Early Church Augustine of Hippo - One philosopher that I found interesting was Augustine and his involvement in the early church. "Augustine is acknowledged as having been one of the most important influences on the development of the western Christianity. The theological system he developed dominated the mediaeval church until the thirteenth century and its influence is still felt today (Bradshaw, 2009)." In researching his life, I found interesting facts that originally he did have a Christian belief system. However, after the death of his mother, he returned to Rome where he by a bishop named Ambrose began teaching him scripture and later who baptized him. What I found extremely interesting is that he was not a fan of Greek literature and in fact disliked many Greek writings. Because of this one fact, he was limited to the language of the Christians, which was Latin. This I also found to be a break from previous philosophers who seem to be great thinkers of Greek society. Augustine also framed the concept of the original sins and just war. Augustine believed that Christians should be passive and peaceful people but he would lay the foundation of terms that a nation should go to war about. Augustine conversation with his friend Evodius whether, "God is the cause of evil." This challenging question is one that I remember from my early teachings in Catholic school. Augustine clearly defines the difference of the evil people suffer and the evil they commit. The early philosopher talks about how God gives man the free choice and it is up to man to choose the correct path. The biggest explanation to show that in fact God gives us the choice is that Augustine describes "evil to as a negation and does not have form or substance ... ... middle of paper ... ...f this time period. However, at the same time defined such things like "choices", "freewill' and the "soul". They laid foundation for evolution in the church. Luther, who did not start wanting public attention but received because he said what he saw, this is a very important time for my religion because for you see a denouncement of Papal policies. For Luther did comment the Pope had his finger in the pie. I developed a great deal of admiration after my research on Luther I did for this class. Then finally, there is Marx who based his philosophy not on religion but on economics. Marx ended being one of my favorites because he came up with working theories that could work. He attempted himself to lay the foundation for a perfect utopia society. Marx did have some sobering predictions with society, which in fact in the end may make him right with his theories.
First we will talk about Martin Luther. Martin Luther was born on November 10th, 1438 and died February 18th, 1546, but his actions throughout his life leave a mark in the history world. Luther was a Catholic priest and professor of Theology from Germany. He attended the University of Wittenburg, and there, not only did he earn a doctorate, but he also gained "religious enlightenment". He is, to this day, a very influential person of the past and he changed history forever, but why? The answer is the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther, was “temperamental, peevish, egomaniacal, and argumentative” (Hooker, www.wsu.edu), but played a pivotal role in history. During Luther's time as a monk, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences. Luther took notice to the corruption and began to reason that men can only get their salvation through Jesus Christ, not the Pope or indulgences, let alone the Church itself. Luther began ...
In Augustine's Confessions, the early church father puts forth a complex theodicy in which he declares evil to be nonexistent. Such a leap may seem to be illogical, but this idea stems from the understanding of what is substance and what is not. According to Augustine, the duality of good and evil is false, because anything that is good is substance and what humans think of as evil is simply the absence of the good (Confessions, 126). Vices for example, are just the display of the absence of the good. Pride is the absence of humility, unrighteous anger the absence of temperance, and so on. This idea is evident as he writes that the ability to be corrupted is what makes something good, not i...
Both Abelard and Aquinas were the two leading followers of scholastics of their time. Summa Theologica and Sic et Non, to this day, are controversial ways man has looked for reason in finding the truth about God and the divine order of life. The views on the "natural world" were challenged without challenging the Christian faith, while being followers of the Christian faith.
...lighted” Augustine’s body (Confessions VIII. 5, p. 148). In this example, regardless of Augustine’s want to will succumbing to God, he found that his habits had rendered him unable to. His will in favor of the lower things held Augustine tighter than his will for God, which caused Augustine to choose the lesser good, which left him “in the midst of that great tumult I had stirred up against my own soul in the chamber of my heart” (Confessions VIII. 7, p.152). His two wills tore at him until he fully abandoned his earthly lust for the spiritual Godly desires; supporting his conclusion that free will in favor of the lesser goods causes evil. Therefore, free will is the ultimate source of evil.
Believing in God, though, lends a problem to the simple rule of justice: how do we give each other their due? Seemingly, war or hostility would not be a part of a Christian's life on earth. Augustine counters by indicating that war may be and is waged by God's commandment. To Augustine, waging war out of obedience to God is very different than to wage war for personal gain. But even wars caused by unselfish humans can be profitable to the faithful through patience and discipline to God.
Along with Voltaire were many other Enlightened thinkers, or philosophes, as they came to be known. A man by the name of Rousseau was also a very influential personality. His essays mainly treated on social inequality and education.
Marx predicted that religion would disappear as a phenomenon of false (because there is no God, according to Marx), and churches will become museums. All see how the number of churches in the world increases, a church becoming the heavy believers. However, the council rejected Marx, and yet kept his not believing in God.
After reading St. Augustine’s book it seemed to me that he had very little interest in politics as a whole, but he did seem to have a a great interest on the moral problems that plagued them. The books that make up this work come from one of his previous works entitled, The City of God, in which Augustine discusses many different aspects of the city. Augustine’s view of Christianity in regard to politics was due to the moral decline of the Roman Empire and the effect of this decline on the still faithful Christians. Augustine blamed the pagan gods and their lack of concern for the moral character which defined those who worshiped them. He also makes a reference to Plato’s Republic, in regards to the way Plato wanted to banish the poets from his city in speech. Augustine also felt that there should be strong censorship of the poets when writing about the gods because they made fools out of them. Augustine is also very concerned with the amount of people who in past invasions of their homelands escaped by lying about being Christians and then turned their backs on Christ when the danger had subsided. Augustine’s work also raises the question of why mercy is extended to the pious and ungrateful. Augustine responds by reminding everyone that, “The sun rises upon the good and evil, and the rains fall upon the just and the unjust.” The book also discusses Gods patience with humans and how the choice to repent ones sins lies within the man. He tells how some will recognize...
Theologian: In addition to the theological advancements of Mary that were strongly influenced by Pope Pius XII, two other theologians stick out: Karl Rahner and Yves Congar.
Based on the book of Genesis, evil first came into the world when Adam and Eve, God’s first human creations, defied him and ate of the forbidden fruit, gaining God’s knowledge. This act was essentially caused by pride and envy; Adam and Eve craved to know what God knows and thus feebly attempting to imitate him through sin. For St. Augustine, imitation of God’s goodness is the cause for all sin. In Book 2 of his Confessions, perturbed by his petty theft, Augustine questions the motivation for his sin. Augustine compares his sin to “knot, which cannot be unravel. Indeed, he never truly reasons out his theft, but his rhetorical journey in order to solve its complexity is still intriguing. Through the use of his characteristic dialect and Neoplatonic
... effects of a corrupting entity, what then is Christ’s work? How can a physical sacrifice save the world from sliding into nonexistence? The answer comes from another adjustment; Christ comes to pull creation back towards the eternal God. Salvation through Christ is does not look like Him coming as a warrior to vanquish the evil forces, but Him coming as a loving servant to heal the corrupted beings (i.e. sinners) back to their original state of grace. Thus, the idea of there being a war between forces of God and Evil is not compatible with truth of the Gospel; rather that God designed the world in harmony and wishes it to return to this state. This proves that, in the end, Augustine’s answer to the problem of evil is correct in accordance to Christian Confession.
The concept of ideology is highly controversial and it has been defined in several ways throughout history. It can be defined as an idea that distinguishes the consciousness of a class at a given historical moment. It also is beliefs adopted for influential purpose of a nation, making them support the status quo. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we live in a country where everyone had everything equally and there was not a difference in class? In such a society, everyone is equal and there is no privilege which means no high pay and the motivation to succeed in higher levelled jobs such as doctors, lawyers, business owners (everyone owns business basically) will be high. Marxism is a sociopolitical ideology and method of economic change based on materialist and social factor. Marxism states that the economy cannot grow if means of production is controlled by private owners instead by the people. The society can do without feudal lords, land lords, private owners and slave-owners.
Before we dive into what Augustine has to say about free will, we must first understand what the problem is. In The HarperCollins Dictionary of Philosophy, the problem of free will is defined as:
..., the closer he was really moving toward God. He began to realize that God is all good, so nothing he creates will be of evil. “God does not create evil but it is of the world” (Augustine 230-31). Once he took responsibility for his personal life and spiritual walk, Augustine began to uncover the truths to his life. He reveals one must take responsibility for their actions and confess to develop a stronger connection with God. He then comprehends; God allows bad things to happen in your life to show you that you need him. Evil is not a lesser good, but it is a reflection of ones moral well-being. In order for one’s well being to be saved one must confess their sins to Christ.