Augustine Of Hippo Flashcards
What is caritas ?
A love of human kind
Doing charity
What is Concordia ?
Being in harmony - human friendship
What is concupiscence ?
Strong sexual desire
What does continence mean /
Having self restraint from sexual pleasures
What deos corruption mean /
Dishonest behaviour by those in power
What does cupiditas mean ?
Selfish love and desires
What does ecclesia ?
An assembly of citizens in heaven - heavenly society
What is grace ?
God loves us all regardless of our actions . It is our undeserved love
What is a humanitarian principle ?
Humans behave better when they think of other humans
What is lust ?
Having a strong sexual desire for someone else
What is Manicheism ?
They believe suffering is caused by satan
Augustine used to be a follower
What is neoplatonism ?/
Philosophical ideas that come from plato
What does optimistic mean ?
Thinking the best of a situation
What is original sin ?
Sin we inherited from Adam and Eve
What does pessimistic mean ?
Thinking the worst of a situation
What is redemption ?
Being saved from sin
What is sin ?
Doing an action that disobeyed god
What is state of perfection ?
The world Adam and Eve lived in before the fall
What is summun bonum ?
The ultimate goal - highest good
What is the fall ?
Dam and eve disobeying god and being removed from the garden of Eden
What is will ?
The part of you that makes your free choices
Where did original sin come from ?
Eve ate the apple in the garden of Eden and disobeyed god
How does free will link to sin ?
When you have free will it could make you do things god does not want you to do and this could lead you to sin
How does jesus deathb link to sin ?
Jesus died for our sins - our sins are forgiven
What was life like for christians before Augustine was born ?
Christianity - minority faith
Early followers were prosecuted because of their refusal to follow the cult of the roman emperor
When did life change for christians ?
Emperor Constantine adopted the christian faith fo. Himself in AD 312
Why did life change for Christian’s because of emperor Constantine ?
He put christians in positions of power , poured a lot of money into christian places of worship
What was Augustine’s family background ?
Mother = devout christian
Father = hostile to Christianity
Not very well off but valued education
He studied rhetoric
What do the manichees believe in ?
The world is engaged in a cosmic battle between good and evil
People have 2 souls - they pull individual in diff directions
Who is Plotinus ?
A Neoplatonist philosopher
What did Plotinus write bout ?
His views on Manichaeism and disagreed with their assessment of the universe as 2 distinct realms of good and evil
What idea made Augustine believe that the manichees were wrong ?
Suddenly understood that evil i not a substance , but is non-existent , a turning away from goodness
Why did Augustine ultimately find platonic ideas unsatisfactory ?/
Because of their ethics
Did not think that seeking a happy , reasonably virtuous life was quite enough of a goal for human existence
What impact did the teachings of St Paul have on Augustine ?
Drew Augustine to the conclusion that humans could not find this truth through reason alone , but that they needed the grace of god and needed to turn away from bodily pleasures in order to concentrate on a spiritual life
What was Augustines personal life like before he became a Christian leader ?
Had a mistress with whole he had a child
This was not unusual for men of this culture
What was Augustine personal life after he became a christian leader ?
Mother insisted that he gave up his mistress and marry someone else , which was very painful for all involved
How did Augustine treat non-christians once he was leader ?
Ordered the destruction of non-christian places of worship
Persecuted heretics
What are the “confessions”?
One of the earliest known autobiographical works
Why ae the confessions important ?
Insight into Augustine’s own life and thoughts , and into the social context in which he lived
What did Manichaeans believe ?
God is not omnipotent and instead the world is a battlefield between forces of light and darkness
The human soul is under influence of both forces of light and dark (god and satan)
They advocated extreme abstinence from all enjoyments of evil
What did Manichaeans advocate against ?
Riches
Lust
Wine
Meat
Luxurious houses
What does the confessions include ?
The theft of a pear from his neighbours orchard (teenage)
A child born out of wedlock
His pride , ambition and arrogance
His “god less lust “ during his adolecense
What happened in genesis 1?
God created a perfect world
Humans = best part of creation
Made in gods image and likeness
What happened on day 1 (genesis)?
Light and dark created
What happened on day 2 ?(genesis)
Sky was created
What happened on day 3 ?(genesis)
Dry land , seas , plants were created
What happened on day 4 ?
Sun , moon and stars were created
What happened on day 5 ?
Creatures that live in the sea and creatures that could fly were created
What happened on day 6 ?
Humans were created and land animals
What happened in genesis 2 ?
Adam and Eve created in complete obedience with god
They were responsible for taking care of creation
Eve was created out of adams rib
What relationship did Adam and Eve have ?
They had friendship
Married as friends
Could reproduce but sex was not driven by lust but friendship
What happened in genesis 3 :1-13?
Snake tempts eve to eat apple
Eat gave some fruit to Adam too
Both realised they were naked
God came to them and they hid
Had disobeyed god
Shameful
What did eve say when she had disobeyed god ?
“The snake tricked me , so i ate the fruit”
What consequences did th snake get after the fall ?
Have to crawl on the floor and eat only dust
What consequences are there for women after the fall ?
Problems in pregnancy
Pain in childbirth
Greatly desire their husband , but your husband will rule over you
What is the consequence for the fall for men ?
Will have to work very hard for food and will die one day
What was the importance of the fall fo Augustine ?
Turning point in humanity
Believes that the will is no longer in harmony because it is nakedness that drives lust
Married relationships will be no longer about friendship in a pure sense
What does concupiscence mean ?
Used to refer to sexual desire as something bad in the soul that was insuperable from normal human sexual impulses
What did Augustine teach about sexual desire ?
It was bad bcos it could totally overwhelm those caught up in it , depriving them of self control and rational thought
What is original sin ?
Idea that with the first sin , all humans have been tainted through inheriting from Adam and Eve
What does Augustine believe about original sin and humans ?
All humans are affected by the fall
What do Protestants think about concupiscence ?
Fall has entirely corrupted human nature
It is sin itself that we all have
What do catholics think about concupiscence ?
Human nature has been weakened and people must struggle with concupiscence
Concupiscence is what causes it
How is original sin passed on ?
Passed through sex so every human has it
Does Paul support Augustine ?
He write s how he is driven to make the wrong choices because of concupiscence that is inside of him and he has no contol over it so yes
Who is St Paul ?
One of the first christians
In “double death “ what is the first death ?
Shown in the relationship that has been destroyed at the fall
In “double death” what is the second death ?
One we all go through by being mortal again as a result of the fall
What did Augustine do once he became bishop ?
Never over indulgent
Never tried to gossip
Did not allow women to visit his home not even his sister
What is predestination ?
Belief that god knows the outcome fo all of our lives
Why can’t we have. A good relationship with god according to Augustine ?
Because of the fall
Humans can’t restore their relationship with god on their own
How can harmony with god be restored according to Augustine ?
Through the direct action of God -his grace
What is gods grace ?
His free gift of his love to humanity who are completely undeserving ?
How does jesus link into the teaching of grace ?
Gods grace is shown in the death of jesus on the cross
What is sunnum bonnum ?
The greatest good
Who gets gods grace ?
People who god chooses
Most who go to heaven
What is an earthy city ?
Governed by material forces
Where those condemned to hell exist
What is the heavenly “city of god”?
Where those who are chosen by god exist
What did Augustine believe the state was ?
A punishment for fallen humanity
Who did Augustine say states were run by ?
Those who are trying to establish the law of God
Who is Pelagius ?
British theologian
Clashed with Augustine over free will , original sin and grace
He was declared as heretic (against teachings of the church)
What are Pelagius core beliefs ?
Believes Augustine’s view is too pessimistic
Wrong to believe th rest of humanity is doomed
We should not be responsible for our sins just e cause Adam and Eve sinned
God is omnibenevolent and bad things don’t happen because of him but because of ourselves
Why is th sunnum bonnum important ?
It reflects Augustine’s emphasis on grace
Augustine thought that goodness in the world was temporary illustrated by his experiences of the continual struggle to do good
What are the strengths of Augustine’s view on original sin ?
- sexual desire plays a disproportionate part in human life
The RCC says that humans are divided and needs god to develop
What are the weaknesses of Augustine’s view on original sin ?
Relies on literal interpretation of the genesis story
Unfair to be tainted for an act so long ago
Mo space for humans to develop spiritually or morally
Evolution implies we are heated toward perfection not away from it
