The Mystery of the Incarnation

"He, through whom time was born, was born in time;
and He, older by eternity than the world itself,
was younger in age than many of His servants in the world;
He, who made man, was made man;
He was given existence by a mother whom He brought into existence;
He was carried in hands which He formed;
He nursed at breasts which He filled;
He cried like a babe in the manger in speechless infancy --
this Word without which human eloquence is speechless!"

--Augustine, Sermon on Christmas

The Beginning of Knowledge

"The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner."

--Augustine

Are You More Like Augustine or Jerome?

Here is an excerpt from Kim Riddlebarger's insightful article on what American Christians can learn from the different responses of Augustine and Jerome to the fall of Rome:

The reactions of Jerome and Augustine to the Fall of Rome reveal two distinct views of the relationship between things earthly and things heavenly. Augustine's response is particularly helpful in this regard. His response should remind American Christians that the progress of God's kingdom does not in any sense depend upon the wealth, technology, or military power of the United States. Like the Fall of Rome, a fall of the United States would be a horrible event. Much as it did for the citizens of Rome, our illustrious national history and our apparent military invincibility actually sets up American Christians to unwittingly confuse things earthly and things heavenly. If the first step down the slippery slope toward confusing the City of Man with the City of God is to equate the worldly successes of the American Republic with the blessing of God, then the second step comes easily - to equate the political, military, moral, and economic health of our nation in some sense with the kingdom of God. There are many who would weep at the fall of America, not only because of the nature of such a tragedy, but because they have confused the success of their nation with the progress of the kingdom of God. In this, they follow Jerome - the fall of America must mean defeat for the kingdom of God. Not true.

--Kim Riddlebarger, "Jerome, Augustine, and the Fall of Rome: An Object Lesson for American Christians," Modern Reformation (Nov/Dec 2009)