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On Nature and Grace
Saint Augustine of Hippo was a Roman African, early Christian theologian and philosopher from Numidia whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius in north Africa and is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God, On Christian Doctrine and Confessions. According to his contemporary Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith." In his youth he was drawn to Manichaeism, later to neo-Platonism. After his baptism and conversion to Christianity in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin and made seminal contributions to the development of just war theory. When the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. The segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine's On the Trinity.
68 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 415
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About the author
Augustine of Hippo
3,314 books2,080 followersEarly church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical
Confessions
in 397 and the voluminous
City of God
from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 10, 2022
Again, able to rouse scriptures the reader already thinks he or she is familiar with to the pertinent defense of the topic at hand. Since the topic at hand in this treatise is the absolute, ongoing dependence of the believer on the grace of Christ, that is no academic exercise. It is existential.
January 31, 2026
St. Augustine’s On Nature and Grace is a response to the heretic Pelagius, who was arguing against laxity by saying that human nature is so unwounded and healthy that it can, without grace, go from a state of sin to one of sinlessness, and that those who never had the chance to believe in Christ and thus be justified must be surely absolved from their sins. St. Augustine completely refutes these assertions from Scripture (the Psalms, the Pauline Epistles, the Gospels, James, etc.), and at the end of the work cites in his favor St. Ambrose.
For St Augustine, Original Sin has wounded human nature and made us slaves to sin. We have all inherited this guilt and sinned, with the sole exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who did not sin and merited to conceive and bear (chapter 36). We need a Physician to heal our infirmity and, by His grace, free us from our bondage to sin. When this is done, man still struggles with the flesh (concupiscence), but now he loves God and follows Him. God commands no impossibilities, hence man ought to fulfill what he can, and when he is unable, ask for grace from God that he may be able. We are freed from the law of fear which commanded but did not give; now we are under the law of love, which both commands and gives the grace necessary. To say that man is able to justify himself is to make the cross of Christ of no effect and deny its power.
God’s grace goes before us and after us, that we may not stray from His paths. Not even a holy man can remain in holiness if God stops assisting him by His grace. A justified man prays daily the Out Father for those venial sins he commits. The will is not destroyed by grace, or coerced, or enslaved, but rather further freed by grace, as St Thomas famously said, “Grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it.”
Pelagius’ main argument, which comes up again and again, is: If is voluntary, it can be avoided; if sin is necessary, one cannot be guilty for what one could not avoid. St. Thomas Aquinas utterly refutes in a single article of his Summa Theologiae (I-II, Q. 109, A. 8): “Man can avoid each but not every act of sin, except by grace, as stated above. Nevertheless, since it is by his own shortcoming that he does not prepare himself to have grace, the fact that he cannot avoid sin without grace does not excuse him from sin.“
For St Augustine, Original Sin has wounded human nature and made us slaves to sin. We have all inherited this guilt and sinned, with the sole exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who did not sin and merited to conceive and bear (chapter 36). We need a Physician to heal our infirmity and, by His grace, free us from our bondage to sin. When this is done, man still struggles with the flesh (concupiscence), but now he loves God and follows Him. God commands no impossibilities, hence man ought to fulfill what he can, and when he is unable, ask for grace from God that he may be able. We are freed from the law of fear which commanded but did not give; now we are under the law of love, which both commands and gives the grace necessary. To say that man is able to justify himself is to make the cross of Christ of no effect and deny its power.
God’s grace goes before us and after us, that we may not stray from His paths. Not even a holy man can remain in holiness if God stops assisting him by His grace. A justified man prays daily the Out Father for those venial sins he commits. The will is not destroyed by grace, or coerced, or enslaved, but rather further freed by grace, as St Thomas famously said, “Grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it.”
Pelagius’ main argument, which comes up again and again, is: If is voluntary, it can be avoided; if sin is necessary, one cannot be guilty for what one could not avoid. St. Thomas Aquinas utterly refutes in a single article of his Summa Theologiae (I-II, Q. 109, A. 8): “Man can avoid each but not every act of sin, except by grace, as stated above. Nevertheless, since it is by his own shortcoming that he does not prepare himself to have grace, the fact that he cannot avoid sin without grace does not excuse him from sin.“
October 8, 2022
This is the 12th book I've read from Augustine. It is short and good, but not his best. It can get confusing at times considering the way in which he leads into quoting Pelagius, scripture and some of the Early Church Fathers (Ambrose, Jerome. Etc.) Augustine is a champion of the Christian Faith as well as a staunch defender of God's Sovereignty and God's grace in Salvation. He did not shy away from preaching how it is God himself who prepares the will. And reasserts what John the Baptist says, "a man can receive nothing, except it be granted to him from Heaven."
I think, so far as I've read, Augustine's best works are Confessions, Enchiridion, on Grace and Free will, and the Perseverance of the Saints.
I think, so far as I've read, Augustine's best works are Confessions, Enchiridion, on Grace and Free will, and the Perseverance of the Saints.
March 23, 2020
Augustinus mengetengahkan status kesucian Maria dalam konteks dosa dan rahmat di dalam karya keselamatan Allah bagi dunia. Dosa merusak seluruh diri manusia sedemikian rupa sehingga kodrat manusia tidak mampu lagi menaati kehendak Allah. Dosa Adam adalah dosa asali yang menyebabkan kerapuhan fundamental kodrat manusia. Akibatnya, manusia tidak mampu mengalahkan segala tindakan jahat yang mengisbatkan dosa asali.[ Bdk. Niko S. Dister OFM, Teologi Sistematika 2, 159.] Kemudian, rahmat Allah bekerja secara mutlak sendirian, mengingat seluruh diri manusia telah rusak karena dosa asali. Oleh karena itu, rahmat bekerja dengan mengabaikan kebebasan manusia. Jika kuasa dosa bisa menguasai seluruh diri manusia, maka rahmat juga bisa memenuhi seluruh diri dan menggantikan peran manusia. Akibatnya, keselamatan seseorang semata-mata bergantung dan hanya ditentukan oleh Allah. Paham ini terkait erat dengan gagasannya tentang predestinasi--dalam perdebatan dengan Pelagianisme--yang menjadi konsekuensi logis dari ajaran rahmat yang bekerja secara mutlak.[ Bdk. Adrianus Sunarko OFM, Rahmat dan Sakramen, (Jakarta: OBOR, 2017), 58-59.] Dengan demikian, Jika Allah memilih seseorang supaya diselamatkan maka rahmat bekerja secara mutlak dalam diri tersebut. Tidak peduli bila orang tersebut menolak pilihan keselamatan Allah pada dirinya.
Lalu bagaimana dengan Perawan Maria Bunda Allah? Bagaimana pandangan Augustinus tentang immaculate conception dari nya?
“Dengan pengecualian pada Perawan suci Maria, yang dalam hal ini, untuk menghormati Tuhan, saya tidak berharap ada pertanyaan lebih lanjut sejauh menyangkut dosa, karena bagaimana kita bisa tahu berapa banyak anugerah yang diberikan pada dirinya untuk menaklukkan dosa dalam segala hal, melihat bahwa dia pantas untuk mengandung dan menanggung dia yang tentu saja tidak memiliki dosa sama sekali? (De Natura et Gratia 36, 42)”.[ “With the exception of the holy Virgin Mary, in whose case, out of respect for the Lord, I do not wish there to be any further question as far as sin is concerned, since how can we know what great abundance of grace was conferred on her to conquer sin in every way, seeing that she merited to conceive and bear him who certainly had no sin at all?” Lih. Luigi Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of The Church, 226.]
Sayangnya, Augustinus tidak memberikan penjelasan lanjutnya tentangnya. doktrin "immaculate conception" tampak kabur dalam pemikirannya
Lalu bagaimana dengan Perawan Maria Bunda Allah? Bagaimana pandangan Augustinus tentang immaculate conception dari nya?
“Dengan pengecualian pada Perawan suci Maria, yang dalam hal ini, untuk menghormati Tuhan, saya tidak berharap ada pertanyaan lebih lanjut sejauh menyangkut dosa, karena bagaimana kita bisa tahu berapa banyak anugerah yang diberikan pada dirinya untuk menaklukkan dosa dalam segala hal, melihat bahwa dia pantas untuk mengandung dan menanggung dia yang tentu saja tidak memiliki dosa sama sekali? (De Natura et Gratia 36, 42)”.[ “With the exception of the holy Virgin Mary, in whose case, out of respect for the Lord, I do not wish there to be any further question as far as sin is concerned, since how can we know what great abundance of grace was conferred on her to conquer sin in every way, seeing that she merited to conceive and bear him who certainly had no sin at all?” Lih. Luigi Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of The Church, 226.]
Sayangnya, Augustinus tidak memberikan penjelasan lanjutnya tentangnya. doktrin "immaculate conception" tampak kabur dalam pemikirannya
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August 15, 2021Augustine’s counter to Pelagius’s claims that man can be without sin through man’s own power. Augustine thoroughly uses Scripture and logic to show that it is dependent on the grace of God through Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. Because of the fall, man is born with a tendency to sin that requires not just a one-time Savior but also a constant Helper. Therefore he also stresses the importance of prayer.
August 4, 2021
"On Nature and Grace" is a better approach toward Pelagius than the later "On Grace and Free Will" as the latter seems to be an Augustine that is a bit tired and goes on autopilot, while here he is answering a book from Pelagius, citing him, and explaining why he is wrong in a cordial but also sometimes harsh manner.
February 18, 2023
I found this work harder to digest, but the gist of it is that will-power is no way to sanctification. It is through the love of God being poured out in our hearts that we grow in holiness. Very similar to Augustine's other works against Pelagius.
August 13, 2022
A little bit of a slog, and rather dense, but lots of beautiful stuff in here.
December 15, 2014
Augustine very ably answers Pelagius' writings and in doing so lays the foundation for discussions on original sin, the nature of grace, God's sovereignty, man's depravity, and all to the glory of God. There were some really good sections here and through it all Augustine wishes that Pelagius would not exalt man so much as to make the need for a Savior not completely necessary.
I especially like where he shows how Pelagius misunderstood and pulled other writers out of context when he used them for defending his position. This is a warning to many who don't care what authors actually believed so much as trying to defend their position. Poor scholarship.
Perhaps one of my favorite of Augustine's writings, as he is far less prone to speculation and musing in this and more concerned with what the clear teaching of Scripture is.
I especially like where he shows how Pelagius misunderstood and pulled other writers out of context when he used them for defending his position. This is a warning to many who don't care what authors actually believed so much as trying to defend their position. Poor scholarship.
Perhaps one of my favorite of Augustine's writings, as he is far less prone to speculation and musing in this and more concerned with what the clear teaching of Scripture is.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews