St. Augustine’s grim memories of his early childhood are perhaps some of the most shocking passages in his works. He seems to take issue with normal, natural realities like crying as a baby, thinking only of himself as a toddler, and being inconsolable as an infant when he didn't get his way. Every child does these things; how can they be so bad?
Augustine means to shock his readers to highlight an important reality. Every human is born with original sin and a consequently diminished ability to do good. Every man is like St. Paul in Romans 7:20; he does what he wills not, because of the sin inside him. Certainly, St. Paul was free from original sin after baptism, but his words are true in light of concupiscence. As perhaps the most famously conflicted convert, after Paul himself, Augustine has much to teach us about our own stubborn freewill.
"Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me."
—Romans 7:20
The mature St. Augustine, after his conversion and consecration to the episcopacy, reflects on its dangers of concupiscence mostly in the realm of chastity, so much so that it would seem this was the sole meaning of the word. Concupiscence is used in slightly different ways throughout the centuries of Christian dialogue. Concupiscence in modern theology refers to our tendency to put material pleasure first, even at the expense of spiritual goods. It results directly from human nature’s fall from grace. Usually, we focus on baptism’s gift of removing original sin, but forget the continuing role of grace in helping us overcome our desire for sin. Concupiscence remains long after we are restored spiritually in baptism. Augustine, in On Marriage and Concupiscence (book 1), calls the aftereffects of original sin to weakness after recovering from a disease.2
At one point in Augustine’s life, he daydreams about fleeing society with a group of like-minded friends to focus on prayer and study, but at the same time is struggling with chastity. He states dryly in Confessions (book 6), “meanwhile [he] was sinning more and more,” and “trod on crooked paths.” He longs to redirect his life toward seeking God alone, yet it remains very slow going for Augustine. Years later, in his preaching, Augustine preaches on some mysterious words that seem to summarize this as a direct command to the human free will:
“My son, remove not yourself from the chastening of the Lord.”
—Augustine of Hippo, On Grace and Free Will, ch. 4
And indeed Augustine remains there for a long time. These words must have resonated deeply with the reformed Augustine. He points out that because concupiscence pulls us toward evil, we need more than just our own strength to have a hope of victory. Augustine notes:
“A man is assisted by grace, in order that his will may not be uselessly commanded.”
—Augustine of Hippo, On Grace and Free Will, ch. 1
Commenting on Christ’s prayer for Peter not to waver in his faith, he notes thatPeter’s statement of faith and promise of fidelity are not enough. Christ’s own action is needed for Peter’s eventual success. Christ told his disciples not merely to watch out for temptation, but to watch and pray. It always takes the grace of God to do right in its broken state. They will limp along and need God’s grace to walk steadily.
The fact that concupiscence will remain our entire lives is not all bad news. Concupiscence itself is:
“The law of sin which is in their members, warring against the law of their mind."
—Augustine of Hippo, On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins and the Baptism of Infants, book 1, ch. 70
This means that concupiscence is not merely an inclination to sin that will last a lifetime. It is not the reality of temptation in the world. Rather, concupiscence is the inclination toward sin in each of us that can be overcome through patient and humble striving toward virtue. It does not nullify our good works; rather, Augustine points out that it is the law or measure of our good works in a certain way. It is the negative guardrail on virtue. The extent to which we resist its pulls, we become better and less likely to drift again.
At its most extreme, sin leads to death, as God warned our first parents it would. I do not believe, however, that any baptized person has for an instant believed that they should hope never to die physically on account of that baptism. Rather, the effect of the sin, death, remains and will remain. Augustine insists that death is not the fate of man because of his earthliness but because of his failure in godliness. Commenting on Paul, he asserts:
“The body, says he, is dead, not because of earthly frailty, as being made of the dust of the ground, but because of sin."
—Augustine of Hippo, On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins and the Baptism of Infants, book 1, ch. 4
While preaching on this careful nuance, Augustine explains that human nature, because it is embodied, is necessarily corruptible. Like everything else in the material world, we are made of matter and can decay and die. Within this somber doctrine of certain mortality, we see more brightly the greatness of our hope in Christ. A natural body capable of dying before the fall, now doomed to die after it, is raised to a new and unlooked-for hope-imperishability. Because it is the most profound example of sin’s effect, death shows us the pattern of sin and another effect, concupiscence, in our lives. We recognize the intangible reality of guilt for sin, we are restored to grace, though intangibly, and even contrary to every indication, since we continue to feel the pull of concupiscence. We suffer the reality of death as an effect of sin, though we will ultimately be restored both physically and spiritually in the resurrection. Our spiritual life is restored, though it is hard to see because of concupiscence, and similarly, our entire life will be restored in the end, though it is hard for us to grasp because of death. The patience of God in his plan for redemption and tolerance of evil for a time should bolster our hope in the life to come.
St. Augustine says that Baptism removes concupiscence insofar as it could harm us at the hour of death. That is, it removes the parts of concupiscence that lead us into sin if we work diligently in our lives to overcome them. Augustine’s sincerity remains endearing after 1,400 years:
“I had seen that the incorruptible is superior to the corruptible, [thus] I had to search for you in the light of this truth and make it the starting point of my inquiry.”
—Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, book 7, ch. 4
This is no small realization for Augustine, and it is no easy path that he undertakes. The strangeness of considering wisdom, virtue, and temperance true spiritual pleasures highlights our own concupiscence. His journey helps us appreciate and understand the battle in our own wills to overcome sin and pursue God with all our hearts.
The sin of man brings death to his body and soul. God redeems man’s soul, but respects his unfortunate choices, which damage his own body. We find here in the darkest chapter of mankind the strange reaffirmation God makes of his own order which he has placed on the world. For St. Augustine, the spiritual life is a mirror and a hope for the faithful toward eternal bodily life. We are born dead because of original sin, we are made spiritually alive through baptism and although we see the effects of sin remain, death, the spiritual life we have received serves as a promise of the abundant life God offers. It is a sign of hope to the faithful.