Augustine: Exclusivism, Grace, Predestination & Limited election Flashcards
What does Augustine’s exclusivism hold
Augustine’s exclusivism holds that we are so corrupted by original sin that genuine persevering faith in Jesus is only possible with God’s help: his gift of grace, which predestines some people to have and keep faith in Christ and thus be one of the ‘elect’ who will be saved.
What is Grace
Grace is what saves humans and thereby allows them into heaven. Election refers to God’s choosing to grant grace. St Paul calls grace a “gift” which we cannot ‘take credit’for earning (Ephesians 2:8).
Pelagius: predestination makes punishment unjust.
Pelagius argued that if we have original sin and are thus completely unable to avoid doing evil, it would surely be unjust for God to punish us for our sinful behaviour.
It’s not ethical for all humanity to be blamed for the actions of Adam and Eve.
Defending Augustine: Punishment is just for sinful beings
Augustine is not actually arguing that God himself blamed all humanity for Adam’s sin, he’s merely pointing out that it was a factual consequence of Adam’s sin that all future humanity, in Adam’s loins, became infected with original sin. It’s not God’s fault, it’s Adams’.
So, Augustine argues that predestination is not unjust of God, since we are corrupted by original sin and so if we go to hell it is deserved.
Criticism: It’s not our fault that we have original sin
it still seems unfair and thus incompatible with omnibenevolence to suggest that we deserve punishment for it.
Especially when considering cases like a child with cancer, it’s difficult to maintain that a child deserves cancer because it has original sin.
Augustine would have to say that it is God’s justice for a child to get cancer and that God is still omnibenevolent despite allowing it. That seems to contradict the idea that God is omnibenevolent.
Augustine could be defended
on the grounds that it would only seem a contradiction to those who have a 21st century hippie interpretation of love.
Alternatively, Augustine insists that God’s reasons and justice are beyond our understanding. We should not try to use our limited human minds to judge God.
