augustines teachings on human nature Flashcards
(5 cards)
who is augustine
AD 354-43
born in North Africa, which at the time was an important part of the roman empire
his mother ,monica, was a devout Christian who was very influential in shaping his beliefs, but his father was hostile to christianty
when augustine was young man, he followed the thinking of a group called the manicures, who believed the world is engaged in a cosmic battle between good and evil
The Fall & original sin
Human nature is corrupted by a tendency to do evil. This is due to Adam and Eve disobeying God causing a corruption in their nature which causes an irresistible desire to sin. This corruption has been inherited by every human.
According to Augustine all humans were ‘seminally present in the loins of Adam’..
Augustine thought the human will was based on love, of which there are two types. Cupiditas is love of earthly impermanent things, selfishness and love of self. Ignorance and usually unhappiness results from this. Caritas is the Latin version of the Greek word Agape. It means love of others due to virtue as an expression of God’s will.
Concupiscence is a defining feature of original sin. It is when bodily desire overpowers reason. Augustine thought the most obvious case of this is sexual desire.
arguments against the fall
The scientific evidence is against the fall. Geneticists claim that the evidence we have of genetic diversity means that it’s not possible for all of humanity to have descended from two people. This, plus the other evidence for evolution, suggests that we evolved and were not created.
however his views on human nature being corrupted by original sin can still be derived from the evidence of his observations of himself and his society (such as the story about stealing pears). He could still be right that human nature is corrupted by original sin, even if he’s wrong about the Fall being the exact means by which that came to be.
G. K. Chesterton agreed with this point, arguing that you could see evidence for original sin ‘in the street’, as did R. Niebuhr who said it was the one ‘empirically verifiable’ Christian doctrine.
however
might appear that we have strong forces within us that incline us toward evil, Pelagius argues that could simply be because of the way we are raised and it only appears to be our nature because of how thoroughly corrupted we are by our upbringing, which Pelagius refers to as being “educated in evil”.
““The long habit of doing wrong which has infected us from childhood”
If Augustine were correct that original sin caused an irresistible temptation to sin, then human behaviour could not have morally improved, yet it has. - Steven Pinker attributes to the power of human reason that violence has decreased.
Augustine: Exclusivism, Grace, Predestination & Limited election
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.
We are so corrupted by it that we are unable by ourselves to be good enough to deserve salvation.
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.
however
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.
It’s not our fault that we have original sin, so 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.
Pelagius: God commands moral action so we must be capable of moral goodness
