augustines teachings on human nature Flashcards
will
the part of human nature that makes free choices
sin
disobeying the will and commands of god
grace
gods free and undeserved love for humanity shown by jesus death
the fall
adam and eve ate forbidden fruit and ruined gods relationship with reality
neoplatonism
philosophical thinking arising from ideas of plato
redeemed
saved from the sin by christ
concordia
human friendship
cupiditas
a love of worldly things and selfish desires
caritas
generous undeserving love
latin for agape
consupiscence
uncontrollable desire for physical pleasures and material things
ecclesia
heavenly society in contrast with earthly society
summum bonum
highest most supreme good
whats describes in genesis 1
humans pinnacle of creation
-creation ordered
-in his image and likeness
god and humanity pre fall
-good relationship
-friendship
-adam and eve made stewards
-told to not eat fruit
augustines view of adam and eve pre fall
harmony between will, reason and body
-human will was a balance between powers of self love and generous love and in eden both were in harmony
adam and eves relationship pre fall
-friendship
friends with god
-married as friends
-could reproduce but sex not lust driven
human will for augustine
given to humans by god at creation and used to make choices
-driven by self love and generous love which work together to help people choose to love god properly
genesis 3 the fall account
-serpent tempts eve to eat fruit from tree of knowledge
-realise their naked for their mistake
-hide from god
-he finds out and banishes serpent
-banishes Adam and eve from Eden
punishment of men and woman because of fall
woman have hard childbirth and desire and follow men
-men have to work hard to earn living
augustines int. of adam and eves nakedness
shame and nakedness and punishment to eve of lust and subordination shows male female relation after fall
augustines int. of what happens after fall
-lust
-harmony lost between man and god
-not body but will corrupted
paul romans quote of will clouded by bad intentions because of fall
i do not understand what i do
-for what i want to do i do not do but what i hate to do
genesis 3 quote knowing good and evil
the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil
arguments arguing augustines teaching on a historical fall are wrong
-doesnt make sense to say adam and eve were tempted. if augustine says everything was perfect they shouldnt have been able to think about disobeying god
-textual analysis shows different authors of genesis, account validity down
-evolution, humans evolved rather than coming from Eden
arguments arguing augustines teaching of a historical fall are wrong
-christians find it helpfull like showing dominance of men and lust
-can have use and maybe should be taken literally because of its influence
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original sin as effect of fall
-sin of adam and eve passed through generations so everyone deserved punishment
corrupted wills effect on platonic relations
friendships exist but corrupted will moves us away from good and ruins us
concupiscence as effect of the fall
-takes over human will so choices warped and tend to choose selfish desires
-augustine would never meet a woman on his own
protestants view of concupiscence -
-believe concupiscence is a sin in itself
-fall entirely corrupted human nature and cant be dealt with humans alone
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catholics view of concupiscence
-human nature has been weakened and people must struggle against concupiscence
-believe what causes sin not a sin itself
human nature quote city of god
-human nature is without any doubt ashamed about lust and rightly ashamed
double death of humans
-first death destroyed relation with god and humanity
-second death we’ll all go through as a result of being mortal
catechism on sin being passed down quote
-the whole human race is in adam as one body of one man
-by the unity of the human race all men are implicated in adams sin ass all in christs justice
augustines teachings of original sin are right
-idea of concupiscence links well to our experience of temptation and why humans effected
-idea of physical desires being in control backed by psychologists
-original sin explains why god allows humans to sin in world and remain god of love- shows free will
arguments arguing augustines teachings of original sin are wrong
-even if fall true its unfair for humans to be effect today by it
-augustines teachings of original sin have truths but he struggles himself with lust
-evolution shows human have loads of ancestors so original sin cant have come from only adam and eve
augustine on predestination
-humans are not free and are decided where theyre gnna go before they are born
-even if humans life a pure life they are still effected by concupiscence
-push through lives and hope god has chosen them to go to heaven
-free will given by god but humans corrupted will
gods grace for augustine
-need gods grace to be chosen to go to heaven
-free gift for humanity
-death of jesus
-humans move away from god despite grace because of original sin
-gods generous so some go to heaven
augustine and sommum bonum
-highest good
-for those who have faith in god and whom god has chosen
-platos form of good and summum bonum
-only acheived in presence of god
-state person is when in heaven
-grace overcomes humans badness
arguments arguing sin means humans can never be morally good
-free will gift and must be preserved, humans use it badly so never good
-true goodness sommum bonum so humans always lack some goodness
-wrong to object idea that humans on basis of gods grace because humans faulty
-gods grace and love doesnt make people good
arguments arguing sin doesnt not prevent people from being morally good
-gods grace has real impact on people, helps them
-catholic view of concupiscence being inclination to sin rather a sin means humans can choose moral goodness
-all loving god would not condemn humans
-immortality doesnt come from venial everyday sins but serious mortal sins CC
human societies effected by the fall
lacked stability
-harmony in Eden where politics and authority not needed and direct relation with god cant work in todays societies
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the state for augustine
-punishment for fallen humanity
-has powers to punish kill and give orders
-encouraged slavery in his time
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augustine on 2 types of cities
earthly city- governed by material forces where those condemned to hell exist
-heavenly city- those chosen exist
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augustines 3 types of peace
-peace found in city of god- perfect peace
-temporal peace all societies aim for
-inner peace for those living in city of god as chosen ones
augustines view of human societies summarised
–fall broke relation with god and man
-banishment from Eden leading to new form of leader
-OS and concupiscence driving force of human nature
-politics and law to promote earthly peace
-ultimate aim from city of god different peace
-city of god only for those chosen by god
argumentd arguing there is a distinctive human nature
-seen in society and individuals
-some nature shown in men and women- men assertive and women passive
-scientists argue humans flourish and survive built in them- evolution
-Rosseau says humans have tendency to be generous but society holds them back
-Thomas Hobbes humans like animals, selfish beings need to use reason to overcome animals
arguments arguing there isnt distinctive human nature
-Freud, humans governed by memories and feelings repressed into unconcious minds
-Satre, we build who we are through own choices and decisions
-as many socities different human natures different
-Locke, tabula rasa, blank slate and surroundings influence us
-christians say own relation with god built through choices, no right way to be human
pelagius
clashed with augustine over free will
-declared heretic by church
-views against the church
augustine vs pelagius OS
-augustine- adams sins effect all people, fall gives guilt to whole human race
pelagius- created in same state as adam but responsible for own sins, become sinners when we choose to sin not at birth
arguments for augustine being optimist
-teachings of grace- grace undeserved
-heaven peace is a reality and something that can be achieved , christian must always live life in hope they are chosen one
-church helps christians on journey and there to guide people on earth towards summum bonum as well as earthly peace
arguments for augustine being pessimistic
-we are tainted from birth through a fault that isnt ours
-little opportunity to develop away from out state, free will downplayed and hell certainty for some
-through life we are driven by concupiscence as negative force that controls us
scientific evidence against the fall
-geneticists claim we have evidence of genetic diversity
-evolved not created
-not possible for humanity to descend from two people
-lions of the father wrong
-homunculus theory wrong
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augustine defended against scientific evidence against fall
-views of human nature corrupted by original sin derived from observation of humans and society
-right about origional sin even if unsure about fall
-Gk Chesterson- see evidence for original sin on the street
-R. Niebuhr- empirically verifiable christian doctrine
pelagius- augustines observations reflect his society not human nature
-educated in evil- bad because how we are raised not because of corrupted will
-long habit of doing wrong infected us from childhood and corrupted us over years- aqcuired into force of nature
-MLK- acr of human reason long but towards justice
-average life more secure now- if augustine was right human nature wouldnt have imporved but it has
pelagius- predestination makes punishment unjust
-if we have OS and unable to avoid doing evil
-unjust to be punished
-not ethical for humanity to be blamed
-people responsible for actions they havent committed
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punishment if just for sinfull beings defense of augustine
-isnt arguing god blames humanity for adams sins
-in adams loins we became infected with original sin
-predestination isnt unjust god but we are corrupted by OS so we deserve hell
-his grace cant be unjust not his justice cruel
pelagius- god commands moral action so we must be capable of moral goodness- weakness of augustine
bible full of humans doing good and avoiding evil
-why be good if going hell anyway leads to bad attitude
-god commands moral action
have free will to do them
-original sin does not inhibit us
augstine strength
-biblical evidence against pelagian free will
-humans can desire good actions but only with gods grace
-paul clear that human ability to do good power of god
-love greater than free will but then praise of humans greater than gods grace
-love gift from god and due to him we can do good
-if we receive love by divine grace out good actions not from human free will but god
