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Summary “Augustine’s teaching on sin means that we can never be morally good”. Discuss.
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Answering the question - “Augustine’s teaching on sin means that we can never be morally good”. Discuss.
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“Augustine’s teaching on sin means that we can never be morally good”. Discuss.To an extent, Augustine's teaching on sin means we can never be morally good. The word
‘sin’ suggests an imperfection or not being completely perfect because of a disobedience in
relation to God’s will. To act morally good is to carry out the commands of God and obey his
will. Augustine implies that humans, no matter how hard they try, will never be morally
good because of the Original Sin that prevents us from reaching a state of perfection.
Humans will never have the capacity to live up to the standards that God requires, since we
are inherently inclined to do what is wrong in the command of God. Although this may
appear to be a pessimistic view, it could encourage humans to pursue a higher moral way of
living to reach the greatest level of perfection that is possible, despite not being able to
reach the full expectation. However, I do agree with Augustine's teachings on saying that
humans can never be morally good because it in some way this is correct. It is very difficult
to live life without committing any sin, despite how hard you try.
Darwin’s theory suggests that evolution occurs through natural selection. Desired
characteristics are passed on from the parents to their offspring allowing them to survive in
their environment. In this case it shows that genes are passed from person to person, and
are inherited. As this is scientifically proved, the Original Sin committed by Adam and Eve
could have been passed down generations, meaning that everyone has a part of them which
is inclined to sin and disobey God. For example, the blue-eyed gene is passed down from
parents resulting in their children having a very high probability of inheriting this too. The
same could apply for disobedience; we all oppose God’s commands in some way or another,
meaning that we can never be morally good in direct consequence of the Fall. There is
much evidence in regard to natural selection, proved by scientists with ideas about the
‘survival of the fittest’. If a gene is strong enough it will be passed down; there are many
people who demonstrate this example, like those in who kill, commit adultery or steal, all of
which God has forbidden. Here is potential evidence that we can never be morally good
because part of the gene that made Adam and Eve sin has been passed on through
generations. If we were supposedly made in God’s image then surely, we would not have
been originally been able to go against God’s will. Augustine believed that before the Fall,
they were both in a state of perfection and this was how God intended people to live, until
Eve disobeyed him by eating the fruit from the tree.
However, as suggested by Pelagius, people may be able to live morally if they try hard
enough and Adam had not corrupted the whole of humanity, but rather set an example of
how not to behave which supports the idea that the story is mythological, rather than
something that actually happened. The word ‘never’ has strong connotations and implies
that living immorally is predetermined in your nature and creates the idea that you have no
control over your actions. The suggestion of how well we live our lives is dependent on the
wrong actions of two people is questionable and so raises arguments of the practicality of
human nature and the passing on of genes if the mistake of two people effects a whole
population for years. Additionally, for those who do not believe in the proses of evolution,
especially as it implies that God did not create humans which contradicts many religious
beliefs, this explanation will not work.
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