Augustine on... (sinfulness, predestination, etc...)

[RobNY]

Alright, so I’m going through my history book, and I’m getting statements like this:

Pascal allied himself with the Jansenists… The Jansenists shared with Calvinists Saint Augustine’s belief in human beings’ total sinfulness, their eternal predestination to heaven or hell by God, and their complete dependence on faith and grace for knowledge of God and salvation.

What exactly did Augustine teach? I find it hard to believe that such a prominent Church father would teach something Calvinists and later (heretical?) Jansenists would later latch onto.

So, I guess, here are my questions.

1. Augustine on the total sinfulness of man
2. Augustine on predestination
3. Augustine on the dependence on faith and grace

I have a feeling that this statement is lacking some rather large amounts of… er… nuance, regarding what Augustine held. And, for number three, what the orthodox Catholic position is.

 

[Aaron_I]

Well, I can answer number 2. Augustine believed in predestination. Keep in mind that the beliefs of theologians are not necessarily true.

I could be wrong on this as I haven’t come across it myself, just repeating what I’ve heard (from an orthodox Catholic).

 

[RobNY]

Aaron I.:

Well, I can answer number 2. Augustine believed in predestination. Keep in mind that the beliefs of theologians are not necessarily true.

I could be wrong on this as I haven’t come across it myself, just repeating what I’ve heard (from an orthodox Catholic).

All catholics believe in predestination… as far as I know… what matters is what we mean by that. God’s omniscence necessitates predestination in the sense that God knows from the beginning what free choices we will make and assigns us (from the beginning) to heaven or hell accordingly. The Catholic and Calvinist beliefs on what predestination entail are quite different, from what I’ve heard, and that’s more what I’m looking for.