Blessed Augustine. Aurelius Augustine - short biography

Augustine , Aurelius, blessed, bishop of Hippo, famous teacher of the church. The son of the pagan Patricius and the most pious Christian Monica, he was born. at Tagaste, in Numidia, November 13, 353 and d. at Ippona, in North Africa, August 28, 430. From Monica, he inherited his ardent, loving nature, and through her prayers he converted to Christianity. His early life was turbulent. When he received his primary education in his homeland, his ambitious father, flattered by his success, sent him, at the age of 16, to Carthage, where he studied for three years. There, Cicero's "Hortensius", now lost to us, aroused in him a love for the truth, and he began to study the Bible, but soon abandoned it, because he did not like its style. From this time until his conversion, he tirelessly tried to achieve the highest good, but failed, although he temporarily found satisfaction in various philosophical and religious schools. At first he was attracted to Manichaeism, and from 373-383 he was one of the "listeners", or catechumens, in that sect. But the immorality of the “chosen ones,” who were considered saints by the Manichaeans, and the superficiality of the system he noticed, plunged him for some time into skepticism, from which, however, Neoplatonism saved him. Meanwhile, he taught rhetoric in Tagaste and in Carthage, where in 380 he published his first work: “On the efficient and beautiful,” and in Rome. As a teacher, he was not particularly successful, and he could neither maintain proper order among the students, nor earn money; and yet he showed his teaching ability to such an extent that Symmachus, the prefect of Rome, found it possible to send him to Mediolanum when he was asked to recommend someone to teach rhetoric. There he met St. Ambrose, and under his influence converted to Christianity (in September 386), being 32 years old, and was baptized in Mediolanum on the eve of Easter, April 25, 387. Monica died on the way home, in Ostia; and the sorrow caused to him by this is touchingly poured out in his Confession. Having given away everything that was left to him from his mother, on his return to Tagast he indulged in an ascetic life; but from 391 he was elected a priest to the church in Hippo-Regius, and in 395 he became an assistant to Bishop Valerius, and soon after, a bishop. If the first period of his life was marked by various adventures that testified to a vague search for truth, then in its last period he appears before us as a great teacher of the church. From his diocese, he waged a relentless struggle against various heresies. Manicheans and Donatists, Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians fell under his blows; and the writings which he composed in the midst of these controversies gave him immortality, and gave the tone and direction to all subsequent theology of the Western Church. Two of his creations are especially remarkable: "Confession", in which he most humbly and frankly, with full recognition of all his sinful passions, surveys his life until the very time of his conversion; so that this book is at the same time a source of deep religious edification, and the most reliable autobiography - and "On the City of God", in which he showed that the Church of Christ must survive the destruction of Rome, and thus gave consolation to those who, together with blj. Jerome, mournfully exclaimed: “Who will be saved when Rome falls”? The last years of Augustine's life were extremely disturbing. He saw the Vandals overrun North Africa and had to lead the desperate defense of Ippon. But God, in His mercy, took him to Himself before the city fell, and thus delivered him from the greatest affliction. At the beginning of the 16th century, his remains were transferred from Ippon to Sardinia; at the beginning of the XVIII century. Liutprand, king of the Lombards, buried them in the church of St. Peter in Pavia, where they remained until October 12, 1841, when the Bishop of Pavia formally handed them over to the Bishop of Algeria, who transferred them to Ippon, near present-day Bona, and buried them there in a church dedicated to his memory, on October 30, 1841.

Blessed Augustine himself is the source of all our information about his sinful life before his conversion to Christianity. Being sixteen years old, he joined the company of dissolute youth (Confession, 2, 4, 9); and, not yet nineteen years old, was already the father of a son Adiodate (God-given) from his concubine (4, 2, 2). For twelve years they lived together, being faithful to each other; and Augustine says that his heart "wounded and bruised and bled" when he had to send her back to Africa because she was a hindrance to his lawful marriage (Es 6:15:25; cf. 14). , 23). But his bride was two years short of marriageable age, and Augustine, finding this delay unbearable, took another concubine, and maintained this new relationship until thirty-three years old, until the hand of the Lord Christ finally freed him from the temptations of the flesh, and the light of the Gospel did not illuminate his heart. It was profoundly instructive for Christendom that the greatest teacher of the Western Church was at first a slave of sin; for after his conversion he was able to instruct and strengthen his brethren, as one who has learned by long and bitter experience that he who sins against God does evil to his own soul. But, judging about him, we must remember that at that time he was still a pagan, and, judging by the pagan level of morality, relatively innocent. After his conversion, he not only gave up all illegal relationships, but devoted himself entirely to a lonely life, for the sake of the kingdom of God, and never broke his vow.

Blessed Augustine is one of the teachers of the universal Church. He is equally revered by all Christian denominations, and especially by the denominations of the Western Church, where Roman Catholicism competes in this respect with Protestantism. It was at the same time the greatest preacher, who quickly composed his sermons; and if many of his creations were written for a deliberate purpose, still more of them appeared as the result of a momentary inspiration, and as an expression of a present need. Although he was not a scholar like the blessed Jerome, because he knew little Greek, and did not know Hebrew at all, he had a deeper spiritual understanding of the Holy Scriptures than any of the Western teachers of the church. For all his shortcomings, he deservedly enjoys the respect of the Christian world. Rarely has anyone come out in defense of the truth with greater determination and fearlessness; rarely has anyone been more exalted in spirit. The joy of a mother at the conversion of her son to Christianity resonated throughout the Christian world when it became known that Augustine had dedicated his brilliant mind and miraculous abilities to the service of Christ. To understand Augustine means to understand the entire previous history of philosophy and theology, and at the same time the reasons for the subsequent successes of Christianity in the West. Thus, it is an expression of the dividing line between the persecuted church and the victory church. He ended the first period, and began a new period in its development.

In the field of theology, Blessed Augustine completed an entire era: he ended the controversy about the Trinity and Christology and, by putting forward questions of anthropology, opened up new paths for theological thought. Let us briefly outline the main features of his theology, which, it should be noted, was always distinguished by a more critical than theoretical character. Having established a firm and definite doctrine of the Holy Trinity and of Christ, Bless. Augustine was particularly concerned with anthropological questions, that is, questions about man's relationship to God. This includes primarily questions about sin and grace. In the doctrine of sin, Bl. Augustine, trying to eliminate both Manichaean and Pelagian one-sidedness, especially insisted on the infirmity caused to man by sin, and, as far as possible, limited the freedom of man. Evil, according to him, is the deprivation, denial and weakening of any spiritual force, especially the will; good is positive, and is the fruit of God's activity. He allows only such freedom of choice as is absolutely necessary in order to deflect from God the charge of causing evil. During the fall, man made a bad choice, and its consequences became hereditary. And yet man has the possibility of attaining salvation, since his natura is not in itself criminal, but only corrupted; the mind fell into ignorantia, and the will into infirmitas. In Adam the human race had some pre-existence; and thus, when he fell, the whole human race also fell. Sin is a constant inclination in man, essentially evil, striving towards alienation from God. Such a teaching is opposed to the Pelagian idea of ​​equilibrium, the ability to take one direction or another. Sin, which gravitates over the whole race, is involved in every single person. Punishment and guilt are therefore hereditary. But a person can be freed from these consequences of sin with the help of grace. Contrary to the Pelagians, who put forward the possibility of salvation by man's own efforts, Blessed. Augustine insisted on the absolute necessity of grace as a saving force. Grace, according to his teaching, is certainly necessary: ​​a) for the very beginning of the saving process, i.e. for arousing saving faith and good deeds in a person, and b) for the continuation and final completion of the work of salvation, i.e. for continuation and consolidation in a man of faith and good deeds. Grace acts irresistibly, although it does not deprive a person of the freedom of self-determination. The process of salvation consists of the interaction of grace and freedom, the purpose of which is the destruction of sin in man, the guilt for sin and the punishment for it. The main conditions for the feasibility of this process: faith and good deeds, as a result of the grace-filled healing of the mind and will of fallen man. But this process is based on divine predestination. Although Blessed Augustine attached great importance to predestination as an act of divine wisdom, he did not attach unconditional significance to this predestination until the exclusion of any independent activity of human freedom. At this point, the teaching of Bl. Augustine was subjected to various rumors, especially from the Reformed. But in reality, he expresses only such a doctrine of predestination, which does not go beyond the boundaries of Orthodox theology, which is quite clear from a comparison of his teaching with the teaching of the Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs. Based on this comparison, Professor L. Pisarev in his dissertation on Blessed Augustine says directly that "Augustine's teaching can be accepted as an example of true Orthodox Christian teaching" (p. 356). Concluding his research, the same scientific researcher defines the meaning of blj. Augustine as a theologian: “By developing his teaching, mainly in opposition to the errors of the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians, Blessed Augustine first of all rendered a service to Christianity in the sense that by his teaching he undermined the basic principles of the worldview of his opponents to the very root. He proved that Pelagianism in particular concealed in its fundamental propositions a heresy which was in complete contradiction to the fundamental points of Christian doctrine. Together with this purely negative merit, he rendered a positive service to Christian science with his teaching. He undoubtedly took a step forward in the disclosure of Christian anthropological teachings. The fact is that before him only the main points of this doctrine were outlined. It was expressed by the fathers of the previous time only in the form of fragmentary judgments without any, at least visible, relation to the general system of Christian dogma. As for blj. Augustine, he was the first in the history of Christian theological science to engage in a more detailed elucidation of the anthropological doctrine and presented the entire group of anthropological views of Christianity in the form of an integral and harmonious world outlook. From this it is clear why it is precisely in the anthropological teaching of the famous Bishop of Hippo that the loud glory and fame that are usually associated with his name are predominantly contained. “In the name of blj. Augustine, - says Ritter, - first of all, everyone imagines his disputes with the Pelagians, during which he revealed the doctrine of the relation of divine grace to human freedom. It should be noted that the merits of Blessed Augustine in this respect can be compared with the merits of the great fathers and teachers of the Eastern Church, such as: St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Gregory Nyssky. Just as these latter were representatives of the theological and philosophical disclosure of the true Christian teaching of the Eastern Church during its struggle with various heretical false teachings, so were Blessed. Augustine was the pillar and bulwark of the Western Church during its struggle against the false teachings of the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians. Just as the former created the theological part of Christian dogma in the struggle against heresies, so the latter created the anthropological part of this dogma in the struggle against the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians.

Blessed Augustine did not confine himself to fighting heresies and schisms. He understood that the main enemy of Christianity is paganism, on the soil of which the tares of heresies and schisms grow, and therefore decided to deal a decisive blow to him, which he did in his famous work “On the City of God” - De Civitate Dei. This work is one of the greatest apologetic works of the ancient church, and above it Blessed. Augustine worked for 14 whole years - from 413 to 426. The reason for compiling it was the defeat of Rome by Alaric in 410 and the task of blzh. Augustine had to refute the complaints of the pagans that all the disasters that the Roman Empire had to experience at that time was due to Christians, because of the anger at which the gods, who created the greatness of Rome, took away their protection from him. The situation was really terrible. The collapse of the world power of Rome produced extraordinary confusion among the peoples, since with the decline of Rome the whole ancient world fell and a new world was born with unimaginable torments, which still did not promise anything definite and only aroused vague fears and weak hopes. It was necessary, one way or another, to understand the confusions of such an epoch, and Blessed Augustine gave a great experience in clarifying the fate of the historical life of mankind in the said creation, giving a soothing explanation of the historical upheavals experienced and setting out general principles for understanding the ways of God's dispensation in history. From this side, the creation of “On the City of God” has a philosophical and historical character, so it is not without reason that Blessed. Augustine is called the "father of the philosophy of history". The main idea of ​​creation is that the whole world is one great kingdom, the ruler of which is God, who arranges everything according to His great grace and wisdom; but this kingdom, due to human sinfulness, broke up into two completely different cities - the earthly city and the heavenly city, of which the first is dominated by the desire for earth and flesh, and the second - to heaven and spirituality. There is a constant struggle between these cities, which explains various historical vicissitudes, and at times the earthly city takes precedence over the heavenly city. But this is only a temporary triumph, which will end with the complete victory of the heavenly city, and then the full kingdom of God will be established on earth. - This creation is generally replete with deep philosophical and historical thoughts, which make the study of it very fruitful not only for the theologian, but also for any historian.

Blessed memory. Augustine in the West on August 28, in the East and here on June 15 (according to Philar. and Serg.). His name is not, however, neither in the Prologue nor in Thu.-Min. (Makar. and Dm. Rost.), nor in general in the ancient Slavic-Russian menologions (not in the Synod. M. 1891 either). In the Greek verse synaxaries, it is shown under June 15, under this number it is also listed in the Synaxarist of Nikodim (1819), with the following inscription: “ Μνήμη σου ἐν Ἀγίοις Πατρος ἡμῶν Ἀυγουστίνου, Επισκόπου Ἱππώνος ”, a verse (couple) is given to him and his life is summarized in a note. From Synax. Nicodemus, Bishops Philaret and Sergius introduced the name of Blessed. Augustine in his Monthly Books, without any instructions regarding the honoring of his memory in the East.

The writings of Blessed Augustine can be divided into a) autobiographical, which includes "Confessions", "Corrections", and "Letters"; b) polemical: treatises against the Manicheans, Donatists, Pelagians and semi-Pelagians; c) dogmatic: "Enchiridion", and other theological treatises; d) exegetical: "Commentary" on a significant part of the Bible; f) practical: sermons and moral treatises. The best edition of the works of Augustine is the Benedictine, Paris, 1679-1700, in 11 vols. folio, reprinted by Gome, Paris, 1836-39, in 11 vols., and Mines, Paris, 1841, 10 vols.; 2nd ed., 1863, 11 volumes. The most important of his works were translated into Russian at the Kyiv Theological Academy (in eight parts 1879-1895).

"Confession" is an autobiography of the Blessed One. Augustine until his return to Africa (388), and in his "Corrections" (427) his entire literary life is surveyed. His pupil, Possidius, c. 432, wrote the first Vita Sancti Augustini published by the Benedictines (Tom. X, Appendix, pp. 257-280), together with his own biography (Tom. XI, pp. 1-492, in Ming Tom. I, pp. 66- 578). A detailed biography of Blessed. Augustine, see Op. Farrara, The Life and Works of the Fathers and Teachers of the Church, trans. A. P. Lopukhin.

Concerning the theology of St. Augustine, see the detailed study A. Dorner: Augustinus, sein theologisches System und seine religions-philosophische Anschauung, Berlin, 1873, For Augustine's philosophy see Nourrison: La philosophie de Saint Augustin, 2d ed. Paris, 1866, 2 vols.; Prof. Erneste Naville: St. Augustin, Geneva, 1872; J. Storz: Die Philosophie des heiligen Augustinus, Freiburg im Br., 1882. - In Russian the most famous works in literature: Arch. Sergius. "Teaching of the Blessed. Augustine in connection with the circumstances of his life. (Readings in the society of any spiritual enlightenment, 1887, p. 431). M. Krasin. Creation blzh. Augustine "De civitate Dei, as an apology for Christianity in the fight against paganism", doctoral. dissertation Rodnikov N. prof. kaz. spirit. acad. "Teaching of the Blessed. Augustine on the relationship between church and state in comparison with the teachings of the fathers, teachers and writers of the church of the first four centuries and of the medieval, that is, critical theologians of the Western Church. Kazan, 1897 Prince Trubetskoy, “The religious and moral ideal of Western Christianity in the 5th century. Part I Augustine. Moscow. 1892. Skvortsov, “Blzh. Augustine as a Psychologist” (Proceedings of the Kiev Spiritual Acad. 1870. No. 4-6). D. Gusev, prof. "The Anthropological Views of Blessed. Augustine in connection with the teaching of Pelagianism ”(Orthodox Interlocutor, 1874. No. 7, pp. 271-334). L. Pisarev, "The Teaching of Blessed Augustine on Man in His Relation to God". Kazan. 1894. A. P. Lopukhin, Ways of Providence of God in the history of mankind. The experience of the philosophical and historical substantiation of the views of Blessed Augustine and Bossuet. Ed. 2nd. SPb. 1898.

* Alexander Ivanovich Ponomarev,
master of theology, professor
Kyiv Theological Academy.

Text source: Orthodox theological encyclopedia. Volume 1, column. 102. Edition Petrograd. Appendix to the spiritual magazine "Wanderer" for 1900. Spelling is modern.

AUGUSTINE AURELIUS THE Blessed (Augustinus Sanctus) (354-430) - and a thinker, a representative of mature patristics, who showed significant influence both in the formation of the Christian spiritual canon and in the development of Western culture as a whole. St. Augustine is perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after the apostle Paul.

His memory is commemorated:

• Russian Orthodox Church on June 15 (28).
• Catholic Church - 28 August.

Biography of Augustine the Blessed

Augustine the Blessed was born in the Roman outback of Numidia (today it is the territory of Algeria) in the family of a medium-sized landowner and idolater Patricia and Christian Monica. Under the influence of Monica, the husband shortly before his death was baptized and converted to Christianity.

Augustine had at least one brother or sister, but he was the only one who received an education, as parents often had to borrow money to pay for their son's education.

At first he studied in his native city, then went to Carthage, the greatest city of Roman Africa. Augustine Aurelius received a liberal education and taught rhetoric. He began teaching in Carthage and did it at the highest level.

At the same time in Carthage, he wrote his first short philosophical book, which, unfortunately, has not come down to us. At the age of 28, the restless and ambitious Augustine left Africa to make a career in Rome. He did not teach there for long, as he was soon appointed as a professor of rhetoric at Milan, which at that time was the residence of the emperor and the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire.

He was fond of the works of Hortensius and Cicero, and was also a supporter of Manichaeism, a religious doctrine based on a specific understanding of the Bible. I lost interest in this doctrine after meeting with its spiritual leader, who could not answer his questions regarding some planes of understanding the Bible and God.

Soon Augustine Aurelius became interested in Neoplatonism and especially the idea of ​​God as an immaterial transcendent Being. Interest in theology was also fueled by the fact that in the course of analyzing the rhetorical aspects of various sermons, and in particular the sermons of Bishop Ambrose of Milan, Augustine became imbued with Christian doctrine.

The key moment that persuaded Augustine to accept the Christian Faith was his acquaintance with

In 387, at the age of thirty-two, Augustine Aurelius was baptized by Ambrose, thereby joining his mother's religion.

Augustine's career in Milan, however, did not work out. The collapse of the career of Augustine Aurelius in Milan was associated with an increase in his religiosity. All his works since that time were imbued with Christian ideas. After 2 years, he left his teaching position in Milan and returned to his hometown with his wife and son. Soon his wife left him for a lower-class lover. Some time later, his teenage son died. The departure of his wife and the death of his son devastated him, and therefore Augustine, at the age of 36, went as a junior priest in the seaside city of Hippo. Hippo was a trading city, poor and uncultured. He soon founded a monastic community at Hippo, where he was bishop for the next thirty-five years. Over time, the small monastery developed into a respected theological seminary.

Augustine the Blessed argued a lot with Manichaeism, as well as with Donatism and Pelagianism. He often participated in public disputes in which he defended the Christian canons. The years of the life of Augustine the Blessed after his adoption of Christianity are considered exemplary Christian ministry.

In Orthodoxy, Augustine Aurelius is recognized blessed, in Catholicism - Saints and Doctor of the Church.

• Order of Canons-Observants (Augustinian Canons)
• Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine (Augustinian Brethren)
• Assumptionists
• Augustine women's monastic congregations.

His books were widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean. Despite his fame, Augustine died in poverty. However, his lifetime habit of cataloging and categorizing his books led to the fact that almost all of his legacy has come down to our time.

Works of Augustine the Blessed.

The works of Augustine the Blessed are distinguished by a concentration of ideas. Even if only one of his works survived to our time, we would still consider him the greatest Christian theologian. Moreover, almost all of his works have come down to us. And this is more than five million words. Augustine the Blessed was a true master of the word. His texts have a rare power - they attracted and inspired his contemporaries, but they have no less influence on us.

His theological style is perhaps second only to the Bible itself in imagery. His works are still highly relevant today. He had a unique gift for writing both at a high theoretical level for the most demanding readers, and to create fiery sermons for less sophisticated readers.

The literary and theological heritage of Augustine the Blessed is great. It includes at least 224 letters, about 500 sermons, pre-Christian and Christian writings. The most famous are the following works of Augustine the Blessed.

• Confession,
• About the city of God
• Against academics (skeptics),
• About blessed life
• About order,
• Monologues
• On the immortality of the soul
• About the quantity of the soul
• About the teacher
• About the music
• About true religion
• On the Benefits of Faith
• About free will
• Against Faust,
• About the spirit and the letter.

The most significant works of Augustine the Blessed are "Confession" (ca. 400) and "On the City of God" (ca. 413-426).

Philosophy and teachings of St. Augustine

If we analyze the philosophical positions of Augustine the Blessed, then we can characterize him as a creator who adapted the philosophical traditions of the Latin world that existed at that time to the Christian ideas that appeared not so long ago. He created a synthesis of the Christian, Roman and Platonic traditions, thereby determining the further development of the entire European philosophical tradition.

The ideas of Augustine the Blessed had a very significant impact on the formation of the Christian theological canon. The authority of his personality in matters of theology and philosophy was total - up to the Thomistic paradigm. The tradition of Augustinism within the framework of medieval scholasticism largely determined the philosophical development of Europe for many more centuries. Thus, Augustine the Blessed is one of the founders dogmatic theology.

Here is one example to support this argument.

In his treatise "On the Trinity", written in 399-419, Augustine the Blessed sets forth the texts of Holy Scripture, on the basis of which the Nicene Creed is constituted. St. Augustine's interpretation of the problem of the Trinity is as follows:

the correlation of the Divine hypostases (the essence of the Trinity) is based on immanent inner dialogue of self-contemplation and self-knowledge, communication and love. The essence of God is realized in the process of this dialogue.

This interpretation of the Trinity gave rise to the development of the emotional and psychological component of Christianity. For philosophy, this was the birth of the traditions of immanentism and dialogism.

The most important point in the teaching of Augustine the Blessed is also the concept correlation of faith and rational knowledge. Faith, according to St. Augustine, is

the foundation of all knowledge.

In support of this concept, Augustine says:

“... will the teacher try to explain the dark places in Virgil, if he does not first believe in the significance of Virgil. In the same way, the reader of the Holy Scriptures must believe in their authority before he learns to understand them.”

Based on Biblical Statement

Augustine the Blessed cites as a basis for this the presumption "I believe in order to understand". This idea has become the programmatic canon of Christian orthodoxy in relation to the problem of the correlation of faith with rational criticism.

The polemical writings of Augustine Aurelius, created as a criticism of Manichaeism and Pelagianism, are a huge step in the development Christian exegetical tradition, since the controversy is reduced to the interpretation of fragments of the Bible.

The treatise of Augustine the Blessed "On the Book of Genesis verbatim", written in 401-414, is considered a masterpiece of exegetical literature. Treatise "On Christian Doctrine" can be considered as a guide to the interpretation of the Bible.

In interpreting the very nature of philosophical knowledge, Augustine the Blessed worked in line with the Roman tradition " applied" approach to philosophy. Augustine the Blessed creates a conceptual model of the universe, the basis of which is the doctrine of God as a “perfect Being”.

An important point in the philosophy of St. Augustine is the idea of ​​the possibility of deriving the existence of God as absolute from the self-reliance of human thinking. Augustine the Blessed constitutes the idea of ​​“potentials” originally created by God, at the “opportune time” acquiring the status of actual being, i.e. "seed logoi" as a kind of fertilizing meanings. This approach anticipates modern philosophy.

Views of Augustine the Blessed.

The views of Augustine the Blessed are set out on thousands of pages. He is known in the Christian tradition as grace teacher. Here his point of view is interesting. external and inner grace. St. Augustine considers grace necessary to restore human nature that has been damaged. The healing of a person and his will, according to Augustine Aurelius the Blessed, can only come from Christ.

Augustine the Blessed believes that the salvation of man depends only on the action of God's grace in the human heart. Here the theologian introduces his famous categories based on the assertion of the freedom of the human will. failure to sin and the ability not to sin.

The views of Augustine the Blessed on the historical process are also interesting, the concept of which is given as a doctrine of two cities - earthly and heavenly. The earthly city is based on self-love and is personified in a figure. The city of heaven is based on love for God and is personified in the image of Abel. History, on the other hand, is seen as a process whose goal is to achieve "eternal peace in God." Then the "church militant" will turn into a "church triumphant."

Thus, the views of Augustine of the Blessed are based on the gospel understanding of merciful love - the highest form of development of a person's sensory potential. Only such love can give meaning to other manifestations of a person - language and thinking.

At the same time, St. Augustine reflects the acuteness and conventions of human existence, focused on the individual experience of a person. His Christian stands alone before God, he is imprisoned in his body and his soul is painfully aware of this. Man does not know himself until God deigns to show him his essence, and even then there is no certainty of knowledge. His views on sexuality and the place of women in society are also rooted in the loneliness and fear of man before his father and God.

The influence of St. Augustine in the Middle Ages can hardly be overestimated. Thousands of his manuscripts were in the libraries of Europe and Africa, in some large libraries there were several hundred of his books, more than any other writer.

In contact with

Classmates

Augustine was born in the city of Tagaste in North Africa (on 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 Holy Scripture 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 rough language and primitive way of thinking of this document. Continuing his spiritual search, he turned to. As an ardent follower, Augustine arrived in Rome in 383, where, with the help of the Manichaeans, he organized a school of rhetoric. But gradually he became disillusioned with Manichaeism as well. In the course of this disillusionment, Augustine leans towards skepticism(in his academic version of Arcesilaus and Carneades). From Rome, he moved to Mediolan (Milan), where he became 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 ideologue of the dogma, Augustine began to study Plotinus' Enneads (in Latin translation, because he knew little Greek), some works of Porfiry. He also delved into the works of Plato (primarily Meno, Timaeus and Phaedo). Augustine overcame his skepticism in such philosophical works written in 386-387 as "Against Academics"("Contra academicos"), i.e. skeptics, "Blessed Life"("De beata vita") - about the way 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 in the Christian church, an inexorable 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. them, gave many of his biographers reason to call Augustine "the hammer of heretics" and see in him the earliest forerunner of the Catholic Inquisition of the Middle Ages.

The huge literary heritage of Augustine includes several philosophical works, which 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 relation 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 Augustine's religious autobiography. Describing his life from childhood and not hiding many of his vices, the largest Christian thinker, later ranked by the Catholic Church to the face of saints x, sought to show in this work how religious quests led him to Christianity, which elevated him morally and answered all his ideological needs. The immediate purpose of the Augustinian Confession is to encourage other pagans, especially from among the educated upper classes, to convert to Christianity. The most significant for the history of philosophy are the last three (out of thirteen) books of this work. Of the subsequent works of Augustine, a treatise should be called "About the Trinity"(“De Trinitate”, 400–416), which gives a systematic exposition 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, under the impression of 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 c. 426 Shortly before his death, he finished "Corrections"(“Retractationes”), in which he gave a summary of his main views, along with amendments in the orthodox Catholic spirit, is a kind of spiritual testament of Augustine.

Augustine systematized the Christian worldview, seeking to present it as a holistic and the only true teaching. The need for this kind of systematization was connected with the struggle of the church against numerous heretical movements that were destroying its unity. The Church, which portrayed its mission as the realization of a direct instruction from God, could not agree to the existence in its bosom of several warring trends (which, in the end, would have received organizational consolidation). Therefore, the unity of faith and organization for the Christian (and indeed 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 upper classes of Roman society.

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

Philosophy of Augustine Aurelius

Religious-philosophical system of Augustine, on the one hand, represents the result of the assimilation of some fundamental principles of Platonism and Neoplatonism, acceptable for Christian doctrine and used to deepen it philosophically, and on the other hand, the result of the rejection and overcoming of those principles that are completely unacceptable to him. 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 the main content of human life, he saw this happiness in man's knowledge of God and in the understanding of his complete dependence on him. “Love for yourself, brought to contempt for yourself as a sinful being, is love for God, and love for yourself, brought to contempt for God, is a vice”[On the City of God, XIV]. Religious worldview of Augustine through and through theocentric. God, as the starting and ending 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 model 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 can lead to the conclusions of pantheism, to the idea of ​​the unity of God and the world. Chief among these preconditions is doctrine of emanation, through which the world is successively radiated by god, it replaces creationist christianity. And this attitude meant the presence of a purely dualism of God and the world. He asserted the supranaturalistic, supernatural existence of God, who is absolutely independent of nature and man. On the contrary, they are completely dependent on God.

In contrast to Neoplatonism, which considered 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 him, 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."

Creationism of Augustine, developing into fatalism- the complete and direct dependence of nature and man on God, led to concepts of "continuous creation"("geatio continua"), according to which God does not for a single moment leave his care over the world. If God, writes Augustine, “takes away from things his, so to speak, productive power, then they will not be the same as they were not 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 Augustinism, 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 proposition about the incomprehensibility of the absolute primary unity and the mystical way 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 of divine creativity. Among these beings, first of all, such incorporeal beings as angels and human souls were created - immediately in their finished 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 their view of pagan mythology about the eternal existence of souls, also 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 to be an absolutely formless and passive substratum. 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 heavenly bodies, like angels and human souls, were created in a finished form once and for all.

From this it is clear 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 such beings that grow and develop during a significant part of their life. Such are plants, animals, human bodies. To explain their origin and growth, Augustine used the Stoic doctrine of 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-son, or the logos-word, as the self-consciousness of God the Father and as that “let there be”, as a result of which the world appeared. But God spoke these sacred 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 are contained in his mind.

Augustine definitively Christianized Platonism: ideas from independent, incorporeal and unchanging kinds of being turned into the eternal thoughts of the creator god. From the point of view of Augustinian-Christian Platonism, all things, weighed down by matter and therefore approaching non-existence, are very imperfect copies of divine ideas. Everything exists, as it were, on two planes: on the plane of the eternal thoughts-ideas of the divine mind and on 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 world of nature appears, first of all, as the opposition between the eternal and unchanging supreme being and the continuously changing world of transient things.

eternity and time

The theologian answered the questions of those who doubted that God created the world at once, in a short period of time, and expressed his doubts in the question: a what did God do before that?

In answering the questions of these imaginary opponents of the Old Testament, Augustine developed considerations that acquired interest outside of theology as well. The philosopher was aware of 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 stumped” [Confession, XI, 14, 17]. The Christian thinker constantly cries out to God and prays to enlighten him in such a difficult matter.

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 creation simultaneously with it. Having created transient things, God also created the measure of their change.

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

For the metaphysical-anti-dialectical worldview of Augustine, it is extremely characteristic reduction of both the past and the future to the present. But for him, even more characteristic is the desire to "stop" his rapid run. In the real world, this cannot be done. But this feature is precisely the most important attribute of a divine being. Being the source of time, God does not experience any “before” and no “later”, because in the world of his thoughts-ideas everything is 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. The Augustinian opposition of the absolute eternity of God and the constant changeability of the material and human world has become 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 for a minute forget 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 is to relieve the supreme god-creator of responsibility for evil reigning in the world he created. This was a paramount task, given how influential the Manichaean movement was, which captured at one time and the future ideologist of the Western Christian Church.

In his struggle against Manichaeism, Augustine turned to the principles of Neoplatonism. The neo-Platonic concept of evil as a negative degree of good the theologian agreed with his fundamental creationist attitude. Based on the texts of the Holy Scriptures, which speak of the kindness of the supreme creator, he proves that everything he created is in one way or another involved in this absolute kindness. After all, God, creating things, imprinted in them a certain measure, weight and order. Since, according to the Augustinian-Platonic view, he was guided by his ideas-thoughts as the highest models for any of the created things, they contain one or another extraterrestrial image. And no matter how it is distorted 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 all 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.

Takova 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 complain about evil, but to thank the Almighty for the good that he captured in the world.

Man and soul. Knowledge and will

Dematerialization of the human spirit and denaturalization of man, characteristic of religious philosophy, starting with Philo, reaches its climax with Augustine. Even the organic world he deprives of animation, here he decisively differs 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 beings, to some extent resembles a god. The human soul is a rational soul. In contrast to Neoplatonic panpsychism, which proceeds from the eternity of souls and their cosmic circulation, the Christian philosopher recognizes their eternity only after they have been created by God. In such a fantastic form was formulated the idea of ​​individuality, spiritual uniqueness of each person.

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

Thanks to the activity of memory, events that overwhelm human life do not disappear into non-existence, but are preserved, as it were, in a huge receptacle, which, however, does not have any spatial arrangement. And this, according to Augustine, testifies precisely to 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 by no means in the body. The originality of the thinker lies in the fact that he sees this essence of the soul not so much in its rational-thinking activity, but in its volitional activity. The activity of a human being is not manifested in the fact that a person thinks - here he acts rather as a being, passively reflecting objects (ideas) that are outside his consciousness (in God). Augustine also emphasized this attitude in Platonism. But, having broken with the intellectualism of this trend (as well as 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 relentless 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 these searches. From such positions knowing God and loving him is a twofold process.

The promotion of the irrational factor of human personality and activity, as he considers the factor of will, to the fore is associated with Augustine assertion of free will. Augustine, deepening this Christian line of irrationalization of the human spirit, sees its essence not simply in the will, but in the free will.

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

The ratio of faith and reason

The predominance of irrational-volitional factors over rational-logical factors in the sphere of cognition itself is expressed in superiority of faith over reason. This superiority is manifested primarily in the prevailing power of religious authority over human reason. Faith in the divine authority, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, Augustine proclaimed the basis and main source of human knowledge. The sin committed by Adam and Eve and transmitted to all mankind irreparably distorted the human mind, seriously weakened its strength. Since then, the human mind must necessarily seek its support in divine revelation. According to the famous formula of Augustine (proclaimed in one of his letters) - "Believe to Understand" Faith must precede understanding. The previous "fathers of the church" looked for the content of faith, divine revelation only in the Bible. Augustine proclaimed that the authority of the Church as the only and never mistaken interpreter of it is the final authority of all truth. This position of Bishop Hippo reflected the situation that had developed as a result of 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 is drawn from two sources: personal experience and knowledge received from other people, the philosopher focused on second source, more significant and richer, calling it faith. But he draws the wrong conclusion by identifying faith in what one learns from other people with religious faith in church-sanctified authorities.

The general result of the Augustinian solution of the problem of the relationship between faith and reason is belittling the mind who, without the help of Christian revelation, is incapable of substantiating, in essence, a single truth. The deprivation of the mind of independence in the process of cognition is characteristic of all his teachings.

Ways to overcome skepticism and apriorism. The doctrine of supernatural illumination

Disillusioned with Manichaeism, Augustine shared the view of the skeptics for some time. But having become a theoretician of Christian doctrine, he could no longer share these views, the edge of which in late antiquity was turned primarily against various religious dogmatic statements. From here Augustine's struggle against skepticism. We meet her in his essay "Against Academics" (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 one consists in the categorical assertion that the truth cannot be found, and the second one 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 by no means reliable knowledge. But if the latter is impossible, if genuine truth is impossible, says the Christian critic of skepticism, then how can one speak of probabilistic, i.e., plausible knowledge, since the undoubted, certain truth must serve as a measure of this plausibility? Such a truth and even a whole system of truths are given in the Christian doctrine.

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

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

Antisensualist position Augustine means for him the complete isolation of human consciousness from the outside world (when it comes to 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 inside a person” [On True Religion, XXXIX, 72].

If we rely only on sensory knowledge and see in it the real knowledge of the world, then it is impossible to overcome skepticism, we can only strengthen it. Another thing is the area of ​​human consciousness itself, in the presence of which we cannot have any doubts. Only by relying on it can we overcome any 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 bowels, a person finds there such a content that is completely independent of the external world, meanwhile, is inherent in all people. It only seems to people that they draw in the external world what they actually find in the depths of their own spirit. Abandoning the Platonic idea of ​​the pre-existence of souls, Augustine fully preserved idea of ​​a priori, absolute independence from experience the most important and profound content of human knowledge. The concepts of numbers and geometric shapes, the ethical concepts of goodness, justice, love, etc., the norms of human behavior, aesthetic concepts, the laws of dialectics (i.e., logic) - they are all inexperienced.

The concepts of numbers, for example, do not exist at all because there are things that can be counted, but the very counting of them becomes possible because we have 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. All these concepts are known inside your soul directly, intuitively. But if the soul did not exist from the beginning and could not draw them, contemplating the world of ideas, as Plato taught about it, then the question arises about their origin, about their source. The answer to it is obvious from the standpoint of Augustinian-Christian creationism: the source, the creator of all these concepts, or ideas, can only be God.

God Augustine calls "father of mental light" and "the father of our illumination"("pater illuminationis nostrae"). Not only the phenomena of nature and the events of human life, but also the process of cognition is accomplished thanks to the continuous intervention of God. Theocentrism and fatalism are in Augustine 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. “A rational and thinking soul ... cannot shine by itself, but shines by virtue of participation in a different, true radiance” [On the City of God, X, 2].

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

Christian-mystical doctrine of illumination constitutes the central point of Augustine's teaching on the process of cognition, and in a certain sense, of his entire philosophy. In the light of this teaching, it becomes quite clear that Augustine proclaimed God and the human soul as the subject of philosophical knowledge. “I desire to know God and the soul,” he says in his Monologues. - And nothing more? the Mind asks him. “Absolutely nothing,” the author replies [Monologues, I, 2,7].

Science and wisdom

Augustine also provided a theological basis for the distinction between science (scientia) and wisdom (sapientia). Knowledge, which develops into science, is a reasonable knowledge of the objective world, knowledge that allows us to use things. Wisdom but it is the knowledge of eternal divine deeds and spiritual objects [see: On the Trinity, XII, 12, 15]. Knowledge in itself is not evil at all, 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 goal 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 know the world. Man is obliged subordinate science to wisdom for in the salvation of the soul is its highest purpose.

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

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

At the same time, in his teaching on the subordination of science to wisdom, the theoretician of early Christianity outlined a program for subordinating 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 the countries of Western Europe in the era of feudalism. After all, the totality of "wisdom" is given in Holy Scripture 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, the responsibility for the evil that exists in the world. In the fact that evil manifests itself in the human world, the person himself is guilty, whose free will prompts him to proceed with the divine law, and thereby fall into sin. The 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 relationship between divine providence and human free will. How can they be reconciled if the divine creator not only created man, but, even endowing him with free will, does not for a moment let any of his actions out of his observation, since he constantly rules the world?

It is, of course, impossible to solve this contradiction logically. But Christian theology, like any other, is by no means a rational philosophical system. Being a religiously-irrational set of ideas and dogmas, it must contain many unremovable contradictions. But, since the Christian doctrine claims to be 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 conscience. For the main purpose of the original goodwill was to obey in everything the divine commandments and divine guidance. But, having used his will in defiance of them, Adam passed on this will, still free, but already weighed down by the desire for sin, to all mankind. Since then, the free will of man has created a gulf between him and God.

But Man's highest purpose is to save him which is impossible without religious morality. Augustine's Christian optimism, regarding evil as a weakened good, by no means led him to the conclusion that all people, including the most inveterate sinners, would be saved by an all-merciful God on the day of judgment, as Origen, and after him Gregory of Nyssa, believed. The entrenched church was by no means willing to open up such a brilliant prospect to all its parishioners, for it preferred to keep them in the fear of God as the surest 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, the impeccable morality - and the Christian moralist knows only the opposites of the sinful and the morally impeccable - owes its existence by no means to their free will, not to human initiative, but only to the eternal selection of the fortunate few. Such an election is called 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 guiding a minority of the elect along the morally sinless and, moreover, the shortest path to paradise, it completely ignores the fact that God himself endowed man with free will. It can only lead a person to sin and evil, while God Himself leads him to good, in spite of any inclination.

Developing this religious-irrationalist doctrine, Augustine at the beginning of the 5th century. led a fierce polemic 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 denied the dogma of original sin and did not consider humanity radically corrupted. From his point of view, the deeds and martyrdom of Christ by no means meant a fundamental atonement for the sinfulness of mankind, but only served as the best model for human imitation. According to the teachings of Pelagius, a person has a 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 God's help to man, rendered to him in accordance with 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. Such an interpretation undermined the ideological foundation upon which the Christian Church had worked so hard to build the complex edifice of its dominance. Hence the fierce struggle of Augustine against the Pelagian heresy (later Pelagianism was officially condemned at one of the church councils).

Of the other provisions of this doctrine, it should be noted systematic preaching of the love of God, with which we meet almost on 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 standards and assessments [On True Religion, XXXI, 58]. Naturally, with such attitudes of the moral doctrine of Augustine love for god replaces love for man. According to this teaching, the orientation of man to man should absolutely not take place. “When a person lives according to a person, 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 mindset of the masses, developed a radical asceticism based on the complete condemnation of the sensual world as a product of an evil and dark beginning. Having become the 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 spectacles as contributing to 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 more widespread in that era, he at the same time admires the beauty of the diverse nature and forms of the human body [On the City of God, V, 11].

These circumstances explain the Augustinian delimitation of all the blessings of human life those that should be loved and enjoyed (frui), and those that should only be used (uti). To the first belongs the love of God as the eternal good and the last source of all existence. To the second - all the things and blessings of a particular world. One cannot live without them, one 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 to act contrary to Christian morality. Earthly goods are only a means for cultivating extraterrestrial values.

Society and history

The largest ideologist of Christianity agrees with the position of Christian morality, according to which poverty and squalor are most conducive to salvation(These provisions are repeatedly recorded in the Gospels). But, being the ideologist of the ruling classes, he is far from thinking that only poverty opens the way to salvation (as the Pelagians claimed). Wealth, with its “correct” use, by no means can be an obstacle to the path to salvation..

Strengthening these conclusions, Augustine even proved that the inequality of people's property, the wealth of some and the poverty and even hunger of others are 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 the socio-political doctrine of Augustine. The need for such inequality is due, according to his teaching, to the hierarchical structure of the social organism, harmoniously arranged by God. This hierarchy is an imperfect reflection of that heavenly, spiritual kingdom, of which God himself is the monarch. Trying to prevent the popular masses, who were fond of heretical teachings, from speaking out against the "harmonic" 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, this is not the case in real society. Understanding the features and fate of this society is what historians often call the philosophy of history of Augustine, set forth in 22 books of his main work. As 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 led by Alaric. This fact made a great impression on contemporaries. Many of them saw in him the revenge of the primordial Roman gods on the Romans, who apostatized from them and converted to Christianity. On the other hand, there were quite a few 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 the beginning of such an end in the defeat of Rome. 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 opposes to all of them the one and all-powerful Christian God. In the next twelve books, he expounds system of Christian theology, meaningful in the light of those philosophical ideas that are described above. In this system, an important place is occupied by his philosophical and historical views.

It is interesting to note in this connection that already "Confessions" 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 “The City of God” became the first thinker (at least in Europe) to make the fate of all mankind the subject of philosophical reflections on the maximum scale of the Mediterranean, in which the Stoics had already developed the cosmopolitan concept of a single humanity. This the concept of the unity of the human race and was now developed by Augustine, based on the Christian-mythological idea of ​​the origin of all mankind from a single pair of progenitors.

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

The central position of the Augustinian understanding of history is providential idea, according to which God extends his absolute power not only to the phenomena of nature and individual human life, but also to all, without exception, the 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 kingdom of God (civitas Dei) and the earthly kingdom (civitas terrena). The dualism between God and nature was transformed in the "City of God" as the original opposite of these two institutions.

This dualism stemmed from Augustine's theological concept of divine grace, which inexplicably leads a select minority of people to salvation and condemns the vast majority of mankind to a sinful life determined by their free will. The first part of mankind constitutes the kingdom of God, and the second - the earthly.

But in its earthly existence, the society of the righteous, who make up the city of God, is mixed with the earthly kingdom, interspersed, so to speak, in an unholy environment, consisting of fallen angels, pagans, heretics, apostates from Christianity, unbelievers. In his critique of the earthly, i.e., real, state, Augustine reveals a number of real features of a class, exploitative society and state. In particular, he emphasizes the violent nature of the state power as a "great bandit organization." No wonder the first builder of the city was the fratricide Cain, and Rome was similarly founded by the fratricidal Romulus.

But Augustine's theological critique of exploitative society and the state has its limits. They are defined "highest" appointment of power, for even the most vile power comes from God and performs the functions planned by providence. The government maintains a certain order in society, monitors public peace, and administers justice. As an ideologue of the ruling classes, Augustine is hostile to all revolutionary movements of the social lower classes, both in the past and even more so in the present. Such a position is quite understandable, since he considered social inequality as a necessary consequence of the depravity of human nature by original sin. Any striving for equality under these conditions, from his point of view, is unnatural and doomed to failure in advance. In addition, condemning any state, in particular the Roman Empire, as a robber 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. For his philosophical and historical concept, it is very significant that he refuses to periodize according to the largest monarchies, which was followed by some Christian theologians of the 3rd-4th centuries. In an effort to give a deeper periodization, Augustine spends analogy between the six days of creation, the six ages of human life and the six epochs as they "appear" from the Old Testament and the history of Christianity.

The six ages of human life are: infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood and old age (the idea of ​​comparing history with periods of individual human development 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 Noah's family was saved, second- from this event to the patriarch Abraham. sixth and last the historical epoch corresponding to the old age of the individual man began with the coming of Christ and the rise 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 fantasticness, the philosophical and historical concept of Augustine is interesting in that it was one of the first to introduce 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 define the place of various peoples and states in the implementation of providence plans concerning the realization of the kingdom of God. At the same time, he pays the main attention to the “chosen” Jewish people, while others are mainly discussed only as instruments of his punishment, when he deviates from the precepts of the one God (for example, during the Babylonian captivity), the thinker remains here under the decisive influence of events set out in the Old Testament, although its intention is much wider than this document.

The last epoch of human history, which began with Christianity, has become old age, which ends with death and the cessation of the existence of both man and mankind. 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 strenuous labors, so the chosen part of humanity is separated on the day of judgment from the vast majority of sinners with whom it has been mixed during several thousand years of its history.

In contrast to the many heretic chiliasts 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 prudently did not determine the time of the end of human history. The ways of God are inscrutable, and a person cannot say exactly when the day of judgment will come.

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

Reviewing history from this point of view, Augustine emphasizes the periods and instances of the theocratic functioning of power and state institutions, when the dominance of the priesthood guarantees the well-being of the whole social whole. The ideologue of the church justifies some states and condemns others, depending on how much they obey 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 turning to history, Augustine constantly had in mind his own modernity. 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 leading force of the politically dispersed feudalizing Western European society and retained these positions 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 prestige during the subsequent centuries of the Western European Middle Ages.

Literature:

1. Sokolov VV Medieval Philosophy: Proc. allowance for philosophy. fak. and departments of un-comrade. - M .: Higher. School, 1979. - 448 p.
2. Creations of Blessed Augustine Bishop of Hippo. 2nd ed. Kyiv, 1901-1915, part 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.). Parisiis, 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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"("Confessiones"). His most famous theological and philosophical work is On the City of God.

Augustine's father, a Roman citizen, was a small landowner, but his mother, Monica, was a pious Christian. In his youth, Augustine showed no inclination towards traditional Greek, but was captivated by Latin literature. After graduating from school in Tagaste, he went to study at the nearest cultural center - Madavra. In the fall of the year, thanks to the patronage of a family friend, Romanian, who lived in Tagaste, Augustine went to Carthage for a three-year study of rhetoric. In the city of Augustine in concubinage, the son Adeodate was born. A year later, he read Cicero and became interested in philosophy, turning to reading the Bible. However, Augustine soon switched to Manichaeism, which was then fashionable. At that time, he began to teach rhetoric, first in Tagaste, later in Carthage. In "Confessions" Augustine dwelled in detail on the nine years he wasted on the "husk" of the Manichaean teaching. In the city, even the spiritual Manichaean leader Faustus failed to answer his questions. In this year, Augustine decided to find a teaching position in Rome, but he spent only a year there and received a position as a teacher of rhetoric in Mediolanum. After reading some of the treatises of Plotinus in a Latin translation by the rhetorician Maria Victorina, Augustine became acquainted with Neoplatonism, which represented God as an immaterial transcendent Being. Having attended the sermons of Ambrose of Milan, Augustine understood the rational conviction of early Christianity. After that, he began to read the epistles of the Apostle Paul and heard from the vicar bishop Simplician the story of the conversion to Christianity, Maria Victorina. According to legend, one day in the garden, Augustine heard the voice of a child, prompting him to randomly unfold the epistles of the Apostle Paul, where he came across the Epistle to the Romans. After that, he, together with Monica, Adeodates, brother, both cousins, friend Alipiy and two students, retired for several months to Kassitsiac, to the villa of one of his friends. Following the model of Ciceron's Tusculan Discourses, Augustine composed several philosophical dialogues. On Pascha, he, together with Adeodates and Alipy, was baptized in Mediolanum, after which, together with Monica, he went to Africa. However, she died in Ostia. Her last conversation with her son was well conveyed at the end of the Confession. After that, part of the information about the later life of Augustine is based on the "Life" compiled by Possidia, who communicated with Augustine for almost 40 years.

According to Possidia, on his return to Africa, Augustine settled again in Tagaste, where he organized a monastic community. During a trip to Hippo Rhegium, where there were already 6 Christian churches, the Greek Bishop Valery willingly ordained Augustine as a presbyter, since it was difficult for him to preach in Latin. Not later, Mr. Valery appointed him vicar bishop and died a year later.

The remains of Augustine were transferred by his adherents to Sardinia in order to save them from the desecration of the Aryan Vandals, and when this island fell into the hands of the Saracens, they were redeemed by Liutprand, the king of the Lombards and buried in Pavia in the church of St. Peter. In the city, with the consent of the pope, they were again transported to Algiers and preserved there near the monument to Augustine, erected to him on the ruins of Hippo by the French bishops.

Stages of creativity

First stage(386-395), the influence of ancient (predominantly Neoplatonic) dogmatics is characteristic; abstraction and the high status of the rational: philosophical "dialogues" ("Against the Academicians" [that is, skeptics, 386], "On Order", "Monologues", "On the Blessed Life", "On the Quantity of the Soul", "On the Teacher" , "On Music", "On the Immortality of the Soul", "On True Religion", "On Free Will" or "On Free Decision"); cycle of anti-Manichaean treatises.

Second phase(395-410), exegetical and religious-church problems prevail: “On the Book of Genesis”, a cycle of interpretations to the epistles of the Apostle Paul, moral treatises and “Confession”, anti-Donatist treatises.

Third stage(410-430), questions about the creation of the world and problems of eschatology: a cycle of anti-Pelagian treatises and "On the City of God"; critical review of his own writings in "Revisions".

Influence on Christianity

Augustine's influence on the fates and the dogmatic side of Christian teaching is almost unparalleled. He determined the spirit and direction of not only the African, but the entire Western church for several centuries ahead. His controversy against the Arians, the Priscillians, and especially against the Donatists and other heretical sects, vividly proves the extent of his importance. The insight and depth of his mind, the indomitable power of faith and the ardor of fantasy are best reflected in his numerous writings, which had an incredible influence and determined the anthropological side of the teaching in Protestantism (Luther and Calvin). Even more important than the development of the doctrine of St. Trinity, his studies on the relation of man to divine grace. He considers the essence of Christian teaching, namely, the ability of a person to perceive God's grace, and this basic provision is also reflected in his understanding of other dogmas of faith. His concerns about the organization of monasticism were expressed in the foundation of many monasteries, however, they were soon destroyed by vandals.

Augustine's teachings

Augustine's teaching on the relationship between human free will, divine grace and predestination is quite heterogeneous and is not systemic.

About being

God created matter and endowed it with various forms, properties and purposes, thereby creating everything that exists in our world. The deeds of God are good, and therefore everything that exists, precisely because it exists, is good.

Evil is not a substance-matter, but a deficiency, its deterioration, vice and damage, non-existence.

God is the source of being, pure form, the highest beauty, the source of goodness. The world exists thanks to the continuous creation of God, who regenerates everything that dies in the world. There can be no one world and several worlds.

Matter is characterized in terms of form, measure, number and order. In the world order, every thing has its place.

God, world and man

The problem of God and his relationship to the world appears in Augustine as central. God, according to Augustine, is supernatural. The world, nature and man, being the result of God's creation, depend on their Creator. If neoplatonism considered God (the Absolute) as an impersonal being, as the unity of all that exists, then Augustine interpreted God as a person who created all that exists. And he deliberately made differences between the interpretations of God from Fate and Fortune.

God is incorporeal, which means that the divine principle is infinite and omnipresent. Having created the world, he made sure that order reigned in the world and everything in the world began to obey the laws of nature.

Man is the soul that God breathed into him. The body (flesh) is contemptible and sinful. Only humans have souls, animals do not.

Man was created by God as a free being, but having committed the fall, he himself chose evil and went against the will of God. This is how evil arises, this is how a person becomes unfree. Man is not free and unwilling in anything, he is wholly dependent on God.

At the same time, just as all people remember the past, so some are able to “remember” the future, which explains the ability of clairvoyance. As a consequence, since time exists only because it is remembered, it means that things are necessary for its existence, and before the creation of the world, when there was nothing, there was no time. The beginning of the creation of the world is also the beginning of time.

Time has duration, which characterizes the duration of any movement and change.

It also happens that the evil that torments a person eventually turns into good. So, for example, a person is punished for a crime (evil) in order to bring him good through redemption and pangs of conscience, which leads to purification.

In other words, without evil we would not know what good is.

Truth and reliable knowledge

Augustine said of the skeptics: “It seemed probable to them that truth could not be found, but it seems to me probable that it could be found.” Criticizing skepticism, he raised the following objection against it: if the truth were not known to people, then how would it be determined that one is more plausible (that is, more like the truth) than the other.

Reliable knowledge is a person's knowledge of his own being and consciousness.

Cognition

Man is endowed with mind, will and memory. The mind turns on itself the direction of the will, that is, it is always aware of itself, always desires and remembers:

Augustine's assertion that the will participates in all acts of knowledge was an innovation in the theory of knowledge.

Steps of knowing the truth:

• inner sense - sensory perception.
• sensation - knowledge about sensible things as a result of reflection by the mind on sensory data.
• reason - a mystical touch to the highest truth - enlightenment, intellectual and moral perfection.

Reason is the gaze of the soul, with which it itself, without the mediation of the body, contemplates the true.

About society and history

Augustine substantiated and justified the existence of property inequality of people in society. He argued that inequality is an inevitable phenomenon of social life and it is pointless to strive for the equalization of wealth; it will exist in all the ages of man's earthly life. But still, all people are equal before God, and therefore Augustine called for living in peace.

The state is the punishment for original sin; is a system of domination of some people over others; it is not intended for people to achieve happiness and good, but only for survival in this world.

A just state is a Christian state.

Functions of the state: ensuring law and order, protecting citizens from external aggression, helping the Church and fighting heresy.

International treaties must be observed.

Wars can be just or unjust. Fair - those that began for legitimate reasons, for example, the need to repel the attack of enemies.

In 22 books of his major work, The City of God, Augustine makes an attempt to embrace the world-historical process, to connect the history of mankind with the plans and intentions of the Divine. He develops the ideas of linear historical time and moral progress. Moral history begins with the fall of Adam and is seen as a progressive movement towards moral perfection acquired in grace.

In the historical process, Augustine singled out six main eras (this periodization was based on facts from the biblical history of the Jewish people):

• first age - from Adam to the Great Flood

• the second - from Noah to Abraham

• the third is from Abraham to David

• the fourth - from David to the Babylonian captivity

• fifth - from the Babylonian captivity to the birth of Christ

• the sixth - began with Christ and will end with the end of history in general and with the Last Judgment.

Mankind in the historical process forms two "city": a secular state - the kingdom of evil and sin (the prototype of which was Rome) and the state of God - the Christian Church.

“Earthly City” and “Heavenly City” are a symbolic expression of two types of love, the struggle of egoistic (“self-love, brought to neglect of God”) and moral (“love of God up to self-forgetfulness”) motives. These two cities develop in parallel through six epochs. At the end of the 6th era, the citizens of the “city of God” will receive bliss, and the citizens of the “earthly city” will be given over to eternal torment.

Augustine Aurelius argued the superiority of spiritual authority over secular. Having adopted the Augustinian teaching, the church declared its existence an earthly part of God's city, presenting itself as the supreme arbiter in earthly affairs.

Compositions

The most famous of Augustine's writings are "De civitate Dei" ("On the City of God") and "Confessiones" ("Confession"), his spiritual biography, essay De Trinitate (About the Trinity), De libero arbitrio (About free will), Retractiones (revisions).

Moreover, it deserves to be mentioned Meditationes, Soliloquia and Enchiridion or manuale.

Links

Augustine's writings

• On Free Will - Blessed Augustine
• Blessed Augustine and his works on the site "Ancient Christianity"

About Augustine

• Augustine the Blessed, Bishop of Hippo - Chapter from G. Orlov's book “CHURCH OF CHRIST. Stories from the history of the Christian Church»

Literature

Notes

General works

• Trubetskoy E. N. Religious and social ideal of Western Christianity in V B., Part 1. World outlook Bl. Augustine. M., 1892
• Popov I. V. Personality and teaching Bl. Augustine, vol. I, ch. 1-2. Sergiev Posad, 1916
• Popov I. V. Proceedings on patrology. T. 2. The Personality and Teachings of Blessed Augustine. Sergiev Posad, 2005.
• Maiorov GG Formation of medieval philosophy. Latin patristics. M., 1979, p. 181-340
• Augustine: pro et contra. SPb., 2002.
• Guerrier VN Blessed Augustine. M., 2003.
• History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia. - Minsk: Interpressservice; Book House. 2002.
• Lyashenko V.P. Philosophy. M., 2007.
• Marru A.I. St. Augustine and Augustinism. M., 1998.
• Pisarev L. Teaching of bliss. Augustine, Ep. Ipponsky, about man in his relation to God. Kazan, 1894.
• Stolyarov A. A. Free will as a problem of European moral consciousness. M., 1999.
• Sweeney Michael. Lectures on Medieval Philosophy. M., 2001.
• Eriksen T. B. Augustin. Restless heart. M., 2003.
• Troellsch E. Augustin, die Christliche Antike und das Mittelalter. Munch.- V., 1915
• Cayre F. Initiation a la philosophie de S. Augustin. P., 1947
• Gilson Y. Introduction a l'etude de Saint Augustin. P., 1949
• Marrou H. 1. S. Augustin et l'augustinisme. P., 1955 (Russian translation: Mappy A.-I. Saint Augustine and Augustinianism. Dolgoprudny, 1999)
• Jaspers K. Platon. Augustin. Kant. Drei Grander des Philosophierens. Munch., 1967
• flash K. Augustin. Einfuhrung in sein DenkenyStuttg., 1980
• Clot, "Der heil. Kirchenlehrer Augustin" (2 volumes, Aachen, 1840);
• Bindemann, "Der heilige Augustin" (Berl., 1844);
• Pujula, "Vie de St. Augustin" (2nd ed., 2 vol., Paris, 1852; in it. trans. Gurter, 2 vol., Shafg., 1847);
• Dornor, "Augustin, sein theol. System und seine religionspbilos. Anscbauung" (Berlin, 1873).

Onto-theology and epistemology

• Ritier J. Mundus Intelligibilis. Eine Untersuchung zur Aufnahme und Umwandlung der Neuplatonischen Ontologie bei Augustinus, Fr./M., 1937
• Chevalier I. S. Augustin et la pensee grecque. Les relations trinitaires. Friborg, 1940
• Falkenhahn W. Augustins Illuminationslehre im Lichte der jiingsten Forschungen. Koln, 1948
• Cayre F. La contemplation Augustinienne. P., 1954
• Anderson J. F. St. Augustine and Being. A metaphysical essay. La Haye, 1965
• Armstong A. H. Augustine and the Christian Platonism. Villanova, 1967
• Wittmann L. Ascensus. Der. Aufstieg zur Transzendenz in der Metaphysik Augus|iris. Munch., 1980
• BuhQezB. St. Augustine's theory of knowledge. N. W.-Toronto, 1981

SHORT LIFE
Blessed Augustine of Hippo

(354-430)

The extremely instructive and fruitful life of this Western Church Father began on November 13, 354, in the small town of Numidia (now Algiers) in North Africa. His father, Patrick, did not become a Christian until his death, but his mother, Saint Monica, blessed her son, signing the sign of the cross at birth, and for many years wept and prayed with faith for his conversion to Christ.

In his youth, Augustine led a deeply sinful way of life, following the then dominant pagan sensuality. Already at the age of seventeen, he acquired a concubine who gave birth to a son from him. Augustine had a brilliant mind and easily mastered the pagan learning of his time. At the age of nineteen, he discovered Cicero for himself and felt a strong attraction to the Truth. But he was, above all else, ambitious and eager to make a name for himself in the academic world. He became a professor of rhetoric in his hometown, then moved to Carthage and eventually got a position in Rome, the capital of the Western Empire.

During his stay in Carthage, Augustine entered and brought with him several of his friends into the heretical sect of the Manichaeans, followers of Mani from Babylon, who founded a dualistic religion of the Gnostic type. The Manicheans had taught him to despise the Christian Scriptures and regard them as childish tales not to be taken seriously. However, when he received a professorship in Rome, he began to see into the essence of the Manicheans, whose debauchery surpassed even his own. Augustine became disillusioned and moved away from the sect. He began to feel that his search for Truth was in vain when, in 384, he came to Milan to seek a position as governor of the province. Now he was ready for God to come down to him. The Bishop of Milan at that time was the great Saint, St. Ambrose, who together held the post of ruler of Northern Italy and was elected bishop by the zealous will of the people. His blessed death in 397 produced such an outburst of faith that five bishops were not enough to baptize the multitudes who rushed to the waters of life.

Saint Ambrose was a gifted orator and regularly delivered sermons in the cathedral. By God's Providence, Augustine attended a whole series of talks about the Holy Scriptures, which prompted him to seriously study Christianity - truly, through the prayers of his mother. This, and his discovery of the lofty dialogues of Plato, inspired him to lead a chaste life. In the end, he came to St. Ambrose for baptism with his son on Holy Saturday 387. During the next forty-three years of his earthly life, he labored diligently in the Lord's vineyard, diligently cultivating his own soul as well. The history of his conversion, touchingly revealed in the Confessiones (written ten years after his baptism), is considered "a masterpiece of introspective autobiography, expressed in the form of a lengthy prayer to God, uttered with inspiration" (Henry Chadwick. "The Early Church". Penguin Books, 1967, p.219).

In 388, Augustine returned to Africa, where he was soon ordained a priest at the request of the people, and then, in 395, was consecrated a bishop. All written works created by him since that moment show his special love for Scripture and its deep comprehension. In addition, philosophical works, as well as poems, polemical, dogmatic and moral works, 363 sermons and 270 letters belong to the pen of Augustine - an extensive collection of works comparable only to the heritage of St. John Chrysostom in the East.

As a bishop, Vladyka Augustine came face to face with the Donatist schism that had already existed for 85 years and actually put an end to it through several Local Church Councils. The Council of Carthage in 411 also condemned the Pelagian heresy, and Augustine was recognized as a strong defender of Orthodoxy. He then turned his attention to the growing problem of the collapse of the Roman Empire following the sack of Rome by the Goths. Most of the pagan population, as well as some Christians, thought that the fall of the Empire was due to the wrath of the pagan gods despised by Christianity. Struggling with this delusion, Augustine spent fourteen years writing his monumental work "On the City of God" - "De Civitate Dei", showing that the Church does not exist for empires and governments, but for salvation and the Kingdom of God.

In 426, Augustine left his chair, but spent the last years of his earthly life in the fight against Arianism. On August 28, 430, he rested with a large gathering of disciples. He was a man of such a noble heart and mind, and so zealous in defending Orthodoxy, that before his death he was not afraid to review everything he had written, correcting the mistakes he had noticed and leaving everything to the future judgment of the Church, humbly imploring his readers: "Let all those who will read this labour, imitate me not in my mistakes."

Blessed Augustine's sermon - the sermon of true Orthodox piety - is a word for our time, as he himself wrote in his Confession: I was in love with the thought of a happy life, but I was afraid to find it in its true place, I sought it by running away from it, I thought that I would be unspeakably unhappy if I hugs, and I never thought of Your mercy as a cure for this weakness, for I never experienced it ... I drove away these mournful words from myself: “How long? How long? Why not now?"

These words seem to be written for us, weak Orthodox Christians, for we are also in love with the "thought of a happy life" and do not think of God's mercy as a cure for our infirmities. Can we, inspired by the example of this good and true Father of the Church, boldly embark on the path that leads to salvation, repeating the words of Blessed Augustine: "Why not now?"

PLACE OF Blessed Augustine
IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

By Divine Providence in our time, Orthodox Christianity is returning to the West, which departed from it about nine hundred years ago. Being at first a largely unconscious action of emigrants from Orthodox countries, this movement was subsequently recognized by the Westerners themselves as a great opportunity for them; over the course of several decades, the movement of Western converts to Orthodoxy has intensified and is now quite common.

As Orthodoxy thus gradually took new roots in the West and again became "native" in these lands, among the converts there naturally increased interest in the early Orthodox heritage of the West, and in particular in the saints and Fathers of the early centuries of Christianity, many of whom no less than their eastern counterparts of the same centuries, and who all breathed and smelled of true Christianity, so tragically lost by the late West. The love and veneration of these Western saints by Archbishop John (Maximovich) (11966) especially contributed to the awakening of interest in them and facilitated their, so to speak, "return" to the mainstream of Orthodoxy.

There were no problems with the attitude towards most of the saints of the West; as their lives and writings were rediscovered, only joy arose among the Orthodox. They discovered that the spirit of Eastern Christianity in its entirety was once so inherent in the West. Indeed, this only serves as a good omen for the continued development of a healthy and harmonious Orthodoxy in the West.

Nevertheless, certain "complications" arose in connection with the attitude towards certain Western Fathers, due mainly to the dogmatic disputes of the early centuries of Christianity; The assessment of these Fathers by East and West was different, and it is essential for the Orthodox to understand their significance in the eyes of Orthodoxy, and by no means in the eyes of later Roman Catholicism.

The most eminent of these "controversial" Fathers of the West is undoubtedly Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Ippon in North Africa. Revered in the West as one of the greatest Fathers of the Church and as a great "Master of Grace", in the East he has always been subject to some reservations. In our day, especially among Westerners who have converted to Orthodoxy, two opposing and extreme views of it have emerged. Adherents of one of these views, following the Roman Catholic understanding, see in its meaning as the Father of the Church something more than the Orthodox Church previously recognized; at the same time, another view tends to underestimate its Orthodox significance, going too far, to the point of calling him a "heretic". Both of these views are Western, not rooted in the Orthodox tradition. The Orthodox view of him, consistently held over the centuries by the Holy Fathers of the East, as well as of the West (in the early centuries), does not follow any of these extremes, but is a balanced assessment of Blessed Augustine, with due recognition of both his undoubted greatness and and shortcomings.

Next, we will give a brief historical account of the Orthodox assessment of Blessed Augustine, paying special attention to the attitude of various holy Fathers towards him and entering into the details of the controversial teachings only as much as necessary in order to more clearly express the Orthodox attitude towards him. This historical study will also serve to reveal the Orthodox approach to such "controversial" figures in general. Where Orthodox dogmas are openly flouted, the Orthodox Church and her Fathers always respond quickly and decisively, with precise dogmatic definitions and anathematization of those who believe in the wrong; but where it concerns one of the different approaches (even on a dogmatic question), or even distortions, or exaggerations, or conscientious errors, the Church has always expressed a restrained or conciliatory attitude. The attitude of the Church toward heretics is one thing; her attitude towards the Holy Fathers, who happened to be mistaken in this or that point, is completely different. We will look at this in some detail below.

CONTROVERSY OF GRACE AND FREE WILL

The most heated of the controversies around Blessed Augustine, both during his life and afterwards, was the controversy about grace and free will. Without a doubt, Blessed Augustine fell into the distortion of the Orthodox teaching about grace by a certain superlogism, which he shared with the whole Latin mentality in general, which was characteristic of him by culture, although not by blood (he was African by blood and had some emotional ardor of the southerners). The Russian Orthodox philosopher of the 19th century Ivan Kireevsky summed up the Orthodox view on this question perfectly, which explains most of the shortcomings of the theology of blessed Augustine: “Perhaps not one of the ancient and new Church Fathers was so distinguished by his love for the logical chaining of truths as blessed Augustine .. "Some of his works are like one, from ring to ring, an inextricably closed, iron chain of syllogisms. Because of this, perhaps, he was sometimes carried away too far, behind the outward harmony, not noticing the inner one-sidedness of thought, so that in the last years of his life he had to himself to write a refutation of some of his previous statements "(I. Kireevsky. "On the nature of European civilization" Sobr. soch. M „ 1911, vol. 1, pp. 188-189).

Regarding the doctrine of grace itself, the most expressive assessment of Augustine's doctrine and its shortcomings is perhaps the following judgment of Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov in his patrology textbook: and self-mortification, Augustine felt the validity of the remark and began to repeat more often that grace does not violate freedom, but such a turn of instruction did not essentially change anything in Augustin's theory, and his most recent writings did not agree with that thought. breathing a sense of reverence for grace, he was carried away by a sense of what was more appropriate. Thus, as a detractor of Pelagius, Augustine is without a doubt a great teacher of the Church, but, defending the Truth, he himself was not entirely and was not always faithful to the Truth "(Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov "The Historical Doctrine of the Church Fathers" St. Petersburg, 1882, vol. 3, pp. 33-34.).

Later historians often emphasize points of divergence between Blessed Augustine and St. John Cassian (a contemporary of Augustine in Gaul, who in his illustrious "Statutes" and "Conversations" gave, for the first time in Latin, a complete and authentic Eastern teaching on monasticism and spiritual life; he was the first in the West who began to criticize the teaching of blessed Augustine on grace), but these historians often do not see a deep agreement between them in the main. Some modern scientists (Harnack, O. Chadwick) are trying to overcome such myopia, proving the imaginary "influence" of St. Augustine at St. Cassian; and this observation, although also exaggerated, leads us a little closer to the Truth. Probably St. Cassian would not have spoken so eloquently and in such detail about Divine grace if Augustine had not already preached his one-sided doctrine. However, it is important to remember that the discrepancy between St. Cassian and St. Augustine was not a divergence between an Orthodox Father and a heretic (as, for example, between Augustine and Pelagius), but rather, the two holy Fathers differed only in the details of their ideas about the same teaching. Both St. Cassian and Blessed Augustine - both sought to preach the Orthodox doctrine of grace and free will as contrary to the heresy of Pelagius, but one did this completely in the Eastern theological tradition, while the other fell into some distortion of this same doctrine due to his overly logical approach. to him.

Everyone knows that the blessed Augustine was in the West the most uncompromising opponent of the heresy of Pelagius, who denied the necessity of God's grace for salvation; but few seem to know that St. Cassian (whose teaching has been given the very unjust name of "semi-Pelagianism" by modern Roman Catholic scholars) was himself a no less ardent opponent of Pelagius and his teaching. In his last work Against Nestorius, the Monk Cassian closely links the teachings of Nestorius and Pelagius, condemned by the III Ecumenical Council in Ephesus in 431, and furiously attacks both of them, accusing Nestorius, saying: “You covered yourself with such evil and blasphemous wickedness that you seem in your madness to surpass even Pelagius himself, who surpassed almost everyone in wickedness" ("Against Nestorius", V, 2). In this book, the Monk Cassian also quotes in detail the document of the Pelagian presbyter Leporius of Hippo, in which the latter publicly renounces heresy; This document, according to Rev. Cassian, contains "the confession of faith of all Catholics" as contrary to the Pelagian heresy. It was adopted by African bishops (including Augustine) and was probably written by Augustine himself, to whom Leporius owes his conversion ("Against Nestorius", 1, 5-6). Elsewhere in this book (VII, 27) St. Cassian cites Blessed Augustine as one of the patristic authorities for himself in the field of the doctrine of the Incarnation (albeit with a reservation, which will be mentioned below). Undoubtedly, in the defense of Orthodoxy, especially from the Pelagian heresy, Sts. Cassian and Augustine were on the same side, and in this defense they differed only in details.

Augustine's fundamental mistake was his revaluation the role of grace in the Christian life and underestimation the role of free will. He fell into this error, as Archbishop Philaret so beautifully said, guided by his own experience of conversion, perceived with the over-logic of the Latin mindset, which prompted him to try to define this problem too precisely. Never, of course, Augustine did not deny free will. Indeed, in answering questions, he always defended it and censured those who "exalt grace to such an extent that they deny the freedom of the human will and, more seriously, maintain that on the Day of Judgment God will not repay every man according to his deeds. " (Letter 214, to Abbot Valentin of Adrumet - "De Gratia et libero arbitrio ad Valentinum"). In some of his writings the defense of free will is no less strong than that of St. Cassian. For example, in the interpretation of Psalm 102 (Healing all your ailments) - "Enarrationes in Psalmos" - bl. Augustine writes: "He will heal you, but you must desire to be healed. He heals wholly the weak, but not the one who refuses to be healed." The reliable fact that Augustine himself was the Father of monasticism in the West, who founded his own monastic communities, both male and female, and wrote the important monastic Rules, clearly shows that he really understood the meaning of the ascetic struggle, which is inconceivable without free will. Therefore, in general, and especially when it is necessary to give practical advice to Christian ascetics, Bl. Augustine truly teaches the Orthodox doctrine of grace and free will - as far as possible within the limits of his theological point of view.

However, in his official treatises, and especially in the anti-Pelagian ones that occupied the last years of his life, entering into logical discussions about grace and free will, he is often carried away by an excessive defense of grace, which seems to really leave little room for human freedom. Let us compare here some aspects of his teaching with the completely Orthodox teaching of St. John Cassian.

In his treatise "On Rooting and Grace" - "De correptione et Gratia", written in 426 or 427 for the monks of Adrumet, blessed Augustine wrote (chapter 17): "Do you dare say that even when Christ prayed that Peter's faith not impoverished, would she nonetheless be impoverished if Peter deigned to let her become impoverished?" There is an obvious exaggeration here; it feels like something lacks in depicting the reality of grace and free will. The Monk John Cassian, in his words about another supreme apostle, St. Paul, fills in for us this “missing value”: he said: “And his grace, which was in me, was not in vain, but labored more than all of them; not I, but the grace of God, even with me” (1 Cor. 15 , ten). Thus, the word "work hard" - expresses the efforts of his will; the words: “not yet, not the grace of God,” emphasizes the importance of Divine assistance; and with the word “with me,” he shows that grace assisted him not in idleness and carelessness, but while he was working” (“Conversations”, XIII, 13). The position of St. Cassian is harmonious, paying tribute to both grace and freedom; Augustine's position is one-sided and incomplete, he unnecessarily exaggerates the meaning of grace, and thus gives the opportunity to abuse his words to later thinkers, who thought by no means in Orthodox categories and could understand them in the sense of "irresistible grace" that a person must accept, whether he wants it or no (such is the teaching of the Jansenists, 17th century).

A similar exaggeration was made by Augustine with respect to what the later Latin theologians called "prevenient grace" - a grace that "prevents" or "comes first" and inspires the awakening of faith in man. Augustine admits that he himself thought wrongly about this before his consecration as a bishop: "I was in a similar delusion, thinking that the faith by which we believe in God is not God's gift, but is in us from ourselves, and that by it we receive the gifts of God by means of which we can live temperately and righteously and godly in this world. What we agreed when the gospel was preached to us, as I thought, was our own act, which came to us from ourselves "(" On predestination saints" - "De praedestinatione Sanctorum", ch. 7). This youthful fallacy of Augustine - Pelagian indeed - is the result of super-logism in the defense of free will, making it something independent, and not something that will work together with God's grace; but he erroneously attributes the same error to St. Cassian (who was also unjustly accused in the West of allegedly teaching that God's grace is given according to human merit) and himself thus falls into the opposite exaggeration, attributing all awakenings of faith to Divine grace.

On the other hand, the true teaching of St. Cassian, which, in fact, is the teaching of the Orthodox Church, was a kind of hoax for the Latin mindset. We can see this in the example of the follower of Blessed Augustine in Gaul, Prosper of Aquitaine, who was the first to directly attack the Monk Cassian.

It was to Prosper, together with a certain Hilarius (not to be confused with St. Hilarius of Arles, who was in agreement with St. Cassian), that Augustine sent his two last anti-Pelagian treatises: "On the Predestination of the Saints" and "On the Gift of Constancy" - "De dono perseverantiae "; in these writings Augustine criticized the thoughts of St. Cassian, as they were presented to him in a summary by Prosper. After the death of Augustine in 430, Prosper acted as the defender of his doctrine in Gaul, and his first and foremost business was to write a treatise Against the Author of the Contra Collatorum, also known as On the Grace of God and Free Will. This treatise is nothing but a step-by-step refutation of the famous thirteenth "Conversation", in which the question of grace is considered in most detail.

From the very first lines it is clear that Prosper is deeply offended by the fact that his teacher is openly criticized in Gaul: "There are some who boldly assert that the grace of God, by which we are Christians, was wrongly defended by Bishop Augustine of blessed memory; and they do not cease with unbridled slander to attack his books written against the Pelagian heresy" (ch. 1). But most of all Prosper infuriates himself with what he finds an incomprehensible "contradiction" in the teaching of Cassian; and this perplexity of his (since he is a faithful disciple of Augustine) reveals to us the nature of Augustine's error.

Prosper finds that in one part of his thirteenth "Conversation" Cassian teaches "correctly" about grace (and in particular about "forewarning grace"), that is, in exactly the same way as Augustine: "This teaching at the beginning of the discussion was not at odds with true piety, and would merit just and honest praise, if it (in its dangerous and pernicious development) did not deviate from its original correctness. he said, he would be fruitless if he were not helped in everything by Divine help, he makes a very catholic statement, saying: “From this it is clear that God is the initial originator not only of deeds, but also of good thoughts; He inspires us with His holy will, and gives us strength and an opportunity to do what we rightly desire.” all this cannot be permanently desired by us without Divine inspiration, just as surely and without His help it can in no way be completed" ("Contra Collatorum", ch. 2; 2).

But then, after these and other similar quotations, in which Prosper actually opens in St. Cassian, a preacher of the universality of grace no less eloquent than the blessed Augustine (and this gives some reason to think that he was "under the influence" of Augustine), Prosper continues: grace besides grace itself, and also some, as gifts of free will, have this desire - to seek, ask and push" (ch. 2; 4). That is, he accuses Rev. Cassian in the very error that Augustine confesses to having made himself in his early years. “Oh, Catholic teacher, why did you leave your confession, why did you turn to the gloomy darkness of lies and betray the light of pure Truth? .. You do not agree with either heretics or Catholics. while we (Catholics) firmly believe that the origins of good thoughts come from God. You have found some indescribable third solution, unacceptable to both sides, through which you will not find agreement with opponents, will not maintain mutual understanding with us" (ch. 2.5; 3.1).

It is this "indescribable third decision" that is the Orthodox doctrine of grace and free will, which later became known as synergy - the co-operation of Divine grace and human freedom, acting independently or autonomously from each other. Rev. Cassian, faithful to the fullness of this truth, expresses now one side of it (human freedom), then the other (Divine grace), and for the supra-logical mind of Prosper this is "an indescribable contradiction." St. Cassian teaches: “What is it that is said to us, if not in all of these (quotations from Scripture follow) the proclamation of both the grace of God and our free will, because a person, although he can sometimes desire virtue by himself, but in order to fulfill these desires always needs God's help?" ("Interviews", XIII, 9). “Many people ask, when does the grace of God act in us? Is it then, when a good disposition is revealed in us, or is a good disposition revealed in us when the grace of God visits us? and errors" ("Interviews", XIII, II). "So, although the grace of God and the arbitrariness of man are apparently opposed to each other, but both act in harmony and are equally necessary in the matter of our salvation, if we do not want to deviate from the rules of the true faith" (Conversations, XIII, II).

What a deep and clear answer to a question that Western theologians (not only Blessed Augustine) have never been able to answer correctly! For the Christian experience, and especially the monastic experience, from which St. Cassian, there is no "contradiction" at all in the co-operation of freedom and grace; it is only human logic that finds "contradictions" when it tries to understand this question too abstractly and out of touch with life. In itself, the way in which Blessed Augustine, inasmuch as he contradicts St. Cassian, expresses the complexity of this question, reveals differences in the depth of their answers. Blessed Augustine only admits that this is "a question that is very difficult and accessible to a few" (letter 214, to hegumen Valentinus of Adrumets), showing that for him this is an intricate intellectual question, while for Cassian it is a deep sacrament, the truth of which is known on experience. At the end of his thirteenth "Conversation" Rev. Cassian shows that in his teaching he follows the Orthodox Fathers, who achieved the perfection of the heart not by vain reasoning in words, but by the very deed (by such a mention of "vain reasoning" he allows himself to truly criticize the famous Bishop of Hippo); and ends this "Conversation", which is entirely devoted to the synergy of grace and freedom, with the following words: can fully comprehend how God works everything in us and is assimilated together to our will" ("Conversations", XIII, 18).

THE DOCTRINE OF PREDETERMINATION

The most serious error that Blessed Augustine fell into in his doctrine of grace lies in his idea of ​​predestination. This is the very idea for which he was most often attacked, and the only idea in his writings which, grossly misunderstood, has produced the most dire consequences in unbalanced minds, unrestrained by the orthodoxness of his doctrine as a whole. It must be remembered, however, that for most people today the word "predestination" is usually understood in its later Calvinistic sense (see below), and those who have not studied the subject are sometimes inclined to accuse Augustine of this monstrous heresy. It must be stated at the outset that Blessed Augustine certainly did not teach "predestination" as most people understand it today; what he did do - as in every other aspect of his doctrine of grace - was to teach the Orthodox doctrine of predestination in an exaggerated way that was easily misinterpreted.

The Orthodox concept of predestination is based on the teaching of the Holy Apostle Paul: "whom I foreknew, those also present to be conformed to the image of His Son (...) and glorify" (Rom. 8:29-30). Here the Apostle Paul speaks of those who were foreknown and predestined by God to eternal glory, of course, in the full context of Christian teaching, where predestination also presupposes man's free choice of salvation; here again we see the mystery of synergy, the co-operation of God and man. St. John Chrysostom writes in his interpretation of this place (Omilia 15 on the "Epistle to the Romans"): why were not all saved? That is why he says that the salvation of those who were called was accomplished not by one calling, but also by foreknowledge, and the calling was not forced and forced. So, all were called, but not all obeyed. And Bishop Theophan the Recluse explains even further: “Concerning free creatures, it (God’s Predestination) does not constrain their freedom and does not make them involuntary executors of its definitions. God foresees free actions as free; he sees the entire course of a free person and the general result of all his actions. And, seeing that, he determines, as if it had already happened ... It is not the actions of free persons that are the result of predestination, but predestination itself is the result of free deeds "(" Interpretation on the Epistle to the Romans ", ch. 1-8. M " 1879 , S.496).

Nevertheless, Augustine's super-logism forces him to try to examine this sacrament too closely and "explain" its seemingly difficult moments for logic. (If someone is among the "foreseen", does he need to fight for his salvation? If he is not one of them, can he refuse to fight?) We do not need to follow him in his reasoning - except in order to pay attention to the fact that he himself felt the difficulty of his position and often considered it necessary to justify himself and soften his teaching so that it would not be "misunderstood." In his treatise On the Gift of Perseverance, he indeed notes: "Nevertheless, this doctrine cannot be preached to the parishioners in this form, since to the unlearned majority or to the slow-witted people it will seem in part that this very preaching of it is contradictory" (Ch. 57 ). Truly a wonderful recognition of the complexity of the basic Christian dogma! The complexity of this teaching (which, by the way, is often felt by Western converts to Orthodoxy until they have some experience of actually living the Orthodox faith) exists only for those who attempt to "explain" it intellectually. The Orthodox teaching on the co-working of God and man, on the need for ascetic struggle, and on God's unchanging desire that all might be saved (1 Tim. 2:4) is enough to destroy the unnecessary complexities that human logic brings to this issue.

Augustine's intellectualized view of predestination, as he himself noted, often led to erroneous opinions about grace and free will in the minds of some of his listeners. These opinions finally became public knowledge within a few years after Augustine's death; and one of the great Fathers of Gaul found it necessary to fight them. Venerable Vincent of Lyrinus, a theologian from a large island monastery off the southern coast of Gaul, who was known for his fidelity to Eastern teachings in general and to the teachings of St. Cassian about grace in particular, wrote his "Commonitorium" in 434 in order to combat the "alien innovations" of various heresies that then attacked the Church. Among these innovations, he saw the opinion of one group of people who “dared to assure in their teaching that in their church, that is, in their own small parish, there is a great, special and completely personal form of Divine grace; that it is Divinely given without any suffering , jealousy or effort on their part to anyone who belongs to their group, even if they do not ask, do not seek, do not push. Thus, supported by the hands of angels, that is, preserved by an angelic veil, they can never "pierce their foot on a stone" (Ps. 90), that is, they can never be tempted" ("Commonitorium", ch. 26).

There is another work of this time containing similar criticism - Vincent's Objections - the author of which, perhaps, is St. Vikenty Lirinskiy. This is a collection of "logical conclusions" from the provisions of Blessed Augustine, unacceptable (conclusions - ed.) for any Orthodox Christian: "God is the creator of our sins", "repentance is vain for a person predestined to perdition", "God created most of the human race for eternal torment", etc.

If the criticism contained in these two books was directed against the blessed Augustine himself (whom St. Vincent does not mention by name in the "Commonitorium"), then it is, of course, unjust. Blessed Augustine never preached such a doctrine of predestination, which directly undermines the significance of the ascetic struggle; he even, as we have already seen, considers it necessary to oppose "those who exalt grace to such an extent that they deny the freedom of the human will" (Letter 214), and he would undoubtedly be on the side of St. Vincent against those whom this latter criticized. Criticism of Rev. Vincent is indeed justified when it is directed (and correctly) against such immoderate followers of Augustine, who reinterpreted his teaching in a non-Orthodox direction and, ignoring all the explanations of Augustine, taught that God's grace is effective and without human effort.

Unfortunately, however, there is one moment in Augustine's teaching on grace and, in particular, on predestination, where he falls into a serious error, which gives food for those "logical conclusions" that heretics draw from his teaching. According to Augustine's views on grace and freedom, the apostolic statement that God "desires to be saved by all men" (1 Tim. 2:4) cannot be literally true; if God "destines" only a few to be saved, then He "wills" only a few to be saved. Here again human logic fails to understand the mystery of the Christian faith. However, Augustine, true to his logic, must "explain" the passage of Scripture in accordance with his doctrine of grace in general; and therefore he says: "He "wants to be saved by all men," it is said in such a way that it becomes clear that all the predestined ones are meant (predetermined - c.-sl., ed.), because among them there are people of all kinds ("On the Rooting and grace, "ch. 44). Thus, Augustine really denies that God desires all people to be saved. Worse, the logical consequence of thought has taken him so far that he even teaches (though only in some places) about "negative" predestination - to eternal torment - absolutely alien to Scripture. He clearly speaks of "a category of people who are predestined to perish" ("On human perfection in righteousness" - "De perfectione justitiae hominis", ch. 13), and also: "Those who whom He predestined to eternal death, He is also the most righteous judge of punishment" ("On the soul and its origin" - "De anima et ejus origine", ch. 16).

But here again we must beware of reading from Augustine Calvin's later interpretations of his words. Augustine in his teaching does not at all support the view that God determines someone to "do evil"; in the full context of his thought, it becomes clear that he did not think so, and he often denied this characteristic accusation, sometimes with obvious anger. So, when it was objected to him that “they always depart from the faith because of their own fall, when they give in and will to temptation, which serves as the reason for apostasy from the faith” (contrary to the teaching that God defines man to depart from the faith), Augustine sees no need to say anything other than: "Who denies this?" ("On the gift of constancy", ch. 46). A few decades later, the disciple of Blessed Augustine, Fulgentius Ruspius, in explaining this view, declares: “In no other sense do I admit that the passage from Blessed Augustine, in which he claims that there are some persons predestined to death, has been interpreted, except regarding them punishment, and not their sin: not to the evil that they do unrighteously, but to the punishment they will justly suffer "(" On Monimus, 1,1). The Augustine doctrine of "predestination to eternal death" therefore does not assert that God wills or determines someone to apostatize or do evil, or be condemned to hell according to His will, with absolutely no free choice of good or evil by man; rather, it states that God desires the condemnation of those who, of their own free will, do evil. This, however, is not an Orthodox teaching, and the Augustine teaching on predestination, even with all its reservations, can still be very misleading.

The teachings of Augustine were expounded much earlier than Cassian wrote his "Conversations", and it is clear who the latter had in mind when, in his thirteenth "Conversation", he gave a clear Orthodox answer to this error: "How without sacrilege one can mentally think that as if He who does not want death and one of these little ones does not want salvation everyone in general, but only elected? On the contrary, those who perish perish in spite of the will of God "(Sob. XIII, 7). Augustine would not be able to accept such a teaching, because he is mistaken absolutized grace and could not imagine anything that could happen contrary to the will of God, while in the Orthodox doctrine of synergy, the proper place is given to the sacrament of human freedom, which may indeed choose not to accept what God desires for it and what it constantly wants calls.

The doctrine of predestination (not in the Augustinian narrow sense, but in the fatalistic sense, as it was taught by later heretics) had a sad future in the West. There were at least three main outbursts of it: in the middle of the 5th century, presbyter Lucid taught about absolute predestination both to salvation and condemnation - God's power irresistibly impels some to good, and others to evil, although he repented of this doctrine, after he was defeated by St. Faustus, Bishop of Rhegium, a worthy disciple of Lyrins and St. Cassian, and was condemned by the local council of Arles around 475; in the 9th century, the Saxon monk Gottschalk started the controversy anew, asserting two "absolutely similar" predestinations (one for salvation and the other for condemnation), denying both human freedom and God's will to be saved for all people, and this caused fierce disputes in the Frankish Empire; and in modern times, Luther, Zwingli, and especially Calvin, have preached the most extreme form of predestination: that God created certain people as "vessels of wrath" for sin and eternal torment, and that salvation and damnation are bestowed by God solely at His will, without reference to the works of man. Although Augustine himself never taught anything of the kind—such gloomy and highly unchristian doctrines—yet the primary origins of them are clear, and even the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, zealously defending Augustine's Orthodoxy, acknowledges them: understanding and interpretation of the views of St. Augustine relating to eternal election and condemnation. However, it was only after his death that these heresies arose in the Western Church, while the Eastern Church was miraculously preserved from these extravagances" (vol. XII, p. 376). Nothing can be clearer than the fact that the East was saved from these heresies by the teaching of St. Cassian and the Eastern Fathers, who taught Orthodoxy about grace and freedom and left no room for "misinterpretation" of the teaching.

Blessed Augustine's exaggerations in his doctrine of grace were, however, rather serious and had deplorable consequences. Let us not, however, exaggerate ourselves and look for his guilt in those extreme views that obvious heretics, as well as his enemies, ascribe to him. Nor should we place all the blame on him for the emergence of these heresies: such a view underestimates the actual course of development of the history of thought. Even the greatest thinker has no influence in an intellectual vacuum; The reasons why predestinationism flared up at different times in the West (but not in the East) were not primarily the result of the teachings of Augustine, which were only a pretext and an ostensible justification, but rather of excessively logical thinking, which has always been characteristic of the peoples of the West. . In the case of Augustine, who remained the main Orthodox thinker, this only led to exaggerations, while in the case of, for example, Calvin, who was far from Orthodoxy both in thought and feeling, this produced a disgusting heresy. If Augustine had preached his doctrine in the East and in Greek, then the heresy of predestinationism would not exist today, or at least its consequences would not spread as widely as in the West; the irrationalistic character of the Eastern mindset would not have drawn some of the consequences of Augustine’s exaggerations, and, most importantly, would have paid less attention to them than the West, seeing in him the one whom the Orthodox Church continues to see in him today: the revered Father of the Church, not without mistakes who, of course, ranks behind the greatest of the Fathers of East and West.

But in order to understand more clearly, now that we have already examined in some detail the nature of his most controversial teaching, let us turn to the judgments of the holy Fathers of the East and West about the blessed Augustine.

JUDGMENTS IN FIFTH CENTURY GAULI

The judgment of the 5th century Gaul Fathers must be the starting point of this study, for there his doctrine of grace was first and most severely challenged. We have already seen the acute criticism of the teachings of Augustine (or his followers) of Sts. Cassian and Vincent; but how did they and their other contemporaries feel about Augustine himself? In answering this question, we will go a little deeper into the doctrine of grace, and also see how the disciples of Augustine themselves were forced to soften his teaching in response to the criticism of St. Cassian and his followers.

The Gallic scholars of the grace controversy did not fail to note how mild it was in comparison with the speeches against Nestorius, Pelagius and other obvious heretics; it has always been viewed as a controversy inside the Church and not as a dispute between the Church and heretics. No one ever called Augustine a heretic, nor did Augustine apply the word to those who criticized him. The treatises written "Against Augustine" are exclusively the work of heretics (such as the Pelagian teacher Julian), and not of the Orthodox Fathers.

Prosper of Aquitaine and Hilary, in their letters to Augustine introducing him to the views of the Monk Cassian and others (published as letters 225 and 226 in the "Creations" of Augustine), note that although they criticize his teaching on grace and predestination, in other matters they agree with him completely and are his great admirers. Augustine, for his part, in two treatises responding to this criticism, addresses his opponents as "those of our brethren on whose behalf your pious love is troubled" and whose views on grace "separate them abundantly from the error of the Pelagians" (" On the predestination of the saints, ch. 2). And in the conclusion of his last treatise, he modestly offers his thoughts to the court of the Church: “Let those who think that I am in error, consider carefully what is said here again and again, so that they themselves do not make a mistake. And then, in the opinion of those who read my books, I will not only be wiser (them), but also more perfect, I will confirm God's good will towards me "(" On the gift of constancy, ch. 68). Blessed Augustine was certainly never "fanatic" in his expression of doctrinal differences with his Orthodox brethren, and his kind and noble tone was generally shared by his opponents on the question of grace.

Rev. himself Cassian, in his book Against Nestorius, recalls Augustine as one of the eight major patristic teachers in the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ, citing two of his works (VII, 27). True, he does not address Augustine with the great praises that he leaves for St. Hilary of Pictavia ("A man endowed with all virtues and grace", ch. 24), Ambrose ("that glorified shepherd of God, who, never leaving the hand of the Lord, always shone like a precious stone on the finger of God", ch. 25) or Jerome ("teachers of Catholics, whose writings shine like a divine lamp through the whole Universe", ch. 26). He calls him simply "Augustine, priest (sacerdos) of Hippo of Rhegienus," and there is hardly any doubt that he did so because he regarded Augustine as a less authoritative Father. We can see something similar in the later Eastern Fathers, who distinguish between the "divine" Ambrose and the "blessed" Augustine. Indeed, why is Augustine still commonly referred to in the East as "blessed" (a name to be explained below)? However, the fact remains that St. Cassian refers to Augustine as a teacher on a subject that does not include his views on grace, that is, as an Orthodox Father, and not as a heretic or a person whose teaching is doubtful or unimportant. Thus, there is an anthology of Augustine's teaching on the Trinity and the Incarnation, which has come down to us under the name of St. Vincent of Lyrinsk is another evidence that Augustine was accepted as an Orthodox Father in other matters, even by those who opposed him in the doctrine of grace.

Shortly after the death of Blessed Augustine (early 430s), Prosper of Aquitaine undertook a journey to Rome and appealed to the authority of Pope Celestine against those who criticized Augustine. The pope did not pronounce a verdict on a confusing dogmatic issue, but sent letters to the bishops of southern Gaul, where, apparently, he expressed the prevailing at that time in the West and "official" attitude towards Augustine: "With Augustine, whom everyone everywhere loved and revered, we always had fellowship, let an end be put to this spirit of blasphemy, which, unfortunately, is ever growing."

Augustine's doctrine of grace indeed continuously caused discord in the Gallic Church throughout the entire fifth century. However, the wisest representatives of both disputing parties spoke moderately. Thus, even Prosper of Aquitaine, the closest disciple of Augustine, after his death, admitted in one of his works in his defense (Answers to Capitula Gallarum "Gallic Glava", VIII) that Augustine expressed himself too rudely (durius) when he said that God does not wants all people to be saved. And his last work (about 450) "On the calling of all tongues" ("De vocatione omnium gentium") reveals that his own (Prosper's) teaching softened considerably before his death. (Some have questioned the traditional attribution of this book to Prosper, but recent scholarship has confirmed his authorship.)

This book aims to "explore what restraint and moderation we must preserve in our views in this clash of opinions" (Book 1, 1). And the author has, indeed, endeavored to express the truth of grace and salvation in such a way as to satisfy both sides, and to put an end to the dispute, if possible. In particular, he emphasizes that grace does not force man, but acts in accordance with the free will of man. Expressing the essence of his teaching, he writes: "If we leave all the quarrels that arise in the heat of immoderate disputes, it will be clear that we must adhere to three main points in this matter: first, we must confess that God "by all man wants to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). help of divine grace. Thirdly, we must recognize that human understanding is incapable of penetrating into the depths of the judgments of God" (Book II, 1). This is a significantly "transformed" (and greatly improved) version of the Augustine doctrine, which eventually prevailed at the Council of Orange 75 years later and put an end to the controversy (see "On the Calling of All Tongues" by Prosper of Aquitaine, translated by P. de Letgres, S.J., The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1952).

After St. Cassian, the head of the Gallic Fathers who defended the Orthodox doctrine of synergy was St. Faustus of Lyra, later Bishop of Rhegium (Riez). He wrote a treatise On God's Grace and Free Will, in which he opposes both the "harmful teacher Pelagius" and the "delusions of predestinationism" (referring to Presbyter Lucidius). Just like St. Cassian, he considers grace and freedom as accompanying each other, and grace always contributes to the human will for the sake of man's salvation. He compares free will to "a kind of small hook" by which grace is pulled and caught - an image not suitable to appease the strict Augustinians who insisted on absolute "preventive grace." Speaking about the books of Augustine in a letter to the deacon Grecus, he remarks that "even the most learned men have something that can be considered, questioning"; however, he is always respectful of the personality of Augustine and calls him "beatissimus pontifex Augustinus", "the most blessed hierarch Augustine". St. Faustus also commemorates the death of Blessed Augustine, and his writings include discourses for this feast.

But even the mild expressions of this great Father were considered reprehensible by such strict Augustinians as Africanus Fulgentius Ruspii. Thus, Africanus Fulgentius wrote treatises on grace and predestination against St. Faustus, and the long-smoldering dispute continued. We can see the Orthodox view of this controversy at the end of the 5th century in the collection of biographical notes of Presbyter Gennady of Marseilles "The Lives of Famous People" (a continuation of the book of the same name by St. Jerome). Gennady, in his treatise On Church Dogmas, reveals himself to be a disciple of St. Cassian on the issue of grace and free will, and his remarks on the main participants in the controversy give us a clear understanding of how the defenders of St. Cassian in the West treated the problem some fifty or more years later. after the death of both Augustine and Cassian.

Oh Rev. Cassian Gennady says (ch. 62): "He wrote from experience and in convincing language, or, more simply, in his words there was a thought, and in his speech there was an action. He covered the entire field of active instructions for any type of monasticism." What follows is a list of all his works, with all the "Conversations" referred to by their titles, making this chapter one of the longest in the entire book. Nothing is actually said about his teaching on grace, but Saint Cassian is clearly presented as an Orthodox Father.

On the other hand, Gennady writes about Prosper (chapter 85): “I attribute to him an anonymous book against certain works of Cassian, which the Church of God considers saving, but which he stigmatizes as destructive. And, in fact, some opinions of Cassian and Prosper about the grace of God and free will are different between the special. Here, the Orthodoxy of Cassian's doctrine of grace is deliberately proclaimed, while Prosper's doctrine is considered different from it. Yet his criticism of Prosper is mild.

Of Saint Faustus, Gennady writes (ch. 86): “He published the excellent work “On God’s Grace By Which We Are Saved,” where he teaches that God’s grace always attracts our will, precedes and helps it, and no matter how successful the free will in all her pious deeds, is not her own merit, but a gift of grace." And further, after remarks about his other books: "He is a most excellent teacher, whom we trust with delight and admire." It is obvious that Gennady defends St. Faustus as an Orthodox Father and, in particular, against the accusation that he denied "preventing grace" (often brought against St. Cassian as well). The followers of Augustine could not understand that the Orthodox understanding of synergy in no way denies "warning grace", but only teaches about it. collaboration with free will. Gennady (and St. Faust himself) emphasized such a belief in "warning grace."

Now let's see what Gennady says about Augustine. It must be remembered that this book was written in the 480s or 490s, when the controversy about Augustine's doctrine of grace was about 60 years old, when the distortions in his views were clarified and exhaustively discussed, and when the evil consequences of these distortions became explicit in Lucidius' already condemned predestinacy.

"Augustine of Hippo, Bishop of Hippo of Regien - known to the whole world for spiritual and secular learning, impeccable in faith, pure in life, wrote so many works that all of them cannot be collected. For who could boast that he has all his works or who reads from such zeal to read everything he wrote?" To his praise of Augustine, some manuscripts add a critical remark at this point: "Because of the abundance of what was said on it, the saying of Solomon truly comes true:" from verbosity you cannot escape sin "(Prov. 10, 19)" (ch. 39). This remark, referring to Augustine (regardless of whether it belongs to Gennady or a later scribe), is no softer than similar statements of Sts. Cassian and Faustus, who simply pointed out that the teachings of Augustine were not perfect. It is obvious that the exponents of the completely Orthodox doctrine of grace in Gaul of the 5th century treated Augustine only as a great teacher and Father, although they considered it necessary to point out his mistakes. This has remained the Orthodox attitude towards Augustine right up to the present day.

By the early sixth century, the grace controversy had centered around a critique of the teachings of St. Faustus, whose "little hook" of free will continued to trouble the still overly logical followers of Augustine. The whole controversy was eventually brought to a close largely by the efforts of one man, whose attitude was particularly conducive to the final reconciliation of the two parties. St. Caesarius, Metropolitan of Arles, a pupil of the Lyrins monastery, was distinguished by the severity of his deeds, was a follower of the ascetic teaching of St. Faustus, whom he never ceased to call a saint; but at the same time, he greatly revered and passionately loved Blessed Augustine, and at the end of his life he received from God what he asked of Him - to be honored to die on the day of Augustine's repose (he died on the evening before August 27, 543). Under his presidency, the Council of Orange was convened (529), which was attended by 14 bishops, and 25 canons were adopted, which gave a somewhat softened version of the teaching of blessed Augustine on grace. The latter's exaggerated expressions about the almost irresistible nature of grace were carefully sidestepped, and nothing was said about his doctrine of predestination. Significantly, the doctrine of "predestination unto evil" (which some have defined as an erroneous "logical deduction" from Augustine's "predestination unto destruction") was specifically condemned, and its followers ("if there is anyone who wishes to believe in something so ") are anathematized (J.C. Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History, New York, 1922, p. 475).

The Orthodox teaching of Saints Cassian and Faustus was not cited at this council, but neither was it condemned; their doctrine of synergy was simply not understood. The freedom of the human will, of course, was confirmed, but within the framework of the excessively logical Western view of grace and nature. Augustine's teaching was corrected, but the fullness of the deeper Eastern teaching was not recognized. That is why the teaching of St. Cassian is today, as it were, a revelation for Western seekers of Christian truth. The point is not that the teaching of Augustine in its softened form is "erroneous" (for it teaches the truth to the extent that it is possible within its limited framework), but that the teaching of St. Cassian is a fuller and deeper expression of the truth.

JUDGMENTS OF THE VITH CENTURY. EAST AND WEST

When the controversy about grace ceased to disturb the West (the East paid little attention to it, since his own teaching was safe and not attacked), Augustine's reputation remained unchanged: he was a great Father of the Church, well known and revered in the whole West and less known, but still revered in the East.

The opinion of the West about Augustine can be seen from the mention of him by St. Gregory the Dialogist, Pope of Rome, the Orthodox Father, recognized by both the West and the East. In a letter to Innocent, prefect of Africa, St. Gregory writes, referring in particular to Augustine's interpretations of Scripture: his beautiful wheat" ("Messages", book X, 37). Elsewhere, St. Gregory calls him "Saint Augustine" (Epistle, Book II, 54).

In the East, where there were few occasions for discussions about Augustine (whose writings were still little known), the judgment about the blessed Augustine is seen most clearly in connection with the great event of this century - the meeting of the Fathers of the West and the East at the Fifth Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in 553. In the Acts of this Council, the name of Augustine is mentioned several times. Thus, at the first session of the Council, a letter from the holy Emperor Justinian to the assembled Fathers was read. It contained the following: "We further proclaim that we firmly keep the decrees of the Four Councils and in everything we follow the Fathers: Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Constantinople, Cyril, Augustine, Proclus, Leo and their writings on the true faith ("The Seven Ecumenical Councils" , Eerdmans ed; p. 303)".

In addition, in the final Resolution of the Council, where the Fathers refer to the authority of blessed Augustine on a certain issue, they mention him in the following way: “The own letters of Augustine of blessed memory, who outshone other African bishops with brilliance, were read ...” (Ibid., p. 309).

Finally, Pope Vigilius, who was in Constantinople but refused to take part in the Council, in the "Decretal", which he delivered a few months later (but still in Constantinople), when he nevertheless recognized the Council, pointed to Blessed Augustine as for example, for his own denial, and wrote about it this way: “It is common knowledge that our Fathers, and especially blessed Augustine, who was truly versed in Divine Scripture and Roman eloquence, renounced some of their writings and corrected some of their sayings, and also added what he missed and subsequently realized "(Ibid., p. 322.).

It is evident that in the sixth century Blessed Augustine was the recognized Father of the Church, who was mentioned with great reverence, and this reverence was not detracted from the fact that he sometimes taught inaccurately and had to correct himself.

In later centuries, this passage in the letter of the Holy Emperor Justinian, where he mentions Augustine among the great Fathers of the Church, was quoted by Latin writers in theological disputes with the East (the text of the "Acts of the Council" was preserved only in Latin) with the intention of confirming the established authority of Augustine and other Western Fathers. in the Universal Church. We shall see how the eminent Fathers of these centuries, who regarded the blessed Augustine as an Orthodox Father, conveyed to us the correct, Orthodox attitude towards Fathers such as Augustine, who fell into various kinds of errors.

NINTH CENTURY: SAINT PHOTIOS THE GREAT

The theology of blessed Augustine (but not his doctrine of grace) first began to be disputed in the East later, in the ninth century, in connection with the well-known dispute about the Filioque (the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit also "from the Son", and not from the Father alone, as this always taught in the East). Thus, for the first time, every part of Augustine's theology was put to the test in the East by one of the Greek Fathers (St. Photius). The Gaul Fathers, who opposed him on the question of grace, although they taught in an Eastern spirit, all lived in the West and wrote in Latin.

The 9th-century Filioque controversy is a broad subject on which a substantial study has recently appeared (Richard Haugh. "Photius and the Carolingians." Nordland, Belmont, Mass., 1975). We will discuss it only in connection with the attitude of St. Photius to Blessed Augustine. This attitude is basically the same as that expressed in the 5th century by the Gallic Fathers, but St. Photius gives a more detailed explanation of what, in fact, the Orthodox view of the great holy Father, who had mistakes.

In his Letter to the Archbishop of Aquileia, one of the leading Filioque apologists in the West under the Carolingians, St. Photius answers several objections. To the statement "Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and some others - they wrote that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son", St. Photius answers: “If ten, even twenty Fathers had said so, but 600 and countless multitudes did not say: who will insult the Fathers, are they not those who, concluding all the piety of a few of those Fathers in a few words and placing them in contradiction to the councils, prefer their innumerable host, or those who choose many Fathers as their protectors? definition of a common Master?"

Next, St. Photius expresses disapproval of the typical Latin, overly limited and logical way of thinking: "... if they taught well, then everyone who considers them to be Fathers should accept their thoughts; if they did not speak piously, then they should be rejected along with heretics." Answer of St. Photius this logical view is a model of depth, sensitivity and compassion with which true Orthodoxy looked at those who erred in a good confession of faith: when attacked by enemies, and sometimes due to human ignorance, which they also fell under? truth, - we leave them among the Fathers, in the same way, no matter how they say it, partly for the fame of their life and the glory of virtues, partly for the integrity of their faith in other respects; but we do not follow their words where they deviated We, although we know that some of our Holy Fathers and teachers have deviated from the confession of the true teaching, do not accept as teaching those areas in which they erred but we accept the people themselves. Thus, in the case where some have been reproved for teaching that the Spirit proceeds from the Son, we do not admit contrary to the word of the Lord, but we do not cast them out from among the Fathers" ("Photius and Carolingians", pp. 136-137. Some passages have been supplemented from the Russian translation of Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov, op. cit., vol. 3, pp. 254-255).

In the Mystagogy, a later treatise on the issue of the procession of the Holy Spirit, St. Photius speaks in the same vein of Augustine and others who have been mistaken about the Filioque, and again defends Augustine before those who wish to misrepresent him as contrary to ecclesiastical tradition, imploring the Latins to cover up the errors of their Fathers with "silence and gratitude" (ibid., pp. 151-153).

Blessed Augustine's teaching on the Holy Trinity, like his teaching on grace, turned out to be inaccurate, not so much because of an error in some particular point, but because of insufficient knowledge of the entire Eastern teaching about the Holy Trinity. Otherwise, he probably would not have believed that the Spirit proceeds "also from the Son." He probably approached the whole doctrine from a different - "psychological" - point of view, which also did not correspond to the Eastern approach to expressing the authenticity of our knowledge of God; thus, both on the question of grace and elsewhere, the limited Latin approach is not so much "erroneous" as "narrow". A few centuries later, the great Eastern Father, St. Gregory Palamas, was ready to excuse some of the Latin formulations of the procession of the Holy Spirit (as long as they were not referred to as the procession hypostases Holy Spirit), adding: "We must not act indecently, quarreling needlessly over words" (See: Rev. John Meyendorf, "A Study of Oregoiy Palamas", The Faith Press, London, 1964, pp. 231 -232). But even to those who taught incorrectly about the procession of the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit (as, according to St. Photius, blessed Augustine taught), if they did this before the controversial issues were fully discussed in the Church and the Orthodox teaching was clearly formulated, then one should approach them with tolerance and "do not cast them out from among the Fathers."

Blessed Augustine himself, it should be noted, wholly deserved the loving indulgence that St. Photius regarding his mistake. In the conclusion of his book "On the Trinity" he wrote: "Lord, One God, God of the Trinity, what I have said in this book from You, let it be accepted as Yours; if I said something from myself, then yes Forgive me, You and those who are Yours."

In the 9th century, when another serious error of Blessed Augustine was discovered and became the subject of controversy, the Orthodox East continued to treat him as a Saint and as the Father of the Church.

LATER CENTURIES: SAINT MARK OF EPHESSIA

In the 15th century, during the "Unia" concluded at the Council of Florence, the situation seemed similar to the era of St. Photius: The Latins appealed to the authority of Augustine, quoting (at times inaccurately) in defense of their various teachings, such as the Filioque and Purgatory, and the great theologian of the East responded to them.

In the first appeal to the Greeks in defense of the fire of purification and purgatory, the Latins cite the text of a letter from St. Emperor Justinian to the Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, quoted above, in order to confirm the ecumenical authority in the Church of Blessed Augustine and other Western Fathers. To this St. Mark answers: “You, first of all, quoted some words of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, determining that in everything one should follow those Fathers whose sayings you intend to quote, and fully accept what they said, among whom were Augustine and Ambrose, who, it seems, they teach more distinctly than others about this purifying fire. But these words are unknown to us, for we have absolutely no book of acts of that Council, which is why we ask you to submit it, if you have it written in Greek. For we are very surprised that in the aforementioned text, and Theophilus is ranked among the other Teachers, whom there is no scripture at all, but notoriety is known everywhere for his frenzy at 3latoust "(Here and below, translations of St. Mark of Ephesus are given (with minor corrections) according to the book: Archim. Ambrose (Pogodin) "Saint Mark of Ephesus and the Union of Florence", Jonlanvffle, 1963, pp. 65-66).

Saint Mark speaks out against the reckoning among the Doctors of the Church only of Theophilus, but not of Augustine and not of Ambrose. Further, in his work (Ch. 8, 9), St. Mark, examining quotations from "blessed Augustine" and "divine Father" Ambrose" (a distinction that is often maintained by the Orthodox Fathers of later centuries), rejects some of his statements and accepts others. In other writings of St. Mark related to this Council, he himself uses the Augustinian writings as an Orthodox source (obviously, Greek translations of some of his works, which were made after the era of St. Photius).In his "Answers to the difficulties and questions put to him by side of the cardinals and other Latin teachers" (ch. 3) St. Mark quotes from the "Monologues" - "Soliloquia", and "On the Trinity" - "De Trinitate", referring to the author as "blessed Augustine" and successfully using them against Latins at the council (Pogodin, 156-158).In one of his writings - "Syllogic chapters against the Latins (ch. 3, 4) he also refers to the" divine Augustine ", again sympathetically quoting his essay "On the Trinity" ( Pogodin, p. 268). It should be noted that when St. Mark quotes late Latin teachers who are not recognized in the Orthodox Church, he is very attentive to the use of commendable epithets and never calls them either "blessed" or "divine"; so, Thomas Aquinas for him is only "Thomas, the teacher of the Latins" (ibid., ch. 13, Pogodin, p. 251).

Like St. Photius, seeing that the Latin theologians cite the errors of individual Fathers, putting them forward against the entire teaching of the Church, St. Mark considers it necessary to establish the Orthodox Teaching in relation to those Fathers who had errors in certain moments. This he makes similar to St. Photius in a way, but not in relation to Augustine, whose mistakes he tries to justify and show him in the best possible way, and not to other Western Fathers, but to the Fathers of the East, who fell into errors no less serious than Augustine's. Here St. Mark writes: “As for the words of the blessed Gregory of Nyssa quoted after this, it would be better to put them in silence and by no means force us, for the sake of our defense, to clearly bring them to the middle, for this teacher is seen as clearly agreeing with the dogmas of the Origenians and introducing an end According to St. Gregory, - continues St. Mark, -there will come the final restoration of all and the demons themselves, let it be, - as he says, - God of all in all "", according to the word of the Apostle. Since, among others, they are brought to the middle and these words, then first we will answer regarding them as we received from our Fathers: that it is possible that these are distortions and insertions made by some heretics and originators ... But if indeed the Saint was of such an opinion, however, it was then, when this teaching was the subject of a dispute and was not finally condemned and rejected by the opposite opinion pronounced at the V Ecumenical Council, so there is nothing surprising that he himself, being a man, buried Yesil exactly (of the truth), when the same thing happened to many who were before him, like Irenaeus of Lyon, and Dionysius of Alexandria, and others ... So, these sayings, if indeed said by the wonderful Gregory about that fire, then they point not to a special cleansing, which purgatory should be, but introduces the final cleansing and the final restoration of all; but they are in no way convincing to us, who look to the general judgment of the Church and are guided by Divine Scripture, and do not look at what each of the Masters wrote, expressing as his personal opinion; and if someone else wrote about the cleansing fire, we have no need to accept this "(" The first word about the cleansing fire ", ch. II, Pogodin, pp. 68-69).

It is significant that the Latins were shocked by this answer and instructed one of their main theologians, the Spanish Cardinal Juan de Torquemada (uncle of the famous Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition) to give an answer, which he did in the following words: "Gregory of Nyssa, undoubtedly the greatest among teachers, with the clearest conveyed the doctrine of purifying fire... And the fact that in response to this you say that, being a man, he could make mistakes, this seems very strange to us, for both Peter and Paul, and the other Apostles, and the four Evangelists - also there were people, not to mention that Athanasius the Great, Basil, Ambrose, Ilarius and other great ones in the Church were also people, therefore they could be mistaken! and the New Testament, handed down to us through people who, if you follow your assertion, it was not impossible to err. What then will remain firm in Divine Scripture? children have strength? And then we admit that it is possible for a person to err, insofar as he is a man and does something with his own strength, but since he is led by the Divine Spirit and tested by the touchstone of the Church, in those things that relate to the general faith of dogmatic teaching, then what he wrote, we affirm, is absolutely true" ("Reply theses of the Latins", ch. 4, Pogodin, pp. 94-95).

The logical conclusion of these searches by the Latins for "perfection" in the Holy Fathers is, of course, papal infallibility. The train of thought here is exactly the same as that of those who objected to St. Photius: if St. Augustine and others taught inaccurately about one thing, then they should be "spewed out along with the heretics."

In his new response to these statements, St. Mark repeats the Orthodox view, according to which "it is possible that someone is a Teacher, and yet not everything says absolutely correctly, for what need would the Fathers have in Ecumenical Councils?" Such private opinions, in so far as they are opposed to inerrant Scripture and Church Tradition, "we must not unconditionally believe or accept without examination." Further on, he shows in detail, with many quotations, that St. Gregory of Nyssa really made the mistakes attributed to him (no more, no less than the denial of eternal torment in hell and the salvation of everyone without exception), and gives the last authoritative word to Augustine himself:

“That only the canonical Scriptures have infallibility, is also testified by Blessed Augustine in the words that he writes to Jerome: “It is fitting to give such honor and respect only to the books of Scripture, which are called canonical, for I absolutely believe that none of the authors who wrote them what I didn’t sin ... As for other writings, no matter how great the superiority of their authors in holiness and learning, reading them, I do not accept their teaching as true solely on the grounds that it was they who wrote and thought so. Then, in an epistle to Phorunat (St. Mark continues to quote St. Augustine) he writes the following: to consider it inadmissible for us, out of the respect that owes such people, to disapprove or reject something in their writings; if we happened to discover that they thought differently than this expresses the truth, which, with the help of God, was comprehended by others or by us. Such is I in relation to the writings of other people; and I wish the reader to do the same with regard to my writings" (St. Mark. "The Second Word on the Purifying Fire", ch. 15-16; Pogodin, pp. 127-132).

So, the last word about the blessed Augustine is the word of Augustine himself; The Orthodox Church in the course of centuries, in essence, treated him exactly as he himself wished.

A LOOK AT Blessed Augustine in Modern Times

The Orthodox Fathers of modern times continued to treat Blessed Augustine in the same way as Saint Mark did, and there were no special disputes connected with his name. In Russia, at least since the time of St. Demetrius of Rostov (beginning of the 18th century), it has firmly become a rule to call him "blessed Augustine." Let's say a few words about this name.

In the first centuries of Christianity, the word "blessed" in relation to the righteous was used in much the same way as the word "holy." This was not a consequence of any formal "canonization" - then it was not yet practiced - but rather based on popular veneration. So, in relation to St. Martin of Tours (4th century), without any doubt a saint and miracle worker, early authors, such as St. . And, therefore, when in the 5th century St. Faustus of Lyrins Augustine is called “the most blessed” (beatissimus), in the 6th century St. Gregory the Great is called “blessed” (beatus) and “holy” (sanctus), in the 9th century St. "(agios) - all these different names imply the same thing, namely, that Augustine was recognized as standing in a certain line of people eminent in his holiness and teaching. In the West, during these centuries, the day of his memory was celebrated; in the East (where there were no special feasts for Western saints) he was treated simply as the Father of the Universal Church. By the time of St. Mark of Ephesus, the word "blessed" was used in relation to the Fathers, whose authority was somewhat less than that of the great Fathers of the Church; thus, he wrote "blessed Augustine", but "divine Ambrose", "blessed Gregory of Nyssa", but "Gregory the Theologian, great among the saints". However, this usage was by no means strictly established.

Even in our time, the use of the word "blessed" remains somewhat vague. In Russian, "blessed" can refer to the great Fathers, around whom there were some disputes (Augustine and Jerome in the West, Theodoret of Cyrus in the East), but also to the holy fools for Christ's sake (canonized or non-canonized), and to the non-canonized saints of the latter centuries in general. Even today, there is no clear definition of what the concept of "blessed" means in the Orthodox Church (as opposed to Roman Catholicism, where the process of being "blessed" is itself completely regulated), and any "blessed" in the Orthodox Saints (as is the case with Augustine, Jerome, Theodoret and many fools for Christ's sake) can also be called "saints". In Russian Orthodox practice one rarely hears "Saint Augustine", but almost always "Blessed Augustine".

In our time there are numerous translations of the writings of Blessed Augustine into Greek and Russian, and he has undoubtedly become well known in the Orthodox East. Some of his writings, such as the treatises against Pelagius and "On the Trinity", are read, however, with the same caution as the Orthodox read St. Gregory of Nyssa "On the Soul and Resurrection" and some of his other writings. The great Russian Father of the end of the 18th century, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, cites the writings of Blessed Augustine (mainly the Monologues) as an Orthodox Father, although, of course, the Eastern Fathers, and, above all, St. John Chrysostom, were the main patristic sources for him. : Nadejda Gorodetzky, "Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk", Crestwood, N.Y., 1976, p. 118). Augustine's "Confession" took pride of place in Orthodox spiritual literature in Russia and was even decisive for the renunciation of the world by the great recluse of the early 19th century, Georgy Zadonsky. When this latter was in his youth in the military service and led an increasingly secluded life, preparing for the monastery, he was so captivated by the daughter of a colonel that he decided to ask for her hand. Remembering then his cherished desire to leave the world, he fell into a state of crisis, indecision, confusion, which he finally resolved by turning to the patristic book, which he was then reading. Here is how he himself describes this moment: "I was prompted to open the book lying on the table:" Wherever the book is opened, I will follow it. "I opened Augustine's Confession. And read:" of the Lord, how to please the Lord, but he who is married cares for the worldly, how to please his wife" (1 Cor. 7, 32-33). See how true this is! What a difference! Think sensibly, choose the best way; do not hesitate, decide, follow; nothing prevents you. "I decided. My heart was overflowing with inexpressible joy. My soul rejoiced. And it seemed that my whole being was entirely in a divine frenzy" (Bishop Nikodim. "Russian ascetics of the 18th and 19th centuries." - September volume. M ., 1909, pp. 542-543). This experience is clearly reminiscent of Blessed Augustine's own conversion experience, when something prompted him to open the epistles of St. Apostle Paul and follow the advice of the very first passage on which his eyes rested (Confession, VIII, 12). It should be noted that in his spirit, Blessed George of Zadonsk belonged entirely to the world of the Orthodox Fathers, as far as can be judged from the books he read: Lives of the Saints, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Interpretations of St. Church Fathers on Holy Scripture.

The situation in the Greek Church in modern times is largely similar. 18th century Greek theologian Eustratius Argenti, in such anti-Latin writings as the "Treatise on Unleavened Bread", refers to Augustine as a patristic authority, but at the same time notes that Augustine is one of those fathers who fell into certain errors - in no way, however, without ceasing to this to remain the Father of the Church (See: timothy (now Bishop Callistos of Diocdias - transl.) Ware. "Eustratius Argenti". Oxford, 1964, pp. 126, 128).

At the end of the XVIII century. St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer included the Life of Blessed Augustine in his "Synaxarion" or "Collection of the Lives of the Saints", while until that time it had not been included in the Eastern calendars and collections of the lives of the saints. In itself, this does not contain anything remarkable. After all, the name of Augustine was one of the many hundreds that St. Nicodemus added to the very incomplete Orthodox calendar, following his zeal to further glorify the saints of God. In the 19th century, proceeding from a similar zeal, the Russian Church borrowed the name of Augustine from the "Synaxarion" of St. Nicodemus and included it in her own calendar. This was not at all a "canonization" of Blessed Augustine, since in the East he was never regarded otherwise than as the Father and the Holy One; it was simply about expanding the church calendar to make it more complete, a process that continues to this day.

In the 20th century, the name of Blessed Augustine is usually already included in Orthodox calendars, usually under June 15 (together with Blessed Jerome), but sometimes under August 28, the day of his repose. The Greek Church as a whole, perhaps, perceives him with fewer reservations than the Russian one, as can be seen, for example, in the official calendar of one of the modern "Old Calendar" Greek Churches, where he is called not "blessed Augustine", as in the Russian calendar, and "St. Augustine the Great" (agios Augustinos on megas).

However, even in the Russian Church love for him is great, although he is not given the title "great". Archbishop John (Maximovich), having become the ruling bishop of Western Europe, showed deliberate reverence for Blessed Augustine (as well as for many other Western saints); thus, he undertook the compilation of a special church service in his honor (until then it had not been in the Slavonic menaias), and this service was officially approved by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Outside of Russia under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Anastassy. Archbishop John performed this service every year on the feast of Blessed Augustine, no matter where he was on that day,

In modern times, perhaps the most balanced critical assessment of Blessed Augustine was given in the "Patrology" of Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov, which has been quoted above more than once. "He had the most extensive influence on his own and subsequent times. But partly he was not understood, and partly he himself inaccurately expressed his thoughts and gave rise to disputes" (vol. III, p. 7). "Possessing logical reason and an abundance of feelings, the Teacher of Ipponsky did not possess, however, in the same abundance of a metaphysical mind, in his writings there is a lot of wit and little originality in thoughts, a lot of logical rigor, but not many special lofty ideas, Theological thorough learning also cannot be attributed Augustine wrote about everything, just like Aristotle, while only systematic reviews of objects and moral reflections could be and were his excellent works ... The highest feature in him is deep sincere piety, which all his writings breathe "(ibid. , p. 35). Among his moralizing works, highly valued by Archbishop Philaret, are "Solilokia" ("Conversations with oneself"), treatises, letters and sermons on monastic deeds and virtues, "On care for the dead", on prayer to the saints, on the veneration of relics and, of course, his justly glorified "Confession", which, no doubt, can strike everyone to the depths of the soul with the sincerity of contrition and warm with that warmth of piety, which is so much needed on the path of salvation" (ibid., p. 23).

The "controversial" aspects of the dogmatic writings of Blessed Augustine were often given such great importance that the other, moralizing aspect of his writings was largely neglected. However, today the main asset for us is, perhaps, just his role as the Father of Orthodox piety, with which he was filled. Modern scientists are often disappointed, not understanding how such an "intellectual giant" turns out to be such a "typical son of his time - even in those things where you least expect it", that "it is rather strange how Augustine fits into the general background, overflowing with dreams, demons and spirits" and his acceptance of miracles and visions "reveals a credulity that seems incredible to us today." In this capacity, Blessed Augustine disagrees with the "sophisticated" learned theologians of our day; but on the other hand, he is one in this with simple Orthodox believers, as well as with all the holy Fathers of East and West, who, whatever their mistakes and disagreements in the theoretical aspects of the teaching, are endowed with sincere, deeply Christian hearts and souls. This is precisely what makes him an indisputably Orthodox Father and creates an insurmountable abyss between him and his non-Orthodox "followers" of the last centuries, makes him close to all those who adhere to true Christianity today. Holy Orthodoxy.

But also in many dogmatic questions, Blessed Augustine reveals himself as a teacher of the Orthodox. It is especially necessary to mention his teaching about the thousand-year reign of Christ. Being in his first years in Christianity an adherent of a somewhat spiritualized form of chiliasm, in his mature years he became one of the main opponents of this heresy, which led astray both in antiquity and in our time many people who read the Apocalypse of St. John too literally, contrary to Church Tradition. In the true Orthodox interpretation taught by Blessed Augustine, the “thousand years” of the Apocalypse (Rev. 20:3) is all the time from the First to the Second Coming of Christ, when the devil is “bound” (significantly limited in his ability to seduce believers), and the saints reign with Christ in the grace-filled life of the Church ("On the City of God", book XX, ch.7-9).

According to the iconography, one can quite clearly imagine the features of Blessed Augustine. Perhaps the earliest surviving depiction of him, a 6th-century fresco in the Lateran Library in Rome, is undoubtedly based on a lifetime portrait; the same exhausted ascetic face with a sparse beard appears on the icon of the 7th century, depicting him together with blessed Jerome and St. Gregory the Great. The icon from the 11th century Tour manuscript is more stylized, but still obviously based on the same original. Later Western depictions lose their resemblance to the original (as happened to most of the early saints in the West), showing Blessed Augustine simply as a medieval or modern Latin prelate.

A REMARK ABOUT Blessed Augustine's Current Slanderers

Orthodox theology of the 20th century experienced a "patriotic revival". Without a doubt, there are many positives in this "revival". A number of Orthodox textbooks of recent centuries, expounding certain doctrines, using partly Western (especially Roman Catholic) terminology, did not pay due respect to some of the deeply Orthodox Fathers, especially those closest to us in time (St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Gregory of Sinai). The "patriotic revival" in the 20th century at least partly corrected these shortcomings and freed the Orthodox academies and seminaries from the improper "Western trends" that soared within their walls. In fact, it was a continuation of the movement for Orthodox self-consciousness, which was started in the 18th - early 19th centuries by St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer, St. Macarius of Corinth, Blessed Paisius (Velichkovsky), Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow and others - both in Greece and in Russia. However, this “revival” also had its negative side. First of all, by the 20th century, it had already become (and still remains to a large extent) an "academic" phenomenon: an abstract life divorced from reality, bearing the imprint of the most insignificant passions of modern academic circles - complacency, a thirst for superiority, a lack of condescension in criticizing the views of others, education parties and circles of "initiates", dictating the "fashion" for views. Some researchers have become so zealous about the "patriotic revival" that they find "Western influence" everywhere they look, become hypercritical of the "Westernized" Orthodoxy of the last centuries and allow themselves an extremely dismissive attitude towards the very revered Orthodox Fathers (both to the present and even to the ancients) because of the "Western" nature of their views. These "zealots" hardly suspect that by their actions they are knocking the Orthodox soil out from under their own feet and relegating the unbroken Orthodox tradition to some kind of "party line" that their small group allegedly shares with the Great Fathers of the past. The latter dangerously brings the "revival of patristics" closer to a variety of Protestantism (For a critique of such a result of the "revival of patristics" see: in the article F.M. Pomazansky. "The Lituigical Theology of Fr. A. Schmemann"". The Orthodox Word, 1970, no. 6, pp. 260-280 (Father Michael Pomazansky, "The Liturgical Theology of Father A. Schmemann").

Blessed Augustine in recent years has become a victim of this negative side of the "patriotic renaissance." The increased theoretical knowledge in the field of Orthodox theology in our time (as opposed to the theology of the Holy Fathers, which was inextricably linked with the conduct of the Christian life) caused an increase in criticism of Blessed Augustine for his theological errors. Some scholarly theologians even specialize in "smashing to pieces" Augustine and his theology, leaving hardly anyone to believe that he can still be considered the Father of the Church. Sometimes such scholars come into open conflict with Orthodox learned theologians of the "old school", to whom some of Augustine's mistakes were explained in the seminary, but who recognize him as the Father of the Church, without singling him out from among the many others. These latter scholars are closer to the traditional Orthodox view of Blessed Augustine that has passed through the centuries, while the former sin rather by exaggerating Augustine's mistakes than by indulging them (as the Great Fathers of the past did), and their academic "correctness" often lacks that inner humility and purity. which distinguish the reliable transmission of the Orthodox Tradition from father to son (not only from professor to student). Let us give one example of such an incorrect attitude towards the blessed Augustine on the part of some modern learned theologians.

One of the Orthodox clergy, a professor at a theological school that has experienced a "patriotic renaissance", is giving a lecture on the different types of thinking of East and West. Referring to the "pernicious distortions of Christian morality" in the modern West, and especially "false puritanism" and a sense of "self-sufficiency", he states: "I cannot trace the origin of this idea, I only know that Augustine already used it when, if I am not mistaken, I said in my "Confession" that after baptism he had no fornication thoughts. I do not want to question Augustine's honesty, but it is absolutely impossible for me to accept this statement. I suspect that he made it, believing that, once he became a Christian, he should not have any lustful thoughts. The understanding of this in Eastern Christianity, however, was completely different" ("The Hellenic Chronicle", Nov.ll, 1976, p.6.). Here, as you can see, Augustine is quite easily turned into a "scapegoat", attributing to him any views that they find "non-Orthodox" or "Western"; everything rotten in the West must come from him as from the original source! It is even considered possible, contrary to all the laws of justice, to look into his mind and attribute to him the most primitive type of thinking, which even today's new converts to Orthodoxy do not have.

Of course, that Blessed Augustine never made such a statement is an indisputable fact. In his "Confession" he is quite frank, speaking of the "fire of sensuality", which was still in him, and that "now I am still in this evil" ("Confession" X, 30); and his teaching on sexual morality and on the struggle with the passions coincides in general with the teaching of the Eastern Fathers of his time, very different from the modern Western position, which the lecturer rightly considers erroneous and unchristian. (In reality, however, the grace of freedom from fornication was given to some Fathers - if not in the West, then in the East). (See: "Lavsaik" ch. 29, which tells about the ascetic Elijah of Egypt, visited by angels, who was granted such freedom from lust that he could say: "Passion no longer enters my mind"). We should not be overly harsh in condemning such distortions inherent in the "patristic revival". So many inadequate and controversial ideas, many of which are really alien to the Church, are presented today under the name of Christianity and even Orthodoxy, that one can easily excuse those whose Orthodox views and assessments sometimes lack balance, as long as what they sincerely seek is really the purity of Christianity. . Our careful study of Blessed Augustine has indeed shown that this is precisely the attitude of the Orthodox Fathers towards those who err in the right faith. We have something to borrow from the generous, tolerant and condescending attitude of these Fathers. If there are errors, then, of course, it is necessary to strive to correct them. The "Western influence" of modern times must be resisted; the mistakes of the Fathers of antiquity must not be followed. In particular, with regard to Blessed Augustine, there can be no doubt that his teaching is largely lacking in accuracy regarding the Holy Trinity, the nature of grace, and other dogmas; his teaching is not "heretical", but contains exaggerations, while the Eastern Fathers left a deep and true Christian vision of these issues.

To a certain extent, the errors inherent in the teachings of Augustine are the errors of the Western type of thinking, which, in general, is not capable of comprehending Christian teaching as deeply as the Eastern one. St. Mark of Ephesus makes a special remark to the Latin theologians at the Ferrara-Florence Council, which can be considered the result of disagreements between East and West: “Do you see how superficially your Teachers touch the meaning, how they do not delve into its meaning, how, for example, the Golden-speaking John and that (Gregory) Theologian and other universal luminaries of the Church" ("The First Word on the Purifying Fire", ch. 8, Pogodin, p. 66).

Of course, there are Western Fathers - such as St. Ambrose, Hilary of Pictavia, Cassian, who had a deeper understanding and were more oriental in spirit, but, as a rule, it is the eastern Fathers who most penetratingly and deeply teach Christian dogma.

But this in no way paves the way for "oriental triumphalism." If we are proud of our Great Fathers, we will beware of being like the Jews, who were proud of the very prophets who were stoned (Mat. 23, 29-31). We, the last Christians, are unworthy of the inheritance that was left to us; we are unworthy even to look from a distance at those heights of theology that they taught and lived by; we quote the great Fathers, but we do not possess their spirit. It can even be said that, as a rule, it is those who protest loudest against "Western influence" and are not indulgent towards those whose theology is not "pure" - without suspecting it, they are most infected with Western influence, often of an unpredictable kind. The spirit of rejection of all those who do not agree with the "correct" views on theology, iconography, spiritual life or other subjects has become too general today, especially among new converts to the Orthodox faith, on whom this has the most destructive effect and often leads to catastrophic consequences. But even among the "Orthodox peoples" this spirit has spread too widely (obviously, just as a result of "Western influence"!), As can be seen in Greece, where recently unsuccessful attempts were made to deny the sanctity of St. Nectarios of Pentapolis, the great miracle worker of our century, for the reason that his teaching regarding certain dogmas was supposedly wrong. Today all Orthodox Christians, whether in the East or in the West - if we are honest and sincere enough to admit it - are in a "Western captivity" worse than any of our Fathers. In earlier centuries, Western influence was expressed in some theoretical formulations of the doctrine, which required clarification; today, "Western influence" surrounds and often. dominates the very atmosphere and tone of our Orthodoxy, which is often theoretically "correct" but needs a truly Christian spirit, an elusive taste of true Christianity.

So let's be more humble, more loving and forgiving in our approach to Sts. Fathers. Let the indicator of our continuity in relation to the uninterrupted Christian Tradition of the past be not only our attempt to be accurate in the teaching, but also our love for those people who transmitted it to us, one of whom was undoubtedly Blessed Augustine, like St. Gregory of Nyssa, despite their mistakes. Let us agree with our great Eastern Father, St. Photius of Constantinople and we will "not accept as dogmas those areas in which they were mistaken, but accept people."

And, in fact, our "correct" and "accurate", but cold and insensitive generation of Orthodox Christians has a lot to learn from Blessed Augustine. The lofty teaching of the Philokalia is now "in vogue"; but how few of those who read it, having first gone through the "alphabet" of deep repentance, warmth of heart and truly Orthodox piety, shining from every page of the deservedly glorified "Confession"? This book, the history of the conversion of Blessed Augustine himself, has by no means lost its significance today: zealous converts will find in it much of their own path through sins and errors to the Orthodox Church and an antidote against some of the "neophyte temptations" of our time. Without the fire of genuine zeal and piety, which is revealed in the "Confession", our Orthodox spirituality is a fake and a parody, participating in the spirit of the coming Antichrist, just like the dogmatic apostasy that surrounds us from all sides.

“The thought of You so deeply excites a person that he cannot be satisfied until he praises You, for You created us for Yourself, and our heart does not know rest until it rests in You” (“Confession”, 1, 1) .