On Fri, 26 Jul 1996, Sol Miguel-Prendes wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Jul 1996, pgm wrote:
>
> > No, the patristic idea of sin is not perversion, but rather a missing
> > of the mark, a failure of vision even, a misalignment.
> >
> > pm
> >
>
> My question is not related to the humanity of Christ but to the concept
> of sin. In a previous message, Dennis Martin said that "the whole point
> of Christian theology about sin is that it is unnatural, a deformation, a
> per-version".
> I have read somewhere in Aquinas's Summa about a "dispositio" necessary
> to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I am wondering if this natural
> disposition could be harmed by immoral behavior, therefore "perverting"
> that natural disposition and clouding the vision of the individual. How
> does all of this relate to the reading and interpreting of the Scriptures?
The short answer is, yes. See, for instance, Augustine's _De libero
arbitrio_. Or, for a quicker access, read Peter Brown, _Augustine of
Hippo_ together, perhaps, with Gerald Bonner, _Saint Augustine: Life and
Controversies_. The deformed disposition begins to be healed by the
advent of God's grace, via baptism and the other sacraments.
Reading and interpreting scriptures requires the grace-aid of the Holy
Spirit; unlike Calvin, however, Augustine and the Catholic tradition in
general would say that natural revelation (created things) can also speak
truly to people whose wills are still captive to sin (see, for example,
_Confessions_, book 7, again, for Augustine's favorite text from Rom.
1:19-20: for the invisible things of God are known by the things that are
made" (quoted from memory, so don't hold me to verbatim accuracy). For
Calvin, even
the natural world no longer speaks truly, since human reason has been so
deformed and obscured by sin. Only Scripture, interpreted by the grace
of the Holy Spirit in one's heart, can begin to bring light to the human
spirit, according to Calvin.
Dennis Martin
Loyola University Chicago
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