St. Augustine's Teachings On Original Sin
Original Sin is a Christian theology first proposed by St. Augustine as a way of explaining that humans innately have a tendency to be evil and why humans are capable of being evil. Original Sin comes from the concept of the Fall from when Adam first sinned. I don’t think that Augustine’s teaching on original sin is successful because whilst the theory is able to explain why everyone is capable of evil, Augustine’s literal meaning of the Old Testament means he is narrow minded regarding the cause of evil and sin limiting the development of the theology and thus its impracticality in modern society.
Before the Fall, Augustine believed that humans existed in ‘Concordia’ or a perfect state were they were obedient to God. Augustine believed that …show more content…
Instead of believing in metaphors for the story of Creation in Genesis and the explanation, Augustine believed that the Old Testament was more a historical event leading to some now wrong conclusions. Dawkins argues that Augustine’s teaching on original sin can be argued with as evolutionary biology disagrees with Augustine’s teachings. Dawkins would also argue that the idea that sin originated with two people is irrational and unbelievable. I agree with Dawkins here and I believe a metaphorical approach to the Old Testament is a more reasonably approach to understanding the messages within the …show more content…
Pinker instead believes that it is religion itself that is responsible for evil within humanity until the humanitarian principle replaced old ideas about the Fall and Original Sin. The humanitarian principle is the idea that humans get on better when humans take into account other people’s interests and ideas instead of following one set of unchangeable rules. I think that this is a much better approach to talking about sin compared to Augustine’s approach as his literal reading of the Old Testament limits its practicality today and therefore there is wider knowledge available to help people make their own decisions now compared to when he devised the
Before the Fall, Augustine believed that humans existed in ‘Concordia’ or a perfect state were they were obedient to God. Augustine believed that …show more content…
Instead of believing in metaphors for the story of Creation in Genesis and the explanation, Augustine believed that the Old Testament was more a historical event leading to some now wrong conclusions. Dawkins argues that Augustine’s teaching on original sin can be argued with as evolutionary biology disagrees with Augustine’s teachings. Dawkins would also argue that the idea that sin originated with two people is irrational and unbelievable. I agree with Dawkins here and I believe a metaphorical approach to the Old Testament is a more reasonably approach to understanding the messages within the …show more content…
Pinker instead believes that it is religion itself that is responsible for evil within humanity until the humanitarian principle replaced old ideas about the Fall and Original Sin. The humanitarian principle is the idea that humans get on better when humans take into account other people’s interests and ideas instead of following one set of unchangeable rules. I think that this is a much better approach to talking about sin compared to Augustine’s approach as his literal reading of the Old Testament limits its practicality today and therefore there is wider knowledge available to help people make their own decisions now compared to when he devised the