More Extremely Rare Stuff From The Orthodox: "St. Augustine is genuinely on to something in his interpretation of Scripture (on predestination)"

(Previous entry on Extremely Rare Orthodox Stuff here.)

See this two-part text of a lecture given by Peter Gilbert, an Orthodox scholar with a background in theology, Greek and Latin patristics, languages (Greek, Latin, French, Albanian), biblical studies, church history, and philosophy.  The lecture includes a historical analysis of the controversy between Augustine and the Pelagians.  At the end of Part Two, Gilbert rather reluctantly concludes that when it comes to the issue of why some believe the Gospel and others do not, "St. Augustine is genuinely on to something in his interpretation of Scripture. . . ."

Well.

Predestination in the New Testament and St. Augustine (part one)

Predestination in the New Testament and St. Augustine (part two)

Comments

[Philip]

Sadly, he misses entirely St. Augustine's insight when he speaks of grace as a "crowbar" and "battering ram." What St. Augustine recognized was that yes, man freely opens his heart to God, but only because God sweetly but infallibly makes him to see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. "Believe, and you come; love, and you are drawn. Do not suppose here any rough and uneasy violence; it is gentle, it is sweet; it is the very sweetness that draws you. Is not a sheep drawn, when fresh grass is shown to it in its hunger" (Sermon CXXXI). Our wills follow our natures: when our nature is evil, our will is evil; when our nature is good, our will is good. Regeneration is the sovereign recreation of man's nature. "We shall be made truly free, then, when God fashions us, that is, forms and creates us anew, not as men—for He has done that already—but as good men, which His grace is now doing, that we may be a new creation in Christ Jesus" (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love).

[The Embryo Parson]

Amen. Thanks for your contributions, Philip.