Friday, June 6
Book 5
Will
Well. I really enjoyed book 5. I especially found sections 9 and 10 extremely interesting. Did anything stike you guys particularly in those sections? I almost wish however that Augustine would have gone another step further and talked more about 'predestination' and what it means to be 'chosen'- still, the discussion of will and foreknowledge was complex and good. I think I agree with the way he seems to reconcile them. Augustine does say that "as He is the creator of all natures, so also is He the bestower of all powers, not of all wills; for wicked wills are not from Him, being contrary to nature, which is from Him." So what do we think about this? Obviously in creation God gave us this power of choice- the power of will. Yet what does it mean for Him to give us actual wills? It makes sense not to give us wicked wills being contrary to nature, but I guess I'm not sure what it means to give us wills if it is supposed to be something different than the power of will...?
Awareness
Then, in section 23, Augustine says something that I just had a little question over. He says God did "cause that the king of the Goths should be conquered in a wonderful manner, lest glory should accrue to demons, whom he was known to be supplicating, and thus the minds of the weak should be overthrown..." I was wondering whether we think God still "protects" His glory by not letting glory "accrue to demons" today? Was this sort of action normal, specific to the time, specific to the situation? Perhaps we are simply not aware of the fullness of God's role in this world. In many ways, Augustine takes it for granted that his audience knows God's constant intervention. God's intervention in our daily lives- in my life- is certainly something I know I must have no full comprehension of.
Re: "good" not pertaining to God
I still don't understand Augustine when he says that a certain attitude, while not aligned with God, is better than another attitude.
Dwight, I wasn't sure what you were referring to, so if you get a chance, could you expound and quote Augustine if possible to a section he talks about this?
