Grace in the Theology of Saint Augustine

Pelagius (c. 360-420) took the position that there is no such state as original sin. Consequently, the will is free in

spite of previous behavior. According to the viewpoint of Pelagius, death is a natural happening, having no connection with the fall of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Thus, Adam's sin is his alone and does not affect the whole human race. Grace is identical with the general cleansing of the person through baptism. Therefore, grace has no purpose after baptism because individuals are able to find their own salvation through free choice and the pursuit of their own spirituality.

Paul Tillich states about Augustine and the Pelagi

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y" (Augustine 31). The most we can do is to follow Augustine's example, and confess our sins to God, with the hope that His Divine Grace will bless us with eternal salvation. We can prepare ourselves by taking the sacraments, with the hope that God's infinite mercy will restore our souls. There are definite difficulties in Augustine's doctrine. If original sin is carried down to us from Adam, as Saint Paul asserts, then the soul, as well as the body, must have been conceived by the parents--for sin is of the spirit, not the flesh. Augustine can only regard this problem as a mystery. However, theological mysteries only indicate that man is a finite creature, whose knowledge extends to a certain distance and stops in awe before all infinity. Thus, Tillich observes concerning Augustine's epistemology: "The purpose and the way of knowledge are expressed in Augustine's famous words: 'I wish to know God and the soul.' 'Nothing, else?' 'Nothing at all.' God O and the soul! This means that the soul is the place where God appears to man. He wants to know the soul because only there can he know God, and in no other place. This implies, of course, that God is not an object beside other objects. God is seen in the soul. He
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Approximate Word count = 2141
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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