5.

 Outline the difference between the teaching of Augustine and that of the Orthodox Church with regard to man's original state in Eden.

            Augustine depicted man in his primordial state as being endowed from the start with all possible wisdom and knowledge. Adam had, to his way of thinking, a realized rather than a potential perfection. Subsequent to this teaching, Augustine's picture of Adam generally became accepted in the West.

            Orthodoxy teaches that man was perfect in his first creation, but it stresses that the perfection was in the potential sense. Having been endowed in his creation with God's image, man was called to acquire God's likeness through his own endeavors in cooperating with God's grace. Adam started out in innocence and simplicity. “He was a child, not yet having his understanding perfected,” St. Irenaeus wrote. “It was necessary that he should grow and so come to his perfection.” In other words, God set Adam on the right path, but Adam had a long journey ahead of him before he reached his final goal.