Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/149

 VI] BEAUTY AND LOVE 131 (amor). Love has a self-assertive, acquisitive, desir- ous element ; hence when perfected is twofold ; perfect wish for the beloved's welfare, and desire of union with the beloved for one's own self's sake, and the beloved's sake as well. Here is all of Plato's concep- tion of love ; and Augustine has already indicated how he will now complete the thought with something he did not find in Plato but in Christ. "We must love all things with reference to God, otherwise it is lust. Inferior creatures are to be used (utendum) with reference to God (ad Deum) ; and our fellows are to be enjoyed (fi'uendum) with reference to God, toward God ; so thyself, not in thyself ought thou to enjoy (frui) thyself, but in Him who made thee ; thus also shouldst thou enjoy him whom thou lovest as thyself. Therefore let us enjoy ourselves and our brothers in the Lord and not dare to sui-render our- selves unto ourselves, downwards as it were." ^ Lust is an un proportioned thing; in love all motive and desire is proportioned in the only possible uni- versal proportion ment, unto God. Thus Augustine completes his thought of love, by relating every feel- ing and every person, ourselves and all whom we love, to God ; thither lies the standard of proportion. Augustine has carried through an analysis of what he felt: Thou hast made us toward Thee, and unquiet is our heart until it rests in Thee. The Christian conception of love was more com- plete than any pagan thought of love. But what was the actual compass and range of feelings generally approved by the Church of the fourth and fifth cen- ^ Dt TrinUaU,lX,Vi,