augustine

explain augustine’s context

• devout catholic mother and pagan father

• was into manichaeism for a while

• loved ciecero and was influenced by his teachings that bodily pleasures aren’t as valuable of pleasures of the mind

explain manichaeism and augustine

• version of christianity which was rejected by church for heresy (false teachings)

• he wasn’t getting the answer of suffering and evil from normal christianity

• it taught:

  • lower soul craves material world = bad

  • higher soul craves spiritual world = good

• was ultra-asectic morality (self discipline and fasting)

• liked manchaesm because if pleasure seeking didn’t make him happy, it could come through body being denied to an extent
  → 2 souls show tension between good and evil in the world

why did augustine leave manichaeism?

wasn’t persuaded by teachings that everything in world was fundamentally bad

saw world as tainted but with some good

no fundamental evil in the world

how did augustine change to christianity?

• influenced by plato and adapted that view of soul

• felt something was missing after plato though and moved to christianity

• travelled to milan and heard intellegent bishop speak
  → taught him how to read old testament at a metaphorical level

• opened bible randomly and fell on line about him struggling with his desires

• he became a bishop.

give an example of bad human nature

anders brevik
killed 8 people by setting off van bomb

shot and killed 69 young people in left-wing youth club

diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder

give an example of good human nature

maximillian kolbe

3 inmates escaped auschwitz

camp leader selected 10 men to be starved to death as a detterent

one selected cried he had a wife and child

maximilian offered his life instead

he supported the men as he starved to death

what does rosseau think of human nature

optimistic view
humans are essentially good but often limited by situations

they are compassionate and good

but society and environmental factors corrupt us

we can be optimistic about humanity and the future if we work collaboratively

augustine disagrees

what does pelagians think of human nature?

• monk who did not believe original sin affected all humans and only god could remove it

• humans have free will to overcome personal sin

• even if adam hadn’t sinned, we would’ve died

• adam’s sin only harmed himself, not all humans

• even before christ, men lived without win

• children are born in the same state as adam before the fall

what does hobbes think about human nature

pessimistic view
humans aren’t naturally good → selfish and brutish (animal like)

humans are able to reason unlike animals though and realise working togerhter benefits everyone

life’s purpose is the conquer brutish animal side of human nature and create just societies

what does augsustine think about human nature?

pessimistic view

human nature is corrupt after original sin of adam and eve

we are all born with a tendency towards sin and a rebellious streak

we can’t redeem ourselves alone→ need god to fix us

we are filled with lust and desire

name 2 optimistic people about human nature and 2 pessimistic

optimistic:

pelagius

rosseau

pessimistic:

hobbs

augustine

summarise the fall

• god gave humans garden of eden

• he created light, sky, sea, animals, fish, etc and humans are made on 6th day → made imago dei and gave them control over creation

• he told adam and eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge

• adam and even are convinced by a snake to eat it so they can define good and evil themselves

• god punishes them by kicking them out of the garden and introducing death

explain augustine’s view on the fall

• genesis helps understand god’s purpose for humanity

• god created universe to share his happiness with others (like how we want to with others)

• he knew genesis was a metaphor and meaning needed to be understood

not a fundamentalist- did not believe in talking snake

explain augustine and human will before the fall

• humans lived in harmony → obedient to god and follow duties for animals

• time where the body, will and reason were co-operating perfectly
  

• the will: god-given and created along with humans

• allows us to choose between good and evil (link to natural law and synderesis)

• it determines what type of person you are

• synonymous with love

explain 2 things driving the will

cupiditas: self love
cartias: generous love
→ both of these are necessary to love neighbour and god

explain sex before the fall (augustine)

• adam and eve were not only married but married as friends
  → both ppt in god’s love (other theolgians argue marriage was just to control lust)

• sex when required would occur without lust and adam can summon an erection at will

• because god condemned them to “be fruitful and multiply” friendship between men and women also meant reproduction

• sex is always secondary to friendship

• god gave hierarchy where men are in charge over women. their role is for reproduction
  → however, just as equal like parent and child

explain friendship before the fall (augustine)

• even after the fall, we have friendship but it is limited by jealousy and judgement

• jesus chose his friends without pride or arrogance

• it is possible to have true friendship (pre-fall) if we follow jesus’ teachings

what caused the fall?

• pride is seen as the worst sin- too arrogant

• adam and eve tried to compete with gid

• adam and eve’s choice to eat from the tree of knowledge was a sign of their desire to be like god, knowing all good and having powers

• this meant they could enjoy friendship with god and eachother as cupiditas had been separated from cartias

• they purposefully disobeyed god

explain lucifer and why he is important in the fall

• lucifer is an angel that fell from pride and grace and tried to rule over heaven

• he was thrown out and he wanted to bring humans with him

• he takes on form of serpent and plants idea of disobeying god

explain humans after the fall

• no longer able to control natural desires for food and sex

• no longer in harmony with will → dominate it instead

• body isn’t corrupt but it’s the will that is

• the will is divided- rational enough to know what is morally good but is weakened by desires and does opposite

• we have a:

  • darkening of intellect (don’t understand things as well)

  • disturbance of passions (misguided in things we want, link to apparent goods)

  • weakening of will (struggle to say no to sin)

• after the fall, things occur like: spontaneous erections, wet dreams, loss of control

explain augustine and concupiscence

• concupiscence: desire to control, manipulate and dominate people
  → uncontrolled desires of all kind (money, power, lust

• due to the fall, man is no longer able to control libido or desiring aspect of soul

• body can’t be sinful thing as that was created by god

• we need to moderate cravings in body

• concupiscence affects all parts of our lives
  → e.g. friendships contain jealousy, betrayal and hurting each other

explain augustine and original sin

• inherited flawed human nature (e.g. lust, selfishness, attachment to material goods)

• after the fall, our ability to think rationally has been compromised

• we can try as hard as we want but effort alone won’t fix human nature → we need grace

• it is passed on by reproduction → nature v.s. nurture (are moral virtues something we inherit or something we pick up?)

• everyone is compromised by original sin but to different levels and need (compare maximillian kolbe and brevik)

• double death

• all sex is tainted by concupiscence so everyone is born with original sin (except jesus)

explain double death

1. adam’s rebellion which kills friendship between humans and god (shown by shame of being naked)

2. even though we weren’t there, we are still suffering effects of first disobedience

explain quote about original sin

“humans are seminally present in the loins of adam”

we are all connected to this because we are humans

name 5 strengths of original sin

1. children do bad things
   → e.g. throwing food on the floor, hitting others
   story of the pears
   

2. explains evil without god
   evil comes from humans’ actions, not god being evil
   

3. sex is corrupt
   sexual assault, incels, revenge porn, porn, etc, shows sex has become corrupted
   

4. st paul
   “sin came into the world through one man”
   we are ruled by sin.
   we don’t do things we know we should do and do things we shouldn’t do
   even if we stop doing bad things, we will always have sin to us
   

5. universalisable
   teaches all humans are flawed and equal

   nobody is born better than anybody else

name 4 limitations of original sin

1. mimesis
   we learn from copying other people (link to SLT)
   

2. some people are really good
   maximillian kolbe- may be generally applicable but not always
   

3. curiousity
   these sins, especially in childhood might be due to curiousity
   

4. it is unjust
   we are being punished for something we didn’t do
   god cannot be just if this is the case as we can’t control this
   → just because it is unfair, doesn’t mean it isn’t true
   → in the same way COVID wasn’t fair, but it happened

explain story of the pear

• augustine recalls stealing pears not because he was hungry but because it was excitement of doing so

• this led him to believe there was something messed up at human naturee

explain analogy of the castle

aquinas: there is a couple of broken windows and a broken down wall, but nature is mostly good

calvin: nothing but rubble. we are depraved beings.
→ man is “nothing but concupiscence”

augustine: one wall has fallen but we can be saved through god

pelagius: one turret has fallen, but our nature isn’t flawed

explain the divided will

cupiditas: healthy self love → selfishness and greed

caritas: generous love → greed and love for immaterial things

concupiscence: uncontrolled desires for things

rebellious will: humans are born with tendency to sin → story of pears

explain augustine and god’s grace

• unconditional gift of saving humanity

• effort isn’t enough for salvation, we need his grace to help us achieve the greatest good

• his grace heals humanity

• grace makes people the best versions of themselves

• we don’t deserve it but god gives us it freely

• original sin guides us to do wrong but grace guides us to do right

• jesus’ death removed original sin- he was a human who is also god who helped fix this problem

explain augustine, god’s grace and baptism

• baptism allows us to let god’s grace fill us and work inside of us

• called internal grace

• enables us to be more loving, brave, compassionate and virtuous

• we feel more pulled to goodness

explain st paul and god’s grace

• “faith without works is dead”
  → we need to do good things as well, not just pray and go to church

• “when i am weak, then i am strong”
  → we are most open to god’s help when we have a hard time

explain aristotle and god’s grace

• with effort we can make progress and better ourselves

• external grace- we are in charge of bettering ourselves and don’t need god’s help to do it

briefly explain augustine’s view on the process of grace

1. god’s love and mercy

2. from jesus’ death

3. overcomes human nature

4. undeserved by humans

give a strength of augustine and god’s grace

neibuhr

failure to understand sin has corrupted human sense of responsibility

human nature can’t be defined as good or bad

reason and belief in moral goodness isn’t enough for just societies
→ god’s grace is needed

paradoxes of human behaviour

explain neibuhr’s paradoxes of human behaviour

1. original sin is inevitable but not necessary

2. sin is apparent in both good and evil acts
   → evil people can do good things and good people can do bad things

3. good people may do things they wouldn’t usually when acting with a group

name 4 limitations of augustine’s view on grace

1. kant
   no such thing as sin, just lack of reason
   good will and reason is what we need to make best decisions
   

2. dawkins
   

3. pinker
   

4. spiritual journey

explain dawkin’s view on augustine and grace

too pessimistic
absurd to imagine all corruption of humans is from 2 people

humans evolved from less sophisticated animals who don’t have same consciousness as we do → literal view makes no sense

even symbolic account of fall doesn’t rid christianity with obsession with sin, guilt and sexuality

god shouldn’t have to had save human nature by killing jesus. if omnipotent and real, he could’ve done it himself
→ irrational belief

explain pinker’s view on augustine and grace

• religion has caused lots of violence and suffering before the enlightenment era (when original sin belief was replaced with humanitarian principle)

• principle suggests humans get on best when we account for interests of others, therefore humans don’t need god’s grace and it can be done through rational thought

• after humanitarian principle became popular, we have less capital punishment, wars of religion and abuse to women

explain grace as a spiritual journey

• grace is a spiritual journey

• the fall is a metaphor for when people rebel against god and act selfishly

• life isn’t a biological journey from birth to death but a spiritual one from sin to goodness

• human existence isn’t defined by death but the hope the journey will continue when we are united with god