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On Grace and Free Will
In this work Augustine explains the power of man's free will and it's limitations concerning the will of God especially concerning salvation. A helpful read for Christians to understand how man's free will and God's sovereignty meet.
102 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 426
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About the author
Augustine of Hippo
3,333 books2,031 followersEarly church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical
Confessions
in 397 and the voluminous
City of God
from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 15, 2013
Outstanding in its readability and its depth. In this book, St. Augustine handles the age old question and implications of God's sovereign grace and human kind's free will.
He incorporates several Old and New Testament Scriptures as well as the Apocryphal writings to guide his discussion and lead to his conclusion. Augustine's work is a classic treasure, in which there is much gold. In spite of the topic's difficulty, Augustine's handling of it is full of grace and truth and is written in a way that even the untrained can easily understand.
My one minor criticism is that the Scripture references are not labeled with Book, Chapter, and Verse. That said, if you've read the Scriptures, you'll know mostly which verses he is leaning upon.
I highly recommend it for the Protestant as well as the Catholic.
He incorporates several Old and New Testament Scriptures as well as the Apocryphal writings to guide his discussion and lead to his conclusion. Augustine's work is a classic treasure, in which there is much gold. In spite of the topic's difficulty, Augustine's handling of it is full of grace and truth and is written in a way that even the untrained can easily understand.
My one minor criticism is that the Scripture references are not labeled with Book, Chapter, and Verse. That said, if you've read the Scriptures, you'll know mostly which verses he is leaning upon.
I highly recommend it for the Protestant as well as the Catholic.
January 27, 2014
This is a great book for understanding the foundations of a Reformed view of free will. I am not Reformed (at least not in terms of TULIP) I am Weslyan-Arminian in my soterology. That being said, Uncle Augie is about 90% compatible with that point of view. He certainly combats the hated Pelagian heresy well. I will try to give this theological classic the treatment it deserves at a later point, but for now let me just say that it is a book that Christians should think through even if we disagree on some of it in the end.
January 21, 2014
St. Augustine is, as you might suppose, at his best here in combatting the Pelagian heresy. Where I thought he fell short was in his discussion of the roles of grace and free will. Everything he said was right, he just didn't say everything that he might have said. Perhaps he wades in further in another of his works.
March 3, 2025
This work continues Augustine's previous writings, expounding the primacy of grace in the Christian life, this time examining the existence of free will according to Scripture. A few interesting points, that are repeated well by later Saints:
-Infant baptism clearly demonstrates that grace precedes faith and works.
-The imperatives and precepts in Scripture indicate that a will exists.
-That God is just while judging and man is the author of sin displays that the will is free.
-When a man's heart is hardened, it is not directly of God but of himself (ie the case of Pharoah).
-Augustine directly states that faith alone is not the result of grace nor is it sufficient to save.
And much more, in such a short but edifying work...
-Infant baptism clearly demonstrates that grace precedes faith and works.
-The imperatives and precepts in Scripture indicate that a will exists.
-That God is just while judging and man is the author of sin displays that the will is free.
-When a man's heart is hardened, it is not directly of God but of himself (ie the case of Pharoah).
-Augustine directly states that faith alone is not the result of grace nor is it sufficient to save.
And much more, in such a short but edifying work...
September 13, 2016
Please give my review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/review/R2R9UUM...
On Grace and Free Will by St. Augustine.
The book opens with Augustine learning that two factions of monks are warring in their monastery about grace and free will. One group says that free will plays no role in salvation, while the other argues that human effort plays some role. The argument is intense. Since both sides are quoting Augustine, he invites the wrong side – the grace only side – to spend some time with him so that he can straighten things out. He writes:
““1. Two young men, Cresconius and Felix, have found their way to us, and, introducing themselves as belonging to your brotherhood, have told us that your monastery was disturbed with no small commotion, because certain amongst you preach grace in such a manner as to deny that the will of man is free; and maintain—a more serious matter—that in the day of judgment God will not render to every man according to his works. At the same time, they have pointed out to us, that many of you do not entertain this opinion, but allow that free will is assisted by the grace of God, so as that we may think and do aright; so that, when the Lord shall come to render unto every man according to his works, He shall find those works of ours good which God has prepared in order that we may walk in them. They who think this think rightly.”
This is a seminal and surprising work. It is surprising because Augustine is usually presented as a forerunner of Lutheran and Calvinist predestination. Augustine, however, makes sure to carve out a place for both human effort and for divine grace. Augustine writes:
“Chapter 18.—Faith Without Good Works is Not Sufficient for Salvation. Unintelligent persons, however, with regard to the apostle’s statement: “We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law,” have thought him to mean that faith suffices to a man, even if he lead a bad life, and has no good works. Impossible is it that such a character should be deemed “a vessel of election” by the apostle, who, after declaring that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,” adds at once, “but faith which worketh by love.” It is such faith which severs God’s faithful from unclean demons,—for even these “believe and tremble,” as the Apostle James says; but they do not do well. Therefore they possess not the faith by which the just man lives,—the faith which works by love in such wise, that God recompenses it according to its works with eternal life. But inasmuch as we have even our good works from God, from whom likewise comes our faith and our love, therefore the selfsame great teacher of the Gentiles has designated “eternal life” itself as His gracious “gift.” “
The goal of Augustine in this book is to explain how grace can square with free will. Is he successful? Yes and no.
Augustine is successful in the sense that he is bound by – as are we – our experience that we do make some contribution to our salvation through our efforts. This intuition is supported by logic. As Augustine asks:
“Now, I would ask, if there is no grace of God, how does He save the world? and if there is no free will, how does He judge the world?”
Free will is required for there to be justice, i.e. for there to be reward. Obedience and reward, moreover, is attested throughout Christian scripture. Augustine anticipates Erasmus’s debate with Luther in this passage:
“All these commandments, however, respecting love or charity (which are so great, and such that whatever action a man may think he does well is by no means well done if done without love) would be given to men in vain if they had not free choice of will.
And:
“Nor does it detract at all from a man’s own will when he performs any act in accordance with God. Indeed, a work is then to be pronounced a good one when a person does it willingly; then, too, may the reward of a good work be hoped for from Him concerning whom it is written, “He shall reward every man according to his works.”
On the other hand, grace is also found throughout scripture as well. So however, the two are to be squared, they must both remain in any biblical Christian theological system.
Where does grace play a role in Augustine’s view? Presumably by attracting or inspiring individuals to love God and do good:
“It Pleases Him. I think I have now discussed the point fully enough in opposition to those who vehemently oppose the grace of God, by which, however, the human will is not taken away, but changed from bad to good, and assisted when it is good.”
Ultimately, how this all works remains a deep mystery that is referred to, in Augustine’s words, to the “secret judgments of God.”
I found this to be a surprisingly accessible work, but I am also presently reading the section on grace in Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and I have read other works by Augustine. Someone without that background might find the text less accessible.
On Grace and Free Will by St. Augustine.
The book opens with Augustine learning that two factions of monks are warring in their monastery about grace and free will. One group says that free will plays no role in salvation, while the other argues that human effort plays some role. The argument is intense. Since both sides are quoting Augustine, he invites the wrong side – the grace only side – to spend some time with him so that he can straighten things out. He writes:
““1. Two young men, Cresconius and Felix, have found their way to us, and, introducing themselves as belonging to your brotherhood, have told us that your monastery was disturbed with no small commotion, because certain amongst you preach grace in such a manner as to deny that the will of man is free; and maintain—a more serious matter—that in the day of judgment God will not render to every man according to his works. At the same time, they have pointed out to us, that many of you do not entertain this opinion, but allow that free will is assisted by the grace of God, so as that we may think and do aright; so that, when the Lord shall come to render unto every man according to his works, He shall find those works of ours good which God has prepared in order that we may walk in them. They who think this think rightly.”
This is a seminal and surprising work. It is surprising because Augustine is usually presented as a forerunner of Lutheran and Calvinist predestination. Augustine, however, makes sure to carve out a place for both human effort and for divine grace. Augustine writes:
“Chapter 18.—Faith Without Good Works is Not Sufficient for Salvation. Unintelligent persons, however, with regard to the apostle’s statement: “We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law,” have thought him to mean that faith suffices to a man, even if he lead a bad life, and has no good works. Impossible is it that such a character should be deemed “a vessel of election” by the apostle, who, after declaring that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,” adds at once, “but faith which worketh by love.” It is such faith which severs God’s faithful from unclean demons,—for even these “believe and tremble,” as the Apostle James says; but they do not do well. Therefore they possess not the faith by which the just man lives,—the faith which works by love in such wise, that God recompenses it according to its works with eternal life. But inasmuch as we have even our good works from God, from whom likewise comes our faith and our love, therefore the selfsame great teacher of the Gentiles has designated “eternal life” itself as His gracious “gift.” “
The goal of Augustine in this book is to explain how grace can square with free will. Is he successful? Yes and no.
Augustine is successful in the sense that he is bound by – as are we – our experience that we do make some contribution to our salvation through our efforts. This intuition is supported by logic. As Augustine asks:
“Now, I would ask, if there is no grace of God, how does He save the world? and if there is no free will, how does He judge the world?”
Free will is required for there to be justice, i.e. for there to be reward. Obedience and reward, moreover, is attested throughout Christian scripture. Augustine anticipates Erasmus’s debate with Luther in this passage:
“All these commandments, however, respecting love or charity (which are so great, and such that whatever action a man may think he does well is by no means well done if done without love) would be given to men in vain if they had not free choice of will.
And:
“Nor does it detract at all from a man’s own will when he performs any act in accordance with God. Indeed, a work is then to be pronounced a good one when a person does it willingly; then, too, may the reward of a good work be hoped for from Him concerning whom it is written, “He shall reward every man according to his works.”
On the other hand, grace is also found throughout scripture as well. So however, the two are to be squared, they must both remain in any biblical Christian theological system.
Where does grace play a role in Augustine’s view? Presumably by attracting or inspiring individuals to love God and do good:
“It Pleases Him. I think I have now discussed the point fully enough in opposition to those who vehemently oppose the grace of God, by which, however, the human will is not taken away, but changed from bad to good, and assisted when it is good.”
Ultimately, how this all works remains a deep mystery that is referred to, in Augustine’s words, to the “secret judgments of God.”
I found this to be a surprisingly accessible work, but I am also presently reading the section on grace in Aquinas' Summa Theologica, and I have read other works by Augustine. Someone without that background might find the text less accessible.
January 7, 2022
Augustine is a brilliant mind who lets Scripture lead the bulk of his argument. He follows the examples of Scripture used in each chapter with his beautiful rhetoric, meant to teach the meanings of the Scriptures used. There were some parts that were hard to understand, and there were other parts that I need more time to think on, such as the nature of predestination and God’s “secret ways” in bending the will of Humans to good or to evil. Concerning some of Augustine’s conclusions, I think it is important to remember the extreme point of Pelagianism (that humans could earn Salvation through their own will) in which he was writing against. All in all, I believe I learned a lot about Grace and Free Will, and I came away blown away by the wonderful God that sustains and strengthens me. And that is why I gave it 5 stars.
September 6, 2024
The Doctor of Grace excellently uses Scripture to defend Monergism and how it balances Grace and Free Will, while destroying claims of election by merit.
June 2, 2020
A fascinating read which touches upon man's depravity and justification through the grace of God. It is mainly a treatise against Pelagianism, which says that man attains justification mostly through his deeds and instead devalues the role of God's grace in our salvation. The Saint explores deeply into the relationship between man's free will and God's grace in enabling man to do good and earn salvation. Augustine reminds us that every good, including our actions, is nothing but a gift from God. Our free will is not merely an assistant to God's grace, but an actor of it!
The Augustinian thought is a pillar of Western Christian orthodoxy and has been echoed throughout history by Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, and the theologians of today. Reading it has reminded me of how kind, great, and merciful our Lord is. We all deserve eternal damnation, for our own deeds, and we can't help it. Only God's powerful grace can change us to become truly Christian.
The Augustinian thought is a pillar of Western Christian orthodoxy and has been echoed throughout history by Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, and the theologians of today. Reading it has reminded me of how kind, great, and merciful our Lord is. We all deserve eternal damnation, for our own deeds, and we can't help it. Only God's powerful grace can change us to become truly Christian.
February 12, 2023
This works great as an introductory book to Augustine, 94 pages, each chapter is typically just a page or two, an easy read. Augustine addresses the subjects of God’s Sovereignty, Man’s free will, and how Grace works in the lives of men.
February 8, 2023
whoa! This treatise is basic Calvinism 101!
I don't mean that Augustine was not a synergist or that he did not believe in some sort of grace given at baptism which could be harmed by later sins, but I found this short treatise encouraging and helpful in seeing how there is a pretty compelling connection between the arguments Luther and Calvin used to attack Catholicism and the arguments Augustine used to attack Pelagianism.
Augustine begins the treatise by defending the existence of the free will and basic responsibility for human sins, but to refute the Pelagians he points out that if salvation was possible through the free will, then
a) we would not be given grace to perform what God commands (he appeals to Matt. 19:10, 1 Cor. 7:7, 37, 1 Cor. 15:57,
b) we would not need to pray that God lead us not into temptation. This was emotionally powerful to read, and a good reminder of Paul's basic point in 2 Corinthians that we go through trials so that we might rely on God.
c) the Paul would not write everywhere that grace is not given according to men's merits (1 Cor. 15:9, 2 Tim. 1:8-9, 3:4-7).
The Pelagian counter-argument is that grace is given for forgiveness of sins, and that eternal life is merited. Augustine then argues that the Scriptures say everywhere that all our strength is from God, appealing to Rom. 8:37, 1 Cor. 4:7, 2 Cor. 3:7, James 1:17, John 3:27, and 2 Tim. 4:7. This is a basically Pauline theme: God works in us to do good (Augustine mentions this later). When the Pelagians argue that works are rewarded, Augustine makes the basic counter-argument that works are always done out of God's grace and thus there is no tension.
The Pelagians then argue that the law is the grace of God, and here Augustine really goes full Luther mode, pointing out that the law cannot make us able to obey (2 Cor. 3:6, Rom. 6:14 and 10:3, Phil. 3:8-9, Gal. 5:4). When the Pelagians shift ground and say that the law is grace after salvation, Augustine points out that we could not pray "lead us not into temptation" if we could just will ourselves out of sin. This is where I really think Augustine is "Protestant," because even if he believes that sanctification goes farther than we Protestants think, here sanctification is all of grace: "the apostle did not tell us, I have obtained mercy because I was faithful; but he said, I have obtained mercy in order to be faithful. " Faith is described throughout as a gift, and the heart of the unregenerate is described as hard.
Augustine goes full Bondage of the Will: "Now can we possibly, without extreme absurdity, maintain that there previously existed in any man the good merit of a good will, to entitle him to the removal of his stony heart, when all the while this very heart of stone signifies nothing else than a will of the hardest kind and such as is absolutely inflexible against God? For where a good will precedes, there is, of course, no longer a heart of stone." In other words, how can someone turn to God if he hates God? There's more arguments to be had here, but the point stands. Similarly, we should not think of sanctification as something that is increased because we do good things and God responds by giving us more grace. Augustine sees this is an impossible treadmill because he knows that we are still sinners, even after we are baptized.
Augustine concludes the treatise by talking about love and mainting that we love God first because he first loved us. He also makes the very Calvinistic point that men both harden their own hearts while God hardens their hearts to work good out of their evil works. The reason that some men receive grace and others do not has nothing to do with their works, but the secret decrees of God
I have heard all these arguments before from Luther, Calvin, and other modern teachers, but what made this treatise so much fun was knowing that it was a church father in a different context making all these points. There's something fresh, especially when he is appealing straight to Bible verses and not to some sort of big theological system. There's a recording of this treatise on LibriVox. It's not read particularly well, but it allowed me to digest it, which is great.
I don't mean that Augustine was not a synergist or that he did not believe in some sort of grace given at baptism which could be harmed by later sins, but I found this short treatise encouraging and helpful in seeing how there is a pretty compelling connection between the arguments Luther and Calvin used to attack Catholicism and the arguments Augustine used to attack Pelagianism.
Augustine begins the treatise by defending the existence of the free will and basic responsibility for human sins, but to refute the Pelagians he points out that if salvation was possible through the free will, then
a) we would not be given grace to perform what God commands (he appeals to Matt. 19:10, 1 Cor. 7:7, 37, 1 Cor. 15:57,
b) we would not need to pray that God lead us not into temptation. This was emotionally powerful to read, and a good reminder of Paul's basic point in 2 Corinthians that we go through trials so that we might rely on God.
c) the Paul would not write everywhere that grace is not given according to men's merits (1 Cor. 15:9, 2 Tim. 1:8-9, 3:4-7).
The Pelagian counter-argument is that grace is given for forgiveness of sins, and that eternal life is merited. Augustine then argues that the Scriptures say everywhere that all our strength is from God, appealing to Rom. 8:37, 1 Cor. 4:7, 2 Cor. 3:7, James 1:17, John 3:27, and 2 Tim. 4:7. This is a basically Pauline theme: God works in us to do good (Augustine mentions this later). When the Pelagians argue that works are rewarded, Augustine makes the basic counter-argument that works are always done out of God's grace and thus there is no tension.
The Pelagians then argue that the law is the grace of God, and here Augustine really goes full Luther mode, pointing out that the law cannot make us able to obey (2 Cor. 3:6, Rom. 6:14 and 10:3, Phil. 3:8-9, Gal. 5:4). When the Pelagians shift ground and say that the law is grace after salvation, Augustine points out that we could not pray "lead us not into temptation" if we could just will ourselves out of sin. This is where I really think Augustine is "Protestant," because even if he believes that sanctification goes farther than we Protestants think, here sanctification is all of grace: "the apostle did not tell us, I have obtained mercy because I was faithful; but he said, I have obtained mercy in order to be faithful. " Faith is described throughout as a gift, and the heart of the unregenerate is described as hard.
Augustine goes full Bondage of the Will: "Now can we possibly, without extreme absurdity, maintain that there previously existed in any man the good merit of a good will, to entitle him to the removal of his stony heart, when all the while this very heart of stone signifies nothing else than a will of the hardest kind and such as is absolutely inflexible against God? For where a good will precedes, there is, of course, no longer a heart of stone." In other words, how can someone turn to God if he hates God? There's more arguments to be had here, but the point stands. Similarly, we should not think of sanctification as something that is increased because we do good things and God responds by giving us more grace. Augustine sees this is an impossible treadmill because he knows that we are still sinners, even after we are baptized.
Augustine concludes the treatise by talking about love and mainting that we love God first because he first loved us. He also makes the very Calvinistic point that men both harden their own hearts while God hardens their hearts to work good out of their evil works. The reason that some men receive grace and others do not has nothing to do with their works, but the secret decrees of God
I have heard all these arguments before from Luther, Calvin, and other modern teachers, but what made this treatise so much fun was knowing that it was a church father in a different context making all these points. There's something fresh, especially when he is appealing straight to Bible verses and not to some sort of big theological system. There's a recording of this treatise on LibriVox. It's not read particularly well, but it allowed me to digest it, which is great.
November 4, 2021
In this treatise written late in his life, Augustine maintains the compatibility between humans’ freedom of the will and divine grace. The treatise is polemic in tone: as in many of his later works, Augustine takes aim at the Pelagians and their insistence that God bestows grace in accordance with our merits. Augustine is driven to his compatibilist position primarily due to the authority of scriptural texts: on the one hand, the nature of divine commands articulated in the scriptures presupposes human freedom of the will, since the commandments would be senseless if we did not possess the freedom to obey or disobey them. On the other hand, the scriptures repeatedly insist on the reality of unmerited divine grace. To maintain the compatibility of these two positions, Augustine claims that God cooperates with the human will to help it fulfill His commandments and liberate it from its enslavement to sin. The nature of this cooperation is not coercion—God does not compel the will to act contrary to its own desires. Rather, either God makes our will efficacious so that we may act in accordance with our desire to fulfill the law or, more radically, transforms our desires such that we desire to fulfill His law in the first place. As Augustine explains, “[God] operates, therefore, without us, in order that we may will; but when we will, and so will that we may act, He cooperates with us.” In short, God first provides the grace that we may will to obey the law, and subsequently provides the grace that we act in accordance with our will to obey the law.
Augustine defends a number of other important propositions in this treatise. He claims, for example, that one cannot be justified by faith alone, but only by a conjunction of faith and good works; despite his relentless insistence on the priority of divine grace in human life and action, he nevertheless defends a more capacious conception of justification than the Reformers that synthesizes the epistles of Paul and James. Second, while Augustine explains that we pray to God for the grace not to sin, he nonetheless rejects the Pelagian notion that we deserve this grace because we pray, since we only have the faith to pray in the first place by the grace of God. In some sense, then, prayer serves an expressive purpose: it expresses our dependence on God for the grace that he bestows as a free gift. Third, Augustine develops a notion of freedom that is not restricted to the principle of alternative possibilities. There is always within us a free will, he explains, “but it is not always good; for it is either free from righteousness when it serves sin—and then it is evil—or else it is free from sin when it serves righteousness—and then it is good.” Here, freedom refers to that from which the will is free and concomitantly that for which it is also free. Liberated by the grace of God, the good will is free from sin and free for goodness—i.e. the fulfillment of the divine law.
Finally, Augustine queries why God commands what He means to provide by grace and, relatedly, why God imposes on us commands we are unable to perform. To the first question, Augustine replies that God commands what He will enable us to do by grace so that we may cooperate in His goodness by our own free will; if we were not free to cooperate with grace to do good works, our works would in no way be ours, and if we did not receive grace to perform those works, we would be unable to accomplish them in the first place. In response to the second question, Augustine concludes that God commands what we cannot perform so that we can realize our dependence on Him and know what to ask of him. “For this is faith itself,” Augustine explains, “which obtains by prayer what the law commands.”
Augustine defends a number of other important propositions in this treatise. He claims, for example, that one cannot be justified by faith alone, but only by a conjunction of faith and good works; despite his relentless insistence on the priority of divine grace in human life and action, he nevertheless defends a more capacious conception of justification than the Reformers that synthesizes the epistles of Paul and James. Second, while Augustine explains that we pray to God for the grace not to sin, he nonetheless rejects the Pelagian notion that we deserve this grace because we pray, since we only have the faith to pray in the first place by the grace of God. In some sense, then, prayer serves an expressive purpose: it expresses our dependence on God for the grace that he bestows as a free gift. Third, Augustine develops a notion of freedom that is not restricted to the principle of alternative possibilities. There is always within us a free will, he explains, “but it is not always good; for it is either free from righteousness when it serves sin—and then it is evil—or else it is free from sin when it serves righteousness—and then it is good.” Here, freedom refers to that from which the will is free and concomitantly that for which it is also free. Liberated by the grace of God, the good will is free from sin and free for goodness—i.e. the fulfillment of the divine law.
Finally, Augustine queries why God commands what He means to provide by grace and, relatedly, why God imposes on us commands we are unable to perform. To the first question, Augustine replies that God commands what He will enable us to do by grace so that we may cooperate in His goodness by our own free will; if we were not free to cooperate with grace to do good works, our works would in no way be ours, and if we did not receive grace to perform those works, we would be unable to accomplish them in the first place. In response to the second question, Augustine concludes that God commands what we cannot perform so that we can realize our dependence on Him and know what to ask of him. “For this is faith itself,” Augustine explains, “which obtains by prayer what the law commands.”
February 10, 2025
A recent conversation with friends about the doctrine of predestination prompted a reading of this text. St. Augustine treats the existence of free will and the existence of grace in a remarkably short tract. Massive tomes have been written on this topic but St. Augustine uses only 82 pages. Such brevity has mostly to do with the Pelagian wing of Christianity (in short, the Pelasgians more or less asserted that man can merit grace via good works.) As a result, St. Augustine is focused more on the primacy of grace over free will.
His defense of free will, therefore, is more focused on not abolishing it. Using the Scriptures, St. Augustine shows how free will is necessary for the books of the Bible to make sense. Simply put, God's asking to follow his commandments necessitate free will. St. Augustine doesn't use this example but Adam and Eve in the Garden *require* free will for their sin - otherwise none of what follows makes sense. Now, it's not a philosophical defense of free will but St. Augustine isn't articulating anything like that, he's only concerned with will in a Christian context.
It gets much more dense and rich, however, when St. Augustine turns to Grace. Grace, contends St. Augustine, is necessary for the primacy of the will to be God. God's grace is what allows man to turn his will to the good. That might be superficial but is sufficient for the purposes of this review. The rest of the tract is devoted to two themes. One, the necessity of Grace; two, the overwhelming power of Grace. Here St. Augustine talks about how Grace is needed for man to be good and also how God has the power to give Grace as he see fits. Again primarily using the Scriptures, St. Augustine presents an argument that seems ironclad.
The issue, however, is that no kind of response is offered. St. Augustine's treatment of Grace and will make sense but fail to account for the fact that if God's Grace is *not* given, in what sense can man be blamed? As he showed, man cannot do good outside of Grace so how is it any individual's fault that he cannot do good? It's the issue with all accounts of Grace that seek to demonstrate it via the traditional method. There might be responses (ranging from middle knowledge to "it's a mystery bro") but they aren't as compelling as some pretend them to be. Not that there isn't a lot going for the traditional view but the seeming "clarity" of the position is a house of cards.
St. Augustine can often be bombastic, and his rhetoric overwhelms the contents of the piece. So while there is a lot here that's good, it fails to be a classic. As a short tract, it works really well when confided to an intra-Christian debate over interpretation. As some kind of authority on Grace, however, I think it's a little too short. To suggest St. Augustine is insufficient is bold but it's more so that the tract simply can't do everything people ask of it.
His defense of free will, therefore, is more focused on not abolishing it. Using the Scriptures, St. Augustine shows how free will is necessary for the books of the Bible to make sense. Simply put, God's asking to follow his commandments necessitate free will. St. Augustine doesn't use this example but Adam and Eve in the Garden *require* free will for their sin - otherwise none of what follows makes sense. Now, it's not a philosophical defense of free will but St. Augustine isn't articulating anything like that, he's only concerned with will in a Christian context.
It gets much more dense and rich, however, when St. Augustine turns to Grace. Grace, contends St. Augustine, is necessary for the primacy of the will to be God. God's grace is what allows man to turn his will to the good. That might be superficial but is sufficient for the purposes of this review. The rest of the tract is devoted to two themes. One, the necessity of Grace; two, the overwhelming power of Grace. Here St. Augustine talks about how Grace is needed for man to be good and also how God has the power to give Grace as he see fits. Again primarily using the Scriptures, St. Augustine presents an argument that seems ironclad.
The issue, however, is that no kind of response is offered. St. Augustine's treatment of Grace and will make sense but fail to account for the fact that if God's Grace is *not* given, in what sense can man be blamed? As he showed, man cannot do good outside of Grace so how is it any individual's fault that he cannot do good? It's the issue with all accounts of Grace that seek to demonstrate it via the traditional method. There might be responses (ranging from middle knowledge to "it's a mystery bro") but they aren't as compelling as some pretend them to be. Not that there isn't a lot going for the traditional view but the seeming "clarity" of the position is a house of cards.
St. Augustine can often be bombastic, and his rhetoric overwhelms the contents of the piece. So while there is a lot here that's good, it fails to be a classic. As a short tract, it works really well when confided to an intra-Christian debate over interpretation. As some kind of authority on Grace, however, I think it's a little too short. To suggest St. Augustine is insufficient is bold but it's more so that the tract simply can't do everything people ask of it.
August 13, 2021
I have been wrestling with this little book for months. Other reviewers seem to have found the book easy to read. I did not. It demanded my close attention and reflection to absorb what Augustine wrote, some considerable time to understand it, and then even more time to argue with him. To be clear, it was not the text but the ideas that I found challenging … and disturbing.
I was brought up as what might be called a liberal Christian. God, for me, was loving, merciful, and forgiving. Augustine’s God is righteous, wrathful, and—to human understanding—capricious. To Augustine God is merciful in that through his son, the Christ, he granted to some men and women a release from original sin and a path to salvation—but only to some. God grants—and withdraws— his Grace and a path to salvation gratuitously, and anyone not granted Grace is damned. This is a God far more of righteousness and wrath than of love and mercy.
Augustine, like many, was profoundly troubled by the existence of evil in a world created and sustained by an all-powerful, all-knowing God. What kind of all-powerful God permits and seems to sustain evil and suffering? Can such a God be all-good? Augustine finds his answers in Adam’s fall. Because of Adam’s sin, all his descendants—all of us— are born with sin and evil in our hearts and are incapable of doing or becoming good and so are damned. But God grants to some (the Chosen, the Elect) his Grace, with which a man can choose good, can do good, can follow God’s commands, live a good life, and be saved. Even so, the Grace granted by God is no guarantee of salvation. Augustine defines Free Will narrowly as a corollary of Grace, that is, even granted Grace, man may still choose evil over the good he knows thanks to Grace, thereby bringing down on his head God’s especial wrath. It was Adam's sin that brought down that especial wrath on all mankind. As for those not granted Grace, there is no Free Will, for those “are so entirely at the disposal of God, that he turns them whithersoever He wills, and whensoever He wills—to bestow kindness on some, and to heap punishment on others.” For those of us without Grace, our lives are pre-determined.
One cannot earn Grace by following God’s commands, by loving the neighbor, or by meritorious deeds. Without Grace all these count for nothing. Only with Grace are following God’s commands and doing good meritorious. Having Grace prompts the chosen to follow God’s law, to love Him and the neighbor, and to do good in the world. Free Will is irrelevant to those without Grace because whatever they choose is inevitably evil. Without Grace good deeds have no value, accrue no merit.
Augustine solves the problem of evil by concluding that it is man—in the person of Adam—who brought evil to mankind. God’s hands are clean. I fail to see how this idea frees Augustine’s God of any culpability. Augustine acknowledges that God sets some commands that man is incapable of keeping: “God commands some things which we cannot do, in order that we may know what we ought to ask of him.” Was God’s command in the Garden one of those un-keepable commands? Doesn’t God’s foreknowledge of Adam’s sin make Him responsible in some sense for that sin? Didn’t God, being all-knowing and all-powerful, predestine Adam’s sin? Was Adam’s sin a set-up? And why would the sin of one man and one woman curse all mankind for all time? As I understand it, this idea of hereditary sin does not appear in the Bible, nor is it accepted in all Christian traditions. The Orthodox Church, for instance, believes that while everyone bears the consequences of the first sin, the foremost of which is death, only Adam and Eve bear the responsibility.
I suspect in the service of cognitive congruence, Augustine carries his theology of sin to even infants. Of newborns, he writes, some will be gifted with Grace and, should they die at birth, be saved; others not gifted Grace will be damned for eternity. The harshness of this theology of original sin is likely what led to the invention of Limbo in the Catholic Church centuries ago, which invention which was only in this century disavowed by the same church.
Then there’s obvious question, why are some granted Grace and others not? Augustine’s answer is also obvious, and also a cop-out. It is, he says, an unfathomable mystery; God in his righteousness chooses some and not others for reasons we will never, can never, understand. To live a good life, to pray for Grace, even to pray for faith, is without meaning and without effect. One must be chosen by God, before one can choose Him.
I struggled so with this little book because the world view and theology it describes are so antithetical to my own. Yet, Augustine of Hippo is still very much with us. There are churches in America even today that profess what Augustine preached about original sin, evil, faith, Grace, predestination, damnation and salvation. It is a dark, dark, even antihuman view.
P.S. This is the only work of Augustine, other than Confessions, that I've read. This piece is a refutation of Pelagius who maintained that Grace could be earned through good works. Augustine would certainly have written on original sin and Grace elsewhere in his voluminous works, and may have taken a less extreme position elsewhere than in this polemic.
I was brought up as what might be called a liberal Christian. God, for me, was loving, merciful, and forgiving. Augustine’s God is righteous, wrathful, and—to human understanding—capricious. To Augustine God is merciful in that through his son, the Christ, he granted to some men and women a release from original sin and a path to salvation—but only to some. God grants—and withdraws— his Grace and a path to salvation gratuitously, and anyone not granted Grace is damned. This is a God far more of righteousness and wrath than of love and mercy.
Augustine, like many, was profoundly troubled by the existence of evil in a world created and sustained by an all-powerful, all-knowing God. What kind of all-powerful God permits and seems to sustain evil and suffering? Can such a God be all-good? Augustine finds his answers in Adam’s fall. Because of Adam’s sin, all his descendants—all of us— are born with sin and evil in our hearts and are incapable of doing or becoming good and so are damned. But God grants to some (the Chosen, the Elect) his Grace, with which a man can choose good, can do good, can follow God’s commands, live a good life, and be saved. Even so, the Grace granted by God is no guarantee of salvation. Augustine defines Free Will narrowly as a corollary of Grace, that is, even granted Grace, man may still choose evil over the good he knows thanks to Grace, thereby bringing down on his head God’s especial wrath. It was Adam's sin that brought down that especial wrath on all mankind. As for those not granted Grace, there is no Free Will, for those “are so entirely at the disposal of God, that he turns them whithersoever He wills, and whensoever He wills—to bestow kindness on some, and to heap punishment on others.” For those of us without Grace, our lives are pre-determined.
One cannot earn Grace by following God’s commands, by loving the neighbor, or by meritorious deeds. Without Grace all these count for nothing. Only with Grace are following God’s commands and doing good meritorious. Having Grace prompts the chosen to follow God’s law, to love Him and the neighbor, and to do good in the world. Free Will is irrelevant to those without Grace because whatever they choose is inevitably evil. Without Grace good deeds have no value, accrue no merit.
Augustine solves the problem of evil by concluding that it is man—in the person of Adam—who brought evil to mankind. God’s hands are clean. I fail to see how this idea frees Augustine’s God of any culpability. Augustine acknowledges that God sets some commands that man is incapable of keeping: “God commands some things which we cannot do, in order that we may know what we ought to ask of him.” Was God’s command in the Garden one of those un-keepable commands? Doesn’t God’s foreknowledge of Adam’s sin make Him responsible in some sense for that sin? Didn’t God, being all-knowing and all-powerful, predestine Adam’s sin? Was Adam’s sin a set-up? And why would the sin of one man and one woman curse all mankind for all time? As I understand it, this idea of hereditary sin does not appear in the Bible, nor is it accepted in all Christian traditions. The Orthodox Church, for instance, believes that while everyone bears the consequences of the first sin, the foremost of which is death, only Adam and Eve bear the responsibility.
I suspect in the service of cognitive congruence, Augustine carries his theology of sin to even infants. Of newborns, he writes, some will be gifted with Grace and, should they die at birth, be saved; others not gifted Grace will be damned for eternity. The harshness of this theology of original sin is likely what led to the invention of Limbo in the Catholic Church centuries ago, which invention which was only in this century disavowed by the same church.
Then there’s obvious question, why are some granted Grace and others not? Augustine’s answer is also obvious, and also a cop-out. It is, he says, an unfathomable mystery; God in his righteousness chooses some and not others for reasons we will never, can never, understand. To live a good life, to pray for Grace, even to pray for faith, is without meaning and without effect. One must be chosen by God, before one can choose Him.
I struggled so with this little book because the world view and theology it describes are so antithetical to my own. Yet, Augustine of Hippo is still very much with us. There are churches in America even today that profess what Augustine preached about original sin, evil, faith, Grace, predestination, damnation and salvation. It is a dark, dark, even antihuman view.
P.S. This is the only work of Augustine, other than Confessions, that I've read. This piece is a refutation of Pelagius who maintained that Grace could be earned through good works. Augustine would certainly have written on original sin and Grace elsewhere in his voluminous works, and may have taken a less extreme position elsewhere than in this polemic.
March 16, 2025
This is my introduction to Saint Augustine, a very well-known theological figure and philosopher who speaks on various topics in a style similar to the greeks I'm quite fond of, attempting to sort through reasoning and return emotional sentiments to their first principles and engaging in dialogue with fellow intellects, and as far as this is concerned it does a more than passable job. After reading it I do feel like I have a strong grasp on what free will is, what can be considered blame worthy and not blame worthy, the fundamental hierarchy of human, animal and God, as well as at which stages and in which actions "will" exists and to what extent it affects our life, but I do have some qualms as well.
For one, this book is very theological, especially towards the end of the 2nd book and the throughout the 3rd, the focus turns entirely towards the Christian concept of sin and the connotations of it's God, and while I don't really disagree with sin as an idea or dislike Christian theology or philosophy it became a bit excessive and irrelevant outside of it's scope later on in my opinion, I wouldn't blame you for skipping the 3rd book. Beside that, Evodius is pretty poor opposition as far as the dialogues are concerned, asking good questions but not meaningfully putting up a fight debate-wise due to his deep respect for Augustine, and I feel like some of the reasoning within it is circular and therefore a bit unconvincing, as well as far too discounting of the effects of the material world on our well being (even if people usually are the opposite).
For one, this book is very theological, especially towards the end of the 2nd book and the throughout the 3rd, the focus turns entirely towards the Christian concept of sin and the connotations of it's God, and while I don't really disagree with sin as an idea or dislike Christian theology or philosophy it became a bit excessive and irrelevant outside of it's scope later on in my opinion, I wouldn't blame you for skipping the 3rd book. Beside that, Evodius is pretty poor opposition as far as the dialogues are concerned, asking good questions but not meaningfully putting up a fight debate-wise due to his deep respect for Augustine, and I feel like some of the reasoning within it is circular and therefore a bit unconvincing, as well as far too discounting of the effects of the material world on our well being (even if people usually are the opposite).
November 4, 2024
A profound work in which Augustine insists both upon the absolute sovereignty of grace and the freedom of man's will. However our will is free but evil, we sin freely and therefore inevitably be because it is what we want. He pictures grace as changing not our choices - a kind of compulsion - but changing our will, so that we desire better things. Indeed, at first, by grace we desire to have better desires. That desire fulfilled by grace, additional grace is then required to act on this improved will, and also given graciously in response to believing prayer. Thus our good desires and good works are all of grace.
When God turns the will to sin this is not grace but just judgement.
Disappointingly, however, he does not wrestle with the first sin of Adam in the Garden - what that the will of God, or unforeseen by God?
When God turns the will to sin this is not grace but just judgement.
Disappointingly, however, he does not wrestle with the first sin of Adam in the Garden - what that the will of God, or unforeseen by God?
February 22, 2025
L’opera intende chiarire il rapporto tra grazia e libero arbitrio che nel dibattito tra parti opposte nella controversia pelagiana rischiava di essere annullato. Agostino dimostra quindi che grazia e libero arbitrio sono parimenti affermati dalla Scrittura; pertanto (1) il libero arbitrio non rende debita la grazia come se questa fosse conseguenza/premio dell’autonomo agire buono; (2) la grazia non annulla il libero arbitrio poiché lo precede, lo illumina, lo orienta e la sostiene nell’agire buono ma non lo scavalca; (3) il nesso di entrambi è l’amore, in quanto oggetto/fine del libero agire buono e dono di Dio (grazia).
Nel giudizio finale, dunque, Dio salva l’uomo per grazia (nella gratuità della sua misericordia o nel coronare le opere buone realizzate in sinergia con il suo dono) o lo condanna per giustizia (di fronte alla chiusura del libero arbitrio).
Nel giudizio finale, dunque, Dio salva l’uomo per grazia (nella gratuità della sua misericordia o nel coronare le opere buone realizzate in sinergia con il suo dono) o lo condanna per giustizia (di fronte alla chiusura del libero arbitrio).
August 3, 2021
This is a book written to Valentinus in order for him and his congregation to understand and counter the arguments from the movement of Pelagius. We don't encounter Pelagians much these days, but they are everywhere where it is preached that our actions deserve God's grace, rather than God's grace creating in us good actions.
The style is very straightforward, and with a lot of biblical references to point where it is said things that counter the Pelagian view. I find other Augustines works to be more engaging than this, much because of its simple approach that gives us the biblical ground for one specific issue. Other than that, this is the Christian view since this time because Augustines view won through.
The style is very straightforward, and with a lot of biblical references to point where it is said things that counter the Pelagian view. I find other Augustines works to be more engaging than this, much because of its simple approach that gives us the biblical ground for one specific issue. Other than that, this is the Christian view since this time because Augustines view won through.
May 6, 2022
In American evangelicalism there is a growing tendency to attack St Augustine on the basis of a modern “hot take”. What’s a “hot take”? A “hot take” is a sharply worded and deliberately provocative statement that is outside the norm. What is the “hot take” on Augustine that seems to be growing in American evangelism? It is the idea that Augustine, in his views on Grace and Free will, merely imported Manichaeism into Christianity through his natural ability to persuade an audience.
Is there any truth in that “hot take”? Nothing. Read Augustine well. His biblical arguments supported by numerous texts and valuable exegetical insights are refreshing. Augustine didn’t betray Christianity. Augustine strengthened and blessed Christianity.
Is there any truth in that “hot take”? Nothing. Read Augustine well. His biblical arguments supported by numerous texts and valuable exegetical insights are refreshing. Augustine didn’t betray Christianity. Augustine strengthened and blessed Christianity.
September 4, 2023
This is a quick read of St Augustine's take on the two competing sides as stated in the title. You have those who think all was decided before, and you have those who believe only in free will meaning nothing was determined beforehand. This isn't the only thing discussed, but it certainly adds clarity to the topic. We must have free will, but there is also indisputable evidence that some things get decided for us outside of our control. How do these work together? If you've pondered at this question which can be taken endless rounds, then I highly recommend reading this. Augustine has a gift for communicating hard things in an easy to understand way as mentioned in the previous reviews, and he simply radiates wisdom and logic in all that he says.
May 17, 2023
There are some really good thoughts in this book. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether he was synergistic or monergistic but overall I think he stays the true course to what the scriptures teach on this matter. He takes the pelagian to task and I would even says he takes the modern semi-pelagian arguments we hear so often from our Arminian brothers and sisters to task. Highly recommend this book on the topic and he quotes so much scripture to prove his point.
This is also my first book by St. Augustine and it was surprisingly fun and enjoyable.
This is also my first book by St. Augustine and it was surprisingly fun and enjoyable.
September 14, 2018
Reason & Reasonability
Very helpful & clarifying. I am Arminian & we are sometimes lumped with Pelagians. This book points out the heresies of the Pelagians clearly- & I don't share them. Augustine doesn't separate Grace & Free Will- in fact, he regards them as indispensable to one another. That is very helpful.
Very helpful & clarifying. I am Arminian & we are sometimes lumped with Pelagians. This book points out the heresies of the Pelagians clearly- & I don't share them. Augustine doesn't separate Grace & Free Will- in fact, he regards them as indispensable to one another. That is very helpful.
April 27, 2021
Although it is often neglected, this is my favourite work by Augustine. It is brief but deep, insightful yet accessible, and thought-provoking yet balanced. He engages closely and carefully with Scripture and philosophically and hermeneutically wrestles with the apparent tension between God's eternal sovereignty and human free will.
October 11, 2021
Surprisingly good! I wouldn’t say I’m religious. More seeker than believer but definitely interested in knowing God, in discerning good from evil and understanding this thing called mercy and grace in a world full of injustice. I’ll let you know when I’m done with this small book of large thought from arguably the founder of the Church as we know it today.
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September 28, 2022Teachings that come from God
At the end of this great treatise on the problem of free will and God's will and Pelagian's ( spelling?) teachings he says for us to pray for understanding. I think this is good advice as this is difficult to understand where God's will ends and man's begins, and which is which in our lives.
At the end of this great treatise on the problem of free will and God's will and Pelagian's ( spelling?) teachings he says for us to pray for understanding. I think this is good advice as this is difficult to understand where God's will ends and man's begins, and which is which in our lives.
January 19, 2023
Augustine writes in one of his last letters to defend the reality of free will and human responsibility alongside the reality of unmerited grace and divine sovereignty. He writes clearly and biblically to defend the necessity of grace, but he lost me in the very end when he brought up infant baptism as a means of election- which I as a Reformed Baptist obviously take issue with.
August 9, 2023
A fascinating, readable, and short meditation on human responsibility and divine sovereignty from a pre-Reformation (or, depending on who you ask, proto-Reformation) mindset focused on combating Pelagianism. Augustine is both the most solid and readable of the early Church Fathers, even if he can be a little repetitive. (8.5/10)
April 7, 2020
I felt that Augustine did a very good job of proving, through scripture, that man’s free will and God’s grace are not mutually exclusive. He doesn’t necessarily explain how they work, but I appreciated that as well since I believe it is a mystery that our human minds cannot yet understand.
February 1, 2024
Though Augustine is in his more convoluted style here, he still affirms the importance of the free human will and choice. Particularly as a short entrance to this topic from Augustine, a worthwhile read.
January 20, 2025
Love St Augustine, obviously this isn’t a doctrinal outline of Predestination since he’s in the midst of the Pelagian controversy. I just wish I could clarify with him some of the stuff he meant in this book. A good read though.
July 5, 2025
I didn't quite understand if free will exists at all... Everything that is good is grace, and everything that is bad is us? Then, there's no free will when we wish to do good, because even to will is a grace? Confusing.
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