Doctrines and Teachings

 The late 4 th and early 5 th 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 5 th 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

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 traditori 7.This person baptized Augustine 8.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 evil 2.__________ argued that human beings can be good on their own without God’s guidance. Pelagius 3.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. Donatists 5.Augustine’s mom cast him away from her house because he converted to this religion Manicheism 6.This sacrament evolved from Augustine’s argument about traditori- reconciliation 7.This person baptized Augustine– Ambrose 8.What a child said that led Augustine to convert – take it and read 9.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