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MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY :PART - II -ON ST. AUGUSTINE
Contributed by
RAJNANDY
on
Monday, 5th July 2010 @ 11:43:25 PM in AEST
Topic:
ChristianPoetry
|
Friends , continuing my 'History of Medieval Philosophy in Verse' , I have skipped the portion on 'Church Fathers' !
I humbly present Part - II of my research work on St Agustine of Hippo ; with whom Medieval Philosophy proper commences ! He was a pioneer in shaping early Christiany Theology ; and while doing so ,
gave us gems of his philosophic thoughts ! I love his original writings on the concept of "Time" !
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY IN VERSE: Part- II: On ST. AUGUSTINE
* PART – II *
ST AUGUSTINE – BISHOP OF HIPPO
(354 AD – 430 AD)
HIS EARLY LIFE :
He was the last of the great classical thinkers ,
And the first amongst the Medieval ones !
Was born in the town of Thagaste in 354 AD , -
Forty five miles south of Hippo , in the Roman
province of Numidia , -
In North Africa , in our present day Algeria !
His father was a pagan and mother Monica , -
a devout Christian !
She wanted her son to be baptized , and not to
remain a pagan !
At an early age after having read the writings
of Cicero ,
Augustine’s initial interest in philosophy had
begun to show !
At the age of seventeen was sent to Carthage
to study rhetoric ;
There he adopted a hedonistic life style and
became a Manichean freak !
He took a concubine for the next thirteen years ,
And she also gave birth to his son Adeodatus ;
Causing great distress to his mother Monica , -
Driving her to tears !
Young Augustine taught rhetoric for nine years
in Carthage ;
But his life began to change , when at thirty
years of age ,
He became a professor at the Imperial Court
in Milan !
For there he met Bishop Ambrose , who had
influenced him the most !
His mother Monica soon followed him to Milan , -
To arrange a society marriage for her son !
But Augustine had to wait for the would-be - bride
to come of age ;
And he took a second concubine , - forcing his
mother to get into a rage !
HIS BAPTISM :
Subsequently, experiencing inner torment and after
much introspection ,
He decided to lead a life of celibacy with religious
contemplation !
Breaking his engagement and giving up his second
concubine ;
In 387 both he and his son , by Bishop Ambrose
got baptized , -
To serve God and in search of a life divine !
But during his return journey to Africa , -
He lost his dear mother Monica !
This was followed by the loss of his only son ,
And Augustine felt lost , with nowhere to turn !
He sold his property and donated his money to
charity ,
And converted his house into a lay monastery !
ORDAINED AS A PRIEST and NEXT AS BISHOP :
In 391 Augustine visited Hippo to hear Bishop
Valerius preach ,
Who was a Greek , and Latin he could hardly
speak !
The Bishop had prayed to God for a Latin priest ;
So the young Augustine for him was God sent !
He was appointed as his deputy, and as a priest
ordained !
And five years later , after the death of Valerius ,
Since God’s ways are truly mysterious ;
In 393 AD Augustine was made a Bishop to
succeed Valerius !
Augustine continued his writings on the subject
of Christian theology ;
And with excellent expositions on Medieval
Philosophy !
HIS DEATH AND SAINTHOOD :
When the fortified city of Hippo lay under a
fourteen month’s long siege ;
On 28 August 430 AD , the great Augustine
breathed his last to set himself free !
Hippo was later burnt down by the Vandals ,
But Augustine’s monastery and library , -
Were left untouched by those barbarians !
Initially his body in Hippo was laid to rest ;
But according to historian Bede , around 720 AD,
Augustine’s body was finally rested at St Paul’s
Church in Pavia , Italy !
In 1303 he was declared Doctor of the Church by
the Roman Bishop Boniface , -
And was officially canonized as a Holy Saint !
HIS TOTAL WRITINGS :
In terms of his surviving works , Augustine was the
most prolific of Latin writers ;
Which consists of 117 books , some 500 holy
sermons , and around 200 letters !
Both his theological and philosophical works show ,
Platonic and Neo-platonic influences , - inclusive
of Aristotle , Virgil and Cicero !
Whereas Plato’s and Aristotle’s total works contain , -
Half a million and a million words respectively ;
Augustine uses around five million words for his
entire philosophy !
Amongst his most significant and enduring works are; -
His ‘Confessions’, ‘The City of God’, on ‘The Trinity’,
and ‘On the Christian Doctrine’ !
And amongst these , the first two are considered as
literary classics ,
And I will be highlighting two of these !
Augustine’s writings against the heresies of his time
are well known ;
And also on educational , moral and ethical issues , -
Inclusive of his writings on the salvation of the
human soul !
By reading his writings we try to delve Augustine’s
pious mind ,
Despite the yawning gap of sixteen centuries he has
left behind !
HIS “CONFESSIONS” ( 397 – 401 AD ) :
Augustine wrote his ‘Confessions’ after becoming
the Bishop of Hippo , -
Completing his twelve books in 401, spread over
a period of four year’s or so !
It is directly addressed to God in a style unique in
those days , -
Using the first nine books to admit his sins and
seek His forgiveness !
The last three books are a transition from auto-
biography to direct analysis , -
Of philosophical and theological issues relating to
the Christian faith, with due emphasis !
But his 11th Book deserves a special mention ,
Dealing with concept of 'Time' and God’s Creation !
Infinity and nothingness - were concepts alien to
the Greek mind ,
Yet God in ‘Genesis’ created the world from void -
with time !
Though God created Time along with His creation ,
He Himself is timeless and remains outside His
own creations !
Time is a subjective element of the human mind ;
As we measure its passing with the illusion of our
mind !
The past remains as our memory and the future as
our expectation ;
Yet both past and present are contained in our
present moment as sight , -
In all our visual contemplations !
Yet this present moment too , has no permanence
or dimensions !
Sir Bertrand Russell praised it as pure philosophy !
Since Augustine foreshadowed Descartes and Kant ,–
By treating Time subjectively !
'THE CITY of GOD ' (413 -429 AD) :
Perhaps the lengthiest of his single works -
and a great endeavor ;
Involving thirteen long years of his intellectual labor !
Remains as the finest example of Patristic literature !
It was a vindication of Christianity against the
heathen attacks , -
In view of the sacking of the city of Rome by the
barbarians !
It was the time when the Greco-Roman civilization
was witnessing its downfall ,
With the new Christian civilization rising from its
ruins , -
Emerging to stand firm and tall !
Rome which had not been sacked in 700 years ,
Had come to be known as the Eternal City , and
had no fears !
After it fell to Alaric in 410 AD , the Romans
blamed it on Christianity !
For Augustine the only ‘eternal city’ was the
‘City of God’ , -
That spiritual kingdom in Heaven , far removed
from the earthly sort !
The kingdom of the spirit awaits a true Christian
in that Heavenly City ,
Thus proceeds his progressive arguments in his
22 Books - systematically !
Augustine weaves aspects of philosophy , theology ,
politics and Western History within ,
Though these areas of learning never existed then -
as separate disciplines !
The classical pagan view held History to be cyclic , -
With some variations but mostly repetitive !
In keeping with the Judeo-Christian tradition , -
Augustine declared History to be linear ;
It was not cyclic and was rather dissimilar !
He quoted the Bible in defense with its linear
sweep , -
From the Genesis till the Apocalypse complete !
Thus History has a positive beginning with a
positive end ;
Let us prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgment !
One day man’s political ventures shall all end ,
Just as the great Roman Empire before their eyes fell !
But only 'myopic men' will blame the Christians , -
St Augustine had written and proclaimed !
Let me quote from the hymn I had once sung ,
In the morning chapel before the school begun ; -
“Kingdoms will rise , kingdom will fall ,
For nations refuse to hear the Lord’s call ;
But the word of God endures for evermore !”
Thus Augustine distinguishes between the
City of Men and the ‘City of God’ , -
Which is not a political but as a spiritual entity -
with the Lord !
HIS OTHER WORKS :
Augustine’s second largest work was on the
subject of ‘Trinity’ ,
Which was directed against the Arian controversy
of the 4th century !
Jesus was human and was made by the Father , -
the Arians said !
But the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit were
of ‘one substance’ - as per the Christian faith !
The Greek word for it was ‘homoousios’ ;
And this was adopted by the Council of Nicene
in 325 AD as unanimous !
Augustine wrote against the Manicheans , the
Donatists , the Arians and the Pelagians ;
And with his writings defended the Catholic
Church from those heretics and pagans !
HIS RELEVANCE :
A person should be judged in respect to his
time and age ,
To give us a proper perspective and his true worth
and relevance !
St Augustine was a transitional figure between the
Classical and the Medieval Age ;
Quoted extensively by philosophers , theologians ,
and later religious sages !
The figure of St Augustine towers like a giant colossus ,
Whose lengthening shadow falls beyond his Age , -
looming large !
Rather than formulating new dogmas for the Church ,
or new theologies ,
He valiantly defended the Faith from the repeated
onslaughts of the heretics !
Augustine unlike Aquinas , was neither a system builder,
nor an University teacher ;
But an isolated pious thinker and writer of his age ,
Searching for deeper allegorical meanings in the Bible , -
To interpret for us the Lord’s message !
That ‘Supreme Being’ of the Neoplatonists known as -
‘The ONE’ ,
Was named ‘GOD’ by Augustine , from Whom all
things begun !
And in doing so , St Augustine is said to have baptized -
the pagan Greek Plato !
His writings on the Theory of Knowledge , on the
problem of Evil , and Divine Grace ;
Had disarmed all the vacillating skeptics of his Age !
His theory of Creation from ‘nothing’ -‘Ex Nihilo’;
Is consistent with our Big Bang theory of today , -
as we know !
In his synthesis of Faith and Reason , and Religion with
Philosophy ,
He later inspired St Anselm to prove God’s existence , -
With arguments from cosmology !
Following him , Aquinas defines Sin , as “a word , deed
or desire ; anything that disobeys God’s will ;
As a privation of Good , and synonymous with evil !”
In his wealth of perception and dialectic sharpness
of thoughts ;
For religious fervor with which his greatness of aim
and action is wrought ;
Even after sixteen long centuries St Augustine is never
forgot !
Regarded as the greatest of Apologist Fathers of the
Patristic Age ,
And a leading Doctor of the Latin Church and a sage !
St Augustine shines bright in the firmament of the
nascent Church ,
Shedding his illuminating light from the Heavens
above ! ( To be continued , next being Part - III)
.............................................................................................
Thanks for reading ! From : Raj Nandy of New Delhi ,
the author .
Copyright ©
RAJNANDY
... [
2010-07-05 23:43:25]
(Date/Time posted on
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Re: MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY :PART - II -ON ST. AUGUSTINE
(User Rating: 1 )
by lovingcritters on
Wednesday, 7th July 2010 @ 08:05:40 AM AEST
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BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! Roses at your feet Raj...........this is a Masterpiece. You've worked at this for almost as long as St. Augustine did all of his works!*smiles*
It was Splendid! indeed. Perfect timing, perfect rhyming......very informative read. I had never known all these things about him, now I feel comfortable knowing them.
Thank you so much for sharing this marvelous account!
I look forward to your continued works. Very enlightening and with worth!
May you be blessed!
Warm love
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