Treatise on Rebuke and Grace

Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

In One Book,

Addressed to Valentine, and with Him to the Monks of Adrumetum. a.d. 426 or 427.

In the beginning the writer sets forth what is the Catholic faith concerning law, concerning free will, and concerning grace. He teaches that the grace of God by Jesus Christ is that by which alone men are delivered from evil, and without which they do absolutely no good; and this not only by the fact that it points out what is to be done, but that it also supplies the means of doing it with loved since God bestows on men the inspiration of a good will and deed. He teaches that the rebuke of evil men who have not received this grace is neither unjust-Since they are evil by their own will-Nor useless, although it must be confessed that it is only by God's agency that it can avail. That perseverance in good is truly a great gift of God, but that still the rebuke of one who has not persevered must not on that account be neglected; and that if a man who has not received this gift should relapse of his own will into sin, he is not only deserving of rebuke, but if he should continue in evil until his death, he is moreover worthy of eternal damnation. That it is inscrutable why one should receive…

See also

• More works by Augustine of Hippo

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