Augustine and His Teachings

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said,

"Perhaps you know the legend, or perhaps true history of the awakening of Augustine. He dreamed that he died, and went to the gates of Heaven, and the keeper of the gates said to him, "Who are you?" And he answered, "I am a Christian." But the porter replied, "No, you are not a Christian, you are a Ciceronian, for your thoughts and studies were most of all directed to the works of Cicero and the classics—and you neglected the teaching of Jesus. We judge men here, by that which most engrossed their thoughts, and you are judged not to be a Christian, but a Ciceronian." When Augustine awoke, he put aside the classics which he had studied, and the eloquence at which he had aimed, and he said, "I will be a Christian!" And from that time he devoted his thoughts to the Word of God, and his pen and his tongue to the instruction of others in the truths of the gospel."

That is a nice story and all, but for anyone who has bothered to actually look at Augustine in the slightest, he/she will know that while he may have "devoted his thoughts to the Word of God, and his pen and his tongue to the instruction of others," it was not in the "truths of the Gospel." Augustine contradicted the very words of Jesus in the Teaching on the Mount. Jesus instructed us to "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also." But Augustine taught that it is okay to "return evil for evil" as long as you have love in your heart toward them. Augustine also taught that Christians were allowed to make "holy war" on others. Again, contrary to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles and the early Christians of the first three centuries. A great deal of what Augustine taught was not "truths of the Gospel" in the least. In fact, Augustine was a heretic in several senses of the word. He condemned others as "heretics" who were not nearly the heretic he was. Observe some of his teachings:

• Augustine taught that there is an irreconcilable conflict between salvation based on grace and salvation conditioned on works or obedience. This stems from the False Dilemma fallacy, stating that it is either one or the other. It is not! These passages obliterate that heretical teaching once and for all: Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 22:12, 14; cf. Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:5-8; 11:19-22; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 10:1-12; Gal. 6:7-9; Eph. 5:3-8; Jude 1:3-5; et al.
• Augustine radically altered the doctrine originally taught by the Church, becoming the most influential teacher of all time. The list of doctrines and practices Augustine either initiated or gave his authority to is impressively long:
• Mary was born and lived her entire life without actual sin.
• All unbaptized infants are eternally damned.
• Sex within marriage is an inherently debased act.
• Taught the doctrine of "holy war."
• There is no forgiveness of sins outside the Catholic church.
• Some of the practices and teachings of the apostles no longer apply to Christians because they lived in a different era.
• There is a purgatorial fire.
• The dead can benefit from the sacrifice of the Eucharist.
• It is proper for a "Christian" state to persecute heretics.
• Augustine is the father of Western theology. Modern Westerners can usually follow Augustine's logic; but they cannot follow the logic of the pre-Nicene Christians.
• Augustine never mastered Greek, which is likely why he departed from early Christianity in so many areas—more than any other teacher of his time.
• Because Pelagius taught a no-nonsense message of repentance and holiness, Augustine responded with these teachings that went to the opposite extreme of Pelagius' disciple Celestius:
• Man is totally depraved; he cannot believe or have faith in God.
• Man can believe or have faith in God only if by grace they are given the faith or belief. Man has no free will.
• God arbitrarily chooses whom to give faith to and who to condemn.
• Before creation, God arbitrarily predestined who would be saved or condemned.
• The elect cannot lose their salvation; the damned cannot be saved.
• No one can know if they are of the elect. Some people God has given the gift of believing have not been given the gift of perseverance and will be lost.
• Salvation is totally of grace. Faith, obedience, perseverance are gifts from God.
• Augustine obliterated the original early Christian teachings of free will and man's involvement in salvation.
• Nicene theologians took the lead in the veneration of Mary. Augustine gave his support to the false teaching that Mary was a perpetual virgin and lived a sinless life. He even called those who disagreed "heretics." They also taught Mary was bodily assumed into Heaven and ruled as Queen of Heaven. Not one whit of protest came from the lips of the Nicene theologians.
• Augustine gutted the Sermon on the Mount, explaining away Jesus' teachings. The teachings had become meaningless. Nicene theologians exalted Jesus but did not hesitate to contradict His words. Christianity had become corrupted. Catholicism was born.
• Augustine believed that the purpose of marriage is procreation, and that lust during sex—even among married Christians—was wrong.
• Augustine believed that the use of contraception to prevent children was perverting the purpose of marriage, "committing adultery within marriage" and "turning the bed-chamber into a brothel."
• Augustine believed that if you are going to teach Scripture, you must have a knowledge of the natural world, mathematics, music, science, history, the liberal arts, and a mastery of dialectics (the science of disputation).
• Augustine believed that sacramental baptism produces regeneration and is necessary for the forgiveness of sins.
• Augustine believed it was permissible to use force against heretics.
• Augustine believed that the Lord's Supper (the Eucharist) was necessary for salvation.
• Augustine held to a dualistic view of the world, which was heavily influenced by non-Christian philosophy.
• Augustine believed that a person can fall from grace and lose their salvation.
• Augustine believed that Mary (mother of Jesus) was a perpetual virgin.
• Augustine believed in praying for the dead.
• Augustine believed infants were subject to eternal death unless baptized (baptismal regeneration).
• Genuine followers of Jesus do not leave the sick and elderly to die. They do not force others to sell their children in exchange for dog meat. And they do not retaliate against their oppressors and slaughter and plunder them.

Many a professing Christian is in no different a boat than Augustine in his dream. They are Augustinians, Lutherans, Calvinists, Mennonites, Wesleyans, Spurgeonites, MacArthurites, Piperites, etc. They pour over and study the works of these men, and their grave errors in interpretation, but they have neglected the teachings of Jesus, His apostles, and the early Christians. They would more accurately be judged not to be Christians but to be named after these men instead because they are their followers rather than Christ's.