Teachings Of Augustine

Conflict in Hippo When Augustine came to Hippo, he: had to confront Donatus and his followers, the donatists In Hippo, Donatists were the majority and catholics were the minority donatists Christians who had split from the church during the time of persecution over how to deal with clergy members who were apostates The donatists did not welcome the apostates to their communities - giving them no chance of reconciliation Apostasy (aka lapsi) means renunciation of a religious faith Augustine feared that the donatists would not be saved because salvation comes through being in communion/union with the catholic (universal) church. They were separated from the Church by holding different beliefs about the lapsi

Augustine vs. Donatists: Salvation Donatus’ followers Any church official, who, during the time of persecution, renounced Christianity in any way (traditori or lapsi) is no longer part of the communion in the church Any church official, who, during the time of persecution, renounced Christianity in any way (traditori or lapsi) could only restore his communion within the church by making a public confession of his sins and asking the community for forgiveness. People are human beings and make mistakes and need God’s and the community’s forgiveness. If they want to be forgiven, they must be truly sorry; and they must make it known publically to the whole community

Augustine vs. Donatists: sacraments Donatus’ Rationale Augustine’s rationale Sacraments are valid no matter who confers them – the authority of the church leader is grounded in Christ, through apostolic succession; any sacrament, be it marriage or baptism, conferred by such an official (lapsi or traditori) would still be valid Rejected the sacraments conferred by any leader of the church who was an apostate Validity of the sacraments is based on the righteousness of the person conferring them Any sacrament, be it marriage or baptism, conferred by such an official (lapsi or traditori) would be invalid They failed to defend their faith, they are not good examples to follow

Reconciliation The most important needed for salvation is forgiveness and being in communion with the church As a result of the arguments between Augustine and Donatus, the sacrament of reconciliation was reaffirmed. As a way for people to ask for forgiveness and offer penance Confessions used to be public

Pelagianism An English monk Augustine also had to face another issue: Pelagianism Pelagius An English monk Believed people were using God’s saving grace as an excuse to do what they knew they should not Argued that God gives us the possibility of doing either good or evil, and which one we choose depends on how we use our will We cannot blame our bad actions on God because we ourselves make the choice to do evil

Augustine vs. Pelagius: Salvation through right action Right action comes through Grace from God Augustine tried to be good but could not do it alone Adam used free will to sin and after that all humans were sinful This stain of original sin causes humans to sin repeatedly Original sin damages the desire to be good Right action comes from human will power If people try hard enough they won’t sin Using Adam and original sin as an excuse for sinning is lame He sinned because he wanted to Waiting for the Grace of God is also an excuse for not changing behavior

Because of all these arguments, Augustine developed two teachings/doctrines: Original Sin Divine Grace Human beings move naturally toward evil because of original sin –It is a human “stain”. This is why the church baptized infants – to wash away that stain. Human being cannot be good unless they have Divine Grace. Salvation can only come through the grace of God Grace makes us not want to sin

Works of Augustine The Confessions Original sin and Divine Grace A spiritual autobiography Writes and answers his own struggles/ questions about faith He is Good because God helps him Original sin and Divine Grace City of God Address the fall of the Roman Empire It fell because it was God’s plan not because the people stopped worshiping pagan gods as the non-Christians stated Faith is trusting in God and God’s will not expecting God to fulfill people’s wish On the Trinity (see The Trinity wk for more info )