Theologian Augustine
Saint Augustine believes that God made the universe from nothing. He also states that God did not create sin or evil, and the impact of sin or evil cannot be blamed on God although He allows for the occurrence of transgression. Sin is, therefore, a result of God’s creation. Augustine supports the human race’s free will and says that their evil will corrupt God’s will in them, and thus, human beings suffer because of their sins. On Augustine’s belief about hell, he stresses that evil may have originated from human beings because they are not all good; therefore, swayed by evil. Saint Augustine believes in the existence of a physical hell and attributes the reason for going to hell is due to humanity’s separation from God.
Stark and Chelius state that Augustine uses a theoretical and ethical procedure to describe evil; they further state that Augustine defines evil as a form of corruption(111). He also puts across that everyone born and living except Jesus Christ himself are condemned of Adam’s sin. Through Adam’s sin, we are all considered to have sinned ourselves. Although Saint Augustine recognises God as the maker of everything around us, he does not recognise Him as the creator of evil. God may, however, be viewed as the source of evil for allowing it to occur. Saint Augustine attributes the source of evil to be beyond God’s control. He sees evil as a state of nothingness. Sin is further defined not as bad but a mere lack of proper or lack of positive intention. While the Catholic church has never taught on the occurrence of original sin in infants from the moment they are born, Saint Augustine ‘s contradicting view is how God has allowed for sin to occur even in the process of creating life naturally.
Regarding Saint Augustine’s belief in free will, he practised freedom all through his life and believed in free will. For past theologians, the topic of free will was nearly discussed and remained a mystery to them. Augustine rejects human freedom but not entirely. He believes that God is supreme and that His power cannot be given up for anything else. At one time, Saint Augustine is consumed in preserving the goodness of God and people’s free will. He stresses that the only bad thing is evil will and not necessarily a free will. Saint Augustine considers wicked to be a state of nothingness. He then finds freedom not to be immoral, but the misuse of liberty itself evil. Saint Augustine further stated that the type of free will that does not accommodate sin is no longer existent in recent times.
Predestination is a term that explains how all processes occur per God’s will. Predestination further explains the notion of free will in which God is omniscient and much higher than human beings ‘ freedom of choice. This means that one cannot resist God’s calling. Saint Augustine believes that God’s predestination depended on how much God knew about human beings’ characters either in their present or past life. God is the director of everything but also permits human free will as human beings would not exist if it were not for God’s own free will to create humankind, and thus humanity must exist through freedom. John Calvin, on the other hand, stresses the idea of divine predestination. He also highlights the act of God; selecting those who shall enter heaven based on his omniscient nature and divine grace. John Calvin also taught about double predestination. The difference between single and double predestination is that single destiny means the act of selecting only those that will experience redemption.
In contrast, double predestination implies the selection of those that shall experience redemption and those that shall face condemnation. Saint Augustine taught predestination according to God’s act of deciding to offer his divine grace to some of not all humans, meaning that God chooses to award some people eternal life. On the other hand, He leaves others to suffer the repercussions of their sins. Human beings have no right whatsoever to God’s saving grace, but the Lord’s decision on whom to award divine grace is truly supreme. John Calvin, a Protestant reformer at the time, embraced Augustine’s predestination especially double predestination.
Augustine stresses on the grace of God. He viewed God as all-powerful. As a result, Augustine could not select God, but God picked him and this because the chosen few that God picks to award grace cannot refuse. He says that grace is essential for sound decision making by any person. Saint Augustine is continuously bothered by God’s blessing upon humans despite the sins they have committed against God’s will. In his confessions, Augustine defined grace as “God’s active changing of our hearts desires so that we can truly desire Him above all else, freely choose him and as we love Him, find him in our true soul’s joy”( Mann and William 16). Augustine further states that the reason as to why we need the divine grace of God is because we will have the freedom to select what excites human beings but lack the freedom to choose that which they delight. Piper states that grace controls humanity’s life by offering the highest form of happiness in God’s power(19). If a person’s ways of life are evil that he cant do good anymore, then grace is the only thing that can save him. Saint Augustine states that man may lack the ability to resist God’s grace because God may surpass man’s free will. The divine grace of God can reawaken even the fallen man, e.g. through going to church and listening to the preacher. The chosen are said to be the ones that receive God’s grace, and they are but a few.
Concerning salvation, Saint Augustine believed that God saved only those that he wanted to. Every human being is guilty of the original sin, and due to that, Saint Augustine believes that God should punish humanity eternally. He also viewed this act of God saving a chosen few instead of punishing everyone very astonishing as it portrays God’s mercy upon humanity. Saint Augustine further stated that God does not want to punish humanity but lets them suffer the impact of their sins. Despite the original sin, God shows his love for humankind by saving a few, and this to his divine grace.
Tyacke and Nicholas support Augustine’s notion that God must contain an excellent reason when selecting those to save (56). Augustine says that for redemption to occur, a man must experience the grace of God but is curious about why God chooses whom to award His divine grace. Saint Augustine lacks an answer to this curiosity and rules it as a mystery. In his Enchidrion Saint Augustine states that although we are sinners, we should not give up on God’s mercy upon us. Salvation is depended on God Himself as he is the one that selects whom to save and saves them anyway as nothing man can stop God from awarding them His divine grace. To justify his opinions on salvation, Augustine regularly gives a spotlight to the signs of Jesus and redemption in the Bible. He also stresses on the deeper meaning of some scriptures insisting that Jesus’s work was prophesied. Augustine did not view salvation coming to an end with the New Testament but saw it go on even in recent times.
Works cited
Mann, William E., ed. Augustine’s Confessions: Philosophy in Autobiography. Oxford University Press, USA, 2014.
Piper, John. The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. Vol. 1. Crossway, 2006
Stark, Judith Chelius. “The Problem of Evil: Augustine and Ricoeur.” Augustinian Studies 13 (1982): 111-121.
Tyacke, Nicholas, ed. England’s Long Reformation: 1500-1800. Routledge, 2003.