Augustine of Hippo: Life, Works, and Influence
Augustine of Hippo: Life and Works
Augustine of Hippo was born in Tagaste in 354 AD. His father was a pagan, and his mother was a Christian who taught her son, Augustine. He ceased to be a Christian, but then again, he did not embrace the Christian faith. He was always leaving the Christian faith. He went to Carthage to study rhetoric, read the work of Cicero, *Hortensius*, and became interested in the philosophical problem of evil, thus becoming a Manichean. Manichaeism was based on a Platonic way of thinking, but there are differences. Augustine believed that reason and faith could agree, joining philosophy and theology.
Works
- Confessions
- On Free Choice of the Will
- De Vita Beata
- City of God
Historical and Political Context
Augustine lived during a period of decline in the Roman Empire. After the death of Theodosius, the Empire was governed by his two children. As Rome’s influence in the world declined, Augustine wrote *City of God*.
Cultural and Philosophical Context
Manichaeism was a dualistic sect that claimed that the soul belonged to God and the body to the devil. They believed in an eternal struggle between good and evil. Gnosticism was a major crisis for Christianity. The Church Fathers said that faith is universal and for everyone. They believed that religion should be simple and understandable for all. However, Gnosticism claimed that organized religion was for a few and promoted the opposite idea of knowledge and intellectualism. As a result, the Gnostics challenged the Church.
Schools of Thought
Platonism
Platonism was the most important school of thought for Augustine. He was a Neoplatonist. Neoplatonism was a trend in the philosophy of nature that emerged in the 3rd century AD. It combined mystical and religious ideas.
Aristotle
Aristotle’s philosophy was synthesized during the Roman Empire.
Epicureanism
Epicurus (341-270 BC) was born in Samos. He taught not to be afraid of God or death. God is so perfect that He does not concern Himself with humans. Death should not be feared because it is not felt. Political beliefs: The wise man does not need to participate in politics. He should try to achieve self-sufficiency (autarky) through tranquility (ataraxia). Moral: Happiness is achieved through a moral life. Pleasure should be processed wisely.
Stoicism
Zeno of Citium (336-264 BC). Political: Personal search for freedom, participation in politics. Moral: Based on eudaimonia, continuous happiness through virtuous activities, and self-sufficiency based on self-control, not pleasure. Morality is to live according to nature, through reason, because the rational is natural.
Plotinus
Plotinus (205-270 AD) was born in Lycopolis. His major work is the *Enneads*. He placed God above all things. He described the process of emanation from the One (God) to the World Soul and then to the material world. Reality is a flow: God created. Creationism is the belief that God created the world out of nothing. Plotinus stressed the difference between God and other beings. God: He stressed the necessity of emanation. Authorities: Contingent, they increase the happiness of God, their happiness. This is called epistrophe.
Patristics
Patristics is the study of the Church Fathers, who established a new vision of the world based on Christian theology and the philosophy of the Gentiles. It is the defense of Christianity and its marriage with philosophy.
A) A New Christian Approach
It is based on reason and Neoplatonism. Christian truth is unquestionable, absolute, and based on God’s principles. It is a linear process (creationism). In contrast, Greek thought is cyclical (things repeat in a circle). The Christian God is responsible.
B) The Times
1. Apologists: Up to 200 AD. 2. Formulators of Doctrine: 200-450 AD. 3. Reformulators of Doctrine: 450 AD until the end of Patristics.
Thought
Human Beings
Humans are a compound of an immortal, rational soul and a mortal body. God created humans. The soul has priority. Humans are sinful and have used their freedom to sin. Original sin dominates humans. They need God’s grace to encourage them from within.
Free Will and Freedom
Free will and freedom are not synonyms for Augustine. Humans cannot use their freedom. Humans have self-determination. God created humans with a tendency for good. Humans need God’s moral support. Evil comes from the misuse of free will. Humans are to blame, not God. Augustine believed that good and evil exist. Are humans created under free will? If humans are free, then no one is free.
The Problem of Evil
There are physical evils in nature (storms, droughts, etc.) and moral evils (anxiety, fear, etc.). If God created the world, why does evil exist? Is God the cause of moral and physical evil? The Manicheans said that evil came from a principle of evil, separate from the principle of good. Augustine argued that evil is not a thing in itself. Corruptible things are good. If they were not good, they would not exist. All things are good, but not absolutely good.
Theory of Knowledge (Faith and Reason)
To find the truth is to meet the heart’s desire for true happiness. Full happiness is to possess the truth completely. If one does not find absolute truth, one does not find happiness.
Faith and reason approach:
1) Fideism: Believing in something as incomprehensible. Nothing else matters.
2) Agnosticism: It is impossible to prove God’s existence through reason.
3) Rationalism: It is possible to know God through reason.
* Reason and Faith
a) Reason helps humans to achieve faith.
b) Reason drives faith and explains it.
c) Reason helps to clarify the contents of faith.
Knowledge
1) Sensitive Knowledge: Objects are felt. It is impossible to know the real truth through sensitive knowledge. The true object is invariant and known by the soul.
2) Reasonable Knowledge: Sensations and feelings are used to make judgments about objects. Reason makes judgments, or scientific truths.
3) Contemplation: Knowledge of real ideas. True wisdom. Contemplation of the real model of things, not through the senses, but through universal judgments. Truth comes from humans. The light of God illuminates the mind with eternal truths. Truth is a permanent part of God that remains in humans.
Introspection
Ontology
Changing Creatures: All other creatures. They lack stability and duration. They exist in time and will not remain the same. Their changeability leads to disappearance. They are not real creatures.
Absolute Being: Truth exists and is based on God. This is a gnoseological argument for the existence of God. Humans create, which is a cosmological argument for the existence of God. God exists in eternal ideas. God is the true change. Without Him, nothing would exist. He is the unchanging foundation.
Creation
God made all things out of nothing. For Augustine, creation was a free act that spread throughout time.
Doctrine on the History
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Gentiles accused the Christians of using violence and causing the decline of the Empire. In *City of God*, Augustine defended the Christians against these attacks. He argued that Rome was not lost because of the Christians but that all of history has a universal meaning. Augustine sought to understand and find meaning in historical events.
The Two Cities
This is a Christian apology. There is a struggle between two parties: good and evil, the city of God and the earthly city, light and darkness. God chooses those who love Him above all else to be citizens of Heaven. In the earthly city, those who love themselves more than God are mixed with the citizens of Heaven. Eventually, there will be a separation. Augustine says that faith and reason, religion and politics are related.
Augustinian Politics
States should follow the principles of Christian justice. The Church should guide the state. Kingdoms must be righteous because they belong to the Church.