St Augustine

Question 1

What was St Augustine a professor of?

Answer 1

rhetoric at the imperial court of milan

Question 2

What was St Augustine concerned about when he turned to the church?

Answer 2

he had to give up his sexual relations

Question 3

Spent his life looking for god…

Answer 3

….to realise he was always there

Question 4

What historic event did Rome believe had been caused by abandonment of the Gods and what did St Augustine say about this?

Answer 4

Sack of rome, thought the romans were wrong.

Question 5

What is wrong with all of humanity according to St Augustine?

Answer 5

We have been deformed by sin, we are naturally imperfect.

Question 6

What is the divison that matters in humanity?

Answer 6

-between the saved and the damned

Question 7

Why does reason go wrong?

Answer 7

-It thinks it is the path to perfection
-the claim we have the human capacity to be pefect is a manifestation of sin.

Question 8

Are human beings perfectable?

Answer 8

-no
-the value of politics is that it can secure saints and sinners an earthly peace as they live together.

Question 9

Everything that exists has been…

Answer 9

…created from nothing.

Question 10

what do all created things carry the weight of?

Answer 10

-corruptability
-a tendency to track back towards the nothingness which they came

Question 11

Adam was able to….

Answer 11

….do all he desired and desired to do nothing he couldn’t

Question 12

How did evil enter the garden of eden?

Answer 12

-the original sin of pride
-adam knew when he ate from the tree he was turning away from the supreme good but wanted to be in his own power.

Question 13

What did St Augustine suggest about Adam and his loins?

Answer 13

-we are all in adam and we inherit the sin and punishment of sin.

Question 14

What does Augustine think about self control/ posession

Answer 14

-it is another manifestation of wanting to be in control and domination

Question 15

and these three remain….

Answer 15

…faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Question 16

What does St Augustine say about hope?

Answer 16

-a holy longing
-a willingness to wait

Question 17

What does St Augustine say about love?

Answer 17

-a righteous will is good love, we are motivated by love.
-we should reorient our love to something higher rather than lower.

Question 18

What does Simon Weil say about faith?

Answer 18

-waiting on god
-faith is not a belief but a matter of being willing to wait.

Question 19

What are the two cities?

Answer 19

-created by two types of love
-the earthly city
-the godly city

Question 20

What is the earthly city?

Answer 20

-self-love reaching a point of contempt of god

Question 21

What is the heavenly city?

Answer 21

-by love as god carried as far as contempt to self.
-love god so much you fogret about yourself,

Question 22

What fancy word can the two cities be described as?

Answer 22

-eschatological
-two cities into which mankind will be gathered at the end of time

Question 23

What can the earthly city be described of in terms of God?

Answer 23

an eternity estranged from god.

Question 24

What are the signs of the earthly cities?

Answer 24

1. Pride
2. Cupidity
3. Self-division

Question 25

What is meant by pride in the earthy cities?

Answer 25

-wanting to control themsleves and others

Question 26

What is meant by self-division in the earthly city?

Answer 26

-earthly city divided itself by litgation
-at war by battles

Question 27

What are sings of he heavenly city?

Answer 27

-peace
-justice
-church a community of peoople that forgive eachother
-fastening together by a love of god.

Question 28

What is meant by peace in the heavenly city?

Answer 28

-the peace of the whole universe is the arrangement of things equal and unequal in a pattern assigned
-earthly peace consists in an ordered harmony about the giving and obeying of orders

Question 29

What is meant by justice in the heavenly city?

Answer 29

-giving everybody their due
-putting ones love into order