View source for Religion:Incurvatus in se

{{Short description|Theological phrase}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Augustine}}
{{Page numbers needed|date=December 2023}}
'''''Incurvatus in se''''' ([[Social:Latin|Latin]] for "turned/curved inward on oneself") is a theological phrase describing a life lived "inward" for oneself rather than "outward" for God and others.

==Overview==
[[Biography:Paul the Apostle|Paul the Apostle]] wrote of this condition in the Epistle to the Romans {{bibleref2-nb|Rom|7:15}}, {{bibleref2-nb|Rom|7:18-19}}:
{{blockquote|I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. .}}

It was perhaps [[Biography:Augustine of Hippo|Augustine of Hippo]] who first coined the phrase ''incurvatus in se''.<ref name="Jenson2006" /> [[Biography:Martin Luther|Martin Luther]] expounded on this in his ''Lectures on Romans'' and described this state as:

{{blockquote|Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin, [being] so deeply curved in on itself that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them (as is plain in the [[Religion:Legalism (theology)|works-righteous]] and hypocrites), or rather even uses God himself in order to attain these gifts, but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake."<ref name="Johnston2009" />}}

This was later extended by [[Biography:Karl Barth|Karl Barth]] to include other sins beyond pride.<ref name="Jenson2006" /> It is also believed that, even though people are [[Religion:Justification (theology)|justified]] by [[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]] dying on the Cross, they still possess a propensity to sin against God because of this condition (i.e. ''simul justus et peccator'').

==See also==
*[[Philosophy:Hubris|Hubris]]
*[[Religion:Theology of the Cross|Theology of the Cross]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="Jenson2006">{{cite book|last=Jenson|first=Matt |title=The Gravity of Sin: Augustine, Luther and Barth on 'homo Incurvatus in Se'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwsRAQAAIAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-0-567-03137-2}}</ref>

<ref name="Johnston2009">{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=Mark |title=Saving God: Religion After Idolatry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xf8N_p2eqX4C&pg=PA88|year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-14394-1|page=88}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
*[http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9603/articles/yeago.html The Catholic Luther], an article quoting Luther's use of ''incurvatus in se''.

[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Lutheran theology]]



{{Sourceattribution|Incurvatus in se}}