AUGUSTINE - MAN

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>AUGUSTINE</FONT><BR> THE CONVERTED CONVERTER</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Man</B></FONT><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY UNITED</B></FONT><BR> The essential nature of man is not reason but will. No man believes in the true God, the God of moral demand, unless he wills to do so. Only from the rightly oriented will, with the mind turned towards the redeeming God, can man discover truth and achieve happiness (beatitude). But man tends to will something other than the true God, create God in his own image, unless touched by Divine Grace. There can be no reasoning to faith, to truth, only reasoning from faith. Faith precedes understanding. There can be no severance of theology and philosophy. Theology is faith seeking understanding.<P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>THE PROBLEM OF SEX</B></FONT><BR> Christians should consider themselves as travellers passing through the earthly city, following the pilgrim's path, keeping their eye on their heavenly destination, undistracted by earthly pleasures. Within this scheme of things, sex posed a particular problem. Augustine could never bring himself to reject sex as an evil. <A HREF="../t03/g029.html" TARGET="_top">Manicheeism</A> saw the lower part of the body as entirely evil. Yet, while a follower, Augustine maintained a mistress. Once he converted to Christianity he promoted the idea of the beauty of all God's creation. He insisted that in marriage, the carnal act was "put to a good and right use" and that the physical delight of the act should be distinguished from the libido which is the wrong use of the impulse. Yet he himself renounced sex and became celibate. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>