Philosophical teachings of Aurelius Augustine. Teachings of St. Augustine Religious and philosophical teachings of St. Augustine

RHEI "Crimean Humanitarian University"

Crimean Institute of Social Sciences

PHILOSOPHY OF AUGUSTINE

Mekhontseva Yulia Vadimovna

3rd year student majoring in history

Scientific supervisor: Ivleva Ya. A.

Introduction

Since the time of the first councils, the Western branch of Christianity has changed, in contrast to the Eastern, its dogmas. And these provisions were based on the subjective opinion of Augustine. Thanks to new provisions recognized as dogmas, the western branch of Christianity separated from the eastern, forming the Catholic faith.

Augustine's theological and philosophical views and positions shaped the Western branch of Christianity - Catholicism. It was the Catholic Church that controlled all spheres of social life in the subsequent period of history - the Middle Ages. And she justified her rights precisely with dogmas arising from the views of Augustine. It relies on his judgments and ideas, which have indisputable authority. He is also considered the father of Roman ecclesiology, i.e. the science of the church. Therefore, the origins of Catholicism must be sought in the philosophy of Augustine.

Now Catholicism, although it does not have its previous positions, still remains a world religion. It is practiced in most countries of Western Europe, Latin America, and the USA. Catholicism is also widespread in Ukraine, especially in its western regions. Therefore, it is an integral part of the spiritual world of the Ukrainian people. Understanding its origins and history is important for studying the history and culture of Ukraine.

Purpose this study is an analysis of Augustine's theological and philosophical activity on the formation of Christian doctrine.

There are many sources on this topic, among which the main ones are Augustine’s works “Confessions” and “On the City of God”.

The Confessions, written in 397, is both a spiritual autobiography and a long prayer in which Augustine wants to comprehend the mystery of God's nature. Augustine recalls the sins and hardships of his youth, striving not so much to capture these pictures as to open up before God and, therefore, to become more deeply aware of the gravity of his sins.

Augustine wrote his most significant work, “On the City of God,” between 412 and 426. This is, first of all, a criticism of paganism (Roman mythology and religious institutions), accompanied by a theology of history, which had a strong influence on the theological thought of the West.

Biography

Augustine was born in 354 in Tagaste (Algeria) in the family of a pagan and a Christian woman. He studied in Tagaste, Madaure, and then in Carthage. After graduating from the rhetoric school, Augustine became a teacher of oratory in Carthage. Soon Augustine heads to Rome and then to Milan. where he received a position as a rhetorician at the Mediolana public school. His speeches begin to influence the formation of public opinion. He not only supports the interests of the pagan party, but also actively fights Christianity.

However, he was not a supporter of polytheism. While still in Carthage, he became acquainted with Manichaeism. The ideas of Manichaeism greatly influenced Augustine, and he broke with his family. For nine years, Augustine was among the Manichaeans, but became convinced of the inconsistency of their ideas.

he becomes acquainted with the works of Ambrose of Milan, whose authority increased thanks to his successes in the fight against pagans and heretics, the writings of the Neoplatonists, who had a large number of followers among the Romans, and books about the life of Christian ascetics.

All this influenced Augustine’s worldview and on April 24, 387, in Milan, he was baptized. After this, he leaves the service and leaves Mediolan. Augustine returns to Africa and founds a Christian community. He soon becomes close to Bishop Valery of Hippo, with whose blessing he is ordained a priest. After Valery's death, Augustine becomes bishop.

Already in the first years of his bishopric, Augustine fought against heretical teachings: Pelagianism, Donatism, and partially Arianism. More than any other great theologian, Augustine identified the path to salvation with the life of the church. For this reason, he tried until the end of his life to defend the unity of the Great Church, speaking out against heresies. Augustine considered schism to be the most terrible sin. At this time, Augustine wrote a number of works interpreting difficult passages in the Bible, acted as a judge, and preached. Augustine's life and spiritual evolution can be divided into periods:

1. The foundation and prerequisites for his conversion to Christianity were laid primarily by his mother, Monica. She was not a highly educated person, but, unlike Father Augustine, she was a Christian. It was her faith that influenced Augustine’s worldview and led him to Christianity, although not immediately.

2. Following his mother’s Christian views, he was most strongly influenced by the works of Cicero, whom he became interested in while studying in Carthage.

3. In 373 he fell among the Manichaeans. Their teaching included: 1) rationalistic approach; 2) a sharp form of materialism; 3) radical dualism of good and evil, understood not just as moral, but also ontological and cosmic principles. The rationalism of this faith was that the need for faith was excluded, explaining all reality only by reason. In addition, Mani, as an Eastern thinker, predominates in fantasy images. The popularity of this teaching is explained by its flexibility - there was a place for Christ in it.

4. In 383, Augustine gradually moved away from Manichaeism. To some extent, this is explained by his meeting with one of the main preachers of the doctrine - Faustus, who did not live up to Augustine's requests. He is interested in the philosophy of academic skepticism.

5. The turning point in Augustine’s life is his meeting with Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. Now the Bible has become accessible to understanding and “... a new reading of the Neoplatonists revealed to Augustine the immaterial reality and unreality of evil.” He finally realized that evil is not a substance, but only the absence of good.

6. The last period of Augustine’s life was marked by the struggle against heretics: “... up to the year 404 the struggle against the Manichaeans continued.” In his youth, Augustine was fascinated by the teachings of Mani, since Manichaean dualism made it possible to explain the origin and almost limitless power of evil. After some time, he rejected Manichaeism. In his opinion, every creation of God is real; it is part of being, and therefore it is good. Evil is not a substance, since there is not the slightest share of good in it. This is a desperate attempt to save the unity, omnipotence and goodness of God, disassociating God from what exists in the world.

Then came the denunciation of the Donatists. The schism was led by Donatus, Bishop of Numidia. He and his followers insisted not to re-accept into their communities those who, under pressure from persecutors, renounced the faith or worshiped idols, and also considered it unlawful for church ministers to administer the sacrament if they had somehow stained themselves with such actions. At a conference of bishops in Carthage in 411, Augustine was able to prove that the holiness of the church does not depend on the purity of the priesthood, but on the power of grace transmitted in the sacraments. Likewise, the saving effect of the sacraments does not depend on the faith of the one who receives them.

The most severe controversy, which entailed significant consequences, flared up around Pelagius and his students. The main controversy flared up around the question of whether his good will and actions are enough to save a person. In general, following Pelagian theology, man is the creator of his own salvation. Pelagius had boundless faith in the capabilities of the human mind, and, most importantly, the will. By practicing virtue and asceticism, every Christian is able to achieve perfection, and, consequently, holiness. This contradicted Augustine's theory of predestination. Augustine was able to defend his opinion about the necessity of God's grace. His thesis won at the Council of Carthage in 417, after which Pope Zosimus condemned Pelagianism. Pelagianism was finally condemned in 579 at the Council of Orange. The basis for the verdict was the arguments expressed by Augustine in 413-430. As in his polemic with the Donatists, Augustine condemned, first of all, the ascetic lifestyle of the Pelagians and the moral idealism proposed by Pelagius. Therefore, Augustine's victory was, first and foremost, a victory of the ordinary lay community over the ideal of severity and reform for which Pelagius fought.

To summarize, we can say that Augustine became famous not only as a preacher and writer, but also as a philosopher and theologian who created the philosophy of history. Until his death, in sermons, letters and countless works, he defended the unity of the church and deepened Christian doctrine.

He died in Hippo in 430, at the age of 76.

Philosophy

Augustine's theology and philosophy are deeply imprinted by his temperament and biography. Augustine adheres to a materialistic view of the “bad nature” of man, which is a consequence of original sin and is transmitted through sexual activity.

For Augustine, a person is a soul served by a body. But man is a unity of soul and body. However, it was his temperament and constant struggle against the mores of the time that led to an excessive exaltation of divine grace and an obsession with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bpredestination

Augustine introduced some errors into the development of the Western branch of Christian doctrine. He developed the doctrine of purgatory as an intermediate place between heaven and hell, where the souls of sinners are purified.

His views of the millennium as the era between the Incarnation and the second coming of Christ, during which the church would triumph over the world, led to the exaltation of the Roman Church to the level of the Ecumenical, which constantly sought to subject everything to its power. Relying on this statement as church dogma, the Roman popes waged endless wars to establish the primacy of the Catholic Church. Until now, Catholic doctrine assigns the church a special role in the salvation of people burdened with original sin.

Augustine defended the doctrine of fate and predestination, thereby rejecting human free will. According to Augustine, God arranges future affairs; this dispensation is immutable and unchangeable. But predestination has nothing to do with the fatalism of the pagans: God punishes in order to demonstrate his wrath and power. World history is the arena in which His deeds are performed. Some people are awarded eternal life, others - eternal damnation, and among the latter are infants who die unbaptized.

Since original sin is transmitted sexually, it is common to everyone and inevitable, like life itself. Ultimately, the church consists of a limited number of saints predestined for salvation before the creation of the world.

Augustine formulated certain provisions that, although not entirely accepted by the Catholic Church, gave rise to endless theological disputes. His predestination compromised Christian universalism, according to which God desires the salvation of all people.

For a long time, Augustine opposed the veneration of martyrs. Despite Ambrose's authority, he did not have much faith in miracles performed by saints and condemned the trade in relics. However, the transfer of the relics of St. Stephen to Hippo in 425, and the miraculous healings that followed, forced him to change his mind. In the sermons he preached from 425 to 430, Augustine explains and justifies the veneration of relics and the miracles performed by them.

In his works, a system of Christian philosophy emerges from an attempt to express an understanding of the tenets of faith. Augustine believed that the basis of the study of life, as well as philosophy, is God, since any study is part of the knowledge of God. A person who knows God cannot help but love him. All knowledge should lead to God, and then to love for him.

Augustine's contribution to the development of a Christian interpretation of history is of great value. Augustine had broad worldviews on history. He saw in it the universality and unity of all people. Augustine elevated the spiritual above the temporal, earthly in his assertion of the sovereignty of God, who became the Creator of history in time. Despite the variety of subjects he treated, Augustine was truly occupied by only two events: for him, the sin of Adam and the atoning sacrifice of Christ set in motion and determined history. He rejects the theory of the eternity of the world and eternal return, that is, he believes that history is linear. Everything that comes into existence does so as a result of the will of God. Even before the Creation, God had a plan in his consciousness, which would be partially realized in time in the form of the existence of everything earthly, and ultimately fully realized beyond historical development with the participation of the supernatural power of God, that is, the end or goal of history for Augustine is outside its limits, in the power of the eternal God.

After original sin, the only significant event is the Resurrection. A truth that is both historical and salvific is proclaimed in the Bible because, in his opinion, the fate of the Jewish people shows that History has a meaning and an ultimate goal: the salvation of mankind. Overall, the story consists of a struggle between the spiritual descendants of Abel and Cain.

All historical periods refer to the earthly city, which began with the crime of Cain, and the opposite of which is the City of God. The city of people is temporary and mortal, and rests on the natural reproduction of offspring. The City of God is eternal and immortal, a place where spiritual renewal takes place.

Since the true goal of a Christian is salvation, and the only hope is the final triumph of the City of God, then all historical catastrophes are ultimately devoid of spiritual meaning.

Augustine's contribution to the development of Christianity is highly valued not only in Roman Catholicism, but also in Protestantism. He argued that salvation from original and actual sin is the result of the grace of a sovereign God who will inevitably save those whom he has chosen, which is why Protestants see Augustine as the forerunner of the Reformation.

The Catholic Church builds its dogmas in accordance with the opinion of Augustine. It relies on his judgments and ideas, which have indisputable authority. He is also considered the father of Roman ecclesiology, i.e. the science of the church.

Bibliography

1. Augustine Aurelius Selected Sermons / Ed. L. A. Golodetsky. – Sergiev Posad: Printing house of the Holy Trinity Lavra, 1913. – 52 p.

2. Augustine Aurelius Confession. / Per. from lat. and comment. M. E. Sergeenko; Preface and after. N.I. Grigorieva. – M.: Gandalf, 1992. – 544 p.

4. Aksenov G.P. Aurelius Augustine the Blessed / Augustine Aurelius Confession. – M. Gandalf, 1992. – P. 539-541.

5. Antiseri D., Reale J. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day. Antiquity and the Middle Ages / Translated and edited by S. A. Maltseva. – St. Petersburg: Pneuma, 2003. – 688 p.

6. Grigorieva N.I. God and man in the life of Aurelius Augustine / Augustine Aurelius Confession. – M.: Gandalf, 1992. – P. 7-22

7. Potemkin V. Introduction to Augustine / Augustine Aurelius On true religion. Theological treatise. – Mn.: Harvest, 1999. – P. 3-25.

8. Reversov I. P. Apologists. Defenders of Christianity. - St. Petersburg: Satis, 2002. – 101 p.

So, Augustine Aurelius the Blessed was a prominent representative of the medieval period of transitional theocentric philosophy: from patristics to scholastics. If ancient philosophers had common ideas of goodness, mercy, caring for one’s neighbor, etc. in their secular understanding, in Christian theology these categories were refracted through the prism of religious dogmas. This was expressed expressively in the philosophical and theological work of Augustine Aurelius “On the Kingdom of God.” The Christian thinker believed that every society has common values, however, some live for the sake of the body, earthly pleasures (“secular state”), while others live in the name of spiritual values ​​(“the kingdom of God”), which we briefly mentioned earlier. The attitude towards God divides people into two societies, and this conditional difference is exclusively moral in nature. The condition of the people of the “secular state” is such that they are always dissatisfied with something. They are distinguished by envy, greed, and treachery. Therefore, St. Augustine wrote that a society that consists of people of a “secular state” is like a sea in which one fish eats another. In a “secular state,” he believed, there could be no peace, no peace—where one conflict gives rise to another. Trubetskoy E.N. Philosophy of Christian theocracy in the 5th century. The Teaching of St. Augustine about the City of God. - M.: Librocom, 2012. - 152 p.

These problems cannot take place in the “kingdom of God.” There is order and harmony in this society. No one offends anyone, no one envies anyone, just as angels do not envy archangels. In the “kingdom of God” the position of people is not the same: one has less abilities and benefits, the other has more, but both the first and the second are satisfied with their fate.

The teaching of Augustine Aurelius about the “secular state” and the “kingdom of God” continued the idea of ​​​​the material and spiritual life of society, begun by Plato and Aristotle. In subsequent centuries it was forgotten, but acquired a new meaning in the Renaissance and Modern times.

In his own era, Augustine Aurelius, nicknamed the Blessed, wrote a “Confession” addressed to God, in which he talks about his early spiritual and life evolution. This work is a shining example of acute self-knowledge and introspection. It is in it that Augustine talks about his life before he became a Christian, as well as the spiritual quest that led him to accept the Christian worldview. Throughout the entire work, he praises God and recognizes the complete dependence of destinies on the will of God.

Augustine does not allow any doubt regarding the existence of God. God is the genetic and substantial beginning of everything that exists. He is the source of natural order. Comparing the characteristics of his knowledge and the qualities of God (He is eternal and He is the Truth), Aurelius concludes that the source of the only Truth is God.

The world created by God represents a hierarchy of creations, from inanimate minerals, living plants and animals, capable of feeling and thinking in their own way, to man - the top of the hierarchy, the king of nature, a single being who has an immortal soul, created by God at the birth of the latter.

The human soul is a creation of God. Augustine rejects theories about the pre-eternal existence of souls and their transmigration. Animals and plants, he believes, do not have a soul; it is inherent only in people. The soul created from nothing after its creation becomes eternal. The latter is justified by the fact that the soul exists outside of space, has no material form and therefore cannot be divided into parts. Without existing in space, the soul exists in time. It is in connection with the problem of the soul that Augustine develops a new image of time - this is the line. Time has three modes (past, future and present), in which the emergence of something new is also possible, i.e. creation. Lysikova A.A. Anthropological aspects of Christianity: the doctrine of soul and spirit // Humanitarian and socio-economic sciences. 2009. No. 6. P. 136-139.

Thus, Augustine’s two concepts of soul and time are connected. The soul is in the world created by God, i.e. time. God is in the absolute present, in eternity. And the soul is endowed with the ability to distinguish between the past and the future. The past is associated with such an ability of the soul as memory, with the future - expectation, with the present - attention. Augustine shows that time is the property of the soul itself, which through it strives for eternity, where the past and future become a constantly lasting present.

Aurelius Augustine also considers the eschatological problem (the problem of the “end of the world”). This point is associated with the return of people from the “earthly city” to the “City and Kingdom of God.” “Two Cities” is built by two types of love, namely: earthly - love for oneself, and heavenly - love for God up to self-forgetfulness. In his treatise “On the City of God,” Augustine first talks about history. History begins with the creation of the world, and human history begins with the creation of Adam. At the same time, the philosopher divided history into six periods. His five periods are devoted to Old Testament history. The sixth period begins with the first coming of Jesus Christ and will end with the “second coming,” the Last Judgment, when the end of all world history comes.

Augustine thinks of history not in closed cyclicity, but in linearity. And the goal of history is moral progress, the victory of Christianity throughout the world.

During the Middle Ages, religious faith was considered the basis of a person’s moral and righteous life. Man had a choice - to believe in God or turn away from God. That is, a person has a will, and evil or sin is a product of free will, freedom of choice. It arose when the first people broke the first covenant with God and rebelled against Him. They contrasted their base will of the “creature” with the will of the Creator. Evil in general lies in the violation of the world hierarchy, when the lower takes the place of the higher and changes places with it. Augustine understands evil as the absence of good: “The reduction of good is evil.” Vasiliev V.A., Lobov D.V., Augustine about good, evil, virtue // Social and humanitarian knowledge. 2008. No. 5. P. 255-265.

The source of goodness in people is grace. Man is chosen for salvation by the Supreme Wisdom. This decision about the gift of grace cannot be understood; its justice can only be believed. Faith is the only correct source of truth and salvation.

Evil is also manifested in the fact that the state is above the church. This idea was put by Augustine as the basis for the philosophy of society and the history of society. He connects the state with the “kingdom of the devil”, and the church with the “Kingdom of God”. The “City of God” is a kingdom where those who, through their moral behavior, have earned salvation and mercy live forever. This is also discussed in his other works: “On the immortality of the soul”, “On true religion”, “Monologues”, etc.

Augustine sharply contrasts the state and the church. The state is based on that same destructive self-love, on selfishness, and the church is based on man’s love for God. However, in the church itself, he distinguished between two churches: the visible and the invisible. The visible church consists of all the baptized, all Christians. But since not all Christians are chosen for salvation, the invisible church is made up of the elect, but no one knows who is chosen by God for salvation. Therefore this last church of the elect is the “invisible” one.

Augustinism, as a particular direction of philosophy, had a significant influence on the formation and development of medieval philosophy. It existed as a universal paradigm of Christian philosophizing, as an authority on which every thinker of the Christian West was guided, until the middle of the 13th century. Modern science The teachings of Augustine Aurelius provided valuable anthropological ideas, for example, about the meaning of spiritual and religious experiences for individuals and society.

Aquinas patristics scholasticism blessed

Late antiquity became a time of changing historical cycles, when Christian teaching began to take over the minds of people, and the world of paganism began to lose ground. However, this transition was gradual. The first theologians and church fathers fully combined ancient education with adherence to the ideals of the new faith. Augustine the Blessed was one of these thinkers.

Augustine's childhood

Unlike many apologists of early Christianity, Saint Augustine escaped oppression - his fate turned out quite well. At the same time, spiritual quests and even its very origin clearly reflect the processes that took place in the world of late antiquity on the eve of the fall of Rome.

Origin and birth

The future philosopher and thinker was born in 354 in the Roman North African province of Numidia. The local population was largely Romanized and adopted the Latin language and culture. But still, Numidia was the outskirts of the empire and therefore was relatively remote from the main Christian centers, which for many centuries made it a place for the spread of heresies and intense ideological struggle. All this will later be reflected in the biography of the famous church father.

Family

Aurelius's father was a small landowner and pagan Patrician, descended from freedmen who had received Roman citizenship by edict of Emperor Caracalla more than a century earlier. But the saint’s mother, Monica, left a much greater mark on history. She came from a Christian family and eventually played a role in her son's conversion, also becoming beatified by the church. The life of Saint Monica has found its place in Orthodox and Catholic hagiography.

According to the recollections of the philosopher himself, the atmosphere in the family was not always healthy, including due to religious differences. Although the father loved his son, he was prone to scandalous behavior and adultery. However, the parents agreed on giving their son a good classical education.

Schooling

While mastering the sciences, Augustine had difficulty learning the Greek language, knowledge of which was considered very important at that time. But at the same time, the young man eagerly plunged into the world of Latin literature. As prescribed by the norms of that time, he took part in pagan rituals and had already begun to think about the deeper meanings of existence.

The boy had his first insight already during his school days. According to his recollections, he and his friends were planning to steal fruit from someone else’s garden; they were very hungry, but refrained from stealing. In his writings, the saint later admitted that he experienced great shock and temptation from the “forbidden fruit.” This ultimately strengthened his belief in the corruption of human nature by original sin and the need to rely on the mercy of God.

Youth and youth

Despite the strong influence and upbringing of his Christian mother, conversion to this faith was still a long way off. Aurelius leads a hedonistic lifestyle, and at a certain point joins Manichaeism, a dualistic creed that was a combination of Christian, Zoroastrian and some other features. He also successfully studies and becomes a master of rhetoric.

Getting an education

At the age of 17, the young man reaches civil adulthood and moves to Carthage, continues to study rhetoric and jurisprudence, becomes acquainted with the works of Cicero and becomes increasingly interested in philosophy. This is where his spiritual quest begins.

For some time he taught rhetoric, and in 383 he went to Rome, where he was introduced to the prefect by his Manichean friends. The next stage was Milan, which for some time played the role of a capital city in the late Roman Empire. In modern terms, here a young scientist receives the title of professor of rhetoric.

Personal life

In Roman society, the practice of concubinage was widespread - the actual cohabitation of a man and a woman without entering into an official marriage. These relationships were not forbidden, but children born from such a relationship were legally considered illegitimate.

At the age of 17, while still living in Carthage, Augustine found a concubine woman from a lower class and lived with her for 13 years, and in 372 the couple had a son, Adeodatus. These relationships were characterized by love and depth of feelings, but could not develop into something more due to social conventions.

After moving to Milan, a bride was found for him, so the couple separated. But due to the too young age of the bride, the young man went into all serious troubles, started a new wife, then broke up with her and called off the engagement. As a result, the philosopher came to the idea of ​​chastity and limitation of carnal desires.

Conversion to Christianity

Gradually, the future saint becomes disillusioned with Manichaeism - he will later call the time of his passion for this religion a lost time of his life. Augustine leans toward skepticism for a while, and then becomes close to Bishop Ambrose of Milan and his circle. This becomes a turning point in the fate of the thinker.

He is preparing for baptism, which takes a long time. Having ancient education in his baggage, the scientist moves towards becoming an ideologist of Christianity. For several years, he seriously prepares - he studies the works of Plato and himself writes a number of works, in which he changes his philosophical views and ultimately moves away from skepticism. Finally, in 387, baptism took place.

Mature age

The Thinker sells all his property and distributes money to the poor, turning into an ascetic and leaning towards monasticism. Having become a Christian, he makes a church career, but does not give up writing - at this time the most famous works come from his pen.

Clergy

The thinker returns to Africa and begins serving in the church of the city of Hippo and very soon becomes a bishop here after the death of his predecessor Valery. From now on he is called Augustine of Hippo - by this name the saint is often referred to to this day in the book tradition of the West.

A separate direction for the father of the church was the fight against heresies, which at that time were actively being introduced on the outskirts of the empire, especially among the barbarians - its new inhabitants. Africa was no exception. Therefore, the priest comes out in defense of the canonical church, seeing only in it the road to the salvation of the soul.

He actively preaches, speaks at meetings and as a judge, writes commentaries on biblical texts in order to eliminate discrepancies and heretical interpretations. The fight against the Donatists is being successfully waged, but the most fierce confrontation is unfolding with the Pelagians - supporters of this doctrine believed in the personal ability of a Christian to save without the participation of God. In 417, at the Council of Carthage, Augustine defeated Pelagius, and this heresy was condemned and prohibited.

Founding of the monastic community

Upon his return to Africa, Augustine also founded a monastic community in his native Tagaste. It was expected that it would become a spiritual center for the spread and strengthening of Christianity in the province. However, active missionary and administrative activities forced him to leave the community and continue his life as a monk at the episcopal residence in Hippo.

last years of life

The future teacher of the church for a long time did not approve of the cult of martyrs and the veneration of their relics, which at that time sometimes even became an object of trade. Even the authority of the spiritual father, Saint Ambrose, could not change this position. However, in 425 the relics of St. Stephen were transferred to Hippo. Traditions tell us about miracles of healing that happened soon. Augustine changes his position and now supports the veneration of relics in his sermons.

Meanwhile, clouds are gathering over the Roman Empire. The increasingly frequent invasions of barbarians are gradually drawing a line under the passing era of antiquity. Africa becomes a place of migration of conquerors - the Goths and Vandals who adopted Christianity in its heretical, Arian interpretation. The atmosphere of anxiety and the feeling of the collapse of the old world is reflected in Aurelius's later works devoted to eschatology. He dies during the siege of Hippo by the Vandals in 430 at the age of 75.

Philosophical teachings of Aurelius

In his philosophy, St. Augustine talks about the relationship between human merit, the grace of God and free will. These issues are considered heterogeneously and sometimes require additional systematization.

About being

The source of being is seen to be God, the creator of all things and the embodiment highest form benefits. The act of creation is continuous, and therefore everything that dies is reborn, ensuring the eternity of the world’s existence.

The following main provisions of the doctrine of being can be distinguished:

• the super-existence of God is immaterial and absolute;
• man and nature are material and dependent on God;
• he is a person endowed with will and intellect;
• fatalism;
• irrational perception of reality;
• consistent creationism;
• ideas as the primordial thoughts of the Creator.

About the relationship between God and man

The Supreme Mind is supranatural, incorporeal and omnipresent; it created the order of the universe. Man is dependent on God, like all living things, alone before him and, as it were, imprisoned in his physical and spiritual weakness. He suffers from this due to his nature, damaged by original sin. And only God is able to show the believer the path to salvation and bestow grace, which will give strength to deliverance from sin.

About grace

It is understood as a force that comes from above and ultimately determines the salvation of the soul, transforming the nature of the personality of an individual person. The basis of spiritual life is the concept of grace, which is comprehensive and closely related to the idea of ​​redemption through the sufferings of Christ on the cross. All people are given this gift, but not everyone is able to accept it, and this is due to the personal will of the individual.

About freedom and will

The question of free will in Aurelius is closely connected with the idea of ​​grace and its implementation through the correction of human nature.

About eternity and time

Time is presented among the most difficult philosophical issues. It is clearly understood as a measure of movement and change, which is characteristic of all things. Time did not exist before the creation of the world - God created it along with all things as a measure for them.

The time line is perceived in the moment - the past and the future seem to be reduced to the present, which is only a moment. The desire to stop him is shown, but this is impossible in the material world. However, with God, time is different - in the highest sphere of thoughts and ideas, a certain super-present reigns, everything exists once and for all. Such static eternity is opposed to the linear time of the created world and is one of the divine properties.

About good and evil

Aurelius proceeds from the original goodness of the Creator and everything created by him, containing divine meanings. People and society are no exception in this regard. Here the father of the church confronts both Manichaeism with its dualistic black and white picture of the world, and Neoplatonism with its vision of evil as good in a “negative degree.”

Augustine's teaching is sometimes called Christian optimism. Evil here is seen as a weakened or insufficient good that needs correction and represents a step towards further improvement and development. Ordeals sent from above as punishment for sins are also seen in this vein as an incentive for redemption and purification of the soul.

About truth and knowledge

The father of the church polemicizes with skeptics, among whom he himself was once included. The argument is made that if truth were inaccessible, it would be impossible to have a measure of things and a definition of their correctness, because in this case there is no criterion of plausibility. A person exists, and therefore can think and know - all these acts are connected with each other.

About knowledge

According to Aurelius, a person has reason, memory and will, which is the most important mechanism in the act of cognition - this idea became innovative in late antique thought.

Truth can be known at three levels or stages:

• sensory perception;
• knowledge through the mind's comprehension of sensory experience;
• through the mind - the mystical experience of mastering higher knowledge, enlightenment and the action of pure spirit without bodily mediation.

About society and history

The equality of people before God is declared, but property stratification in society is recognized as normal and natural. It is declared to be the natural order of things that will continue until the end of the world. The oppression of some people by others and the system of the state apparatus itself is interpreted as the costs of original sin and the punishment for it. However, the state is a useful institution for survival, protection of people and faith, it can and should be Christian.

The scientist also relied on biblical chronology and viewed history as a series of the following eras:

1. From the creation of Adam.
2. From Noah and the Flood.
3. From Abraham.
4. From the reign of David.
5. From the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people.
6. From the birth of Christ.
7. Eternity - after the end of times and the Last Judgment.

The secular and godless state is contrasted with a society with spiritual power. This concept reflected the complex relationship of the early church with pagan Rome, which became very close to its fall already in the time of Augustine.

About faith and reason

“Believe in order to understand,” says one of the saint’s letters. The primacy of faith over reason is affirmed; it precedes understanding. The Bible is recognized as the unconditional authority and source of revelation, but it is the church, as the bearer of grace, that has the ultimate truth. In general, Augustinianism somewhat belittles reason, which is seen as helpless if it is deprived of grace and revelation from above.

About science and wisdom

This aspect of the teaching reflected the crisis in the society of late antiquity, when not pagan learning, but Christian salvation of the soul began to come to the fore. The philosopher shares the concepts of science and wisdom. And if the first is associated with the knowledge of the material world, then the second is with the comprehension of higher meanings and divine revelation. In this picture of the world, wisdom is given priority over science.

Stages of Augustine's creativity

There are three main periods of the thinker’s activity, which reflected the evolution of his views - it is characterized by a gradual shift in emphasis from ancient philosophy to the problems of eschatology, church dogmatics and defense of the faith.

First

386-395 AD It is distinguished by the strong influence of Neoplatonism and rationalism. Philosophical dialogues come from the pen of Aurelius, and the evidence base for the theory of the seven liberal arts is given. Works on music theory, theological works and a series of works on the criticism of Manichaeism are being written.

Second

395-410 AD The main milestone is the ordination of bishops. Augustine is engaged in biblical studies, composing commentaries on the texts of Scripture, moral treatises and polemics against Donatist heretics. He writes “Confession” - his famous biographical work.

Third

410-430 AD In his declining years, the church father wrote denunciations of Pelagianism and focused on the problems of eschatology and the universe. The treatise “On the City of God”, the main historical and philosophical work, was published.

Works of Augustine Aurelius the Blessed

The Holy Father of the Church was a prolific writer. He created a huge amount of materials, organized and cataloged his works. Therefore, his legacy is well preserved - more than 1000 manuscripts have survived to this day.

Autobiographical

The key work here is undoubtedly the Confession, written around 397-398. This title is common to 13 works telling about the fate of Augustine, his milestones in his biography, spiritual search and the adoption of Christianity.

“Confession” became the first autobiographical work of its kind in European literature. It reflects the author's philosophical path and the development of his worldview. Augustine repents of sins and errors, denouncing doctrines with which he once sympathized. “Confession” ends with texts devoted to issues of confession, interpretation of the biblical Book of Genesis, as well as some theological and other issues.

Apologetic

Among the apologetics of Aurelius, the most famous is the treatise “On the City of God,” which sets out a linear concept of history, interpreted in the light of church teaching. The work was written shortly after the capture of Rome by the barbarians and reflects the anxious mood of the era - a lot of attention is paid to criticism of pagan morals and customs, which, according to the author, led the empire to crisis.

Other works of this direction are less philosophical works and are more likely in a semi-literary style. In places they resemble the genre of parables, where the thinker conducts dialogues with his interlocutors about the Christian faith and its aspects.

Apologetic works of the saint:

1. About a blessed life.
2. About order.
3. About true religion.
4. Against academics.
5. About the city of God.

Hymnography

Two collections of texts have been preserved, in the spirit of praising God and admiring his wisdom and power. These prayers are very close in style to the biblical psalms of David and contain many references and quotes from there.

1. Conversations of the soul with God.
2. Prayers and Prayerful spiritual reflections.

Homiletics

“Christian Science, or the Foundations of Hermeneutics and Ecclesiastical Eloquence” is perhaps the only work of Aurelius in the homiletical genre. It includes theological texts devoted to the art of preaching and oratory for priests. This work reflects the last point, but the main attention is paid to the interpretation by believers difficult places in the text of Scripture.

Dogmatic-polemical

In these works, the author touches on issues of faith and dogma, which have often become the subject of controversy. In them, he leads a discussion and thoroughly substantiates his position, including refuting the positions of the Pelagians and Manichaeans, which reflected the spirit of the times and the church’s struggle against heresies.

The most famous works on this topic:

1. About free will.
2. On the nature of good against the Manichaeans.
3. About marriage and lust.
4. About grace and free decision.
5. About reproach and grace.
6. About the predestination of the saints.
7. About the gift of abiding.

Dogmatic theology

This section of the saint’s work is devoted to a detailed analysis of dogma, doctrinal issues and their practical implementation in the everyday life and spiritual life of a Christian. It also reflected the atmosphere of early Christianity, when theology and church life in general were still in their infancy.

Moral theology

In Augustine's time, the Old Testament was seen not only as a sacred document, but also as a source of moral imperatives. In the following works, the philosopher reflects on them in the context of Scripture and not only, and also conveys his internal dialogue about the meaning of existence.

1. St. Augustine Mirror.
2. Time from the vigils of St. Augustine.
3. From Soliloqu (“Conversations with Myself”).

Letters

About 300 letters from the personal archive of the thinker have been preserved. There are messages to church ministers, monastic brethren, personal communication and instructions in the faith. Aurelius's teachings on opposing the Pelagian heresy occupy a prominent place.

1. Letter 194, to the Roman presbyter Sixtus.
2. Letter 214, first to Valentin of Adrumetsky.
3. Letter 215, to Valentin and the Adrumetian monks who labor with him.
4. Letter 215A, to Valentin Adrumetsky third.
5. Letter 217, to Vitaly of Carthage.
6. Letter 258, to Marcian.

Sermons and words

The section includes essays in the genre of catechism. The author addresses the flock and pays special attention to the converts, who were also called catechumens. The topical issue of the fight against heresies - Arianism and Donatism - is also reflected.

1. Sermons and teachings.
2. Discourse on the fourth day of the festivities.
3. Word on the day of Peter and Paul.
4. A Word about the Appearance of Jesus Christ to the Two Disciples of Emmaus.

Interpretation of Scripture

Aurelius's pen includes interpretations and commentaries on both Old and New Testament texts. They are distinguished by vivid emotionality, involvement of the reader and, as it were, identification with him, as well as rich, rich and at the same time accessible language.

1. About the Book of Genesis literally.
2. Interpretation of Psalm 125.
3. On the agreement of the evangelists.
4. Reasonings on the Gospel of John.
5. Discourses on the Epistle of John to the Parthians.

Philosophical

This includes the thinker’s reasoning about the issues of the soul, its immortality, the criteria of truth and falsity, as well as other issues of a more general nature. The works are written mainly in the form of dialogues.

1. Monologues.
2. About the immortality of the soul.
3. About the quantity of the soul.
4. About the teacher.

Influence on Christianity

The work of the holy father had an influence on the further development of Christian dogma and anthropology. His developments in the field of the concept of grace and the concept of original sin became especially important. The philosophical movement of Augustinianism emerges - the further development of the ideas of the Neoplatonists in the vein of the Christian worldview. The doctrine dominated in Western Europe until the emergence of the ideas of Thomas Aquinas with his new Aristotelianism. And during the Reformation, ideas about predestination were adopted by Calvinist Protestants.

Veneration of the Blessed

Saint Augustine was canonized and revered by both Western and Eastern Christians. It is also recognized by the Lutheran Church.

In Orthodoxy

Orthodox believers venerate this saint among the blessed. The Russian Church celebrates his name day on June 15 (28).

In Catholicism

In the West, the saint is better known and revered - he has the title of Teacher or Doctor of the Church. Aurelius is also one of the group of Fathers, early saints revered by both branches of Christianity. Memorial Day - August 28.

Video

Latin translator and candidate of philosophical sciences Ivan Lapshin talks about the life of the saint.

The strengthening of the position of the Catholic Church, which completely controlled the life of an individual and the entire society in the Middle Ages, was greatly influenced by the philosophical views of Augustine the Blessed. In the modern world, the possibilities and functions of the church are not so comprehensive, but Catholicism to this day remains one of the main world religions. It is widespread in many countries of Western Europe, the USA, Latin America, and in some regions of Ukraine. To understand the origins of Catholicism, it is necessary to turn to the theological teachings of St. Augustine.

short biography

Augustine (Aurelius) was born in 354 in Tagaste. This city exists to this day and is called Suk-Ahraz. It is noteworthy that the boy was raised in a family where his parents held different religious views. Aurelius' mother, Monica, was a Christian, and his father was a pagan. This contradiction left its mark on the character of the young man and was reflected in his spiritual quest.

The family of the future thinker never had much money, but the parents were able to give their son a good education. Initially, his mother was involved in raising the boy. After graduating from school in Tagaste, seventeen-year-old Augustine went to Carthage, where he learned the basics of rhetoric. There he met a girl with whom he lived for 13 years. Even after the couple had a child, Aurelius did not marry his beloved because of her low social origin. It was during this period of life that the beginner the philosopher uttered his famous phrase, in which he prays to God for chastity and moderation, but asks to send them not now, but sometime later.

Augustine's family life did not work out. The wedding with a bride of suitable status, whom his mother had chosen, had to be postponed, since the girl was only 11 years old and had to wait until she grew up. The groom spent the years of waiting in the arms of his new chosen one. As a result, Augustine broke off his engagement with his child bride, and soon left his beloved. He also did not return to the mother of his child.

Acquaintance with the works of Cicero served as a starting point for Augustine in the study of philosophy. At the beginning of his spiritual search, he was inspired by the ideas of the Manichaeans, but later became disillusioned with them and regretted the wasted time.

While serving as a teacher at one of the schools of Mediolana (Milan), Augustine discovered Neoplatonism, which represents God as something beyond or transcendental. This allowed him to take a different look at the teachings of the early Christians. He begins to go to sermons, read the epistles of the apostles and becomes interested in the ideas of monasticism. In 387, Augustine was baptized by Ambrose.

He sells property and donates money to the poor. After the death of his mother, the philosopher returns to his homeland and creates a monastic community. Augustine's soul left the earthly world in 430.

Evolution of spiritual life

Augustine worked towards the creation of his teaching all his life. His views on the structure of the universe, the essence of God and the purpose of man changed repeatedly. The main stages of his spiritual development include the following:

Basic philosophical ideas of St. Augustine

Augustine is known as a preacher, theologian, writer, and creator of the philosophy of history (historiosophy). And although his teaching is not systematic, the crown of the era of mature patristics is the views of St. Augustine. (Patristics (briefly) - a period of medieval philosophy, uniting the teachings of thinkers - the “fathers of the church”).

God is good

God is a form of being, incorporeal, pure and omnipresent. The created world is subject to the laws of nature. There is goodness in everything that God has created. Evil does not exist, it is only spoiled, weakened, damaged good.

Visible evil is a necessary condition for world harmony. In other words, without evil there is no good. Any evil can turn into good, just as suffering can lead to salvation.

Freedom or predestination

Initially, man was endowed with free will and could choose between a righteous life, good deeds and evil deeds. After the fall of Eve and Adam, people lost the right to choose. The mark of original sin lies on a person from birth.

After the atonement of Adam's sin by Jesus Christ, hope arose again for humanity. Now everyone who lives according to God’s covenants will be saved and admitted after death into the Kingdom of Heaven. But these chosen righteous people are already predestined by God.

State and society

The creation of a state is a necessary condition for the survival of humanity. It ensures the safety of citizens and protection from external enemies, and also helps the church fulfill its high mission.

Any society presupposes the dominance of some social groups over others. Wealth inequality is justified and inevitable. Any attempts to change the current situation and equalize people are doomed to failure. This idea, which later received the name social conformism, was beneficial to both the state and the Church.

Christian concept of history

In the history of mankind, 7 periods can be distinguished, which are based on certain biblical events and personalities.

The most significant events in world history are the fall of the first man and the crucifixion of Christ. The development of humanity occurs according to God's script and corresponds to His intentions.

Augustine's works and sermons influenced Christian teaching not only during his lifetime, but also several centuries later. Many of his views caused heated debate. For example, his idea of ​​divine predestination was opposed to Christian universalism, according to which every person had a chance of salvation, not just the chosen few.

Views on the Holy Spirit, which, according to Augustine, can come not only from the Father, but also from Christ the Son, were also considered very controversial . This idea, somewhat interpreted, was later adopted by the Western Church and served as the basis for the doctrine of understanding the Holy Spirit.

Augustine's own views Some Christian traditions and customs have also been subject to change over time. Thus, for a long time he did not accept the veneration of the martyrs and did not believe in the miraculous and healing power of holy relics, but later changed his mind.

The essence Christian teaching the philosopher saw in man's ability to perceive God's grace, without which the salvation of the soul is impossible. Not everyone can accept grace and keep it. This requires a special gift - constancy.

Many researchers highly appreciated Augustine's contribution to the development of religious teaching. One of the philosophical movements is named in his honor - Augustinianism.

Works

Augustine's most famous ideological fundamental work is “On the City of God,” consisting of 22 volumes. The philosopher describes the symbolic opposition between the mortal, temporary city, called Earthly, and the eternal city, called God.

The Earthly City consists of people who seek fame, money, power and love themselves more than God. The opposite city, God's, includes those who strive for spiritual perfection, whose love for God is higher than love for themselves . After the Last Judgment The city of God will be reborn and will exist forever.

Based on the ideas of Augustine, the Church hastened to proclaim itself the city of God located on earth, and began to function as the supreme arbiter in all human affairs.

To other famous works of St. Augustine The following achievements can be attributed.

In total, Augustine left more than a thousand manuscripts. In most of his works, the lonely human soul, limited by the body, strives to realize itself in this world. But, even having approached the cherished knowledge, a Christian will not be able to change anything in his existence, since his fate has already been predetermined by God.

According to the views of the philosopher, a person of the 21st century, like Augustine’s contemporary, lives in anticipation of the Last Judgment. And only eternity awaits him ahead.

Augustine was born in the city of Tagaste in North Africa (in the territory of modern Algeria) in the family of a poor Roman official. He received his initial education at the local schools of Tagaste and Medavra, and then continued it at the school of rhetoric in Carthage. Here he became acquainted with Cicero's treatise "Hortensius", which aroused his interest in philosophy.

Augustine's first acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures did not satisfy his religious and ideological interests: the pagan rhetorician, brought up on the best examples of Roman literature, could not come to terms with the crude language and primitive way of thinking of this document. Continuing his spiritual search, he turned to. As an ardent follower of his, Augustine came to Rome in 383, where, with the help of the Manichaeans, he organized a school of rhetoric. But gradually disappointment in Manichaeism grew in him. With this disappointment, Augustine is inclined to skepticism(in its academic version Arcesilaus and Carneades). From Rome he moves to Mediolan (Milan), where he becomes close to a circle of people grouped around the local, very influential Bishop Ambrose. Under his influence, Augustine began to lean towards Christianity.

Preparing to accept Christianity not as an ordinary believer, but as an ideologist of the doctrine, Augustine began to study Plotinus’ “Enneads” (in the Latin translation, because he knew little Greek), and some of the works of Porphyry. He also delved into the works of Plato (primarily the Meno, Timaeus and Phaedo). Augustine overcame his skepticism in such philosophical works written in 386-387 as "Against Academicians"(“Contra academicos”), i.e. skeptics, "On the Blissful Life"(“De beata vita”) - about the method of knowing supersensible truths, "About order"("De Ordine") "Monologues"(“Soliloquia”) - about the dependence of human happiness on the knowledge of God, "On the Immortality of the Soul"(“De animae immortalitate”). In 387, their author converted to Christianity. The following year he returned to his homeland and became here one of the most active figures of the Christian Church, an implacable enemy and persecutor of numerous “heretics”, apostates from its official doctrine. Augustine developed this activity not only in his numerous literary works, but also as Bishop of Hippo, which he became in 396 and remained until the end of his life. His struggle against numerous apostates from the official Christian faith, which did not stop at calls for violent reprisals against them, gave many of his biographers reason to call Augustine "the hammer of heretics" and see in him the earliest predecessor of the Catholic Inquisition of the Middle Ages.

Augustine's vast literary heritage includes several philosophical works that also interpret the provisions of Christian theology. On the other hand, many of his religious-dogmatic works contain philosophical thoughts. Most important for the history of philosophy "On the size of the soul"(“De quantitate animae”, 388–389) - about the relationship of the soul to the body, "About the teacher"(“De Magistro”, 388–389), "On True Religion"(“De vera religione”, 390), "On Free Will"(“De libero arbitrio”, 388-395), "Confession"(“Confessiones”, 400). The last work is the religious autobiography of Augustine. Describing his life from childhood and not hiding many of his vices, the greatest Christian thinker, later ranked by the Catholic Church to the saints' face x, sought to show in this work how his religious quest led him to Christianity, which elevated him morally and answered all his ideological needs. The immediate goal of Augustine's Confession is to encourage other pagans, especially among the educated elite, to convert to Christianity. The most significant for the history of philosophy are the last three (out of thirteen) books of this work. Among Augustine's subsequent works, one should name the treatise "About Trinity"(“De Trinitate”, 400–416), giving a systematic presentation of Augustine’s own theological views, "On Nature and Grace"(“De natura et gratia”), "On the soul and its origin"(“De anima et ejus origine”), "On Grace and Free Will"(“De gratia et libero arbitrio”).

In 413, impressed by the defeat of Rome by the Visigoths, Augustine began to write the most extensive and famous of his works "About the City of God"(“De civitate Dei”), which was completed ca. 426 Shortly before his death he finished "Corrections"(“Retractationes”), in which he gave a brief summary of his main views along with amendments in the orthodox Catholic spirit - a kind of spiritual testament of Augustine.

Augustine systematized the Christian worldview, trying to present it as a holistic and only true teaching. The need for this kind of systematization was associated with the struggle of the church against numerous heretical movements that were destroying its unity. The Church, which portrayed its mission as the implementation of the direct instructions of God, could not accept the existence within its bosom of several warring directions (which, in the end, would have received organizational consolidation). Therefore, the unity of faith and organization for the Christian (as well as for any other) church was a matter of life and death. An equally significant reason for the systematization of Christian doctrine undertaken by Augustine was the position of the Christian religion as the ideology of the ruling classes of a feudalizing society. The short reign of Julian, who deprived Christianity of the role of the only state religion and raised Neoplatonism to the role of the state religious and philosophical system, dealt Christianity a very sensitive blow. In addition, these events revealed the ideological power of Neoplatonism as a philosophical system, many times more harmonious and justified in comparison with the Christian doctrine and, therefore, extremely influential among the educated elite of Roman society.

To strengthen the Christian worldview system, Augustine introduced into it principles of neoplatonism. The Cappodocian “fathers of the church” had taken this path even before Augustine, but it was the Bishop of Hippo who carried out this work especially systematically and deeply in his own way. As a result, for many subsequent centuries in the history of medieval Western European philosophy, Platonism existed only in its Christianized (Augustinized) form.

Philosophy of Augustine Aurelius

Augustine's religious and philosophical system, on the one hand, represents the result of the assimilation of some fundamental principles of Platonism and Neoplatonism, acceptable for Christian doctrine and used for its philosophical deepening, and on the other hand, the result of rejecting and overcoming those principles that are completely unacceptable to it. From the philosophers of the Hellenistic-Roman era, Augustine adopted practical and ethical attitude as the main goal of philosophical knowledge, but he changed this attitude in accordance with the provisions and tasks of Christianity. Proclaiming pursuit of happiness main content human life, he saw it happiness lies in man’s knowledge of God and in understanding his complete dependence on him. “Love for oneself, brought to the point of contempt for oneself as a sinful being, is love for God, and love for oneself, brought to the point of contempt for God, is a vice.”[On the City of God, XIV]. Augustine's religious worldview through and through theocentric. God, as the starting and final point of human judgments and actions, constantly appears in all parts of his philosophical teaching.

God and the world. Divine predestination and the irrationality of reality

Following the example of Plotinus, Augustine transforms divine being into the immaterial absolute, opposed to the world and man. But in contrast to Plotinus and his followers, the theologian eliminates all prerequisites that could lead to the conclusions of pantheism, to the thought of the unity of God and the world. The main one of these prerequisites is doctrine of emanation, through which the world is successively emitted by God, he replaces creationist position of Christianity. And this attitude meant the presence of a strict dualism between God and the world. He asserted the supranaturalistic, supernatural existence of God, who is absolutely independent of nature and man. , on the contrary, are completely dependent on God.

In contrast to Neoplatonism, which viewed the absolute as an impersonal unity, Augustine interpreted God as a person, who created the finite world and man, based on her voluntary inclination. In one place of his main work, “On the City of God,” he specifically emphasizes the difference between the so-understood god and blind fortune, which played a huge role in the ancient pagan worldview. Repeatedly emphasizing the personal principle in God, the Christian philosopher connects it, first of all, with the presence of will in the divine intellect.“The will of God is inherent in God and precedes every creation... The will of God belongs to the very essence of the divine.”

Augustine's creationism, developing into fatalism- the complete and direct dependence of nature and man on God, led to concept of "continuous creation"(“cgeatio continua”), according to which God does not for a single moment abandon his care of the world. If God, writes Augustine, “takes away from things his, so to speak, productive power, then they will no longer exist, just as they did not exist before they were created” [On the City of God, XII, 25].

Religious-fatalistic view of the world, which is one of the defining features of Augustinianism, leads to irrationalistic interpretation of reality. It seems to be overflowing with miracles, that is, events and phenomena incomprehensible to the human mind, behind which the will of the almighty creator is hidden. Here we can state the difference between the philosophical irrationalism of the Neoplatonic system and the religious irrationalism of the Christian doctrine. The first was expressed in the position about the incomprehensibility of the absolute first unity and the mystical path of its knowledge. The second extended the sphere of incomprehensibility to all reality.

All things and all beings came into being, according to Augustine, as a result divine creativity. Among these beings, first of all, such incorporeal beings as angels and human souls were created - immediately in a completed form. Thus, the philosopher of Christianity, using the idea of ​​the Neoplatonists about the incorporeality of human souls, at the same time, in contrast to the view of pagan mythology that they retained about the eternal existence of souls, extends to them the fundamental religious-monotheistic principle of creationism. All other things and phenomena of the natural world are necessarily connected with matter, which he, in the spirit of the centuries-old idealistic tradition, considered an absolutely formless and passive substrate. The creation of both matter and all corporeal things occurs simultaneously. At the same time, the four traditional elements of the ancients - earth, water, air and fire - as well as the heavenly bodies, like angels and human souls, were created in a once and for all completed form.

From this it is quite obvious that Christian-Augustinian creationism leads to extremely metaphysical, anti-dialectical views that excluded the idea of ​​evolution(hidden in the Neoplatonic concept of emanation). But even for this view it is clear that in nature there are creatures that grow and develop during a significant part of their lives. Such are plants, animals, human bodies. To explain their origin and growth, Augustine used the teaching of the Stoics about the so-called seminal (or germinal) causes(gationes seminales), which create the possibility of the development of living beings on an individual basis.

Divine being Augustine presents according to the dogma of the trinity established by the Council of Nicaea. Based on the Gospel of John, he considers his second hypostasis, God the son, or logos-word, as the self-consciousness of God the father and as that “let it be”, as a result of which the world came into being. But God spoke these secret words, guided not only by his own good will. Creating an infinite variety of things and natural phenomena, he also proceeded from those perfect prototypes, or ideas, that were contained in his mind.

Augustine finally Christianized Platonism: ideas from independent, incorporeal and unchanging forms of being turned into the primordial thoughts of the creator god. From the point of view of Augustinian-Christian Platonism, all things that are burdened with matter and therefore approach non-existence are very imperfect copies of divine ideas. Everything exists, as it were, on two planes: in the plane of primordial thoughts and ideas of the divine mind and in the plane of material things as their imperfect similarities. In this regard, Augustine especially emphasizes the eternity and immutability inherent in ideas and constituting the two most important attributes of the divine being. The dualism of the supernatural God and the natural world appears, first of all, as the opposition between the eternal and unchanging supreme being and the continuously changing world of transitory things.

Eternity and time

The theologian answered questions from those who doubted that God created the world immediately, in a short period of time, and expressed their doubts about the question: What did God do before this?

In answering the questions of these imaginary opponents of the Old Testament, Augustine developed considerations that acquired interest beyond the boundaries of theology. The philosopher realized the difficulty of the problem of time. “What is time?”- he asked and answered: “As long as no one asks me about it, I understand without any difficulty; but as soon as I want to give an answer about this, I become completely at a dead end” [Confession, XI, 14, 17]. The Christian thinker constantly appeals to God and prays to enlighten him on such a difficult issue.

For the philosopher it was certain that time is the measure of movement and change, inherent in all concrete, “created” things. It did not exist before things, before the creation of the world, but appeared as a result of divine creativity simultaneously with it. Having created transitory things, God also created the measure of their change.

Analyzing the concept of time, Augustine tried to establish the relationship of such basic categories as present, past and future. The general conclusion he came to was that neither the past nor the future has a real existence that belongs only to the present, and depending on which both the past and the future can be understood. From this point of view, the past owes its existence to human memory, and the future to hope.

It is extremely characteristic of Augustine’s metaphysical-anti-dialectical worldview bringing both the past and the future to the present. But what is even more characteristic of him is the desire to “stop” his rapid run. This is impossible to do in the real world. But this trait constitutes precisely the most important attribute of a divine being. Being the source of time, God does not experience any “before” or “after”, for in the world of his thoughts and ideas everything exists once and for all. In this world, everything exists, therefore, as a frozen, constant “now” (“nuns stans”).

Static eternity is inseparable from the divine being. Augustine's opposition between the absolute eternity of God and the constant changeability of the material and human world became one of the foundations of the Christian worldview. This opposition, like the categories of eternity and time themselves, are by no means empirical concepts here. The function of these speculative concepts is ideological and moral. Spending his earthly life surrounded by constantly changing things and being himself subject to these changes, a person should not forget for a minute about the divine, absolutely unchanging world and should constantly strive for it.

Good and evil - theodicy of St. Augustine

Like some of the previous Christian philosophers, Augustine faced a difficult the task of removing responsibility for evil from the supreme creator god reigning in the world he created. This was a paramount task, given how influential the Manichaean movement was, which at one time captured the future ideologist of the Western Christian church.

In his struggle against Manichaeism, Augustine turned to the principles of Neoplatonism. The theologian reconciled the Neoplatonic concept of evil as a negative degree of good with his fundamental creationist position. Based on the texts of the Holy Scriptures, speaking about the kindness of the supreme creator, he proves that everything he created is, to one degree or another, involved in this absolute kindness. After all, God, when creating things, imprinted in them a certain measure, weight and order. Since, according to the Augustinian-Platonic view, he was guided by his ideas and thoughts as the highest models for any of the created things, they contain one or another extraterrestrial image. And no matter how distorted it is by the inevitable presence of matter, no matter how any earthly thing and any creature changes, they still retain such an image to one degree or another. To the extent that they contain goodness. Just as silence is the absence of any noise, nakedness is the absence of clothing, illness is the absence of health, and darkness is the absence of light, so evil is the absence of goodness, and not something that exists in itself.

This is theodicy Augustine, often called Christian optimism. Its social meaning is completely transparent. It consists in the desire of the most prominent ideologist of official Christianity, Augustine, to reconcile ordinary believers with the existing social order of things, who are called not to grumble against evil, but to thank the Almighty for the good that he has imprinted in the world.

Man and soul. Cognition and will

Dematerialization of the human spirit and denaturalization of man, characteristic of religious philosophy, starting with Philo, reaches its culmination in Augustine. He even deprives the organic world of animation, here decisively differing not only from the Stoics (who extended the sphere of animation to the inorganic world), but also from Aristotle. Soul, according to Augustine, only man has, for only he, of all earthly creatures, to some extent resembles God. The human soul is a rational soul. In contrast to Neoplatonic panpsychism, which proceeds from the eternity of souls and their cosmic cycle, the Christian philosopher recognizes their eternity only after they are created by God. It was formulated in such a fantastic form the idea of ​​individuality, spiritual uniqueness of each person.

The soul has a beginning, but it cannot have an end; being immortal, she exists even after the death and decomposition of the body that she revived during life. Based on Plotinus' Enneads, Augustine constantly interprets the soul as an immaterial entity, as an independent spiritual substance that has nothing to do with the bodily and biological functions of a person, the main functions of which are: thought, memory and will.

Thanks to the activity of memory, the events that overwhelm human life do not disappear into oblivion, but are preserved, as it were, in a huge container, which, however, does not have any spatial arrangement. And this, according to Augustine, indicates precisely immateriality of the soul, because the images stored by it, obtained with the help of the senses, are incorporeal, not to mention the abstract concepts stored in it - mathematical, ethical and others.

Augustine defines the soul as "intelligent substance adapted to control the body" [On the size of the soul, XIII, 22]. The essence of any person is manifested precisely in his soul, and not in his body. The originality of the thinker lies in the fact that he sees this essence of the soul not so much in its rational-mental activity as in its volitional activity. The activity of a human being does not manifest itself in the fact that a person thinks - here he acts rather as a creature passively reflecting objects (ideas) that are outside his consciousness (in God). Augustine also emphasized this attitude in Platonism. But, breaking with the intellectualism of this trend (as with all ancient philosophy of the classical period), the Christian philosopher sees the determining factor of human activity is in the will, which thus has an obvious advantage over the human mind. Calling for a tireless search for divine truth and emphasizing the importance of a strong will for this, he constantly demonstrates in his writings the passion and emotionality of this search. From such positions knowing God and loving him is a two-pronged process.

Bringing the irrational factor to the forefront human personality and activity, which he considers the factor of will, is associated with Augustine statement about free will. Augustine, deepening this Christian line of irrationalization of the human spirit, sees its essence not just in will, but in free will.

Augustine's concept of absolute divine control of the world, completely incomprehensible to the human mind, for which the events occurring in it seem to be an almost continuous chain of miracles, is based precisely on the concept of freedom of human will. But in divine activity it is realized absolutely, but in human activity it is still limited by this divine factor.

The relationship between faith and reason

The predominance of irrational-volitional factors over rational-logical factors in the sphere of cognition itself is expressed in the superiority of faith over reason. This superiority is manifested primarily in the predominant power of religious authority over human reason. Augustine proclaimed faith in divine authority, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, as the basis and main source of human knowledge. The sin committed by Adam and Eve and transmitted to all humanity has irreparably distorted the human mind and seriously weakened its strength. Since then, the human mind must necessarily seek support for itself in divine revelation. According to Augustine's famous formula (proclaimed in one of his letters) - "Believe to understand" , – faith must precede understanding. The previous “church fathers” looked for the content of faith and divine revelation only in the Bible. Augustine declared that the authority of the church, as the only and never mistaken interpreter of it, constitutes the final authority of all truth. This position of Bishop Hippo reflected the situation resulting from the strengthening of the church - especially the emerging Roman Catholic Church in the collapsing Western Roman Empire - as a dogmatic and strictly centralized institutional organization.

Augustine did not limit himself to simply proclaiming a theological formula about the superiority of faith over reason. He sought to give it a philosophical justification. Based on the fact that human knowledge comes from two sources: personal experience and knowledge gained from other people, the philosopher focused on second source, more significant and rich, calling him by faith. But he draws an incorrect conclusion by identifying faith in what a person learns from other people with religious faith in authorities sanctified by the church.

The general result of Augustine's solution to the problem of the relationship between faith and reason is debasement of reason, which, without the help of Christian revelation, is unable to substantiate, in essence, a single truth. Deprivation of the mind's independence in the process of cognition is characteristic of his entire teaching.

Ways to overcome skepticism and apriorism. The Doctrine of Supernatural Illumination

Disillusioned with Manichaeism, Augustine for some time shared the views of the skeptics. But having become a theorist of Christian doctrine, he could no longer share these views, the edge of which in late antiquity was directed, first of all, against various religious and dogmatic statements. From here Augustine's fight against skepticism. We meet her in his essay "Against Academicians" (i.e. against the skeptics of the new and middle Academy). The author points out here that the fundamental difference between the position of academics and his own is that the first consists of a categorical statement that the truth cannot be found, while the second proves the plausibility of the opposite. In this regard, in the same work, Augustine puts forward a convincing argument against academic skepticism, which asserted the possibility of only probabilistic, and not at all reliable, knowledge. But if the latter is impossible, if genuine truth is impossible, says the Christian critic of skepticism, then how can we talk about probabilistic, i.e., plausible knowledge, since the measure of this plausibility should be undoubted, reliable truth? Such truth and even a whole system of truths are given in Christian doctrine.

However, the interaction of Augustinian thought with skepticism was not limited to a negative relationship. For a philosopher of Christianity was acceptable criticism of sensory knowledge, given by Sextus Empiricus and other ancient skeptics. This criticism, revealing the unreliability of all sensory perceptions, leads to the conclusions of phenomenalism, according to which sensory phenomena (phenomena) themselves are reliable, but it would be completely unfounded to see in them a reflection of the essence of the things themselves. Adhering to this side of the epistemology of skepticism, Augustine was convinced that the testimony of our senses, necessary for the practical life of a person, is unable to provide reliable truth.

Developing here also the Platonic tradition, the Christian philosopher consistently proceeds from the fact that sensory contact with the “perishable”, constantly changing world can lead us away from the truth rather than bring us closer to it. Sensory images owe their birth not to these contacts, but only to the activity of the soul itself, which, without losing “vital attention” for a moment, continuously takes care of its body. Therefore, sensory sensation is not the work of the body, but the work of the soul through the body.

Anti-sensualist position Augustine means for him the complete isolation of human consciousness from the outside world (when we are talking about the process of cognition, and not about practical activity). The objective world is not able to teach a person anything. “Do not go out into the world,” he writes in this regard, “but return to yourself: truth resides within a person” [On True Religion, XXXIX, 72].

If you rely only on sensory knowledge and see in it real knowledge of the world, then it is impossible to overcome skepticism, you can only strengthen it. Another thing is the area of ​​human consciousness itself, the presence of which we cannot have any doubts. Only by relying on it can we overcome all skepticism.

The consciousness of any person, his soul, represents, according to Augustine, the only pillar of certainty in a constantly changing, unstable world. Having delved into its depths, a person finds there a content that is completely independent of the outside world, yet is inherent in all people. People only think that they draw from the outside world what they actually find in the depths of their own spirit. Having abandoned Plato's idea of ​​the pre-existence of souls, Augustine completely retained the idea of ​​a prioriity, absolute independence from experience the most important and deep content of human knowledge. Concepts of numbers and geometric figures, ethical concepts of goodness, justice, love, etc., norms of human behavior, aesthetic concepts, laws of dialectics (i.e. logic) - they are all inexperienced.

The concepts of numbers, for example, exist not at all because there are things that can be counted, but their counting itself becomes possible because we possess the concepts necessary for such an operation. And even if there were no world with all its objects, then all the concepts of the human soul would continue to exist. A person learns all these concepts inside your soul directly, intuitively. But if the soul did not exist from the beginning and could not draw them from contemplating the world of ideas, as Plato taught about this, then the question arises about their origin, about their source. The answer to this is obvious from the standpoint of Augustinian-Christian creationism: the source, creator of all these concepts or ideas can only be God.

Augustine calls God "father of mental light" And "the father of our illumination"(“pater illuminationis nostrae”). Not only natural phenomena and events of human life, but also the process of knowledge are accomplished thanks to the continuous intervention of God. Theocentrism and fatalism constitute for Augustine just as defining features of his interpretation of knowledge as of his interpretation of being.

Only supernatural insight, unexpectedly coming from the universal and single heavenly teacher, raises a person to the knowledge of the deepest truths. “The rational and thinking soul... cannot shine on its own, but shines by virtue of participating in another, truthful radiance” [On the City of God, X, 2].

Augustinian Christian teaching consistently preserves extranatural positions of god. By itself, it is not rooted in any human soul, but thanks to its inexplicable mercy, it makes possible for its chosen ones a supernatural illumination of their souls and, thanks to this, comprehension of the deepest truths. Death cult becomes a natural addition to the religious-mystical interpretation of the process of cognition. “So that the soul can immerse its essence in the fullness of truth without obstacles,” we read in the work "On the size of the soul» , “she begins to crave the highest gift of escape and complete deliverance from the body - death.”

Christian mystical doctrine of illumination constitutes the central point of Augustine’s teaching about the process of knowledge, and in a certain sense, his entire philosophy. In the light of this teaching, it becomes quite obvious that Augustine proclaimed God and the human soul to be the subject of philosophical knowledge. “I want to know God and the soul,” he says in his “Monologues.” - And nothing more? - Reason asks him. “Definitely nothing,” answers the author [Monologues, I, 2.7].

Science and Wisdom

Augustine also theologically substantiated the distinction between science (scientia) and wisdom (sapientia). Knowledge, which develops into science, is rational knowledge of the objective world, knowledge that allows us to use things. Wisdom but this is the knowledge of eternal divine affairs and spiritual objects [see: On the Trinity, XII, 12, 15]. Knowledge in itself is not at all evil; within certain limits it is necessary, since a person is forced to live in the corporeal world. But he has no right to forget about the extraterrestrial purpose of his life, he must not turn knowledge into an end in itself, imagining that with its help and without the help of God he will be able to understand the world. A person is obliged subordinate science to wisdom, for the salvation of the soul is its highest purpose.

This concept of Augustine reflected very characteristic features of the dying ancient culture, which was turning into the culture of a medieval, feudal society. Science did not then occupy a primary place in the production system or in social life. It even retreated from those positions in the social and philosophical consciousness that it occupied during the heyday of ancient culture. On the other hand, the progress of the individual has extremely sharpened and deepened moral issues, which necessarily took on a religious-monotheistic form.

Decisively advocating the subordination of science to wisdom, the Christian philosopher reflected this contradictory period of spiritual development of Mediterranean humanity, which was moving along the path to feudalism - barbarization of intellectual activity and deepening of moral self-awareness.

At the same time, in this teaching about the subordination of science to wisdom, the theoretician of early Christianity outlined a program for the subordination of scientific and philosophical knowledge to the interests of Christian doctrine, the implementation of which became the most important feature of the spiritual culture of feudal society in Western Europe during the era of feudalism. After all, the entirety of “wisdom” is given in the Holy Scriptures and in church tradition.

Human will and divine grace. Moral doctrine

The absoluteness of divine good and the relativity of evil removes from God, according to Augustine, responsibility for the evil that exists in the world. The fact that evil manifests itself in the human world is the fault of man himself, whose free will prompts him to begin divine law, and thereby end up in sin. Sin consists in attachment to earthly, bodily goods, in the arrogance of human pride, which imagines that it can completely master the world and does not need divine help. Sin is the rebellion of the mortal body against the immortal soul.

Here again the question arises about the relationship between divine providence and human free will. How can they still be reconciled if the divine creator not only created man, but, even having endowed him with free will, does not let a single act of his from under his observation for a moment, since he constantly controls the world?

It is, of course, impossible to resolve this contradiction logically. But Christian, like any other, theology does not at all represent a rational philosophical system. Being a religious-irrational set of ideas and dogmas, it must contain many irremovable contradictions. But, since the Christian doctrine claims to become a theological system, Augustine seeks to resolve this contradiction. More precisely, he tried to remove this difficulty by transferring it to the historical and mythological plane.

The Christian moralist uses one of the fundamental and most popular myths of the Old Testament regarding the fall of Adam and Eve, leading to the idea that God endowed the first man with free will, but this did not violate his perfection and did not bring discord into his moral consciousness. For the main purpose of the original good will was to obey in everything the divine commandments and divine guidance. But, having used his will in spite of them, Adam transferred this will, still free, but already burdened by the desire for sin, to all of humanity. Since then, man's free will has created a gap between him and God.

But the highest purpose of man is his salvation which is impossible without religious morality. Augustine's Christian optimism, viewing evil as a weakened good, did not at all lead him to the conclusion that all people, including the most inveterate sinners, will be saved by an all-merciful God on the day of judgment, as Origen, and after him Gregory of Nyssa, believed. The strengthened church did not at all want to open such a brilliant prospect to all its parishioners, for it preferred to keep them in the fear of God as the most reliable means of their obedience.

That is why its most prominent ideologist consistently proceeded from the fact that morally valuable, good deeds are characteristic of a minority of people. But even among this minority, impeccable morality - and the Christian moralist knows only the opposites of sinful and morally impeccable - owes its existence not to their free will, not to human initiative, but only to the eternal election of the lucky few. This election is called by divine grace, and does not depend entirely on human actions, but completely determines those on whom such grace will descend.

Divine predestination and guidance is so powerful and omnipotent that, while directing a minority of the chosen ones along the morally sinless and, moreover, the shortest path to heaven, it completely ignores the fact that God himself endowed man with free will. It can only lead a person to sin and evil, but God himself leads him to good, despite any inclination.

Developing this religious-irrationalistic doctrine, Augustine at the beginning of the 5th century. led a fierce debate with the monk Pelagius, a native of the British Isles, who was trying to reform monastic life in the spirit of the rigorism of primitive Christianity in the western part of the Roman Empire. He rejected the dogma of original sin and did not consider humanity to be radically corrupt. From his point of view, the exploits and martyrdom of Christ did not at all mean a fundamental atonement for the sinfulness of mankind, but served only as the best example for human imitation. According to the teachings of Pelagius, man has real free will, which can lead him both along the path of good and along the path of evil. Far from denying the role of divine grace in the moral enlightenment of man, he saw in it only the help of God to man, provided to him according to his “merit.” Thus depriving man of the role of a blind instrument of God, Pelagius to a certain extent removed him from the power of the church. This interpretation undermined the ideological foundation on which Christian church with such difficulty erected the complex edifice of her dominance. Hence Augustine’s fierce struggle against the Pelagian heresy (later Pelagianism was officially condemned at one of the church councils).

Among other provisions of this doctrine, it should be noted systematic preaching of the love of God, which we encounter on almost every page of his works. Love for God is necessary especially because it is God, and not man, who is "creator of the eternal law", the only source of moral norms and assessments [On True Religion, XXXI, 58]. Naturally, with such installations of Augustine’s moral doctrine love for god replaces love for man. The orientation of man towards man should have absolutely no place according to this teaching. “When a person lives according to man, and not according to God, he is like the devil” [On the City of God, XIV, 4], says Augustine in his main work, emphasizing the anti-humanistic essence of his morality. And the author himself followed this morality when, at the insistence of his fanatical Christian mother, before converting to Christianity, he drove away his beloved wife, with whom he had lived for many years, along with his only son.

The asceticism of Augustine's moral teaching was most radical at the beginning of his literary activity, when he had not yet outlived the Manichaean influence. But Manichaeism, as we have seen, reflecting the mentality of the masses, developed radical asceticism based on the complete condemnation of the sensory world as the product of an evil and dark principle. Having become an ideologist of the ruling classes, Augustine could no longer preach such a condemnation of the existing world. Hence his hesitation in pursuing the line of asceticism. On the one hand, he condemns, for example, theatrical performances as promoting debauchery, and works of fine art as manifestations of idolatry, and on the other hand, he admires the diversity of human talents manifested in various fields of activity. Condemning all the base, bodily aspirations of man, glorifying the monastic life, which was becoming increasingly widespread in that era, he at the same time admires the beauty of the diverse nature and forms human body[On the City of God, V,11].

These circumstances explain Augustinian delimitation of all the benefits of human life into those that should be loved and enjoyed (frui), and those that should only be used (uti). The first includes love for God as eternal good and the final source of all existence. The second includes all things and benefits of the concrete world. You cannot live without them, you must use them, but to love them, and even more so to become attached to them, forgetting about the highest purpose of the human soul, means acting contrary to Christian morality. Earthly goods are only a means for cultivating extraterrestrial values.

Society and history

The greatest ideologist of Christianity agrees with the position of Christian morality, according to which poverty and squalor are the most favorable for salvation(these provisions are recorded many times in the Gospels). But, being an ideologist of the ruling classes, he is far from the idea that only poverty opens the road to salvation (as the Pelagians argued). Wealth, when used “correctly,” cannot at all be an obstacle to the path to salvation.

Strengthening these conclusions, Augustine even argued that the property inequality of people, the wealth of some and the poverty and even hunger of others, is a necessary phenomenon of social life. This is a consequence of original sin, forever distorting the original bliss. The fullness of human happiness will reign only “in that life where no one will be a slave” [On the City of God, IV, 33].

Justification and justification of social inequality- the main feature of Augustine’s socio-political doctrine. The need for such inequality is determined, according to his teaching, by the hierarchical structure of the social organism, harmoniously arranged by God. This hierarchy is an imperfect reflection of that heavenly, spiritual kingdom, the monarch of which is God himself. Trying to prevent the masses of the people, who were carried away by heretical teachings, from protesting against the “harmonious” social system, the thinker uses the idea of ​​the equality of all people, since they all come from a single forefather. Remembering their kinship, people are obliged to maintain unity and stop rebelling against each other.

However, in real society this is far from the case. Understanding the characteristics and destinies of this society is what historians often call Augustine’s philosophy of history, set out in 22 books of his main work. As was mentioned, the Bishop of Hippo began to write this work under the fresh impression of the capture and destruction of the “eternal city” by the Vandals under the leadership of Alaric. This fact made a huge impression on his contemporaries. Many of them saw in it the revenge of the original Roman gods on the Romans who abandoned them and converted to Christianity. On the other hand, there were many Christians who were not satisfied with the “corruption” of Christianity, the loss of its original democratic spirit, who expected the imminent end of the sinful world and saw in the defeat of Rome the beginning of such an end. In his work, Augustine opposes both the first and the second.

In the first 10 books of his work, he speaks against pagan religious ideas and teachings, as well as ethical and philosophical concepts. Augustine presents numerous pagan gods as powerless demons and simply as products of poetic fantasy. The author contrasts all of them with the single and omnipotent Christian God. In the next twelve books he sets out system of Christian theology, comprehended in the light of those philosophical ideas that are described above. In this system, his philosophical and historical views occupy an important place.

It is interesting to note in this regard that already in "Confession" its author saw the limitations of those people who “with the short duration of their earthly life do not have the ability to penetrate into the spirit of previous centuries and other peoples and compare this spirit with the spirit of the present time, which they themselves experience” [Confession, III, 7]. Augustine develops his philosophical-historical concept as the antithesis of this kind of myopic narrow-mindedness.

It can be argued that the author of “On the City of God” became the first thinker (at least in Europe) to make the subject of philosophical reflection the fate of all humanity on the maximum scale of the Mediterranean, in which the Stoics had already developed the cosmopolitan concept of a single humanity. Exactly this concept of the unity of the human race and Augustine now developed it, relying on the Christian-mythological idea of ​​​​the origin of all humanity from a single pair of ancestors.

Augustine's philosophy of history can also be called theosophy of history. Relying on biblical mythological materials, often subjecting them to allegorical interpretation, the thinker tried to give synthesis of biblical history, that is, the history of mainly the “chosen” Jewish people, and the history of the remaining peoples of the Mediterranean up to the Roman Empire, the western half of which was collapsing before his eyes.

The central position of Augustinian understanding of history is the idea of ​​providentialism, according to which God extends his absolute power not only to natural phenomena and individual human life, but also to all, without exception, events of collective human life, the continuous flow of which forms history.

All human history, according to Augustine, from the very beginning determined the struggle of two divine-human institutions - the divine kingdom (civitas Dei) and the earthly kingdom (civitas terrena). The dualism between God and nature was transformed in the “City of God” as the original opposition of these two institutions.

This dualism arose from Augustine's theological concept of divine grace, which in an incomprehensible way leads to salvation a select minority of people and condemns the vast majority of humanity to a life of sin, determined by their free will. The first part of humanity constitutes the divine kingdom, and the second part constitutes the earthly kingdom.

But in its earthly existence, the society of the righteous who make up God’s city is mixed with the earthly kingdom, interspersed, so to speak, with an unholy environment consisting of fallen angels, pagans, heretics, apostates from Christianity, and unbelievers. In his criticism of the earthly, that is, real, state, Augustine reveals a number of real features of a class, exploitative society and state. In particular, he emphasizes the violent nature of state power as a “great predatory organization.” It is not for nothing that the first builder of the city was the fratricide Cain, and Rome was similarly founded by the fratricide Romulus.

But Augustine's theological critique of exploitative society and state has its limits. They are determined "highest" purpose of power, for even the most vile power comes from God and performs functions planned by Providence. The authorities maintain a certain order in society, monitor public peace, and administer justice. As an ideologist of the ruling classes, Augustine is hostile to all revolutionary movements of the lower social classes, both in the past and, even more so, in the present. This position is quite understandable, since he viewed social inequality as a necessary consequence of the corruption of human nature by original sin. Any desire for equality in these conditions, from his point of view, is unnatural and doomed to failure in advance. In addition, while condemning any state, in particular the Roman Empire, as a predatory organization, Augustine at the same time condemns the liberation wars of peoples directed against Roman oppression.

Revealing the plans of divine providence, the author of “The City of God” in the 18th book of this work gives periodization of the history of earthly states. It is very significant for his philosophical and historical concept that he refuses periodization according to the largest monarchies, which was adhered to by some Christian theologians of the 3rd-4th centuries. In an effort to give a deeper periodization, Augustine carries out analogy between the six days of creation, the six ages of human life and the six eras, as they “appear” from the Old Testament and the history of Christianity.

The six ages of human life are: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adolescence, adulthood and old age (the idea of ​​​​comparing history with periods of individual development of a person was borrowed by Augustine from ancient pagan literature). First of which corresponds "historical" era, starting directly from the children of Adam and Eve and continuing until the flood, from which only the family of Noah was saved, second- from this event to the patriarch Abraham. Sixth and last The historical era corresponding to the old age of an individual person began with the coming of Christ and the emergence of Christianity. It will last until the end of human existence.

It is in this connection that the highest, eschatological plan of divine providence carried out in human history. It does not mark time, does not return cyclically to the same states, as many ancient historians and social scientists imagined. For all its fantasticality, Augustine’s philosophical and historical concept is interesting in that it was one of the first to introduce the idea of ​​the progress of human history, considered on a world-historical scale. True, progress here is interpreted purely theologically.

Augustine makes an attempt in this regard to determine the place of various peoples and states in the implementation of providential plans regarding the implementation of God's kingdom. He pays the main attention to the “chosen” Jewish people, and others are spoken of mainly only as instruments of his punishment, when he deviates from the covenants of the one god (for example, during the period of the Babylonian captivity) - the thinker remains here under the determining influence of events , set forth in the Old Testament, although its intention is much broader than this document.

The last era of human history, which began with Christianity, became era of old age, which ends in death and the cessation of existence of both man and humanity. It corresponds to the last, sixth day of divine creation. But just as this day was followed by the resurrection, when God began to rest after intense labor, so the chosen part of humanity is separated on the day of the Last Judgment from the overwhelming majority of sinners with whom it was mixed during several thousand years of its history.

In contrast to the many chiliast heretics of that era, who expected the imminent second coming of Christ and his righteous judgment and reprisal against the world of evil, which should be followed by a thousand-year reign of justice and universal happiness, Augustine wisely did not determine the time of the end of human history. God's ways are inscrutable, and man cannot say with certainty when the day of judgment will come.

From all of the above, it is not difficult to determine the main purpose of Augustine’s socio-political and philosophical-historical concept. Although the theologian constantly proceeds from the fact that the city of God during the long period of its wanderings in the process of human history has, so to speak, an ideal, invisible character and organizationally does not coincide with the church, yet the church is not only Christian, but also any other church organization in previous times - has always been the only visible representative of God's kingdom on earth. Only in conditions of unquestioning subordination of secular authorities to the authority and leadership of the priesthood can society and the state represent a single, comprehensive, harmonious organism, functioning successfully and peacefully, despite the heterogeneity and diversity of its constituent parts.

Reviewing history from this point of view, Augustine emphasizes periods and cases of theocratic functioning of power and state institutions, when the dominance of the priesthood guarantees the well-being of the entire social whole. The ideologist of the church justifies some states and condemns others depending on the extent to which they submit to the authority and leadership of the theocracy. In particular, he condemns them when they follow their own path, independent of the church, and pay special attention to the material side of life.

But when turning to history, Augustine constantly had his own modernity in mind. In the conditions of the destruction of the western half of the Roman Empire, the Roman Church became not only a decisive ideological, but also a huge economic force. Already in the era of Augustine, it became the guiding force of the politically dispersed, feudalizing Western European society and retained this position during the subsequent centuries of feudalism. His rationale for theocracy reflected and stimulated the formation of the power of the Roman papacy - one of the reasons for Augustine's enormous authority during the subsequent centuries of the Western European Middle Ages.

Literature:

1. Sokolov V.V. Medieval philosophy: Textbook. manual for philosophers fak. and departments of the university. - M.: Higher. school, 1979. - 448 p.
2. Works of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. 2nd ed. Kyiv, 1901-1915, parts 1-8.
3. Augistini, S. Aurelii. Opera omnia- In: Patrologiae cursus completus, Series latina. Accurante J. P. Migne. Parisiis, 1877. T. XXXII. (Retractationes, libri II, Confessionum libri XIII, Soliloquio-rum libri II, Contra Academjcos libri III. De beata vita liber unus, De Ordine libri II, De immortalitaie animae liber unus. De Quantitate animae liber unus, De Musica libri VI, De Magistro liber unus, De Libero arbitrio libri III, etc.). Parisis, 1887, t. XXXIV, (De doctrina Christiana libri IV, De vera religione liber unus, etc.). T. XLI. Parisiis, 1864. De Civitute Dei libri XXII, 1864. T. XLII. Parisiis. De Trinitate libri XV, etc.

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