Early Church · 412

On the Spirit and the Letter

Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Augustine answers a question put to him by his friend Marcellinus: how can he hold that a sinless life is possible by God's help, yet maintain that no one has ever lived without sin? The reply turns on the contrast Paul draws in 2 Corinthians 3, where the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Written in 412 as the Pelagian controversy opened, it argues that the law exposes sin but cannot cure it, and that righteousness comes only through the grace of the Holy Spirit poured into the heart.

2.5 hrs total · 66 chapters