Pope Questions

[Dave]

a professor gave us this quote by Philip Melanchton: "in essentials--unity; in non-essentials--liberty; in all things--charity"

I thought St. Augustine said that.

[phatcatholic]

dave and others,

even though this phrase is often attributed to st. augustine, patristic scholars have never found it in any of his writings. this is what Joseph Gallegos--the webmaster of Corunum Catholic Apologetics (an extensive database of the Church Fathers)--says on the matter:

(4) Did St. Augustine write the following citation, "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity"

No. Unfortunately, no one has found the primary text of this citation from the vast corpus of St. Augustine's writings. No Church Father has left us with more pregnant proverbial sayings than St. Augustine; hence, it is no wonder why this citation is popularly attributed to St. Augustine. The earliest use of this citation has been traced to a German theologian of the 17th century - named Rupert Meldenius.

on a personal note, i don't see how any orthodox catholic could say "in non-essentials, liberty." there is no such thing as a non-essential, and even if there were, who would define such a thing for us?

food for thought,

phatcatholic