Quote of the afternoon

"Wherefore the man who lives according to God, and not according to man, ought to be a lover of good, and therefore a hater of evil. And since no one is evil by nature, but whoever is evil is evil by vice, he who lives according to God ought to cherish towards evil men a perfect hatred, so that he shall neither hate the man because of his vice, nor love the vice because of the man, but hate the vice and love the man. For the vice being cursed, all that ought to be loved, and nothing that ought to be hated, will remain." (Augustine Civitas Dei, XIV 6)

I had no idea that this was Augustine's logic. I find myself encountering elements of classical Christianity in the Christianity of today, and I am amazed because never suspected these ideas/phrases were so old. For all I knew, "hate the sin and love the sinner" could have been Billy Graham or John Wesley, but lo and behold, it's granddaddy Augustine. Perhaps we are more orthodox then we think??