Augustine on human nature

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  • Created by: Toby
  • Created on: 21-06-23 19:40
what did Augustine say about human nature?
claims that there is a human nature which is corrupted by original sin

By observing himself and others, he thought humans had a natural predisposition to sin

looked to the genesis story for explanation (Adam and eve)
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what did Augustine think of the story of Adam and eve?
God commanded them to go forth and multiply, which implies they had a sexual relationship

Before the fall, sex would have been a purely rational act without being driven by desire

god made childbirth painful for eve/women
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what is original sin?
Human nature is corrupted by a tendency to do evil. inherited from Adam and eve
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what is cupiditas and caritas?
Cupiditas is love of earthly impermanent things, selfishness and love of self

Caritas is the Latin version of the Greek word Agape. It means love of others due to virtue as an expression of God’s will
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what is concupiscence?
It is when bodily desire overpowers reason. Augustine thought the most obvious case of this is sexual desire
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what are arguments against augustine?
Geneticists claim that it’s not possible for all of humanity to have descended from two people

evolution, suggests that we evolved and were not created, The story of Adam and Eve is unscientific.
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what is Augustine's exclusivism?
we are so corrupted by original sin that genuine persevering faith in Jesus is only possible with God’s help: his gift of grace will elect those to be saved
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what is grace?
Grace is what saves humans and thereby allows them into heaven. Election refers to God’s choosing to grant grace
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what are arguments against grace/predestination?
Pelagius argued that if we have original sin and are thus completely unable to avoid doing evil, it would surely be unjust for God to punish us for our sinful behaviour

It’s not ethical for all humanity to be blamed for the actions of Adam and Eve
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what are other arguments against original sin?
so it still seems unfair and thus incompatible with omnibenevolence to suggest that we deserve punishment for it
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what did Pelagius say about moral goodness?
points out that the bible is full of cases of God commanding humans to do morally good actions and avoid morally bad actions.

why would God would make these demands if original sin meant that humans did not have the ability to obey those commands
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what did Augustine say about pelagius?
humans can desire and accomplish good actions, however not by themselves as a result of a free will, but only by the help of God’s grace
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what did Augustine think of the story of Adam and eve?

Back

God commanded them to go forth and multiply, which implies they had a sexual relationship

Before the fall, sex would have been a purely rational act without being driven by desire

god made childbirth painful for eve/women

Card 3

Front

what is original sin?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what is cupiditas and caritas?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what is concupiscence?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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