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Concupiscence is an ardent longing, typically one that is sensual.^[1] In Christianity, concupiscence is the tendency of humans to sin.^[2]^[3]

There are nine occurrences of concupiscence in the Douay-Rheims Bible^[4] and three occurrences in the King James Bible.^[5]

Sensuality

Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century described two divisions of "sensuality. The concupiscible describes pursuit, avoidance, and instincts. The irascible describes competition, aggression, defense, and instincts.

Augustine

Involuntary sexual arousal is explained in the Confessions of Augustine. He used the term "concupiscence" to refer to sinful lust.^[6] He taught that Adam's sin^[a] is transmitted by concupiscence, or "hurtful desire",^[7]^[8] resulting in humanity becoming a massa damnāta (mass of perdition, condemned crowd), with much enfeebled, though not destroyed, freedom of will.^[9] Augustine insisted that concupiscence was not a being but a bad quality, the privation of good or a wound.^[10] In Augustine's view (termed "Realism"), all of humanity was really present in Adam when he sinned. Therefore all have sinned. Original sin, according to Augustine, consists of the guilt of Adam which all humans inherit.

The main opposition came from a monk named Pelagius (354–420 or 440). His views became known as Pelagianism.

Concupiscence in Catholicism

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches that Adam and Eve were constituted in an original "state of holiness and justice" (CCC 375, 376 398), free from concupiscence (CCC 377). The lower or animal nature in man was subject to the control of reason and the will subject to God.

As a result of original sin, according to Catholics, human nature has been weakened and wounded, subject to ignorance, suffering, the domination of death, and the inclination to sin and be evil (CCC 405, 418). This inclination toward sin and evil is called "concupiscence" (CCC 405, 418). Baptism, the Catechism teaches, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God. The inclination toward sin and evil persists, however, and he must continue to struggle against concupiscence (CCC 2520).

The Catholic Church teaches that while it is highly likely to cause sin, concupiscence is not sin itself.

Concupiscence in Methodism

The Wesleyan–Arminian theology of the Methodist Churches, inclusive of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, teaches that humans, though being born with original sin, can turn to God as a result of prevenient grace and do good; this prevenient grace convicts humans of the necessity of the new birth, through which he is justified and regenerated.^[11] After this, to willfully sin would be to fall from grace, though a person can be restored to fellowship with God through repentance.^[11]^[12] When the believer is entirely sanctified, their original sin is washed away.^[11] Methodist theology firstly distinguishes between original sin and actual sin:^[13]

Islam

Al-Ghazali in the 11th century discussed concupiscence from an Islamic perspective in his book Kimiya-yi sa'ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness), and also mentioned it in The Deliverer from Error. In this book, he discusses how to reconcile the concupiscent and the irascible souls, balancing them to achieve happiness.

References

Notes

^ Augustine taught that Adam's sin was both an act of foolishness (īnsipientia) and of pride and disobedience to God of Adam and Eve. He thought it was a most subtle job to discern what came first: self-centeredness or failure in seeing truth. Augustine wrote to Julian of Eclanum: Sed si disputatione subtilissima et elimatissima opus est, ut sciamus utrum primos homines insipientia superbos, an insipientes superbia fecerit (Contra Julianum, V, 4.18; PL 44, 795). This particular sin would not have taken place if Satan had not sown into their senses "the root of evil" (radix mali): Nisi radicem mali humanus tunc reciperet sensus (Contra Julianum, I, 9.42; PL 44, 670)

Citations

^ "Concupiscence – Define Concupiscence at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
^ Malloy, Christopher J. (2005). Engrafted Into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration. Peter Lang. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8204-7408-3. The Annex offers the following description of the Catholic notion of voluntary sin: "Sin has a personal character and as such leads to separation from God. It is the selfish desire of the old person and the lack of trust and love toward God." The Annex also offers the following as a Lutheran position: Concupiscence is understood as the self-seeking desire of the human being, which in light of the law, spiritually understood, is regarded as sin." A comparison of the two descriptions, one of sin and one of concupiscence, shows little if any difference. The Catholic definition of voluntary sin includes the following elements: selfish desire and lack of love. Those of the Lutheran conception of concupiscence are selfish desire, lack of love, and repeated idolatry—a sin which, as stated in the JD, requires daily forgiveness (JD, 29). The Catholic definition of sin appears quite similar to the Lutheran definition of concupiscence.
^ Coleman, D. (11 October 2007). Drama and the Sacraments in Sixteenth-Century England: Indelible Characters. Springer. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-230-58964-3. Trent defines concupiscence as follows: Concupiscence or a tendency to sin remains [after baptism, but] the catholic church has never understood it to be called sin in the sense of being truly and properly such in those who have been regenerated, but in the sense that it is a result of sin and inclines to sin (667*).
^ Wisdom 4:12, Romans 7:7, Romans 7:8, Colossians 3:5, Epistle of James 1:14, James 1:15, 2 Peter 1:4, and 1 John 2:17.
^ Romans 7:8, Colossians 3:5 and I Thessalonians 4:5.
^ Greenblatt, Stephen (June 19, 2017). "How St. Augustine Invented Sex". The New Yorker.
^ ORIGINAL SIN Archived 2021-02-25 at the Wayback Machine- Biblical Apologetic Studies – Retrieved 17 May 2014. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) taught that Adam's sin is transmitted by concupiscence, or "hurtful desire", sexual desire and all sensual feelings resulting in humanity becoming a massa damnata (mass of perdition, condemned crowd), with much enfeebled, though not destroyed, freedom of will.
^ William Nicholson – A Plain But Full Exposition of the Catechism of the Church of England... (Google eBook) page 118. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
^ ODCC 2005, p. Original sin.
^ Non substantialiter manere concupiscentiam, sicut corpus aliquod aut spiritum; sed esse affectionem quamdam malae qualitatis, sicut est languor. (De nuptiis et concupiscentia, I, 25. 28; PL 44, 430; cf. Contra Julianum, VI, 18.53; PL 44, 854; ibid. VI, 19.58; PL 44, 857; ibid., II, 10.33; PL 44, 697; Contra Secundinum Manichaeum, 15; PL 42, 590.
^ ^a ^b ^c Whidden, Woodrow W. (18 April 2005). "Adventist Theology: The Wesleyan Connection". Biblical Research Institute. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
^ Long, D. Stephen (1 March 2012). Keeping Faith: An Ecumenical Commentary on the Articles of Religion and Confession of Faith in the Wesleyan Tradition. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62189-416-2.
^ Rothwell, Mel-Thomas; Rothwell, Helen (1998). A Catechism on the Christian Religion: The Doctrines of Christianity with Special Emphasis on Wesleyan Concepts. Schmul Publishing Co. p. 49.

Works cited

Cross, Frank L.; Livingstone, Elizabeth A., eds. (2005). Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford: University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.