Can Politics Ever Be Considered Just for Augustine - Essay Example

?Can politics ever be considered just for Augustine? Augustine was among the greatest political thinkers of his time, despite the fact that he is mostly remembered for his being among the founding fathers of modern Christianity. The ability of this man to have such an influence on the politics of the church despite having only been converted to Christianity in his adulthood can be considered to be a statement of his political abilities. Most of Augustine’s political thought was based on the Platonic school and for most of his active life in the church; he attempted to propagate Plato’s teachings through Cicero into the basic teachings of the church. The fact that he was influenced by the Manichaean sect in the belief that human beings are balanced by both good and evil characteristics may have played a role in the political philosophy that he developed later in his life. The great influence that his teachings had and continue to have in the modern period can be attributed to his persuasive nature, since the was able to influence the basic processes through which the Christian church operates today; not only the catholic church but also the Eastern Orthodox and the Protestants. With this in mind, it would be prudent to ensure that the teachings of this man are studied so that it can be determined whether he considered politics to be just or not. If one considers Augustine’s teachings, one would come to the conclusion that he believes politics can be just because of his belief in free will. Free will, according to Augustine, is an essential part of the human connection with God (Elshtain, 2004). While this may be the case, he lived during an age where many individuals were often subjected into lifelong servitude and slavery. The latter people did not have the free will to be able to make their own choices in life and only had to submit to the will of their masters, a fact which would not have been in agreement with Augustine’s beliefs. The teaching that it was necessary for a man to have free will before being able to do what was right and as a result end up receiving divine grace as a reward can be said to be the main idea behind the need for free will. As an adherent of Plato’s teachings, Augustine must have been a believer in the democratic system where the free will of an individual is what determined whether he participated in the politics of his society or not (Visser, 2010). The fact that many of the individuals who lived in the Roman society lacked free will because of the autocratic government that was in place, may have had an influence on the teachings of Augustine, who, despite not having been born a Christian, was among those who developed the doctrine of free will in the religious and political scene of the time. According to Augustine, free will existed because it was granted by God, so that in order for an individual to achieve it, it had to be granted by God (Valk, 2009). The fact that some individuals in the society did not possess free will was because God had not seen it fit to grant it to them and this ensured that they were not yet worthy of it. It can be said that those individuals who have the free will to participate in politics have been granted this privilege by God and since God is considered to be just, then there is justice in politics. Free will is absolutely essential to human nature as this is what determines what individuals do with their live, whether good or evil. The ability to make this choice is among the most fundamental aspects of politics because it enables individuals to take differing viewpoints without necessarily having to see eye to eye on some matters. It was this teaching which came to be adopted by the protestant movement, especially the Calvinists, who accepted Augustine’s teaching that there is both free will and divine grace, and as such, the will of an individual is often predestined. One of the conditions which Augustine considers to be necessary for individuals to attain free will is the keeping and fulfilling of all the commandments of God, stating that this is the basic requirement throughout the scriptures in the bible. He argues that such requirements could not have been possible if humanity did not have the free will to choose whether they were to keep God’s commandments or not (Seaton, 2002). The fact that there is free will means that it was Augustine’s belief that there is justice in politics, and since politics requires that one has free will, which only comes from God. Free will is a basic part of human nature which God granted from the creation of the human being and because of this, all human beings have the right to participate in political activities. Because of the free will which has been granted to human beings, autocracy has no place in their societies because of the fact that an autocratic regime would be detrimental to the human practice of their free will. All individuals have the right to participate in politics and to leave all the decisions in the society in the hands of only a few individuals would mean that they have willingly forfeited their rights as free beings. In matters concerning politics, it is a requirement that those who participate in it do so in a manner which is aimed at ensuring that they do good deeds in the best interests of their societies (Foley, 2003). While this may be the case, however, Augustine argues that despite the fact that individuals may do good deeds in the political sphere; this is not enough without divine grace, because this characteristic will enable them to be fulfilled in their mission. The abilities of those individuals who participate in politics are as a result of divine grace, and as such their participation in politics is essential for justice to be fulfilled. According to Augustine, the fact that individuals have the free will to make choices concerning their lives cannot be separated from the divine, and because of this, they cannot be able to make the right decisions without the influence of the grace of God. The fact that most of his work was written a short while after the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths is a testament to the feelings that many individuals had at the time. Some of the people living after the sacking believed that it was a punishment of the old gods for their turning away from them and instead adopting the Christian religion; a belief which Augustine completely disputed (Tinder, 1997). At this time, the church was still united and was under the authority of the emperor at Constantinople, and the fact that these individuals claimed that they were being punished by the old gods can be considered to have been an assault on Christianity itself. In his most prominent work, The City of God, Augustine writes an apology for the Christian religion as a response to those critics who still adhered to the old beliefs. He states that it was the church which had ensured that Rome managed to survive and be rebuilt through its efforts in providing refuge for those individuals who would otherwise have been killed (Joanna, 2002). The strength of this argument is based on his belief that without the church, then it would have been impossible to restore order once Rome had been sacked by the Visigoths. The fact that the church was instrumental in the restoration of order, it can be argued, is the basis upon which Augustine makes his argument, showing that while the church was considered a spiritual entity, it could also get involved in temporal affairs when need arose. It can be said that while the church may have chosen to remain on the sidelines, it chose to play an active role instead, meaning that it is the responsibility of all people with free will to participate as it is what makes politics to be just. Furthermore, Augustine states that Christianity is not a factor in the destruction of patriotism but a force in its reinforcement and he refers to the scriptures as proof showing that there is the need for human beings to respect the civil authority. If one were to consider his statement, one would come to the conclusion that while he was a supporter of respect for civil authority and the politics that came with it, politics being a necessity because it has been ordained by God. The main reason why individuals should accept the civil authority is because of the fact that human beings have a tendency of committing evil, and as a consequence, there is need to ensure that this tendency is remedied through the establishment of temporal authority. Such authority can be considered to be just because of the fact that it has laws which keep human beings from committing evil to a large extent. Politics has been ordained by God as a means of controlling human beings from falling into absolute evil; a fact which makes it essential for their survival (Raeder, 2003). While this is the case, unlike the philosophers of the ancient world, Augustine does not set out to speculate concerning the type of government in which individuals can live, concentrating instead on matter concerning the relationship between humans and God. Matters concerning politics are secondary and this ensures that he is aloof from assessing what the best kind of authority is made of; thus, he creates a situation where he leaves it to the free will of the people involved what type of government they would like to have. The fact that there can be justice through the civil authority does not essentially guarantee it, and according to Augustine, temporal authority is vastly limited in its ability to give justice and this is because it is not the perfect form of government. It is his belief that while some governments can be considered to be just, there are others which have to resort to repression in order to keep the peace in the society as well as ensuring that it provides the conditions necessary for the continued function of the church (Watt, 2004). While this may be the case, according to Augustine, a state, in whatever form, should ensure that it is just towards the people over whom it has authority and he ends up likening a government without justice to bands of robbers whose main function is to benefit from its people. Augustine believes that politicians find it to construct a spiritual entity, known as the regime, which he, along with likeminded colleagues, can use for the purpose of meeting their goals or vision for their society (Harrison, 2001). In the process of making their ambitions come true, it is the responsibility of the said politicians to ensure that they ensure that justice prevails in their society because to do otherwise would be contravening the will of God. In the conduct of political affairs, men are not often able so see the moral absolutes that should be considered when making their decisions. This is because of the fact that human beings are fallible creatures whose ability to see the moral absolutes that exist is not clear because of their very nature. As a result, it is essential for leaders to ensure that they receive the grace which will allow them to provide justice for their subjects, because without it, then they would not be able to do anything of consequence. In conclusion, it can be said that Augustine is a firm believer that politics can be considered to be just but only if the politicians are able to ensure that they behave in a just manner. The arguments raised by Augustine are based on his firm belief that rulers, in their administration of justice, should have the grace of God because otherwise, their actions will be inconsequential. Therefore, justice in politics can still be achieved through the development of a balance between matters that are temporal and those which are spiritual so that the society can be stabilized. References Elshtain, J. (2004), "St Augustine", Contemporary Political Theory, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 268-274. Foley, M.P. (2003), "The other happy life: The political dimensions to St. Augustine's Cassiciacum dialogues", The Review of Politics, vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 165-183,163. Harrison, C. (2001), "History, apocalypse, and the secular imagination. New essays on Augustine's City of God, Proceedings of a colloquium held at Green College, the University of British..", The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 527-528. Joanna, V.S. (2002), "Political Theory: Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World", The American Political Science Review, vol. 96, no. 4, pp. 816-818. Raeder, L.C. (2003), "Augustine and the Case for Limited Government", Humanitas, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 94-106. Seaton, P. (2002), "Kraynak, Robert P.: Christian Faith and Modern Democracy; God and Politics in the Fallen World", Perspectives on Political Science, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 247. Tinder, G. (1997), "Political theory: Augustine and the Limits of Politics", The American Political Science Review, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 432-433. Valk, F.V. (2009), "Friendship, politics, and Augustine's consolidation of the self", Religious Studies, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 125-146. Visser, A. (2010), "How Catholic was Augustine? Confessional Patristics and the Survival of Erasmus in the Counter-Reformation", The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 86-106. Watt, A.J. (2004), "Which Approach? Late Twentieth-Century Interpretations of Augustine's Views on War", Journal of Church and State, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 99-113. Read More