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Sahid
Megistered Rember

Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 2013

Posted 5/3/2005 5:26 AM (GMT -6)

So this professor is telling me that we have choices, but they are not rational. They are desire-driven. Somehow we always do what we think will be good for us, but not. He says that this is Augustine's position. I know he's not really the most popular guy here, but can anyone explain Augustine's idea of the will in a simple and straightforward manner? Is it simple determinism?

Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre

JEE
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2004
Total Posts : 1466

Posted 5/3/2005 10:48 AM (GMT -6)

Sounds to me like compatibilism, which is sometimes called "soft determinism." The basic premise is that "we are free to do what we want," but then they qualify this by saying that what one wants is predetermined by God (programmed, to my way of thinking). They also say that one always, by definition, chooses according to one's strongest motive.

The problem that Arminians and open Theists like myself have with this definition is that it must deny:

1. That humans have truly DELIBERATIVE ability.

2. That humans can SUSPEND or defer choice until deliberation on that particular choice is concluded.

3. That there can be any truly RATIONAL BASIS for human choices, for in compatibilism mental choices are brought down to little more than pure instinct--one does what one WANTS, but one's wants are predetermined (built-in) by God.

Consequently, compatibilism, to my mind, must also deny that God is truly free from sin, for in the compatibilist scenario God is indeed the author of all sin.

I'm not sure Augustine taught compatibilism per se, though it is certain that in later life he become a determinist, and one can certainly see the seeds of it in his innovative dogma of Original Sin, in which sin is considered an INHERENT NATURE rather than a CHOICE. To my knowledge, the celebrated American Puritan theologian, Jonathan Edwards, is most famous for popularizing the view of free will now known of as compatibilism. Perhaps someone more familiar with Augustine's philosophy of free will could give you more specific references. It is certain, however, that Augustine diverged sharply from what had been the view of all the church fathers who had preceded him on the issue of free will, towards a deterministic point of view, though again, I'm not absolutely certain he would have completely agreed with Edwards' view.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

JohnE

http://www.revivaltheology.cjb.net

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