St. Augustine on sin, sodomy, protestants

I don’t know if anyone else is appreciating these posts I’m doing on St. Augustine, but I’m sure enjoying reading him.  Thanks to WA Jurgens, God rest his soul, for putting his books together, including the 3rd volume:

First quote, from St. Augustine’s Homilies on the Epistles of John to the Parthians:

So long as he is in the flesh, a man is not able to be without sins, at least the lesser ones; [Yikes! How many priests of a certain “spirit” pretend as if personal sin does not exist?]  but do not make light even of those sins called lesser. If you make light of them when you weigh them, be terrified when you count them. Many lesser ones make one big one; many drops fill a river; many grains make a lump. And what hope is there? Before all, Confession; lest anyone suppose himself just, and in the eyes of God, who sees things as they are, a man who did not exist and who now does exist is lifting up his neck in pride-before all, therefore, there is Confession; then there is love; for what is it that is said about love? “Love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8).

2nd quote, from the same document:

Such is the force of love that, as you can see, it alone separates, it alone distinguishes the actions of men. We said this is the case where the actions are similar. Where they are different we can find a man made savage by love and another made gentle by iniquity. A father beats a boy, and a seducer of boys caresses; if you but name the two actions, who would not choose the caresses and decline the blows? But if you take note of the person whose actions they are, it is love that beats the boy and iniquity [really, the Latin word is stronger, it conveys something more like barbarism, a shameful, horrific act]  that caresses him. See then what we are insisting upon: that the deeds of men are discerned only by reason of love…..A short precept, therefore, is given you: Love, and do what you will. If you are silent, be silent for love. or if you cry out, cry out for love. If you chastise, chastise for love; if you spare, spare for love.  [Thus, it is quite possible for Michael Voris and all the other voices of orthodoxy out there to be acting eminently in charity, even though they are often criticized for being “harsh” or “uncharitable.”  You want to know what’s really uncharitable? Leaving souls to die in their sins.]

Third quote, from the Discourse tothe people of the Church at Caeserea. This discourse, written 1100 years before Luther nailed his heresy to the door of the Wittemburg Cathedral, seems a prophetic refutation of both protestantism and the Eastern Orthodox,  the latter of whom, in spite of Augustine’s writing, do recognize him as a Saint:

A man cannot have salvation, except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church he can have everything except salvation. He can have honor, he can have the Sacraments, he can sing alleluia, he can answer amen, he can possess the Gospel, he can have and preach faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; but never except in the Catholic Church will he be able to find salvation.

As I was typing that, I was also struck by how much a refutation this statement is of evangelical protestantism, who hang everything upon the Gospel and preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. But Christ only established one Church, not 80,000 or whatever number they’re up to now.