TRANSKRYPCJA 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.879
Welcome back. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge
00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:25.079
something. Some of you may feel like I keep revisiting
00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.980
the same themes. Death, corruption, original
00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:33.479
sin, baptism, Augustine, East and West. And honestly,
00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:36.640
there's a reason for that. Presuppositions are
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:39.619
some of the hardest things psychologically to
00:00:39.619 --> 00:00:42.079
reconsider. Because once a framework becomes
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.759
foundational, you stop merely thinking about
00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:47.909
it. You start thinking from it. It shapes what
00:00:47.909 --> 00:00:51.490
feels obvious, safe, biblical, or dangerous.
00:00:51.789 --> 00:00:54.189
And that means re -examining deep theological
00:00:54.189 --> 00:00:58.170
assumptions usually happens layer by layer, not
00:00:58.170 --> 00:01:00.509
all at once. So even though these themes recur,
00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:02.990
I think there's new material in this episode
00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:05.549
you'll find not only interesting, but hopefully
00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:08.629
encouraging. Today I want to explore what I increasingly
00:01:08.629 --> 00:01:11.230
think may be one of the most important theological
00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:14.530
transitions in Christian history. And I don't
00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:16.510
think it's ultimately about free will alone.
00:01:17.049 --> 00:01:19.150
I think it's about what becomes the foundational
00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:23.250
explanation for humanity's condition. Is humanity's
00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:27.689
primary problem death, corruption, bondage, fear,
00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:31.569
and satanic tyranny? Or is humanity's problem
00:01:31.569 --> 00:01:34.569
inherited guilt, condemnation, and participation
00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:37.969
in Adam's culpability? Because I increasingly
00:01:37.969 --> 00:01:41.450
think the Pelagian controversy marks a major
00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:44.629
shift in explanatory framework. And I want to
00:01:44.629 --> 00:01:47.409
be careful here. This is not an anti -Augustine
00:01:47.409 --> 00:01:50.790
episode. Augustine of Hippo absolutely affirms
00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:55.709
corruption, death, damaged nature, grace, and
00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:58.250
Satan. The question is not whether Augustine
00:01:58.250 --> 00:02:01.450
acknowledges these realities. The question is,
00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:04.250
what role do they play in the system? And I think
00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:06.870
during the Pelagian controversy, something subtle
00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:10.509
but massive happens. Death and Satan remain present,
00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:14.379
but they increasingly become subordinated, beneath
00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.360
inherited guilt and condemnation as the governing
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.180
explanatory framework. And honestly, I think
00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.180
this shift affects almost everything downstream.
00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:26.900
Baptism, conversion, assurance, predestination,
00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:31.219
moral psychology, revivalism, sacramental anxiety,
00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:34.280
and even how Christians emotionally experience
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:37.699
salvation itself. Now, before getting into Augustine
00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:40.039
specifically, we need to remember something modern
00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:43.080
discussions often forget. The Pelagian controversy
00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:47.060
centered heavily on baptism, especially infant
00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.539
baptism. That's crucial. This was not just an
00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:53.099
abstract debate about free will. The practical
00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:55.879
question underneath everything was, why does
00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:58.960
the church baptize infants at all? That question
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:02.280
drives enormous portions of Augustine's theology,
00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:06.620
because Pelagius strongly emphasized moral responsibility,
00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:10.520
voluntary sin, human ability, and obedience.
00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:13.250
And we should be fair to Pelagius for a moment.
00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:16.849
Pelagius was deeply concerned about moral laxity
00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:19.990
in Christianity. He saw Christians using weakness,
00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:24.610
corruption, and human inability almost as excuses
00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:28.370
for sin. In his mind, if God commands holiness,
00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:32.030
then holiness must truly be possible. Otherwise,
00:03:32.250 --> 00:03:35.569
God's commands become unjust. Responsibility
00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:38.699
collapses. and morality becomes incoherent. You
00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.439
can actually sympathize with why Pelagius thought
00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.319
this way. If humans are born incapable of obedience,
00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.360
then why command obedience? If people cannot
00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:50.180
do righteousness apart from irresistible grace,
00:03:50.379 --> 00:03:53.039
then how are they blameworthy? Those are real
00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:55.659
questions. But Augustine fears the opposite danger.
00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:59.280
Augustine fears that Pelagius has underestimated
00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.900
the catastrophe of Adam's fall. He fears Pelagius
00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:06.020
is reducing Christianity into moral instruction.
00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:09.520
In Augustine's mind, if humans are morally capable
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.860
in themselves, grace becomes optional, Christ
00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.780
becomes less necessary, and salvation starts
00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:18.579
looking like ethical self -improvement. And perhaps
00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:21.920
most importantly, infant baptism becomes difficult
00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.540
to explain. Because if infants have committed
00:04:24.540 -->
Load full transcript
00:04:28.540
no personal sins, possess no inherited condemnation,
00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:31.240
and remain morally neutral, then why baptize
00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:33.920
them? That's the pressure point underneath everything.
00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:38.199
So, Augustine intensifies inherited sin, inherited
00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:42.040
corruption, the necessity of grace, and condemnation
00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.279
in Adam. Now, what's fascinating is that Orthodoxy
00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.899
approaches infant baptism from a very different
00:04:47.899 --> 00:04:50.860
angle. In Orthodoxy, the rationale for infant
00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:54.600
baptism is not primarily infants stand juridically
00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.920
condemned before God. Rather, infants are dying.
00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:01.699
Humanity is born into corruption and decay. Death
00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:04.589
reigns over mankind. Satan remains a genuine
00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:07.430
liability to fallen humanity, and infants need
00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:10.410
participation in Christ's life. So infants are
00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:13.509
baptized because they need incorruption, resurrectional
00:05:13.509 --> 00:05:16.829
life, union with Christ, participation in the
00:05:16.829 --> 00:05:19.790
church, and deliverance from mortality and bondage.
00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:22.569
The framework is therapeutic, participatory,
00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:26.189
ontological. Yes, orthodoxy also appeals to apostolic
00:05:26.189 --> 00:05:29.410
precedent, covenantal language, household baptism.
00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:32.889
But underneath those arguments is a deeper anthropology.
00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:36.410
Humanity is born into death and needs life. That's
00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:39.389
very different from saying humanity is born condemned
00:05:39.389 --> 00:05:42.370
because of inherited guilt. And honestly, this
00:05:42.370 --> 00:05:44.970
is one reason Eastern Christianity often feels
00:05:44.970 --> 00:05:47.529
spiritually different from large portions of
00:05:47.529 --> 00:05:49.769
Western Christianity. Because if the foundational
00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:53.009
problem is guilt, then the spiritual life naturally
00:05:53.009 --> 00:05:56.949
becomes centered around acquittal, pardon, legal
00:05:56.949 --> 00:06:00.680
standing, assurance. moral status. But if the
00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:02.680
foundational problem is death and corruption,
00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:05.420
then the spiritual life naturally becomes centered
00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:09.000
around healing, participation, union, transformation,
00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:12.600
incorruption, and communion with divine life.
00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.740
That's a very different atmosphere. Now, this
00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:18.459
is where Augustine becomes extremely interesting,
00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:22.319
because Augustine absolutely uses language that
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:25.639
sounds remarkably close to ancestral corruption
00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:30.000
theology. For example, Augustine says, The infant
00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.319
has not yet committed any sin of his own, but
00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.680
the contagion of the ancient death binds him.
00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:40.300
That is fascinating language. Notice the terminology,
00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:44.579
contagion, ancient death, binds him. This sounds
00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:48.160
ontological, participatory, corruption -centered,
00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.639
not primarily courtroom language. It sounds closer
00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.279
to disease, infection, decay, bondage. And honestly,
00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.120
it sounds very close to scripture itself. Hebrews
00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:01.180
says, through death, he might destroy him that
00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.680
had the power of death, that is the devil, and
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.420
deliver them who through fear of death were all
00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:09.279
their lifetime subject to bondage. Notice the
00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.639
structure carefully. Satan rules humanity through
00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:17.079
death. Fear of death shapes human bondage. Death
00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.180
is not just punishment. Death becomes an active
00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:23.259
enslaving power. And this is why the Greek fathers
00:07:23.259 --> 00:07:25.980
often sound so different from later Western theology.
00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:29.670
St. Athanasius of Alexandria writes in On the
00:07:29.670 --> 00:07:32.509
Incarnation, quote, for the transgression of
00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:35.009
the commandment was making them turn back again
00:07:35.009 --> 00:07:37.790
according to their nature. And as they had at
00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:40.970
the beginning come into being out of non -existence,
00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:43.629
so also they were now on the way to returning
00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:47.350
through corruption to non -existence again, end
00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:51.129
quote. Pause and think about that imagery. Humanity
00:07:51.129 --> 00:07:54.589
is dissolving. Humanity is collapsing back toward
00:07:54.589 --> 00:07:58.680
non -being. through corruption. That is not legal
00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:03.360
imagery. That is ontological catastrophe. He
00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.819
continues, quote, men were perishing and corruption
00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:10.019
was gaining on them, end quote. Notice the atmosphere,
00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:14.480
corruption, decay, dissolution, mortality, humanity
00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.480
collapsing back toward death itself. The dominant
00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:21.079
concern is not how is guilt transmitted, but
00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.100
how is humanity rescued from corruption and death?
00:08:24.490 --> 00:08:26.189
And this is where something becomes historically
00:08:26.189 --> 00:08:28.629
very interesting. When you read many of the earlier
00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:31.670
Greek fathers, especially
figures like St. John
00:08:31.670 --> 00:08:34.690
Chrysostom, St. Athanasius, and the broader Greek
00:08:34.690 --> 00:08:37.429
patristic tradition, the human problem is often
00:08:37.429 --> 00:08:40.990
framed in dramatically wider terms than the later
00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:43.789
Pelagian controversy. The emphasis is frequently
00:08:43.789 --> 00:08:48.070
on death, corruption, fear, bondage, demonic
00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:51.389
tyranny, mortality, incorruption, participation
00:08:51.389 --> 00:08:54.480
in divine life. and Christ's defeat of death
00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:57.759
itself. But when the Pelagian controversy intensifies,
00:08:57.980 --> 00:09:00.740
the center of gravity narrows towards somewhat
00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:03.980
different questions. What counts as guilt? What
00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:06.360
is inherited from Adam? Are infants condemned?
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.919
Can humans obey without grace? What exactly does
00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.559
baptism remit? How is Adam's sin transmitted?
00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:16.440
Those are not unimportant questions, but they
00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:18.519
are not exactly the same questions dominating
00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.580
much earlier Greek theology. Take Chrysostom,
00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.720
for example. He absolutely believes humanity
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.379
has fallen. He absolutely believes humanity needs
00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:31.440
grace. He absolutely believes death reigns over
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.700
mankind. But Chrysostom often describes Adam's
00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:37.580
legacy less in terms of inherited culpability
00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:41.440
and more in terms of mortality, corruption, and
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.940
the reign of death. Commenting on Romans 5, Chrysostom
00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.580
says, What then did Adam introduce? Death and
00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:53.080
the curse. and suffering, labor and a life full
00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:57.799
of toil. Elsewhere he says, When Adam fell, death
00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:01.220
entered and took possession of the world. Notice
00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:05.200
the atmosphere there. Death is treated like an
00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.440
invading tyrant. Humanity becomes enslaved beneath
00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:11.519
mortality. And St. John Chrysostom repeatedly
00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.700
frames Christ's work in terms of destroying death,
00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.679
liberating mankind, healing corruption, and restoring
00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:21.919
humanity. For Chrysostom, death itself becomes
00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:25.120
a kind of cosmic catastrophe. Another striking
00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.259
passage, quote, the devil, having through death
00:10:28.259 --> 00:10:31.720
subdued all, held them under his hand, end quote.
00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:36.500
Again, notice bondage, slavery, tyranny, mortality,
00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:41.019
fear. The dominant concern is not how is Adamic
00:10:41.019 --> 00:10:45.019
guilt juridically transmitted, but how has death
00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:48.360
enslaved humanity and how does Christ overthrow
00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.679
it. And perhaps nowhere is this atmosphere clearer
00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:53.659
than Chrysostom's famous Paschal homily. Listen
00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:56.340
carefully to the atmosphere of the text. Quote,
00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:59.440
Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death
00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:02.340
has set us free. End quote. Notice the central
00:11:02.340 --> 00:11:05.460
enemy is death itself. Then, quote, He that was
00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:08.919
taken by death has annihilated it. End quote.
00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.779
Christ enters death and destroys it from within.
00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:15.299
And then the famous lines, quote, Hell took a
00:11:15.299 --> 00:11:19.370
body and discovered God. It took earth and encountered
00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:22.610
heaven. It took what it saw and was overcome
00:11:22.610 --> 00:11:25.990
by what it did not see. End quote. That is not
00:11:25.990 --> 00:11:28.429
primarily courtroom language. That is cosmic
00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:32.029
warfare language, ontological language, victory
00:11:32.029 --> 00:11:35.909
language. And then he says, he erupts. Quote,
00:11:35.909 --> 00:11:39.210
O death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is
00:11:39.210 --> 00:11:42.490
thy victory? Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown.
00:11:42.809 --> 00:11:46.129
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ
00:11:46.129 --> 00:11:49.559
is risen. and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen,
00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:52.399
and life reigns. Notice the repeated structure,
00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:56.620
death, defeated, demons, fallen, life, reigning,
00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.240
hell overthrown, and perhaps most striking of
00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:02.559
all, quote, Christ is risen, and not one dead
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.799
remains in the tomb, end quote. The atmosphere
00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.559
is profoundly resurrectional, profoundly cosmic.
00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:12.639
Humanity appears as imprisoned beneath death
00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.100
and hell, and liberated by the risen Christ.
00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:17.980
Again, this does not mean Chrysostom ignores
00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.899
sin or responsibility. He absolutely believes
00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:23.340
humanity has fallen and needs grace. But the
00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:26.299
center of gravity feels very different from the
00:12:26.299 --> 00:12:29.100
later anti -Pelagian debates. And I think this
00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.159
is one of the most important observations we
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.299
can make about the Pelagian controversy itself.
00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.960
Pelagius and Augustine are largely arguing within
00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:46.100
the same narrowed field of concern. moral ability.
00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:50.200
Augustine reacts by intensifying inherited guilt,
00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.620
inherited sin, and condemnation. But both sides
00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:56.639
increasingly orbit questions of culpability,
00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:01.200
moral capacity, baptismal status, Adamic transmission,
00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:05.200
and juridical standing. The earlier Greek framework
00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:10.299
feels broader, cosmic, ontological, participatory,
00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.480
resurrectional. In the earlier Greek framework,
00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.559
death itself often functions as the great enemy.
00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:20.039
In the Pelagian controversy, death increasingly
00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:23.980
becomes evidence within a deeper argument about
00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:27.679
inherited guilt. And I think this explains why
00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.659
so much of later Western Christianity repeatedly
00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:34.279
oscillates between moralism and conversionism.
00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:37.200
Once the theological center shifts primarily
00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.139
toward guilt, culpability, moral accountability,
00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:43.580
and juridical standing, the Christian life itself
00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.639
can begin getting framed primarily around moral
00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.159
performance, inward sincerity, repentance intensity,
00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.919
authentic conversion, or evidences of salvation.
00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.580
And this creates the recurring tension you see
00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:58.940
throughout large parts of Roman Catholicism,
00:13:59.139 --> 00:14:03.440
Evangelicalism, and Reformed Christianity. Moralism
00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:07.259
versus true conversion. Either Christianity collapses
00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:10.240
into external moral structure, and behavioral
00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.600
obligation, or it swings hard toward the need
00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:17.019
for an inward crisis experience, proving authentic
00:14:17.019 --> 00:14:20.259
regeneration. But both often remain inside the
00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:23.120
same underlying framework centered on guilt and
00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.899
culpability. Think about the psychological difference
00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:28.980
between these worlds. In one framework, the dominant
00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:31.659
question becomes, am I guilty before God? And
00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:34.200
once that becomes central, an entire spiritual
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.940
psychology starts forming around assurance, condemnation,
00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:41.990
evidences. Sincerity. Election. Authentic repentance.
00:14:42.429 --> 00:14:45.610
Proof of salvation. Was my conversion real enough?
00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:49.549
Did I repent sincerely enough? Am I truly regenerate?
00:14:49.690 --> 00:14:53.590
Do my actions prove election? Entire movements
00:14:53.590 --> 00:14:56.710
of Western Christianity become consumed with
00:14:56.710 -->
00:14:59.490
these questions. But in the earlier Greek atmosphere,
00:14:59.769 --> 00:15:02.649
the existential concern often feels different.
00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:13.000
united to life itself. Death is the enemy. Corruption
00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.740
is the disease. Christ is the great physician.
00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.799
The church is the hospital. Salvation becomes
00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.720
participatory before it becomes analytical. And
00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.360
this is important. In orthodoxy, the primary
00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.200
way someone discerns whether they are right with
00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.759
God is not usually, did I once have the correct
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.480
conversion experience? Or, can I intellectually
00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:39.169
prove my salvific status? The question is much
00:15:39.169 --> 00:15:42.269
more immediate and participatory. Am I in union
00:15:42.269 --> 00:15:46.509
with Christ now? Am I repenting now? Am I getting
00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:50.389
back up when I fall? Am I returning to God continuously?
00:15:50.950 --> 00:15:54.049
The emphasis is less juridical certainty and
00:15:54.049 --> 00:15:57.169
more living communion, repentance, participation,
00:15:57.629 --> 00:16:00.789
perseverance, and healing. One famous saying
00:16:00.789 --> 00:16:03.649
within the Orthodox spiritual tradition captures
00:16:03.649 --> 00:16:06.409
this beautifully. Quote, the saints are not those
00:16:06.409 --> 00:16:09.639
who never fall. but those who rise again after
00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:12.840
every fall, end quote. And St. Isaac the Syrian
00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:16.019
writes, quote, this life has been given to you
00:16:16.019 --> 00:16:19.220
for repentance. Do not waste it in vain pursuits,
00:16:19.299 --> 00:16:21.659
end quote. Again, the atmosphere is different.
00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:24.620
The Christian life is not primarily treated as
00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:27.940
securing certainty concerning juridical status,
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:33.299
but as continual return, continual healing, continual
00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:36.669
participation in divine life. And now here's
00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:38.970
where things begin shifting even more clearly
00:16:38.970 --> 00:16:42.730
in Augustine's anti -Pelagian writings. Augustine
00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:46.149
says, quote, The guilt of Adam is by generation
00:16:46.149 --> 00:16:50.289
drawn over to his posterity, end quote. All men
00:16:50.289 --> 00:16:54.750
were in that one man. All men were that one man
00:16:54.750 --> 00:16:58.389
who fell into sin. Now we've moved beyond mortality,
00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:02.850
corruption, weakened nature. Now humanity somehow
00:17:02.850 --> 00:17:05.910
participates in Adam's guilt itself. And this
00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:08.390
becomes most obvious when Augustine discusses
00:17:08.390 --> 00:17:11.730
infants. This is where the system reveals itself.
00:17:11.990 --> 00:17:15.490
Because Augustine explicitly acknowledges infants
00:17:15.490 --> 00:17:18.730
have committed no personal sins. Infants cannot
00:17:18.730 --> 00:17:22.329
consciously believe. Infants cannot confess Christ.
00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:25.670
He says directly, quote, they cannot yet believe
00:17:25.670 --> 00:17:29.250
with the heart unto righteousness, nor make confession
00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:32.420
with the mouth unto salvation, end quote. And
00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.920
yet, Augustine still concludes, quote, even infants
00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.680
are truly held to be under sin because by their
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.559
origin they have contracted the condemnation
00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.539
of the ancient death, end quote. That phrase
00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:49.259
is incredibly important because ancient death
00:17:49.259 --> 00:17:52.759
initially sounds like corruption theology, but
00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:55.619
Augustine interprets it through condemnation,
00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.279
inherited sin, juridical remission. That's the
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:01.859
shift. And you can see the shift most clearly
00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:05.319
in the consequences Augustine draws. This is
00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:08.160
important. Systems reveal themselves most clearly
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.000
in their consequences. If humanity inherited
00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:15.220
mortality, corruption, bondage to death, then
00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:18.460
the consequences for unbaptized infants would
00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.960
likely sound different. You might expect something
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:25.180
like continued mortality, corruption, exclusion
00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:28.579
from sacramental fullness, silence before mystery.
00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:31.900
or hope in God's mercy. But Augustine's conclusions
00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:35.960
increasingly become condemnation, exclusion from
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:40.380
the kingdom, salvific liability. Why? Because
00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:43.480
death itself has already been interpreted through
00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.519
inherited guilt. And I think that shift may be
00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:49.160
one of the most important turning points in the
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.680
history of Western Christian theology. Thanks
00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:52.079
for listening.