Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 37:1 (Apr 2024)
Article: The Rationale For Augustine’s Development Of The Doctrine Of Predestination
Author: Dumisani Member Ngobeni

Conspectus 37:1 (April 2024) p. 41

The Rationale For Augustine’s Development Of The Doctrine Of Predestination

Dumisani Member Ngobeni

Christ Seminary

About The Author

Dr. Dumisani Member Ngobeni is a Church History lecturer at Christ Seminary in Polokwane. He holds a Ph.D. in Church and Dogma History from North-West University. Before joining Christ Seminary as a lecturer, Dumisani worked as a missionary at Christ Baptist Church, where he taught pastors for ministry and translated training materials from English to Xitsonga. As a Church History lecturer Dumisani strives to make complex concepts easy to understand. Under his guidance, many students have excelled in their studies and gone on to make significant contributions in their respective fields. Email: [email protected]

This article: https://www.sats.ac.za/conspectus/rationale-augustine-doctrine-predestination https://doi.org/10.54725/conspectus.2024.1.3

Abstract

Many Christians have misconceptions about predestination. It is a complex issue that is characterized by great theological disagreement. However, it cannot be disregarded given that someone’s belief on the matter has great consequences. The African theologian Saint Augustine (AD 354–430) spoke extensively on predestination. Although the setting of the modern church is different from Augustine’s day, this article argues that the issues that Augustine confronted were not unique to his day. A comparative analysis of the literature is conducted to discover and evaluate some historical ideas. As a result, the translated work of Augustine and recent scholarly publications on this topic were consulted. This was done to identify historical opinions to assess Augustine’s influence on the theological development of the doctrine of predestination. The present article endeavors to demonstrate the influence of Augustine’s exegetical approach to the Epistle of Romans on his dogmatic pronouncements. Furthermore, it seeks to establish the polemical influence of the Pelagius controversy on Augustine’s theological views. Through a critical analysis of Augustine’s writings, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how these two factors shaped Augustine’s theological thought.

Keywords

Augustinianism, Pelagianism, predestination, sin, grace

Conspectus 37:1 (April 2024) p. 42

1. Introduction

The doctrine of predestination has always been the subject of intense debate in the history of the church. This doctrine always sparks much debate in Christian circles; both among Evangelicals and Roman Catholics. This is not surprising since it focuses on the doctrine of theology proper. According t...