Durham E-Theses Politics and controversy: a study of the inuence of the Donatist and Pelagian controversies on the political thought of St Augustine of Hippo Charnaud, Katherine How to cite: Charnaud, Katherine (2007) Politics and controversy: a study of the inuence of the Donatist and Pelagian controversies on the political thought of St Augustine of Hippo, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2958/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 - Pofitics and Controversy- .Jl Study of tlie I njfuence of tlie {])onatist ancf CJ>efaeian Controversies on tlie Pofitica[Tiiouglit of St .Jl ugustine of Jfippo 1(atlien'ne Cliarnaucf The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. ~ 8 AUG 2007 Introduction 'One can consider Saint Augustine as the first modem man.' 1 His works success­ fully bridged the chasm that emerged between two radically different worlds, the Christianised political thought of the Middle Ages and the classical world of an­ tiquity's optimistic politics of perfection. As a renowned bishop his extensive cor­ respondence was widely read throughout the Latin-speaking world allowing his sermons, treatises and letters to reach a wide and socially varied audience. Ac­ cordingly his theological and philosophical light was shed from Africa across Christendom and beyond, exercising influence over thousands of lives. 'To the men of his own time he uttered profitable words. He knew how to explain their own souls to them, to console them from the calamities of the world. ' 2 Even after the attrition of several centuries his theological authority has not abated, in par­ ticular aspects he is a man whose work provides lessons for every age. Remarka­ bly his work remains relevant and applicable to modem life while providing the political historian with dilemmas facing a theorist of Christian antiquity. Despite his enduring influence Augustine's life was not without difficulty. From a young age he was plagued by controversy and conflict, and it is this dimension of his life that forms the focus of this thesis. The controversies in which he was em­ broiled were fierce in character, demanding attention for long periods, and requir­ ing Augustine to arm himself with the arsenal of all his intellectual and rhetorical strength. It is in his anti-heretical writings that Augustine reveals to the reader· the power of what has been recognised as one of the greatest minds of Latin literature, and in which he leaves his indelible mark on Western theology, in particular that of the Middle Ages. Augustine initially fights controversy against himself and the human instincts that he holds to be the deadliest temptations that confront man­ kind, and which he articulates in his Confessions. In later years the controversies 1 J.J.O'Meara, 'The Immaterial and Material in Augustine's Thought' in J.Petruccione (ed.) Nova & Vetera: Patristic Studies in Honour of Thomas Patrick Halton (Washington D.C, The Catholic University of America Press, 1998) p.l81 2 Duchesne quoted in F.A.Wright, Fathers ofthe Church: Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lacan­ tius, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine- A Selection from the Writings ofthe Latin Fathers (London, George Routledge & Sons Ltd., 1928) p.270 wl~. changed course and were targeted against various forms of heresy, which went on to distract the Catholic Church throughout the fourth and fifth centuries. It is two of the most pernicious of these heresies, Donatism and Pelagianism, that this thesis will investigate, evaluating the influence they had on Augustine's the­ ology and subsequently his political 'doctrines'. These first of these two heresies was Donatism, whose adherents were strict puritans who believed that the efficacy of the Sacraments was dependent upon the purity of the ministrant. The second of the two heresies was Pelagianism, which to Augustine's mind was the most dan­ gerous of all. The Pelagians, followers of the British monk Pelagius, maintained that Adam's sin was just that, Adam's, and had not contaminated humanity as a whole. Rather men are born into the world good with the freedom of choice in how they direct their lives. This thesis will investigate Donatism and Pelagianism firstly by paying careful attention to the theological disputes at the heart of each controversy. It will then assess the influence they both exercised over the developmental process of Augustine's political philosophy. It is essential that they both be considered in this manner as Augustine was first and foremost a theological man, a bishop, with pas­ toral and devotional concerns. He was not a political theorist akin to Plato or Aris­ totle and any remarks or 'theories' he formulated on the nature and purpose of politics and society were expounded in a purely incidental manner. Therefore, to achieve an accurate analysis of the effects of controversy on Augustine's politics this thesis will consider Augustine's 'political theory' within its theological con­ text, since it was the theological threat that inspired Augustine's reaction and what has become his 'political thought'. 'In the case of the Donatists he championed the cause of those who did not claim to be purists, and he even used forces, if only in the end, to overcome these oppo­ nents.' 3 The controversy saw him develop a theory of secular intervention in ec­ clesiastical affairs and define the roles of State and Church. Against the Pelagians, however, Augustine 'championed the cause of those who relied wholly on God's 3 O'Meara, 'The Immaterial and Material' p.l93 2 grace since they accepted that they could merit nothing of themselves. The exer­ cise of virtue did not attract that grace; the neglect of virtue did not repel it. Nev­ ertheless, not to have been the object of God's unmerited grace in this life resulted in never-ending Hell. ' 4 It was during the Pelagian controversy that Augustine ad­ dressed the purpose and functions of the State in the light of mankind's sinful na­ ture. His writings on the condition of mankind since the Fall saw him present a brutal and realist approach to the emergence of the State and the role it plays in the life of the individual and society. These theoretical developments will form the subject of this thesis's investigation. In short, this thesis aims to follow the development of Augustinian 'political thought' through the eyes of controversy to track the theoretical evolution of doc­ trines that were shaped by the influence of the daily challenges Augustine faced while embroiled in two ofthe controversies that so dominated his episcopal life. Chapter I will pay particular attention to the origins and causes of the Donatist controversy. It will also assess the divergence between the two sides' conceptions of the fundamental issue of the debate, the nature of the Church. Chapter II will firstly consider the effect the controversy had on Augustine's policy of religious coercion and his political theology as a whole. Secondly, it will consider the de­ cline and disappearance of Donatism and whether Augustine actually succeeded in unifying the divisions of the Catholic Church. Chapter III will begin the analy­ sis of the Pelagian controversy. It will look at the different branches of the Pela­ gian movement including Pelagius and Augustine's interaction with Julian of Eclanum, finally addressing the Semi-Pelagians. This chapter will concentrate on the theological foundations of each group with special consideration being de­ voted to the concepts of original sin and divine grace. Chapter IV will assess Augustine's position on these issues and the roots of the threat he believed Pela­ gianism embodied. This chapter will also consider the debates surrounding Augustine's ideal of free will, whether it is compatible with his theory of predes­ tination and whether a just God could possibly be a predestinating God. 4 O'Meara, 'The Immaterial and Material' p.193 3 Finally, Chapter V will look at Augustine's conception of the State and why his theory of political organisation has seen him labelled as a staunch 'realist'. It is in this chapter that a picture of Augustine's 'political theology' will be painted while heeding the fact that Augustine was not a 'political theorist', and that in using such a tactic to construct a cohesive body of thought one is using an approach that was never taken by Augustine himself. The chapter will look predominantly, though not exclusively, at the role and purpose of the State. It will also consider other political institutions such as private property and slavery, as well as Augustine's distinctive concept of civil disobedience. Finally the chapter will ac­ knowledge the influence Augustine's 'political theology' exercised over political thought throughout the Middle Ages.