Freedom by Coercion: Augustine’s Limitation of Coercion by the State-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Freedom by Coercion: Augustine’s Limitation of Coercion by the State

Published:2024-08-29 Issue:9 Volume:15 Page:1049
ISSN:2077-1444
Container-title:Religions
language:en
Short-container-title:Religions

Author:

Debusschere Aaron P.¹

Affiliation:

1. Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, ON K1S 1C4, Canada

Abstract

Despite the tendency of some modern scholars to mark Augustine as the father of religious coercion, the Second Vatican Council (1962–65) cites him as a principal source for freedom of conscience. This essay presents evidence from Augustine’s letters and anti-Donatist writings to show that he both upheld freedom of conscience and maintained a vital role for state force. The essay shows that far from simply providing a Christian justification for the use of state force against non-Catholics, Augustine most notably imposed the limits of Christian charity on a long history of state-sponsored religious persecution. Only by the charitable and paternal application of discipline by the state would many Donatists be truly free to follow their conscience. In this way, those persecuted for being in schism could attain freedom by coercion.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/9/1049/pdf

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