Today is the feast day of St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), one of the few Early Church Fathers beloved by Catholics and Protestants alike. The Presbyterian theologian R.C. Sproul said that “if there is any giant that stands out in the history of the Church as the man upon whose shoulders the whole history of theology stands, it is a man by the name of Aurelius Augustine, St. Augustine.”
What few Christians realize is that Augustine claims to be an eyewitness to several miracles brought about by relics, and particularly the relics of St. Stephen (the deacon killed in Acts 7) during his time as Bishop of Hippo. He describes several such miracles, including the raising of a dead priest, explaining:
For when I saw, in our own times, frequent signs of the presence of divine powers similar to those which had been given of old, I desired that narratives might be written, judging that the multitude should not remain ignorant of these things. It is not yet two years since these relics were first brought to Hippo-regius, and… those [miracles] which have been published amount to almost seventy at the hour at which I write.
St. Ambrose, Augustine’s mentor, had actually received a vision from God, revealing where he could find the relics of the martyrs Sts. Gervasius and Protasius, so that he could put those relics in the cornerstone of the altar for the celebration of Mass in the Basilica of Milan.
So this isn’t just the case that Augustine and Ambrose believed in the power of relics, but claimed to be eyewitnesses. So, as I point out today in a Catholic Answers article,
This fact puts Protestants in a precarious position. Do they conclude that he and Ambrose were lying? Such a conclusion is hardly sustainable. Both of them are testifying to events that were too public and too well-documented to be the work of one man’s imagination. As St. Paul reminds King Arippa, “this was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26).
Should Protestants conclude that Augustine was simply naive or delusional? That would greatly undermine his status as “a philosophical and theological genius of the first order” and the greatest theologian of the first millennium.
No, the only way to take Augustine seriously as a theologian is to take him seriously as a Christian witness, and that includes his witness to the miracles he personally observed brought about the relics of St. Stephen.
You can’t have Augustine without having a belief in relics.
In my opinion, miracles…even though they might be small or apparently of little importance, occur frequently in ones life. It seems that God has a way of helping his servants, even in the most minuscule ways, and which most people neglect to reflect upon or give thanks for. The timing of one of these ‘micro’ miracles, at times, can actually be a bit ‘spooky’.
For instance, one time I was traveling with a friend in a fairly isolated countryside area, and the alternator on my car started to go out. I knew I had only about 6 miles more to go to make it to a small town nearby, and so I hoped and prayed that I would be able to get the car there….sputtering all the way. This also occurred on a Saturday afternoon, and so it seemed that many repair shops would be closed. Moreover, these were the times ( about 1991) when ATMs only operated on week days…and I think I only had about 15 dollars in my pocket. So, the car started sputtering on and off for those six miles and finally it conked out right in front of a Chevron station. The attendants there could not help, but they gave me the directions of a junk yard and I walked there almost exactly at closing time (half day for them on Sat.). But the charitable owner said he would help me anyway, even though he was in the process of closing for the day. So, he looked for an alternator and finally found one, but it still needed to be removed from an old car. He also helped get my broken down car to his lot, and it took him about 2 hours to install the part. In the mean time I walked about a mile to an old acquaintance that I hadn’t seen in about a year or two, and humbly begged him to cash a check for me for 50.00…as all banks were closed until Monday. And he charitably did so, even though I didn’t know him very well…and only through another friend of mine. And so, all of these things came together, which otherwise would have necessitated my friend and I sleeping in the car on the side of a small country town road for two nights… and without food also…until the ATM, and parts stores, opened on Monday morning. And I was about 130 miles from my home. The timing of all of these events seemed to be MORE than coincidence. That is….that the car would finally ‘conk out’ in a small town, as opposed to on the rural highway…that there would be a junkyard in town that was still open on a Sat. afternoon…that they would have the exact part I needed…that my old acquaintance would be available and willing to cash a check to pay for the car part… and that everyone was so charitable, understanding and generous, that my friend and I arrived back to our homes in just a few hours later.
This is just one example of how it seems that God pre-ordains certain events in our lives. It’s kind of like the rooster that crowed for Peter two times after the last supper, something very humble and small…as compared to the raising of the dead to life or the opening of a blind man’s eyes…but at the same time, still very significant and personally memorable.
So, I profoundly thank God for all of the little miracles that have occurred in, and that have pretty much made up, my entire life. Without them, in all reality, I would probably already be dead, and maybe in Hell also.
I am a Jew who has converted to Christianity. I am not Catholic, however, I have faith in God and the miracles that He performs. I must say that there are so many attributes that I like about the Catholic church.
May God bless you in your work on this blog. It is inspiring for the mind and spirit.
Melissa, thank you for this! That was tremendously kind.
Dear Joe. This is smashing. Kudos
That quote of augustine is from his book the city of god.
another anecdote from St.Augustine’s City of God: St. Augustine claimed he saw a man perform a little song through flatulence in-person. not entirely important, but a bit humorous
Citation please. Book and chapter.
ABS has a marked-up copy of “Copy of God” and he does not recall that anecdote
Select the text (or a portion of it) and paste it into Google. Numerous results will instantly appear. The marvel of modern texhnology.
It is the duty the man making the claim to substantiate it
first world problems… smh…
referencing…. its what we in the west nowadays call “best practices”. calling it duty is a bit of an overreach.
we’ve become so spoilt with “best practices” that we’ve become lazy in helping ourselves when others slip up on those practices.
Joe normally links to his sources. anyone can slip up on “best practices”
bottom line: if you know how to use a computer and know how to google, you can, and should, help yourself.
individual responsibility for the win.
http://antiquitopia.blogspot.com/2009/06/augustines-fart-musician.html
don’t have my copy laying around, so here you go
He must have been a bean farmer to get so much practice in.
I couldn’t ever get past Do-re-me-fa….and that was it.
Some have such command of their bowels, that they can break wind continuously at pleasure, so as to produce the effect of singing. I myself have known a man who was accustomed to sweat whenever he wished.
Sorry, your claim is wrong. You prolly are just repeating a claim you read another make.
If you’re gonna make a claim about a book, make sure you have read it….
Hi ABS,
This site shows the quote as you show it. http://www.logoslibrary.org/augustine/city/1424.html
I think that all of us agree with Augustine: Control of one’s genital organs resides in one’s will. We each and every one have command of each and every one of our body parts. The examples of singing with one’s bowels or raising one’s hairline or crying on command are ‘evidence’ which Augustine suggested in support of his conclusion: The will controls the genitals.
… we’ve become so spoilt with “best practices” that we’ve become lazy in helping ourselves when others slip up on those practices.,,,
Ha. That claim is so lame it should have arrived in a wheelchair.
It must be great to be your child; Danny, you didn’t shovel the walk? OK, I’l do it…
He who cites a quote has the duty to provide the source.
“It must be great to be your child; Danny, you didn’t shovel the walk? OK, I’l do it…”
Ad hominem. Your speech lacks charity sir.
Good day to you.
ABS is so charitable that he is providing a link correcting your misuse and misunderstanding of a fallacy you wrongly attribute to ABS;
http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2017/11/argumentum-ad-hominem.html
You, wrongly, claimed that ABS should have searched for the quote referenced by Moses when it is his duty to source his quote/claim – not anybody else. As to why you think others, and not Moses, should source his claim is inexplicable and as to why you did not ask him to provide the source before asking ABS to do it is also quite odd.
O, one other thing. You intimated ABS was lazy because he asked for the source from Moses rather than searching it out for his own self.
Was that what you wrongly call an ad hominem applicable to what you did in intimating ABS is lazy?
ABS is so charitable that he is providing a link correcting your double misuse of a fallacy you wrongly attribute to ABS;
http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2017/11/argumentum-ad-hominem.html
You, wrongly, claimed that ABS should have searched for the quote referenced by Moses when it is his duty to source his quote/claim – not anybody else. As to why you think others, and not Moses, should source his claim is inexplicable and as to why you did not ask him to provide the source before asking ABS to do it is also quite odd.
O, one other thing. You intimated ABS was lazy because he asked for the source from Moses rather than searching it out for his own self.
Was that what you wrongly call an ad hominem applicable to what you did in intimating ABS is lazy?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrite
You are a very confused person but ABS does thank you for calling him Sr.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrite
You are a very confused person but ABS does thank you for calling him, Sir.
Where has the author acquired the idea that “Protestants” do not believe in saints or the power of some relics, or indeed the miraculous preservation of the remains of some persons of great virtue? One of the most pleasant aspects of Protestantism is that it has no such over-arching authority dictating who and what to believe. The judgmentalism so popular here, the haughty presumptions of authority, these are almost entirely missing, and the smug self-congratulation is largely absent as well. And that speaks volumes I suggest.
Melissa, allow me to commend to you the writings of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand.
“Where has the author acquired the idea that “Protestants” do not believe in saints or the power of some relics…”
what a strange question.
it doesn’t take much time to verify that the overwhelming majority of protestants deny catholic beliefs concerning saints and relics.
if you want to verify this without too much effort or leaving the comfort of your chair, just google. If you don’t mind stretching your legs in the verification process, knock on the doors of a few protestant churches.
regarding smugness, i don’t know where you get that. if catholics are right about something, they are right. your perception of smugness is no proof that catholics are being smug when they are correct.
I notice you conflate any belief in those things I mentioned with “[Roman] Catholic doctrine”. I’m afraid in Protestantism, that happy state where one there is only Christ between God and man, one may believe whatever one is led to believe about the saints and all that concerns them.
If your church had not made obscene fetishes and circus sideshows out the relics of saints, and other matters concerning them, to say nothing of the money-changers – no, worse than money-changers: grafters – who your church fastened onto them, the saints and their relics might receive more attention in the Protestant world.
But in fact, what attention to the saints is Biblical?
Certainly not prayer to them, though as in the Marian cult, God is merciful to the sincere but misled since He knows us and everything about us as nothing and no one else can ever do.
One might recall Christ’s words in Revelation, where he both applauds and rebukes the seven churches according to their acts. It seems He will weigh us in the same manner; who then would not prefer to discern his error while there is time and escape the rebuke of God?
The Holy Spirit is sufficient for all men. Does He not stand at the door knocking? Will he not guide all who truly seek to be guided whether they be a genius or a fool, and He has made each the other as it pleased him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GgAieY098I
You know the answer.
The trouble with “catholic beliefs concerning saints and relics” is that they are carried to absurd, unscriptural and frankly bizarre extremities, just like the Marian cult and various other matters.
Smugness finds its root in the unscriptural petrine mandate, and then in the blatant flouting of Christ’s command, and such blasphemous absurdities as “papal infallibility”, and also in the equally unscriptural doctrine that priests may forgive sins as though they are God himself!
If I recall correctly, St. Ambrose was informed in a dream of those martyrs’ relics’ location by Saint Paul! Ambrose claimed to have recognized him from the images in church.
When the relics were paraded into the church through the streets, miracles such as curing of blindness and dispelling of demons occurred alongside it.
Who were the ones protesting that these miracles were hoaxes and that Ambrose and his company were being superstitious? The Arians!
The Protestant is not only forced to cede the miraculous nature of relics, but also affirm images. Furthermore, if he does not side with Ss. Ambrose and Augustine, he is siding with those who denied the divinity of Christ.
And so the miracles that occurred, were they by the power of the saint, or the power of the Holy Spirit?
As for the Arians, they will have to answer for themselves. As for me, I know the truth of the Holy Trinity insofar as it has been revealed in Scripture. I will not presume to extrapolate beyond what is in Scripture, nor would I suggest anyone else do so.
The eternal, the exalted mysteries of the Most High? Do you really think we fit even to hear them? What did the Apostles say? Did John return from his vision ready to define the Holy Trinity, to say, “is is this, it is not that”?
On what hangs all the Law and the Prophets? On what hangs our salvation?
Is it on our definition of the Holy Trinity?
Away with this.