Early adopter of Manichaeism who was later, begrudgingly ordained as a Christian priest. Then he wrote Confessions against the Manichaeins, and then another string of works against Pelagius, saying that without grace, there could be no faith and no act of good will. He surmised that the net result of Adam’s sin was that all of humanity was corrupted and therefore guilty. The only way to overcome the inherent condemnation of this was for God (of his own goodness) to pour his grace into people. Sex is inherently evil, the means through which Adam’s sin is transmitted to all subsequent generations and this is why Mary experienced the virgin birth. Salvation is by God’s grace alone and is reserved by him for only a minority of souls (predestination). His work City of God is a defense of Xianity against the pagans, and his On the Trinity is a defense of the Trinity’s rationality as a single God being 1 from 3.
Augustine's main contribution was to Western Christendom and emphasized God's absolute supremacy and the requisite human helplessness and utter dependency on God's grace (Olson 255).
The Olson text also stated that Augustine's views changed significantly over time and that he started out closer to Pelagius' understanding of free will when Augustine was combating Manichaeism.
In order to avoid dualism, Augustine espoused an understanding of evil that was NEO-Platonic, namely, that it was not a nature or substance, but rather the corruption of something good that God had made (Olson 262).
Early adopter of Manichaeism who was later, begrudgingly ordained as a Christian priest. Then he wrote Confessions against the Manichaeins, and then another string of works against Pelagius, saying that without grace, there could be no faith and no act of good will. He surmised that the net result of Adam’s sin was that all of humanity was corrupted and therefore guilty. The only way to overcome the inherent condemnation of this was for God (of his own goodness) to pour his grace into people.
ReplyDeleteSex is inherently evil, the means through which Adam’s sin is transmitted to all subsequent generations and this is why Mary experienced the virgin birth. Salvation is by God’s grace alone and is reserved by him for only a minority of souls (predestination). His work City of God is a defense of Xianity against the pagans, and his On the Trinity is a defense of the Trinity’s rationality as a single God being 1 from 3.
-CL
Augustine's main contribution was to Western Christendom and emphasized God's absolute supremacy and the requisite human helplessness and utter dependency on God's grace (Olson 255).
ReplyDeleteThe Olson text also stated that Augustine's views changed significantly over time and that he started out closer to Pelagius' understanding of free will when Augustine was combating Manichaeism.
In order to avoid dualism, Augustine espoused an understanding of evil that was NEO-Platonic, namely, that it was not a nature or substance, but rather the corruption of something good that God had made (Olson 262).