Hellenism and Christianity in Saint Augustine

 Evil, Grace, and Freedom. In the examination of such specifically Christian problems, our constant task will be to bring to light, in Augustinianism, the fundamental themes of Christianity. To tell the truth, a simple reminder will suffice, since we have already studied these themes.

We will not go back over the importance that the problem of evil assumes for Saint Augustine. However, it is necessary to note the extreme fecundity of this obsession. It is by beginning from this point that our author has been able to develop his most original doctrines. This same wealth will force us to divide our material. On the one hand, Saint Augustine's thought is maintained doctrinally; on the other, in reaction to Pelagius.

Let us examine first his general doctrine, and then the controversy with the Pelagians will clarify, under the harsher light of polemics, the profound tendencies of Augustinianism.

Neoplatonism maintains that evil is a privation and not a true reality. Saint Augustine agrees with this view.¹¹ But still it is necessary to distin­guish two types of evil: natural evil (the misery of our condition, the tragedy of human destinies) and moral evil, that is to say, Sin. The for­mer is explained to the extent that shadows are justified in a painting.¹² It serves the universal harmony.

Concerning the latter type, the ques­tion is more complex. How is it possible that God has endowed us with free will, that is to say, a will capable of doing evil: "Because [man] is what he now is, he is not good, nor is it in his power to become good, either because he does not see what he ought to be, or, seeing it, has not the power to be what he sees he ought to be."¹³ It is that sin, the consequence of original sin, is attributable to us.

God has given us the free will of Adam, but our will has acquired the desire to serve evil. And we are so pro­foundly corrupted that it is from God alone that comes all good use of free will. Left to himself, man would possess in himself only wickedness, falsehood, and sin: "No one has anything of his own except falsehood and sin."¹⁴ It is God who restores him when he deigns to do so.

This is why the virtues that reside in us only have meaning and value through God's assistance, special and suited to our weakness; namely, through his grace. Saint Augustine lays great stress upon the vanity of virtue itself. First grace, then virtue; here we recognize an Evangelical theme.

Thus it is that pagan virtues are ineffectual. God has given them virtues in order to urge us to acquire them if we lack them, and to hum­ble our pride if we possess them. In Christianity, virtue, in the Hellenic sense, was never so severely tried and never on such frequent occa­sions.¹⁵ Moreover, these natural virtues instead become vices when man glorifies himself through them.¹⁶ Pride is the sin of Satan. On the con­trary, our only legitimate end is God.

And the gift God makes of his grace is always the result of his generosity. This grace is free. Those who believe they can acquire it through good works take things the wrong way. Grace would not be free if it were possible to merit it. It is necessary to go even further. To believe in God is already to experience his grace. Faith begins with Grace.¹⁷