The same thing which is now called Christian religion existed

“The same thing which is now called Christian religion existed among the ancients. They have begun to call ‘Christian’ the true religion which existed before.” — so wrote Saint Augustine, the philosopher of faith, the great reconciler of reason and revelation. In these immortal words, Augustine unveils a truth that transcends time, creed, and empire — that truth is eternal, and that what is now named “Christianity” is not a new invention, but the flowering of a seed sown since the dawn of creation. His voice, echoing through centuries, speaks to the unity of all genuine wisdom, to the divine thread that runs through every age, binding all seekers of truth into one living faith.

The origin of this quote lies in Augustine’s Retractationes and his earlier works, where he reflected upon the universality of divine truth. He lived at the turning of an age — a time when the Roman world trembled between its ancient gods and the rising light of the Cross. To many, Christianity appeared as a new, strange doctrine, overthrowing centuries of tradition. Yet Augustine, once a pagan philosopher himself before his conversion, saw deeper. He perceived that Christianity was not a rupture with the past, but the fulfillment of it — that the eternal wisdom of God, the Logos, had always been whispering through the conscience of humanity, in the hymns of the Greeks, in the justice of the Romans, in the prophecies of the Hebrews, and in the yearning of every heart that ever sought the divine.

To Augustine, truth is one, though its names and forms may differ. He looked back to Plato and the philosophers of Greece and saw in their writings a glimmer of divine revelation — imperfect, incomplete, yet sincere. He saw that before Christ walked upon the earth, the same divine Spirit that inspired the prophets also kindled the reason of the wise. What was later called “Christian” — love of God, pursuit of virtue, reverence for truth — had already existed among those who sought the good with pure intent. Thus, in Augustine’s vision, the faith of Christ was not born in Bethlehem alone, but in every age where the human soul reached upward toward its Creator.

This idea was not born of flattery toward the ancients, but of Augustine’s profound understanding of divine providence. He saw history as a single sacred story, in which every civilization, even in its errors, had a role to play. The pagan temples, the mysteries of Egypt, the wisdom of Socrates — all were shadows cast before the dawn. When Christ came, it was not to abolish truth, but to reveal its fullness; not to erase the ancient longings, but to name them, to give the eternal “Yes” to what men had sought in the dark. The Christian religion, therefore, was not new light, but the unveiling of light long hidden.

Consider the story of Justin Martyr, one of the earliest Christian philosophers. Before finding Christ, he walked the paths of Plato, seeking the meaning of existence. When he discovered the Gospel, he declared that whatever was true in Greek philosophy belonged already to Christ, “the Logos,” through whom all truth is spoken. Justin’s vision, like Augustine’s, saw no war between ancient wisdom and Christian faith, but a continuum of revelation — the divine speaking in different tongues, leading humanity step by step toward ultimate clarity. It is a vision not of exclusion, but of harmony, where faith and reason are brothers, not enemies.

Augustine’s words are a balm for every age tempted by division. They remind us that God is not confined to a single people, language, or symbol. He is the breath within all that lives, the truth behind all truth. To despise the wisdom of the ancients, or of other faiths, is to forget that the same divine fire burns in every soul that seeks righteousness. To see Christianity as separate from all that came before it is to see the tree without its roots. But to recognize that the true religion has always existed — that every honest search for goodness was already a step toward Christ — is to walk with humility, to honor all who have sought the divine, and to live as children of one eternal wisdom.

Therefore, my child, take from Augustine this lesson: seek truth wherever it may be found, for all truth comes from the same Source. Do not despise the insights of the past, nor the faith of those who differ from you, for the hand of God is upon every honest heart. Study deeply, pray earnestly, and walk humbly; for the divine is not bound by temples or names, but revealed through love, reason, and virtue.

For in the end, the true religion — the one Augustine calls ancient and eternal — is not defined by outward form, but by inward transformation. It is the awakening of the soul to its divine origin, the harmony between wisdom and worship, the return of the heart to the One from whom it came. Names will change, empires will fall, but the light of truth will endure — burning in prophets, philosophers, and saints alike — until, at last, all creation recognizes what Augustine saw: that the Christian faith is the oldest of all, because it is the eternal dialogue between God and the soul, spoken from the beginning of time.