One of the wonderful moments in St. Augustine’s Confessions returned to me in force from out of the blue. Now, I’ve not been a Christian for long in my adult life, having been raised within the fold of the Church, but having fallen away for 20 years of my adult life until fairly recently. The point of that observation is that regular and ordinary Christian culture is often new to me. The point of that observation is that I have questions about my experiences now as a Christian for which I lack the context and background of one who has been within the community for that missing time as an adult. This question in turn requires a little background or stage setting, which in turn can be found below the fold.
One of the struggles that Augustine underwent and recounted in his Confessions was about chastity. He felt that he couldn’t become Christian unless he was celibate. Now he was, in his own view, something of a ladies man and had additionally a long term relationship with a woman whom by customs of the time because of station and class he would perhaps be unable to marry. Now today as then, normally becoming Christian did not automatically entail a vow of chastity, even if it did mean restricting sex only between those who were married. Yet for Augustine … this was not the case. And he makes the reason for this implicitly if not explicitly clear. Augustine could not be within the church without being celibate because he was too large for that. Augustine was destined for a life of intellectual and personal heroism. In secular life he was one of the most renowned rhetoricians … and he was reaching the height of his powers. Plato, Socrates, Thales, and Cicero have names which are remembered today because they had an unusual clarity of vision. Augustine recognised in himself that he was peer group. He could not be anything and apply himself fully to it, without that sort of renown. Essentially Augustine could not become an “ordinary” Christian but knew that if he was to become Christian he could not do so without fully embracing the full heroic and complete vision of the Christian life. At that time the Christian heroic ideals was chaste, that is to say both unmarried and celibate.
It is true that today this particular vision of what constitutes Christian heroism has been uniquely rejected by the Protestant West, but that is not the point to which I am driving. Compared to the question to which I am aiming, it is comparatively unimportant (this is a hint that it this particular matter I hope will not become a highlight in the comment thread). The key element to be extracted from Augustine’s reflection is the following … and it is a point which might be asked even of persons in any walk of life. Augustine on reaching the threshold of becoming Christian put for himself the highest goal possible. If he was going to be Christian he was going to be a Saint (capitalised). He was not going to be ordinary. He was not going to be lukewarm about this thing but would embrace it fully with all his heart, with all his mind, and all his soul. He would put all his effort, all his training and skill in rhetoric to the service of God and the Church.
So, the question that arises is … why don’t I do the same? Why do I not aspire to be a capital “S” Saint? Why do I fail to seek that sort of life? For that matter, why don’t you? Or do you think that you do? One reason or excuse I give myself is that I have a responsibility to my children. But in a decade they will be out of the house. What will I (or should I) then do?
Or to make the question more generic. If you undertake to do anything, why would you not aspire to be a peer of those who are counted great in that field? Should aspirations of greatness not be a default?
May 4th, 2010 | 10:01 am | #1
Mark,
I don’t think we can equate Christian excellence with heroism. Humility, one of the key Christian virtues, would be scorned by any true heroic society (try to imagine Achilles or Sigmund washing his followers’ feet). Of course, we don’t have to define heroism in exactly the same way as those ancient societies did. Still, though, even the best conception of heroism—perhaps medieval chivalry—is still fundamentally different from the Christian life. It is still filled with pride and desire for glory. Augustine himself discussed this (I think in City of God) when he said that the Roman empire’s great vice was its love of glory, which is “better” in some sense than love of pleasure or money, but vice nonetheless.
I don’t mean this just to critique the use of the word “heroism”, but to point out that we as Christians go astray when we aspire to glory on any grounds other than the Cross. Our efforts and undertakings should always be motivated by desire to serve God well, rather than be great.
May 4th, 2010 | 10:15 am | #2
Stephen,
I think you misunderstood what I meant by heroism. In the Christian context, that certainly does not mean seeking glory, but one might “classically” take that as excelling in the 7 (8?) cardinal virtues which oppose the 7 (8) deadly sins. Humility, chastity, charity and so on. Being a Christian hero, does not mean that (like Augustine) one has to be an intellectual great. The martyrs and Saints in the Eastern and Roman roles of saints list many people who were not intellectually or physically gifted and few if any consciously sought glory.
My point is I’m not “warping” the notions of the Christian ideals in asking if we should not aspire to greatness as a Christian. I’d rather ask that you “warp” your notion of what it means to be great and ask if that sort of greatness is something to which you should aim.
May 4th, 2010 | 10:31 am | #3
Interesting to read this this morning, after I just blogged about my personal reflections on Voltaire’s “Don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good.” If striving for greatness becomes paralyzing, so that I end up giving up before I begin, would I not have been better off setting my sights a tad lower if it meant doing something rather than nothing?
May 4th, 2010 | 10:35 am | #4
I like to think that God intended me for mediocrity. It frees me to enjoy the greatness in others.
May 4th, 2010 | 10:37 am | #5
I swear, if my last comment ends up on a bumper sticker with the attached author being, “Anonymous”, it will only prove my point.
May 4th, 2010 | 11:16 am | #6
Mark, I think you’re right. The key, for me, is to place “excellence” in the context of love, for if we love someone, we want to serve him well.
If I want to love my neighbor, I try my best to fix his teeth or teach him history or bake delicious bread. It is not loving to do shoddy work. This is, of course, further contextualized by understanding one’s gifts and abilities and limitations and development over time; sometimes, we don’t do such a great job especially early on.
But we should always be trying our best to, for example, replace someone’s flat tire; and part of Christian maturity is learning to harness one’s gifts to serve the Church, rather than hiding behind a false modesty of denying one’s gifts that allows us to shirk our responsibility for the talents we have been given. The key is love.
May 4th, 2010 | 1:33 pm | #7
I’ve heard that St. Augustine said, “Ambition is a necessary vice,” meaning that we must have a certain pride or ambition in order to aspire to, and then live, an holy life.
It is a hard topic. On the one hand, we are commanded to “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” On the other, most Christians throughout history have lived ordinary lives – marrying, working at honest labor, raising children – and we know there is an holiness and perfection in this, or at least the possibility for it.
Moreover, God has given us reason, which often directs us to more ordinary habits than St. Augustine and other Saints modeled. For example, St. Francis of Assisi was called to give away all that he possessed and live in great poverty and simplicity, but most of us practice a kind of discipleship involving mere tithing and significant retirement savings. Do we practice “heroic virtue,” giving significant amounts to charity and trusting God to provide for our old age, or do we practice “ordinary prudence” of the kind recommended by non-religious financial planners?
I believe that just as there is no conflict between religious faith and scientific reason, so there is no conflict between Christian charity and natural virtue; obedience to God is always prudent and reasonable. But what God commands of each individual differs.
May 9th, 2010 | 8:13 pm | #8
It’s so refreshing to see someone in the Orthodox tradition appreciating Augustine. He’s so roundly condemned by too many Orthodox, some of whom go so far as to call him a heretic and blame him for all problems in church history.
May 11th, 2010 | 3:57 pm | #9
Jeremy, I know what you mean there.
Mark, thank you so much for posting this! I am an eclectic Protestant (is there any other kind?) and I appreciate the idea of chastity. It is one that I seek to attain also. Thank you for reminding me of Augustine’s clarity of vision. I needed someone to help me see clearly again. Thank you.
Stephen: What I really can’t imagine is Achilles allowing anyone else near his feet, haha.
May 14th, 2010 | 12:19 am | #10
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul Vander Klay. Paul Vander Klay said: Evangel: Augustine decided if he were to become a Christian he wanted to be a SAINT at great cost. http://bit.ly/crqYvI [...]
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact