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22. St. Augustine: The Problem of Free Choice (Ancient Christian Writers)

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St. Augustine wrote this book to answer the challenge of the Manachaeans. The Manachaeans held that evil could not be accounted for except as an independent principle with the result that man was not truly free or responsible for his actions since evil was a positively existing part of his nature. Such determinism easily leads to fatalism, both of which have nothing to do with the Gospel of Christ. St. Augustine presents his argument in the form of a conversation with a friend named Evodius. His simple, but startling conclusion is that evil is "nothing." It is what is not, but should be. Evil does not exist as an independent entity, but is brought about through the defective use of free will by a deliberative being. The source of this defect is the pride of Satan who chose to fixate upon his own being rather than see his being in its proper relation to God. Satan then influences the Man and Woman to seek in themselves what they knew to be in God. Man's freedom is not destroyed through sin, but weakened through the influence of concupiscence which distracts the mind and distorts the object of consideration so that clear deliberation is impossible without God's grace. Even in the state of sin, however, man continues to possess free will since his nature is oriented to the good and there are many goods for a rational being to choose from. Without grace, though, man can never choose the eternal Good through Whom alone he can be justified. Therefore, man always remains responsible for his actions since he is free, yet without grace he is doomed to damnation due to the deprivation of the eternal Good that was lost to him through Adam's sin. Though no man is personally culpable for original sin and therefore subject to positive damnation for this sin, every man of reason has in fact sinned personally and in this manner becomes culpable and consequently convicted. This book shows clearly that from early in his career St. Augustine upheld both the freedom of the will and the necessity of God's grace to attain justification. He maintained this position to the end as shown by his propensity in later life to continue to refer individuals to this early work.