immediately inclined to argue in epictetus’ favor‚ because it pains me to argue that Christianity is good for anybody. In the following paragraphs‚ i will contrast the God of Epictetus‚ and the God of Augustine‚ and in the end‚ my stand will be clear. Epictetus and Augustine both identify God on basic level. Epictetus says‚ "Where the essence of God is‚ there too is the essence of good. What is the essence of God?......Right Reason? Certainly. Here then‚ without
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Asim B. Malik Professor Bryan Polk RL ST 124 9 December 2010 Original Sin – Truth or Ideology The narrative of the first man and woman‚ Adam and Eve‚ is one that is well known among humanity. Simply put‚ it is the story of the origin of mankind; their creation‚ their temptation‚ and their initial sin‚ leading both‚ man and woman‚ and their progeny thereafter‚ to be banished from the Garden of Eden by the Creator Himself. Why us‚ their progeny? Are we to pay for their sin as well? Or are we also
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Augustine is another author who touches on the empire of Rome‚ and provides a religious filter on the subject. St. Augustine began writing “City of God” after the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths in 410. “City of God” addresses God‚ martyrdom‚ and other Christian philosophies. He conceives the church as a “heavenly kingdom”‚ which would ultimately triumph over all “earthly empires.” St Augustine labels these earthly empires as self-indulgent and
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explain the philosophy of man. This essay will proceed to juxtapose and integrate the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and St. Augustine taking into consideration the time periods within which each lived and studied. Saint Augustine defines the apparent imbalance between what or who people are and what people truly desire. Desire‚ according to Augustine‚ is accompanied by will‚ which can misdirect and lead to a dualism of internal and external conflict. This dualism describes the separation
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paper examines St. Augustine’s view on evil. St. Augustine believed that God made a perfect world‚ but that God’s creatures turned away from God of their own free will and that is how evil originated in the world. Augustine assumes that evil cannot be properly said to exist at all‚ he argues that the evil‚ together with that suffering which is created as punishment for sin‚ originates in the free nature of the will of all creatures. According to Augustine‚ God has allowed evil to exist in the world because
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St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy. He argues that skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge. In a proof for existence similar to one later made famous by René Descartes‚ Augustine says‚ “[Even] If I am mistaken‚ I am.” He is the first Western philosopher to promote
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In the very first book of Confessions Augustine writes “You stir man to take pleasure in praising you‚ because you have made us for yourself‚ and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Augustine‚ 3). Augustine wrote this passage to depict the unwavering servitude Christians have towards their God and creator. He believes that God created man in a way that he could encourage
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Described by Augustine himself Hell is a place where those who are not saved by God will be “tortured with a fruitless repentance”. The fact that God included Hell as part of His creation gives the impression that He knew that there would need to be a place for sinners
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grace he stressed that man has no say in their destiny since God the ultimate decision maker decides each and everyone’s destiny. While Augustine has died long ago‚ contemporary theologians are still interested in his writings regarding free will‚ grace‚ salvation and predestination which was said to have been intended for Pagans and Christians alike. Augustine argues that one’s moral up bringing has a lot to do with his actions‚ whether good or bad. He further states that the will to do good or
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On the Free Choice of the Will discusses these standards and defines what each laws mean. Most importantly‚ Augustine argues that eternal law is necessary for temporal law to exist and for the nation to function properly. I agree with Augustine’s argument on the necessity of both eternal law and human law and the belief of how temporal law is based on eternal law. According to Augustine‚ eternal law is a law that is just‚ unchanging‚ and follows the proper ordering and reasoning. This eternal law
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