ipl-logo

Compare And Contrast Augustine And Aquinas

750 Words3 Pages

Augustine and Aquinas
St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, was one of the first notable Christian philosophers. In his book “The City of God” he writes about two cities— a city of man that consists of those who live after the flesh (human desires) and the city of god that consists of people who live after the spirit (refraining from sin and using the divine law to achieve being virtuous). According to Augustine, there is nothing intrinsically good but God, God’s moral law is written in our hearts since he is our creator and if one follows God’s moral law (divine law) they will have salvation. Salvation will be ones true and final happiness as there is no happiness in this life even if one is virtuous. True justice and peace are accomplished only after salvation, not in this world. In his view, the government is extremely important considering it restrains a world of sinners who would misbehave if there were no laws. Governments have the right to create any law that does not conflict with the word of God and citizens have a duty to obey the laws. Nonetheless if obedience to God and authority conflict one must always choose obedience to God regardless of the punishment.
St. Thomas Aquinas, another notable Christian philosopher who sought to combine Augustine and Aristotle’s thoughts and find a way in which reason and faith could work together. In his work “The Treatise of Law from Summa Theologica, he shares his views that the world is ruled by natural (secular) law where we can

Show More
Related

  • Declaration Of Independence Letter To Danbury Baptists

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    When comparing documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, one must consider the dates on which they were drafted upon along with the current state of American government. These two points are necessary when determining the reasoning behind why each document was drafted. The Declaration of Independence was the first of these three documents to be written and was used to establish that the citizens of the United States of America were free from the rule of Great Britain. The second of these documents to be written was the U.S. Constitution. Many of the articles in the Constitution derived from the ideas of basic human rights that Thomas Jefferson expressed should

    Read More

  • Feminist Len In Augustine's Confessions

    1813 Words  | 8 Pages

    When viewed under a feminist lens in Confessions, the most notable female character, Monica, risks losing her significance as a compassionate caregiver in Augustine’s life. In chapter three of Confessions, Augustine discusses Monica’s dream with the readers. After Monica tells Augustine of her dream of his perdition, Augustine recalls trying to twist Monica’s dream to ease her “downcast[ness]and daily floods of tears” (III.19). A modern feminist would have issues with Augustine’s description of Monica’s emotional energy, saying that she is entitled to her emotions, because she is his mother and deserves the utmost respect, regardless of her gender. Augustine’s indifferent attitude response to Monica when he “tried to twist [the dream’s] meaning”

    Read More

  • Augustine's Idea Of Free Will In Night By Wiesel

    1045 Words  | 5 Pages

    Intro: The theodicy I choose to related to Night by Wiesel is Augustine’s idea of free will. Augustine's idea of free will can be defined as people given the choice to make decisions in their lives, that evil is the absence of some good and that God does not make decisions for us. All these aspects of of Augustine's theory can be viewed in several scenes of eveil?suffering portrayed in the novel Night.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail

    856 Words  | 4 Pages

    He explains this by discussing the unjust law system. He states, “One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "An unjust law is no law at all” (3). C. Claim about Reading 2 (state what is the claim that you will be making about your second reading)

    Read More

  • John Locke's Concept Of Justice

    1751 Words  | 8 Pages

    Locke's most important and influential political writings are contained in his Two Treatises on Government. The first treatise is concerned almost exclusively with refuting the argument that political authority was derived from religious authority. The second treatise contains Locke’s own constructive view of the aims and justification for civil government. According to Locke, the State of Nature, the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct one's life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others. This does not mean, however, that it is a state of license: one is not free to do anything at all one pleases, or even anything that one judges to be in one’s interest.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Letter From Birmingham Jail And Antigone

    895 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Given your definitions of religion and politics, where do you see parallels, and where do you see divergences, between the insights of King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Sophocles’s Antigone?” When I look at King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Sophocles’ Antigone, it is evident that concepts of religion and politics exist within these texts. Similarly, these pieces both contain elements, which I identify as my definitions of religion and politics. For example, King includes the rhetoric of religious figures (St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas) on the issues of just and unjust laws to justify non-violent law-breaking. In a similar way, this relates to my definition of the use of symbols and religious traditions, which shapes

    Read More

  • How Did John Locke Influence The American Constitution

    542 Words  | 3 Pages

    • Thomas used Aristotle’s view of natural law to justify the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in political as well as religious matters. For the purpose of explaining the fundamental reasons of law he used Aristotle’s philosophy and added the use of an eternal ruler. John Locke • John Locke had a distinct influence on the writers of the American Constitution by advocating for human rights and liberty through democracy. In saying so, he believed that the mass majority of ordinary people can be capable of giving consent to their governor/ruler as opposed to the Monarch government. However if the ruler did not comply with the needs of the people, Locke believed that the public had the justified right to rebel.

    Read More

  • Aristotle And Locke Compare And Contrast Essay

    703 Words  | 3 Pages

    Albeit Aristotle and Locke lived 2,000 years apart, their periods in history were similar. Both eras were marked by wars, tyrannical figures, and political and social instability in ancient Greece and medieval England. However, there was one major difference in their epochs, religion. The Greeks practice polytheism, while Christianity was practiced in Europe during Locke’s time.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Aristotle And John Locke

    1604 Words  | 7 Pages

    Essay 1 Aristotle and John Locke both believe humans were not created to live alone but instead among other people of the same community. Humans are not independent beings, and those who live in isolation lack the purpose of life: becoming a citizen and exercising one 's full potential of human flourishing. According to Aristotle, the collective community or multitude of citizens coexisting with one another is happiness, whereas Locke believes that the collective community is protecting autonomy and property. Both philosophers believe that to become a citizen, one must contribute to politics with the intent of creating a better society for all. Aristotle and Locke however, have differing views on how a person accomplishes this.

    Read More

  • Rousseau Vs Thomas Paine Essay

    1232 Words  | 5 Pages

    On the Social Contract. Each of the philosophies discussed the purpose of government as well as which government was the most ideal. For Paine, government, is “a punisher,” in which society is ruled by in order to protect the properties of one’s natural rights (Paine 3). However, he defends a representative democracy as being the ideal. Likewise, John Locke also argues that governments protect the rights of man.

    Read More

  • King Jr Vs Aquinas Analysis

    1572 Words  | 7 Pages

    and Aquinas both identify a 'higher law.' In "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," King refers to this higher law as "moral law" or the "law of God." Similarly, Aquinas uses the terms "natural law" and "eternal law." This 'higher law' takes precedence over human law. 'Higher law,' according to both King and Aquinas, comes from God and gives the universe its rational and moral order.

    Read More

  • St. Augustine's Conception Of Sin Essay

    1117 Words  | 5 Pages

    He is beginning to realize that he has to change his ways in order to reach absolution. In the ninth book, Augustine shows how he was able to finally connect with God through his books and teachings. “I read on: Tremble and sin no more, and this moved me deeply, my God, because now I had learned to tremble from my past, so that in the future I might sin no more.” (Book IX, Section 4, Page 187) This shows that Augustine was finally able to find God through the readings of the Bible.

    Read More

  • Augustine Of Hippo's Impact On Christianity

    770 Words  | 4 Pages

    Augustine dedicated his life to Christ after reading the epistles of Paul.         Original sin was a disputed topic for the Church and had many sides to it. Augustine’s argument about original sin disagreed with Pelagius’, a philosopher in the church. He argued that sin has been passed down from the start when Adam and Eve first ate from the tree of knowledge.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Plato And John Locke

    1333 Words  | 6 Pages

    Everyone has a perspective of their own about the government whether it be good or bad. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato and English philosopher John Locke both discuss the topic of government in their literatures. In the Republic by Plato, Plato introduces this concept of a just city. In this city, he believes that the older and wisest person(s) should rule as they are very knowledgeable. Everyone is born innately different according to Plato.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Hobbes Locke And Rousseau

    1740 Words  | 7 Pages

    This state of nature was the conditions in which we lived before there were any political governments to rule over us and it described what societies would be like if we had no government at all. In this essay I will compare the opinions given by each philosopher regarding their understanding of the state and the law. I will also discuss how their theories have influenced our understanding of the law today. Thomas Hobbes – Regarding the State and Law Firstly I would like to begin my discussion with Thomas Hobbes.

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Augustine And Aquinas

Open Document