Augustine’s Teaching on Human Nature
Human relationships pre-Fall and post-Fall, Original sin and its effects on the will and human societies,
God’s grace
Key Word: Definition:
Explain Augustine’s Augustine's ‘The City of God’ - ‘the evil will preceded the evil act’
views on teaching Suggests, prelapsarian, Adam and Eve were in state of perfection however, their use of
nature including freewill to disobey God by eating from tree of knowledge of good and evil resulted in
human relationships original sin (inclination towards evil)
pre-Fall and post- As all humans are seminally present in the loins of Adam, according to Augustine,
Fall and original sin original sin has resulted in massa damanta (the mass of the damned, explained by St
and its effects on the Paul in Romans 6:23) and a post-lapsarian awareness of and selfish carnal desires
will and human Augustine argues humans have divided body and soul where former corrupts latter
societies Views likely informed by Manichaeism (gnostic esoteric sect who propagated cosmic
dualism and asceticism) and Neoplatonism (argues soul cannot harmoniously control
body which causes unhappiness)
Explain God’s grace God’s benevolence towards the undeserving, namely humans who have fallen short of
His glory (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
Supports of 1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
Augustine’s Augustine's ‘The City of God’ - ‘the evil will preceded the evil act’
Teaching on Augustine suggests, prelapsarian, Adam and Eve were in state of perfection however, their
,Human Nature use of freewill to disobey God by eating from tree of knowledge of good and evil resulted in
original sin
As all humans are seminally present in loins of Adam, according to Augustine, original sin has
resulted in massa damanta (the mass of the damned) and a post-lapsarian awareness of
selfish carnal desires
St Paul in Romans 5:12 - ‘Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned’
Supports Augustine’s interpretation of original sin as an ontological condition that entails death
both physically (Genesis 3:19 showing humans will return to ground) and spiritually (Genesis
3:10 showing epistemic distance)
St Paul in Romans 7:15 - ‘For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do’
Shows humans are tainted by original sin and display Aristotelian notion of akrasia (humans
have weakness of will), contrary to Aquinas’ belief that humans have infallible inclination to do
good and avoid evil (synderesis)
C: St Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature may be more of a reflection of
early philosophical influences rather than Biblical doctrine
E.g. Manichaeism (gnostic esoteric sect who propagated cosmic dualism and asceticism) and
Neoplatonism (argues soul cannot harmoniously control body which leads to unhappiness)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (Enlightenment thinker) ‘The Social Contract’ - ‘Man is born free,
and everywhere he is in chains’
Suggests humans are inherently altruistic and philanthropic individuals but imitate sinful
behaviour endorsed by society
Michel Foucault (existentialist) - ‘we are socialised and educated to think and behave in a
particular way and what is considered to be human nature’
Supports Rousseau’s idea that heteronomy results in adoption of sinful behaviour
Bonhoeffer’s coming of age concept - humans are duly given autonomy to make moral
decisions based off guidelines b/c more civilised, educated and virtuous
CC: William Barclay - ‘If we insist that in every situation every man must make his own
decision, then first of all we must make man morally and lovingly fit to make that decision;
otherwise we need the compulsion of law to make him do it’
William Barclay disagreed w/ Bonhoeffer’s coming of age concept as power corrupts so people
do not act lovingly
As such, humans require external supervision of legalistic morality to restrict selfish
individualism and bring about loving decisions showing Augustine’s unsympathetic
interpretation of human nature is valid
Thomas Hobbes' ‘Leviathan’ - ‘The life of man, solitary, poor, brutish, and short’
Hobbes suggests humans are predisposed to selfish individualism
Jeremiah 17:9 - ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it?’
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Grace is God’s benevolence towards the undeserving, namely humans who have fallen short
of His glory
Augstine suggests original sin (as explained by St Paul in Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23)
means humans cannot achieve sophrosyne (life w/o struggle) but required atonement so that
world could be reconciled to God and receive salvation
St Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9 - ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast’
Augstine rejected theological stances that undermined God’s grace (such as Pelagianism);
rather, he supported predestination (doctrine that elect are ordained by God for salvation)
C: Augustine’s belief in predestination and humans’ corporate responsibility for Adam and
Eve's disobedience, which necessitates grace, contradicts contemporary understanding of
justice and fairness
Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ - ‘What kind of ethical philosophy is it that condemns
every child, even before it is born, to inherit the sin of a remote ancestor?’
, Suggests it is irrational and dangerous to argue that humans literally fell from grace ensuing
disobedience of two individuals
Dawkins also suggests Jesus’ death on cross, as God incarnate, being glorified in Christian
theology appears sadomasochistic, thereby reinforcing irrationality of Fall
Cristopher Hitchens’ ‘God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything’ suggests Augstine’s
interpretation of Genesis 3 reflected patriarchal, hierarchical views of the time which are
incongruent w/ contemporary commitment to equality and rationality achieved through
humanitarian principle (humans flourish by accounting for interest of others)
CC: Rienhold Niebuhr’s ‘Moral Man and Immoral Society’ - ‘To the end of history the peace of
the world, as Augustine observed, must be gained by strife’
Suggests disregard for Biblical doctrine by post-Enlightenment thinkers is flawed b/c leads to
unrealistic expectations of achieving peace and justice through good intentions
Mass suffering and genocides (such as Holocaust) highlights shortcomings of assuming
inherent good instead; rather, as Augstine suggests, humans must recognise fallibilities and
respond to it by seeking God’s grace
Criticisms of 2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous
Augustine’s Augustine ‘The City of God’ - ‘Human nature then is, without any doubt, ashamed about lust
Teaching on and rightly ashamed’
Human Nature Augustine suggests prelapsarian sexual relations were driven by caritas (generous love
expressed through virtuous behaviours) instead of cupiditas (self-love expressed through
materialistic ambitions)
Sexual relations were rational and solely inteded for procreation (as per Genesis 1:28); thus
sexual relations involving pleasure are sinful
Aquinas’ primary precepts, knowable through synderesis, focus on reproduction of life
suggesting Augustine’s ideas are consistent w/ mediaeval scholastic thought
Augustine’s descriptions of Lady Continence in his ‘Confessions’ reinforce rejection of
concupiscence (strong carnal desires which can undermine true friendship) and endorsement
of continence (abstinence from sexual pleasures which enables harmonious relations)
However, Augustine’s views overlooks natural pleasure of sexual relationships
Freud suggests humans have a psychosexual development, initially driven by id and libido
Kant suggests humans exist in noumenal realm (of intellect and reason) and phenomenal
realm (of desires and inclinations)
C: Augustine’s criticism of sexual relations is biblical as St Paul endorses celibacy to prevent
sexual relations inhibiting one’s service to God
St Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:6-7 - ‘Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all
were as I myself am’
CC: St Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:9 - ‘But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry.
For it is better to marry than to burn with passion’
Shows not all sexual relations are reprehensible
Songs of Solomon presents marriage as institution designed by God for spiritual, emotional,
and physical enjoyment contrary to Augustine’s notions
Arguably, Augstine wrongly projects his guilt from sexual sins he committed in his adolescence
(as detailed in his autobiography ‘The Confessions’) through sentiments he propagates
Discuss whether or The Fall is the narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin
not Augustine’s into the world. It submits that original sin ensued Adam and Eve's use of freewill to
teaching on a disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This resulted in
historical Fall and 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that the teachings of St
Original Sin is wrong Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) on a historical Fall and
original sin are not wrong on the following grounds:
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
, 2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not Augustine is (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
right that sin means resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that ‘Augustine
that humans can is right that sin means that humans can never be morally good’ on the following grounds:
never be morally
good 1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not Augustine’s view (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
of human nature is resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that
pessimistic or ‘Augustine’s view of human nature is pessimistic’ and rightly so on the following grounds:
optimistic
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not there is a (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
distinctive human resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned) and a distinctive human nature’
nature that is fallen, concupiscent and requires grace. This essay posits that ‘there is a
distinctive human nature’ on the following grounds:
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Human relationships pre-Fall and post-Fall, Original sin and its effects on the will and human societies,
God’s grace
Key Word: Definition:
Explain Augustine’s Augustine's ‘The City of God’ - ‘the evil will preceded the evil act’
views on teaching Suggests, prelapsarian, Adam and Eve were in state of perfection however, their use of
nature including freewill to disobey God by eating from tree of knowledge of good and evil resulted in
human relationships original sin (inclination towards evil)
pre-Fall and post- As all humans are seminally present in the loins of Adam, according to Augustine,
Fall and original sin original sin has resulted in massa damanta (the mass of the damned, explained by St
and its effects on the Paul in Romans 6:23) and a post-lapsarian awareness of and selfish carnal desires
will and human Augustine argues humans have divided body and soul where former corrupts latter
societies Views likely informed by Manichaeism (gnostic esoteric sect who propagated cosmic
dualism and asceticism) and Neoplatonism (argues soul cannot harmoniously control
body which causes unhappiness)
Explain God’s grace God’s benevolence towards the undeserving, namely humans who have fallen short of
His glory (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
Supports of 1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
Augustine’s Augustine's ‘The City of God’ - ‘the evil will preceded the evil act’
Teaching on Augustine suggests, prelapsarian, Adam and Eve were in state of perfection however, their
,Human Nature use of freewill to disobey God by eating from tree of knowledge of good and evil resulted in
original sin
As all humans are seminally present in loins of Adam, according to Augustine, original sin has
resulted in massa damanta (the mass of the damned) and a post-lapsarian awareness of
selfish carnal desires
St Paul in Romans 5:12 - ‘Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned’
Supports Augustine’s interpretation of original sin as an ontological condition that entails death
both physically (Genesis 3:19 showing humans will return to ground) and spiritually (Genesis
3:10 showing epistemic distance)
St Paul in Romans 7:15 - ‘For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do’
Shows humans are tainted by original sin and display Aristotelian notion of akrasia (humans
have weakness of will), contrary to Aquinas’ belief that humans have infallible inclination to do
good and avoid evil (synderesis)
C: St Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature may be more of a reflection of
early philosophical influences rather than Biblical doctrine
E.g. Manichaeism (gnostic esoteric sect who propagated cosmic dualism and asceticism) and
Neoplatonism (argues soul cannot harmoniously control body which leads to unhappiness)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (Enlightenment thinker) ‘The Social Contract’ - ‘Man is born free,
and everywhere he is in chains’
Suggests humans are inherently altruistic and philanthropic individuals but imitate sinful
behaviour endorsed by society
Michel Foucault (existentialist) - ‘we are socialised and educated to think and behave in a
particular way and what is considered to be human nature’
Supports Rousseau’s idea that heteronomy results in adoption of sinful behaviour
Bonhoeffer’s coming of age concept - humans are duly given autonomy to make moral
decisions based off guidelines b/c more civilised, educated and virtuous
CC: William Barclay - ‘If we insist that in every situation every man must make his own
decision, then first of all we must make man morally and lovingly fit to make that decision;
otherwise we need the compulsion of law to make him do it’
William Barclay disagreed w/ Bonhoeffer’s coming of age concept as power corrupts so people
do not act lovingly
As such, humans require external supervision of legalistic morality to restrict selfish
individualism and bring about loving decisions showing Augustine’s unsympathetic
interpretation of human nature is valid
Thomas Hobbes' ‘Leviathan’ - ‘The life of man, solitary, poor, brutish, and short’
Hobbes suggests humans are predisposed to selfish individualism
Jeremiah 17:9 - ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it?’
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Grace is God’s benevolence towards the undeserving, namely humans who have fallen short
of His glory
Augstine suggests original sin (as explained by St Paul in Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23)
means humans cannot achieve sophrosyne (life w/o struggle) but required atonement so that
world could be reconciled to God and receive salvation
St Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9 - ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast’
Augstine rejected theological stances that undermined God’s grace (such as Pelagianism);
rather, he supported predestination (doctrine that elect are ordained by God for salvation)
C: Augustine’s belief in predestination and humans’ corporate responsibility for Adam and
Eve's disobedience, which necessitates grace, contradicts contemporary understanding of
justice and fairness
Richard Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ - ‘What kind of ethical philosophy is it that condemns
every child, even before it is born, to inherit the sin of a remote ancestor?’
, Suggests it is irrational and dangerous to argue that humans literally fell from grace ensuing
disobedience of two individuals
Dawkins also suggests Jesus’ death on cross, as God incarnate, being glorified in Christian
theology appears sadomasochistic, thereby reinforcing irrationality of Fall
Cristopher Hitchens’ ‘God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything’ suggests Augstine’s
interpretation of Genesis 3 reflected patriarchal, hierarchical views of the time which are
incongruent w/ contemporary commitment to equality and rationality achieved through
humanitarian principle (humans flourish by accounting for interest of others)
CC: Rienhold Niebuhr’s ‘Moral Man and Immoral Society’ - ‘To the end of history the peace of
the world, as Augustine observed, must be gained by strife’
Suggests disregard for Biblical doctrine by post-Enlightenment thinkers is flawed b/c leads to
unrealistic expectations of achieving peace and justice through good intentions
Mass suffering and genocides (such as Holocaust) highlights shortcomings of assuming
inherent good instead; rather, as Augstine suggests, humans must recognise fallibilities and
respond to it by seeking God’s grace
Criticisms of 2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous
Augustine’s Augustine ‘The City of God’ - ‘Human nature then is, without any doubt, ashamed about lust
Teaching on and rightly ashamed’
Human Nature Augustine suggests prelapsarian sexual relations were driven by caritas (generous love
expressed through virtuous behaviours) instead of cupiditas (self-love expressed through
materialistic ambitions)
Sexual relations were rational and solely inteded for procreation (as per Genesis 1:28); thus
sexual relations involving pleasure are sinful
Aquinas’ primary precepts, knowable through synderesis, focus on reproduction of life
suggesting Augustine’s ideas are consistent w/ mediaeval scholastic thought
Augustine’s descriptions of Lady Continence in his ‘Confessions’ reinforce rejection of
concupiscence (strong carnal desires which can undermine true friendship) and endorsement
of continence (abstinence from sexual pleasures which enables harmonious relations)
However, Augustine’s views overlooks natural pleasure of sexual relationships
Freud suggests humans have a psychosexual development, initially driven by id and libido
Kant suggests humans exist in noumenal realm (of intellect and reason) and phenomenal
realm (of desires and inclinations)
C: Augustine’s criticism of sexual relations is biblical as St Paul endorses celibacy to prevent
sexual relations inhibiting one’s service to God
St Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:6-7 - ‘Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all
were as I myself am’
CC: St Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:9 - ‘But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry.
For it is better to marry than to burn with passion’
Shows not all sexual relations are reprehensible
Songs of Solomon presents marriage as institution designed by God for spiritual, emotional,
and physical enjoyment contrary to Augustine’s notions
Arguably, Augstine wrongly projects his guilt from sexual sins he committed in his adolescence
(as detailed in his autobiography ‘The Confessions’) through sentiments he propagates
Discuss whether or The Fall is the narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin
not Augustine’s into the world. It submits that original sin ensued Adam and Eve's use of freewill to
teaching on a disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This resulted in
historical Fall and 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that the teachings of St
Original Sin is wrong Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) on a historical Fall and
original sin are not wrong on the following grounds:
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
, 2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not Augustine is (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
right that sin means resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that ‘Augustine
that humans can is right that sin means that humans can never be morally good’ on the following grounds:
never be morally
good 1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not Augustine’s view (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
of human nature is resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned.) This essay posits that
pessimistic or ‘Augustine’s view of human nature is pessimistic’ and rightly so on the following grounds:
optimistic
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
Discuss whether or St Augustine (a key patristic figure concerned with soteriology) suggests the Fall
not there is a (narrative in Genesis 3 which accounts for the introduction of original sin into the world)
distinctive human resulted in 'massa damnata' (the mass of the damned) and a distinctive human nature’
nature that is fallen, concupiscent and requires grace. This essay posits that ‘there is a
distinctive human nature’ on the following grounds:
1. Augustine’s unsympathetic interpretation of human nature is biblical
2. Augustine’s demonisation of sexual relations is erroneous (although)
3. Augustine’s interpretation of Fall acknowledges requirement for grace
