RT Article
T1 Freedom by Coercion: Augustine’s Limitation of Coercion by the State
JF Religions
VO 15
IS 9
A1 Debusschere, Aaron P.
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1900624818
AB 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.
K1 Charity
K1 Augustine of Hippo
K1 freedom of conscience
K1 religious coercion
DO 10.3390/rel15091049