I am going to analyze the theme of free will in the book written by Saint Augustine “City of God” as it is an imprescriptible symbol of religious text, aspects of morality, and the interpretation of the Bible. Augustine’s theories of free will are based on the ability to exercise choice. Free will is an attribute of the saint people, prophets and ordinary people.
The aspect of free will can be considered from different points of view and according to different principles. Thus, there are several definitions of the aspect of free will; it can be considered to be any action, decision or choice made voluntarily or the state of freedom to make choices that are not the result of divine intervention or caused by some prior actions.
So, we can view the aspect of free will in the book “City of God” by Saint Augustine as a choice of some people to do something by their own will and the actions of people which are not caused by ‘divine intervention’; thus, people are free to choose their own way and to act in a self-determined manner. The major aspect of this very issue is the freedom of choice.
Thereby the title of the fifteenth chapter of the first book gives us a vivid example which can be analyzed from the point of view of both aspects: “Of Regulus, in whom we have an example of the voluntary endurance of captivity for the sake of religion; which yet did not profit him, though he was a worshipper of the gods” (Augustine 19).
The actions being made according to the person’s free will are rejected to be done for the sake of something, all the more for the sake of religion. The actions or decisions made because of free will must not be predetermined by some reasons, especially the religious ones.
A person, whether it is an ordinary man or a general, can bear any kind of challenges from fate but the ‘voluntary endurance of captivity is not the feature of free-will action. I know the only reason why a person can suffer captivity; it does not presuppose free will; it is weakness.
Only a weak person can suffer some hardship in order to tell them that this all was for the sake of religion. Religion is the matter of different kinds of people: weak and strong, and their faith can be weak and strong, as well as their actions can be caused by different reasons.
The saint people suffered hardship not for the sake of religion, but for the sake of ideas and beliefs; they wanted to achieve certain goals or get to know more about life, the reasons for our living on this planet, and the gospel truth. These people are worthy of the respect of all people in the world.
And the people who claim that their actions are caused by the religious aspects are to be disrespected. Moreover, the Roman general who was captured, Marcus Attilius Regulus is said to get no profit from religion, “though he was a worshipper of the gods” (Augustine 19). I cannot stand such people as they are always searching for some kind of profit.
To err is human. People make their decisions of free will; their actions may be good or bad, conditioned by good or bad intentions. Thus, all the good deeds of the saint people and all the sins made by the evil men are the result of our free will. Religion is the matter of every person, but everyone understands it in his/her own way
Free will is accepted by the Holy Church and allows people to make their choice. And the most important thing here is to believe in miracles, to have faith in God, and to act according to religious and moral principles which are common for all the people; all these actions are caused by free will.
People are given the most precious gift of life; God gave it to them; they do not seem to protect and save this enormous gift. Thus, the book was written by the Saint Augustine “City of God” is a specific interpretation of the sacred Scriptures. I would rather call it an attempt to interpret the Bible because from my point of view Bible is one of the most contradictory documents or sources about human beings and God, religious principles and different beliefs; ways to reach the goals and miracles.
Bible can be interpreted in a great number of different ways by different people, and all the variants would differ from one another because religion is the matter of every person individually. People are free to choose God, and Augustine represented the notion of the only God instead of a number of gods which existed in Roman religion. At the very beginning of the book, the author explains his reasons for having decided to write such a work.
Is it possible that the Holy church accepted free will as the symbol of a sinful action? The church is the domain of God as it is said in the Bible and interpreted in the book “city of God” written by Saint Augustine. This institution can encourage people to make good actions with good intentions. And the price of free will is the possibility to make a mistake and make a bad thing.
Can the Holy church provoke bad actions? The Bible in all its interpretations claims that free will is not bad when it is used with good intentions, but it is sinful to make bad actions by free will because free will is given to the people as a gift to make their own choice.
One of the purposes of the gift of free will is that God tries to check the will of the people, to allow them to choose and to err. It is strange to realize the fact that free will can cause sinful actions. Free will is the freedom of choice and the freedom of action given to the people in order to check their intentions and the results of their thoughts.
The thing is that Saint Augustine wanted to explain the religious and moral aspects and values of Christianity to people of other religions, mainly to Romans who had a great number of different gods and obeyed other rules of living. The author of “City of God” tries to describe relations of Christianity to other religions and to Christian philosophy, religion, God, and other diverse religious matters. The themes raised in the book concern spiritual aspects of life, meaning of life, free will, destiny, and human nature. I think that the aspect of free will is a vague and contradictory notion that can be easily refuted as well as supported.
Works Cited
Augustine, Saint. City of God. Toronto: Random House, 1993.