What is Augustinianism?

Response

Augustinianism is a theological system based on the teachings of Augustine (AD 354–430), also known as St. Augustine or Augustine of Hippo (in North Africa), a Nicene church father. He is honored as the “Doctor of the Church” in Roman Catholicism. Evangelical Protestants also recognize Augustine for his accurate understanding and teaching of the biblical doctrines of human depravity and God’s sovereignty in salvation. These two doctrines—total depravity and divine sovereignty—are typically associated with “Augustinianism.” At times, Augustinianism is used interchangeably with Calvinism.

Protestant Reformers like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin appreciated Augustinianism because they found it to be rooted in Scripture. Similar to Calvinism, Augustinianism asserts that due to the Fall, humanity is incapable of avoiding sin. Human nature is so corrupted by sin that true free will is absent; individuals are enslaved by sin. Only divine intervention can set them free. This aligns with the Calvinist belief in total depravity and is consistent with Jesus’ statement in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Furthermore, Augustinianism emphasizes that salvation is impossible without God’s grace. Grace is essential for any righteous deed, including the act of faith. Without this saving grace, no sinner can choose Christ. In line with the “I” in Calvinism’s TULIP, Augustinianism teaches that grace is both irresistible and efficacious. This means that everyone who receives God’s grace will believe in Christ. As Jesus proclaimed, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me.”All which He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:39), (John 6:39).

Furthermore, according to Augustinianism, saving grace is given to those whom God has predestined before “the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4-5). This predestination, again in sync with Calvinism, is not rooted in God’s foreknowledge or omniscience. In other words, God did not “look down through history” to see the choice a sinner will make and elect him based on that knowledge. In Augustinianism, the choice is completely God’s.

Augustinianism was at odds with Pelagianism, which denied original sin and taught that man was completely free to choose either good or evil for himself, apart from grace. Pelagius was a British monk who lived at the same time as Augustine, and his doctrines were condemned as heretical at the Councils of Carthage in AD 407 and 416 and by the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in AD 431. Augustinianism was then recognized as an expression of Christian orthodoxy in the Western church and much later became a major influence in the doctrine of the Reformers.