On Order [De Ordine]

72 Pages·2007·16.317 MB·English,Latin

by  Saint Augustine, Silvano Borruso (trans.)

Othl!( 1itlC1i of IntL... CSt from St. A.ugustine's Press
St. Augustine, The 51. Al4gusline J.jfeGuide: Words to Live by from the
Grellt Christian Soinl. TranSlated by Silvana Borruso
Aristotle, Physiu. 0, Nlllural Hearing. Tntllslated by Glen Coughlin
Arisrotle. Arislotle- On Poctia. Translated by Seth 6tnardete and
Michael DlIvis
Michael Davis, The Poetry of Philosophy ON ORDER
Plato, The Symposium of PlaIa: The Sherley Translation. Translated by
I'erey Byssbe Shelley [De Ordine]
Thomns Aquin:los, QJmmentary on Aristotle's N;comadu!lw Ethia
Thomas Aquinas, Commenwry on Aristotle's De Anima
Thomas Aquinas, Commtmtary on Aristotle's Muwphysics
Thomas Aquinas, CommePllllry Oft Aristotle's Posterior Analytics
Thomns Aquillas, Comnurfltary 0" Aristotle's Physics
St. Augustine
Thomns Aquinl1s, Djspul~d Questions 011 VirElle. Translatl!d by Ralph
Mcinerny
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.
TNlnslated by Chrysosrom 6ac~ o. praern.
Thomas Aquinas, Comme:ntllries on 51. Paul's Epi,s,/eJ to Timothy. Translation and introduciton by
Tiff'S. and Philemon. Translated by Chrysostom Hacc, o. I'raem.
'0 Silvano Borruso
Jobn of St. Thomas, Introduction the Summa Theo/ogiae of1'homas
Aqui~s. Translated by Ralph Mcinerny
Seth Renardctc, Sacred TrollSgressions: A RelldiHg of Sophodts'
Antigollt
Josef Pieper. l...ei.surc, ,he Basis of Culture
Josef Pieper, Scholostieism: PersOIUJlities alld Probk.-ms
Josef Pieper, The Silence of St. ThomM
Franci&co SlIar~, On Crealion, CQfJSerllalton, 6- Ccncurrenu:
Metllplrysical Displltations 20-22. Translated by A.J. Freddoso
Francisco Suarez, Mewphysical DemOtLSlration of tlJe Existena of
God. Tr-.mslatcd by John P. Doyle
Leo Str~HJSS, Xenophon's Socrates
u:o Strauss, XenoplJon's Socratic Discourse: API Interpretation of the
ST. AUGUSUNE'S PRESS
OecotJomiclIs
South Bend, Indian:1
Ronna Burger, The l'hoedo: A Platonic Labyrinth
2007
Stanlt)' Rosen, Plato's Sophist: The Drama of Original and Image
Stanley Rosen, Plato's SyrnJlosiltm
Stanley Rosen, Plllto's Seatc.smalt
Stanley Rosen, The Ancients and the Moderns: Rethinking Modernity
I
I
Translation copyright © 2007 by Silvano Borruso
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Contents
otherwise, without the prior permission of
St. Augustine's Press.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Introduction vii
I 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07
Book One
First Debate
Gbrary of Congress Cat:lloging in Publication Data
Augustine, Saine, Bishop of Hippo. One: Divine Providence rules aU 213
[De ordine. English & Lacin] Two: Dedicates the work to Zenobius 415
On order [de ordineJ St. Augustinej translated and Three: Whys and wherefores of the debate 8/9
inuoduced by Silvano Borruso. • Four: Nothing bappens without a cause 12113
p. em. R~ Five: Cod governs everything in ordcr 16117
-"
Other title: De ordine Six: Order encompasses cyerything 20121
Seven: God does not love evil things even if they
Facing text in Latin and English.
Includes index. belong to order 22123
Eight: licentius falls in love witb philosophy.
ISBN 1-58731-603-X (clothbound, alk. p'pec)
1. Providence and government of God. 2. Good and Enter MOllica. The liberal arts. 26/27
e~ liWfy Dc ordine, II. litle,
~ BR65.A6975P..s 2007 SecQt,d Debate
117 _ de2':/"- 2005029433 ( .l>Nine: Order leads to God 30/31
Ten: What order is. How to spur the sense of
emulation and vainglory in teenagers who
undertake the liberal arts. 36137
The paper used in this publication meets tbe minimum requirement. of the Eleven: Monica is not excluded from the debate
oX)
American National Standard for information Sciences - Permanence of Paper on rhe grounds of her sex 40141
for ('rinted Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
8ookTwo
First Debate
ST. AUCUSTINE'S PRl::SS
One: Analysis of the definition of order 46147
www.staugustine.ner
2
ON ORDER
Two: What "'0 be with God- means. The wise
m::m's stability in God. 50151
Thrc..-e: Can foolishness be with God? 59/60
Four: \Vhemer evil actions belong to order.
Within ordec, evil contributes to the beauty
of me universe. 62163 Introduction
Five: Corn."Cfing the error of those who believe
there is no order governing things 66167
Six: The wise man's mind is unmoved 72ft3 Historical background
Ie is November 386. Augustine, 32, is a fresh convert from a drcaw
Second Debate ry lifestyle of hc.resy and lust t.hat has left him first disgusted and
Six (continued) 72r73 n.o~ ex~austcd. He has run away from his post of (caching rheto-.
Seven: What kind of order there would be in the nc In Milan and has retreated to tbe villa of his &iend Vcrecundus
a bsence of evil 74175 at Cas... . iciacum near Milan.
Eight: Instructions for the youth: how to live and Monica, 55, his l1lother, is witt. him. Her prayers :'lIld penance
how to learn in order 82183 have obtained her son's conversion, dreamed of ever since he had
Nine: We learn by authority and rca son 84/85 begun to fall for the temptations of C1rthagc a decade and a half
Ten: Few (oUow the norms of right living 88189 earlier. He would be baptized by Bishop St. Ambrose on Holy
Eleven: Reason and its traces in what the senses Saturday 387. Monica, a mOSt lovable chamctt:r os she appears in
perceive. What is (ariollal and what is [he course of the debaccs, is unaware that her mission on earth is at
rcasona hie. 90191 an end. She would not sec her native Africa ag<l.in, dying at Ostia on
Twelve: Reason devised all the disciplines. The birth the eve of their re.embarking foe Carthage before the end of 387.
of words, writing and numbers. The separation 'n lC firebmnd l.icl!nlius, a teenager, SOil o( Augustine'S friend
of words into syllables. The birth of history. 98199 Romaninnus, is ~rhaps the most interesting character of De
Thirteen: Invention of logic and rhetoric 1001101 Ordine. He appears mesmerized by the beauty and coherence of
Fourteen: Music and poetry. Verse. 1021103 philosophical endeavor. and dOL'S nOt hesitate to put his thinking
Fiftcen: Geometry and astronomy 1041105 at the mercy of Augusr.ine's thrusts.
Sixteen: The liberal artS lead the mind to God 1061107 Trygcrius is a veteran JUSt retired from the Roman army. He is
Seventeen: The uninstructed sbould nor tackle obviously older than Lieentius. He speaks little, but when he docs
matters above their heads 1091110 he speaks undoubtcd sensc.
Eighreen: What order leads the soul to knowledge Alypius is an old friend, of Augustine's age. They are both
of self and of uniry 112/113 natives of Tagasre (today Souk-Ahras, AJgeria) in North Africa.
me
~neteen: Excellence of man over animals. They had fallen into and risen from heresy together. 'Ibe twO
. How he can sec God. ).l4Llll.. woul~ end as bishops: Augustine at Hippo Regius (today Annaba.
Twenty: Epilogue. Exhortation to a good life. 1181119 Algena) and Alypius at Tagastc his oative city.
Navigius is Augustine's brother. He is present, but docs not
Index 125 take part in the dehate.
)vii{
ON ORDER Introduction
The tWO books Rrc writren in dialogue form, following a cla& Augustine, in other words, lived order: he did /lot confine him
sical tradition immortalized by I'laro (427-347 B.C.). self to writing about ie.
To complete the historical background it is necessary to men De Ordine is a work of youthful maturity. Augustine's life
tion fhar Siricius was pope in Rome that year. He condemned the would span forty-four yt.'lrs more. Towards the close of his life he
Manichcans, tne very secr which had allured young Augustine mw wrote tbe famous RetractatiofJes, in which he expressed regret at
heresy for many years. ThC!odosius the Great was reigning at some of the things be had affirmed many years earlier. A few of
Constantinople as emperor of the East, while the West was being them regard De Ordine, and they will be mentioned in the appro
disputed between claimants and counter-claimants. Theooosius is pri3te places.
responsible for having cleaved the empire inca £ast and West with
a line bearing his name and passing smack in the middle of what Culturru background
is roday Bosnia. Augustine'S classical education was steeped in pagan lore. It is not
lvLilan had been the imperial capital of the West since the possible to understand somt: of his poinrs wirhout at least an idea
administrative reform by Oiodetian ninety years earlier. Ie was of the stories he mentions in tbe course of the debate.
from there that Constantine had issued the Edict of 313 allowing Close to the beginning (1 6) there is mention of licentius's
the free practice of tbe Christian faith. [n 330 he had fouuded Mus<:. In U 41 he metUions [he Muses again as daughters of
Constantinople, for more than a thousand years tbe most jupiter and Mncmosyne (Creek for memory). The myth is [hat
Christian city in the world. after the defeat of the 'I1tans the gods asked Zeus to beget divini
The year 1986 saw the 1600th anniversary of Augustine'S con· ties to celebrate the victory of the Olympian gods. Zeus readily
version, and concomitantly, of De Ordine. On that occasion, Pope complied. Attracted by Mllcmosync in one of his fathering jaunts,
John Paul n issued the Apostolic Letter Augustinum HipPollen he begat the nine Muses by her on nine consecutive nights.
sem, recommended reading for anyone who wams to digest in a They were Clio (history), Euterpe (wind instruments), Thalia
few pages the life and works of the great bishop, Father and (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (lyric poetry and
Doctor of tbe Church. dance), Erato (love pocuy), Jlolybymoja (mime), Urania (astrono
There is only one mention of De Ordine in the entire letter, but my), and Calliope (epic poetry and rbeloric). Tn the Retractationes
there is something more: St. Augustine practiced whar he Augustine regretted having taken the Muses seriously. He OluSt be
preached, and Pope John l'aul describes it as follows: turning in his grave to see what some people take seriously today.
[n his di~se, which he never lefr except in the case of neces Mount Helicon (18) is the mountain where the Muses dwelled
sity, he was assiduous in preaching - he preached on Saturday in preference to Olympus, the abode of the other gods.
and Sunday, and frequently throughout the entire week; - in Tht legend of Pyramus and Thi.-.be (I 8, 12 and 21) comes
rv
Cltechesis; in what he called "the bishop'S audience," which from book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. They were young lovers
sometime lasted for an entire day, so that he did nOt eat; in the living in Nineveh, who ahcr sleepless nights talking to each orher
c~ of the poor; in the formation of [he clergy; ill directing through a crack in the wall dividing their homes, decided on a
the mon~ many of whom were later called to the priesthood night rendezvolls by the tomb of Ninus, the legendary founder of
and the episcopate, and in the guidance of the monasteries of
the city.
nuns. \When he died, "he left the Qmrch a very numerous
Thisbe arrived first, but who arrived second was nor Pyramus.
clergy, and monasteries of men and women full of those con
It was a thirsty lioness, fresh from a kill of some carrie. Thisbc ran
secrated fO chastity under their superiors, and libraries. ".
away in terror, leaving behind her shawl, which the Ijoness chewed
1 AugustjnH"' Hip/1Onerrum, III 240-48 up and trampled upon on irs way to water.
Iviii( )ixl
I
I
ON ORDEN. Tntroductiofl
When Pyramlls arrived, he did not find his lover, but her lovcd it. Women were nor aJlowed to an for the same reason that
shawl. Puning twO llnd twO together. he got (hree instead of four, [hey were not allowed to fight: men arc expcndahle; women are
and decided thai life was nOl worth living without her. He drew not.
his sword and plunged it imo his heart. Proteus (IJ 43). son of Oceanus and Thethys, was a m:uinc
Then Thisbc gOt OUt of her hiding place, only to find Pyramus god, coming out of tbe warer every day at noon to rCSt all a t'Ock.
exhale his last in a pool of blood. The rest is the typical denoue· He never spoke unless forced t.o, in which case he always spoke
mcut of a GreeL: (or Assyrian) tragedy: she fell on Pyramus's the truth. The problem was to catch him, for he would change
sword and killed he,rsclf. shape at will fO escape inrcrrogal'ioJ}, Hence the reference to him
AUb'llstinc mentions a double Apollo in I 10. This reflects the by Alypius in his dcbnre against the Academicians.
confusion of many m),thologicaJ stories. In Gr~k mythology Besides mythology, Augustine quotes and mentions his[oricaJ
Apollo appears as sun.god, shepherd·god, musicinn, builder, and characters,
colonizing god. No one has sorted Ollt the confusion, and this is Zcnobius, the friend [0 whom he dedicates De Ordine.
clearly not the place to do so. l11eodore Manlius, anodler friend. a minor author whom
The myth of Daedalus and his son Icarus makes a brief Augustine praises to the skies in r 9. In the Rstractatione5 he con.
n
appearance in 37, Daedalus was a legendary engineer, the sidered that praise rather extravagant.
designer of the famous labyrinth (maze) for King Minos of Crete. Terence (Publius Terentius Afer, 190-159 nc). He was (rom
It was he who gave Ariadne the ball of duead by which shc was Carthage (near Tunis, North Afric.1) tbe same parr of the world as
able to get out of the labyrinth. For this slip Minos locked father Augustine and his friends, I-Ie was a Iibenucd slave who became a
and son in it, but Ihey built wings and flew off. Icarus, however, comic poet. He is quoted in I 9.
went [00 close to the sun, which melted the wax holding the feath· Vu-gil (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70-19 Be), of whose works
crs ontO the wings, Icarus was kiUed. AugUStine was so fond (1 26), is without question the greatest of
In U 37 Augustine mentions Euryalus. The character is from Latin poets, His works still serve as texts wherever people have
Virgil's Aeneid (V 294). Euryalus' two claims to fame are his beau· had the sense of keeping Larin,
ty, and his having won a foot race by a clever fouling o( his friend Yarro (Marcus Terentius, 116-27 Be) is mentioned in 11 35
Nisus. Virgil names his father Ophelt'es, but not his mother. and 54. He was a famOliS author and historian. In Augustine's
Augustine refers to what must have been a standiog joke among times perhaps most of his works were extant. Few arc today,
the literati of his day. Not to know Euryalus's mother was to be Pythagoras (n,6rh century Be) was the founder of [he religious
ignorant of the Aeneid, but to feel piqued at being asked and to philosophical school that held number be the principle of 0111
[0
call the questioner names was [0 make a (001 of oneself for nOt things. Augusrine seems to be taken by the idea (n 54), but in the
getting the joke. RelraGlationes he regretted having lavished such praise on
Venus and Cupid are the Latin names of the tWO most impor· Pythagoras.
tant Greek gods o( love: Aphrodite and Eros, mother and son. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 SCI is mentioned twice: for
They appear twice in the text (I 21 and 11 34). The second time baYing saved Rome from the C1tiline conspiracy and for his mas·
rhey are spoken of as impersonated by an actor. Modern readers tery of the Latin language (IT 22 & 45).
mlly wonder why a man should impersonate a woman, The rea· AJI in all, Augustine is well planted on tradition. His fumiliar~
son is that acting in ancient times was a hazard nor unlike war. ity with texts of more than 400 years of age prove that he was no
Murder on the stage was resorted to occasionally, and the crowd seeker after fashion, U. despire the above attempt at expounding
Jxil
Ix{
Introduction
ON ORDER
Hence the un. ..·.1 .tisfactory result that made Augustine retract
on classical tradition, modern readers find Rook One boring. they
almost the whole idea of De Ordi"e:
may directly tackle Book Two, where Augustine's unsurpassed
genius will surely river their attention. When I saw that the subject, difficult indeed Ul'Idersmnd,
(0
could not by disputation be broughl' to the comprehension of
tbose with whom 1 wall debating, [prererred to taLk about an
l~lilosophy
Despite taking much from Plato and referring to the Aristotelian Order of Study, by which Dne can advance rrom corporeal
things to the ineorporeal.2
categories (11 44), Augustine docs nOt menrion either ~hilo~phCJ"
by name in the whole work. Plato getS one mention In the Otherwise the Augustinian world~vicw appears as a solid
Retra'~l;Otle5. foundation on which the philosopby of tbe Schools would rely
From the first three debates it is clear that Augustine's attempt centuries later, as the examples below will show.
at defining and discusstng order is not a happy one. There is some Very early on (T 31) the point is clearly m.'\de that philosophy
fumbling. especially in the unclear, when not unsavory, conse is the preserve of free men and WOOlen, the latter surprisingly get~
quences that flow from the definitions. ting place of honor i.n the person of the lovable Monica. This is no
Let us uy fa understond. We are ncar rhe end of the fourth less true today, and in need of great strcssing. Far from
century, Justin, TeMullian, Lactantius, Mi.nud us Felix, Arnobiu.s, Augustine's inquiry arc pompous abstractions and academic
and orher Christian apologists bave long ago broken a lance m volarilities. Everything is grist (0 his phiJosophical mill: from
defense: of the Christian faith, but they have not developed a sys earthly (and earthy) cockfights to the heavens above, passing
tematic, all-encompassing philosophical terminology. through public exec.mioncrs and ladies of rhe twilight, philosophy
It would not happcn for another eig~t centuries, Had acquires an unexpected human dimension.
Augustine and friends been acquainted with Thomas Aquinas' D.e The senses and the mind are each given their due (n J & 32),
Ente et Essentia, they would not have tried to defmc order as Unt~ with very telling examples especially of vision and hearing (1J 32).
vocally as thc)" did, . . '. The adequacy of person and method to the thing to be learned is
By the A..ristotelian categories, order IS a relation of fhMllt,cs, constandy emphasi7..cd, The Schools built. their world view on this
and therefore nOI a subsmnce, but an accident. As only substances solid foundation, uncil its demise Dt the hands of William of
have a crue essence, so only they enjoy a true definition. AccidentS, Ockham (c.1300-1349) to whom tbe confusion of modern ph.ilos~
St, Thomas points our, can only be defined in relation to the sub ophy is largely due.
stance in which they inhere. And here is where Augustine and Otder stands au( the more, when seeded with a sprinkle (but
friends get into trouble. just a sprinkle) of disorder. The delig,hr£ul example of U 13 on the
(0 J)e Ordine, the Augustinian view of philosophy docs not moderate use of slang and solecism is to the point. This can be
differ much from the TIlomist one, Both have it that philosophy is taken as the basis for the realistic ethical principle of and-and,
the love of wisdom and wisdom is none other than the ability to ratbe[ than the rationaHstic one of either-or, lt is the same with tbe
order things according to purpose. Augustine deems the two. fields social order, from which disorder cannot be c1inunated, but with~
of Cod and the human soul sufficient to encompass that Wisdom in which it can be monitored (lI 12),
(11 16- 17 & 47). This is fair enough, but p.assing from one fie,ld
into the other is an exercise in analogy, an Idea well ahead of ItS 2 St, Augustine's RetTQ(;'atiolles, in Divine l'rQvid~nu and the ProblCtI of
time at the end of rhe fourth century. The term "order" is the same P.vil. A translation of St. AliglIstinc', De Ordlne, by Robert p, RUJse.lI, o.s.A.,
in both fields, but behind it there lurk two vastly different realities. Ph.D. (New York: ~mopolit.n 19-i2), p.176.
Jx i iiI
Jxiil
ON QRDHR lnlroduction
Augu5[inc is definitely nor a specialist, th.1t plague of modemi beginning of the dtird mjIJennium is greater or less than that
ty. In 1115 he advocates instruction in all branches of learning to depicted in De Ordine.
stimulate one's mind into appreciating order. It Sfands to reason: Ln the m:Jtt'er of civil disturbances Augustine mentions a riot
focusing one's atTemion on a single issue prevents seeing how it is (I 20) in which his mother Monica h:ul actually taken place not
connected to other issues. The specialist, in other words, perenni long before. She had spent days and night.. .. singing and praying in
ally risks knowing without understanding, and by choice at lhat! the cathedral of MiJan to prevent the Arians from taking it over.
His analogy of the circle (I 3) and his equaling the center of the The Western Roman Empire was tottering. The British legions had
circle with the Trinity (TI 16) identify the modern disorder in high elected emperor Maximus, who would be assassinated scarcely a
er education. The university, that originally Catholic institution, year after the writing of De Ordi,te. less thtlll a century later, the
lost its center with rhe abolition of theology. As a result, tht! uni Western Empire would be no more.
versity has bt.-come hardJy distinguishable from a technical school. . We all know what the twentieth century has wrought in the
the more mind-impoverishing, rhe morc specialized it is. history of the world, but a compariSOIJ blow by blow with the
Augustine is no egalitarian. Giving fools their due, he spells fOllnh would be roo much to undertake here. The relevance of I)e
our the order of learning and the right method in U 25. No use try ?rdine ~s that if Augustine was able to write such a masterpiece
ing wilhout inner intellectual and moral onter. "I'his prescription 111 the mIdst of all that, there is no reason why a serious sntdcnt of
may come as 11 shock to those accustomed to the oft-repeated philosophy should not strive to achieve order in mind and heart in
canard that an),one, given enough time and training, can learn or the midst of all this.
do anythjng. BU( it is:a salutary shode, a good piece of advice com Whllt has lost 1101 an iota of relevance is his advice ro young
ing from the wisdom of tbe ancient world. people on what to do with themselves. Apart from avoiding fool
Confusion infiltrates again in the question of evil. 'rhcre is jshness, ignorauce, and pride, he more specifically exhorts them co
only one reference to evil being nothing (TI 23), but the poiot shun vice, nOt to desire public office before time, and to prepare
remains undeveloped. Most of the discussion gives the impression Ihemsclves for it with a hard life. He spells out the imponance of
that evil is something. The elements for setting everything in its the liberal acts, sadly neglected today by all so-called educational
place are there, but the point mat evil is aversion (rom order born "systems," but as important as ever in rcal education. Condusion:
of a mjsdirectcd non-divine intelligence is never made. He even following St. AUbrustine instead of a eOlwentioLlru "syllabus"
speaks of a "nature" of evil (n 46). St. Thomas would sort out the would give any talented youth a better educarion than years of
question in his dcfiniti\'e De Malo. drudgery at the desk of a conventional school.
De Ordim! is, when all is said and done, Augustine'S own In r 30 and 11 29 be mentions peer pre..'isurc and Ihe evil of
introduction to philosophY, in a sweeping bird's-eye view of whar rivalry for ics own sake. These particular disorders do not affect
it is to reproduce in one's inner being the double order of t:hings youth exclusively. The economics of envy makes full use of both,
(intellect) and loves (will) existing in the real universe. We can prodding people into getting into permanent debt JUSt to conform.
hardly blame him for not achieving, let alone exhausting, the The liberating power of truth must be experienced to be approci
issue, bue it is easy to speak with an added wisdom of sixteen cen ated. and De Ordine is as good a starting place as any.
turies. Augustine's achievement is all the more impressive for hav
ing achieved what be did when he did it. The Translation
De Ordine was first translated into English in 1942, in the United
Relevance of De Ordine today States, by Fr. Robert P. Russell, appropriately of the order of St.
It is debatable whether rhe disorder gripping the world at the Augustine.
Ixivl Ixvl
t.
ON ORDP.R
f
Whether or nor other translations have appeared in the 65 years
since, a new one is offered to lovers of philosophy and of Augustine.
Rather than following the original Larin as closely as Russell,
I have opted for purring in ,t. Augustine's mouth (aud pen)
expressions which I think he would use were he ro speak English
today. I have not, I hope, made him say what he did not, oc omit
ted what he dearly did say. ON ORDER
For the sake of clarity I have rendered the dialogue in modem
form, eliminating aU the "l said," "he said," and putting the ini [De Ordine]
tials of the debaters instead.
To avoid footnotes and excllses as co why I translated certain ,
expressions one way and nor anotber, I offer the original Larin
side-by-sidc with the unnslation. I
The Latin text is that of the Benedictines of the 1942 Russell 'I
translation. This has been checked against the Mign.e as down
loaded from www.augustinus.it. Resulting discrepancies have
been further checked against the 1986 Doignon text, kindly SllP
plied by Dr. Richard Upsher Smith of the Franciscan University of
Steubenville, Ohio.
Silvana Borruso
28th August 2006
Feast of Sl-. Augustine
t
I
~
}xvi(
Book One. First Debate. 1.1-2
LlBER "RIM1JS BOOK ONE
D1SI'UTATIO PRIMA FmSTDEBATE
CAPUT I ON~ 1
Omnia dj"in:l Providcntia ft.'git Divine l)rovidcncc rules all
!
1. Ordinem rerum, Zenobi, cOllsequi ac tenere clIique proprium, L There is ,Ul order to be: found, within things and between them, ;
tum vera universitatis quo co~rcetur ac regiru.r hie munclus, vel whieh binds and directs this world. To :'Irtaio and retain that order,
viclere vel pandcre difficillimum hOl11inibus atque rarissill11Un eSt, Zcllobius, to open one's eyes and other pcople's to it. it is difficult
Hue accedit quod c[iams; Quis haec possit, non iHud quoque valet and very uncommon. Even one who has the ability for it will not
efficcre, lit dignum audirorclU rum clivini:; obscurisque rebus, vel necessarily succeed. One needs to find worthy listeners with an
vitae mcriro vel habitu qll0dam eruditionis in ... coiat. Nee ramen ordered lifestyle and an ordered mind to grasp such divine but
quidquam est quod magis 3vide expecanr, quacquc op~illla il1~ellja obscure realities. Neithcr is it sufficient to be eager to listen and
roagisquc audire ac disccrc srudcant, qUI scapulas vitae hwus ct learn. No sooner docs one lift one's head enough to pay attention
proccllas, velut erecto quantum licet capite, ~lspicium~ quam quo to the obstacles and diificultics of life, than it comes narural to ask
.,
modo fiat ut et Deus humana curet cr tamil Ln humams rebus per how it is that On tbe one hand God takes care of human affairs,
versitas usqucquaque diffusa sit, tit non divinae, sed ne servili qui and on the other these same afbi;s-are shot through with so oouch
dem cuipiam procurationi, si ei mnta potcsras darelUr, tribuenda e,,::i-!: Not even an administration of slaves. given authoriry and
esse vidcatur. Quamobrem illud quasi necessarium iis qui bus talia power, could perpetrate as much. Those who find rhemsclves in
sunt curae credendunl dimirritur, aut divinam providendam DOti such straits come co one of two conclusions: either the power of ), ,I:
usque in h~ec ultima et imn pertendi aut certe mala omnia Dei vol divine providence docs not quite reach the deeper limits of chings,
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untate committi. 01: such evils happen because God wi Us them.
Otrumquc impium, sed magis posrerius. Quamqtlam e~im Both arc godless conclusions, especially the second. To deem 1
desertum Deo quidquam credere cum imperitissimum twn etlam anything forsaken by God is both ignorant and most dangerou... .
pcriculosissimum animo sir, tamen in ipsis hominibu~ nemo Not even civil socicty blamcs anyone for incapaciry, but it rightly
quemquam non potuisse aliquid crimlnarus est; neglcgenn3e v~ro condemns negligence, more lightly for sure than malice or cruelty. :,~
viruperatio multo est quam malitiae crudelitatisque 'pur~3t10r. Reason thcn, despite the promptings of piety, comes to think that
Itaque vciur compell1tur ratio tencre non immemor plenms aut earthly things are outside God's control, or that He neglects or
ista [crrena nOll posse a divin.is administrari aut negligi atque con despises them. It fails to sec how well-governed they are, and that
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temni potius quam ita gubernari, ut omnis de Deo sit mitis atque complaining against God is neither a trifling exercise nor one fIce
from blamc.
inculpanda conquestio. r
,
2. Sed quis tamen caecus cst me.nte, lit quidquam in movcndis 2. Who is so mentally blind as to doubt that whatcver controls
corporibus ratiorus quod praeter humanam disposirionel:n ac v~l~ the motion of bodics, way beyond human understanding and will,
untatem est, divinac potentiae modcrationique dare dubltet? N LSI does not really depend on God's direction and power? One could,
forte, aut casibus tam rata subtiliquc dimensione vel minutissimo of course, attribute to chance such a finely tuned proportion of
nun quorumque animatium membra figuratHur aut quod casu parrs down to thac of the miolltest animals. Deny chance, and the
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ON ORDER Book One. First Debate, 1.2-2.3
quis negat, possit nisi ratione f:lt:tum fateti aut vero per universam only alternatives are either ro admit the -fact of a guiding reason,
naturam, quod in singutis quibusque rebus nihil arre humuna sa(~~ or to submit to the inane, vain opinion of those who dare subtract
gente ordinatum miramur, alienare a sccrerissimo majestatis arbl~ the governmcnt of the universe from the secret designs of God, in
trio ullis nugis vanac opinionis audebimus. At erom hoc ipslInl est spite of human powerlessness to control even its smallest compo
plenius quacstionum. quod membra pulids disposira mire otque nen(. But this poses even more pl'oblems, namely how to Account
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distincta sunt, cum inrerca humana vita innumcrabiliullI pt:rrurba ior the asconishing order of the smallest joints of a £lea, together
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tionum il1COllsranria verserur et fiucruc[. with the ups and downs of endless disorder afflicting human life.
Sed hoc pacta si quis tam minutum cemeret, ut in vermicula~ The sintation is akin to that of one who, confined to survey I
to pavimenro Dibil ultra unius ressellae modulum acics eius valercr ing a single section of a mosaic floor, looked at it too closely, and I
ambire, viruperacct artificem velut ordirunionis er composition is then blamed the artisan for being ignorant of order and composi ,
ignarum eo quod varietarem lapiHorum pe.rrurb:ltarn putaret, a tion. In reality it is he himself who, in concentmting on an appar
quo ilia ernblemata in unius pulchritudinis Eadem congruentia ently disordered variety of small colored cubes, {a,iled to norice rhe
simul cerni collustrarique non posscnt. Nihil enim aliud minus Jarger mosaic work. The apparent disorder of the clements really
cruditis hominibus acddit, qui universam rcrllm coaptationem coml's together into the unity or n beautiful portrnit. The same can
ntque concentum imbecilla mente c()lnplecti cr considerare non be said of the feeble-minded ignoramus. Unable to grasp the har~
valemcs, S1 quid eos offenderit, quia suae cogitationi magnum esr, mony and interaction of the universe as a whole, and hurt by what
magnam putant rebus inhaercce foeditatem. is beyond their ken, such people rashly conclude that things are
inherently ugly and disorderly.
3. Cuius crcoris maxima causa cst, quod homo sibi ipse esr incog~ 3. The main cause of this error is the lack of knowledge of seU. In
nirus. Qui (amen ut se noscar, magna opus habet consuetudinc order to know oneself it is most necessary to get out or the life of
rccedendi a sensibus et animum in seipsum colligendi arque in the senses into one's imerior, and there rccol!e(:t oneself. Some
seipso rerinendi. Quod ii rannlln assequunrur, qui plagas quasdam caureri7,c the wound of disordered opinion inflicted 00 them in
opinionum, quas virae quotidio.nae cursus iniligit. aut solitudinc day~to.day life by retreating into solitude, Others do the same by
inucum aut liberalibu5 mcdic.'lnt disciplinis. cultivating the liberal arts.
CAPUTn TWO
Dedicat hoc opus Zenobio Dedicates the work to Zcnobius
Ita enim animus sibi redditus, quae sit pulchritudo lIniversi~ The human spirit, recollected within itself, grasps the beauty ,
tatis inteHegit, quae pro(ecto ab 14110 cognomirl..'U3 cst. Idcircoque of the universe. which gets its name from unum in diversis. one in
ilIum vidcre non licet animae quae ill mulra procedit scctaturque many. Therefore that vision is denied to the soul diSlcacted by too I
aviditatc pauperiem, quam nescit sola segregatione mliititudinis many pursuits, which avidly attains nothing but poverty. Only by
posse vitari Mulritudinem autel1l non hominum dico, sed on~ni~ separating oneself from the crowd can one avoid it. Crowd not of
urn quae sensus attingit. Nec mirere quod eo egcStatem patltur people, mind you, but of material things. Don't be surprised that
magis, quo magis appetit plu.ra complecti. Ut enim in circulo olle is the poorer, the more one desires to be encircled by such f
quannlmvis amplo unum est medium quo cuncta convergunt, things. However great a circumference is, there is a single point of
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141 151 ;.