". . . a church set no longer to defy society but to master it."
Augustine, Sermo
". . . the fifth-century state no longer looked so evil as it once had, . . . a shower of imperial privileges had
radically changed the dynamics -- and raised the stakes -- of ecclesiastical politics."
From Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, by Elaine Pagels
"By insisting that humanity, ravaged by sin, now lies helplessly in need
of outside intervention, Augstine's theory could not only validate secular power but justify
as well the imposition of church authority -- by force, if necessary -- as essential for human
salvaltion."
From Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, by Elaine Pagels
