re -philosophy -augustines view of human nature

Who was St Augustine

In the New Yorker magazine ,St Augustine was known as ‘the man who invented sex’

He had a hedonic lifestyle in which he seemed to maximise pleasure and minimise pain ,which revolved around promiscuous as well as sexually adventurous activities which displeased his mother

His life changed when he was compelled by a voice to read St Paul’s letter to the romans which stated ‘clothe yourselves with the lord Jesus christ’

He later became a priest ,famous preacher and was recognised as a doctor of the church

Are human beings born sinful?

Jean Jacques Rousseau stated ‘nothing is as gentle as man in his primitive state’(humans are born selfless and are corrupted by society)

Support:John Locke believed that we are all born as a blank slate ,we all learn through our upbringing and experiences

Support:Richard Dawkins argued moral guilt can’t be passed through semen ,this is biologically impossible

Steven Pinker:humans aren’t controlled by concupiscence ,we have inner demons eg aggression ,but we also have inner angels to counteract this feeling of anger

.Global violence as well as war has decreased over the years ,in pre state ,hunter gatherer societies the average people who died due to warfare was 15% ,in contemporary society ,the average percentage for all global deaths relating to warfare was 0.03% ,this suggests humans have the capability of resisting sin and attempting to achieve salvation

Support:Irenaeus argues God in Augustine’s point of view can’t be true as he is unjust and cruel for punishing the whole of humanity for the sins of two individuals

.a perfect creation cannot fail so easily ,therefore humanity must have been created imperfect right from the start

Pelagius:humans can’t have a flawed nature .If we did ,then god would be commanding the impossible when he asks humans to be holy

.it is theoretically possible for people to be good ,people can only commit choice out of their use of free will ,which humans have just like Adam and Eve as a test to see if they’ve learnt from the disobedience of Adam and Eve ,it must be possible for humans to do good and achieve salvation ,if not what is heaven for?

.we become sinners when we choose to sin ,not at birth

.death is a biological necessity ,not a punishment

.gods grace assists people in showing what is right and wrong ,but humans carry out their own actions

.humans can use their free will to choose god-their actions bring in reward ,for Augustine and his followers ,this sounds like Pelagius is downplaying the role of grace

.augustine makes god sound random (arbitrary) in punishing innocent babies

.it would be unjust of god to condemn humans for something they could not help ,he would not give instructions that could not be kept

.good people ,existed in the Old Testament ,they lived before Jesus brought salvation into the world

Augustine believed that we inherited the original sin as we were ‘seminally present in the loins of Adam’ therefore Adam’s religious guilt is transmitted across generations

Support:Thomas Hobbes stated ‘the life of man is solitary ,poor ,nasty ,brutish and short’ (humans are born selfish and need discipline from society)-without this society will enter a ‘state of chaos’ where there will be ‘a war of all against all’

Support:Aquinas argued we have a sinful nature due to Adam and Eve

Support:Sigmund Freud argued that after the fall ,humans became corrupted by concupiscence ,we are also inherently flawed as we are driven by dark, instinctual desires which require strict control ,we are also innately anti social and aggressive ,therefore humans require gods grace and the structures of the church so they can live morally

What events occurred in the fall ,what were the consequences of the choice made in the fall?

According to genesis ,when god created humans ,he created them in the image and likeness of god ,they had free will

Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden which was a perfect paradise where they could live for eternity ,they were given one instruction which was not to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge

The serpent(satan) tempted Eve to eat from the tree ,so she does and Adam did as well ,they realise they are naked and hide from god

Consequence of this choice:Adam and Eve are banished from the garden of Eden ,it brings evil ,suffering and sin into the world, lust now drives human desires ,humans are forced to be mortal

Evil is not a ‘thing’ itself ,but a ‘privation’ of good-evil wasn’t created by god ,it emerged as a result of the absence of good

What did the original sin entering the world mean according to Augustine?

Every human being is born with sin

Every human is mortal as a punishment for the first disobedience

The original sin is transmitted through generations ,through sexual intercourse ,as we were ‘seminally present in the loins of Adam’

All people except Jesus are conceived as a result of lust ,sexual desire is seen as sinful

Before the fall ,humanity was characterised by friendship ,leadership required on them was gentle ,but after the fall ,humans needed proper authority to control them and their rebellious wills

People are born ,tainted with concupiscence ,we depend on gods grace which is free and unmerited ,yet it is shown in the sacrifice of Jesus ,the assistance of the church also allows us to be able to live

We are all condemned to death as punishment and there is nothing we can do to escape our fallen state

What did Augustine believe about life after death?

God elects some people before they were born ,known as ‘elects’ to go to heaven ,this is a form of predestination ,as fate is fixed for them ,this shows his benevolence as he is prepared to let some people go to heaven

Does Augustine have a pessimistic view of human nature?

.even babies are tainted with the original sin

.salvation is impossible ,we cannot escape from our fallen state

God has already selected who he will save ‘the elects’,we cannot earn salvation

.our free will has been compromised and we have a disposition towards sinfulness

.we are paying the price for something we haven’t even done

.pelagius offers a much more optimistic view of human nature

Does Augustine have an optimistic view of human nature?

Gods grace is given as a gift ,even though it is unmerited and free

Jesus died on the cross to erase the original sin ,therefore humanity has another chance to seek salvation

The church exists to help Christianity in their journey towards god ,baptism can erase the original sin

What is Augustine’s literalist understanding of the fall?

If the fall didn’t occur ,we wouldn’t inherit the original sin

This places the blame for evil ,suffering and death on Adam and Eve

We all pay the price for Adam and Eve’s misuse of free will

What is the symbolic understanding of the fall?

many contemporary christians do not believe that the genesis story is true ,they see the genesis account of human origins as metaphorical ,rather than literal ,it is symbolic

The fall ,renewal and redemption symbolises the journey of humanity towards realising our flaws and leading a spiritual life

What are the strengths of Augustine’s view of human nature(A02)?

.absolves god from blame for evil and suffering ,evil is not a thing in itself ,it is a privation of good

.consistent with St Paul’s view that we ‘all have sinned and fall short of gods glory’

.Explains human selfishness as we inherited it from Adam and Eve ,this is our ‘state of nature ,due to to Adam and Eve ,we can now understand why humans have a disposition to sin

.resolves the problem of natural disasters ,this is due to the disharmony of heaven and earth

.emphasises the importance of gods grace so that we can achieve summum bonum which is everlasting happiness with god ,summum bonum can only be achieved through gods grace and it shows the significance of Jesus’ sacrificial death ,he is known as the ‘lamb of god’ who takes away the sin of the world

What are the weaknesses of Augustine’s view of human nature(A02)?

.Science shows we have evolved over time since Adam and Eve were first created ,evolutionary biology shows humans are headed for perfection over time

.unfair to say that babies are sinful

.creates guilt ,shame and negativity for humans ,who question their existence and Gods grace