Revival Series: Part 3

1 Samuel 7

Before we look at this text, a little background information is necessary.

 In the previous two chapters we see that the high priest’s two sons lost the Ark of the Covenant in battle against the Philistines. The Ark was the very symbol of God’s presence and His glory. The Philistines captured it and placed it in the temple of Dagon. After being plagued by the ark for seven months, they had returned it unto the Israelites—hoping God would stop plaguing them.

In their joy over recovering the Ark, the Israelites who found it celebrated by opening it and worshipping its contents. God, angered over their idolatry and mishandling of the Ark, killed many of over three thousand men. Because of their fear of God, they placed the ark in a shed. It was later moved to Kirjathjearim and stored in the house of Abinadab.

 ¹And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

 ²And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

The presence and glory of God was absent, shut up for twenty years. Imagine such a somber sight. Israel was in a state of mourning, for twenty years they lived in spiritual silence and groaned within for God’s presence to return. This is the first step in revival: to realize God’s presence has departed or has been kept out. So many of God’s people today wonder why no revival breaks out and why we see such a dead and stagnant Church; it is because God’s presence has been missing. Ichabod—“the glory hath departed.” Many have been too busy with their outreach programs, building projects, polished sermons, youth activities and fascination with this world to notice that while they have accomplished great things and built many things, God is nowhere to be found. Oh that we had men who wept over the Church as Christ wept over Jerusalem and as Moses wept over the Israelites worshipping the golden calf!  We must have men of God to weep and to pray over the pathetic condition of His Church. You might be offended at my words, but if you are, you are blinded by the delusion that all is well in the house of God this hour. The Church lacks the power it could have and once knew!

There are several reasons for this: First, the preaching is all intellectual now. There is little room or time for passionate, Hell-fire preaching that boldly and fervently proclaims “Thus saith the LORD.” Preaching now is down to an art. All one needs is personality, quotes, stories, loads of illustrations, intellectual appeal and carefully worded statements that make Scriptural commands more like suggestions. Preachers are afraid of offending, of confronting and Heaven forbid—keeping people ten minutes too long. It is interesting that the disciples never once asked Jesus “teach us to preach,” but teach us to PRAY!” There is the power; there is the real test of the preacher. Homiletics is important, but can never replace bathing in prayer before the sermon. Second,  believers today are too busy in the world Christ died to save them from. We all talk of growing in Christ and “growing in the Gospel,” but who really wants to? To grow in Christ we must cut off our flesh, the world and be separate and holy. Those who refuse to separate from the works of darkness will never see God, only the pure in heart can see Him. Everyone wants to get to Heaven but nobody wants God to be there when they arrive. Such irreverence and blasphemy have permeated our youth today! So often people make statements like “ride on King Jesus” and “Jesus my buddy.” The way in which some people refer to Christ and God you would think they believe they will get to Heaven, run up to God and say “Hey buddy, thanks for everything.” They have no concept of God, for they are ignorant of His holiness, His purity and His terror. When you get to Heaven you won’t run up to Jesus and greet Him like your “homeboy,” you will plant your face on the ground and lie paralyzed in sheer terror at His awesome presence! Lastly, and these are only to name a few, we do not hunger after God’s Word. Oh there are parts of it we love to hear on feeling special, being blessed, building up, getting together for the Gospel, encouraging, fellowshipping with believers and our deliverance from Hell; but we never want to hear of recognizing our depravity, being tried and tested, tearing down strongholds, separating unto the Gospel, confronting, getting alone in a cave with God  and our deliverance from this evil world and all its entrapments.

Forgive me if I sound angry or accusing, my heart is truly broken and I want to see God’s hand bring revival. But how can He send it before we prepare our hearts and face the reality we are in?

 ³And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

Samuel heard their groaning, their mourning and their weeping. He confronts them to put feet to their prayers and prove they were truly repentant. What did he tell them to do? To put away the strange gods, prepare their hearts unto the LORD and serve Him only. What a sermon he gave in those few words! If we could only do the same, we might see revival. You might say, “but we don’t have strange gods.” Oh but we do! They’re everywhere. Television, facebook, twitter, movies, socializing, sports, music, pop culture; the list is endless. Not all these things are inherently bad, but when put above or equal with our passion for and time with God, they become idols. Dr. Ken Cassias made the statement at Bible Conference that facebook and twitter will be evidence on Judgment Day that we had all the time we needed and more to spend time thinking on God and growing in Him. We all have the same 24 hours in a day and get done what we need, and some get done what we want. Do we need God or not? If God is to send revival, we must rid ourselves of all false gods in our lives and prepare our hearts unto God and serve Him alone. We cannot hold onto our idols in one hand and claim to serve God simultaneously, it is impossible.

⁴Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

The Israelites genuinely repented and put away their idols. True repentance always goes beyond tears and empty decisions and promises. They did not just “make a camp decision” if you will. They cut off and plucked out. They proved their decision was a life changing one. That is was true repentance does; it brings about action.

⁵And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.

Mizpeh was a sacred place where the people gathered when a special event or worship service. God’s people must be in His house before He can speak to them. Samuel says he will pray for them. As I already mentioned, we desperately need ministers that pray for their people. Praying for sicknesses and traveling safety and needs are fine, but more important is interceding prayer for the sinfulness and rebellion that floods God’s house.

 ⁶And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, we have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

Drawing water was a sign of repentance. They publicly repented and fasted. They weren’t fasting to impress others with their pseudo-spirituality; they were far too concerned with seeking God’s face than nourishing their physical needs. They confessed their sin to God. As humans, we hate ever admitting we’re wrong, let alone that we are wretched sinners against a holy God! When true revival comes, not some altar call that only lasts as long as the organ plays, men and women openly confess their sins to God and repent unto righteousness and holy living. I want to see it; we can see it. Oh that God would send it and give us grace to bear it.

⁷And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

The Philistines thought a national revival service would be an excellent time to wipe out all Israel. Mark it down, when God speaks and works, the Devil is mad and will try to counteract God. When a prophet of God speaks and preaches truth, the Devil will always stir some kind of resistance against him and his work. The preacher who knows nothing of resistance knows nothing of serving God and proclaiming the truth. Standing for God and proclaiming His word has never gone without satanic opposition, even from within the Church. Satan uses whoever he can to disrupt the working of God; he is not picky about who works for him.

 ⁸And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

The Israelites cried unto the man of God that he might intercede for them. They knew Samuel had the power and blessing of God upon him and that his prayer life was alive and fervent. Oh that God’s people knew their pastors were men who knew what it was to agonize in prayer over their congregations. Oh that we all knew what it meant to have a prayer life so powerful and real that people could ask us to intercede on their behalf and know we would get a hold of God.

⁹And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.

The LORD “heard him.” What a testimony this is. We know that God does not always hear us when we pray—if there is sin in our lives. Samuel had a direct line to God and nothing hindered it. The LORD heard his prayer; and may He hear ours.

 ¹⁰And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

If the Church had men who prayed as Samuel did, the enemies of God would experience the same fate; they would shake in terror at the awesome power of God and would fear and tremble. Sadly, the world and the enemies of the Church know little of this today. It is sadly the Church who trembles in fear and is smitten.

¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar.

¹²Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

Samuel made a monument of the LORD’s intervention. Let us never forget His intervention for us and times where He has delivered us.

¹³So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

God’s enemies were subdued and no longer harassed the people of God. Oh that we might see that binding and loosing power promised by Christ! The hand of God was against the Philistines all the days Samuel lived. Why? Because that man had a walk and prayer life with God that was real and besought God and subdued His enemies.

Phi Sigma Chi Sunday School Lesson 5

Phi Sigma Chi Sunday School Lesson #5.

Revelation 20:11-15

02/13/11 Ken Willis ©

Revelation 20:11-15: “The Great White Throne Judgment”

11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Cross Ref: Prophesied in (Daniel 7:9-10) “9I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”

Note: The idea here is that the glory and majesty of God’s position as the final judge causes great terror before the host present. Even the heavenly hosts turn away from the unimaginable glory that no flesh can withstand. 1

12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Cross Ref: (Exodus 32:32) “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.”

Note: The concept of God having a book—in which man’s individual sins are recorded—is presented here in the OT. Every sin a person commits is recorded in the book and will be used against all who are outside of Christ2.

Cross Ref: (Psalm 28:4-5) “4Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. 5Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.”

Note: This passage speaks of the condemnation of them that wanted their own way and rejected God’s truth for their own sinful pleasures. They wanted the way of death and now God will give it to them. God will judge the unsaved according to their works3.

13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works4.

Cross Ref: (John 5:27-29) “27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Note: At the great white throne, all the dead of History will rise unto eternal bliss or damnation. The righteous will be most likely the OT saints who will receive their glorified bodies. The unsaved will rise only to meet the eternal wrath of God5.

14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Cross Ref: (I Corinthians 15:26,55) “26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

Note: Death itself, along with Hell, will literally be cast into the lake of fire. Death and Hell will be destroyed—along with all whom are in them.

Cross Ref: (Revelation 21:4) “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Note: The believer will never again face pain, fear, sin or physical death: the curse will be fully removed and all effects of Adam’s sin forever vanquished6.

15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Note / Conclusion: The unsaved will have no chance for appeal, no defense and will be judged eternally to the Hell they deserve. God’s patience and grace will have ended and there will be no mercy given. Are you in the book of life?Those who have truly trusted in Christ and are growing in the Gospel have no need to fear this judgment in Revelation 20. They are sealed by the precious, perfect blood of Christ and are hidden in Him before the justice of God and can therefore not be condemned unless God condemns Christ—which is impossible. This judgment, to the believer will be a happy and joyous occasion. Death and Hell will be no more; the full effects of the sin curse will be lifted; and we will begin an eternity with our Savior who will wipe all tears of this past life from our eyes and embrace us as His chosen bride forevermore!

 

Footnotes:

1 Ezekiel 1:13; 10:2,6 / Mark 9:3 / Revelation 1:14

2 Psalm 69:28 / Isaiah 4:3 / Daniel 12:1 / Malachi 3:16-17 / Phil 4:3 / Revelation 3:5; 21:27

3 Psalm 62:12 / 2 Timothy 4:14 / Revelation 18:6 / Isaiah 5:12

4 Isaiah 26:19

5 John 9:39 / Acts 10:42; 17:31 / Daniel 12:2 / Matthew 25:46  Acts 24:15

6 Isaiah 25:8; 35:10; 43:18; 65:19 / Revelation 7:17 / 2 Timothy 1:10

From the Heart

I listened to a sermon by Leonard Ravenhill this morning titled “The End Times.” I am overwhelmed with conviction at the lack of my own waste of opportunities to serve and minister for God. Brother Ravenhill–in Heaven now–is still used of God to proclaim the Gospel and cry for revival; his voice sent the message of God into my ears and heart over the way in which as American Christians, we value the things of this present world over the things of eternity.

I was ashamed to admit that we American believers are so prone to place such value on things, materialism, and possessions; we ought be broken and in tears over the millions and billions who have never heard the gospel because we are too busy worrying about our own bank accounts and retirement plans. Are we here to live like kings or here to live as dying prophets preaching to damned souls? Do we even think about the billions of souls we live amongst, who will most likely never know Christ, yet we are too busy to beseech them with the gospel of Christ? I do; and I have. And I am overwhelmed with grief and shame at my failure to overcome my stupid fears and pride to tell them of the God I confess.

I can’t help but think that it may be possible that we as twenty-first century believers do not live and preach the same gospel Jesus preached and lived. He preached a hard and costly gospel, yet we preach a salvation which consists of getting poor sinners to say “uh-huh” when prompted. The gospel is no longer a life long commitment that supersedes all others and permeates into every area of life, but it is a mere decision we make to allow us to live as we deem righteous by our conscience and then we will go to heaven with Jesus when we die.

Some of us will be ashamed when we see Jesus because it will be the first time we have actually reverenced him for who he is. We will be shocked by his holiness and stunned at his glory, because never before had we seen him as a holy and glorious God, but as a hip friend who wants us to be accepted and to be as liberal as possible. How can we not be terrified to meet Christ and find him so different than our lives teach him to be?

We know better brethren! We have more Bibles here in America now than some nations ever had altogether. Some people have not even seen a Bible, yet we treat it as another text-book written by man. Sodom had no Bible and was burned with brimstone; what do you think America’s judgment will be like?

We fail on a daily basis to spend 10 minutes with Jesus, yet we will spend hours watching our stocks, earning money, eating food, entertaining ourselves yet we fail to do the one thing that really matters. We wonder why our churches are so full of dead people and all manners of spiritual failure, yet we won’t spend half an hour in the book beseeching the power of God and His help to live purely and to serve him with our all.

We argue over Bible versions, theological systems and interpretative views yet we are corrupted by sinfulness, selfishness, arrogance, pride and utter spiritual failure! Why do we only speak of revival as a thing of the past and a thing of a long forgotten event? It is because we are not ready for revival. How can God bless the American church right now? Some say revival has come in the form of Neo-Calvinism and contemporary worship and in the venues of Sovereign Grace Music and preachers like C.J. Mahaney, Joshua Harris, John Piper, Mark Driscoll and the like, yet this is NOT revival, but a cheapening of the Christian walk, which is to be one of reverence for God and worship that glorifies Him, not appealing to our own fleshly desires and impulses. Music that sounds like a rock concert and draws in the world cannot be the revival fire of God, but the work of His adversary Satan. If this new style and philosophy draws in the lost sinners of the world, it is not a worship that glorifies God, but one that accommodates and pleases men.

Christ’s message did not draw in the world; it confronted them, convicted them and caused them to hate and murder him. The gospel is of love, but its message is one that causes offense and exposes the sinner for what he is; a damned soul standing before a Holy and Righteous God deserving of His divine and eternal wrath for their sins. It shows them that aside from the blood of Christ, they have no plea or hope of escaping the eternal flames of Hell. As brother Paris Reidhead said, we need to stop trying to convince a good man that he is trouble with a bad God, and start convincing a bad man that he deserves the wrath of a good God.

We must get up and away from our own ambitions and desires and exhaust ourselves for the Gospel, but let us preach the true, undiluted Gospel. And may we not apologize for God’s wrath and justice. Until we preach that men deserve God’s wrath, expect no revival and no lasting change. I am tired of seeing weekly decisions that go as fast as they come. I want to see revival! I am tired of hearing about it, reading about it, praying for it, I want to see it! And the only way we can see it is to view God in all His holiness as He is and see how wicked and sinful we are and respond to that truth.

May we end the diluted Gospel and preach the true Gospel; and may God use that to usher in revival to America as we have never before witnessed. Amen.

Augustine: Saint? or Manichean Neo-Platonism Gnostic?

The Sins of Augustine

 by Chuck Fisher

Augustine Aurelius, Bishop of Hippo, arguably is considered the most influential theologian after St. Paul. As a pastor and bishop in North Africa, Augustine was one of the most prolific church writers, dealing with the many theological issues that faced the Church in his day. As a teacher, he influenced the course of the Church, and as a bishop, he influenced the politics of Rome. Without a doubt, Augustine it is considered a great man. But does he deserve this reputation?

Facts

The history of Augustine’s life is pretty straightforward and well-known. Son of a pagan father and Christian mother, Augustine grew up knowing the truth of the gospel, but led his own life, his father taking delight in his son’s sexual escapades. Augustine became a well-known orator and studied the pagan philosophies of Plato. Augustine became a Christian at age 32, after discussions about Christianity with a friend, and hearing a child’s voice telling him to pick up a scroll and read it. This conversion story is one the most famous in Christendom.

After being baptized, in 387, Augustine moved back to his hometown of Tagaste, in North Africa, to found a monastic community and become a monk. In 391, the church at nearby Hippo pressed him to become a priest, and five years later, he was made Bishop of Hippo. As a Church leader, he became an active pastor, not only for his congregation and diocese, but for his Faith. His life is best known for his doctrinal fights against Donatists and the followers of Pelagius.

Perverter of the Church?

Augustine has been called the Great Teacher of the Church, and the Doctor of Grace, because of his influence on the doctrines of the Church. His voice was so powerful that a simple “Augustine Dixit,” “Augustine says ,” settled all arguments. Augustine is still beloved theologian of theologians, studied in seminaries and schools of philosophy around the world. However, there are a few things that those who sing Augustine’s praises neglect to tell us, things which, if widely known, would call into question his supposedly great contributions to philosophy and theology.

First of all, believe it or not, Augustine couldn’t read Greek! It is not required, in ministers, that they be able to read Greek. Many, many ministers have been to Bible schools that did not required them to learn Greek. This does not mean that they’re not qualified to pastor churches, to preach and teach the gospel. However, for a theologian to not be able to consult the original languages of the Word of God, this is a critical failure.

This means that Augustine was not able to understand what Paul or Peter or John wrote, without relying on the sayso a translator. Which Augustine did. Augustine relied on the translation of his close ally, Jerome of Palestine. Jerome was the man who translated the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek, into Latin. Unfortunately, Jerome was an extremely biased, didactic theologian, and in at least one theological area, that of justification, made an unfortunate translation that has affected the Church ever since. Augustine took a word from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and gave us a Roman court model for justification, rather than the model that Paul presented, in the original Greek, that of a king declaring a subject in right standing with his/her king. Robert Brow, in his article, “Did Paul Teach Law Court Justification?” wrote:

The words in the original Greek might allow, but they never require a judicial interpretation. Since the time of Chrysostom it has been pointed out in the Greek Church that dikaioo could equally well be translated “make upright or righteous” …. If this Greek Orthodox reading of the Epistle is correct then it would seem that it was the legal minds of the first Latin translators and Jerome’s Vulgate which introduced the forensic virus into the western church. Augustine did not know Greek, and he set the Roman law court model in stone. Anselm and Calvin clarified that logic with ruthless perfection. http://www.biblical-theology.com/salvation/justific.htm

A second problem with Augustine is where he got much of his theology from. Before becoming a Christian, Augustine studied two different religions/philosophies, that he allowed to influence him, and brought their doctrines with him into the Church.

For nine years, Augustine was a Manichean, a devotee of of the teachings of Mani, founder of a Persian moral cult. Like the Gnostics of the first century, Mani and his followers were dualistic, teaching that the flesh was sinful and impure, while the spirit was light and life. As a Manichean, this teaching was a comfort to Augustine, as it let him blame his continued sexual sin on his lower fleshy nature, but still be moral by emphasizing the separateness of flesh and spirit.

Augustine’s years with the Manicheans left its impact on the Church, as he brought this teaching into the the Church through his teaching on Original Sin. A. T. Overstreet, in his on-line book, “Are Men Born Sinners?, The Myth of Original Sin,” notes:

Augustine’s nine years with them [the Maniceans] accustomed him to regard human nature as essentially evil and human freedom as a delusion. Augustine next fell under the influence of Neo-Platonism, and his theological views were strongly influenced by this philosophy as well. However, his doctrine of sin shows the obvious influence of the Gnostic teachings of Manichaeism, in which he assumes the most ridiculous teaching of all the heathen philosophies the teaching that matter can be sinful. And this is the source of his doctrine that sin can be passed on physically from one person to another.

Harnack says:

We have, finally, in Augustine’s doctrine of sin a strong Manichaean and Gnostic element; for Augustine never wholly surmounted Manichaeism.

and…

Augustine’s doctrine of sin, with his belief in the inherent sinfulness of the physical constitution, is wholly Manichaean. His idea that sin is propagated through the marriage union, that sexual desire is sin and that sexual lust in procreation transmits sin is also Manichaean. Augustine built his doctrine of original sin upon this premise that sexual lust in procreation transmits sin.

As mentioned in the quote above, Augustine studied the teachings of pagan Greek philosophers, the Neo-Platonists. In fact, Augustine was ” converted ” to Christianity through Neo-Platonist philosophy! “World Book Encyclopedia” had these two comments to make about the influence of pagan philosophy on Augustine:

“The writings of the Neo-Platonists and sermons of Saint Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, convinced Augustine to accept Christianity. ”

and

“Augustine’s study of neoplatonism convinced him that God existed in the soul of every human being.”

The following is from the “Concise Columbia Encyclopedia” article on Neoplatonism:

“Neoplatonism, ancient mystical philosophy based on the later doctrines of Plato, especially those in the Timaus…. Neoplatonism, widespread until the 7th cent., was an influence on early Christian thinkers (e.g., Origen) and medieval Jewish and Arab philosophers. It was FIRMLY JOINED WITH CHRISTIANITY BY AUGUSTINE, who was a Neoplatonist before his conversion.” (emphasis mine)

Did you get that last line? Augustine brought the pagan philosophies, learned before his conversion, into the church and much of our doctrine today is based on this.

What is generally not known about Augustine is that he favored his philosophers more than the Old Testament revelation. Bishop Ambrose, who was instrumental in converting Augustine, had to help him overcome his problem with the Old Testament : it seems that Augustine felt that the God of the Old Testament was capricious and vindictive, and at odds with the God of the New testament.

So how did Ambrose and Augustine overcome the apparent contradiction ? By using a method of interpretation called allegory. The teachings of the Old Testament, according to Augustine, could only be understood by taking the Old Testament as allegory. Augustine spiritualized the Old Testament, teaching that the histories of the Old Testament had nothing to do with God, in reality, that the stories about God in the Old Testament only taught about God in pictures, like parables. According to Augustine, the Old Testament was not a perfect revelation of God and his character, but contained bits and pieces about God that we had to figure out with allegorical interpretation. Augustine’s influence was so great that, for a thousand years, his method of interpreting the Bible was the official method of interpretation used by the Church.

Here is what James J. O’Donnell wrote in his on-line article, “Augustine the African”

Here Christianity began to appear to him in a new, intellectually respectable light. As before, his most pressing personal problem was his sense of evil and his responsibility for the wickedness of his life; with the help of technical vocabulary borrowed from Platonic philosophy Ambrose proposed a convincing solution for Augustine’s oldest dilemma. Augustine had besides a specific objection to Christianity that only a professor of belles-lettres could have: he could not love the scriptures because their style was inelegant and barbaric. Here again Ambrose, elegant and far from barbaric, showed Augustine how Christian exegesis could give life and meaning to the sacred texts.

How did Augustine’s philosophical background affect Christian doctrine ? His neo-platonic views affected his view of God, which is passed on to the Church, at large.

Augustine bought into the Platonic beliefs about the Perfect Ideal. Plato taught that everything that existed was merely a mirror of the one true thing that was perfection, and this Perfect Ideal was unchangeable. If it could change, it wouldn’t be perfect. With that as his philosophical presupposition, Augustine brought in an un-biblical definition about God’s immutability that survives as orthodoxy to this day. This is from Chapter Two of Bob Moore’s on-line book, “Calvinism — Ten Little Caveats”:

From Plato comes the concept of “the forms” or perfect ideals. This gave students of philosophy (one being Augustine) the notion that God does not change in any way because he is perfect. What is perfect, it is argued, does not change because by definition “perfect” means the level beyond which nothing can exceed. Nothing is more perfect than flawless, A+, or 100%. For a Platonist, things which change are inferior to things which do not change.

The Bible presents God as changeless, but the Christian tradition being shaped by Augustine and others, had to interpret what that meant. They had to decide if it meant that God did not change in character or if it meant that he did not change in some stronger sense.

Don’t believe that our Christian orthodox doctrine relies on Greek philosophy? Then read these quotes from “The Providence of God,” by Benjamin Writ Farley, as cited in Bob Moore’s book:

the rudiments of a reformed doctrine of the providence of God lie deeply embedded in the western philosophical tradition. There is little point in debating this. Wisdom and truth consist in acknowledging the fact and in showing how Christian and later Reformed doctrines differ significantly from the older, inherited, philosophical views.

Farley reflects further,

Has Reformed theology wed itself too closely to the classical world’s concepts of God’s perfection, omnipotence, omniscience, and immutability in its attempts to witness to the God of Scripture? To be certain, such concepts have their place in guiding the church’s reflection on the biblical God of providential activity. They enable the church to avoid the pitfalls of defining God in ways that make him subservient to other factors in the universe; they call the church’s attention to glaring inconsistencies in its assertions about deity. But they need not ‘control’ our understanding of God’s interaction with his world.

A third problem with Augustine that is not discussed often is his tendency to develop doctrine based on his experience rather than scripture. I have heard it said, “A man’s philosophy is dictated by his morals.” The same is true for his theology. Augustine wrote an autobiography, considered to be a classic, Confessions, and in it, he discusses his problems with sin. He spends a great deal of time dealing with an incident (as a young teenager ) in which he stole pears from a neighbor’s tree, and uses this event to develop and teach the doctrine of Original Sin.

Because Augustine had a problem with promiscuity and lust, and even as a churchman and bishop, had problems with his thought-life, he concluded that no one is able to choose to do good. His problem with the settings and formed the basis for the doctrine of the other depravity of man. This experiential theology, based on his own moral failures, caused him to attack the Biblical theology of Pelagius and Celestius and Julian of Eclanum, who taught man’s responsibility to choose to follow God.

A fourth problem area with Augustine is an area that, while well-known among scholars, is not widely discussed, but is absolutely critical in evaluating the truth of the doctrines that he developed and foisted on the Church. This last area deals with Augustine’s method of dealing with those who disagreed with his teachings. Since Augustine’s teachings became the touchstone for church doctrine, both Catholic and Protestant, it is vital that we examine the process by which Christian doctrine became settled, and was handed down to us.

Augustine was born in 354, in the time of a Christian Roman empire. Augustine did not have to live through the time of persecution that had been on the Church for 250 years, and so did not know the powerlessness that the meek followers of Christ had experienced. Instead, Augustine came into a Church with politically well-connected bishops, who had direct lines of communications to authorities on all levels, including the Roman Emperor. And Augustine, as a bishop of his time, used his resources well.

Early in Augustine’s Christian career, a controversy arose over the views of Donatus. Do not be deceived by classical theologians into thinking that Donatists were heretics. They were not. Instead, Donatists were basically Christians who believed in holiness. Coming out of the time of the great persecution of Diocletian, Donatus and his followers refused to accept the leadership and ministry of priests and bishops who had shown cowardice in the face of persecution. The appointment of a minister who had handed over scriptures to be burned was a rallying cry of the Donatists.

As an opponent to the Donatists, Augustine was a vigorous fighter for the Catholic Church. He weighed in with sermons and writings condemning them, which, given his perspective as a Catholic, is understandable. After all, as Christians, we’re called to contend for the faith, and if we believe that people are teaching false doctrines, heresies that endanger the faith of weaker Christians, we’re to expose the error and preach the truth. However, Augustine took the fight one step further. Ignoring the lessons of the history of the early Church and its experiences with bitter, angry men who sought to destroy it with persecution, Augustine advocated the persecution of the Donatists.

in Aurelius of Carthage and in Augustine the catholics at last had leaders who were a match for the Donatists. Augustine issued exhaustive historical and theological counter-arguments and a justification of coercion, while Aurelius’ organizing ability produced effective action. Yet it took legal sanctions to check Donatism–especially the Edict of Unity (405) and the proscription which followed the convention in Carthage in 411. Eerdman’s Handbook to the History of Christianity.

Did you get that? Augustine wrote justifying the legal “coercion” of Christians who disagreed with him. Since when do we resort to legal courts and edicts to decide Christian practice?

It is in the last battle of his life, with the Pelagians that Augustine really distinguished himself as a man willing to use the methods of the world, and not the Bible, to achieve his purposes.

Pelagius, by all accounts (including Augustine’s) a godly man, was appalled at Augustine’s teaching on Original Sin, and taught differently than Augustine, thus earning Augustine’s enmity. He did not believe that all were tainted with the sin of Adam, and opposed Augustine’s teachings.

Pelagius also merited the anger of another so-called Father of the Church, Augustine’s compatriot, Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin. It seems that there was a monk whose name was Jovinian, who taught that it was alright for priests to marry, that there was no great virtue in remaining celibate. Jerome, along with Augustine, was one of the leaders of the teaching that married saints were of a lesser class than celibate saints. Jerome was a vicious man, known for his disgusting attacks on opponents, and his characterization of Jovinian was no different. Jerome depicting this saint as a Bacchanalian orgyist. Pelagius took Jerome to task for such a rotten manner of arguing, thus earning the hatred of Jerome.

Finally, Pelagius was a holiness preacher. Living in Rome, he condemned the loose morals of the Emperor’s court, thus earning the enmity of Emperor Honorius.

As many did when it looked like the barbarians might overwhelm Rome, Pelagius left Rome for other parts, specifically, Palestine. While living in Palestine, several of Augustine’s followers in Palestine brought charges of heresy against Pelagius, and Jerome joined in the accusations.

There were two trials/synods held in Palestine, and at both of these examinations, Pelagius was declared to be orthodox. He was present to defend himself and explain what he taught. Not content to have Palestinian bishops try Pelagius, Augustine had two more trials/synods held to “examine” Pelagius’ teachings, both in North Africa, in Augustine’s own home town. To no one’s great surprise, these two kangaroo courts declared Pelagius to be a heretic. Mind you, these two trials were held in North Africa, under Augustine’s direction, and without Pelagius there to defend his teachings.

The results of these four trials were sent to Pope Innocent of Rome, who sided with Augustine. But Innocent had been lobbied hard by Augustine ahead of time. And Pelagius had not had a chance to defend his teachings. Knowing that Augustine was working to have him declared heretical, Pelagius prepared a defense of his teachings and sent it to Rome.

Now, here is the rub. Innocent died before Pelagius’ defense arrived, and a new pope was selected, Zosimus. Zosimus received Pelagius’ written defense, and after reading the defense, reopened the case. After examining both sides, Zosimus declared Pelagius orthodox. This is not widely known. Pelagius was declared by an impartial bishop to be orthodox in his doctrine.

This gave Augustine and his party fits, and so they decided to enlist a little more help. Remember how Augustine supported using legal force to settle church matters in the matter of the Donatists? Augustine decided to enlist the Emperor in this matter of doctrine. Augustine and his party decided to appeal to Emperor Honorius to join in on this matter of doctrine. In addition, a fellow bishop and friend of Augustine, Alypius, sent a bribe of 80 stallions to Honorius to use his influence on Zosimus. Again, to no one’s surprise, the following year, Zosimus bowed to Imperial pressure and declared Pelagius a heretic.

The church, after the death of Augustine and Pelagius, and under the sting of Imperial pressure and Jerome’s hatred, went on to declare all of Pelagius’ teachings heretical and all of Augustine’s as orthodox.

It is due to the ungodly efforts of Augustine and his party that we owe the spectacle of church doctrine being decided by political power and chicanery.

Summary

Doing the research we can see that Augustine, far from being a saint, was responsible for much bad theology being introduced into the Church. Because of him, we have the teachings of Gnostics and Pagans masquerading as Christian doctrine. Because of Augustine’s appeal to force, we have a Christian history marred with the image of a blood-stained church willing to kill to enforce its positions.