CHAPTER XXX. Advice on the withdrawal of bishops from the churches at the approach of a foe
And now I must by no means pass over in silence the fact that when the above-mentioned enemy was threatening us, Augustine was consulted in letters by Honoratus, a holy man and our fellow-bishop of the church at Thiabe, as to whether or not the bishops or clergy should withdraw from the churches at their approach. In his reply he pointed out what was more to be feared from those destroyers of Romania. It is my desire to have that letter of his included in this account, for it is very useful, even necessary, for the proper conduct of the priests and ministers of God.
"To our holy brother and fellow-bishop Honoratus, Augustine sends greeting in the Lord.
1. I thought the copy which was sent to your Grace of the letter which I wrote our brother and fellow-bishop Quodvultdeus would relieve me of this task which you have laid upon me by asking my advice as to what you ought to do amid these perils which have befallen our times. For although I wrote that letter quickly, I nevertheless believe I omitted nothing that would suffice me to say in answering and him to know |121 who awaits my reply. For I said that those who desire to withdraw to places of safety, if they are able, should not be prevented, and that the ties of our ministry, by which the love of Christ has bound us not to desert the churches which we ought to serve, should not be broken. Here, then, are the very words which I wrote in that letter: 'If, therefore,' I said, 'our ministry is so needful to those people of God, however few, who stay where we are, that they ought not to be left without it, it remains for us to pray to the Lord: "Be thou unto us a God, a protector and a place of refuge."'
2. But this advice, as you write, is not satisfactory to you, because you fear we may be striving to act against that command and example of the Lord in which He teaches that we should flee from city to city. We recall the words which He said: 'But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye to another.' But who would believe that the Lord wished this to be done when the circumstances are such that the flocks, which He purchased with His own blood, should be abandoned by that necessary ministry without which they cannot live? Did He do this when as an infant He fled into Egypt, carried by His parents, when He had not yet assembled any congregations which we could say were deserted by Him? When the Apostle Paul, that he might not be apprehended of his enemy, was let down through a window in a basket and escaped his hands, was any church there which was deserted when in need of his ministry? Was not that which was needful supplied by the other brethren dwelling there? Indeed it was at their request that the Apostle did this, that he might be spared to the Church, since he alone was sought by the persecutor. Therefore let the servants of Christ, the ministers of His Word and Sacrament, do as He has taught and permitted. Let them by all means flee from city to city when some one |123 of them in particular is sought by the persecutors, provided that the Church shall not be abandoned by the others who are not so persecuted, but that these may administer the food to their fellow-servants, who they know would otherwise be unable to live. But when the danger is common to all, that is, to bishops, clergy and laymen, let those who are in need of others not be abandoned by those of whom they are in need. Accordingly, either let them all withdraw to places of safety or else let not those who have a necessity for remaining be left by those through whom their ecclesiastical needs are supplied, so that they may either live together or suffer together whatever their Father wishes them to endure.
3. But if it should happen that some suffer more and others less, or if all suffer equally, it is evident that they suffer for others who, though they were able to escape such woes by flight, preferred to remain so as not to desert others in their time of need. In this especially is that love exemplified which the Apostle John commends, saying: 'As Christ laid down His life for us, so also ought we to lay down our lives for the brethren.' For if those who flee or those who are bound by their duties and are unable to flee—if these are taken captive and suffer anything, they of course suffer for themselves, not for the brethren. But those who suffer because they are unwilling to forsake their brethren who have need of them for their Christian welfare, these undoubtedly lay down their lives for their brethren.
4. Therefore that which we heard a certain bishop say, namely: 'If the Lord has bidden us to flee in those persecutions where we can obtain the reward of martyrdom, how much more ought we to avoid these fruitless sufferings when there is a hostile invasion of the barbarians?' is indeed true and acceptable, but only for those who are not held by the |125 bonds of ecclesiastical duty. For when he who can escape does not flee from the onslaught of the enemy and so does not abandon the ministry of Christ, without which men could neither live a Christian life nor become Christians, he finds a greater reward of love than he who flees, not for his brethren's sake but for his own, and when taken captive does not deny Christ but suffers martyrdom.
5. But what, then, is that which you wrote in your previous letter? For you say: 'If we must remain in the churches, I do not see what will be the advantage to us or to the people, except that men should be cut down before our very eyes, women outraged, churches burned, and we ourselves perish under torture when the things we have not are demanded of us.' God, indeed, is able to hear the prayers of His children and to ward off the things which they fear; yet even so we ought not, on account of that which is uncertain, to be guilty of that which is certain, namely, neglect of our ministrations. Without these the ruin of the people is certain, not in the things of this life, but of that other which must be cared for with incomparably greater devotion and anxiety. For if these evils were certain which we fear might come to pass in the places in which we are, all on whose account we ought to remain would have fled before us, and so we should be freed from the necessity of remaining. For there is no one who says that ministers ought to remain where there are no longer any to whom it is necessary to minister. So indeed the holy bishops fled from Spain after the people had either fallen in flight, or had been slain or consumed in the siege or scattered in captivity. But many more bishops stayed amid the multitude of these dangers, because those on whose account they remained were staying there. And if some deserted their people, this is what we say ought not to be done. For such |127 were not led by divine authority, but were deceived by human error or constrained by fear.
6. For why do they think they should without discrimination obey the command which they read to flee from city to city, and do not tremble at the parable of the hireling who sees the wolf coming and flees because he cares not for the sheep? Why do they not endeavor so to understand these two consistent teachings of the Lord—the one, indeed, where flight is permitted or even commanded, the other where it is denounced and censured—that they be discovered not to be contrary to each other, as, in fact, they are not? And how shall this be discovered unless attention be given to that which I have discussed above, namely, that we ministers of Christ, under the stress of persecution, should flee from the places in which we are only when there are no Christians there to whom to minister, or when the necessary duties of the ministry can be performed by others who have not the same reason for flight—as the Apostle fled, let down in a basket, as I have mentioned above, when he alone was sought out by the persecutor while the others did not have any such need for flight, so that the services of the ministry were not withdrawn there nor the churches abandoned; as the holy Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, fled when the Emperor Constantius desired to apprehend him alone, while the Catholic people who remained in Alexandria were by no means deserted by the other ministers. But when the people remain and the ministers flee and the service of the ministry is withdrawn, what will this be but that damnable flight of hirelings who care not for the sheep? For the wolf shall come, not a man, but the Devil, who has very frequently induced the faithful to apostatize who were deprived of the daily ministry of the Lord's body; and not |129 through thy knowledge, but through thine ignorance shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died.
7. But as for those who are not deceived by error in this matter, but are overcome by terror, why should they not rather, with the mercy and aid of the Lord, bravely struggle against their fright, lest incomparably greater and more fearful evils come upon them? This will be the case where the love of God is aflame, not where the desire of this world smoulders. For love says: 'Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not?' And love is from God. Let us pray, therefore, that this love be given of Him by whom it is commanded. And because of it let us fear that the sheep of Christ, who will die at some time by some kind of death, may be slain in heart by the sword of spiritual wickedness rather than in the body by one of iron. Let us rather fear that the inner sense may be corrupted and the purity of faith perish than that women be forcibly defiled in body. For chastity is not destroyed in the body when the will of the sufferer does not shamefully take part in the deeds of the flesh, but without consenting endures another's violence. Rather let us fear that the living stones may be destroyed while we are absent than that the stones and wood of the earthly buildings may be burned while we are present. Rather let us fear that the members of Christ's body may be destroyed when deprived of spiritual nourishment than that the members of our body may be put to torture when overpowered by the attack of the enemy. Not that these things are not to be avoided when possible, but rather that they are to be endured when they cannot be avoided without impiety—unless, perchance, someone will maintain that the minister is not impious who withdraws his ministry which is needful for piety at the time when it is most needful. |131
8. Or when these dangers have reached their height and there is no possibility of flight, do we not realize how great a gathering there usually is in the church of both sexes and of every age, some clamoring for baptism, others for reconciliation, still others for acts of penance: all of them seeking consolation and the administration and distribution of the sacraments? If, then, the ministers are not at hand, how terrible is the destruction which overtakes those who depart from this world unregenerated or bound by sin! How great is the grief of their brethren in the faith who shall not have their companionship in the rest in the life eternal! Finally how great the lamentation of all and how great the blasphemy of some because of the absence of the ministers and their ministry! See what the fear of temporal evils does and how great an increase of eternal woes results. But if the ministers are present they are a help to all, according to the strength which the Lord gives them: some are baptized, others are reconciled, none are deprived of the communion of the body of the Lord, all are consoled, edified and exhorted to ask of God, who hath the power to avert all the things they fear—prepared for either issue, so that if that cup may not pass from them, His will may be done who can will no evil.
9. Surely you now see that which you wrote you did not see, namely, how great advantage Christian people may obtain if in these present evils they are not deprived of the presence of Christ's ministers, and you also see how much injury their absence does when they seek their own, not the things which are of Jesus Christ, and have not that love of which it was said: 'She seeketh not her own,' and do not imitate him who said: 'Seeking not mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.' For he also would not have fled from the snares of that persecuting prince had he not wished |133 to save himself for others who had greater need of him. Wherefore he says: 'For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.'
10. At this point someone perchance may say that the ministers of God ought to flee when such dangers are threatening so that they may save themselves for the benefit of the Church in more peaceful times. This is right for some when others are not lacking to provide the ministrations of the Church, that it may not be deserted by all, as we have said above that Athanasius did. For the Catholic faith, which was defended against the Arian heretics by his voice and zeal, perceived how needful it was and how profitable it would be to have him abide in the flesh. But when the peril is common and it is more to be feared that someone may be thought to do this not from a desire of serving, but from a fear of dying, and when more harm may be done by the example of fleeing than good by the obligation of living, it should under no circumstances be done. Finally the holy David, that he might not be exposed to the dangers of battle and that the 'light of Israel,' as it is there written, should not by any chance be extinguished, withdrew when his followers demanded it, but he did not do this of his own accord or he would have had many imitators of his cowardice, who would have believed that he did it not from any consideration of the advantage of others but from the confusion of his own fear.
11. But another question arises which we ought not to slight. For if this usefulness is not to be disregarded so that some ministers should flee when any danger is imminent in order to be saved to minister to those survivors whom they might be able to find after the disaster, what should be done where all seem sure to perish unless some flee? What if the persecution |135 should in so far be overcome as to pursue only the ministers of the Church? What shall we say? Shall the Church be forsaken by its ministers in flight that it may not be forsaken more wretchedly by them in death? But if the laymen are not persecuted to the death, they can in some way or other hide their bishops and clergy, as He shall aid, in whose control are all things, who is able by His marvelous power to save even those who do not flee. But we are inquiring what we ought to do in order that we be not adjudged as tempting God by looking for divine miracles in all things. Certainly this storm in which the danger is common to laymen and clergy is not the same as that in which the danger is common to merchants and sailors in the same ship. God forbid that this ship of ours should be prized so lightly that the sailors, and especially the pilot, ought to abandon it when it is in danger, even if they can escape by taking to a small boat or even by swimming. For in the case of those who we fear may perish because of our desertion, it is not their temporal death we fear, which is sure to come at some time, but their eternal death which can come if we are not careful and which cannot come if we are careful. But in the common perils of this life, why should we believe that wherever there is a hostile invasion all the clergy, and not all the laymen also, are going to perish so that those for whom the clergy are necessary shall all end this life together? Or why should we not expect that as some of the laymen shall survive, so also shall some of the clergy, by whom the necessary ministry may be provided for them?
12. Yet O that the rivalry between the ministers of God were as to which of them should remain that the Church be not abandoned by the flight of all, and which of them should flee that it be not abandoned by the death of all! Such, indeed, will be the rivalry among them when both are kindled |137 by love and both obey love. And if this argument cannot be otherwise settled, so far as I can see, those who should remain and those who should flee must be chosen by lot. For those who shall say that they ought rather to flee will either seem to be afraid because they are unwilling to endure the threatening danger, or presumptuous in that they judge themselves more necessary to the Church to fulfill its services. Furthermore, peradventure those who are the better may choose to lay down their lives for the brethren and those will be saved by flight whose life is less useful by reason of their inferior ability in counsel and government. Nevertheless those who are good and wise will oppose those who they see ought rather to live and who yet choose to die rather than flee. Thus, as it is written: 'The lot causeth contentions to cease and parteth between the mighty.' For in difficulties of this sort God is a better judge than men as to whether it is well to call the more gifted to the reward of martyrdom and to spare the weak or whether to make them stronger to endure the hardships and to take them out of this world whose lives cannot be of as much advantage to the Church as the lives of the others. The procedure will indeed be rather unusual if the lot has to be adopted; but if it has been used who shall presume to call it into question? Who, except he be ignorant or envious, will not praise it with fitting commendation? But if this method is not found satisfactory on the ground that no instance of such a procedure occurs, let no one by his flight cause the ministration of the Church, especially needful and due amid such great perils, to cease. Let no one regard his own person, so that if he seem to excel in some grace, he should on this account say he is more deserving of life and therefore of flight. For whoever thinks this doubtless pleases himself; but whoever also says this, displeases all. |139
13. To be sure there are those who believe that when the bishops and clergy do not flee amid such dangers but remain, they deceive the people, since the people do not flee because they see their bishops remaining. But it is easy to avoid this accusation or reproach by speaking to the people and saying: 'Be not deceived because we do not flee from this place. For we are remaining here not for our own sakes but rather for yours that we may not fail to provide you with whatever we know to be needful for your salvation which is in Christ. If, therefore, you wish to flee you will free us from the bonds by which we are held.' This I think should be said when it seems truly expedient to withdraw to places of greater safety. And when such words have been heard and all or some shall have said: 'We are in His power whose wrath no one escapes, wheresoever he may go, and whose mercy he can find, wheresoever he may be who does not wish to go elsewhere, whether prevented by certain obligations or unwilling to seek places of uncertain refuge, thus not ending but merely transfering the dangers,'—surely they must not be forsaken by the Christian ministry. But if the people prefer to leave when they have heard this, the ministers are not bound to stay who were remaining on their account, because there are no longer any persons there for whose sake they ought still to remain.
14. Accordingly, whoever flees under such circumstances that the necessary ministry of the Church is not lacking because of his flight, does as the Lord commands or permits. But whoever so flees that he deprives the flock of Christ of that nourishment from which it has its spiritual life, is an hireling who sees the wolf coming and flees because he cares not for the sheep.
These things, since I believe them, my brother most beloved, have I written to you in truth and love unfeigned |141 because you have asked my advice, but I make no objection to a better opinion if you find one. Nevertheless we can find nothing better to do in these dangers than to pray to the Lord our God that He have mercy upon us. And some wise and holy men, with the help of God, have been enabled to will and to do this much, namely not to desert the churches, and in the face of detraction not to waver in maintaining their purpose."