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Augustine and Science
Science in the modern sense did not exist for Augustine, or indeed for any of his contemporaries, nor were the events of the material universe and the physical-temporal bodies located within it of any great importance to him. Nor was his purpose in writing the Confessions to explain the natural world, but rather to uphold the Truth (in the sense of absolute and eternal Truth as revealed by God) of the Bible and Christianity against its opponents, particularly the Manichean dualists. Augustine has no interest in the natural world in and of itself, or even any real curiosity about nature except as it turns the mind to reflection about the enteral nature of God and the soul (Confessions, 10.6). He rejects the pride, lust and vanity of the material world, including the pride that philosophers took on their wisdom and learning, in favor of following the example of Christ (10.42). All human beings really need to know is that Christ died for their sins and stands and a mediator between...
Of course, neither side in the argument can be faulted for having no knowledge of the Big Bang and evolution, which would have been impossible in the 5th Century. As Augustine understood these matters, the Bible stated that God created time, space and physicality, and originally only "form without matter" existed (Wills, 2011, p. 122). By an allegorical reading of Genesis, rather than what he regarded as a naive and literal one, God then went on to create light, eternal patterns (similar to Plato's Perfect Forms) and angels as the first beings with "created wisdom" (13.4). Light did not simply refer to stars or the visible spectrum, but spiritual enlightenment and eternal Truth, which can only be discovered internally, though intense reflection and introspection (13.12). Once again, for Augustine, any mention…
REFERENCES
Augustine (2006). Confessions. Penguin Classics.
Wills, G.A. (2011). Augustine's Confessions: A Biography. Princeton University Press.
" When these words of mine were repeated in Pelagius' presence at Rome by a certain brother of mine (an Episcopal colleague), he could not bear them and contradicted him so excitedly that they nearly came to a quarrel. Now what, indeed, does God command, first and foremost, except that we believe in him? This faith, therefore, he himself gives; so that it is well said to him, "Give what
Augustine's Confessions Q and a on Confessions What is Augustine confessing, why, and to whom? Augustine is confessing to God, because he was a public sinner and in order to justify himself as a Catholic it is necessary to confess and in this sense he is renouncing his old views and letting it be known to both God and man that he now believes as a Catholic. The Confessions is written to God,
It was not simply that his body did not obey his will and that he possessed a stronger spiritual and a physical will after his conversion, but that before his conversion his will was not fully sincere internally. He had not yet accepted God's grace, and submitted to God. Before he was converted he said: "the power of willing is the power of doing; and as yet I could
In Chapter 5, the great churchman informs us that Water is in fact an apt designation for the Divinity, better than any of the other elements. Water possess the unique properties of being more moveable than earth (though less movable than air) while at the same time being essential to the creation and sustaining of life, as in the way water must be added to the soil in order for
In Book Eleven, Augustine contemplates the possibilities that lay in wait upon his death, possibilities that surely would have come to fruition if he had not converted to Christianity, being damnation and eternal punishment at the hands of Satan and his hosts in Hell. In Part 16, Augustine poses the question, "But do I ever pass away? O. my soul, commit whatsoever you have to him, for at long last,
Augustine's main problem when it came to conceiving of the spiritual nature of God? What solution did he find? Before answering this question, it is important to clarify what exactly is meant by "spiritual nature of God." Many things could be meant by this phrase, but for the purposes of this essay, I stipulate that it refers to "any substance... other than that which the eyes normally perceive" (Conf., VII.i.1).