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On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants

St. Augustine of Hippo

5h 46m read
Post-Nicene

De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione et de Baptismo Parvulorum, three books to Marcellinus on original sin, the necessity of infant baptism, and the scope of Christ's redemptive work.

Table of Contents

1Extract from Augustin’s Retractations1Book I1Introductory, in the Shape of an Inscription to His Friend Marcellinus2If Adam Had Not Sinned, He Would Never Have Died3It is One Thing to Be Mortal, Another Thing to Be Subject to Death4Even Bodily Death is from Sin5The Words, Mortale (Capable of Dying), Mortuum (Dead), and Moriturus (Destined to Die)6How It is that the Body Dead Because of Sin7The Life of the Body the Object of Hope, the Life of the Spirit Being a Prelude to It8Bodily Death from Adam’s Sin9Sin Passes on to All Men by Natural Descent, and Not Merely by Imitation10The Analogy of Grace11Distinction Between Actual and Original Sin12The Law Could Not Take Away Sin13Meaning of the Apostle’s Phrase 'The Reign of Death.'14Superabundance of Grace15The One Sin Common to All Men16How Death is by One and Life by One17Whom Sinners Imitate18Only Christ Justifies19Sin is from Natural Descent, as Righteousness is from Regeneration; How ‘All’ Are Sinners Through Adam, and ‘All’ Are Just Through Christ20Original Sin Alone is Contracted by Natural Birth21Unbaptized Infants Damned, But Most Lightly; The Penalty of Adam’s Sin, the Grace of His Body Lost22To Infants Personal Sin is Not to Be Attributed23He Refutes Those Who Allege that Infants are Baptized Not for the Remission of Sins, But for the Obtaining of the Kingdom of Heaven24Infants Saved as Sinners25Infants are Described as Believers and as Penitents. Sins Alone Separate Between God and Men26No One, Except He Be Baptized, Rightly Comes to the Table of the Lord27Infants Must Feed on Christ28Baptized Infants, of the Faithful; Unbaptized, of the Lost29It is an Inscrutable Mystery Why Some are Saved, and Others Not30Why One is Baptized and Another Not, Not Otherwise Inscrutable31He Refutes Those Who Suppose that Souls, on Account of Sins Committed in Another State, are Thrust into Bodies Suited to Their Merits, in Which They are More or Less Tormented32The Case of Certain Idiots and Simpletons33Christ is the Saviour and Redeemer Even of Infants34Baptism is Called Salvation, and the Eucharist, Life, by the Christians of Carthage35Unless Infants are Baptized, They Remain in Darkness36Infants Not Enlightened as Soon as They are Born37How God Enlightens Every Person38What ‘Lighteth’ Means39The Conclusion Drawn, that All are Involved in Original Sin40A Collection of Scripture Testimonies. From the Gospels41From the First Epistle of Peter42From the First Epistle of John43From the Epistle to the Romans44From the Epistles to the Corinthians45From the Epistle to the Galatians46From the Epistle to the Ephesians47From the Epistle to the Colossians48From the Epistles to Timothy49From the Epistle to Titus50From the Epistle to the Hebrews51From the Apocalypse52From the Acts of the Apostles53The Utility of the Books of the Old Testament54By the Sacrifices of the Old Testament, Men Were Convinced of Sins and Led to the Saviour55He Concludes that All Men Need the Death of Christ, that They May Be Saved. Unbaptized Infants Will Be Involved in the Condemnation of the Devil. How All Men Through Adam are Unto Condemnation; And Through Christ Unto Justification. No One is Reconciled with God, Except Through Christ56No One is Reconciled to God Except Through Christ57The Good of Marriage; Four Different Cases of the Good and the Evil Use of Matrimony58In What Respect the Pelagians Regarded Baptism as Necessary for Infants59The Context of Their Chief Text60Christ, the Head and the Body; Owing to the Union of the Natures in the Person of Christ, He Both Remained in Heaven, and Walked About on Earth; How the One Christ Could Ascend to Heaven; The Head, and the Body, the One Christ61The Serpent Lifted Up in the Wilderness Prefigured Christ Suspended on the Cross; Even Infants Themselves Poisoned by the Serpent’s Bite62No One Can Be Reconciled to God, Except by Christ63The Form, or Rite, of Baptism. Exorcism64A Twofold Mistake Respecting Infants65In Infants There is No Sin of Their Own Commission66Infants’ Faults Spring from Their Sheer Ignorance67On the Ignorance of Infants, and Whence It Arises68If Adam Was Not Created of Such a Character as that in Which We are Born, How is It that Christ, Although Free from Sin, Was Born an Infant and in Weakness?69The Ignorance and the Infirmity of an Infant70How Far Sin is Done Away in Infants by Baptism, Also in Adults, and What Advantage Results Therefrom2Book II1What Has Thus Far Been Dwelt On; And What is to Be Treated in This Book2Some Persons Attribute Too Much to the Freedom of Man’s Will; Ignorance and Infirmity3In What Way God Commands Nothing Impossible. Works of Mercy, Means of Wiping Out Sins4Concupiscence, How Far in Us; The Baptized are Not Injured by Concupiscence, But Only by Consent Therewith5The Will of Man Requires the Help of God6Wherein the Pharisee Sinned When He Thanked God; To God’s Grace Must Be Added the Exertion of Our Own Will7Four Questions on the Perfection of Righteousness: (1.) Whether a Man Can Be Without Sin in This Life8(2) Whether There is in This World a Man Without Sin9The Beginning of Renewal; Resurrection Called Regeneration; They are the Sons of God Who Lead Lives Suitable to Newness of Life10Perfection, When to Be Realized11An Objection of the Pelagians: Why Does Not a Righteous Man Beget a Righteous Man?12He Reconciles Some Passages of Scripture13A Subterfuge of the Pelagians14Job Was Not Without Sin15Carnal Generation Condemned on Account of Original Sin16Job Foresaw that Christ Would Come to Suffer; The Way of Humility in Those that are Perfect17No One Righteous in All Things18Perfect Human Righteousness is Imperfect19Zacharias and Elisabeth, Sinners20Paul Worthy to Be the Prince of the Apostles, and Yet a Sinner21All Righteous Men Sinners22An Objection of the Pelagians; Perfection is Relative; He is Rightly Said to Be Perfect in Righteousness Who Has Made Much Progress Therein23Why God Prescribes What He Knows Cannot Be Observed24An Objection of the Pelagians. The Apostle Paul Was Not Free From Sin So Long as He Lived25God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy26(3)Why No One in This Life is Without Sin27The Divine Remedy for Pride28A Good Will Comes from God29A Subterfuge of the Pelagians30All Will is Either Good, and Then It Loves Righteousness, or Evil, When It Does Not Love Righteousness31Grace is Given to Some Men in Mercy; Is Withheld from Others in Justice and Truth32God’s Sovereignity in His Grace33Through Grace We Have Both the Knowledge of Good, and the Delight Which It Affords34(4) That No Man, with the Exception of Christ, Has Ever Lived, or Can Live Without Sin35Adam and Eve; Obedience Most Strongly Enjoined by God on Man36Man’s State Before the Fall37The Corruption of Nature is by Sin, Its Renovation is by Christ38What Benefit Has Been Conferred on Us by the Incarnation of the Word; Christ’s Birth in the Flesh, Wherein It is Like and Wherein Unlike Our Own Birth39An Objection of Pelagians40An Argument Anticipated41Children of Believers are Called ‘Clean’ By the Apostle42Sanctification Manifold; Sacrament of Catechumens43Why the Children of the Baptized Should Be Baptized44An Objection of the Pelagians45The Law of Sin is Called Sin; How Concupiscence Still Remains After Its Evil Has Been Removed in the Baptized46Guilt May Be Taken Away But Concupiscence Remain47All the Predestinated are Saved Through the One Mediator Christ, and by One and the Same Faith48Christ the Saviour Even of Infants; Christ, When an Infant, Was Free from Ignorance and Mental Weakness49An Objection of the Pelagians50Why It is that Death Itself is Not Abolished, Along with Sin, by Baptism51Why the Devil is Said to Hold the Power and Dominion of Death52Why Christ, After His Resurrection, Withdrew His Presence from the World53An Objection of the Pelagians54Why Punishment is Still Inflicted, After Sin Has Been Forgiven55To Recover the Righteousness Which Had Been Lost by Sin, Man Has to Struggle, with Abundant Labour and Sorrow56The Case of David, in Illustration57Turn to Neither Hand58'Likeness of Sinful Flesh' Implies the Reality59Whether the Soul is Propagated; On Obscure Points, Concerning Which the Scriptures Give Us No Assistance, We Must Be on Our Guard Against Forming Hasty Judgments and Opinions; The Scriptures are Clear Enough on Those Subjects Which are Necessary to Salvation3Book III1In the Shape of a Letter Addressed to the Same Marcellinus.2Pelagius Esteemed a Holy Man; His Expositions on Saint Paul3Pelagius’ Objection; Infants Reckoned Among the Number of Believers and the Faithful4Pelagius Makes God Unjust5Chapter 46Pelagius Praised by Some; Arguments Against Original Sin Proposed by Pelagius in His Commentary7Why Pelagius Does Not Speak in His Own Person8Proof of Original Sin in Infants9Jesus is the Saviour Even of Infants10The Ambiguity of 'Adam is the Figure of Him to Come.'11He Shows that Cyprian Had Not Doubted the Original Sin of Infants12The Ancients Assumed Original Sin13The Universal Consensus Respecting Original Sin14The Error of Jovinianus Did Not Extend So Far15The Opinions of All Controversialists Whatever are Not, However, Canonical Authority; Original Sin, How Another’s; We Were All One Man in Adam16We All Sinned Adam’s Sin17Origin of Errors; A Simile Sought from the Foreskin of the Circumcised, and from the Chaff of Wheat18Christians Do Not Always Beget Christian, Nor the Pure, Pure Children19Is the Soul Derived by Natural Propagation?20Sin and Death in Adam, Righteousness and Life in Christ21The Sting of Death, What?22The Precept About Touching the Menstruous Woman Not to Be Figuratively Understood; The Necessity of the Sacraments23We Ought to Be Anxious to Secure the Baptism of Infants24Epilogue