1.1 Augustine

Question 1

what was the state of Adam and Eve’s relationship before the fall compared to after?

Answer 1

• before the fall: perfect harmony with each other and God, they had everything they needed, completely obedient to God, caritas and concordia, sex without lust, no shame, friends with each other and the rest of creation
• after the fall: sex driven by lust, female subordination, the will (not the body) has become corrupted, concupiscence, selfish desire, humans lose their friendship with God and are banished from the garden

Question 1

what is concupiscence?

Answer 1

a lack of control over our desires, especially lust

Question 2

what is a biblical quote that supports the idea of concupiscence?

Answer 2

‘I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do’

Romans 7:15, Paul speaking

Question 3

what did Augustine argue was the effect on the will as a result of the Fall?

Answer 3

• Original Sin is what characterises human nature
• the will has been corrupted, continues in its disharmony and therefore rebels
• man loses his ability to control his sexual desires
• no human being is truly good as a result
• original sin is passed onto all generations through sexual intercourse

Question 4

what did Augustine mean when he said the Fall was a ‘double death?’

Answer 4

1. killing the friendship between God and humans
2. becoming mortal following the Fall

Question 5

what effect did the Fall have on human societies?

Answer 5

• before the Fall humans required gentle leadership and humanity was characterised by friendship
• after the Fall, humans needed strict authority to control them and their rebellious wills (seen particularly in the Old Testament)
• as a result Augustine talked of a need for heavenly, not earthly peace that is based on material interests, which is available through the church

Question 6

what is God’s grace?

Answer 6

• as people are tainted by concupiscence and cannot choose the right action everytime God’s grace has been given freely to undeserving humans, seen especially in the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross
• God elects some people to go to heaven because of his grace in the summum bonum of eternal happiness

Question 7

wider scholars against Augustine’s view of human nature?

Answer 7

• Lock: tabula rasa/blank slate
• Hobbes: nasty, brutish and short
• Existentialists: no human nature
• Rousseau: noble savages

Question 8

wider scholar who agrees with Augustine?

Answer 8

• Karl Barth: explored Augustine’s ideas in his work ‘church dogmatics’, echoing Augustine’s views on sin, grace and redemption
• Niebuhr: agreed with Augustine but he emphasised the potential for ethical responsibility
• Julian of Norwich: C14 English anchoress, offered a more optimistic view and the potential for human reconciliation to contrast Augustine’s more pessimistic view of human nature
• Aquinas: built on Augustine’s ideas, particularly human nature, and combined them with Aristotelian philosophy

Question 9

wider scholars who disagree with Augustine altogether?

Answer 9

• Darwin: the idea of evolution
• Dawkins: obsession with sex, masochistic, unscientific
• Steven Pinker: humanitarian principle
• Nietzsche: criticised Augustine’s focus on sin and guilt and argued it led to a culture of repression
• Pelagius

DDSNP

Question 10

how did Pelagius’ views contrast to Augustine’s?

Answer 10

• it is theoretically possible for humans not sin but it is difficult
• we are all created in the same state as Adam
• death is a biological necessity not a punishment
• it would be unjust for God to condemn humans for something they could not help