La doctrine du péché originel chez Augustin : aperçu du contexte d’émergence

Le premier verset de la Genèse raconte qu’au commencement, Dieu créa le ciel et la terre. Le monde, sa forme et sa matière, de même que le temps, soutient Augustin, surgissent alors dans l’être, à partir de rien, en un seul instant, celui de la Création. Censés couronner l’œuvre créatrice, l’homme et la femme, pourtant, ne tardent pas à rompre le lien de confiance qui les unit à leur Créateur, en faisant mauvais usage d’une chose bonne : leur liberté. À cause de sa première transgression, nous dit Augustin, l’humanité portera désormais la marque du péché, que seule la figure rédemptrice du Christ, le Second Adam, pourra effacer, grâce au pardon donné à tous ceux qui choisissent d’emprunter sa voie. Or, en raison de son désir irrépressible de connaître et de faire l’expérience du monde par le biais de son propre être donné, soumis au changement, l’homme semble perpétuellement tenté par la transgression des limites essentielles de sa relativité à Dieu. Pourtant, Dieu, l’unique créateur de l’être des choses créées, crée toute chose bonne, du moins dans une certaine mesure : le mal dont semblent caractérisés l’être même et les actions des hommes, correspond, en vérité, aux multiples degrés de bien qui résultent d’une privation plus ou moins grande du Bien suprême qu’est Dieu. Berbère de culture romaine, témoin et acteur des derniers jours de l’Antiquité, penseur bouillonnant et théologien essentiel, Augustin laissera une œuvre importante et féconde. Nous tenterons ici de comprendre le contexte d’émergence de sa doctrine du péché originel. The first verse of Genesis says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The world, its form and matter, and time, argues Augustin, arose in Being out of nothing, in one single instant, that of the Creation. Conceived as the coronation of Creation, man, however, quickly breaks the trust relationship with his Creator, and does this by making evil use of a good thing: his free will. Because of its first transgression, says Augustine, humanity will, from now on, bear the mark of sin, which only the redemptive figure of Christ, the Second Adam, can erase, for all of those willing to follow his path. Yet, because of his irrepressible desire to acquire knowledge and experience of the world through his own given being, subject to change, man appears to be perpetually tempted by the transgression of his essential relativity to God. God, however, being the sole creator of the very being of created things, creates all things good, but to a certain degree: evil, which seems to characterize the being and actions of men, in reality, corresponds to varying degrees of goodness, which themselves result from more or less privation of the Supreme Good, namely, God. Berber of roman culture, witness and actor of the last days of Antiquity, passionate thinker and essential theologian, Augustine has produced some of humanity’s most important writings. In this work, we will attempt to understand the context which led to the emergence of his doctrine of original sin.

Keyphrases: Augustin, Péché originel, Bien, Mal, Ontologie, Genèse, Adam, Christianisme, Adam, Augustin, Morale, Adam, Augustine, Original sin, Good, Evil, Ethics, Ontology, Genesis, Adam, Christianism