Augustine on Human Nature

Created by: ElizabethH2525
Created on: 25-04-19 16:25

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Human nature
- Augustine's life and influences
  - Born in 354 AD in North Africa (part of the Roman Empire)
  - Mother: Monica, a devout Christian. Father: a pagan, hostile towards Christianity
  - Well educated: taught in Carthage
  - Followed the teachings of the Manichees as a young man
    - Dualist: God of light and God of darkness. The world is engaged in a cosmic battle between good (spiritual world of light) and bad (material world of darkness)
    - Humans have 2 souls: one good one evil, which pull in different directions
      - We are naturally good, but are trapped in the kingdom of darkness due to the appetites of the body
  - Later followed neo-Platonism
  - Yet felt unsatisfied - doubted the ability of human reason to find truth and goodness alone
  - Converted to Christianity aged 32: intellectual (gradual) conversion
    - Gave up his mistress
    - Became a priest then a bishop
    - Didn't share Constantine's religious tolerance
      - Ordered the destruction of non-Christian places of worship
      - Persecuted heretics as those who had a different way of understanding Christianity
- Catechism of the Catholic Church on human nature
  - The divine image of God is present in every man
    - "Likeness to God" Genesis 1:27
  - 1703: "spiritual and immortal soul"... "the only creature on earth that God willed for its own sake"
    - "In God's image" versus "image of God" Genesis 1:27
  - 1704: participates in the power of the divine spirit = capable of understanding the order of things as established by God
    - Aquinas' Natural Law: morality via the natural world
  - By free will, he is capable of directing himself towards good; i.e. being Christian
  - Humans were created good
    - "And it was very good" Genesis 1:32
- Aristotle on human nature
  - Recognised an animal-human similarity
    - Both occupy their rightful place on the "Chain of Being" in the Realm of Becoming
  - Developed by Neo-Platonists
- Augustine on human nature
  - Interpreted the image of God in terms of our ability to reason - distinguishes us from animals
  - Humans have a God-given ability to relate to God
  - Dignity is related to our rational soul
    - Aquinas: free will is in important part of our dignity
  - The Fall: Genesis 3
    - Pre-Fall
      - Humans enjoyed a time of harmony
        Human body, Will and reason were in complete co-operation with each other
      - Adam and Eve had been given duties and were obedient until the Fall
        Harmony is expressed in the complete obedience of Adam and Eve and their duties to other living creatures
        Humans enjoyed a time of harmony
        Human body, Will and reason were in complete co-operation with each other
        
        Need obedience to have a functioning society
      - Concordia
        Human friendship
        Adam and Eve lived in a spirit of friendship
        Had a sexual relationship (obedience to "be fruitful and multiply) but governed by love not lust
        
        Humans are naturally social creatures
      - No concept or understanding of sin
      - Free will
        One of the chief characteristics of being made in God's image
        
        Had to be free to obey God's commands
      - Caritas
        Generous love for others
        Displayed through each of the "four cardinal virtues" devised by Plato
        
        The mark of perfect relationships with God and others
    - Post Fall
      - Cupiditas
        Selfish love: a love of worldly things and selfish desires
        Represents an error of will
        Choosing this path is entirely our responsibility
      - Only through the grace of God can our now corrupt relationships be restored
        Follow Jesus
      - Human sin and human society
        Original sin: doctrine claiming that everyone is born sinful
        We're all born with an inbuilt urge to disobey God and do bad
        Inherited from Adam
        "Seminally present in the loins of Adam"
        
        Origins lie in a sense of inaqequacy and weakness
        
        Blame lies in Adam and Eve
        
        Humanity as a messa peccati
        Humans are born as "one lump of sin"without redeeming qualities. However hard humans try they can't lead pure lives nor redeem themselves
        
        Contradicted by Pelagius
        Argued we do not have to follow Adam's example
        
        Impact of original sin on human society
        Post Fall: a forceful political authority is needed to control people's sinful natures and keep everyone in check
        For Augustine, contributing to a well ordered society is a necessity (to avoid chaos), not a virtue (contrast with Aquinas)
    - Key quotations
      - "Or you will die": death not present pre-Fall
      - "The eyes of both of them were opened": change
      - "Cursed are you"
      - "Your desire will be for your husband"
- Augustine on men, women and sexuality
  - Concupiscence
    - Uncontrollable desire for physical pleasures and material things
    - Augustine primarily meant sexual desires, but other appetites can apply e.g. food, jealousy
  - Augustine himself ensured he didn't gossip, and in order to keep himself chaste didn't let any women into his own home - even his own sister
  - Rejected that women are more evil than men, or weaker, because of Eve's sin
    - Both made in imago Dei, which we share equally in
      - Both have the rational nature of forming a loving relationship with God
      - A women is not inferior, but is passive
        Should take on roles in the home, not decision making
        Told Edicia to wait until her husband agreed to renounce her physical pelasures

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Augustine on Human Nature

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