Personally, I love how all of the works we have read this semester are all tying together and I'm even making connections to things we read last year. On page 14 Augustine says, "No one is doing right if he is acting against his will,even when what he is doing is good." This I feel is basically restating what Aristotle said in Nicomachean Ethics. Essentially that, your act of good needs to come from the heart. If you're doing something good but you secretly hate it or it becomes a burden to you then it's not a good thing. I remember thinking about the same story that Nate told I just didn't know which book in the Bible it came from. When the rich men are all praying loudly and donating copious amounts of money but the widow comes and tithes her last two pennies. The difference between the two being that she did it willingly and with a pure heart; whereas the rich men did it from a place of obligation and showmanship.
I commented on Nate's and Dallas'!
Augustine always strives to discover the motive behind every action. This is seen the most clearly in his story of the pear tree. You're right in noticing that this echoes both the Bible and Aristotle.
ReplyDeleteAs Christians, we believe that our religion is faith based and not work based as shown in Romans. I think this is where Augustine's line comes into play. Our theology is not right if we think by acting that we are justified, even if the work we do is good.
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