Preaching Original Sin: Wesley and Augustine on Human Depravity

This paper will place Augustine in conversation with Wesley on the topic of original sin and human depravity, not through their treatises but through their sermons. The goal of the paper is not only to assess Wesley’s agreement or lack thereof with Augustine, but to examine how these two proponents of original sin presented the doctrine in pastoral contexts: What pastoral concerns motivated their commitment to preaching on original sin? What was their goal in such preaching, beyond the promotion of orthodox belief? And to what extent can Augustine’s vision of the Christian life as represented by his sermons on original sin be seen as consistent with a type of “Wesleyanism before Wesley”?