Augustine of Hippo, in his treatise On nature and grace, when quoting a passage from Xystus, bishop of Rome (either *Xystus/Sixtus I, S00130, or *Xystus/Sixtus II, S00201), for polemical purposes, emphasises the fact that he was a martyr. Written in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), 415/416.
Evidence ID
E01751
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, On nature and grace 64.77
Quis item christianus ignorat, quod beatissimum Xystum romanae ecclesiae episcopum et Domini martyrem dixisse commemorat, quia libertatem arbitrii sui permisit hominibus deus, ut pure et sine peccato uiuentes similes fiant deo?
'What Christian, again, is unaware of what he quotes the most blessed Xystus, bishop of Rome and martyr of Christ, as having said, "God has conferred upon men liberty of their own will, in order that by purity and sinlessness of life they may become like God".'
Text: Vrba and Zycha 1913, 291.
Translation: Holmes and Wallis 1887.
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - Popes
Source
Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 in the north African city of Thagaste. He received an education in rhetoric at Carthage, and after a period teaching there moved to Rome, and then in 384 to a public professorship of rhetoric in Milan. In these early years of adulthood Augustine was a Manichaean, but then got disillusioned with this religion, and in Milan in 386, largely under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of the city, he converted to Christianity, and was baptised by Ambrose in 387. Returning to Africa in 388, he was ordained a priest in 391 at Hippo Regius (in the province of Numidia), and rapidly acquired a reputation as a preacher. In 395 he became bishop of Hippo, which he remained until his death in 430. Details of his early life were recorded by Augustine himself in his Confessions, and shortly after his death a pupil and long-time friend, Possidius, wrote his Life, focused on Augustine as an effective Christian writer, polemicist and bishop (E00073).Amongst his many writings, the most informative on the cult of saints are his numerous Sermons, the City of God, and a treatise On the Care of the Dead. The Sermons tell us which saints (primarily African, but with some from abroad) received attention in Hippo, Carthage and elsewhere, and provide occasional details of miracles and cult practices. The City of God records the distribution, and subsequent miracles, of the relics of saint Stephen, after they arrived in Africa from Palestine in around 420. On the Care of the Dead, discusses the possible advantages of burial ad sanctos (in other words, close to a saint), and theorises on the link between the saints who dwell in heaven and their corporeal remains buried in their graves. In these works, and others, Augustine reveals his own particular beliefs about the saints, their relics and their miracles.
The treatise On nature and grace is one of Augustine's anti-Pelagian treatises, and was written in 415/416.
Discussion
This passage does not prove a real cult in Africa of any of the Roman bishops named Xystus. Augustine also quotes Lactantius, Ambrose of Milan, Jerome, and other authors. Still, he emphasises that this author was not only a bishop, but also a martyr, which gives an additional credit to his witness. Interestingly, the attribution of this passage is erroneous. In the Retractationes 4.22 Augustine acknowledges that he confounded bishop Xystus with the pagan philosopher of the same name:'In this work sundry short passages, which were quoted by Pelagius as the words of the Roman bishop and martyr, Xystus, were vindicated by myself as if they really were the words of this Sixtus. For this I thought them at the time; but I afterwards discovered, that Sextus the heathen philosopher, and not Xystus the Christian bishop, was their author.'
Bibliography
Edition:Vrba, C.F,. and Zycha, J., De natura et gratia (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 60; Vienna: Tempsky, 1913), 233-299.
English translation:
Holmes, P., and Wallis, E., rev. by Warfield, B.B., On nature and grace (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 5; Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
27/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00130 | Xystus/Sixtus I, bishop and martyr of Rome | Xystus | Uncertain | S00201 | Xystus/Sixtus II, bishop and martyr of Rome | Xystus | Uncertain |
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