No Longer Slaves? The Evolution of Augustine’s Interpretations of John 15:15

Augustine believed that humans are called to be both slaves and friends of God. John 15:15, Jesus tells his disciples that they are no longer his slaves, but are instead his friends, thus posed a significant interpretive problem for him. This paper surveys Augustine’s thirteen discussions of the passage, presenting several themes Augustine developed and interpretive strategies he tried out over two decades of interpreting the passage. His favorite strategy was reading the passage proleptically. The disciples were not yet friends of God at the time of Jesus’s speaking but could look forward to a certain future when they will be friends of God. But this strategy couldn’t solve the problem: Jesus treats slavery to and friendship with God as substitutes, not compossible. One theme was to associate slavery with fear. Augustine invoked this in his most extensive treatment of John 15:15, arguing that there are two species of slavery to God, each corresponding to a kind of fear. One fear, and thus one slavery, is compatible with friendship. The other is not. The paper concludes by identifying some further problems Augustine’s approach raised.