In the Medieval period, there were various philosophies and
sciences which primarily concerned with the elements of the world. Much of the
pursuit of knowledge pegged on understanding of the natural or physical,
rational or logical and moral or ethical principles to understand the visible things in the world. However, St. Augustine points out that only when
knowledge includes the nature of God that one can consider it as true
knowledge. That is why Philosophy, as seen in chapters 9, 10, and 11, is the
handmaid of theology.
In this context, Chapters 9, 10, and 11 in the eighth book of St.
Augustine’s ‘City of God’, stressed three important points, namely, Plato’s
philosophy as nearest to Christian faith, the primacy of Christian religion,
and how Plato approaches nearly to Christian knowledge. The logical connection
between these points revealed St. Augustine’s consistent conviction on the
truth of Christianity.
In Chapter 9, St. Augustine points out that the hallmark of a
philosophy that is nearest to Christian faith is one that concerns the Supreme
God who is the first principle of nature, the light that shines truth, and the
source of everything. St. Augustine
emphasizes that only those philosophers who have this orientation are the
partners of Christian faith even if they do not profess Christianity as their
religion.
Among many philosophies, St. Augustine singles out Plato’s
philosophy as nearest to Christian faith as it concerns on the Unchanging
nature of Supreme God, the cause of everything. Those other philosophers who mainly concern
their writings on the sciences of the visibility of things are in disagreement
with the Christian faith. Because of this, St.
Augustine preferred the Platonists and not the others. Their thoughts are in line with
Christianity. Thus, those who claim to
be Plationists have the same proximity to the faith. Their works and writings are better known. They have shed light to those who search for
truth. They portrayed the character of a true wise man.
According to Gyula Klima’s book entitled Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with
Commentary, for St. Augustine the
Platonic philosophers or the philosophers who have the same line of thought as
them entertained the idea of a God which had a similar description with the
Christian notion of God: the maker of all things, and the good in reference to
which things are to be done; that one has in Him the first principle of nature,
the truth of doctrine, and the happiness in life1. This notion of a God can be found in
Plato’s concept of immateriality which he considers to enshrine the fundamental
truth of the first principle or the Unchanging Cause of all things. This he implies that materiality present
in visible things is not the truth but only clues for the truth present in
immaterial and incorruptible things. While other philosophers busied themselves
in discovering the truth of the visible things, the Platonists, on the other
hand, rest their knowledge of truth in a Divine One, the source of everything.
In
Chapter 10, St. Augustine emphasizes that the Christian religion supersedes all
the science of philosophers. As stated in Gyula Klima’s book, Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with
Commentary, by knowing God, one can
already find the cause of all things, the light which truth is discovered, and
the source of happiness in one’s life2. His strong claim on this is evident in his
description of a Christian man who is not ignorant of the usual vanities and
the sciences of other philosophers. He believes that such man cannot be deceived as he is warned by
the precepts of the apostles. Though such man is not an expert of any philosophy or school of
philosophy, the grace that comes from a belief of a true Supreme God can save
him from falling into ignorance when he encounters the teachings of other
philosophers. His knowledge on the Scriptures or ecclesiastical literature in
Christian faith directs him to cling to the truth of the nature of God, and out
of a deep understanding of it realizes a blessed life.
St.
Augustine exemplifies a Christian man as a lover of God and the true wise man.
He finds the truth in God and unceasingly clings to God despite the presence of
vanities of thoughts in sciences and philosophies of other thinkers. By this,
St. Augustine stresses the supremacy of Christian Religion. Among philosophers
who study and discover truth of things in the world through investigation of
the natural, physical, logical, or moral principles of the causes of things
without reaching to a point of discovering God as the cause of all things are
not in agreement with Christianity. They are in the darkness of confusion and have not found the
fundamental truth that resides in God. They are not the true wise men. Therefore, a Christian man is the
true wise man because he glorifies God as the Supreme God, the light, the
author of the universe. The Christian religion is the true religion.
In Chapter 11, St.
Augustine stresses on some suppositions that could have influenced Plato and
his notions of a God who is unchangeable. Firstly, it not possible that Plato
met prophet Jeremiah and read prophetic scriptures not written in Greek. A careful calculation of dates would reveal that
Plato was born a hundred years after Jeremiah. This only meant that Plato neither met Jeremiah,
nor read scriptural writings.
Second, based on the first assertion, Plato, being an earnest
knower and philosopher, learned about the prophetic scriptures through an
interpreter. When he wrote about an
Unchanging God, the cause of all things, he might have read and learned Genesis
and other scriptural writings on creation. He might also knew or read something on the
scriptures a conversation of Moses to an angel. By such reading, Plato might have understood the
Unchanging nature of God in the part when the angel told Moses what God would
like him to say to the people of Israel. The word of God conveyed to Moses by
an angel goes like this: “I am who am; and thou shall say to the children of
Israel, He who is sent me to you.”
St. Augustine notes that this confirmed nature of God in the
Scriptures is what Plato commended and zealously held, which now explains why
his philosophy is near to Christian knowledge and not any other philosopher
before him. From these two suppositions, follows the third, that is, Plato also
considers a philosopher as a lover of God. In this notion, St. Augustine confirms that
Plato, indeed, was not ignorant of the prophetic scriptures of Christianity.
Based on the discussions of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters
of the eighth book of the “City of God,” Philosophy is considered a handmaid of
theology. But this philosophy is
not just any philosophy. To be more specific,
this philosophy essentially includes concerns on the nature of God as the cause
of everything, the Unchanging light for truth to be discovered, and the path
for the enjoyment of a blessed life.
Therefore, the hallmark of a true philosophy, being a handmaid of
theology, is one that leads man to love God. Through it, he will not fall into
vanities of many sciences and philosophies. St. Augustine stressed this when he
described the Christian man. Plato’s philosophy exemplifies this. It shows how philosophy becomes an instrument to
discover the truth of an Unchanging God through the visible things, through
scriptural writings, and through conversations with the learned.
From these, Plato contemplated on the immaterial and the invisible
realities and discovered the truth of God. Those who exemplified this in their lives are
the true wise men. In this context
too, St. Augustine raises the Christian religion as the true religion that
glorifies the Unchanging God. This is also the apex of every Christian man’s life: to love God above all.
Sources:
1. Gyula Klima, “Augustine on Ancient Philosophy”,
(USA: Blackwell Publications), In Medieval
Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary, 38.
2.
Gyula Klima, “Augustine on Ancient Philosophy”,
(USA: Blackwell Publications), In Medieval
Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary, 40.
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