augustine discussion questions

• Augustine's teachings about grace:

  • can't be reconciled with God through our efforts
  • Generous giving of God's love to people even if they don't deserve it
  • 'The Doctor of Grace' ==> prescribed the Grace of God as a cure for the sinfulness of humans
  • Grace can save people from eternal punishment
  • Grace of God found in Christ
  • Summon bonum ==> state of eternal happiness, supreme good
  • similar to Plato's form of good
• How convincing are Augustine's teachings on the historical Fall and the Original Sin?

  + very influential on Christian thought

  -many believe it is more mythical than literal

  -evolution and natural selection

  -OS is unjust and difficult to believe ==> how can others be punished through sin

  + could be inherited even if we don't believe in it

  have to accept God's help
• Is Augustine's view of human nature optimistic or pessimistic?

  • Pessimistic => we are already wrong, no escape from it except by God's grace, later writings show that he believes there is no escaping our fallen nature, future fates already created
  • Optimistic => Quaker movement believes that we all have the Divine light within us all, offered a cure for sinfulness through Jesus Christ
• Is Augustine right that human sin means that humans can never be morally good?

  -very little point in trying to act good

  +recognition of imperfection could lead to moral progress --> but we still rely on God's grace

  -key attributes of God questioned

  -sexuality is treated as repressive in Christianity

  -we are born as blank slates
• Is there a distinctive human nature?

  • Augustine believed there was an ideal human nature => before the fall we were able to live in friendship and harmony with innocence
  • Once sin came into the world, society was fall of repression and hatred
  • Couldn't be led to summum bonum
  • Dawkins believes that we have animalistic tendencies
  • Buddhism => impermanence and suffering (dukkha)
  • Confucius => good and bad are apart of our human essence
  • Jean Paul Sartre didn't believe in human nature
• Founder of alot of Christian thought