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Christianity Today, September, 2007 |

The Good Life

Augustine says we must love the very best the most.

Daniel H. Williams | posted 9/28/2007 09:10AM

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This person will most value the higher things (such as the virtues of faith, hope, and love) over the lower things (such as bodily pleasures, ambition, and acquisitions), because his greatest affection is for the eternal and changeless Creator, who is the Highest Love.

Augustine's insights don't tell us how to solve the specific dilemmas we face. His teaching tells us that the tension we feel is healthy. It means we don't want lesser things to replace the greater thing. When our loves are properly ordered, all other relationships and objects of our desire will have their rightful place for what they are, as opposed to what we want to make them. This ordering will, in turn, provide us with the inner fulfillment that we seek, evidenced by the acuity of a purified vision and a greater comprehension of our place within the order of creation. In other words, our love for God and our neighbor will prevent us from being manipulated by less important things.

The great question that philosophers have asked since Socrates—"What is the good life?"—is the exact question Augustine raised for his listeners at the end of a sermon. His answer was no less philosophical than theological: "To love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, and to love your brother and your sister as yourself."

Daniel H. Williams is professor of religion at Baylor University and the author of Evangelicals and Tradition (Baker Academic).

Related Elsewhere:

Christian History & Biography has an issue on Augustine.

Other articles on spirituality include:

Listening for the Whisper | How to break the addiction to spectacle. (September 20, 2007)

God's Writing Life | Our Creator has chosen a medium that is the most challenging of all. (Philip Yancey, September 13, 2007)

'Sculpting in Time' | Russian filmmaker sought to harrow the soul. (September 12, 2007)

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger | Quotations to stir heart and mind. (September 10, 2007)

Allegorical Fantasy: Mortal Dealings with Cosmic Questions | An interview with Madeline L'Engle. (September 7, 2007)

Why We Love Football | Grace and idolatry run crossing patterns in the new American pastime. (September 7, 2007)

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September 2007, Vol. 51, No. 9

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Kim	Posted: September 28, 2007 1:23 PM

We don't do "good" in expectation of earthly reward. Rather, we do "good" because we are constantly learning what "good" is and realize that it is also "right" to do. It's a process, a walk. We learn more as we continue in our faithful relationship to Jesus Christ. Prosperity ministry is misleading. God knows what is ultimately "good" for us as individuals. Wealthy might be good for one, but not another. It's our response to situations/things/etc that make all the difference in the world. Because I want a Mercedes sports coupe, for example, is God going to give it if I do X number of "right" things? That's a human scorecard, not God's. (I don't really want a Mercedes sports coupe, by the way. That's merely an example.)

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