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De Libero Arbitrio (Augustine)
''De libero arbitrio voluntatis'' (''On Free Choice of the Will''), often shortened to ''De libero arbitrio'', is a book by Augustine of Hippo which seeks to resolve the problem of evil in Christianity by asserting that free will is the cause of all suffering. The first of its three volumes was completed in 388; the second and third were written between 391 and 395. The work is structured as a dialogue between Augustine and his companion Evodius; it ranges over several topics, and includes an attempted proof of the existence of God. Intended also as a refutation of Manichaeism, ''De libero arbitrio'' denied God's responsibility for sin and emphasised human freedom and accountability. As a result, it became associated with Pelagianism, another doctrine which Augustine considered heretical; he subsequently defended the work by softening its Libertarianism (metaphysics), libertarian message. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas expanded on the political ideas expressed in this book, an ...
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Augustine Of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy and Western Christianity, and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period. His many important works include '' The City of God'', '' On Christian Doctrine'', and '' Confessions''. According to his contemporary, Jerome of Stridon, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith". In his youth he was drawn to the Manichaean faith, and later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism. After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin and m ...
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Metaphysics Books
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of human understanding. Some philosophers, including Aristotle, designate metaphysics as first philosophy to suggest that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics encompasses a wide range of general and abstract topics. It investigates the nature of existence, the features all entities have in common, and their division into categories of being. An influential division is between particulars and universals. Particulars are individual unique entities, like a specific apple. Universals are general features that different particulars have in common, like the color . Modal metaphysics examines what it means for something to be possible or necessary. Metaphysicians also explore the concepts of space, time, and ...
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4th-century Books In Latin
The 4th century was the time period from 301 CE (represented by the Roman numerals CCCI) to 400 CE (CD) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great, who became the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor. The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death, it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two-emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fel ...
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Summa Theologica
The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church, intended to be an instructional guide for theology students, including seminarians and the literate laity. Presenting the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, topics of the ''Summa'' follow the following cycle: God; Creation, Man; Man's purpose; Christ; the Sacraments; and back to God. Although unfinished, it is "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature". It remains Aquinas's "most perfect work, the fruit of his mature years, in which the thought of his whole life is condensed". Throughout the ''Summa'', Aquinas cites Christian, Muslim, Hebrew, and Pagan sources, including, but not limited t ...
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De Natura Et Gratia
''On Nature and Grace'' () is an anti-Pelagian book by Augustine of Hippo written in AD 415. It is a response to Pelagius's 414 book ''On Nature'' (). Before this work, Augustine did not seem to see Pelagius as a heretic, but ''On Nature and Grace'' seems to be a turning point in the Pelagian controversy Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, ta .... The work does not mention Pelagius by name, but by responding to ''De natura'', Augustine for the first time engages Pelagius as an opponent. References Sources * 5th-century books Works by Augustine of Hippo Pelagianism {{christianity-book-stub ...
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Grace In Christianity
In Western Christian beliefs, grace is God's favor, and a "share in the divine life of God". It is a spontaneous gift from God – "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" – that cannot be earned. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, grace is the uncreated energies of God. Among Eastern Christians generally, grace is considered to be the partaking of the divine nature described in Fr. Tadros Malaty, ''The Divine Grace'PDF and grace is the working of God himself, not a created substance of any kind that can be treated like a commodity.Gregory (Grabbe), Archbishop. ''The Sacramental Life: An Orthodox Christian Perspective.'' Liberty TN: St. John of Kronstadt Press, 1986 As an attribute of God, grace manifests most in the salvation of sinners, and Western Christianity holds that the initiative in the relationship of grace between God and an individual is always on the side of God. The question of the means of grace has been called "the watershed that divides C ...
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Pelagius
Pelagius (; c. 354–418) was a British (Celtic Britons, Brittonic) theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius was accused of heresy at the Synod of Diospolis in 415 and his doctrines were harshly criticized by Augustine of Hippo, especially the Pelagian views about mankind's good nature and individual responsibility for choosing asceticism. Pelagius especially stressed the freedom of human will. Very little is known about the personal life and career of Pelagius. Beginnings Pelagius was active between about 390 and 418. He was said by his contemporaries, such as Augustine of Hippo, Prosper of Aquitaine, Marius Mercator, and Orosius, Paul Orosius, to have been of Celtic British origin. Jerome apparently thought that Pelagius was Irish, suggesting that he was "stuffed with Irish porridge" (). He was tall in stature and portly in appearance. Pelagius was a ...
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Satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or 'evil inclination'. In Christianity and Islam, he is usually seen as a fallen angel or jinn who has rebelled against God, who nevertheless allows him temporary power over the fallen world and a host of demons. In the Quran, Iblis (Shaitan), the leader of the devils (''shayāṭīn''), is made of fire and was cast out of Heaven because he refused to bow before the newly created Adam. He incites humans to sin by infecting their minds with ''waswās'' ('evil suggestions'). A figure known as ''ha-satan'' ("the satan") first appears in the Hebrew Bible as a heavenly prosecutor, subordinate to Yahweh (God); he prosecutes the nation of Judah in the heavenly court and tests the loyalty of Yahweh's followers. During the intertestamental period, ...
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Adam And Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. They also provide the basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original sin, which are important beliefs in Christianity, although not held in Judaism or Islam. In the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, chapters one through five, there are two Genesis creation narrative, creation narratives with two distinct perspectives. In the first, Adam and Eve are not named. Instead, God in Christianity, God created humankind in image of God, God's image and instructed them to multiply and to be Stewardship (theology), stewards over everything else that God had made. In the second narrative, God fashions Adam from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden. Adam is told that he can eat freely of all the trees in the garden, Taboo#In religion a ...
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