In Session 6, we conclude our discussion of the creation and fall of the angels and more forward with the state of man before the Fall, the Fall itself and the reality of Sin, and the effects of the Fall.
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The City of God
By St Augustine of Hippo
Session 6, The Fall of Man, Sin and Death
The gods of the nations are demons. (Ps 95)
Glorious things are said of thee, o City of God! (Ps
86)
Note on
schedule: Classes August 27th, September 3rd and 10th,
and then continuing again in October through till Advent. In our next three
class we will study Books XI-XIV: the six days of Creation in Genesis 1, the
fall of the evil angels, the fall of man, original sin and death.
I. Review
of Creation and the Angels
A. The
“six days” as being six ways of knowing creation.
B. The
creation of the angels.
C. The
fall of Satan and his angels.
D. Finish
discussion from last week.
II. The
creation of man in the state of grace, and his fall
A. Gifts
of man before the fall – Preternatural gifts: Favors granted by God above and
beyond the powers or capacities of the nature that receives them but not beyond
those of all created nature. Such gifts perfect nature but do not carry it
beyond the limits of created nature. They include three great privileges to
which human beings have no title--infused knowledge (about God, about the moral
law, about the natural universe), absence of concupiscence (integrity), and
bodily immortality (freedom from death). Adam and Eve possessed these gifts
before the Fall.
B. How
all were present in Adam. Consider the way Eve was present in Adam (being made
from his flesh), and how all men were present in Adam (according to
propagation).
C. Supplemental
question: What if man had never sinned? Would Christ have come? Would there be
sacraments? Etc
D.
Supplemental question: Is the possibility of sin necessary for freedom? Did God
have to create man with the capacity to sin in order for man to be free? “Able not to sin (Eden) – Not able not to sin
(now) – Not able to sin (heaven)”
D. Supplemental:
Marriage is a healing remedy for the Fall. Woman would take the place of God as
man’s companion.
E. Note
regarding the errors of Origen – Man’s pre-existence and fall.
III. Sin
and death
A. The
nature of the first sin
1.
Consider St Augustine’s discussion of the theft of the pear in Confessions
2. Man
does not choose evil in itself, but only some lesser good in a disordered way
B. The
perplexity of death
1. The
death of the soul through loss of grace, then of the body through loss of life.
2. There
is the “first death” which is bodily death, and there is the “second death”
which is hell. But for the redeemed, the first death leads to eternal life.
3. As man
rebelled against God, so too the body/passions rebel against the soul – concupiscence
IV.
Recommended reading for Books XV-XVIII (about
101 pages)
A. Book
XV – From Cain and Abel to the great Flood
(26 pages)
Chapters
1-10, Of the two Cities, Cain and Abel and the Giants before the Flood
Chapters
12, 14-16, Of the great ages of the early men and the question of marriage of
relatives
Chapter
22, The “sons of God” and “daughters of men”
Chapters
26-27, The Ark
B. Book
XVI – From Noah to Abraham and down through the Judges (22 pages)
Chapters
1-4, From the Flood to the Tower of Babel
Chapters
7-9, Various questions about the natural world in relation to the Creation and
the Flood
Chapters
16-21, The three promises God made to Abraham
Chapters
22-26, 31-32, Various moments in Abraham’s life
Chapters
35-37, 39, Jacob and Esau
Chapter
43, Moses
C. Book
XVII – From David through the Kings and Prophets (23 pages)
Chapters
1-3, Of the prophecies of the Old Testament
Chapter 4,
Samuel the Prophet
Chapter
6, King Saul
Chapter
8, King David
Chapter
14-17, Of the Psalms
Chapter
20, King Solomon
D. Book
XVIII – Comparison of Sacred History with World History, the Gospel and Age of
the Apostles (20 pages)
Chapter
1, Summary of the preceding books
Chapters
28-30, 34-35, Prophecies about Christ and the Church
Chapters
42-43, Of the Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament
Chapters
46-53, Of the Birth of Jesus, his Gospel, the preaching of the Apostles and the
spread of the Church until the final great persecution at the end of time
V.
Recommended listening on LibriVox for Books XV-XVIII (about 6 hours)
Book XV,
Chapters 1-7, 8-14, 22-27
Book XVI,
Chapters 1-8, 21-31, 32-43
Book XVII,
Chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-16
Book
XVIII, Chapters 32-39, 40-47, 48-54
