You can find a lot of free advice out here in the blogosphere. Everybody wants to get something — anything, apparently — that will make their life the way they want it to be. The way they need it to be. The way they long for it to be.
Christians have a name for that kind of life. We call it being “blessed.” Every good thing comes from God. We call those good things blessings. And “blessed” really means “happy.”
St. Augustine (c. 354-430) talked a lot about “the blessed life.” (He’s the most influential thinker in the whole history of Christianity; always worth a listen.)
When Augustine talked about the blessed life he meant life as it was first intended by God — the kind of life you and I were made for. He thought that this life boiled down to two key principles. Nail those two and you will be happy because you will be in the groove.
You could think of this by an analogy from your toolbox. You have a hammer and a screwdriver. You can make a screw go into wood with a hammer. But the result is a lot happier if you use a screwdriver.
Use the right thing in the right way and the whole process is just better.
You and I need to have lives oriented the right way, doing the right kind of things. Then we’ll be in the groove. Augustine thought that if we could get the two key priorities in place, all the rest will fall into its proper place:
1. Love God with everything — above everything in all the world.
2. Love other people the way you want to be loved.
This was not original material for Augustine. He was quoting Jesus. Jesus was quoting Moses.
The Heidelberg Catechism, the 450 year old Reformed theological summary quotes the same stuff:
4 Q. What does God’s law require of us?
A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22:37–40:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
“And a second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
When you think of those two biblical instructions as “laws” you go either of two ways.
- You could say these are prescriptions, and if you break them there will be bad consequences — like the laws that forbid stealing and murder.
- You could say they are descriptions, and that this is just how the world works — like the law of gravity.
You would be right on both counts, I’d say. The Catechism will make both points about God’s laws.
Western Christianity has spent more energy on the “crime and punishment” side of the issue. But, just for a minute, try thinking of these as descriptions of the God intends your life to look.
What kinds of issues would fall into place if you loved God with your whole being, and your neighbor as yourself?
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One word: relationships
Amen to that!
Thank you for this post. It was very timely, as I just was reading about these epitomes (summaries of the Law) in E.P. Sander’s “Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 B.C.E. – 66 C.E.” Apparently summing up the Law in this way, was not unique to Jesus and was a part of the common theology of 1st century Judaism. In the discussion, Sanders shares a story about Hillel, who was a great Pharisee, and I’d like to share it here:
“On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before the Shammai [the name of Pharisaic School] and said to him, ‘Make me a proselyte, on condition that you teach me the whole Torah [Law] while I stand on one foot.’ Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder’s cubit which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel [another Pharisaic School], he said to him, ‘What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary thereof; go and learn it’.” (Sabbat 31a)
P.S. Augustine is little known in Eastern Christian theology 😉
Thanks, Fr. Dustin!
I think one shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus was speaking the common teaching of Judaism. No need for him to be original — one just wants Wisdom to be wise. And true to what God has taught already in the Law and the Prophets.
Yes, alas, the East was largely spared some of the conflicts in which Augustine had to valiantly struggle, and in which he articulated his most influential points — so the trajectory of his influence remained in the West. And there are things like his framing of the doctrine of the Trinity which had unfortunate consequences, which were recognized as such in the East.
Still, in this Western world, no matter the theological topic, one faces a culture shaped by Augustine’s formulation of the issues, the questions, the answers. Even where his views are far from favored, scratch the surface and we are reacting to him. So to preach and teach here, one does well to know him!
I agree, to preach and teach here, one does well to know him! Even though I’m an Orthodox priest, many people ask how eastern theology differs from western theology; if I don’t understand western theology, that question becomes very difficult!
If you want a fantastic introduction, check out Peter Brown’s biography — Augustine of Hippo
Thank you! I’ll have to add it to my reading list.
I do know that there’s “two” Augustine’s – Augustine the Manichean, and Augustine the Neoplantonist (if’ I’m remembering correctly). I did look him up in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium to see how he would have been known in the east. It says his anti-Pelagian stance would have been known in the east, but the synods of Jerusalem and Diospolis (5th century) disapproved of his views. Apparently, there’s some evidence that St. Maximus and St. Photius would have read some of his work, but the east, as a whole, wouldn’t have really encountered him until his works were translated into Greek in the 13th/14th centuries. John Romanides, a well-known contemporary Orthodox theologian, is very anti-Augustine, but he’s the strongest stance I’ve seen in modern eastern theology.
I’ve always wanted to read his Confessions, but I’m not sure to what extent it’s simply an account of his life, or to what extent we should read it a bit more theologically (e.g., St Gregory’s Life of Moses, or St. Athanasius’ The Life of St. Anthony). You probably have a better idea than I do.
Kind of makes one think of the golden rule in life. I know that as hard as I try to do both, I often times fail, not on purpose but just fail. I think God provides us these two commandments in the begining as a way of truly offering to us the “keys” to not only life, but the keys to happiness as well. Thanks
Yes! I think the “Golden Rule” as found in the Bible is essentially a way to go about applying Commandment #2.