Aurelium Augustine is considered one of the most important figures in the development of the Catholic Church as a philosopher and theologian. He has the distinction of being called one of the “Church Fathers.”
He was born on November 13, 354, in North Africa and died Aug. 28, 430 A.D., at the age of seventy-five. His mother was a devout believer in the church (Catholic church), but his father was a pagan.
As a child, he attended the services of the church, but they did not seem to appeal to him. He really had no interest in Christianity. He lived a sinful life to the displeasure of his mother.
At an early age, he developed an affair with a young woman and lived with her for fourteen years. She gave birth to a son. He became a student of a number of philosophers and studied their writings. Later, he moved to Italy and was followed by his mother.
The Bishop of Milan, Ambrose, seems to have had a significant influence on him to accept the church. While living in Italy, he converted to the church in 386 A.D., which would put him at the age of thirty-six.
He gave up any interest in marriage, but his son continued to live with him. He writes that he devoted himself to serving God, desiring to lead a celibate life. He said that once, while alone, he distinctly heard the voice of a child saying, “Pick up and read.”
When he reached his house, he picked up a Bible and happened to turn to Romans 13:13-14, which reads, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and wantonness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.” He says this is what changed his life.
He returned to his original home in North Africa, where he would spend the rest of his life. He was ordained a priest and became a famous preacher. In his book “Confessions”, he details his spiritual journey, which became a classic in literature. On his way back to Africa, his mother died. Later, his son also died. He soon found himself alone without any family.
Augustine taught that the original sin of Adam and Eve was an act both of foolishness and pride. Having committed this particular sin, human nature was henceforth transformed to become sinful. Adam and Eve, through reproduction (children), passed this sin on down to their descendants.
It was a great wound to all human nature. This has caused all descendants of Adam and Eve to be born with the original sin committed in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, including their guilt.
Augustine concluded that unbaptized infants will go to hell as a consequence of original sin. In a later period, some theologians held to the view that unbaptized infants will not suffer in Hell. However, they will never see God face to face. Starting around 1300, unbaptized infants were often said to inhabit a place called “limbo.”
The catechism of the Catholic Church declared: “As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them.
Indeed, the great mercy of God, who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children, which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who die without Baptism.
As recently as 1997, they no longer think babies will go to hell or limbo. The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is that Mary was conceived without any sin.
This is to free Mary from original sin: “the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved immune from all stain of the original sin.”
Catholic doctrine says that the dead can go directly to heaven, but this is rare. A person has to be an extremely good and devout person for this to happen. The most likely place is Purgatory, where one remains until punishment has been satisfied for their venial sins. Prayers in their behalf may help to speed up their release.
All the Patriarchs went to a Patriarch Limbo until Christ died on the cross. Hell is the destination of all those who commit mortal sins.
This cardinal doctrine of the Catholic Church is contrary to at least four New Testament concepts.
1. John said that “sin is the transgression of the law.”
Thus, when one commits sins, he transgresses (goes against, breaks) the law, 1 John 3:4. Anything that violates God’s righteousness is sin. One who works apart from or against God’s word is guilty of sin. He is acting without any authority, Matthew 7:21-23.
We are separated and alienated from God by fulfilling the desires of the flesh. This is the New Testament’s concept of how one becomes guilty of sin. There is no scripture that says we ‘inherit sin’, but rather it is clear that ‘we commit sin’. There is a vast difference between the two.
2. The word of God does not say one word about the forgiveness of any inherited sin.
It does not mention forgiveness of the “guilt” of any kind of original sin. The New Testament speaks of “thy sins” or “your sins”, Acts 3:19 / Acts 22:16. One is forgiven of his own acts of transgression, not the sins of those who have lived before him. We are forgiven our personal sins, not the sins of Adam and Eve.
The writer of Hebrews says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”, Hebrews 8:12. This fundamental fact concerning sin states that when sin is forgiven, it is not “remembered not more.”
In other words, it is completely erased from God’s mind. If it is forgotten, how can it be passed down? We would naturally assume that both Adam and Eve were forgiven at some point, even though they suffered the consequences of their sin.
The consequence was being driven from the garden, bearing pain in the birth of a child, difficulty in tilling the ground and finally physical death. All of these consequences have been passed down to all men, but not the original sin.
3. Christ “was delivered for our offences”, Romans 4:25. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body”, 1 Peter 2:24.
The death of Christ was for my sin, my guilt, my salvation. The death of Christ and the shedding of His blood are never said to be for the purpose of removing inherited original sin.
4. There are numerous Scriptures that say individuals are judged by their own works, not the works of Adam and Eve.
They are also rewarded “according to their works.” There is no Scripture or Bible example that says a man is condemned to an eternal Hell because of what Adam and Eve did!