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The Confessions of St. Augustin In Thirteen Books

Chapter XXII.--He Explains the Divine Image (Ver. 26) of the Renewal of the Mind.

32. For behold, O Lord our God, our Creator, when our affections have been restrained from the love of the world, by which we died by living ill, and began to be a "living soul" by living well; ¹ and Thy word which Thou spakest by Thy apostle is made good in us, "Be not conformed to this world;" next also follows that which Thou presently subjoinedst, saying, "But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," ² --not now after your kind, as if following your neighbour who went before you, nor as if living after the example of a better man (for Thou hast not said, "Let man be made after his kind," but, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"), ³ that we may prove what Thy will is. For to this purpose said that dispenser of Thine,--begetting children by the gospel, ⁴ --that he might not always have them "babes," whom he would feed on milk, and cherish as a nurse; ⁵ "be ye transformed," saith He, "by the renewing of your mind, that he may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." ⁶ Therefore Thou sayest not, "Let man be made," but, "Let us make man." Nor sayest Thou, "after his kind," but, after "our image" and "likeness." Because, being renewed in his mind, and beholding and apprehending Thy truth, man needeth not man as his director ⁷ that he may imitate his kind; but by Thy direction proveth what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of Thine. And Thou teachest him, now made capable, to perceive the Trinity of the Unity, and the Unity of the Trinity. And therefore this being said in the plural, "Let us make man," it is yet subjoined in the singular, "and God made man;" and this being said in the plural, "after our likeness," is subjoined in the singular, "after the image of God." ⁸ Thus is man renewed in the knowledge of God, after the image of Him that created him; ⁹ and being made spiritual, he judgeth all things,--all things that are to be judged,--"yet he himself is judged of no man." ¹⁰

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Confessiones

Caput 22

Ecce enim, domine deus noster, creator noster, cum cohibitae fuerint affectiones ab amore saeculi, quibus moriebamur male vivendo, et coeperit esse anima vivens bene vivendo, completumque fuerit verbum tuum, quo per apostolum tuum dixisti: nolite conformari huic saeculo, consequetur illud, quod adiunxisti statim et dixisti: sed reformamini in novitate mentis vestrae, non iam secundum genus, tamquam imitantes praecedentem proximum, nec ex hominis melioris auctoritate viventes. neque enim dixisti: fiat homo secundum genus, sed: faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram, ut nos probemus, quae sit voluntas tua. ad hoc enim ille dispensator tuus, generans per evangelium filios, ne semper parvulos haberet, quos lacte nutriret et tamquam nutrix foveret: reformamini, inquit, in novitate mentis vestrae ad probandum vos, quae sit voluntas dei, quod bonum et beneplacitum et perfectum. ideoque non dicis: fiat homo, sed: faciamus, nec dicis: secundum genus, sed: ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. mente quippe renovatus, et conspiciens intellectam veritatem tuam, homine demonstratore non indiget, ut suum genus imitetur, sed te demonstrante probat ipse, quae sit voluntas tua, quod bonum et beneplacitum et perfectum, et doces eum iam capacem videre trinitatem unitatis vel unitatem trinitatis. ideoque pluraliter dicto: faciamus hominem, singulariter tamen infertur: et fecit deus hominem, et pluraliter dicto: ad imaginem nostram, singulariter infertur: ad imaginem dei. ita homo renovatur in agnitione dei secundum imaginem eius, qui creavit eum, et spiritalis effectus iudicat omnia, quae utique iudicanda sunt, ipse autem a nemine iudicatur.