It is the deep groundswell of social cohesion, the corporately felt commitments and unarticulated common impulses that really determine the character of communities. These make the rational plans and conscientious judgments of their leaders look like waves on the surface of the ocean. Augustine’s last and greatest word is a warning not to ignore the currents of the depths. Needless to say, sociology for him could only be theology. If we once dare to ask what lies behind politics and its justice, we must find ourselves face-to-face with heaven and hell.
Oliver O’Donovan, on St. Augustine, from his and Joan Lockwood O’Donovan’s survey of early Christian political thought.
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