St. Augustine

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the argument held by Saint Augustine, that God is the cause of every activity and yet man has the freedom to choose. The paper reports how this is one of the most controversial problems in philosophy, which Saint Augustine confronts and offers to explain.

From the Paper:

"Augustine argues and poses Christ as the one model of free will and grace occurring perfectly and in combination, rather than in contradiction, in Him (Ryan 1960 7.10 p 170). Augustine draws this from revelation, which lies in the mystery of faith rather than autonomous and thus does not require man to understand how it can be. It presents as the only possible and adequate rational explanation of how God's activity of grace and the human activity of freedom can coexist. In no other way can the freedom of human will or free choice be made intelligible. Saint Augustine maintains that the only way for man to understand is to receive divine grace, that is, that man can understand only because he is helped by grace. God's grace acts upon the will within creation without taking freedom away from the will. Rather, grace helps man to freely choose what is good. If a man is part of the body of Christ sacramentally, he too will act freely in God's grace as Christ does (Ryan 8.8 p 195). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ryan, John K., trans. Confessions by Augustine. Garden City, NY: Image, 1960
• Williams, Thomas, trans. On Free Choice of the Will. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett, 1993

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