Doctrines and Teachings

The late 4th and early 5th centuries were a rough time

Barbarian tribes had been invading various parts of the empire for many years Barbarian - referred to people who

couldn’t speak Greek properly

• With a depleted army and no effective defense against the invaders, authorities in the empire decided that one solution to the problem was to welcome the invaders as citizens.

• By the end of the 5th century, the empire in the West ceased to exist– It was now a collection of

lands ruled by various barbarian tribes

Augustine was born and lived through this period

• Mother: Monica, a devout Christian, desperately wanted Augustine to become a Christian.

• Father: Patritius, pagan

• In the search for God, he converted to different religions only to find himself more dissatisfied with the faith. Later, he returned to the Christian faith.

• One day, he was sitting in a garden and he was struggling with everything, asking - Who am I? why am I here? What’s the point?

• Then he heard a child’s voice:• “Pick up and read” • and he did – it was the

New Testament. • From then on, Augustine

was a Christian. • He later became a bishop. • He gave us two great

doctrines: Original Sin and Grace

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 traditores

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.

AUGUSTINE DONATUS’ FOLLOWERS

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 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

• 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

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

AUGUSTINE’S RATIONALE DONATUS’ RATIONALE

1. 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

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 PELAGIUS

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

Waiting for the Grace of God is also an excuse for not changing behavior

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

The Confessions 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 )

Augustine quiz

Augustine quiz Word bank: Anointing of the sick, Monica, Manicheism, rhetorician, philosophy,

Pelagius, Zoroastrianism, Adeodatus, original sin, bible, Ambrose, problem of evil, take it and read, reconciliation, divine grace, Donatists – You will NOT use all the words

1. Augustine tried different religions in order to understand why this existed 2. __________ argued that human beings can be good on their own without God’s guidance. 3. Augustine argued that human beings move naturally toward evil because of this. 4. ___________ argued that the lapsi, traditory/apostates could not return to the Christian

community after they renounced to their faith for fear of torture or death. 5. Augustine’s mom cast him away from her house because he converted to this religion 6. This sacrament evolved from Augustine’s argument about traditori7. This person baptized Augustine8. What a child said that led Augustine to convert 9. A book Augustine read that disappointed him because it had contradictions and was poorly

written 10. Augustine argued that human beings cannot be good unless they have this

Augustine quiz Word bank: Anointing of the sick, Monica, Manicheism, rhetorician, philosophy,

Pelagius, Zoroastrianism, Adeodatus, original sin, bible, Ambrose, problem of evil, take it and read, reconciliation, divine grace, Donatists

1. Augustine tried different religions in order to understand why this existed – problem of evil2. __________ argued that human beings can be good on their own without God’s guidance.

Pelagius3. Augustine argued that human beings move naturally toward evil because of this. – original

sin 4. ___________ argued that the lapsi, traditory/apostates could not return to the Christian

community after they renounced to their faith for fear of torture or death. Donatists5. Augustine’s mom cast him away from her house because he converted to this religion

Manicheism6. This sacrament evolved from Augustine’s argument about traditori- reconciliation7. This person baptized Augustine– Ambrose8. What a child said that led Augustine to convert – take it and read9. A book Augustine read that disappointed him because it had contradictions and was poorly

written – bible 10. Augustine argued that human beings cannot be good unless they have this- divine grace