Outward Signs: The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine's Thought

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This book is, along with Inner Grace (OUP 2008), a sequel to Phillip Cary's Augustine and the Invention of the Inner Self (OUP 2000). In this work, Cary argues that Augustine invented the expressionist type of semiotics widely taken for granted in modernity, where words are outward signs giving inadequate expression to what lies within the soul. Augustine uses this new semiotics to explain why the authority of external teaching, including Biblical authority, is useful but temporary, designed to lead to a more permanent Platonist vision granted by the inner teacher, Christ, who is the eternal Wisdom of God. In fact, for Augustine we literally learn nothing from words or other outward signs, which are useful only as admonitions or reminders pointing out the right direction for us to look in order to see for ourselves, with the inner eye of our own mind. Even our knowledge of other people is ultimately a matter of seeing what is in their souls, not putting faith in their words.

Cary argues that for Augustine outward signs cannot give us knowledge because all bodily things are fundamentally powerless, incapable of conveying an inner good to the soul. This also leaves no room for a concept of efficacious external means of grace not even the flesh of Christ. The sacraments, which Augustine was the first to describe as outward signs of inner grace, signify what is necessary for salvation but do not confer it. Baptism, for example, is necessary for salvation, but its power is found not in water or word but in the inner unity, charity, and peace of the church.

Along with its companion work, Inner Grace, this careful and insightful book breaks new ground in the study of Augustine's theology of grace and sacraments.

Outward Signs: The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine's Thought Review

Three of us old men meet every Saturday evening to educate ourselves in philosophy. So we've watched a DVD series called "Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition" produced by The Teaching Company. Of all the professors who addressed us, Dr. Phillip Cary was most successful in holding our attention.

I decided to purchase "Augustine's Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist," only to discover it isn't so easily digestible as his Teaching Company lectures. It's a book about space, and it challenges the reader to consider the thought that Augustine actually invented the notion of one's self as "a private inner space--a space into which one can enter and in which one can find God." Well, I had never thought of it in that way. I naturally had no idea of the implications or consequences of such a concept, and my first thought was of Freud, and what he might have thought of Cary's book.

Cary's initial book, published in 2000, made me curious enough to purchase his second book, "Inner Grace: Augustine in the Traditions of Plato and Paul." It's a book about grace as "an inner gift of delight leading to true happiness," the way Augustine saw it. Of course, that includes the inroads Plato foisted upon Augustine's unfolding theology. And of this infusion, Cary believes we should be aware. He concludes with a discussion of the Election (a doctrine that scares me a little).

Cary's second book, published in 2008, made me curious enough to purchase his third book, "Outward Signs: The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine's Thought." It's a culmination of three Augustinian stages, moving from space and grace to place. And it's not only about the "inwardness" and "outwardness" of place, but, ever so important, the place of the sacraments therein.

His third book, also published in 2008, made me rethink my concept of the sacraments. My background kept popping into my thoughts. You see, I was raised a Baptist, and as such, we wouldn't dare say "sacraments." We called them "ordinances," and we certainly had our own ideas about the theology--or lack thereof--that the Lord's Supper and baptism implied. We wouldn't drink wine; it had to be grape juice, lest the parishioners become alcoholic. We wouldn't share the cup. Each partaker had a wee glass of his or her own. The fellowship of the shared cup was sacrificed for sanitation. Well, when I left the Baptists and became an ordained Anglican Priest, the shared cup was restored, and never did I contract an illness from it. But the Anglicans taught me something about baptism that I had never before realized. The Baptists had emphasized the importance of total immersion. But the Anglicans insisted it must be "living water," and that is why they pour (and don't sprinkle) water over the candidate's head. Later, I realized the Greek Orthodox priest totally dunks the naked infant, and upon further investigation, it seems all converts were baptized naked for the first couple of hundred years or so of Christian history. So if I were to be properly baptized, I'd have to strip myself naked, go to a fast-flowing river, and be totally immersed in it. If I seem to be wandering off the subject, just blame Cary. He makes my mind race all over creation! But that's precisely why his books are so important for me.

It would be nice to have a thorough knowledge of ontology, physiognomics, semantics, semiotics, epistemology, Plato, Greek philosophy, New Testament Greek, Latin, church history and the life of St. Augustine, in order better to understand Cary's latest book. But not to worry! Carefully read Cary's preface, and you will be given several alternatives toward approaching, digesting and appreciating his book. You can't read it quite the way you'd cover "Heidi," but you can nevertheless gain a great deal of learning and much to contemplate if you follow the advice he provides in his preface.

Finally, it's high time for Oxford University Press to unite Cary's trio as a comprehensive whole, in order to produce a single volume that's affordable and in a font large enough for elderly eyes comfortably to see. It should be required reading for students undertaking degrees in theology or church history.

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