As you may know, I’m an Augustine nerd. My third book on Augustine’s theology of desire is out. (Ricochet members: Check for a cheaper price here!) After a brief introductory post on the idea of the Totus Christus–the Whole Christ–it’s time to talk about the overlapping identities implied by Augustine’s theology.

Jesus’ identity is joined with that of the church. She is the bride of Christ, and everything that involves one of them must involve the other as well.

A Christian’s identity has an individual aspect. He can pray for himself. He can make his own business decisions. He can feed and clothe himself. But who he is is also connected to Jesus, and to the church.

All of this makes for some interesting ideas on who I am, on just what is my purpose in life, and on just what I am supposed to do with that life. These interconnected aspects of identity are a lense for looking at the good life for a human being–meaning the life that leads to happiness and fulfillment, but also the life that is morally right.

I tried to express some of this stuff in the book’s conclusion, quoted below.

Third, Augustine’s ethics may make for a healthier sense of personal identity than what most of us have to work with these days. Of course, personal identity is a complex and subtle topic in philosophy and other fields. . . . What interests me here is the question “Who am I?” as it pertains to a person’s sense of what makes life meaningful. We human beings want to be part of something bigger than ourselves to which we can make some contribution. We crave a place to belong—a group or a calling that gives purpose to our efforts. We look for this purpose in our families, our friends, our countries, social movements, or even social media activities. . . .

. . .

. . . the Enarrationes convey an interesting view on personal identity, an idea relying on the various interconnections between individual believer, church, and Christ. It is an account that does give us a place to belong which is bigger than ourselves—the church, which is the body of Christ. The Enarrationes’ answer to the question “Who am I?” preserves my importance as an individual with his own contributions—a particular string that praises God in its own way (En. 150, 7–8). Yet it also assures me of my connection to a broader community, and of the importance of that community—the whole orchestra offering its harmonized song of praise to God. This perspective on personal identity guides me in what I should desire—not money, power, fame, or physical pleasures, but the perpetual enjoyment of God and the well-being of my neighbor. It also tells me how to face my earthly troubles in a way that gives them meaning. It tells me to endure them with patience and faith, to use such earthly resources as I have for the love of God and neighbor, and to allow God to use my sufferings as a winepress to squeeze holiness out of me. The idea of the totus Christus provides Augustine with an interesting bit of advice for a believer: You are a part of the church, which is the body of Jesus Christ, and it is your responsibility as such to have your heart and life aligned to his priorities!

. . . We can also find here an application of Augustine’s interesting description of the church itself as having desires in his sermons on the Psalms of ascent. The church and the soul have an intertwined longing for God, and they go through these salutary edifications together. Augustine tells us in En. 83, 5 that, even as it is the voice of Christ and the voice of the church who speaks in the Psalm, each of us may also be the person in the Psalm who says these things—if we set our will in the right direction. The church itself is an entity with its own desire, and Augustine’s notion of intermingled identities—Christ, church, self—tells us that we may therefore join our desires to the church’s. Thus, the Augustinian notion of personal identity is very practical , and we can apply it by doing whatever we can to align our desires to the pure love of Christ, and of one another in Christ, which is being built up in the church. I can enact it by whatever act of will; whatever churchly ritual; whatever prayer, song, or act of mercy helps me make those desires which Scripture teaches are the desires of the church my own desires as well.