St. Augustine states that there are two
cities; the earthly city, and the heavenly city. In the earthly city, man lives
for himself and in the heavenly city man lives for God. I believe that no man
or woman is comprised of just evil, or just good. Instead, I think that
everyone has both traits of good and evil within. What a person does with their
life, ultimately dictates whether they are perceived by others as being good or
evil or perceived by themselves as good or evil.
The perception of what is considered good,
or evil will vary from person to person, and because of this, I do not truly
feel that St. Augustine’s perception of the Earthly City being evil and the Heavenly
City being good is completely accurate. I think that good and evil coincide in
both realms because “good” people are known to do bad things from time to time,
while “bad” people are known to do good from time to time. How you view the
idea of good and bad, dictates how a person is going to behave.
St. Augustine is arguing that living for God
automatically classifies you as a candidate for being part of the Heavenly City,
and that living for self automatically makes you a candidate for evil. Living for yourself should not necessarily
make you an evil person, just as living for God does not automatically make you
a good person.
Living for God to me means that you are a
servant for others, while living for self-means that you are self-serving.
People who live for themselves do not bear the burden of having to constantly
please others, so they do not give in to the mob mentally of others. Living for
God can be an excuse to do things that most people would consider wrong. When
people say, “Only God can judge me”, they are basically saying that God has
given them total authority and rights to do as they please.
There is no true measure to indicate
whether a person is good, or evil, but instead a person’s actions are the
deciding factor for whether or not that person is good. The judgment lies in
their own personal opinions, along with the opinions of others.
I think that you can "live for God" but still be a bad person. If you don't actually take the time and effort to be a good person and do the good things that the teachings say you are missing the point. It's not enough just to repeat what you've been told you actually have to live it.
ReplyDeleteHey Brigid, I agree with you. You can always find people all over the world consider “Good people", that just happen to whether through life circumstances, or other through other circumstances, do “Bad” things, and vice-versa. I like your logic and reasoning on these matters! By the way, I apologize for when we were doing the remember your classmates names activity for forgetting your name by the time it came around to you, but no worries, it’s all good though. -Jesus
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