HUM 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Theodicy
An Autobiography of God's Image
1.
St. Augustine spends time scrutinizes things he did as a young man
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Tells us all about these sins with a deep sense of shame and remorse
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He's really talking to God
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Very hard on children and looks back on his childhood with regret
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He thinks children do not have control of their impulses and are especially sinful
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Humanity.
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What would human nature be like without sin? If Adam and Eve had not eaten that
apple and had fallen out of grace
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What is the thing he knows that is most like God?
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Augustine wants to understand God
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Confessions 395
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The Pear Thief
2.
Steals some pears from a neighbor's tree
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Born 41 years after Christianity is legalized but there is still a lot of pagans around
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Augustine is born with a Christian mother and Pagan father but is raised Christian.
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As a child, he is not interested in Paganism but his mother teaches him the simplistic version of
Christianity. So he is not very enthusiastic about it.
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Leaves for additional schooling and comes home to take a break to save up for university.
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During this year he beings his "most enthusiastic year of sin"
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"there was a pear tree near out vineyard, loaded with fruit that was attractive neither to look at
nor to taste. Late one night, a band of ruffians, myself included, went off to shake down the fruit
and carry it away, for we had continued our games out of doors until well after dark, as was our
pernicious habit. We took away an enormous quantity of pears, not to eat them ourselves, but
simply to throw them to the pigs. Perhaps we ate some of them, but our real pleasure consisted in
doing something that was forbidden"
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Makes it seem like they are committing a major crime
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Why is he middle aged and still overcome about this pear?
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But this is not just about him, it's about how humanity sins.
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Stealing fruit is a major known sin in humanity, going back to the story of Adam and Eve.
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Augustine's Life Search: the Origins of Evil
3.
God created everything, God is good, so everything must be good. But this is observably
false
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God created everything, Evil exists, so God created Evil. But that is unacceptable because
then God must tolerate evil.
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Augustine decides "if babies are innocent, it is not for lack of will to do harm, but for lack of
strength." he thinks babies are evil
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Theodicy - The question of why evil exists if God is good
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The only thing that was fun about the pears was the theft itself because the pears were bad and
they didn't each enjoy them. There was no payoff.
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Lecture 6a
Monday, May 7, 2018
11:04 AM
week 6 Page 1
