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On the Morals of the Catholic Church

St. Augustine of Hippo

1h 59m read
Post-Nicene

De Moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae, the first half of a paired work comparing Catholic and Manichaean life, setting out the Church's moral vision as love for God ordering the four cardinal virtues.

Table of Contents

1Argument2How the Pretensions of the Manichæans are to Be Refuted. Two Manichæan Falsehoods3He Begins with Arguments, in Compliance with the Mistaken Method of the Manichæans4Happiness is in the Enjoyment of Man’s Chief Good. Two Conditions of the Chief Good: 1st, Nothing is Better Than It; 2d, It Cannot Be Lost Against the Will5Man—What?6Man’s Chief Good is Not the Chief Good of the Body Only, But the Chief Good of the Soul7Virtue Gives Perfection to the Soul; The Soul Obtains Virtue by Following God; Following God is the Happy Life8The Knowledge of God to Be Obtained from the Scripture. The Plan and Principal Mysteries of the Divine Scheme of Redemption9God is the Chief Good, Whom We are to Seek After with Supreme Affection10Harmony of the Old and New Testament on the Precepts of Charity11What the Church Teaches About God. The Two Gods of the Manichæans12God is the One Object of Love; Therefore He is Man’s Chief Good. Nothing is Better Than God. God Cannot Be Lost Against Our Will13We are United to God by Love, in Subjection to Him14We are Joined Inseparably to God by Christ and His Spirit15We Cleave to the Trinity, Our Chief Good, by Love16The Christian Definition of the Four Virtues17Harmony of the Old and New Testaments18Appeal to the Manichæans, Calling on Them to Repent19Only in the Catholic Church is Perfect Truth Established on the Harmony of Both Testaments20Description of the Duties of Temperance, According to the Sacred Scriptures21We are Required to Despise All Sensible Things, and to Love God Alone22Popular Renown and Inquisitiveness are Condemned in the Sacred Scriptures23Fortitude Comes from the Love of God24Scripture Precepts and Examples of Fortitude25Of Justice and Prudence26Four Moral Duties Regarding the Love of God, of Which Love the Reward is Eternal Life and the Knowledge of the Truth27Love of Ourselves and of Our Neighbor28On Doing Good to the Body of Our Neighbor29On Doing Good to the Soul of Our Neighbor. Two Parts of Discipline, Restraint and Instruction. Through Good Conduct We Arrive at the Knowledge of the Truth30Of the Authority of the Scriptures31The Church Apostrophised as Teacher of All Wisdom. Doctrine of the Catholic Church32The Life of the Anachoretes and Cœnobites Set Against the Continence of the Manichæans33Praise of the Clergy34Another Kind of Men Living Together in Cities. Fasts of Three Days35The Church is Not to Be Blamed for the Conduct of Bad Christians, Worshippers of Tombs and Pictures36Marriage and Property Allowed to the Baptized by the Apostles