Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

ST. AUGUSTINE’S CRITIQUE OF THE ADIAPHORA 183
Augustine’s precise rationale for its rejection? In this connection,
it is interesting to observe that a major thrust of his criticism
of this particular notion focuses upon its logical weaknesses.
From Augustine’s perspective, the contention that all sins are
equal is tantamount to asserting that two species of animals are
equal, merely because they are classified according to the same
genera, or because they share certain behavioral traits. 41 For
Augustine, however, such a theory not only fails on logical
grounds, but according to the canons of common sense as well.
Accordingly, he depicts those who endorse the equality of sins (a
position unique to the Stoics in Augustine’s reckoning) as
arguing “against all experience.” 42 Indeed, the collapse of any
distinction between wrongdoing can only lend itself to absurd
consequences.
There could be nothing more ridiculous or more senseless
than to say that someone who sometimes laughed extravagantly
should be judged to have committed the same kind of sin as the
one who wantonly set fire to his fatherland. 43
In opposition to this view, Augustine views sin and evil in
terms of a well-defined hierarchy. “Certain gradations,” he contends,
“are evident... both in the sins and in the liability.” 44 But
any hierarchy presupposes some criterion or standard of judgment.
For Augustine, this criterion is determined on the basis of
the way in which individual sins (and the vicious tendencies
which promote them) stand in relation to the order of love.
Why, then, cannot we say that sins are equal? It might be
because he who sins more grievously deals a greater blow to charity,
while he who sins more lightly wounds it less. 45
41
Epistula 104(14): CSEL XXXIV (Pars I), 592.
42
Epistula 167(4): PL xxxiii, 735.
43
Epistula 104(13): PL xxxiii, 591.
44
De Sermone Domini in Monte I,9(24): PL xxxiv, 1241: Gradus itaque
sunt in istis peccatis, ut primo quisque irascatur, et eum motum retineat
corde conceptam.
45
Epistula 167(17): PL xxxiii, 740.