Reading Augustine

1
Reading Augustines ConfessionsLecture 3 Books
III and IV

• Dr. Ann T. Orlando

2
Books III and IV

• Historical context
• Reading the Text
• Influence

3
Historical Background

• Cicero
• Rhetoric as a career
• Aristotle
• Theodicy problem
• Manicheans
• Early Understanding of Scripture

4
Cicero106 43 BC

• Great Roman rhetorician
• Engaged in Republican politics
• Engaged in philosophy
• Philosophical influences on Cicero
• New Academy Platonism with an emaphsis on
  skepticism
• Stoicism Belief in providence, natural law
• Impact on Augustine
• Hortensius or Exhortation to Philosophy (now
  lost)
• On Friendship
• On the Orator and other works on rhetoric

5
Philosophy as a Way of Life

• Various philosophical schools in antiquity were
  dedicated to showing people (adults) how to lead
  their lives
• Not like contemporary academic studies
• More like a spiritual movement or religion
• Some Romans in 1st and 2nd Century thought
  Christianity was a type of philosophical school
• Emphasized virtues, control of self
• Explored relation between individual and society
  and divine
• Encouraged philosophical exercises
• Almost all serious philosophical work done in
  Greek

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Rhetoric as a Career

• Rhetorician was the most important profession in
  ancient Roman life
• Politics
• Business
• Art of persuasion was critical to Roman society
• But what is relation to truth?

7
Aristotle384 322 BC

• Student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great
• Founded his own philosophical school
  (Peripatetics)
• Very interested in material world
• Concerned with systematizing knowledge
• A few of most important works
• Categories
• On Interpretation
• Prior and Posterior Analytics
• Physics
• Metaphysics
• Ethics
• Politics
• Most important philosopher in Middle Ages

8
Theodicy Problem

• Simply stated If there is an omniscient and
  omnipotent good creator God, how can there be
  evil and suffering in the world
• Possible logical solutions
• God did not create the world
• Or God is not omniscient and omnipotent
• Or the creator God is not a good God

9
Astrology in Antiquity

• Movement of stars controlled people and the
  course of history
• Knowing precisely how stars and planets moved
  very important
• Deep belief that celestial regions beyond the
  moon were unchanging, therefore more like spirit
  than matter
• Therefore Manichaeism placed great importance in
  astrology

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Mani215 - 277

• Persian, founder of Manichaeism
• Mani considered himself reincarnation of Apostle
  Paul and/or incarnation of Holy Spirit
• Synchristic combination of Gnostic and Montanist
  Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism
• As once Buddha came to India, Zoroaster to
  Persia, and Jesus to the lands of the West, so
  came in the present time, this prophecy through
  me, the Mani, to the land of Babylonia"
• Very potent, well organized religion
• Manicheans is China
• Lasted for over a Millennium (Dominicans founded
  to combat Cathars, a Manichean sect is 13th C)
• Accepts some aspects of NT
• Martyred by Persians

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Main Points of Manichaeism

• Solve the theodicy problem by saying that there
  are two gods one evil, one good
• Material world associated with evil god
• Special knowledge comes from good god only
  available to initiated Manicheans
• Exclusive, elite community
• Celibate
• Vegetarians
• Canon includes parts of NT, Zoroastrianism and
  works of Mani

12
Canon of Scripture

• Canon is from Greek for ruler or measuring stick
• In Latin regula
• The ruler by which we should measure ourselves
• Many philosophical schools had canons
• For early Christian the correct canon of
  Scripture was a major debate
• Old Testament in or out
• Which parts of the New Testament were in or out
• Other apocryphal works in or out
• In all cases, early Christians relied on Greek
  Old Testament, the Septuagint
• Augustine was probably reading from what is now
  known as the Old Latin Bible

13
Confessions Structure

• Augustine's Reflection on His Past
• Book I From God birth and relationship of
  infant with mother
• Book II Bondage of Flesh
• Book III Slavery of eyes and mind problem of
  evil
• Book IV Ambition of World
• Book V Encounter with Faustus, Manichaeism,
  philosophy moving from Carthage to Rome
• Book VI Recognition of emptiness of worlds
  ambition
• Book VII Freedom of mind resolution of problem
  of evil
• Book VIII Liberation from bondage of flesh
• Book IX Relation to Monica, her death, return to
  God
• Augustines Present
• Book X Memory
• Book XI Time
• Book XII Interpreting Scripture
• Book XIII Trinity and Church

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Book III Outline

• Love and lust III.1.1 III.iii.5
• Augustine at School III.iii.6
• Reading Cicero and Scripture III.iv.7 III.v.9
• Joining the Manicheans III.vi.10 III.x.18
• Monicas reaction III.xi.19 III.xii.21

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Book III Love and lust III.i.1 III.iii.5

• I was in love with love
• Vicarious experiences of love at theatre
• Note relation between love and suffering
• Right and wrong loves, right and wrong sufferings
• Early encounter with a girl in Church

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Book IIISchool and Bullies III.iii.6

• Augustine was the best student in rhetoric
• But in retrospect Augustine does not have much
  respect for his profession
• Art of deceiving people
• Wreckers a fraternity of bullies
• But who are they wrecking first and foremost
• Even at the time, Augustine not influenced by them

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Book IIIReading Cicero and Scripture III.iv.7
III.v.9

• Ciceros book Hortensius deeply influenced
  Augustine
• Encouraged him to read philosophy
• Helped him to pray better
• But name of Christ not contained in Cicero
• Old Testament was a great disappointment
• Poor style
• Book of the simple people
• God as anthropomorphic
• In Book VIII, Augustine will also return to
  philosophy and Jesus Christ

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Book III Joining the Manicheans III.vi.10
III.x.18

• Manicheans seemed to solve many problems for
  Augustine
• Exaggerated truth claims
• Elite membership
• Theodicy problem
• Note discussion of justice and relation for human
  justice and natural law
• Address issue of why Old Testament Patriarchs
  could engage in behavior not now allowed
• Clearly this must have been a Manichee argument
  against the Old Testament

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Book III Monicas reaction III.11.19 III.12.21

• At first Monica refuses to let Augustine in the
  house
• But relents
• In a dream she sees her and Augustine standing on
  the same rule (canon)
• Note how Augustine wants to interpret the dream
• Importance of Monicas prayers
• Note advice of bishop to Monica

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Book IV Outline

• Augustine the young teacher IV.i.1 IV.ii.2
• Looking for truth in astrology IV.iii.4
  IV.iii.6
• Lover and friends IV.ii.2 IV.iv.8
• Grief over loss IV.iv.9 IV.xii.18
• Worldly ambition IV.xiii.20 IV.xv.27
• Reading Aristotle IV.xvi.28 IV.xvi.31

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Augustine the young teacher IV.i.1 IV.ii.2

• Age 19 to 28
• Taught rhetoric
• Note effort to not teach how to convict an
  innocent man
• Okay to defend a guilty one
• Takes on a common-law wife (unnamed)
• Sex
• Didnt want children
• Note continuing discussion of love and marriage
  in Book VI

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Looking for Truth in Astrology IV.iii.4
IV.iii.6

• Looking back on his interest in astrology
  Augustine finds biggest fault with it that it
  takes away human free will
• Stars and planets determine everything
• Importance of others to help Augustine see the
  truth
• Old man (Vindicianus)
• Nebredius

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Friend and Death IV.iv.7 IV.xii.19

• I had come to have a friend because our shared
  interest was very close
• Friend is unnamed
• Initially shares Augustine's views of
  Christaianity
• Friend is baptized when ill and completely
  changes his view of Christianity
• Rebukes Augustine for wanting to make fun of his
  Baptism
• Friend dies
• Powerful description of grief
• Powerful meditation on friendship, love, God
• Note how different (and similar) Augustine's
  reaction will be at Monicas death in Book IX

24
Worldly ambition IV.xiii.20 IV.xv.27

• Note how throughout his early years, false love
  and worldly ambition are linked for Augustine
• Dedicates his book to someone he does not know
• Famous orator, Hierius, a type of celebrity
• Loves him because of his fame
• Augustine seems almost to be talking about gossip
  magazines (IV.xiv.23)

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Reading Aristotle IV.xvi.28 IV.xvi.31

• The Categories did not live up to greatness
  promised by his teachers
• Too easy Augustine easily grasped it
• God could not be described using Aristotle's
  categories

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Future Influence

• Theodicy and Scripture more in Book VII
• Rejection of Aristotle

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Philosophy and Christianity

• Ancient question, posed by North African
  theologian Tertullian, What has Athens to do
  with Jerusalem?
• Augustine championed the use of philosophical
  tools to help one progress in knowledge of
  Christianity
• However, not all philosophical tools or methods
  are equally useful
• Augustine will specifically champion use of
  Neoplatonism more about this in Book VII

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Christian Theology and Aristotle

• For the most part, Augustines approach to
  theology was the standard until the 13th Century
• Aristotle not much read
• Poor Latin translations
• In 13th C new manuscripts of Aristotle became
  available in the West along with Jewish
  (Maimonides) and Muslim (Averroes) commentaries
• Dominicans, St Albert the Great and his student
  St. Thomas Aquinas

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Aquinas and Aristotle

• For Aquinas, Aristotle was The Philosopher
• Provided the method and language in which to do
  theology
• The Categories, among other works very important
  for this
• Theology that starts with considering how we
  might know God from his creation
• Aquinas had to strongly defend this approach

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Assignments

• Read carefully Confessions Books III and IV
• Brown, Augustine of Hippo, Chapters 4, 5, and 6
• Post one long paragraph by Friday June 11
• Post two responses by Sunday June 13
• Teaching Christianity Book IV (optional)