The institutionalization of the Jesus movement and medieval Christian philosophy

 

Introduction

As the followers of Jesus spread his message, they found it necessary to define what this message was in a consistent way.  They needed an orthodoxy, or set of doctrines.  In 325 AD, the council of Nicea developed the Nicene Creed (formal statement of the basic beliefs) in response to several heresies (wrong interpretations of teachings).

 

Augustine (354-430 AD) was the first great Christian philosopher.  By this time, Christianity was the official state religion of the Roman Empire that was in decline.

 

 AUGUSTINE  - 354-430 AD  born in Tagaste in North Africa

-        His final acceptance of Christian faith came after a long, difficult and painful search    to solve the problem of evil.

-        He gives an account of his spiritual awakening in his autobiography, the Confessions.

 

Spiritual and Philosophical Development

 

1.       An early follower of Manicheeism, a heretical sect of Christianity that taught dualism            (Two principles in conflict:  light vs. dark, good vs. evil). Microcosm and                  macrocosm: This cosmic conflict  between good and evil also occurs within man.

         

2.      In Milan, meets Ambrose. He begins to read Plato and Plotinus. His conversion has two parts:

 

          First, he underwent an intellectual conversion to Platonism.

                  

          Second, he experienced a  spiritual conversion to Christianity.

          His motto becomes "Credo ut intelligam" (Faith seeking understanding). Use                            philosophy to strengthen faith.                                                                            

 

In his earlier writings (388-95), The Free Choice of the Will ( DI LIBERO ARBITRIO), Augustine wanted to address the problem of evil. If God is good and creates good, from where does evil come?  Is God responsible for evil?

 

Augustine defines evil as a corruption of one or more of these perfections in the nature possessing them OR it is a lack of a good which one should possess, a failure to be what we should be. If evil is a lack, God does not create it, because God could not have created nothing.

 

Augustine defines two types of evil:

 

I.    Natural evil is death, corruption, natural disasters, etc. Augustine argues that               natural evil fits into God's plan for the universe.  Since we only have limited                         knowledge, we may not understand this.  God who has unlimited knowledge sees                 the ultimate good in what we see as evil.  Our faith helps us to accept what we cannot           fully understand.

 

II.   The misuse of our free will causes moral evil. Man's free will sometimes chooses           evil.  Augustine says that free will is  the ability to choose as one should and it is                 necessary for us to lead an upright life.  Because God loves us, he wants us freely  to choose to  return that love.  So, if God created us with free will, didn’t he create evil?

 

Moral evil is not part of free will, but a wrong use of it. E.g.,  A human body without hands would be an imperfection. Hands are good; only if we use them for the wrong purpose (hitting, etc.) can their use be said to be bad.  In the same way, a human soul without will would be an  imperfection; evil comes about because of its wrong use.

 

Augustine’s Story of Original Sin explains why we often use our free will in the wrong way.  His account of original sin is in The City of God.

 

Augustine wrote The City of God between 413-426 A.D.  as a work of apologetics, a defense of Christianity against charges that Christianity was responsible for the decline of the empire because it made people bad citizens.  In this work, Augustine gives his account of human nature in his discussion of original sin.

 

In his account of the story of original sin, Augustine describes human nature like before original sin in the Garden of Paradise.

Human beings had free will, had desires under control, were immortal, and did not  struggle to learn or fulfill their needs. 

 

His account of original sin:  The story takes place in the Garden.  The characters are Adam, Eve, God, the serpent and the fallen angel.  The fallen angel uses the serpent as his instrument to tempt the woman, because Augustine says she is the weaker. He tempts her to eat the forbidden fruit, because “Ye will be as Gods.” Adam goes along with her because he could not bear to be separated from “his only companion.”

 

According to Augustine, original sin is the sin of pride: man wants to be more than he is; he wants to be like God.

 

Because of this original sin, human nature is changed.

 

 

 

We still have free will and are now subject to:

      -concupiscence (an immoderate desire)

      -ignorance (learning is difficult)

      -mortality (death)

           

Through the gift of Jesus Christ, man can now hope for salvation. Because of original sin, man could not save himself.  God, out of love, gives us the means: grace made possible through the sacrifice of the son of God.

 

Summary of Christian view of human nature as describe by Augustine:

 

1.  God has created man with free will.  CREATION

2.  Because of original sin, man is subject to ignorance, concupiscence and death.             FALL

3.  God became man (Jesus).  INCARNATION

4.  Because of sacrifice of Jesus, man now has grace to help the will and can             overcome original sin.  REDEMPTION

                  

In Books 14 and 19 of the  City of God, Augustine describes the two cities that are the result of original sin, the City of God and the City of man.  The selections that you read in the text describe these two societies and how they interact.

 

Study Guide on The City of God

 

At the time of Augustine's death, the Roman Empire was split apart by various conquerors and the "Dark Ages" began.  While philosophy almost disappeared in the Western world at this time, as did much letters, art and culture, Christianity spread throughout the pagan empires due to the efforts of zealous missionaries.  Also, the Papacy developed during this period and eventually became so strong politically that Popes had more power than emperors and kings. 

 

During this time, the Christian world view dominated in the West.  This view was a sacramental world view or the view that everything in nature is a symbol pointing to God.

 

By the eleventh century when the west began to reawaken, the church was more than a religious organization.  It was also a great secular institution  with popes and bishops wielding enormous political power. The church continued to grow in power and influence, until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when the emergence of the “New Science,” political, social and religious changes resulted in a new understanding of human nature.

 

Prepared by Anne Knop, Senior Associate Professor of Philosophy, Manor College