Our first parents fell into open disobedience because already they were secretly corrupted; for the evil act had never been done had not an evil will preceded it. And what is the origin of our evil will but pride? For “pride is the beginning of sin.” And what is pride but the craving for undue exaltation? And this is undue exaltation, when the soul abandons Him to whom it ought to cleave as its end, and becomes a kind of end to itself. This happens when it becomes its own satisfaction….The devil, then, would not have ensnared man in the open and manifest sin of doing what God had forbidden, had man not already begun to live for himself….By craving to be more, man becomes less; and by aspiring to be self-sufficing, he fell away from Him who truly suffices him.
Augustine, The City of God XIVI.12, also quoted in a class on the theology of Saint Augustine this past Tuesday by yours truly
So appropriate to those pursuing their personal ambitions/self-fulfillment goals in the mortal realm, including the unchurched, the churched laity and the clergy.
Kendall, thank you. This is oh so timely today.
Karen
An exact description of the extreme individualism preached by
modern society.
This will probably inflame ardent “saved a wretch like me” Calvinists, but dare I point out that Augustine inferred something from the Genesis text that the text does not imply. The first man and woman were fine until temptation (from a third party, outside themselves) gave them ideas they had not had before. Augustine, instead, claimed that the evil will was inside the man and woman from their creation – as though the first moments of human consciousness included hatching plots to defy God! Yes, we are all tempted to sin against God in many ways – but experiencing temptation and giving in to temptation are quite different, and acknowledging our capacity to recognize the God-given spark of life in ourselves and in others is hardly the sin of pride. OK, fire away!
Thanks, Kendall. It would be interesting to know what else you highlighted when teaching about the grand, incomparable theology of St. Augustine.
Just one observation. It was the old Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield who once observed, quite aptly, that the Protestant Reformation represented the triumph of Augustine’s anti-Pelgian doctrine of grace over his anti-Donatist doctrine of the Church.
At its best, I’d like to think that we Anglicans have the chance to bring those two things back together again. That is, I firmly believe that the anti-Pelagian and the anti-Donatist sides of Augustine belong together and must be kept in fruitful tension.
But as to speculating about the psychological aspects of temptation in the Garden of Eden, I personally doubt that anyone has done so more brilliantly than a much later Reformed thinker, i.e., Puritan poet John Milton, in [b]Paradise Lost[/b] (1667).
David Handy+
Henry in #4, thanks for the comment, it is remarks like these which highlight the importance of dealing with these kinds of seminal texts. What you say Henry is exactly what Augustine does not do. He is quite clear on, in fact writes beautifully about, the goodness of Adam and Eve before the Fall who were free not to sin.
The question has to do with the nature of the Fall. What Augustine says makes clear than sin is both being and action and that the self incurving which happened inside Adam and Eve preceded the action. They chose to self incurve, to trust their own judgment rather than God’s.
Today most churches need a deeper doctrine of sin, and one which maintains the balance between being and action. Augustine is a good guide on this front.
posse non peccare (prelapsum) / non posse non peccare (postlapsum) / non posse peccare (resurrection)
Dr. Harmon: where and in what capacity were you teaching this class on Augustine?
Dear Kendall, my comment was in reference only to the excerpt from Augustine posted above. Indeed, elsewhere Augustine wrote more highly of human nature “once upon a time.” It has been my experience and observation, however, that Christianity can speak about the origin and nature of sin too much as well as too little.
Calvin in #7, in answer to your question, it was at Saint Andrew’s in Mount Pleasant at their request as part of the Great Theologians track/course in the Saint Paul’s Theological Centre courses.
You can find a description here:
http://www.wearestandrews.com/equipping/st-pauls-theological-school/theology-courses—fall-2009.aspx
“Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin and Edwards great minds that helped shape the faith. Come examine the development of Christian belief and practice as we explore eight theologians whose thinking has left a lasting impact on the Christian faith. The class, taught live by a variety of speakers, will give you and overview of the era in which these writers lived as well as an understanding of their unique contribution to the faith.”