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 The Bhagavad Gita's essential philosophy is very similar to the essential philosophy behind Christianity and, in fact, Plato's Republic as well. It is interesting to note the unity in the essential philosophies of all three works. By essential philosophies I mean without all the trappings of ritual and small details for theistic explanation. Only the core values and manifestation of these values in society and the world view are to be considered.
Augustine, however, emphasizes that free will does exist. Is this not a contrary position? Or does the concept of free will versus grace constitute another ambiguous, inexplicable belief-understanding? The idea that we, as human beings alone, have the capacity to determine our own life (whether we turn toward sin or virtue) is the idea of free will. It is our choice and, thus, our responsibility to choose the path of righteousness or the path of sin. This concepts serves to distance god from the tragedy of a human taking the wrong path and suffering the consequences. Because of free will, we cannot blame god for this travesty. The concept of grace, however, distances the ethical human being from the respect of having chosen a positive path.
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