Blessed Augustine on knowledge. Augustine the Blessed – beliefs, philosophy and ideas
Medieval systems of philosophy were religiously oriented towards Christian dogmas, one of which was the dogma of the personality of the one Lord. His promotion is associated with the name of Augustine the Blessed. Thanks to this, the Christian branch of the West separated from the East, turning into Catholicism.
Augustine is a prominent thinker of the Middle Ages who laid a powerful foundation for religious and philosophical thought, describing his beliefs in numerous works. He inspired many philosophical ideas and movements, and was also a teacher and mentor in scientific methodology, ethical, aesthetic and historical views.
Curriculum Vitae
Augustine was born in Algeria, the city of Tagaste, in 354. After graduating from the school of rhetoricians, he begins to teach oratory in Carthage.
For 9 years, he is in the company of the Manichaeans, but then becomes convinced of the groundlessness of this teaching.
Having become acquainted with the works of Ambrose of Milan, in 387 Augustine was baptized and returned to Algeria, where he became the founder of the Christian community. After the death of Bishop Valery of Hippo, Augustine himself became a bishop.
Augustine actively fights heresy, speaking out in defense of the great church, since it is this that he considers the path to salvation. During this period of his life, Augustine writes several works explaining complex passages of the Bible, preaches, and acts as a judge.
Afterwards comes the denunciation of the Donatists. The Bishop of Numidia defended the opinion that heretics who had renounced the faith should not be accepted into one’s ranks. Augustine, at a conference of bishops, proved that church holiness depends only on the power of grace, which is transmitted through the sacraments.
But the toughest controversy arose around Pelagius and his students. The basis of their teaching is that a Christian man is the creator of his own salvation. The philosophy of Augustine the Blessed asserts that God's grace also exists. At the Council of Carthage in 417, Augustine won this dispute, and plagiarism was condemned.
Aurelius’ thoughts were reflected in such most important works for the history of philosophy as “Confession”, “On Free Will”, “On the Teacher”, “On True Religion”.
He died in 430 in the city of Hippo.
Philosophical beliefs of St. Augustine
Following Plotinus, divine existence according to Augustine is an absolute concept that should be considered in contrast to man and the universe. But, departing from the teachings of Plotinus, the theologian denies that God and the world are one. In his opinion, God is above nature, God himself is independent of the universe and humanity, while the world and man are completely dependent on divine nature. Augustine considered God a person who is the creator of all things on earth.
Further, Augustine's creationism flows into fatalism, according to which nature and man are completely and directly dependent on the divine will, and God is constantly in charge of the world. This view of the universe is the basis of Augustinianism; it leads to an irrational interpretation of the world. Augustine imagined reality as filled with miracles that are beyond the control of the human mind.
The philosopher believes that angels and souls were created first. Everything else on earth is matter, which is an inert substrate without form. But 4 elements - earth, water, fire, air, as well as celestial bodies, were created once in a completed form.
Augustine's teaching denies the idea of evolution, but there are living creatures on earth whose development takes place almost throughout life. The philosopher explains this idea by germinal reasons.
Augustine considers the divine being to be eternal and unchangeable. The duality of God and nature is the contrast between God's existence and the ever-changing material world.
In the Augustinian era, the church was a strong link in society. She could have a serious influence in the political sphere.
The concept of good and evil
The philosopher's concept of evil corresponds to the ideas of Neoplatonism, where evil is the negation of good. Based on the Bible, which describes the goodness of the creator, Augustine provides evidence that everything that exists is connected with it. When creating material objects, God laid in them a certain mass, measuring value and order. He took as a basis his conclusions for everything material, thus extraterrestrial images are imprinted in things. No change in the thing during its existence will affect this fact; the image is preserved. That is, they contain goodness. Good, according to Augustinian teaching, is the absence of evil. There is no isolated concept of evil.
This is the theodicy (justification of God) of Aurelius. Its social meaning is very clear. It consists in the fact that the most prominent follower of Christianity, Augustine the Blessed, sought to reconcile believers with this existing order of ordinary things. He called not to condemn evil, but to be grateful for all the good that exists in the world. Evil was not created by God, it appeared because the measure of goodness decreased. A person must go through the temptation of evil in order to understand the universe and his essence.
The human soul: will and comprehension
Another direction of Augustine’s philosophical teaching is reflection on the will. The Christian philosopher insists that the human spirit and man himself are immaterial. He considered even natural beings not endowed with a soul. The soul is inherent only in man; it is rational. Only man is to one degree or another similar to God. Augustine's idea boils down to the fact that each person is individual and spiritually unique.
The soul is immortal and infinite, existing even after the death of a person. The theologian views the soul as a substance in no way connected with the bodily essence of man. Soul bestows human body the ability to think, remember, and exercise will.
The presence of memory allows you to save all the events that fill human life in some spaceless place. And this is proof that the soul is immaterial, so it retains all received emotions, knowledge, impressions with the help of the senses.
The soul is necessary to control the body. Man is a soul. But the philosopher considers the very essence of the soul more in the volitional aspect than in the mental aspect. basis human activity Augustine considers the will to have an undoubted advantage over rational activity. The thinker calls for a constant search for the highest truth and strong will; his works are filled with passion and emotions.
On the relationship between faith and reason
In Augustine’s worldview, irrational-volitional indicators are superior to rational indicators that are amenable to logic, and this is expressed in the predominance of faith over reason. The philosopher extolled faith in the Lord as the foundation and beginning of human knowledge. But sinners Adam and Eve weakened divine authority. After this, a person needs to believe and constantly look within himself for support in revelation to God. Faith comes before understanding. Previously, the fulfillment of faith was sought in the Bible. Augustine asserted undeniable church authority, where the church is the highest authority of truth. This statement of Bishop Hippo was reflected in the situation that arose after the strengthening of the position of the church as a centralized and institutional organization.
The thinker not only argued that faith dominates reason - he tried to give a philosophical explanation for this. If we proceed from the fact that the basis of a person’s knowledge is his own and acquired experience, then Augustine placed greater emphasis on the second, which is more significant and rich. He called the experience gained faith. But the philosopher unjustifiably summed it up by comparing faith in the knowledge received with faith in the Lord and sacred authorities.
The main conclusion of Augustinian thinking about faith and reason is the disparagement of reason. The thinker believed that without religious revelation, reason is illogical and unfounded. Augustine's entire teaching boils down to the fact that reason is deprived of independence.
Time and eternity
Aurelius made a significant contribution to the development philosophical views about time. Augustine recognized the complexity of thinking about it. He constantly asks God for enlightenment. For the philosopher, the undoubted truth was that time is a measure of change and movement that is inherent in all created things. There was no time before the creation of the world; its appearance is associated with God's creativity. When the Lord created everything material, the measure of its variability was also created.
By analyzing the very definition of time, Augustine tried to understand its main characteristics - past, present and future. As a result, he came to the conclusion that neither the past nor the future exists, there is only the present, in which one can think about past or future events. Thus, the past is only in human memory, and the future is reflected in hope.
Augustine's worldview reduces the past and future to the present time. But he also has the desire to slow down such a rapid movement of time. In reality, this is not possible. In the divine universe, everything exists now, without any “before” and “after”.
Eternity is static and is an integral part of God's being. Augustine contrasts the eternal existence of the Lord and the constant variability of the world of material things - this is one of the foundations of the philosopher’s views.
Concept of science and wisdom
Augustine explained the difference between science and wisdom from a theological point of view. In short, the knowledge that develops into science is a reasonable study of the world, which makes it possible to use material things. And wisdom is the study of the spiritual world, the providence of God. Man must subordinate science to wisdom. Proclaiming this principle, the philosopher showed this stage in the formation of Mediterranean thinking as barbarization mental development and expansion of moral consciousness. This philosophy of Augustine the Blessed showed very characteristic features of the dying ancient culture - it was turning into the culture of the feudal society of the Middle Ages.
Knowledge, following the philosophy of Augustine Aurelius, is not evil; it is necessary for the development of the material world. But knowledge should not turn into the goal of a person’s life; he should strive for divine knowledge.
Based on these conclusions, the Christian philosopher outlined a program in which scientific knowledge is subordinated to the interests of Christian teaching, the implementation of the foundations of which became the main characteristic feature spiritual development Western European feudal society. Since the whole essence of wisdom is presented in the Bible and church foundations.
(now Souk-Aras in Algeria) November 13
He owes his initial education to his Christian mother Monica, an intelligent, noble and pious woman, whose influence on her son, however, was paralyzed by his pagan father. In his youth, Augustine was in the most secular mood and, living in Madaura and Carthage to study classical authors, he completely surrendered to the whirlwind of pleasures.
The thirst for something higher awoke in him only after reading Cicero's Hortensius. He attacked philosophy, joined the Manichaean sect, to which he remained faithful for about 10 years, but, not finding satisfaction anywhere, he almost fell into despair, and only acquaintance with Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy, which became accessible to him thanks to the Latin translation, gave him food for a while his mind.
His concerns about the structure of monasticism were expressed in the founding of many monasteries, which, however, were soon destroyed by vandals.
His short life Vita Augustini, was written by his student, Bishop. Possidio Kalamsky (+ 440).
The remains of Augustine were transferred by his followers to Sardinia to save them from the desecration of the Vandal Arians, and when this island fell into the hands of the Saracens, they were redeemed by Liutprand, king of the Lombards, and buried in Pavia, in the church of St. Petra. In the city, with the consent of the pope, they were again transported to Algeria and preserved there near the monument to Augustine, erected to him on the ruins of Hippo by the French. bishops.
Augustine's teaching on grace and free will
Augustine's teaching on the relationship between human free will, divine grace and predestination is quite heterogeneous and is not systematic. Will is one of the fundamental abilities of man, which Augustine comes to after a long analysis moral life and the possibility of choosing certain alternatives in it. Also, the will is the guide of intellectual knowledge. The ability of “free decision” of the will provides for the freedom of human action, its autonomy, and the possibility of choosing alternatives. Ideally, a person’s will should have the ability to determine itself and be truly free. Such freedom was lost with the Fall of man. Augustine makes a distinction between good and evil will. Good will orients a person towards good, and evil will towards evil. The responsibility of each person for the act he has committed justifies the justice of divine retribution. The force that largely determines a person’s salvation and his aspiration to God is divine grace. Grace is a special divine energy that acts towards a person and produces changes in his nature. Without grace, human salvation is impossible. Free decision of the will is only the ability to strive for something, but to realize one’s aspirations in better side man is capable only with the help of grace. Grace in Augustine's view is directly related to the fundamental dogma of Christianity - the belief that Christ has redeemed all humanity. This means that by its nature grace is universal and should be given to all people. But it is obvious that not all people will be saved. Augustine explains this by saying that some people are not able to accept grace. This depends, first of all, on the capacity of their will. But as Augustine had to see, not all people who accepted grace were able to maintain “constancy in goodness.” This means that another special divine gift is needed that will help maintain this constancy. Augustine calls this gift “the gift of constancy.” Only by accepting this gift will those “called” be able to become “chosen.” The teaching of Augustine Aurelius on divine predestination is closely related to the problem of human free will and the action of grace.
Predestination according to Augustine is an act of divine love and mercy towards the fallen human race. Initially, from the general “mass of destruction” God chose those worthy of eternal bliss. The number of predestined ones is constant. But none of the people knows about their fate, and therefore, the personal moral perfection of each person does not lose its meaning. In the context of the presence of predestination, human free will takes on the connotation of a subjective experience of freedom, but not the ontological ability to be saved or perish only by one’s own efforts.
Prayers
Troparion, tone 4
Following Christ with all my heart, St. Augustine, / you sealed the truth in word and deed, / and you appeared as the unslothful eradicator of wicked heresies, / praying to the Holy Trinity, / may our souls be saved.
Kontakion, tone 4
The unshakable pillar of the Church of the Ecumenical,/ founded on the immovable rock of faith,/ the dogma of Orthodoxy unflattering to the teacher/ and the loud-voiced preacher of repentance,/ the sealer of the truth,/ the most praiseworthy Augustine,/ / Saint of Christ.
Proceedings
The most famous of Augustine's works are De civitate Dei (On the City of God) and Confessiones (Confession), his spiritual biography, the work De Trinitate (On the Trinity), De libero arbitrio (On Free Will), Retractationes (Revisions). Also worthy of mention are his Meditationes, Soliloquia and Enchiridion or Manuale.
Augustine's works of autobiographical, polemical and homiletic-exegetical content, ed. in Paris (11 hours, 8 volumes, 1689-1700); in Antwerp (12 hours, in 9 volumes, 1700-3) and more recently by the Benedictines (11 volumes, Par., 1835-40). The most remarkable of these works: "De civitate Dei libri XXII", ed. Strange (2 vols., Cologne, 1850-51) and Dombart (2nd ed., 12 vols., Leipz., 1877), translated by Silbert (2 vols., Vienna, 1826), and "Confessiones", his autobiography , ed. Neander (Berl., 1823), Bruder (Leipz., 1837 and 1869) and Karl von Raumer (2nd ed., Gütersloh, 1876) translated by Grenninger (4th ed., Münster; 1859), Silbert (5th ed., Vienna , 1860) and Rappa (7th ed., Gotha, 1878). In addition, his "Meditationes" and "Soliloquia" (ed. Westhof, Münster, 1854) and "Enchindion" or "Manuale" (ed. Krabinger, Tub., 1861) deserve mention. A translation of his “Selected Works” appears in “Bibliothek der Kirchenväter” (vol. 1-8, Kempt., 1869). Recently, two still unpublished small works by A. were found in the Greifswald library (“Tractatus de persecutione malorum in bonos viros et sanctos” and “Tractatus de omnibus virtutibus.” In Russian, the Moscow edition of 1788 “Selected Works” Aug." in 4 volumes. Some of his words and exhortations are translated in "Christian Reading" and "Sunday Reading".
Literature
- Cloth, "Der heil. Kirchenlehrer A." (2 vols., Aachen, 1840);
- Bindeman, "Der heilige A." (Berl., 1844);
- Puzhula, “Vie de St. Augustin” (2nd ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1852; in German translation by Gurter, 2 vols., Schafg., 1847);
- Dorner, "Aug., sein theol. System und seine religionsphilos. Anschauung" (Berl., 1873).
- PE. T.I. 93-109.
Materials used
- Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
- "June 28 (15) commemoration of St. Augustine the Great, Bishop of Ipponia (†430)", page of the official website of the Church of the Nativity in Saratov:
- http://cxpx.ru/article-1099/ (prayer books used)
St. Augustine, one of the most authoritative fathers of the Church, created a complete system Christian philosophy. And what of the ancient philosophical heritage especially influenced the development of Augustine as a thinker? Who did he argue with in his theological works? How did the maxim appear, which Descartes later repeated almost verbatim: “I think, therefore I exist”? Narrated by Viktor Petrovich Lega.
St. Augustine is one of the greatest Church Fathers. On V Ecumenical Council he was named among the twelve most authoritative teachers of the Church. But Augustine was not only a major theologian, but also a philosopher. Moreover, we see in him not just an interest in certain aspects of philosophy, as, for example, in Origen or Clement of Alexandria. We can say that he was the first to create an integral system of Christian philosophy.
But before understanding the teachings of St. Augustine, philosophical teaching including getting to know his life. Because his life is quite complex, and his biography clearly shows both his philosophical formation and his formation as a Christian.
Why do the gods fight?
Aurelius Augustine was born in 354 in northern Africa in the city of Tagaste, near Carthage. His father was a pagan, his mother, Monica, was a Christian; she was subsequently glorified as a saint. From this fact we can conclude that Augustine probably knew something about Christianity from childhood, but his father’s upbringing still prevailed. When Augustine was 16 years old, he went to Carthage to receive a serious education there. What does “serious education” mean for a Roman? This is jurisprudence, rhetoric. Subsequently, Augustine will become a wonderful rhetorician and will participate in trials, and very successfully. Naturally, he is looking for idols whom he could imitate. And which of the great lawyers and orators could become an example for him? Of course, Cicero. And at the age of 19, Augustine reads Cicero’s dialogue “Hortensius”. Unfortunately, this dialogue has not survived to this day, and we do not know what struck Augustine so much that he remained an ardent supporter and lover of philosophy in general and an admirer of Ciceronian philosophy in particular throughout his life.
By the way, we know about all the vicissitudes of Augustine’s life from himself. Augustine wrote a wonderful work called “Confession”, where he repents of his sins before God, considering his entire life path. And sometimes, it seems to me, he evaluates his own too harshly. past life, his youth, calling himself a libertine who, while living in Carthage, became a debauchee. Of course, a large Roman city of that time was conducive to a frivolous lifestyle, especially for a young man. But, I think, Augustine is too strict with himself, and it is unlikely that he was such a sinner. If only because he was constantly tormented by the question: “Where does evil come from in the world?” He probably heard from his mother that God is one, He is good and omnipotent. But Augustine did not understand why, if God is good and omnipotent, there is evil in the world, the righteous suffer and there is no justice.
What is the meaning of the struggle of the gods if they are immortal and eternal?
In Carthage he met the Manichaeans, whose teaching seemed logical to him. This sect was named after the Persian sage Mani. The Manichaeans argued that there are two opposing principles in the world - good and evil. Good in the world comes from a good beginning, headed by a good god, the lord of light, and evil comes from an evil beginning, from the forces of darkness; these two principles are constantly fighting with each other, therefore in the world good and evil are always in struggle. This seemed reasonable to Augustine, and for several years he became an active member of the Manichaean sect. But one day Augustine asked the question: “What is the meaning of this struggle?” After all, we agree that any struggle makes sense only when one of the parties hopes to win. But what is the meaning of the struggle between the forces of darkness and the good God, if he is immortal and eternal? And why would a good god enter into a fight with the forces of darkness? And then Augustine asked his Manichaean friends the question: “What will the forces of darkness do to the good god if good god will he give up the fight? After all, it is impossible to hurt him: God is impassive; kill even more so... So why fight? Manichaeans will not be able to answer this question. And Augustine gradually moves away from Manichaeism and returns to the philosophy of Cicero, who, as we know, was a skeptic. And he will come to a skeptical answer to his question about the causes of evil in the world. Which one? That there is no answer to this question.
“Take it, read it!”
Augustine is cramped in Carthage; he wants to be the first in Rome, like Cicero. And he goes to Rome, but after a few months he moves to Mediolan (present-day Milan): there was the residence of the Roman Emperor.
In Mediolan, he hears about the sermons of Bishop Ambrose of Milan. Of course, Augustine cannot help but come to listen to them. He, as an expert in rhetoric, really likes them, but he is surprised by a different, unusual approach to Christianity for him. It turns out that the events described in the Bible, in which Augustine sees so many nonsense and contradictions, can be perceived somewhat differently, not so literally. Gradually, Augustine converges with Saint Ambrose and finally asks him the question that tormented him: “Where does evil come from in the world, if there is a God?” And Saint Ambrose answers him: “Evil is not from God, evil is from the free will of man.” However, Augustine is not satisfied with this answer. How about human free will? God created man, God knew how man would use this will, He actually gave man a terrible weapon that man would abuse.
And at this time, as Augustine says in his Confessions, he came across the works of Plotinus. This is how he himself writes about it: “You,” Augustine turns to God, he understands: this is Providence, this is not accidental, “delivered to me through one person... a certain book of the Platonist, translated from Greek into Latin. I read there, not in the same words, it is true, but the same thing with many varied evidence convincing of the same thing, namely: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (further there is a long quotation from the Gospel of John)... I also read there that the Word, God, was born “not from blood, not from the will of a man, not from the will of the flesh,” but from God... I found out that in these books in all sorts of ways and it is said in different ways that the Son, possessing the properties of the Father, did not consider Himself an impostor, considering Himself equal to God; after all, by His nature He is God.” It’s surprising: Augustine reads Plotinus, but he actually reads, as he himself admits, the Gospel of John. The true meaning of Christianity, the true meaning of the Gospel begins to be revealed to him. But the final revolution has not yet occurred in Augustine’s soul.
In Hippo
Now Augustine has no doubts. He goes to Saint Ambrose, and he baptizes him. By the way, on the spot where St. Ambrose, one of the greatest fathers of the Church, baptized Blessed Augustine, another greatest father of the Church, a temple was erected - the famous Milan Cathedral Duomo.
Augustine's entire subsequent life will be devoted to Christianity, the Church, and theology.
He returned to his homeland - to north Africa, to the city of Hippo, not far from Carthage. He first became a priest, then accepted the rank of bishop. Posted by huge amount works, taking part in the struggle against various heresies and developing a new Christian philosophically strict and harmonious teaching.
In order to somehow organize the entire vast Augustinian heritage, it is conventionally divided into several periods.
The first period is philosophical. Augustine is still a consistent philosopher; he is trying to understand Christianity through the prism of philosophical reflection, relying, of course, on Plato and Plotinus. These are works such as “Against Academicians”, “On Order”, “On the Quantity of the Soul”, “About the Teacher”, etc.
At the same time, Augustine also wrote a number of anti-Manichaean works: he needed to refute the teaching with which he was once so closely associated. Gradually, as Augustine himself admitted, he tried to move away from philosophy; he felt that philosophy was both fettering him and not leading him quite where true faith led him.
But Augustine cannot help but philosophize, this is evident when you read his works of any period. I would say this: philosophy is not a profession that can be changed, philosophy is a way of life, a way of thinking. And even in his later treatises, Augustine scolds himself for his excessive passion for philosophy, even calling it the lust of reason - that’s so rude! But at the same time, he still resorts to philosophical arguments, because he cannot think otherwise.
In adulthood, Augustine wrote the famous largest works: “Confession”, “On the City of God” and “On the Trinity”, in which Augustine tried to give a systematic exposition Christian theology.
The last period of Augustine's life is associated with his struggle against the heresy of Pelagius. Pelagianism, according to Augustine, represented a very serious danger For Christian Church, because it diminished the role of the Savior. It actually relegated the Savior to the background. “Man can save himself,” Pelagius argued, and God only rewards or punishes for our good or evil deeds. God is not a Savior, he is just a judge, so to speak.
Augustine died in 430 at the age of 76. The city of Hippo was at that time surrounded by Gothic troops.
This is such a rather complex, dramatic life path.
Theology in Philosophy
When reading Augustine's works, one must always keep in mind that Augustine, who was always thinking and searching for the truth, often renounces his views that he previously held. This is the difficulty of understanding Augustine; this, I would even say, is the drama of European history. Because Augustine was often "divided into parts." For example, in the 16th century, during the Reformation, Luther called for relying more on the later works of Augustine, who abandoned philosophy, condemned his passion for philosophy, and argued that no good deeds affect a person’s salvation, and a person is saved only by faith and only by Divine predestination . Catholics, including, for example, Erasmus of Rotterdam, objected to Luther, saying that, in general, one should rather read the early and mature Augustine, because in old age Augustine no longer thought so clearly. And in his early works, so close to the Catholic Erasmus, Augustine argued that a person is saved, among other things, by free will. Here is just one example of how Augustine has been understood in different ways.
This is generally a personality who had a colossal influence on European history. In the Catholic world, Augustine is Church Father No. 1, and his influence on all Western thought cannot be overstated. The further philosophical development of Europe, I think, is largely determined by Augustine. Augustine was a philosopher, and therefore in later times in theology, especially in scholasticism, it was simply impossible to reason without philosophizing, because this is how Blessed Augustine reasoned.
How to reason philosophically? For Augustine, this is also a problem, and in his work “On the City of God” he devotes an entire book to this - the eighth. This book is a brief sketch of the history of Greek philosophy, which Augustine needed in order to understand what “philosophy” is, how to relate to it, and whether we can take anything from it for Christianity. We will not go into all the details of this rather extensive essay. Let us only note that Augustine believes that Christianity is a true philosophy, because “if Wisdom is God, through whom all things were created, as divine Scripture and truth testify, then a true philosopher is a lover of God.” Of all ancient philosophers Augustine singles out Pythagoras, who first directed the mind to the contemplation of God. To contemplation - that is, the knowledge of objective truth that exists outside of man. He singles out Socrates, who first directed philosophy along an active path, teaching that one must live in accordance with the truth.
“The purest and brightest face of the philosopher Plato”
Among the ancient philosophers, Augustine singles out Pythagoras, Socrates and especially Plato
And Augustine especially singles out Plato, who in his philosophy combines the contemplative path of the philosophy of Pythagoras and the active path of the philosophy of Socrates. In general, Augustine writes about Plato as the philosopher who came closest to Christian teaching, and explains this clearly philosophically, following the generally accepted division of philosophy into three parts: ontology, epistemology and ethics - or, as they said in those days: physics, logic and ethics .
In the physical realm, Plato was the first to understand that - further Augustine quotes the Apostle Paul: “His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creation” (Rom. 1: 20). Plato, cognizing the sensory material world, comes to understand the existence of a divine, primary, eternal world of ideas. In logic, or epistemology, Plato proved that what is comprehended by the mind is higher than what is comprehended by the senses. It would seem, what does this have to do with Christianity? For a Christian, God is Spirit, and no one has ever seen God, so you can comprehend Him not with your feelings, but with your mind. And for this, writes Augustine, “mental light is necessary, and this light is God, by whom all things were created.”
In "Retractationes" he denounces his overindulgence in Plato.
And in the ethical field, according to Augustine, Plato is also above all, because he taught that the highest goal for a person is the highest Good, which should be strived for not for the sake of anything else, but only for his own sake. Therefore, pleasure must be sought not in the things of the material world, but in God, and as a result of love and desire for God, a person will find true happiness in Him. True, in his latest work, which Augustine called somewhat unusually - “Retractationes” (from the word “treatise”; it is translated into Russian as “Revisions”), in it he returns to his previous treatises, as if anticipating that these treatises will read, re-read and snatch quotes from them out of context) ... so, in this work, Augustine very carefully revises what he wrote before, and condemns himself for previous mistakes, in particular for being too enthusiastic about Plato. But at the same time, we still see the influence of Plato in almost all of Augustine’s treatises.
Augustine's history of philosophy
As for other philosophers, what is interesting is this: although the Aristotelian elements in Augustine's teachings are very noticeable, he writes practically nothing about Aristotle, stating only that Aristotle was the best student of Plato. Apparently, that’s why he doesn’t write about him.
Augustine portrays some philosophical schools, such as the “Cynics” and Epicureans, in the most negative light, considering their adherents to be libertines and preachers of unbridled bodily pleasures. He highly values the Stoics, but only in terms of their moral philosophy.
In Plotinus, the same philosopher who helped him, as it were, rethink his previous life and understand the meaning of Christianity, Augustine sees only Plato’s best student. “The purest and brightest face of the philosopher Plato, having parted the clouds of error, shone especially in Plotinus. This philosopher was a Platonist to such an extent that he was recognized as similar to Plato, as if they lived together, and in view of the huge period of time that separated them, that one came to life in the other.” That is, for Augustine Plotinus is just a student of Plato, who understood his teacher better than others.
It is surprising that he even rates Porphyry higher than Plotinus. In Porphyry he sees a Platonist who contradicts Plato for the better. We remember that Plato had many provisions that were clearly incompatible with Christianity, like Plotinus, for example, the doctrine of the subordinationism of hypostases, the pre-existence of the soul, and the transmigration of souls. So, Augustine notes, Porfiry does not have this. Perhaps Porfiry abandoned these provisions because in his youth he was a Christian. True, he later abandoned Christianity and became a student of Plotinus, but he apparently still retained some Christian truths.
Augustine has a special attitude towards skeptics. He himself was once under the influence of Cicero and therefore returns to skepticism more than once - both in his early works, such as, for example, in the essay “Against the Academicians,” and in later ones. In his work “Against the Academicians,” Augustine polemicizes with the views of the students of Plato’s Academy - skeptics who said that it is impossible to know the truth and, at best, we can only know something similar to the truth. Having become a Christian, Augustine cannot agree with this, because he knows that the truth is Christ, we are obliged to know the truth and we are obliged to live in accordance with the truth. Therefore, the work “Against the Academicians” is full of arguments proving that the truth exists. He takes many of his arguments from Plato, for example, he points out that the principles of mathematics are always true, that “three times three is nine and is an indispensable square of abstract numbers, and this will be true at the time when the human race plunges into deep sleep.” The laws of logic, thanks to which we reason, are also truths and are recognized by everyone, including skeptics.
The teaching of skeptics refutes itself, for example, their statement is self-contradictory that knowledge of the truth is impossible, and only knowledge of what resembles the truth is possible. After all, if I claim that knowledge of truth is impossible, then I believe that this statement of mine is true. That is, I claim that the truth is that knowledge of the truth is impossible. Contradiction. On the other hand, if I say that I cannot know the truth, but can only know what is similar to the truth, then how will I know whether my knowledge is similar to the truth or not if I do not know the truth? This is the same as, as Augustine ironically notes, claiming that a son is like his father, but at the same time never seeing the father. In his first treatise, Augustine said goodbye to his passion for skepticism. But apparently something was bothering him. And Augustine constantly reflects and often returns to his arguments.
To doubt everything, you need to exist. But to doubt everything, you need to think
And in the work “On the City of God”, as well as in others, for example, in “On the Trinity”, “Christian Science”, written by him at the age of 40-50, at the turn of the 4th-5th centuries, Augustine constantly asks the question: “What if skeptics object to me here too? What if they say, let’s say, that we can still doubt both the truths of mathematics and the truths of logic? Then I will answer them this way: if I doubt everything, then I don’t doubt that I doubt everything. Therefore, in order to doubt everything, one must exist. On the other hand, to doubt everything, you need to think. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that if I doubt everything, then, firstly, I do not doubt that I doubt. I have no doubt about what I think. I have no doubt that I exist. And besides, I have no doubt that I love my existence and my thinking.
In the 17th century, the great French philosopher René Descartes famously said: “I think, therefore I exist.” More precisely, he will say exactly the same as Augustine: if I doubt everything, then I do not doubt that I think, therefore I exist. Many will reproach Descartes: this is pure plagiarism, at least he referred to Augustine for the sake of decency!.. But why Descartes did not refer to Augustine and did not even respond to this reproach, we will talk in due time.
So, Augustine refutes skepticism, opening the way for us to know the truth, which is God, which is Christ. And he is constantly looking for this truth. He asks himself in one of his early works: “What do you want to know?” - and answers himself: “God and soul.” - “And nothing more?” - “And nothing more.” This knowledge of God and the human soul is the main thing in all of Augustine’s not only theological, but also philosophical heritage.
(To be continued.)
All his life, Blessed Augustine mourned the errors of his youth, and this holy sadness is heard in his every reflection; it is also heard in the proposed Conversations of the soul with God, which have come down to us under the name of Blessed Augustine.
They vividly feel either a feeling of ardent gratitude to God the Savior, or a quiet but deep sorrow about why it was so late, why he didn’t know the Lord the Savior earlier - and all this, with inspired poetic images and comparisons, is imbued with such a deep feeling of fiery love for God, such an uncontrollable yearning of the soul for its Creator and Savior that it is not in vain that some equate these reflections with the inspired psalms of David.
In this edition it is considered not superfluous to put it at the beginning of each reflection. main idea, which thus constitutes the table of contents of the book and together an overview of the entire content of the proposed Conversations. Despite the one and a half thousand years that separate us from the time of St. Augustine, his life provides an instructive lesson especially for our time.
About the immortality of the soul
If science exists in something (and it can only exist in something that is endowed with life) and if it always exists (and, if so, then its container must also be eternal), then, therefore, that in which science exists , lives forever.
We come to this conclusion, i.e. our soul, and since it is impossible to make correct conclusions without science, and without science only that soul can exist that is deprived of it by virtue of its nature, it means that science exists in the human soul.
About faith and creed
Chapter 1. The reason for writing and the purpose of this treatise (§ 1) Chapter 2. About faith in the one omnipotent God the Father. That there was no nature co-eternal with God, from which God created the world. The nature of world matter. About how the world came from nothing, even if it was created from formless matter (§§ 2-3) Chapter 3. About faith in the Son of God. About why the Son of God is called the Word of God, and about the fact that the Word of God is identical with the Father in essence (§§ 3-4) Chapter 4. The Son of God is not created and is not less than the Father. Against the Arian heresy. The Incarnation and Christology. Against the error of the Manichaeans (§§ 5-10) Chapter 5. The Passion, Burial and Resurrection of Christ (§§ 11-12) Chapter 6. The Ascension into Heaven (§ 13) Chapter 7. Sitting at the right hand of the Father (§ 14) Chapter 8. The Coming for the Judgment (§ 15) Chapter 9. On faith in the Holy Spirit. Exposition of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity using analogies. The opinion of those who believe that the Holy Spirit is the very Divinity of the Father and the Son, Their common Gift or mutual Love (§§ 16-21) Chapter 10. Conciliar (universal) Church. Forgiveness of sins. Changing the whole person best condition which takes place in resurrection. The resurrection of the flesh and its truth (§§ 21-25).
About the city of God
“On the City of God” is one of the most important works of Augustine the Blessed (writing date: 413-427).
The book carried out an unconventional development of the problem of periodization of the historical process. According to Augustine, “two cities - the wicked and the righteous - have existed from the beginning of the human race, and will remain until the end of the century. Now the citizens of both live together, but they want different things, but on the Day of Judgment they will be judged differently.” People living in God together form the “City of God”, or the “City of Heaven”; others - “Earthly City”.
According to Augustine, “two types of love give rise to two cities: the earthly city is created by love for ourselves, brought to contempt for God, the heavenly city - by love of God, brought to complete self-forgetfulness. The first exalts itself, the second - God. The first seeks human glory, the second strives for the highest glory of God.”
About the gift of abiding
Now we should talk more carefully about abiding [in goodness]; Moreover, in the first book, when we talked about the beginning of faith, we already said something on this issue. So, we argued that that abiding, thanks to which [people] abide in Christ until the end, is the gift of God. I speak here of the end at which our life ends, since it is only while we are in it that we must fear lest we fall. So, whether someone has received this gift or not is unknown as long as this life lasts. ...
About the book of Genesis, literally
The work of St. Augustine of Hippo “On the Book of Genesis” was prepared in electronic form Based on the publication “Blessed Augustine. Creations", published in the series "Library of Fathers and Teachers of the Church" by the publishing house "Pilgrim" in 1997 (editorial board of the series: priest Andrei Lobashinsky, Karmanov E. A., Rogovoy P. N., Sidorov A. I.).
In turn, the basis for the paper edition was the “Works of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo,” published in Kiev in 1901-1915.
On the Predestination of the Saints
The book contains 21 chapters: including: .... Why God does not teach everyone so that everyone can come to Christ Does God teach those who do not want to learn? Chapter 9. Why Christ did not come immediately after the fall of man Chapter 10. What is the difference between grace and predestination Chapter 11. A person can rely on the strong will of God, and not on his own weak How should we understand the words: “If you believe, you will be saved” Chapter 12. In infants and in the Mediator Jesus Christ himself, no previous merits are found...
About free will
Augustine, who lived before the division of the Churches, is revered by both Orthodox and Catholics, although Catholics, of course, to a greater extent. He was essentially the father of all Western medieval philosophy: in addition to the fact that he was its highest authority and role model, we can say that a very significant part of its content consists of comments on his writings. Almost a whole millennium, before the appearance of such figures commensurate with Augustine in terms of intellectual scale as Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, Western Europe lived by his legacy, and even in the late Middle Ages this legacy continued to play a noticeable, although perhaps no longer dominant, role.
About how to denounce uneducated people
How should the Holy Scriptures be explained to the catechumens? Main reason of the coming of Christ How to instruct those who do not come to the catechumen with true disposition? The beginning of the public speech. What should you do when educated people come to the announcement? How should one speak with Grammarians and Rhetors? Sample public speech.
About the Trinity part one
The greatness of Augustine lies in the synthesis he accomplished of Christianity and classical education.
He taught, criticized and adapted the “free sciences” of his time to new needs, putting them at the service of Christian theology. His theology was biblical at its core and supported by an incredible memory of hundreds of texts.
Taking as his motto the words from Isaiah (Isaiah 7:9): “Until you believe, you will not understand,” he believed in the authority of Holy Scripture both the problems of his contemporary society and the depth of his own spiritual experience. From Scripture he borrows, as the basis for his teaching, the idea of merciful love (caritas) crowning the hierarchy human feelings and giving final meaning to everything expressive means language and thinking.
About true religion. Theological treatise
St. Augustine is one of the most interesting historical figures, the father of Western Christianity in all its ramifications. His books are a spiritual heritage, which was the result of past history and a harbinger of the coming Middle Ages.
Appendixes: Chapters from the treatise “On the Book of Genesis” (early edition). Worldview of St. Augustine.
About reproach and grace
Chapter 1. You should pay attention again and again to the issues already considered Chapter 2. What power does prayer have Chapter 3. The apostles commanded, reproached, prayed Chapter 4. Objection: “If the will is prepared in advance by the Lord, why reproach someone?” Chapter 5. As a result of grief from reproach, we, by the grace of God, can correct ourselves. Chapter 6. In a person who has not yet been spiritually regenerated, reproach refers primarily to original sin Chapter 7. Why reproach someone who has not received from God to remain in goodness? Chapter 8. Why are those who are not chosen not given abiding in goodness? Chapter 9. Those who did not remain in goodness are not truly children of God Chapter 10. New question: What do we think about the first man who also did not remain in goodness? Chapter 11. Adam had God's grace, but different from the grace given to the saints Chapter 12. The difference between the expressions: “Be able not to sin” and “Not be able to sin” Chapter 13. The number of the elect is precisely determined, it can neither be reduced nor enlarged Chapter 14. Let people endure when they are reproached, and let those who reproach them act with love Chapter 15. Let leaders reproach the brethren, but with love Chapter 16. Prayer and love must be combined with reproach.
Augustine , Aurelius, blessed, bishop of Hippo, famous teacher of the church. The son of the pagan Patricius and the most pious Christian Monica, he is born. at Tagaste, in Numidia, November 13, 353 and d. in Ippon, North Africa, August 28, 430. From Monica he inherited his ardent, loving nature, and through her prayers he converted to Christianity. His early life was stormy. When he received his initial education in his homeland, his ambitious father, flattered by his successes, sent him, in his 16th year, to Carthage, where he studied for three years. There, Cicero’s “Hortensius,” now lost to us, awakened in him a love of truth, and he began to study the Bible, but soon abandoned it because he did not like its style. From this time until his conversion, he tirelessly tried to achieve the highest good, but failed, although he temporarily found satisfaction in various philosophical and religious schools. He was first attracted to Manichaeism, and from 373-383 he was one of the “listeners,” or catechumens, in this sect. But the immorality of the “elect,” who were considered saints by the Manichaeans, and the superficiality of the system he noticed, plunged him for some time into skepticism, from which, however, Neoplatonism saved him. Meanwhile, he taught rhetoric in Tagaste and in Carthage, where he published his first work in 380: “On the practical and beautiful,” and in Rome. As a teacher, he was not particularly successful, and he was unable to maintain proper order among his students or earn money; and, however, he so demonstrated his teaching abilities that Symmachus, the Roman prefect, found it possible to send him to Milan when he was asked to recommend someone as a teacher of rhetoric. There he met St. Ambrose, and under his influence converted to Christianity (in September 386), being 32 years old, and was baptized in Mediolan on the eve of Easter, April 25, 387. On the way home, Monica died in Ostia; and the grief caused to him by this is touchingly poured out in his “Confession.” Having distributed everything that was left to him from his mother, he, upon returning to Tagaste, indulged in an ascetic life; but in 391 he was elected priest to the church in Ippon-Regius, and in 395 he became an assistant to Bishop Valerius, and soon afterwards a bishop. If the first period of his life was marked by various adventures that testified to a vague search for truth, then in the last period he appears to us as a great teacher of the church. From his diocese he waged a tireless struggle against various heresies. Manichaeans and Donatists, Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians fell under his blows; and the works he composed in the midst of these controversies gave him immortality, and gave the tone and direction to all subsequent theology of the Western Church. Two of his creations are especially remarkable: “Confession”, in which he highest degree humbly and frankly, with full recognition of all his sinful hobbies, he reviews his life until the very time of his conversion; so that this book at the same time represents both a source of deep religious edification and the most reliable autobiography - and “On the City of God,” in which he showed that the Church of Christ must survive the destruction of Rome, and thus gave consolation to those , who, together with the blzh. Jerome, mournfully exclaimed: “Who will be saved when Rome falls”? The last years of Augustine's life were extremely troubled. He saw Vandals overrun North Africa, and he had to lead the desperate defense of Ippon. But God, in His mercy, took him to Himself before the city fell, and thus delivered him from the greatest sorrow. At the beginning of the 16th century, his remains were transferred from Ippon to Sardinia; at the beginning of the 18th century. Liutprand, King of Lombardy, buried them in the church of St. Peter's in Pavia, where they remained until October 12, 1841, when the Bishop of Pavia formally handed them over to the Bishop of Algiers, who transferred them to Ippon, located near the present Bona, and buried them there in a church dedicated to his memory, October 30, 1841.
Blessed Augustine himself is the source of all our information about his sinful life before his conversion to Christianity. Being sixteen years old, he joined the company of dissolute youth (Confession, 2, 4, 9); and, not yet nineteen years old, was already the father of a son, Adiodatus (God-given), by his concubine (4, 2, 2). For twelve years they lived together, being faithful to each other; and Augustine says that his heart was “tormented, wounded, and bleeding” when he had to send her back to Africa because she was an obstacle to his legal marriage (Isp. 6, 15,25; cf. 14 , 23). But his bride was two years short of marriageable age, and Augustine, finding this delay intolerable, took another concubine, and supported this new connection until he was thirty-three years old, until the hand of the Lord Christ finally freed him from the temptations of the flesh, and the light of the Gospel illuminated his heart. It was deeply instructive for the Christian world that greatest teacher The Western Church was at first a slave of sin; because after his conversion he was able to instruct and strengthen his brethren, as one who had learned by long and bitter experience that he who sins against God does wrong to his own soul. But, judging him, we must remember that at that time he was still a pagan, and, judging by the pagan level of morality, relatively innocent. After his conversion, he not only renounced all illicit relationships, but devoted himself entirely to a single life for the sake of the kingdom of God, and never broke his vow.
Blessed Augustine is one of the teachers of the universal Church. He is equally revered by all Christian confessions, and especially by the confessions of the Western Church, where Roman Catholicism competes in this respect with Protestantism. He was at the same time the greatest preacher, who quickly composed his sermons; and if many of his works were written with a deliberate purpose, then larger number they appeared as a result of instant inspiration, and as an expression of a present need. Although he was not a scholar like Blessed Jerome, because he knew little Greek and no Hebrew at all, he had a deeper spiritual understanding Holy Scripture than any of the Western teachers of the church. For all his shortcomings, he deservedly enjoys the respect of the Christian world. Rarely has anyone come out in defense of the truth with greater determination and fearlessness; Rarely has anyone been distinguished by a more sublime spirit. The mother's joy at her son's conversion to Christianity resonated throughout the Christian world when it became known that Augustine had dedicated his brilliant mind and wonderful abilities to the service of Christ. To understand Augustine means to understand the entire previous history of philosophy and theology, and at the same time the reasons for the subsequent successes of Christianity in the West. Thus, it is an expression of the dividing line between the church in the period of persecution and the church in the time of victory. He finished the first period and began new period in its development.
In the field of theology, St. Augustine completed an entire era: he ended the debate about the Trinity and Christology and, by raising questions of anthropology, opened new paths for theological thought. Let us briefly outline the main features of his theology, which, it should be noted, has always been more critical than theoretical in nature. Having established a firm and definite doctrine about the Holy Trinity and about Christ, Blessed. Augustine dealt especially much with anthropological questions, that is, with questions about man’s relationship to God. This includes primarily questions about sin and grace. In the doctrine of sin, Bl. Augustine, trying to eliminate both Manichaean and Pelagian one-sidedness, especially insisted on the weakness caused to man by sin, and, as far as possible, limited human freedom. Evil, according to him, is deprivation, denial and weakening of any spiritual power, especially will; good is positive and is the fruit of God's activity. He allows only such freedom of choice as is absolutely necessary in order to reject the accusation from God as the cause of evil. During the Fall, man made a bad choice, and the consequences became hereditary. And, however, a person has the opportunity to achieve salvation, since his nature in itself is not criminal, but only corrupted; the mind has fallen into ignorantia, and the will into infirmitas. In Adam the human race had some pre-existence; and thus when he fell, the whole human race fell. Sin is a constant inclination in man, essentially evil, tending toward alienation from God. This teaching is the opposite of the Pelagian idea of balance - the ability to take one direction or another. Every individual person is also involved in the sin that weighs on the entire race. Punishment and guilt are therefore hereditary. But a person can be freed from these consequences of sin with the help of grace. Contrary to the Pelagians, who put forward the possibility of salvation through man’s own efforts, the blj. Augustine insisted on the absolute necessity of grace as a saving power. Grace, according to his teaching, is absolutely necessary: a) for the very beginning of the saving process, i.e. for arousing in a person saving faith and good activity and b) for the continuation and final completion of the work of salvation, i.e. for continuation and consolidation in a man of faith and good work. Grace acts irresistibly, although it does not deprive a person of freedom of self-determination. The interaction of grace and freedom consists of the process of salvation, the goal of which is the destruction in man of sin, guilt for sin and punishment for it. The main conditions for the feasibility of this process: faith and good deeds, as a result of the grace-filled healing of the mind and will of fallen man. But at the heart of this process lies divine predestination. Although Blessed Augustine gave great value predestination as an act of divine wisdom, but he did not attach unconditional significance to this predestination to the exclusion of all self-activity of human freedom. At this point the teaching of the blessed one. Augustine was subject to various misinterpretations, especially from the Reformed. But in reality, he expresses only such a doctrine of predestination, which does not go beyond the boundaries of Orthodox theology, which is quite clear from a comparison of his teaching with the teaching of the “Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs”. Based on this comparison, Professor L. Pisarev, in his dissertation on St. Augustine, directly says that “Augustine’s teaching can be accepted as an example of true Orthodox Christian teaching” (p. 356). Concluding his study, the same scientist defines the meaning of blzh. Augustine as a theologian: “Developing his teaching mainly in contrast to the errors of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians, St. Augustine first of all rendered a service to Christianity in the sense that with his teaching he fundamentally undermined the basic principles of the worldview of his opponents. He proved that Pelagianism, in particular, concealed in its basic provisions a heresy that was in complete contradiction with the main points of Christian teaching. Along with this purely negative service, he also provided a positive service for Christian Science with his teaching. He undoubtedly took a step forward in revealing Christian anthropological teachings. The fact is that before him only the main points of this teaching were outlined. It was expressed by the fathers of previous times only in the form of fragmentary judgments without any, at least visible, relation to common system Christian doctrine. As for the blzh. Augustine, he was the first in the history of Christian theology to engage in a more detailed elucidation of anthropological teaching and presented the entire group of anthropological views of Christianity in the form of a coherent and coherent worldview. From this it is clear why it is precisely in the anthropological teachings of the famous Bishop of Ipponia that the loud glory and fame that is usually associated with his name primarily lies. “In the name of the blessed one. Augustine,” says Ritter, “first of all, everyone imagines his disputes with the Pelagians, during which he revealed the doctrine of the relationship of divine grace to human freedom.” It should be noted that the merits of Blessed Augustine in this regard can be compared with the merits of the great fathers and teachers of the Eastern Church, such as: St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Gregory of Nyssa. Just as these latter were representatives of the theological and philosophical disclosure of the true Christian teachings of the Eastern Church during its struggle against various heretical false teachings, so were the blessed ones. Augustine was a pillar and stronghold western church during her struggle against the false teachings of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians. Just as the former, in the fight against heresies, created the theological part of Christian dogma, so the latter, in the fight against the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians, created the anthropological part of this dogma.”
Blessed Augustine did not limit himself only to the fight against heresies and schisms. He understood that the main enemy of Christianity is paganism, on the soil of which the tares of heresies and schisms grow, and therefore decided to deal a decisive blow to it, which he did in his famous essay “On the City of God” - De Civitate Dei. This work is one of the greatest apologetic works of the ancient church, and above it is the blessed one. Augustine worked for 14 years - from 413 to 426. The reason for its composition was the defeat of Rome by Alaric in 410 and the task of the bl. Augustine wanted to refute the complaints of the pagans that all the disasters that the Roman Empire had to experience at that time were due to the Christians, because of their anger the gods who created the greatness of Rome took away their protection from it. The situation was truly terrible. The collapse of the worldwide power of Rome caused extraordinary confusion among the people, since with the decline of Rome the whole ancient world and under unimaginable torment a new world was born, which had not yet promised anything definite and only aroused vague fears and weak hopes. It was necessary to somehow understand the turmoil of such an era, and the great experience of clarifying the fate historical life humanity and was given by Blessed Augustine in the indicated creation, giving a reassuring explanation of the historical upheavals experienced and setting out general principles for understanding the ways of God’s economy in history. From this side, the creation “On the City of God” has a philosophical and historical character, so it is not without reason that the bl. Augustine is called the "father of the philosophy of history." The main idea of creation is that the whole world is one great kingdom, the ruler of which is God, who arranges everything according to His great grace and wisdom; but this kingdom, due to human sinfulness, split into two completely different cities - the earthly city and the heavenly city, of which in the first the desire for earth and flesh prevails, and in the second - for heaven and spirituality. There is a constant struggle between these cities, which explains various historical vicissitudes, and at times the earthly city takes precedence over the heavenly city. But this is only a temporary triumph, which will end with the complete victory of the heavenly city, and then the complete kingdom of God will be established on earth. - This creation is generally replete with deep philosophical and historical thoughts, which make the study of it very fruitful not only for the theologian, but also for any historian.
Blessed memory Augustine in the West on August 28, in the East and here on June 15 (according to Philar. and Serg.). His name is not, however, either in the Prologue or in the Cht.-Min. (Makar. and Dm. Rost.), nor in general in the ancient Slavic-Russian monthly books (not in the Synod. M. 1891). In the Greek verse synaxarions it is shown under June 15, under this date it is also listed in the Synaxarist of Nicodemus (1819), with the following inscription: “ Μνήμη σου ἐν Ἀγίοις Πατρος ἡμῶν Ἀυγουστίνου, Επισκόπου Ἱππώνος ”, a poem (couple) is given to him and a note briefly outlines his life. From Synax. Nicodemus, the Reverends Philaret and Sergius brought the name of Blessed. Augustine in his Months, without any instructions regarding the celebration of his memory in the East.
The works of Blessed Augustine can be divided into a) autobiographical, which includes “Confessions”, “Corrections”, and “Letters”; b) polemical: treatises against the Manichaeans, Donatists, Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians; c) dogmatic: “Enchiridion”, and other theological treatises; d) exegetical: “Commentary” on a significant part of the Bible; f) practical: sermons and moral treatises. The best edition of Augustine's works is the Benedictine, Paris, 1679-1700, in 11 volumes. folio, reprinted by Gaume, Paris, 1836-39, in volume 11, and by Minem, Paris, 1841, volume 10; 2nd ed., 1863, 11 volume. The most important of his works were translated into Russian at the Kyiv Theological Academy (in eight parts, 1879-1895).
"Confession" is the autobiography of the blessed one. Augustine before his return to Africa (388), and his “Corrections” (427) survey his entire literary life. His student, Possidius, c. 432, wrote the first Vita Sancti Augustini published by the Benedictines (Vol. X, Appendix, pp. 257-280), together with his own biography (Vol. XI, pp. 1-492, in Minh Vol. I, pp. 66- 578). A detailed biography of the blessed one. Augustine, see op. Farrar, "The Life and Works of the Fathers and Teachers of the Church", trans. A. P. Lopukhina.
Regarding the theology of St. Augustine, see a detailed study A. Dorner: Augustinus, sein theologisches System und seine religions-philosophische Anschauung, Berlin, 1873, For the philosophy of Augustine, see Nourrison: La philosophie de saint Augustin, 2d ed. Paris, 1866, 2 vols.; Prof. Erneste Naville:St. Augustin, Geneva, 1872; J. Storz: Die Philosophie des heiligen Augustinus, Freiburg im Br., 1882. - In Russian the most famous works in literature: Arch. Sergius. “Teaching of the Blessed. Augustine in connection with the circumstances of his life." (Readings in the Society of Lovely Spiritual Enlightenment, 1887, p. 431). M. Krasin. The creation of the blessed Augustine “De civitate Dei, as an apology for Christianity in the fight against paganism”, doctoral thesis. dissertation Rodnikov N. prof. Kaz. spirit. acad. “Teaching of the Blessed. Augustine on the relationship between church and state in comparison with the teachings of the fathers, teachers and writers of the church of the first four centuries and the medieval, that is, critical theologians of the Western Church.” Kazan, 1897 Prince Trubetskoy, “The religious and moral ideal of Western Christianity in the 5th century. Part I. Worldview of the Blessed. Augustine. Moscow. 1892. Skvortsov, "Blzh. Augustine as a psychologist” (Proceedings of the Kiev spiritual academician. 1870. No. 4-6). D. Gusev, prof. “Anthropological views of the blessed. Augustine in connection with the teaching of Pelagianism" (Orthodox Interlocutor, 1874. No. 7, pp. 271-334). L. Pisarev, “The Teaching of St. Augustine about man in his relation to God.” Kazan. 1894. A. P. Lopukhin, The ways of God's Providence in the history of mankind. An experience of philosophical and historical substantiation of the views of St. Augustine and Bossuet. Ed. 2nd. St. Petersburg 1898.
* Alexander Ivanovich Ponomarev,
Master of Theology, Professor
Kyiv Theological Academy.
Text source: Orthodox theological encyclopedia. Volume 1, column. 102. Petrograd edition. Supplement to the spiritual magazine "Wanderer" for 1900. Modern spelling.
