St Augustine Theology Of Original Sin Analysis

This paper will explore the dimensions of original sin and St. Augustine’s contributions to the subject. Views on the topic will be primarily revealed through St. Augustine’s autobiography Confessions with books one and two as the main points of research. This paper’s parallel of original sin will be divided into two main sections. First, a summary of Augustine’s theology of original sin and second, a summary of the author’s theology and response to Augustine’s argument. Different sources in theology and doctrine have been used in this paper to better understand and contrast the author’s point of view to that of Augustine of Hippo.

The Confessions, A Brief Overview.

Confessions by St. Augustine illuminates the fundamental components of original
He remembers a time spent with his friends when they decided to steal pears from a neighbor’s tree despite having plenty of pears at home that were in fact even better than those they stole. The theft wasn’t driven by lack of food because after taking several bites they threw the pears to the pigs. Augustin believes that sin represents a perverse desire to be like God and share in his characteristics. In the first story this makes obvious sense as Augustin stated it was love that was misdirected into lust. In the case of the pears although there was nothing Augustin blatantly hoped to gain he desired God’s omnipotence and rebelled in order to prove self-sufficiency. Finally, Augustine notes that part of what drove him to do such wicked things was his bad company. He admits that once the idea to steal the pears had been suggested he would have been ashamed to have not carried through with it. He also contemplates that telling his friends about his sexual exploits was just as enjoyable as actually doing
Augustine explained that he did not gain anything from the thievery, but still desired to sin. Because of this thought Augustine argued that that all of our sin comes from a perverse desire to be like God. However, I believe Augustine downplays something quite substantial that he does gain from joining in this thievery. He found the approval of his friends which obviously meant a great deal to him or he would not have exaggerated his sexual exploits. Augustine mentioned the possible corruption from bad company. However, I think it may be possible that although Augustine wrestled with these ideas he may not have fully comprehended the weight of bad friendship. Gonzalez notes how theology changes with new cultural exposure. It is interesting because our culture highly stresses the dangers of peer pressure and societal norms which may contribute to my views differing from Augustine’s argument that sin represents a perverse desire of God’s