Aristotle and Augustine

Aristotle said that men are social creatures and that they have the ability to reason (meaning they are rational). He also proposed that man has four virtues: justice, wisdom, courage, and temperance (self-control). There is a natural law to things in life. When you act according to that law or virtue, you have character, and this is good for society.

Aristotle went on to say that there are two ways to gain character: watch someone who has character and listen to stories (narratives). Who else is better to watch and learn from than Jesus? And what better strories to listen to other than the Scriptures?

Pastors have a need to preach and teach expsitorally from the Scriptures. By reading the Word (the Bible), people learn Christian character. Perhaps one of the reasons why there are so many problems in the Church today is because the Bible and Scripture reading have been neglected.

Christians, we can't live like everyone else. We have to be role models. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul writes, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ."

Now, Aristotle's system sounds great, but there is a problem with it. Aristotle does not take human sin into the equation. He says people do the wrong things out of a lack of knowledge and a lack of power. All have a weakness in will and in power. We act contrary to good reason.

Aristotle said that the virtuous person gets eudaimonia (happiness, well-being), and that happiness comes from self-effort. He would say you are not a happy person unless you are a moral person.

Augustine, on the other hand, would say the lost person with character has virtues, but his virtues are only excellent vices. This type of man will do the right things, but for the wrong reasons. Augustine said we need the theological virtues.

You may ask, "What are the theological virtues?" Augustine would reply that the theological virtues are faith, hope, and love (see 1 Corinthians 13). Faith and hope grow out of love. Love is defined as caritas, and it is the greatest of the theological virtues. Caritas is defined as the love of God and the love of man for God's sake.

Theological virtues are spiritual gifts. They are not natural; they are works of grace. These give the believer the power and the knowledge to live righteously.

One needs to read the Word of God in order to gain the knowledge to live righteously. The believer also needs to live in accordance with the theological virtues. This doesn't just bring eudaimonia, but makarios. Makarios is defined as the happiness that comes from God. The word translated "blessed" or "happy" in Matthew 5:1-12 is makarios.

When a believer does not live in accordance with God's Word, he is in a miserable place.

Now, the opposite of caritas is cupiditas, which is the love of self.

Aristotle said that if a person worked hard for eudaimonia, he would also be blessed by the gods with makarios. Augustine would disagree because Aristotle's system is a system of works. Augustine's system is about grace.