Augustine's Jovinian Controversy Analysis

In the forth to fifth centuries, despite a general preference for asceticism among major theologians of the era, differing ascetic messages emerged in theological writing and teaching as the church began to integrate the general populous into the Christian community. This diversity revels the inherent self-contradiction in Christian asceticism in that it requires denial of the body and renunciation of the flesh, but this teaching needs to be congruous with the inherent goodness of a body created by God that is commanded to “be fruitful and multiply”, and a body that is sanctified by the Incarnation. Jovinian with his resistance to the ascetic ideal and his hierarchy that placed ascetic Christians over those who married and had children is most noteworthy. His teaching on asceticism and sexuality became a defining narrative that forced many ancient authors to address such issues. In this paper, I will elaborate on the position staked out by Augustine in this Jovinian Controversy using his …show more content…
The Excellence of Marriage begins with Augustine stating that, “Every human begin is part of the human race, and human nature is a social entity, and has naturally the great benefit and power of friendship.” Augustine goes on to say that God desires to create all humanity out of one so that humanity would be, “similar in race” and formed by “the bond of kinship.” It is this bond of kinship that is the husband and wife that is the primary bond for society in Augustine’s mind. Augustine also argues that this bond or union is good, and indeed so good that it cannot be