On Care for the Dead · §9 · Augustine of Hippo

The punishment of the disobedient prophet and care for the dead

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Augustine is arguing that burial location does not affect the dead themselves, but that the living's natural affection for their own flesh makes them fear what will happen to their bodies after death.

And yet, from that affection of the human heart by which no one ever hates his own flesh, if people learn that something will be lacking for their bodies after death—something that the custom of burial in each person's nation or homeland requires—they are saddened as human beings, and before death they fear for their bodies what after death will not concern them. So it is that in the books of the Kingdoms we find God threatening through a prophet another prophet who had transgressed his word, that his corpse would not be brought into the tomb of his fathers. The Scripture reads like this: "This is what the Lord says: Because you were disobedient to the mouth of the Lord and did not keep the command that the Lord your God commanded you, and you turned back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he commanded you not to eat bread or drink water, your corpse shall not be brought into the tomb of your fathers" (3 Kingdoms 13:21-22; cf. 1 Kings 13:21-22). If we think about how much this punishment should be weighed according to the Gospel, where we have learned that after the body is killed there is nothing to fear, no suffering for the lifeless limbs, then it should not even be called a punishment. But if we consider the human affection for one's own flesh, the living man could be terrified or saddened by what the dead man would not feel; and this was the punishment, because his soul grieved over what would happen to his body, even though when it happened he would not grieve. For the Lord willed to chastise his servant only to this extent—a servant who had despised fulfilling his command, not out of his own stubbornness, but who believed he was obeying when he did not obey, deceived by another's treachery. Nor should we think that he was killed by the bite of a beast in such a way that his soul was then carried off to Tartarean punishment, since the very lion that killed him guarded his body, leaving unharmed even the donkey on which he rode, and stood by its master's corpse with that huge wild beast in fearless attendance. By this wonderful sign it appears that the man of God was chastised in this life right up to death, rather than punished after death. About this matter the apostle, when he had mentioned the illnesses and deaths of many because of certain offenses, says: "But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord; but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). The one who had deceived him, however, buried him quite honorably in his own tomb and arranged to be buried next to his bones, hoping in this way that his bones too might be spared when the time came when, according to the prophecy of that man of God, Josiah king of Judah dug up the bones of many dead in that land and defiled the sacrilegious altars that had been set up for idols with those bones. He spared, indeed, that tomb where the prophet lay, who had foretold these things more than three hundred years earlier; and for his sake the burial of the one who had led him astray was not violated either. For by that affection by which no one ever hates his own flesh, the man who had killed his own soul by a lie had made provision for his corpse. From this, then—that each person naturally loves his own flesh—it was a punishment for the one to learn that he would not be in the tomb of his fathers, and a concern for the other to provide that his bones might be spared if he lay next to the one whose tomb no one would violate.

Latin

Et tamen ex illo humani cordis affectu, quo nemo umquam carnem suam odio habet, si cognoscant homines aliquid post mortem suam suis corporibus defuturum, quod in sua cuiusque gente uel patria poscit sollemnitas sepulturae. contristantur ut homines et quod ad eos post mortem non pertinet, ante mortem suis corporibus timent: ita ut inueniatur in Regnorum libris deus per prophetam minari alteri prophetae, qui eius transgressus est uerbum, quod non inferretur cadauer eius in sepulcrum patrum eius. quae scriptura sic se habet. haec dicit dominus: quia inoboediens fuisti ori domini et non custodisti mandatum quod tibi praecepit dominus deus tuus, et reuersus es et comedisti panem et bibisti aquam in loco in quo praecepit tibi, ne comederes panem neque biberes aquam, non inferetur cadauer tuum in sepulcrum patrum tuorum. quanti haec poena pendenda sit, si secundum euangelium cogitemus, ubi post corpus occisum nihil metuendum esse didicimus, ne membra exanima patiantur, nec poena dicenda est. si autem humanum erga suam carnem consideremus affectum, potuit inde terreri uel contristari uiuus, quod sensurus non erat mortuus; et haec erat poena, quoniam dolebat animus id de suo corpore futurum, quamuis cum fieret non doleret. hactenus enim uoluit dominus seruum suum plectere, qui non sua contumacia spreuerat praeceptum eius inplere, sed aliena decipiente fallacia oboedire se credidit, quando non oboediuit. neque enim putandum est ita fuisse interemptum morsu bestiae, ut ad supplicium tartareum eius deinde anima raperetur, quandoquidem ipsum eius corpus idem leo qui occiderat custodiuit iumento etiam, quo uehebatur, inlaeso et simul cum illa inmani fera intrepida praesentia ad sui domini funus adstante. quo mirabili signo adparet hominem dei cohercitum potius temporaliter usque ad mortem, quam punitum esse post mortem. de qua re apostolus, cum propter quasdam offensas commemorasset infirmitates mortesque multorum, si enim nos ipsos, inquit, iudicaremus, a domino non iudicaremur; cum iudicamur autem, a domino corripimur, ne cum mundo damnemur. eum sane ipse qui deceperat in monumento proprio satis honorifice sepeliuit seque sepeliendum iuxta eius ossa curauit, ita sperans parci posse quoque ossibus suis, cum ueniret tempus, quando secundum illius hominis dei prophetiam Iosias rex Iuda in illa terra multorum eruit ossa mortuorum eisdemque ossibus sacrilega altaria, quae sculptilibus constituta fuerant, funestauit. pepercit quippe illi monumento, ubi iacebat propheta, qui ante annos amplius quam trecentos ista praedixerat; et propter ipsum nec illius, qui eum seduxerat, sepultura uiolata est. affectu namque illo, quo nemo umquam carnem suam odio habet, prouiderat cadaueri suo. qui occiderat mendacio animam suam. ex hoc igitur, quod carnem suam quisque naturaliter diligit, et illi poena fuit addiscere non eum futurum in sepulcro patrum suorum et huic cura prospicere, ut parceretur ossibus suis, si iuxta eum iaceret, cuius sepulcrum nemo uiolaret.

About this text

Paulinus wrote to ask whether it benefits a person after death to be buried near the memorial shrine of a saint.

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) wrote this letter to Paulinus, bishop of Nola. Paulinus had asked whether it benefits a person after death to be buried near the memorial shrine of a saint. The question was prompted by the request of Flora, a religious widow, for her deceased son to be buried in the basilica of the confessor Felix, while the body of Cynegius, a faithful young man and a different person, had already been placed there.

Augustine argues that burial location does not directly help or harm the dead, because the dead cannot sense what happens to their bodies. What helps the dead is the prayerful remembrance of the living, which can be increased when burial is at a holy memorial, so Christians should care for the dead from affection and faith in the resurrection and place hope in prayer and the church commemoration rather than in place. The reader will meet Paulinus, Flora, Cynegius, Felix, Curma who had a vision near death, Eulogius who dreamed of Augustine, John the monk consulted about a civil war, Ambrose at the shrines of Protasius and Gervasius, and Candidianus who carried the letter. Augustine quotes Paulinus to answer him, quotes Scripture from Paul, the Psalms, the prophets and the Gospel, gives the speech of the rich man to Abraham and the reported words of John, and gives Virgil in prose paraphrase rather than verse quotation.

Here memorial shrine means a shrine at the burial place of a martyr or saint meant to keep the dead in remembrance, and burial means the act of burying. Prayer, prayerful commending, sacrifice offered at the altar, alms and the intercession of martyrs are the means by which the living help the dead, while spirit means the soul apart from the body, vision means a dream seeing of the dead, and likeness means only the image seen and not the person himself. Old names keep Augustine Old Latin and Septuagint use, with the books of the Kingdoms meaning 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, Ecclesiasticus meaning Sirach, Jesus son of Sirach meaning Ben Sira, the Acts of the Apostles meaning Acts, the books of the Machabees meaning Maccabees, and the Psalms numbered as in the Septuagint.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from CSEL 41 (1900) (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.