Augustinianism

Augustinianism (or Augustinism) is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of the 4th-century philosopher Augustine of Hippo. Among his most important works are The City of God, De doctrina Christiana, and Confessions.

According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith".^[a], his book The City of God is one of the most influential documents in medieval philosophy and is a cornerstone of Western thought, expounding on many profound questions of theology, such as the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.

Pope Benedict XVI cautioned that all of the Western Church teaching leads to him:

St Augustine. This man of passion and faith, of the highest intelligence and tireless in his pastoral care, a great Saint and Doctor of the Church is often known, at least by hearsay, even by those who ignore Christianity or who are not familiar with it, because he left a very deep mark on the cultural life of the West and on the whole world. Because of his special importance St Augustine's influence was widespread. It could be said on the one hand that all the roads of Latin Christian literature led to Hippo (today Annaba, on the coast of Algeria), the place where he was Bishop from 395 to his death in 430, and, on the other, that from this city of Roman Africa, many other roads of later Christianity and of Western culture itself branched out.^[1]

Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has written: "[Augustine's] impact on Western Christian thought can hardly be overstated; only his beloved example Paul of Tarsus, has been more influential, and Westerners have generally seen Paul through Augustine's eyes."^[2]

Theological and philosophical thought

Augustinism developed in opposition to the Pelagianism of Pelagius.^[3] "Augustine considered the human race as a compact mass, a collective body, responsible in its unity and solidarity. Carrying out his system in all its logical consequences, he laid down the following rigid proposition as his doctrine: 'As all men have sinned in Adam; they are subject to the condemnation of God on account of this hereditary sin and the guilt thereof'"^[4]^[5]

According to Augustine, even the world and corporeal entities, being fruits of divine love, have their value and meaning, while the some Platonists tended instead to devalue them. ^[6] This attempt to place history and earthly existence within a heavenly perspective, where even evil finds explanation in some way, always remained at the center of its philosophical concerns.

Theodicy

Problem of evil

The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.^[7]^[8]

Augustine develop key ideas regarding his response to suffering. In Confessions, Augustine wrote that his previous work was dominated by materialism and that reading the works of Plato enabled him to consider the existence of a non-physical substance. This helped him develop a response to the problem of evil from a theological (and non-Manichean) perspective,^[9]

Augustine proposed that evil could not exist within God, nor be created by God, and is instead a by-product of God's creativity.^[10] He rejected the notion that evil exists in itself, proposing instead that it is a privation of (or falling away from) good, and a corruption of nature.^[11] He wrote that "evil has no positive nature; but the loss of good has received the name 'evil.'"^[12] Both moral and natural evil occurs, Augustine argued, owing to an evil use of free will,^[13] which could be traced back to the original sin of Adam and Eve.^[14] He believed that this evil will, present in the human soul, was a corruption of the will given to humans by God, making suffering a just punishment for the sin of humans.^[15] Because Augustine believed that all of humanity was "seminally present in the loins of Adam", he argued that all of humanity inherited Adam's sin and his just punishment.^[16] However, in spite of his belief that free will can be turned to evil, Augustine maintained that it is vital for humans to have free will, because they could not live well without it. He argued that evil could come from humans because, although humans contained no evil, they were also not perfectly good and hence could be corrupted.^[17]

Ethics

Divine command theory

Augustine offered the Divine command theory, a theory which proposes that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded by God.^[18]^[19]Augustine's theory began by casting ethics as the pursuit of the supreme good, which delivers human happiness, Augustine argued that to achieve this happiness, humans must love objects that are worthy of human love in the correct manner; this requires humans to love God, which then allows them to correctly love that which is worthy of being loved. Augustine's ethics proposed that the act of loving God enables humans to properly orient their loves, leading to human happiness and fulfilment.^[20]

as an Neoplatonist, Augustine supported Plato's view that a well-ordered soul is a desirable consequence of morality. However, unlike Plato, he believed that achieving a well-ordered soul had a higher purpose: living in accordance with God's commands. His view of morality was thus heteronomous, as he believed in deference to a higher authority (God), rather than acting autonomously.^[21]

Divine illumination

Augustine emphasised the role of divine illumination in our thought, saying that "The mind needs to be enlightened by light from outside itself, so that it can participate in truth, because it is not itself the nature of truth. You will light my lamp, Lord,"^[22]

For Augustine, God does not give us certain information, but rather gives us insight into the truth of the information we received for ourselves.

If we both see that what you say is true, and we both see that what I say is true, then where do we see that? Not I in you, nor you in me, but both of us in that unalterable truth that is above our minds.^[23]

Just war theory

The Just war theory is a doctrine that ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. based upon Romans 13:4 Augustine claimed that, while individuals should not resort immediately to violence, God has given the sword to government for good reason. Augustine argues that Christians, as part of a government, need not be ashamed of protecting peace and punishing wickedness when forced to do so by a government. Augustine asserted that this was a personal, philosophical stance: "What is here required is not a bodily action, but an inward disposition. The sacred seat of virtue is the heart."^[24]^[25]

Hamartiology

Original sin

Augustine wrote that original sin is transmitted by concupiscence and enfeebles freedom of the will without destroying it.^[26] For Augustine, Adam's sin^[27] is transmitted by concupiscence, or "hurtful desire",^[28]^[29] resulting in humanity becoming a massa damnata (mass of perdition, condemned crowd), with much enfeebled, though not destroyed, freedom of will. When Adam sinned, human nature was thenceforth transformed. Adam and Eve, via sexual reproduction, recreated human nature. Their descendants now live in sin, in the form of concupiscence, a term Augustine used in a metaphysical, not a psychological sense.^[30] Augustine insisted that concupiscence was not a being but a bad quality, the privation of good or a wound.^[31] He admitted that sexual concupiscence (libido) might have been present in the perfect human nature in paradise, and that only later it became disobedient to human will as a result of the first couple's disobedience to God's will in the original sin.^[32] In Augustine's view (termed "Realism"), all of humanity was really present in Adam when he sinned, and therefore all have sinned. Original sin, according to Augustine, consists of the guilt of Adam which all humans inherit. Justo Gonzalez interprets Augustine's teaching that humans are utterly depraved in nature and grace is irresistible, results in conversion, and leads to perseverance.^[33]

Augustine's understanding of the consequences of original sin and the necessity of redeeming grace was developed in the struggle against Pelagius and his Pelagian disciples, Caelestius and Julian of Eclanum,^[33] who had been inspired by Rufinus of Syria, a disciple of Theodore of Mopsuestia.^[34]^: 35 They refused to agree that original sin wounded human will and mind, insisting that human nature was given the power to act, to speak, and to think when God created it. Human nature cannot lose its moral capacity for doing good, but a person is free to act or not to act in a righteous way. Pelagius gave an example of eyes: they have capacity for seeing, but a person can make either good or bad use of it.^[35]^{: 355–356}^[36]

Notes

^ Jerome wrote to Augustine in 418: "You are known throughout the world; Catholics honour and esteem you as the one who has established anew the ancient Faith" (conditor antiquae rursum fidei). Cf. Epistola 195; TeSelle, Eugene (1970). Augustine the Theologian. London. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-223-97728-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) March 2002 edition: ISBN 1-57910-918-7.

References

^ BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 9 January 2008
^ Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010). A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Penguin Books. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-14-102189-8.
^ Augustinism
^ Smith's Hagenbach, History of Doctrines, 1, 299
^ Wiggers Augustinisnm and Pelagianism, p. 268
^ Tina Manferdini, Comunicazione ed estetica in Sant'Agostino, p. 249, Bologna, ESD, 1995
^ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "The Problem of Evil", Michael Tooley
^ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "The Evidential Problem of Evil", Nick Trakakis
^ Mendelson, Michael (12 November 2010) [24 March 2000]. "Saint Augustine". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
^ Menn 2002, p. 168
^ Menn 2002, p. 170
^ The City of God, Augustine of Hippo, Book XI, Chapter 9
^ Bennett, Peters, Hewlett & Russell 2008, p. 126
^ Svendsen & Pierce 2010, p. 49
^ Menn 2002, p. 174
^ Bennett, Peters, Hewlett & Russell 2008, p. 127
^ Menn 2002, p. 176
^ Helm, Paul (1981). Divine Commands and Morality. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-875049-8.
^ Chandler, Hugh (2007). Platonistic And Disenchanting Theories of Ethics. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-8858-5.
^ Austin, Michael W. (21 August 2006). "Divine Command Theory". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Connolly, Keller, Leever & White 2009, p. 24
^ Confessions IV.xv.25
^ Confessions XII.xxv.35
^ Robert L. Holmes. "A Time For War?". ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ Contra Faustum Manichaeum book 22 sections 69–76
^ Cross, Frank Leslie; Livingstone, Elizabeth A., eds. (2005). "Original sin". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
^ Augustine taught that Adam's sin was both an act of foolishness (insipientia) and of pride and disobedience to God of Adam and Eve. He thought it was a most subtle job to discern what came first: self-centeredness or failure in seeing truth. Augustine wrote to Julian of Eclanum: Sed si disputatione subtilissima et elimatissima opus est, ut sciamus utrum primos homines insipientia superbos, an insipientes superbia fecerit (Contra Julianum, V, 4.18; PL 44, 795). This particular sin would not have taken place if Satan had not sown into their senses "the root of evil" (radix Mali): Nisi radicem mali humanus tunc reciperet sensus (Contra Julianum, I, 9.42; PL 44, 670)
^ "Original Sin". Biblical Apologetic Studies. Retrieved 17 May 2014. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) taught that Adam's sin is transmitted by concupiscence, or "hurtful desire", sexual desire and all sensual feelings resulting in humanity becoming a massa damnata (mass of perdition, condemned crowd), with much enfeebled, though not destroyed, freedom of will.
^ William Nicholson. A Plain But Full Exposition of the Catechism of the Church of England, page 118. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ Thomas Aquinas explained Augustine's doctrine pointing out that the libido (concupiscence), which makes the original sin pass from parents to children, is not a libido actualis, i.e. sexual lust, but libido habitualis, i.e. a wound of the whole of human nature: Libido quae transmittit peccatum originale in prolem, non est libido actualis, quia dato quod virtute divina concederetur alicui quod nullam inordinatam libidinem in actu generationis sentiret, adhuc transmitteret in prolem originale peccatum. Sed libido illa est intelligenda habitualiter, secundum quod appetitus sensitivus non continetur sub ratione vinculo originalis iustitiae. Et talis libido in omnibus est aequalis (STh Iª–IIae q. 82 a. 4 ad 3).
^ Non substantialiter manere concupiscentiam, sicut corpus aliquod aut spiritum; sed esse affectionem quamdam malae qualitatis, sicut est languor. (De nuptiis et concupiscentia, I, 25. 28; PL 44, 430; cf. Contra Julianum, VI, 18.53; PL 44, 854; ibid. VI, 19.58; PL 44, 857; ibid., II, 10.33; PL 44, 697; Contra Secundinum Manichaeum, 15; PL 42, 590.
^ Augustine wrote to Julian of Eclanum: Quis enim negat futurum fuisse concubitum, etiamsi peccatum non praecessisset? Sed futurus fuerat, sicut aliis membris, ita etiam genitalibus voluntate motis, non libidine concitatis; aut certe etiam ipsa libidine – ut non vos de illa nimium contristemus – non qualis nunc est, sed ad nutum voluntarium serviente (Contra Julianum, IV. 11. 57; PL 44, 766). See also his late work: Contra secundam Iuliani responsionem imperfectum opus, II, 42; PL 45,1160; ibid. II, 45; PL 45,1161; ibid., VI, 22; PL 45, 1550–1551. Cf.Schmitt, É. (1983). Le mariage chrétien dans l'oeuvre de Saint Augustin. Une théologie baptismale de la vie conjugale. Études Augustiniennes. Paris. p. 104.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ^a ^b Justo L. Gonzalez (1970–1975). A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2 (From Augustine to the eve of the Reformation). Abingdon Press.
^ Marius Mercator Lib. subnot.in verb. Iul. Praef.,2,3; PL 48,111 /v.5-13/; Bonner, Gerald (1987). "Rufinus of Syria and African Pelagianism". God's Decree and Man's Destiny. London: Variorum Reprints. pp. 31–47. ISBN 978-0-86078-203-2.
^ Cite error: The named reference Bonner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Augustine of Hippo, De gratia Christi et de peccato originali, I, 15.16; CSEL 42, 138 [v. 24–29]; Ibid., I,4.5; CSEL 42, 128 [v.15–23].