The Role of the Holy Spirit in The System of Salvation in the Thought of Saint Augustine

Abstract

The structure of Augustine's theological system seeks to solve the problem of human salvation. From the ontological and epistemological point of view, Augustine considers elements involved in the realization of human salvation, among which the most important elements are the Holy Spirit. It seems that according to Augustine's theological system, the Holy Spirit plays a role in human salvation in three areas: a- introducing Christ to others; B- Birth of faith in the hearts of believers; C- Partial realization of the grounds for the formation of moral virtues in believers. The Holy Spirit plays a key role for human salvation in these three areas, especially in the realization of moral virtues. Although Augustine has talked and reflected a lot about the Holy Spirit and his functions in the system of existence, he did not pay attention to this position in the design of his system and did not reflect it in the formulation of human salvation, which itself causes defects. He becomes human in the realization of salvation. Therefore, the current study tries to analyze and examine the place of the Holy Spirit in the salvation system by referring directly to Augustine's works and with an analytical-descriptive approach.

Keywords

• augustine
• christ
• holy spirit
• salvation
• moral virtues
• faith