Nature et grace chez saint Augustin

It is frequently said that the distinction between nature and grace was born with scholastic theology, which had a good metaphysical instru¬ment, thanks to the discovery of many forgotten Aristotelian texts. It is also common to assert that Saint Augustin offers a conception of grace very much inspired by salvation history and inspired by his personal experience∗ It is in-deed a common assertion that he does not analyse the gift of God's salvation through the metaphysical scope. However, a deeper examination of his texts, and particularly of those published during the pelagian crisis, shows us that the distinction between nature and grace was already envisaged by him and that this division was not developed after him: this article studies the use of some expressions, such as "good of nature", in saint Augustine's works; it also demonstrates that the bishop of Hippo had a clear idea of the different ways in which grace works upon human nature.