Scholars To Scatter

Question 1

Augustine – Original Sin & Human Nature

Answer 1

Argument:
Human nature is corrupted by original sin.

Point:
All humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam.

Example:
“We were all in [Adam]… we all were that one man who fell into sin.”

Challenge/Support:
Support from GK Chesterton (see below); challenged by genetic evidence & Pelagius.

Question 2

Reinhold Niebuhr

Answer 2

Argument:
Original sin is empirically verifiable.

Point:
Sin is seen in human behaviour universally.

Example:
Said it is the one Christian doctrine “empirically verifiable.”

Challenge/Support:
Supports Augustine using social observation.

Question 3

Romans 8

Answer 3

Argument:
Supports predestination.

Point:
God predestines who will be saved.

Example:
“Those God foreknew he also predestined.”

Challenge/Support:
Supports Augustine’s doctrine of election/double predestination.

Question 4

Ephesians 2:8

Answer 4

Argument:
Salvation is a gift, not earned.

Point:
Grace is given freely by God.

Example:
“For it is by grace you have been saved… not by works.”

Challenge/Support:
Supports Augustine; contradicts Pelagius’ merit-based view of salvation.

Question 5

Philippians 2:13

Answer 5

Argument:
Good actions are caused by God’s will.

Point:
God gives us the desire and power to act morally.

Example:
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act.”

Challenge/Support:
Supports Augustine’s denial of autonomous free will.

Question 6

Genetic Evidence

Answer 6

Argument:
Refutes historical literalism of Adam & Eve.

Point:
Human diversity shows we could not descend from two people.

Example:
Modern genetics supports evolution over Genesis.

Challenge/Support:
Challenges Augustine’s belief in humanity’s biological inheritance from Adam.

Question 7

Pelagius – Free Will

Answer 7

Argument:
Humans are born with free will, not sin.

Point:
Sin results from bad habits and education, not nature.

Example:
“The long habit of doing wrong… holds us in bondage… as if it were nature.”

Challenge/Support:
Directly challenges Augustine’s original sin doctrine.

Question 8

Martin Luther King

Answer 8

Argument:
Human morality improves over time.

Point:
History shows moral progress is possible.

Example:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

Challenge/Support:
Challenges Augustine’s claim of a fixed, sinful human nature.

Question 9

Steven Pinker

Answer 9

Argument:
Human reason leads to moral progress.

Point:
Decline in violence and growth of rights shows improvement.

Example:
Documented historical decline in violence in The Better Angels of Our Nature.

Challenge/Support:
Supports Pelagius; challenges Augustine’s pessimism.

Question 10

Augustine on God’s Ineffability

Answer 10

Argument:
God’s justice is beyond human understanding.

Point:
It may seem unjust, but God’s judgment is always right.

Example:
“Secret yet just judgement of God.”

Challenge/Support:
Defends Augustine from modern moral objections (e.g. child suffering); asserts divine mystery.