Medieval Philosophy

by Peter S. Adamson

A moment’s reflection of our own shows why this problem is so, well, problematic. Augustine insisted, on the one hand, that sin is the result of free will. All human sin, beginning with the original sin of Adam and Eve, is a perverted use of the freedom God has given us. This is why it is just that God should punish us for our misdeeds. On the other hand, Augustine insisted too that, born into sin as we are, none of us can avoid doing evil without God’s help. To say otherwise would be to fall into the position of the rival theologian Pelagius, which Augustine attacked ferociously in the mature phase of his career. Given the weight of Augustine’s authority, medievals standardly took the Pelagian view to be heretical. So, for them it was a basic ground rule that humans need grace from God in order to be good. It is up to God, not us, whether any of us will receive that gift. But in that case, it looks as if God is like a man standing at the edge of a lake who sees a group of drowning people who cannot swim. He has plenty of life preservers on hand, but throws them only to a select few, letting the others sink to their doom. Surely we would not praise this man for saving the lucky ones, but rather accuse him of heartlessness for ignoring others he could have helped. In the same way, one might say to Augustine and the medievals who followed his lead that their God is not merciful at all. He arbitrarily and unjustly lets some of His creatures go to eternal torment when He