“Love God and do as you please.”
“Love God and do as you wish.”
“Love God and do what you will.”
“Love God and do what thou wilt.”
The full context of this seemingly paradoxical observation is found in the tract, In Epistulam Ioannis ad Parthos (Tractatus VII, 8):
“Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love God, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.”
The text in Latin reads, "dilige et quod vis fac." But it is sometimes mistakenly quoted as, "ama et fac quod vis."
Far from advocating a kind of que sera sera ethical antinomianism, Augustine was actually saying that if we love the Lord God Almighty, then what He wants will become what we want. He was saying that if our love of the one true God is real and profound, then that is all that matters simply because right actions will necessarily and irresistibly flow from that love.
1 comment:
This was very helpful. Still rejoicing in my time as a distance Gileskirk student, I always enjoy keeping up with your blogs. Thank you!
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