Augustine’s Influences (PhD Edit)

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Augustine’s Influences

Manichaeism

According to Alan Richardson (1999), as a student Augustine was attracted to Manichaeism,[1] a movement began by the Persian, Manes (ca 215-275).[2]  Vernon J. Bourke (1958) writes that Augustine was in this religion for nine years from 373 A.D.[3]  The Manichees, according to Augustine scholar Henry Chadwick (1992), held that matter itself was evil.[4] Augustine rejected Manichaeism when he converted to Christianity,[5] but this does not mean with certainty the views of Manes have no influence whatsoever on Augustine’s theodicy.[6]  However, Augustine is historically known to have eventually challenged Manichaeism by denying its views as mythology,[7] and in disagreement with what he viewed as orthodox Christianity.[8]  Augustine’s view of the corruption and privation of matter and nature was that they were good things as created originally by God,[9] but had become less than they were originally intended through the rebellion of creatures.[10] This view would therefore contradict Manichaeism[11] which saw matter as always by nature being inherently evil.[12]

Platonic Philosophy

Augustine was also documented to have been influenced by Platonic philosophy.[13]  Scott MacDonald (1989) explains in his article ‘Augustine’s Christian-Platonic Account of Goodness’ that Augustine held views influenced by Platonic thought.[14]  Platonic philosophy was largely created by Plato (427-347 B.C.).[15]  Richard Kraut (1996) notes Plato was a preeminent Greek philosopher who conceived the observable world as an imperfect image of the realm of the unobservable and unchanging forms.[16]  Plato, in Timaeus, written in 360 B.C, viewed these forms as divinely moved objects.[17]  Mark D. Jordan (1996) notes Augustine was primarily affected by Neoplatonism before his conversion to Christianity.[18]  Augustine (398-399)(1992) states in Confessions he examined Platonist writings that supported his Biblical understanding of the nature of God.[19]  Jordan states the Platonic writings helped Augustine to conceive of a cosmic hierarchy in the universe in which God was immaterial and had sovereign control over his material creation.[20]  However, Jordan states Augustine saw philosophy alone as being unable to change his life as only God himself could do.[21]  Augustine’s use of Plato does not in itself invalidate his understanding of Biblical writings where the two may happen to be in agreement.[22]  From my overall research of Augustine and his free will theodicy, he places much emphasis on Biblical theology as primary,[23] and therefore although it is possible he could read Neoplatonism into his understanding of theodicy, it is also very likely he rejects Neoplatonism where it contradicts his Scriptural findings through in depth study.[24]

AUGUSTINE (388-395)(1964) On Free Choice of the Will, Translated by Anna S.Benjamin and L.H. Hackstaff, Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice Hall.

         

AUGUSTINE (398-399)(1992) Confessions, Translated by Henry Chadwick, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

AUGUSTINE (400-416)(1987)(2004) On the Trinity, Translated by Reverend Arthur West Haddan, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series One, Volume 3, Denver, The Catholic Encyclopedia.

AUGUSTINE (421)(1998) Enchiridion, Translated by J.F. Shaw,  Denver, The Catholic Encyclopedia.

AUGUSTINE (426)(1958) The City of God, Translated by Gerald G. Walsh, Garden City, New York, Image Books.

AUGUSTINE (427)(1997) On Christian Doctrine, Translated by D.W. Robertson Jr., Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice Hall.

AUGUSTINE (427b)(1997) On Christian Teaching, Translated by R.P.H. Green, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

BOURKE, VERNON J. (1958) ‘Introduction’, in The City of God, Translated by Gerald G. Walsh, Garden City, New York, Image Books.

CHADWICK, HENRY (1992) ‘Introduction’, in Confessions, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

JORDAN, MARK D. (1996) ‘Augustine’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, pp. 52-53. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

KRAUT, RICHARD (1996) ‘Plato’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, pp. 619-629. Cambridge University Press.

MACDONALD, SCOTT (1989) ‘Augustine’s Christian-Platonist Account of Goodness’, in The New Scholasticism, Volume 63, Number 4, pp. 485-509. Baltimore, The New Scholasticism. 

PLATO (360 B.C.)(1982) ‘Timaeus’, in Process Studies, Volume. 12, Number 4, Winter, pp.243-251. Claremont, California, Process Studies.

POJMAN, LOUIS P. (1996) Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, New York, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

RICHARDSON, ALAN (1999) ‘Manichaeism’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology,  Kent, SCM Press Ltd. 

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[1] Richardson (1999: 344).

[2] Richardson (1999: 344).

[3] Bourke (1958: 7).

[4] Chadwick (1992: xiv).

[5] Chadwick (1992: xiv).

[6] Chadwick (1992: xv).

[7] Chadwick (1992: xiv).

[8] Chadwick (1992: xv).

[9] Augustine (388-395)(1964: 116-117).

[10] Augustine (388-395)(1964: 116-117).

[11] Chadwick (1992: xv).

[12] Chadwick (1992: xiv).

[13] MacDonald (1989: 485-486).  Jordan (1996: 52).

[14] MacDonald (1989: 485-486).

[15] Pojman (1996: 6).

[16] Kraut (1996: 619-620).

[17] Plato (360 B.C.)(1982: 35).       

[18] Jordan (1996: 52).

[19] Augustine (398-399)(1992).

[20] Jordan (1996: 53).

[21] Jordan (1996: 53).

[22] Augustine (398-399)(1992).

[23] Augustine (398-399)(1992).

[24] Augustine (398-399)(1992). 

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