Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

176 JOSEPH TORCHIA
But what does Augustine’s assessment of this seemingly esoteric
theological issue tell us about his understanding of the
adiaphora in an ethical context? In my estimation, it reveals
some key metaphysical presuppositions that assume a highly
prominent role in his overall understanding of moral living.
First, Letter 82 demonstrates Augustine’s reluctance to view any
aspect of created reality in exclusively negative terms. Just as the
ceremonies of the Old Law cannot be evil (because they were
ordained by God for His own salvific purposes), creation as a
whole cannot be evil. But it is not enough to say that created realities
are “not evil.” If they were created by God, they must be
viewed as fundamentally good as well. This is borne out, in fact,
by one of the earliest teachings in Genesis (1:31): God looked at
everything He had made, and He found it very good. In this connection,
Augustine reinforces his arguments in Letter 82 with a
reference to St. Paul’s words in I Timothy (4:4):
Everything God created is good; nothing is to be rejected
when it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made by God’s
word and prayer.
2. Ethical Dimension
Augustine provides a more focused ethical critique of the
adiaphora in De Civitate Dei xix.4. As his remarks reveal, valuations
of things or actions as morally “good,” “bad,” or “indifferent”
reflect a certain vision of the nature of reality. In support
of this observation, we see that Augustine readily establishes the
ultimate goal of human striving (and by implication, the basis of
human happiness): eternal life constitutes the supreme Good,
while eternal death is the supreme evil. 25 In Augustinian terms,
correct or right living provides the ultimate determinant for the
achievement of the former option rather than the latter one. But
it is clear that such a position points to a belief in a supernatural
destiny for human beings. Accordingly, Augustine places
25
De Civitate Dei xix,4, 1-6: CC xlviii, 664.