out similar miracles in his day. What he regreted is that such miracles were barely known. “For the canon of the sacred writings, which behooved to be closed, causes those to be everywhere recited, and to sink into the memory of all the congregations; but these modern miracles are scarcely known even to the whole population in the midst of which they are wrought, and at the best are confined to one spot. For frequently they are known only to a very few persons, while all the rest are ignorant of them, especially if the state is a large one; and when they are reported to other persons in other localities, there is no sufficient authority to give them prompt and unwavering credence, although they are reported to the faithful by the faithful.”[3]
The list of miracles in City of God was striking, with many occurring through prayer, at baptisms, or some other activity of the church. Yet as the following examples illustrate, miracles were often connected to the saints, relics, and shrines (that held relics). “When the bishop Projectus was bringing the relics of the most glorious martyr Stephen to the waters of Tibilis, a great concourse of people came to meet him at the shrine. There a blind woman entreated that she might be led to the bishop who was carrying the relics. He gave her the flowers he was carrying. She took them, applied them to her eyes, and immediately saw. Those who were present were astounded, while she, with every expression of joy, preceded them, pursuing her way without further need of a guide. Lucillus bishop of Sinita, in the neighborhood of the colonial town of Hippo, was carrying in procession some relics of the same martyr, which had been deposited in the castle of Sinita. A fistula under which he had long labored, and which his private physician was watching an opportunity to cut, was suddenly cured by the mere carrying of that sacred fardel, — at least, afterwards there was no trace of it in his body. Audurus is the name of an estate, where there is a church that contains a memorial shrine of the martyr Stephen. It happened that, as a little boy was playing in the court, the oxen drawing a wagon went out of the track and crushed him with the wheel, so that immediately he seemed at his last gasp. His mother snatched him up, and laid him at the shrine, and not only did he revive, but also appeared uninjured. A religious female, who lived at Caspalium, a neighboring estate, when she was so ill as to be despaired of, had her dress brought to this shrine, but before it was brought back she had gone. However, her parents wrapped her corpse in the dress, and, her breath returning, she became quite well. At Hippo a Syrian called Bassus was praying at the relics of the same martyr for his daughter, who was dangerously ill. He too had brought her dress with him to the shrine. But as he prayed, behold, his servants ran from the house to tell him she was dead. His friends, however, intercepted them, and forbade them to tell him, lest he should bewail her in public. And when he had returned to his house, which was already ringing with the lamentations of his family, and had thrown on his daughter's body the dress he was carrying, she was restored to life.” [4] So what is my point? Looking for allies in the past is a vital, necessary, and responsible activity for Christians seeking to sort out matters today. Yet in doing so one may find some surprises along the way. As for St. Augustine and cessationism, he certainly viewed miracles as possible - and thus an ally for some. Yet, his view on saints and relics makes him more Catholic than Protestant – and thus perhaps a bit of a problem for those same people. Welcome to the history of Christianity. [1] For an insightful book on saints, relics, and miracles, see Robert Bartlett, Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? (2013). For the Protestant Reformers on saints and relics, see Augsburg Confession, xxi; Apology of the Augsburg Confession, xxi.3.4; Thirty Nine Articles, xxii; Calvin’s Institutes, 3.20.19-27. [2] Bradley G. Green, “Augustine,” in Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy: Engaging with Early and Medieval Theologians, ed. Bradley G. Green (Downers Grove: IVP, 2010), 235. [3] Augustine, City of God 22.8 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120122.htm [4] Augustine, City of God 22.8 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120122.htm
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