. . . Rom 5.12 was Augustine’s
indispensable verse in his final conversion, yet it did not merit mention in Exp.
quaest. Rom. (394/5 CE). It first occurs as a partial citation without inherited
reatus or damnation ca. 400 (ep. 55.8); then, in 411, he first
cites in full Rom. 5.12, but without mentioning hereditary damnation, since unbelievers
remain capable of believing without God’s gift of grace (s. 143.1,4-5).
For Ambrosiaster, the inadequate Latin translation “in quo peccaverunt”
retained its Greek meaning of physical death (Ambrosiaster, Comm. Romanos
5.12). About 412 CE, Augustine first cites Rom 5.12 as proof that infants are
guilty of sin from indwelling evil (S. 114.5; Pecc. merit.
3.8,14; cf. Pecc. merit. I.13-15). The paedobaptismal tradition reigns paramount
in Pecc. merit., but his first proof text of Rom 5.12 appears only in Pecc.
merit. 3.14, written as an addendum after reading Pelagius’s work. By
following Pelagius’s Comm. Rom. 5.12, Adam’s sin now results in both
physical and spiritual death (S. 231.1; cf. S. 69.4). Augustine
adamantly insists the Latin mistranslation in quo proves his new
theology from scripture, as Augustine’s inherited damnation replaces Cyprian’s
physical contagium mortis antiquae (S. 294.15, 17), Schelkle
correctly identified Pecc. merit. as Augustine’s Rom 5.12 transition
from the death of the body to the death of the soul. (Schelkle [1956], 181)
By 419 CE, Rom 5.12 commands central
attention as infants are born under the devil’s dominion. Furthermore, he
claims Rom 5.12 proves that Old Testament purification rites and circumcision
removed inherited damnable reatus (Nupt. et conc. 1.1; Locut.
Hept. 3.40). In contrast to its virtual absence from 386-411 CE, in quo
(Rom 5.12) recurs sixty-three times in sixteen different works, plus seven sermons,
and eleven epistles from 412 to 430 CE. (Pecc. merit., Spir. et litt.,
Arian., Nat. grat., Grat., Gen. litt., Enchr., Trin., Perf., Nupt. et conc.,
Nat. orig., Fid. op., Corrept., C. du. ep. Pel., C. Jul., Locut. Hept., and
Persev.) This does not even count Augustine’s fifty-one citations in 52 chapters
of C. Jul. imp., which ended prematurely. His foundational proof text
was a mistranslated error, as scholars have noted. (Rees [1988], 62; Kelly [1960;
repr., 2004] 149, 373) Yet even Ambrose, Augustine’s own mentor, refused to
assign unbaptized persons to hell, allowing a faith conversion to suffice (Ob.
Val. 51). Augustine taught this very doctrine until 412 CE, when his novel
inherited reatus discovered in Rom 5.12 (mistranslated) demanded water
baptism to escape inherited damnation from Adam’s guilt in refutation of the
Pelagians. (Kenneth M. Wilson, Augustine’s Conversion from Traditional Free
Choice to “Non-free Free Will” [Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum
111; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018], 249-50)
Ephesians 2.8-10
Virg. 41 (ca. 400) and S. 312.1 (ca.
410) apply to Eph 2.8-10 in the traditional sense with no accompanying later
theology or proof texting. In contrast, S. 26.14, S. 333.6 all
contain later theology with proof texting—all are dated after 415 CE. Despite
the Vulgate correctly translating the Greek, Augustine consistently cites this
passage, claiming faith as God’s gift in at least eight separate works starting
with Pecc. merit. 1.46 (412 CE) until he dies (430 CE). It achieves
proof text status quickly, appearing in Spir. et litt. 2 and 50. By mistranslation
(or misinterpretation), initial salvific faith becomes God’s Divine Unilateral
Predetermination of Individual’s Eternal Destinies gift.
Writing on Eph 2.8-10, Victorinus,
Ambrosiaster, and Jerome had all poetically referred to faith as God’s gift
(meaning God’s gracious provision unto salvation), while they all retained the
human ability to respond in traditional free choice. (Jerome, Comm. Eph.
2.8-9) Augustine’s later competence in Greek was probably sufficient to correct
this error, but he did not retract it. (van Fleteren [2001], 13) (Ibid.,
250-51)
Job 14.4 (LXX)
He initially uses both Job 14.4 and 1
Cor 15.22 to indicate only physical death from Adam’s sin (Quaest. ev.
2.38). This abruptly changes in Pecc. merit. 3.13, following with rapid
appearances in Nat. grat. 8, Perf. 28, Grat. Chr. 2.37, Nupt.
et conc. 2.50, C. du. ep. Pel. 4.4, C. Jul. 6.78, Gen.
litt. 6.19, an C. litt. Petil. 2.232. He repeats it six times in C.
Jul. imp. It is only preached after 411 CE, being found in S. 181.1,
S. 246.5, and S. 293.11 (firmly dated 413). He writes to Jerome
citing it in 415 CE (ep. 167.6).
His source was probably Ambrose, who
followed Cyprian’s Latin paraphrase gratuitously introducing ‘sin’ into the
text: “Quid his superbius, cum Scriptura dicat: ‘quia nemo mundus a peccato,
nec unius diei infans” (Job 14.4). The fifth edition Vulgate disagrees,
correctly rendering “τίς γὰρ καθαρὸς ἔσται ἀπὸ ῥύπου ἀλλ᾽ οὐθείς” (LXX) with “Quis
potest facere mundum de inmundo conceptum semine nonne tu qui solus es.”
According to Steinhauser, the Pelagians’s use of Job as a model saint (Job 1.1,
תָּ֧ם, αμεμπτος) forced a reluctant Augustine to find
something in that book to refute them. (Steinhauser [2001], 299-311) (Ibid.,
251; Job 14:4 in the LXX reads For who can be pure from filth? None, not one! [NETS])
