12W4

This is a short article from the New Dictionary of Theology (Ferguson and Wright eds.; IVP, 1988), pp. 641-3. It should help as a little further reading for the Augustine topic, especially in comparing him to other thinkers:

New Dictionary of Theology article.

See also the further reading here.

I’ve marked the 12 essays I received and they were mostly pretty good! Well done, lots of you have shown good understanding!

Some common points:

• There is a distinction between sin (in the sense of specific things that people do wrong) and sinfulness (the general nature of something as likely to do things wrong). It is important to note that Hodge refers to sinfulness so he is not saying that everyone does the same things wrong, but that everyone is similarly inclined to sin. He is saying that it is in everyone’s nature to be sinful, and that original sin explains this inclination. If you don’t make this distinction then you’re on tricky ground.
• All of you argued against Hodge. That’s fine, but if you are arguing against someone then it’s quite easy to knock them down but it’s another thing all together to suggest an alternative. Hodge is suggesting that original sin is the “only rational solution” to the “universal sinfulness” of human beings. If you disagree with this then there are two ways of arguing:
  1. There is another rational solution to the universal sinfulness of human beings. You agree that everyone is sinful, but think there is another explanation. Lots of you started to do this by arguing that free will explains it but you need to be clear. Why should free will mean that I choose to do wrong? If I have free will and have the choice to do good or ill, why should I choose to do ill?
  2. Human beings aren’t universally sinful, in which case you deny that human beings have a natural inclination to do wrong. Could you give an example? Remember to explain why you dispute this!
• Quoting - if you refer to something someone else has written that is fine (even encouraged). However, you must put it in quotes and say where the quote has come from. If you quote something without declaring where it is from you are plagarising which is considered by examiners to be cheating. Universities take this very seriously and lots of people are kicked out every year for doing this. It is only polite to say where you get your information from, this allows whoever is reading your essay to look up the information for themselves if they wish to investigate further. You may like to use footnotes!

I haven’t given grades as grade boundaries do move from year to year but if you want to know roughly how well you are doing the grade boundaries are something like:

• A: 28 or above
• B: 25 or above
• C: 21 or above
• D: 18 or above
• E: 14 or above

Well done to all of you who handed something in. I enjoyed marking them…

Faye, Rosie, Alex, Sophie and Dani - I expect them handed in before the end of the week.

Neither Miss Duffy nor I will be in the lesson this Wednesday (25th Feb). Please use the time constructively to plan your essays (due for next week, 4th March). If you can write an essay plan for me and leave it on Miss Duffy’s desk I will have a look over it and get it back to you with comments.

Remember to look at the guidance notes for advice.

Today we looked at the concept of evil as “privation” in Augustine’s thought: notebook presentation.

You created some ideas to process the concept and we had a diagram, a poem and turned out the lights to represent the difference between absence and lack.

Then we thought some more about the essay question and you came up with arguments for and against original sin. Some arguments for:

• Original sin sets a precedent for others to follow. It makes sense that once one person sins everyone follows them into sin too.
• Even good people and babies do wicked things. How else might you explain why this happens?
• People sin even after suffering the consequences - that is, even though we’ve learned by experience that doing the wrong thing is painful we continue to do it. Doesn’t this mean we’re wired to do the wrong thing in some way? In response to this it was argued that this aspect of humanity helps us to ask questions and find solutions.

Some arguments against original sin:

• Sin is a personal choice and we are personally responsible for it - how can this be inherited?
• Who decides what is wrong anyway? Evil is subjective (we don’t all agree on what’s right and wrong) so how can something that isn’t agree upon be inherited?
• We have free will - sin is our choice
• Evolutionary theory suggests that Adam and Eve never existed as actual human beings - doesn’t Augustine assume that they did?

Obviously there are lots of good arguments on either side here. Whichever side you argue for in your essay make sure that you refer to some of the arguments on the other side then explain why your side is better. If you ignore the other person’s arguments your case will look weak…

If you have any questions leave a comment.

The essay title is:

“Original sin is the only rational solution of the undeniable fact of the deep, universal and early manifested sinfulness of men in all ages, of every class, and in every part of the world” (Charles Hodge). Discuss

Due Wednesday 4th March. I expect the essay to be two or more sides of A4 long, if you want to do the topic justice.

Guidance:

Here are some hints on writing your essay… Charles Hodge is claiming that “Original Sin” is the only way of explaining the prevalence of sinfulness in the world. Your essay needs to respond to this: do you agree or disagree with this idea? Whether you do or not, you’ll need to explain what “original sin” is, and something of how it works. You’ll also need to think of some arguments for and against it.

If you agree then you need to explain why you agree. What makes “original sin” the best explanation for universal sinfulness? Why does it explain why human beings have that inbuilt love of doing things wrong? Other people might have different ideas about why people are so bad. You need to explain why they are wrong. Some people might say that human beings aren’t as universally bad as Augustine makes out. Why are they wrong?

If you disagree then you need to say why. Why does original sin not solve the problem? Perhaps you don’t agree that human beings are as sinful as Augustine makes out. If you think this then why do you think it? What other explanations can you give for the state of humanity? Why are your reasons better than Augustine’s?

For either of these you don’t have to answer all the questions, but you do need to be persuasive. As with all of these things there are arguments on either side - your job is to persuade me that your argument is better than the other arguments.

Suggested outline:

• Introduction: Explain in brief what your argument is. Are you going to agree or disagree? You don’t have to explain why just yet, but it helps to be clear from the start which way you are arguing…
• Original sin: Explain Augustine’s ideas about original sin. Even if you’re disagreeing with him try to give as fair an explanation as possible here. It’s no good arguing against something that isn’t a fair representation of what he is trying to say…
• Argument: Spend a few paragraphs making your case. Explain what you are saying and why. Discuss other points of view. In each paragraph try to explain why your view is better than the other possible views and link it back to what you have said you are going to do in the introduction.
• Conclusion: Tie up everything you’ve argued and explain why it means that what you said in your introduction was right. Your conclusion is not your chance to say what you think; it must relate to the rest of the essay. By all means you can say what you think, but your whole essay should reflect this. An essay is not a case of saying “some people think this”, “some people think that” and then in the conclusion ignoring “this” and “that” and saying “but I think the other”… You’re entitled to your opinion but you must back it up.

Good luck! If you have any question feel free to leave a comment (click the comments link). That way I’ll be able to respond to your question in such a way that everyone will be able see and use the information…

Today we looked at Augustine’s doctrine of original sin.

Notebook presentation.

For some further (and quite hard reading) look here (from Allan Fitzgerald’s Augustine through the Ages). You’re doing well if you can make sense of this. You might also like to try some of Augustine’s City of God, particularly Book 14 Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14

The spinning ballerina is here.

Next week we’re going back to the first sin (according to the Bible). As preparation please read Genesis 2:7-3:24. There’ll be Bibles in the resource centre or one of the RE classrooms if you don’t have one at home…

Introduction to St Augustine

The point of this lesson was to introduce St Augustine and start to think about some of his ideas on human nature. We looked at his confession about the Pear Tree and used it to think about the way he saw human nature.

Powerpoint: Introducing Augustine

Pear Tree confession: Confessions - Chapter 2

For further reading…Henry Chadwick introduction

Here are a bunch of useful links about St Augustine!

Wikipedia

Books:

Confessions
City of God