There is an interesting exchange, later in Augustine’s life, in which he counsels Boniface, a Roman general governing the precinct of Africa at the time. Frustrated by uprisings and incursions of those who despise the Christian faith, Boniface is becoming impatient. He thinks he knows what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like, and so he is increasingly tempted to impose it—to make the kingdom come, as it were. But Augustine cautions him with an admonition that could shape an entire life: “We ought not to want to live ahead of time with only the saints and the righteous.”
