The Ancient Church: Part IITime: November 3, 7:00 pm
Location: Phil and Debbie Lindquist's home. Click here for directions.
Book: Augustine's Confessions (Books 1-10 only, or as much as you can).
Questions to consider as you read: What is the relationship between knowing yourself and knowing God? Why does Augustine need to "confess"? What is it about Christianity which finally convinces Augustine to convert?
For a free online version of the book, click here. Copies are available for purchase ($8). Contact Scott Dermer if interested.
2 comments:
In reflecting on our second meeting, I went digging for some notes that I had made one time when Scott Daniels was preaching. In discussing "transformation" as one of the core values of Nazarenes, he identified two different views. The first was that humans are "forever flawed," held by Plato, Augustine and Calvin. The other view is one of optimism, as held by Aristotle, Thomas Acquinas and John Wesley.
Helpful comment, Phil. That is a good summary of two major trajectories in Christian theology. I will simply add that although Aquinas and Wesley have a more optimistic view of human beings, they still inherited Augustine's concept of original sin. The real difference is that Aquinas and Wesley think that in our current fallen state, we still have the capacity to respond to God (because of grace). For Augustine, we have completely lost our capacity to respond to God because of original sin, therefore we are dependent on God to cause us to love him.
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