Editing Augustine of Hippo (section)

=== Theology ===
==== Christian anthropology ====
Augustine was one of the first Christian [[Late Latin|ancient Latin]] authors with a very clear vision of [[Christian anthropology|theological anthropology]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | publisher = Stanford | title = Encyclopedia of Philosophy | url = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/#PhiAnt | contribution = Saint Augustine {{ndash}} Philosophical Anthropology | year = 2016 }}</ref> He saw the human being as a perfect unity of soul and body. In his late treatise ''[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On Care to Be Had for the Dead/Section 5|On Care to Be Had for the Dead, section 5]]'' (420) he exhorted respect for the body on the grounds it belonged to the very nature of the human [[person]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De cura pro mortuis gerenda'' [[Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum|CSEL]] 41, 627 [13–22]; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">[[Patrologia Latina|PL]]</abbr> 40, 595: ''Nullo modo ipsa spernenda sunt corpora. (...) Haec enim non-ad ornamentum vel adiutorium, quod adhibetur extrinsecus, sed ad ipsam naturam hominis pertinent''.</ref> Augustine's favourite figure to describe ''body-soul'' unity is marriage: ''caro tua, coniunx tua – your body is your wife''.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Enarrationes in psalmos'', 143, 6.</ref><ref>[[Corpus Christianorum|CCL]] 40, 2077 [46] – 2078 [74]; 46, 234–235.</ref><ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De utilitate ieiunii'', 4, 4–5.</ref>

Augustine believed that though initially the two elements of body and soul were in perfect harmony, after the [[#Original sin|fall of humanity]] they came into dramatic combat with one another. He wrote of them as two categorically different things: the body as a three-dimensional object composed of the four elements, and the soul as spatially dimensionless.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De quantitate animae'' 1.2; 5.9.</ref> He further defined the soul as a kind of substance, participating in reason, fit for ruling the body.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De quantitate animae'' 13.12: ''Substantia quaedam rationis particeps, regendo corpori accomodata''.</ref>

Augustine was not preoccupied, as [[Plato]] and [[Descartes]] were, in detailed efforts to explain the [[metaphysics]] of the soul-body union. It sufficed for him to admit they are metaphysically distinct: to be a human is to be a composite of soul and body, with the soul superior to the body. The latter statement is grounded in his [[hierarchical classification]] of things into those that merely exist, those that exist and live, and those that exist, live, and have intelligence or reason.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''On the free will'' (''De libero arbitrio'') 2.3.7–6.13.</ref>{{sfn|Mann|1999|pp=141–142}}

Like other Church Fathers such as [[Athenagoras of Athens|Athenagoras]],<ref>{{Cite web | title = A Plea for the Christians |author= Athenagoras the Athenian | url = http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0205.htm | publisher = New Advent}}</ref> [[Tertullian]],{{sfn|Flinn|2007|p=4}} [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Basil of Caesarea]],{{sfn|Luker|1985|p=12}} Augustine "vigorously condemned the practice of induced [[abortion]]", and although he disapproved of abortion during any stage of pregnancy, he made a distinction between early and later abortions.{{sfn|Bauerschmidt|1999|p= 1}} He acknowledged the distinction between "formed" and "unformed" fetuses mentioned in the [[Septuagint]] translation of Exodus 21:22–23, which incorrectly translates the word "harm" (from the original Hebrew text) as "form" in the [[Koine Greek]] of the Septuagint. His view was based on the Aristotelian distinction "between the fetus before and after its supposed 'vivification{{'"}}. Therefore, he did not classify the abortion of an "unformed" fetus as murder since he thought it could not be known with certainty the fetus had received a soul.{{sfn|Bauerschmidt|1999|p= 1}}<ref>[http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/respect-for-unborn-human-life.cfm Respect for Unborn Human Life: the Church's Constant Teaching]. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops</ref>

Augustine held that "the timing of the infusion of the soul was a mystery known to God alone".{{sfn|Lysaught|Kotva|Lammers|Verhey|2012|p=676}} However, he considered procreation as "one of the goods of marriage; abortion figured as a means, along with drugs which cause sterility, of frustrating this good. It lay along a continuum which included infanticide as an instance of 'lustful cruelty' or 'cruel lust.' Augustine called the use of means to avoid the birth of a child an 'evil work:' a reference to either abortion or contraception or both."<ref name="Vasa">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/bishops/vasapelosi.htm|title=Modern Look at Abortion Not Same as St. Augustine's|website=www.ewtn.com|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220044432/https://www.ewtn.com/library/bishops/vasapelosi.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Creation ====
{{See also|Allegorical interpretations of Genesis}}
In ''City of God'', Augustine rejected both the contemporary ideas of ages (such as those of certain Greeks and Egyptians) that differed from the Church's sacred writings.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Augustine of Hippo |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-02/npnf1-02-18.htm#P2017_1154484 |chapter=Of the Falseness of the History Which Allots Many Thousand Years to the World's Past |title=The City of God |at=Book&nbsp;12: Chapt.&nbsp;10 [419]}}</ref> In ''The Literal Interpretation of Genesis'', Augustine argued that God had created everything in the universe simultaneously and not over a period of six days. He argued the six-day structure of creation presented in the Book of Genesis represents a [[framework interpretation (Genesis)|logical framework]], rather than the passage of time in a physical way – it would bear a spiritual, rather than physical, meaning, which is no less literal. One reason for this interpretation is the passage in [[Sirach]]&nbsp;18:1, ''creavit omnia simul'' ("He created all things at once"), which Augustine took as proof that the days of Genesis&nbsp;1 had to be taken non-literalistically.{{sfn|Teske|1999|pp=377–378}} As additional support for describing the six days of creation as a [[heuristic device]], Augustine thought the actual event of creation would be incomprehensible by humans and therefore needed to be translated.{{sfn|Franklin-Brown|2012|p=280}}

Augustine also does not envision original sin as causing structural changes in the universe, and even suggests that the bodies of [[Adam and Eve]] were already created mortal before [[Fall of man|the Fall]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Augustine of Hippo |title=On the Merits |at=1.2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Augustine of Hippo |title=City of God |at=13:1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Augustine of Hippo |title=Enchiridion |at=104}}</ref> Apart from his specific views, Augustine recognized that interpreting the creation story was difficult, and remarked that interpretations could change should new information come up.<ref>Young, Davis A. [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1988/PSCF3-88Young.html "The Contemporary Relevance of Augustine's View of Creation"], ''[[Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith]]'' '''40.1''':42–45 (3/1988). Retrieved 30 September 2011.</ref>

==== Ecclesiology ====
{{See also|Ecclesiology}}
[[File:Carlo Crivelli - St. Augustine - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|''St. Augustine'' by [[Carlo Crivelli]]]]
Augustine developed his doctrine of the Church principally in reaction to the [[Donatist]] sect. He taught there is one Church, but within this Church there are two realities, namely, the visible aspect (the institutional [[hierarchy of the Catholic Church|hierarchy]], the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|Catholic sacraments]], and the [[laity]]) and the invisible (the souls of those in the Church, who are either dead, sinful members or elect predestined for Heaven). The former is the institutional body established by Christ on earth which proclaims salvation and administers the sacraments, while the latter is the invisible body of the elect, made up of genuine believers from all ages, who are known only to God. The Church, which is visible and societal, will be made up of "wheat" and "tares", that is, good and wicked people (as per Mat. 13:30), until the end of time. This concept countered the Donatist claim that only those in a [[state (theology)|state of grace]] were the "true" or "pure" church on earth, and that priests and bishops who were not in a state of grace had no authority or ability to confect the sacraments.{{sfn|González|1987|p=28}}

Augustine's ecclesiology was more fully developed in ''City of God''. There he conceives of the church as a heavenly city or kingdom, ruled by love, which will ultimately triumph over all earthly empires which are self-indulgent and ruled by pride. Augustine followed [[Cyprian]] in teaching that bishops and priests of the Church are the [[apostolic succession|successors of the Apostles]],{{sfn|González|1987|p=}} and their authority in the Church is God-given.

The concept of [[Church invisible]] was advocated by Augustine as part of his refutation of the Donatist sect, though he, as other Church Fathers before him, saw the invisible Church and visible Church as one and the same thing, unlike the later Protestant reformers who did not identify the Catholic Church as the [[One true church|true church]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Justo L. Gonzalez |title=A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2 (From Augustine to the eve of the Reformation) |date=1970–1975 |publisher=Abingdon Press}}</ref> He was strongly influenced by the [[Platonism|Platonist]] belief that true reality is invisible and that, if the visible reflects the invisible, it does so only partially and imperfectly (see [[Theory of Forms]]).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JeXFXXHBgnoC Wallace M. Alston, The Church of the Living God: A Reformed Perspective] (Westminster John Knox Press, 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-664-22553-7}}), p. 53</ref> Others question whether Augustine really held to some form of an "invisible true Church" concept.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/non-orthodox_ch7.pdf|title=Patrick Barnes, The Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church}}</ref>

==== Eschatology ====
Augustine originally believed in [[premillennialism]], namely that Christ would establish a literal 1,000-year kingdom prior to the general [[resurrection]], but later rejected the belief, viewing it as carnal. During the medieval period, the Catholic Church built its system of eschatology on Augustinian [[amillennialism]], where Christ rules the earth spiritually through his triumphant church.{{sfn|Blomberg|2006|p=519}}

During the [[Reformation]], theologians such as [[John Calvin]] accepted amillennialism. Augustine taught that the eternal fate of the soul is determined at death,{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=}}<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Enchiridion'', 110</ref> and that [[purgatory|purgatorial]] fires of the [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate state]] purify only those who died in communion with the Church. His teaching provided fuel for later theology.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=}}

==== Mariology ====
Although Augustine did not develop an independent [[Mariology]], his statements on Mary surpass in number and depth those of other early writers. Even before the [[Council of Ephesus]], he defended the [[perpetual virginity of Mary|Ever-Virgin Mary]] as the [[theotokos|Mother of God]], believing her to be "full of grace" (following earlier Latin writers such as [[Jerome]]) on account of her sexual integrity and innocence.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De Sancta Virginitate'', 6,6, 191.</ref> Likewise, he affirmed that the Virgin Mary "conceived as virgin, gave birth as virgin and stayed virgin forever".<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De Sancta Virginitate'', 18</ref>

==== Natural knowledge and biblical interpretation ====
Augustine took the view that, if a literal interpretation contradicts science and humans' God-given reason, the biblical text should be interpreted metaphorically. While each passage of Scripture has a literal sense, this "literal sense" does not always mean the Scriptures are mere history; at times they are rather an [[extended metaphor]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De Genesi ad literam 1:19–20'', Chapt. 19 [408], ''De Genesi ad literam'', 2:9</ref>

==== Original sin ====
{{See also|Original sin}}

[[File:Saint Augustine - Tomas Giner.JPG|thumb|Painting of Augustine (1458) by Tomás Giner, tempera on panel, Diocesan Museum of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain]]
Augustine taught that the sin of Adam and Eve was either an act of foolishness (''insipientia'') followed by pride and disobedience to God or that pride came first.<ref group=lower-alpha>He explained to Julian of Eclanum that it was a most subtle job to discern what came first: ''Sed si disputatione subtilissima et elimatissima opus est, ut sciamus utrum primos homines insipientia superbos, an insipientes superbia fecerit''. (''Contra Julianum'', V, 4.18; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 795)</ref> The first couple disobeyed God, who had told them not to eat of the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil]] (Gen 2:17).<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''On the Literal Meaning of Genesis'' (''[[De Genesi ad litteram']]'), VIII, 6:12, vol. 1, pp. 192–93 and 12:28, vol. 2, pp. 219–220, trans. John Hammond Taylor SJ; [[Bibliothèque Augustinniene|BA]] 49,28 and 50–52; PL 34, 377; cf. idem, ''De Trinitate'', XII, 12.17; [[Corpus Christianorum|CCL]] 50, 371–372 [v. 26–31; 1–36]; ''De natura boni'' 34–35; CSEL 25, 872; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 42, 551–572''</ref> The tree was a symbol of the order of creation.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''On the Literal Meaning of Genesis'' (''De Genesi ad litteram''), VIII, 4.8; [[Bibliothèque Augustinniene|BA]] 49, 20</ref> Self-centeredness made Adam and Eve eat of it, thus failing to acknowledge and respect the world as it was created by God, with its hierarchy of beings and values.<ref group=lower-alpha>Augustine explained it in this way: "Why therefore is it enjoined upon mind, that it should know itself? I suppose, in order that, it may consider itself, and live according to its own nature; that is, seek to be regulated according to its own nature, viz., under Him to whom it ought to be subject, and above those things to which it is to be preferred; under Him by whom it ought to be ruled, above those things which it ought to rule. For it does many things through vicious desire, as though in forgetfulness of itself. For it sees some things intrinsically excellent, in that more excellent nature which is God: and whereas it ought to remain steadfast that it may enjoy them, it is turned away from Him, by wishing to appropriate those things to itself, and not to be like to Him by His gift, but to be what He is by its own, and it begins to move and slip gradually down into less and less, which it thinks to be more and more." ("[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130105.htm On the Trinity]" (''De Trinitate''), 5:7; [[Corpus Christianorum|CCL]] 50, 320 [1–12])</ref>

Augustine wrote that Adam and Eve would not have fallen into pride and lack of wisdom if [[Satan]] had not sown into their senses "the root of evil" (''radix Mali'').<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Nisi radicem mali humanus tunc reciperet sensus'' ("Contra Julianum", I, 9.42; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 670)</ref> Their nature was wounded, according to Augustine, by [[concupiscence]] or [[libido]], which affected human intelligence and will, as well as affections and desires, including sexual desire.<ref group="lower-alpha">In one of Augustine's late works, ''[[Retractationes]]'', he made a significant remark indicating the way he understood the difference between spiritual, moral libido and the sexual desire: "Libido is not good and righteous use of the libido" ("libido non-est bonus et rectus usus libidinis"). See the whole passage: ''Dixi etiam quodam loco: «Quod enim est cibus ad salutem hominis, hoc est concubitus ad salutem generis, et utrumque non-est sine delectatione carnali, quae tamen modificata et temperantia refrenante in usum naturalem redacta, libido esse non-potest». Quod ideo dictum est, quoniam "libido non-est bonus et rectus usus libidinis". Sicut enim malum est male uti bonis, ita bonum bene uti malis. De qua re alias, maxime contra novos haereticos Pelagianos, diligentius disputavi''. Cf. ''De bono coniugali'', 16.18; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 40, 385; ''De nuptiis et concupiscentia'', II, 21.36; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 443; ''Contra Iulianum'', III, 7.16; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 710; ibid., V, 16.60; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 817. See also {{Cite book |author=Idem |title=Le mariage chrétien dans l'oeuvre de Saint Augustin. Une théologie baptismale de la vie conjugale |publisher=Études Augustiniennes |year=1983 |location=Paris |page=97}}</ref> In terms of [[metaphysics]], Augustine found concupiscence to be not a state of being but a bad quality, the privation of good or a wound.<ref>''Non substantialiter manere concupiscentiam, sicut corpus aliquod aut spiritum; sed esse affectionem quamdam malae qualitatis, sicut est languor''. (''De nuptiis et concupiscentia''), I, 25. 28; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 430; cf. ''Contra Julianum'', VI, 18.53; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 854; ibid. VI, 19.58; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 857; ibid., II, 10.33; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 697; ''Contra Secundinum Manichaeum'', 15; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 42, 590.</ref>

Augustine's understanding of the consequences of original sin and the necessity of redeeming grace was developed in the struggle against [[Pelagius]] and his [[Pelagianism|Pelagian]] disciples, [[Caelestius]] and [[Julian of Eclanum]],{{sfn|González|1987|p=}} who had been inspired by [[Rufinus of Syria]], a disciple of [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]].<ref>[[Marius Mercator]] ''Lib. subnot.in verb. Iul. Praef.'',2,3; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 48,111 /v.5–13/</ref>{{sfn|Bonner|1987|p=35}} They refused to agree original sin wounded human will and mind, insisting human nature was given the power to act, to speak, and to think when God created it. Human nature cannot lose its moral capacity for doing good, but a person is free to act or not act in a righteous way. Pelagius gave an example of eyes: they have capacity for seeing, but a person can make either good or bad use of it.{{sfn|Bonner|1986|pp=355–356}}<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''[http://www.augustinus.it/latino/grazia_cristo/grazia_cristo_1_libro.htm De gratia Christi et de peccato originali]'', I, 15.16; CSEL 42, 138 [v. 24–29]; Ibid., I,4.5; CSEL 42, 128 [v.15–23].</ref>

Pelagians insisted human affections and desires were not touched by the fall either. In the Pelagian view, immorality, e.g. [[fornication]], is exclusively a matter of will, i.e. a person does not use natural desires in a proper way. In opposition, Augustine pointed out the apparent disobedience of the flesh to the spirit, and explained it as one of the results of original sin, punishment of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Against Two Letters of the Pelagians'' 1.31–32</ref>

Augustine had served as a "Hearer" for the Manichaeans for about nine years,{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=35}} who taught that the original sin was [[carnal knowledge]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jcreeves/manichaean_version_of_genesis_2-4.htm |title=The Manichaean Version of Genesis 2–4 |access-date=25 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029144459/http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jcreeves/manichaean_version_of_genesis_2-4.htm |archive-date=29 October 2005 }}. Translated from the Arabic text of Ibn al-Nadīm, Fihrist, as reproduced by G. Flügel in ''Mani: Seine Lehre und seine Schriften'' (Leipzig, 1862; reprinted, [[Osnabrück]]: Biblio Verlag, 1969) 58.11–61.13.</ref> But his struggle to understand the cause of evil in the world started before that, at the age of nineteen.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De libero arbitrio'' 1,9,1.</ref> By ''malum'' (evil) he understood most of all concupiscence, which he interpreted as a vice dominating people and causing in men and women moral disorder. Agostino Trapè insists Augustine's personal experience cannot be credited for his doctrine about concupiscence. He considers Augustine's marital experience to be quite normal, and even exemplary, aside from the absence of Christian wedding rites.{{sfn|Trapè|1987|pp=113–114}} As J. Brachtendorf showed, Augustine used Ciceronian [[Stoicism|Stoic]] concept of passions, to interpret [[Paul the Apostle|Paul's]] doctrine of universal sin and redemption.{{sfn|Brachtendorf|1997|p=307}}

[[File:Peter Paul Rubens - St Augustine.JPG|thumb|''St. Augustine'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]]]
The view that not only human [[soul]] but also senses were influenced by the fall of Adam and Eve was prevalent in Augustine's time among the [[Fathers of the Church]].{{sfn|Sfameni Gasparro|2001|pp=250–251}}{{sfn|Somers|1961|p=115}}<ref>Cf. [[John Chrysostom]], ''Περι παρθενίας'' (''De Sancta Virginitate''), XIV, 6; SCh 125, 142–145; [[Gregory of Nyssa]], ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130105.htm On the Making of Man]'', 17; SCh 6, 164–165; and ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2907.htm On Virginity]'', 12.2; SCh 119, 402 [17–20]. Cf. Augustine of Hippo, ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1309.htm On the Good of Marriage]'', 2.2; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 40, 374.</ref> It is clear the reason for Augustine's distancing from the affairs of the flesh was different from that of [[Plotinus]], a [[Neoplatonist]]{{efn|Although Augustine praises him in the ''Confessions'', 8.2., it is widely acknowledged that Augustine's attitude towards that pagan philosophy was very much of a Christian apostle, as {{harvnb|Clarke|1958|p=151}} writes: ''Towards Neoplatonism there was throughout his life a decidedly ambivalent attitude; one must expect both agreement and sharp dissent, derivation but also repudiation. In the matter which concerns us here, the agreement with Neoplatonism (and with the Platonic tradition in general) centres on two related notions: immutability as the primary characteristic of divinity, and likeness to divinity as the primary vocation of the soul. The disagreement chiefly concerned, as we have said, two related and central Christian dogmas: the Incarnation of the Son of God and the resurrection of the flesh''. Cf. É. Schmitt's chapter 2: ''L'idéologie hellénique et la conception augustinienne de réalités charnelles'' in: {{Cite book |title= Le mariage chrétien dans l'oeuvre de Saint Augustin. Une théologie baptismale de la vie conjugale |author= Idem |year= 1983 |publisher= Études Augustiniennes| location=Paris |pages=108–123}} {{Cite book |title= The Young Augustine: The Growth of St. Augustine's Mind up to His Conversion |last=O'Meara |first=J.J. |year= 1954 |location=London |pages=143–151 and 195f}} {{Cite book |title= Le 'platonisme' des Pères |last= Madec |first=G. |page= 42}} in {{Cite book |title=Petites Études Augustiniennes |author= Idem |year= 1994|series=«Antiquité» 142| location=Paris |pages= 27–50|publisher= Collection d'Études Augustiniennes}} Thomas Aq. STh I q84 a5; Augustine of Hippo, ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120108.htm City of God]'' (''De Civitate Dei''), VIII, 5; CCL 47, 221 [3–4].}} who taught that only through disdain for fleshly desire could one reach the ultimate state of mankind.{{sfn|Gerson|1999|p=203}} Augustine taught the redemption, i.e. transformation and purification, of the body in the resurrection.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''"Enarrations on the Psalms"'' (''Enarrationes in psalmos''), 143:6; [[Corpus Christianorum|CCL]] 40, 2077 [46] – 2078 [74]; ''On the Literal Meaning of Genesis'' (''De Genesi ad Litteram''), 9:6:11, trans. John Hammond Taylor SJ, vol. 2, pp. 76–77; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 34, 397.</ref>

Some authors perceive Augustine's doctrine as directed against [[human sexuality]] and attribute his insistence on continence and devotion to God as coming from his need to reject his own highly sensual nature as described in the ''Confessions''.{{Efn|"It is, of course, always easier to oppose and denounce than to understand."{{sfn|Bonner|1986|p=312}}}} Augustine taught that human sexuality has been wounded, together with the whole of human nature, and requires [[Redemption (theology)|redemption]] of Christ. That healing is a process realized in conjugal acts. The virtue of continence is achieved thanks to the grace of the sacrament of Christian marriage, which becomes therefore a ''remedium concupiscentiae'' – remedy of concupiscence.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''De continentia'', 12.27; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 40, 368; Ibid., 13.28; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 40, 369; ''Contra Julianum'', III, 15.29, <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 717; Ibid., III, 21.42, <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 724.</ref>{{sfn|Burke|2006|pp= 481–536}} The redemption of human sexuality will be, however, fully accomplished only in the resurrection of the body.<ref>''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1501.htm Merits and Remission of Sin, and Infant Baptism]'' (''De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum''), I, 6.6; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 44, 112–113; cf. ''On the Literal Meaning of Genesis'' (''De Genesi ad litteram'') 9:6:11, trans. John Hammond Taylor SJ, vol. 2, pp. 76–77; <abbr title="Patrologia Latina">PL</abbr> 34, 397.</ref>

Augustine also taught that the sin of Adam is inherited by all human beings. Already in his pre-Pelagian writings, Augustine taught that Original Sin is transmitted to his descendants by concupiscence,<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Imperfectum Opus contra Iulianum'', II, 218</ref> which he regarded as the passion of both soul and body,{{efn|In 393 or 394 he commented: ''Moreover, if unbelief is fornication, and [[idolatry]] unbelief, and [[covetousness]] idolatry, it is not to be doubted that covetousness also is fornication. Who, then, in that case can rightly separate any unlawful lust whatever from the category of fornication, if covetousness is fornication? And from this we perceive, that because of unlawful lusts, not only those of which one is guilty in acts of uncleanness with another's husband or wife, but any unlawful lusts whatever, which cause the soul to make a bad use of the body to wander from the law of God, and to be ruinously and basely corrupted, a man may, without crime, put away his wife, and a wife her husband, because the Lord makes the cause of fornication an exception; which fornication, in accordance with the above considerations, we are compelled to understand as being general and universal.'' ("[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/16011.htm On the Sermon on the Mount]", ''De sermone Domini in monte'', 1:16:46; [[Corpus Christianorum|CCL]] 35, 52).}} making humanity a ''massa damnata'' (mass of perdition, condemned crowd) and much enfeebling, though not destroying, the freedom of the will.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|pp=1200–1204}} Although earlier Christian authors taught the elements of physical death, moral weakness, and a sin propensity within original sin, Augustine was the first to add the concept of inherited guilt (''reatus'') from Adam whereby an infant was eternally damned at birth.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=93, 127, 140, 146, 231–233, 279–280}}

Although Augustine's anti-Pelagian defence of original sin was confirmed at numerous councils, i.e. [[Council of Carthage (418)|Carthage (418)]], [[First Council of Ephesus|Ephesus]] (431), [[Council of Orange (529)|Orange]] (529), [[Council of Trent|Trent]] (1546) and by popes, i.e. [[Pope Innocent I]] (401–417) and [[Pope Zosimus]] (417–418), his inherited guilt eternally damning infants was omitted by these councils and popes.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=221, 231, 267, 296}} [[Anselm of Canterbury]] established in his ''[[Cur Deus Homo]]'' the definition that was followed by the great 13th-century Schoolmen, namely that Original Sin is the "privation of the righteousness which every man ought to possess," thus separating it from ''concupiscence,'' with which some of Augustine's disciples had identified it,{{sfn|Bonner|1986|p=371}}{{sfn|Southern|1953|pp=234–237}} as later did Luther and Calvin.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|pp=1200–1204}} In 1567, [[Pope Pius V]] condemned the identification of Original Sin with concupiscence.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|pp=1200–1204}}

==== Predestination ====
{{Main|Augustinian soteriology}}Augustine taught that God orders all things while preserving human freedom.{{sfn|Levering|2011|p=44}} Prior to 396, he believed [[predestination]] was based on God's foreknowledge of whether individuals would believe in Christ, that God's grace was "a reward for human assent".{{sfn|Levering|2011|pp=48–49}} Later, in response to [[Pelagius]], Augustine said that the sin of [[pride]] consists in assuming "we are the ones who choose God or that God chooses us (in his foreknowledge) because of something worthy in us", and argued that God's grace causes the individual act of faith.{{sfn|Levering|2011|pp=47–48}}

Scholars are divided over whether Augustine's teaching implies [[double predestination]], or the belief God chooses some people for damnation as well as some for salvation. Catholic scholars tend to deny he held such a view while some Protestants and secular scholars have held that Augustine did believe in double predestination.{{sfn|James|1998|p=102}} About 412, Augustine became the first Christian to understand predestination as a divine unilateral pre-determination of individuals' eternal destinies independently of human choice, although his prior Manichaean sect did teach this concept.{{sfn|Widengren|1977|pp=63–65, 90}}{{sfn|Stroumsa|1992|pp=344–345}}{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=286–293}}{{sfn|van Oort|2010|p=520}} Some Protestant theologians, such as [[Justo L. González]]{{sfn|González|1987|p=44}} and [[Bengt Hägglund]],{{sfn|Hägglund|2007|pp=139–140}} interpret Augustine's teaching that grace is [[irresistible grace|irresistible]], results in conversion, and leads to [[perseverance of the saints|perseverance]].

In ''On Rebuke and Grace'' (''De correptione et gratia''), Augustine wrote: "And what is written, that He wills all men to be saved, while yet all men are not saved, may be understood in many ways, some of which I have mentioned in other writings of mine; but here I will say one thing: He wills all men to be saved, is so said that all the predestinated may be understood by it, because every kind of men is among them."<ref name="St. Augustine of Hippo" />

Speaking of the twins Jacob and Esau, Augustine wrote in his book ''On the Gift of Perseverance'', "[I]t ought to be a most certain fact that the former is of the predestinated, the latter is not."<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''On the Gift of Perseverance'', Chapter 21</ref>

==== Sacramental theology ====
[[File:Vittore carpaccio, visione di sant'agostino 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''[[St. Augustine in His Study (Carpaccio)|St. Augustine in His Study]]'' by [[Vittore Carpaccio]], 1502]]

Also in reaction to the Donatists, Augustine developed a distinction between the "regularity" and "validity" of the [[sacrament]]s. Regular sacraments are performed by clergy of the Catholic Church, while sacraments performed by schismatics are considered irregular. Nevertheless, the validity of the sacraments does not depend upon the holiness of the priests who perform them (''[[ex opere operato]]''); therefore, irregular sacraments are still accepted as valid provided they are done in the name of Christ and in the manner prescribed by the Church. On this point, Augustine departs from the earlier teaching of [[Cyprian]], who taught that converts from schismatic movements must be re-baptised.{{sfn|González|1987|p=}} Augustine taught that sacraments administered outside the Catholic Church, though true sacraments, avail nothing. However, he also stated that baptism, while it does not confer any grace when done outside the Church, does confer grace as soon as one is received into the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Augustine of Hippo|title=St. Augustine's Writings Against The Manichaeans And Against The Donatists|edition=eBook |year= 2012|publisher=Jazzybee Verlag|isbn=978-3-8496-2109-4}}</ref>

Augustine believed that in a [[real presence of Christ in the Eucharist]], saying that Christ's statement, "This is my body" referred to the bread he carried in his hands,<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Explanations of the Psalms'' 33:1:10 [405]</ref><ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Sermons'' 227 [411]</ref> and that Christians must have faith the bread and wine are in fact the body and blood of Christ, despite what they see with their eyes.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Sermons'' 272</ref> For instance, he stated that "He [Jesus] walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation. But no one eats that flesh unless first he adores it; and thus it is discovered how such a footstool of the Lord's feet is adored; and not only do we not sin by adoring, we do sin by not adoring."{{sfn|Jurgens|1970|p=20|loc = §&nbsp;1479a}}

Presbyterian professor and author John Riggs argued that Augustine held that Christ is really present in the elements of the Eucharist, but not in a bodily manner, because his body remains in [[Heaven in Christianity|Heaven]].{{sfn|Riggs|2015|p=15}}

Augustine, in his work ''On Christian Doctrine'', referred to the Eucharist as a "figure" and a "sign".<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''On Christian Doctrine'', Book II, Chapter 3; Book III, Chapter 9; Book III, Chapter 16</ref>{{sfn|Ambrose|1919|p=35}}

Against the [[Pelagians]], Augustine strongly stressed the importance of [[infant baptism]]. About the question whether baptism is an absolute necessity for salvation, however, Augustine appears to have refined his beliefs during his lifetime, causing some confusion among later theologians about his position. He said in one of his sermons that only the baptized are saved.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed'', Paragraph 16</ref> This belief was shared by many early Christians. However, a passage from his ''City of God'', concerning the [[Apocalypse]], may indicate Augustine did believe in an exception for children born to Christian parents.<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''City of God'', Book 20, Chapter 8</ref>