Augustine of Hippo on the City of God. The writings of Aurelius Augustine the blessed

Augustine the Blessed.

About the city of God

Book One

Refutes the pagans who attributed the disasters of the empire, especially the last devastation of Rome by the Goths, to the Christian religion, which forbids the cult of the gods. He talks about the welfare and hardships that were at that time, as usual, common to both good and evil people. It curbs the impudence of those who reproached Christianity with the rape of Christian women by soldiers.

Foreword

On the Purpose and Content of the Undertaken Essay

In this work, my dearest son Marcellinus, conceived by you, and for me, by virtue of the promise I made, obligatory, I set it as my task to protect the city of God, glorious as in this current of time, when he wanders among the wicked, "living by faith" ( Hab. 2:4), and in that eternal life, which he now “waits with patience” (Rom. 8:25), believing that “judgment will return to righteousness” (Ps. 93:15), and which he will gain by virtue of its undoubted superiority, to protect against those who put their gods above his Founder. This work is great and heavy; but "God is our refuge" (Ps. 61:9).

I know what strength is needed to convince the proud, how great is the valor of humility, thanks to which all earthly greatness, fluctuating from the inconstancy of time, surpasses the height not appropriated by human arrogance, but that which is bestowed by divine grace. For the King and Founder of this city, about which we planned to speak, revealed in Scripture to His people the definition of the divine law, which says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5) . But what belongs to God alone tries to appropriate the haughty spirit of a proud soul, and loves to be credited with glory.

Spare the humble, casting down the proud.1)

Therefore, as far as the work I have undertaken requires and as far as it seems possible, it is impossible to pass over in silence the earthly city, which, striving for dominance, is itself under the power of this passion to dominate, although peoples worship it.

Of the enemies of the name of Christ whom the barbarians spared for the sake of Christ during the devastation of Rome

It is from this city that the enemies come out, from whom we must defend the city of God. Many of them, however, having corrected the error of wickedness, become quite decent citizens of the city, but many are so inflamed with hatred for him and are so ungrateful to the obvious benefits of his Redeemer that at the present time they raise their tongues against him even because , avoiding the enemy's sword, saved a proud life in its sacred places.2)

Are not precisely those Romans whom the barbarians spared for the sake of Christ who turn out to be hostile to the name of Christ? This is evidenced by the places of the martyrs and the basilicas of the apostles, who, during the devastation of Rome, protected both their own and others. A bloodthirsty enemy raged to their doorstep; there the rage of the murderer stopped; there compassionate enemies brought those who were spared outside these places, so that they would not be attacked by others who did not have such compassion. Even among those of them who killed and raged according to the custom of enemies in other places, and among those who, after they came to where it was forbidden what was allowed in other places by the law of war, all ferocity was tamed and greed for military production. In this way, many survived, who now humiliate Christian times and blame Christ for all the disasters that their city experienced, and those blessings of life that were given to them in honor of Christ are attributed not to our Christ, but to their fate.

And meanwhile, if they had at least some sense of common sense, they would have to attribute everything that they suffered from severe and cruel enemies to divine providence, which usually corrects and smoothes the corrupted morals of people by wars, but a just and commendable life mortals at the same time exercises these defeats and after the test or transfers them to better world, or keeps on this earth for the benefit of others. And the fact that the bloodthirsty barbarians, contrary to the custom of war, spared them for the sake of the name of Christ in places dedicated to the name Christ's - this they should have attributed to Christian times, And for this they should have thanked God, and, in order to avoid punishment by eternal fire, sincerely resort to His name, a name that many have used falsely in order to avoid inevitable death. Indeed, among those whom you see so boldly and brazenly mocking the servants of Christ, there are a lot of those who would not have escaped this death and extermination if they had not falsely presented themselves as the servants of Christ. And so, in their ungrateful pride and most ungodly madness, in order to receive the punishment of eternal darkness, they rise with their perverted heart against His name, the name that they resorted to with their crafty lips in order to use temporary light!

That no wars were ever waged in such a way that the victors spared the vanquished for the sake of the gods of those who were defeated

Many wars are described that were fought both before the foundation of Rome and after, including during the time of the empire: let them read and say whether any city was taken by foreigners so that the enemies who took it spared those who were found hiding in the temples of their gods; or that some leader of the barbarians command, breaking into the city, not to kill anyone who would run away to this or that temple? Didn't Aeneas see how Priam was on the altar, for after

Did the holy fire defile them with his blood?

Or is it not Diomedes and Ulysses

They killed the guards of the sacred temple and stole

Holy image; hands covered in blood

Did you dare to touch the clean bandages of the goddess? 4)

And yet, it was not true, as it is said further:

After that, the hope of the Achaeans, shattered, weakened,

for after that they prevailed; after that they destroyed Troy with fire and sword; after that they beheaded Priam, who sought refuge at the altars. What, then, did Minerva herself lose before that, that she died? Are not their guards? Indeed, it could only be carried away after they had been killed. After all, it was not the statue that guarded the people, but the people guarded the statue. Why, then, did they pray to her to protect the homeland and citizens, if she did not have the strength to save even her guards?

How unreasonably the Romans believed that they could benefit from the gods of the Penates, who could not save Troy

(354-430) for centuries were the main source of Christian philosophy and theology, and had a powerful influence on literature and even on political history new peoples. In order to present more clearly the attitude of Blessed Augustine to universal education and history, it is enough to point out various religious unrest, which in different times invoked by his disciples and adherents. Thus, for example, the famous theological dispute that took place in the twelfth century between Abelard and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, concerned the main foundations philosophy of Augustine. The dispute between Calvinism and Lutheranism on the same subject was the cause of the division of the Protestant Church. The struggle of the Jansenists, which worried French Catholicism for a hundred and fifty years and was one of the causes of the revolution of 1789, was also in close connection with the teachings and views of Aurelius Augustine. The very shortcomings of his writings, the African nature everywhere manifested in them, the ardor and passion of his speech, disposed individuals and entire schools in his favor, especially since at that time the common sense of antiquity gave way to the prophetic wisdom of the East and the ardent militant enthusiasm of new peoples. However, there is no doubt that there is more true poetry in the writings of Blessed Augustine than in long sermons and expositions. The influence of the writings of Aurelius Augustine is explained by the fact that the very circumstances of his life aroused in him faith in the justice of the demands of the human heart.

Aurelius Augustine the Blessed. 6th century fresco in the Sancta Sanctorum Chapel, Lateran (Rome)

Born in 354 in the Roman province of Africa (modern Tunisia) and brought up by his mother Monica in the rules of piety, Aurelius Augustine, carried away by passions, indulged in sensual pleasures in his early youth and became an adherent of the crazy ideas of the Manichaean sect. At the same time, he acquired a Latin education, which had the same many admirers in Africa as Roman vices and immorality. Augustine especially liked the eloquence and philosophy of Cicero. Only when Augustine reached the age of thirty and after a long stay in Rome settled in Mediolan (Milan), did a moral change take place in his heart, leading him to another road. Scripture explanations, mysticism and allegories borrowed Ambrose of Milan at Origen and the transformations he made in worship, carried away the young Augustine. At the same time, the teachings of the Neoplatonists produced a decisive change in his views and direction. He began to lead a strictly moral lifestyle and turned from pagan philosophy and the writings of Cicero, the delusions of the Manicheans and the mysticism of the Neoplatonists to the new wisdom of Ambrose, the faith Athanasius and the mysticism of Origen.

Soon, Aurelius Augustine so assimilated the Orthodox teaching that he was able to fight the British monk. Pelagius challenging the doctrine of the heredity of sin and proving the possibility of doing good deeds by one's own strength. In sermons and writings, Augustine defended the doctrine apostle paul about the justification of a person by faith and recognized predestination, that is, the unchanging destiny of a person to blessedness or condemnation, one of the main tenets of the Christian faith. A man endowed with the ability and power of feeling, and, moreover, developed in such an original way as the blessed Augustine, could not lack the richness and variety of thoughts. Indeed, with his writings he had a tremendous influence on his contemporaries, and without noticing it, he created a new Christian literature, art and worldview.

Augustine "On the City of God" - summary

One of the main works of Blessed Augustine, called "On the City of God" (De civitate Dei) and modeled on Plato's writings on the state, is based on the main idea that humanity consists of two parts: from the slaves of their flesh, condemned to a curse, and from people who live by the spirit and are called to blessedness. From this, Aurelius Augustine derives the idea of ​​the existence of two kingdoms in the world, of which one will perish on the day of judgment. The realm of destruction is ruled by the devil; its main foundation is selfishness, which leads a person to oblivion of God. Another heavenly kingdom, which is under the control of God, is based on the love of God and leads to self-forgetfulness. Thus, Augustine in his work “On the City of God” contrasts the visible world, as the kingdom of sin, with the world of faith and bliss of pious souls. But, recognizing human nature as corrupted and any external activity as sinful and assuming that God supernaturally manages earthly affairs through his representatives, Augustine, without realizing it, leaves in outside world full scope for rudeness and violence.

Augustine Aurelius

The subject of the work "On the City of God" is so extensive that it gave Blessed Augustine the opportunity to enclose in its framework the entire moral and dogmatic teaching western church and many other materials, and its adherents - the opportunity to extract from this book a wide variety of ideas and views. According to Augustine, the whole of Ancient Rome, as a sinful earthly state, was under the power of the devil. To confirm his view, he turns in his essay to the history of the Roman state and tries to prove historically that the happiness of such a state is not true happiness, which is found only in the state of God. But being a rhetorician rather than a historian, and looking at history from a purely theological point of view, Aurelius Augustine already falls into one-sidedness for this alone. In the whole history of the Roman republic and empire, he sees only a continuous series of injustices and cruelties, losing sight of the fact that at all times there are certain kinds of convictions and institutions. So sensual religion and strictly oriental look life were possible in Greek and Roman antiquity, and in later time it was necessary to develop the supersensible teaching and the Eastern world outlook. Blessed Augustine very thoroughly proves the inconsistency ancient religion and philosophy, and correctly conveys in the book "On the City of God" the historical connection of the various causes of the fall of the Roman Republic; but his views on history prove a complete misunderstanding of the course of events. In his work, the heroic and political characters ancient history remain invisible; but on the other hand, the religious and hierarchical elements stand out sharply. Knowing the sad state of the Roman Empire in the time of Augustine and the rudeness of the Middle Ages, we will understand that his look could find special sympathy for itself in this era and become dominant in the Middle Ages. In those sad circumstances, people could not find peace in ancient philosophy and political freedom. Rather, they could be helped by blind faith, the police force of despotism and hierarchy. As a result, the witty and strictly pious book of Augustine "On the City of God" determined Christian views on paganism, its religion, philosophy and history for several centuries to come.

Cancer with the relics of Blessed Augustine in Pavia

Augustine's work served as the main source of many other medieval views. The earthly or pagan state, according to Blessed Augustine, is ruled by devils, philosophers and worshipers of evil spirits, while the heavenly or Christian state is ruled by saints, angels and clergy. Augustine speaks in detail about angels and devils, about saints and evil spirits. At the same time, his book "On the City of God" sets out the doctrine, which was later used by medieval artists and poets until Milton himself. The teaching of Aurelius Augustine about the punishments to which all those excluded from the kingdom of God would be subjected at the end of the world was in full accordance with the concepts of the peoples who soon settled within the boundaries of the Roman Empire. This theory formed the basis of the poetry of medieval writers and contributed to the ennoblement of crude, purely sensual concepts of the afterlife.

Augustine "Confessions" - briefly

There were just as many readers and the same influence on the history of modern education and literature was enjoyed by another work of Blessed Augustine - "Confession". As if confessing to God, he depicts in this essay the course of his inner development from youth to the change we have mentioned in the way of thinking and beliefs that took place in him in 400. The Confessions of Augustine was one of the most beloved books of the Middle Ages. This work greatly facilitates our understanding of one of the most important church writers and presents a clear image of the spirit of that time, the education of that time, the moral state of the province of Africa and the nature of the learned schools there. Therefore, the "Confession" of Aurelius Augustine is very important in historical terms. However, in order to derive proper benefit from the work of Augustine, it would be necessary to quote it in full or to expound its content in detail.

In order to visualize the impact of Augustine's work on posterity, we will cite one passage from the Confessions, where Augustine speaks of the death of his beloved mother, Monica. This pious woman, who throughout her life, with amazing care, energy and self-sacrifice, tried to inspire her son with her ideas about bliss, died soon after the perfect conversion of Augustine. Therefore, speaking of his transition to true faith, Aurelius Augustine dedicates a number of charming chapters of his work to the biography of his mother. He praises the character of Monica, describes her tireless cares for her son and his grief for her loss, and in conclusion, expressing his confidence that the prayers of other Christians can bring bliss in another life, he asks his readers, if only they realize its benefit, as a teacher and writer, do not forget in the prayers of his father and mother. From this it can be seen that the dreamy views of Augustine, conveyed to the Middle Ages in such an attractive work, contributed a lot to the transformation of the entire Catholic worship into a dead mechanism.

Saint Augustine and his mother, Monica. Painting by A. Schaeffer, 1846

In addition to these works, Blessed Augustine also wrote, under the title Conversations with Oneself, something in the nature of a continuation of the Confessions. In them, the author seeks to prove that all the happiness of life depends on the so-called theological virtues: faith, hope and love. And this work deserves censure in the sense that, containing the outpourings of the heart, it is written, like the Confession, in artificial, and not in simple and decent language. But we must not forget that in the era of Augustine, the ancient aesthetic concepts and style of the ancient classics no longer corresponded to the mood of society and, more importantly, were unattainable; artificiality, however, was in full agreement with the spirit of that time and the direction that prevailed in school education. Augustine understood all this, and perhaps that is why his writings had such an enormous influence.

Augustine "On True Religion"

In conclusion, we must mention another work of Aurelius Augustine, which stands almost above all his other works, because it belongs not to scholarly, but to general literature and had a huge influence on subsequent generations. This is Augustine's book On True Religion. On the basis of it, the Catholic Church proved to the Protestants the truth of its doctrine of tradition and church authority. In the work "On True Religion", written in refutation of heretics, the desire of blessed Augustine to prove the identity of Christian and church truth is especially clearly expressed. Having chosen the task of presenting to his readers the essence of Christian teaching, Augustine finds it not in the moral goals of Christianity, but in the history of revelation and communication of divine grace, indefinite and indefinable tradition, and in the manifestations of the deity through prophecies and miracles, replacing internal proofs of divine truth with external ones. But at the same time, he denies blind faith based on authority, and instead offers a philosophy of religion. In the essay "On True Religion", written for all classes of society, in Aurelius Augustine one cannot look for either a strict logical order, wit and certainty, or a concise and coherent presentation. But in such writings, the very vagueness of the expressions and the vagueness of the provisions determine their success, although these qualities give the opponents of the authors a reason to object to them in a similar way and in the same general and obscure terms. In this case, as always, extremes converge.

ESSAY "ABOUT THE CITY OF GOD"

1. Historical context and mentality ... 1p.

2. "About the City of God" as Augustine's answer to the pagans ... 1-2 p.

3. Picture of the world ... 2p

4. Aurelius Augustine as a patristic ... 2-4str

5. The structure of the work ... 4-19

6. Appointment of a person. Some contradictions in the work and the reason for the "longevity of the book"

1. The beginning of the 5th century was one of the most disastrous times in the history of the Roman state. The attacks of the wild neighboring tribes, which began from that time, were almost uninterrupted. The Roman Empire, even earlier upset and weakened by the cowardice and carelessness of the former sovereigns, was unable to successfully resist the attacks of wild tribes. In 410, Rome was taken by Alaric and betrayed by his soldiers to a terrible plunder. The city itself is destroyed; the inhabitants were beaten and dishonored, partly taken prisoner; property, gold and gems taken away; monuments of art were burned and destroyed. Great Rome, turned into piles of ruins. The impression made by the fall of Rome on Christians, and especially pagans, was amazing. What is the cause of the terrible event? The question is in the shocked minds of the pagans, accustomed to seeing in all the events of their history the punishment or the blessings of the gods. There could be two reasons: one is that the gods punish their worshipers for allowing Christianity that does not recognize the gods; the other is that the Christian God punishes the pagans for their enmity towards Christians. But the pagans could not admit the second reason, because the Christians also suffered the calamities of ruin along with them. One thing remains - Rome fell through the fault of Christians. And denunciations rained down on these latter. Everything revolted against Christ and Christianity. Reproaches, blasphemy, slander, censure, ridicule, it seems, there was no end in sight. The position of Christianity was dangerous. Previously, paganism attacked individual points Christian doctrine and discussed them calmly. Now, with all its force, with irritation, it fell upon all Christianity in its inner meaning, as the cause of the fall of Rome, turned on all its points, “condemning and censuring them, as if they disagreed neither with common sense, nor with the conditions of the state and social life", at the same time "and opposing them with their own rational and mystical doctrines." The veneration of the Roman gods is the reason for the greatness and glory of the empire; Christianity blasphemously denying those gods is the cause of the fall of Rome.

2. The then clergy differed only in ignorance, superstition, luxury, wealth, greed, inextricably linked with it, because of all this, an unclean life and even infirmity in the faith itself. Aurelius Augustine is the only defender of Christianity. In his essay “On the City of God”, he showed the pagans that Christianity not only does not contradict common sense and meets the needs, because especially and beneficial for the private and public life of people. Christianity not only was not the cause of the fall of the empire, but Christ also did good to the Roman pagans. Paganism is a lie, it was precisely this that led the Roman citizens to physical and spiritual corruption, and the Roman Empire to destruction. Only the City of God stands forever. It needs to be lived in.

3. There are two cities: earthly (where vice reigns - Rome) and God's (good, true, eternal - church). Eternal life near God is the real City of God, in contrast to the symbolic name of the earthly community of the righteous, chosen for salvation. But in eternity, beyond time, there is no history. Human activity, our daily empirical life, takes place only on this side of the City of God, and in the City of man, according to Augustine, "endless leisure" awaits. Thus, in accordance with Holy Scripture, history in the teachings of Augustine begins with the falling away of man from God and ends with his return to God, to the City of God. All of it, following the days of the creation of the world, the Christian thinker divides into six centuries. The first age extends from Adam to the flood; the second - from the flood to Abraham; the third is from Abraham to David; the fourth, from David to the Babylonian captivity; the fifth - from the Babylonian captivity until the birth of Christ; finally, the sixth - from Christ to the end of the world and the Last Judgment. The goal of the history of mankind is the improvement of goodness and an increase in the number of citizens of the City of God. The history of mankind is the process of improving the future citizens of the City of God and identifying those who are unworthy of it. After that, eternal rest will come for the human spirit and body. In empirical terms, the historical process proceeds linearly. In it, time acts as an irresistible force that ensures the continuous change and uniqueness of events. From a metaphysical point of view, the historical process turns out to be a circular motion, the beginning and end of which are limited by eternity. A person returning to eternity is not at all the same as he left the hands of the Creator. Now he knows the truth, which he suffered in the painful experience of earthly life. History begins with a catastrophe of world-historical significance: the first man carried out his first free act for evil, went against the highest commandments. The fall of Adam made necessary the coming to earth of Christ, sent to save mankind. And at the end of history, the Last Judgment awaits people. Everyone has to be held accountable for all their thoughts and deeds. At the same time, the entire historical process takes place under the sign of freedom, but everything that happened was foreseen by God. God knew about the future fall of man and knows that "the devil, who plunged the first people into temptation, with the help of grace, will be defeated by man." The temporal life of mankind is the threshold of eternal life. This ultimate goal fills the entire earthly history with meaning. “For what other goal is ours,” Augustine concludes his historical theory, “but that to reach a kingdom that has no end.”

4. The significance of the works of Blessed Augustine for the subsequent cultural development of the West is incomparable in scale with other works of patristics. He can be considered the true father of Western Christianity. In the western part of the former Roman Empire, the works of the Eastern Church Fathers were not well known. Acquaintance was hampered by language difficulties: connoisseurs Greek there were not so many among the leaders of the Western Church. Against this background, Augustine, who wrote in Latin, was, of course, more accessible and understandable, since Latin was (and still is) the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. While there were many major theologians in the East, Augustine had no equal in the West, and his teaching dominated Latin theological thought until the emergence of medieval scholasticism (Thomas Aquinas). The most famous of his works: "Confession", polemical writings against Manichaeism, Donatists, Pelageya, Academicians, “On the Trinity”, “On the City of God”, “On the Blessed Life”, “On Order”, “Immortality of the Soul”, “Renunciation”.

Ontology. Augustine's doctrine of being is a synthesis of Christian doctrine and neoplatonic philosophy. He identifies the highest idea of ​​Platonism and Neoplatonism - the idea of ​​the One = Good - with God, who turns out to be the source of being and goodness and who is all-perfect truth, goodness and beauty. The Divine Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - are identified with the Platonic triad: the ideas of the One, the Logos (World Mind) and the World Soul.

Precisely because of its origin from God, everything that exists in the world is good. Evil is understood as a lack, damage, damage.

Cosmology and cosmogony. God created the world out of nothing (out of non-existence), and the existence of the world is constantly maintained by God. If the creative power of God dried up, then the world would immediately disappear (would cease to exist).

The world is limited in space and time, and space and time themselves are created by God only together with the world (that is, there was no time before the creation of the world). There is only one world, and there were no other worlds before the creation of our world. The created world has a strict hierarchical structure, where each object occupies a specific and expedient place in the general plan of the universe. At the bottom of the created world are inanimate objects and unreasonable beings, and at the head are rational beings, the approach or removal of which from God depends on their own will. So, the devil fell away from God of his own free will, and then plunged people into sin.

Epistemology. The fallen can emerge from the state of sin only by uniting with God. There are two paths for this: the path of reason and the path of authority.

All the ancient (pre-Christian philosophers) followed the first path, the best of which was Plato. Since the world is God's creation, the study of the world allows us to come closer to understanding God.

The second way is possible only on the condition of faith in God, which is given to us with God's help and, above all, through Revelation (Holy Scripture, i.e. the Bible), given by God to all people. Only on this path is it possible to truly comprehend God, thus, Augustine proclaims the primacy of faith over knowledge (“believe in order to understand”).

In Augustine, the Neoplatonic doctrine of ecstasy as the highest way of knowing develops into the Christian doctrine of illumination.

The doctrine of the soul and soteriology. The soul is immaterial, it is an independent substance, it is immortal. Before their fall, Adam and Eve were free to choose whether to sin or not to sin. After the fall, both they and all their descendants could not but sin. After the redemptive sacrifice of Christ, God's chosen ones again received the opportunity to live without sinning.

In the teachings of Augustine, the concept of Divine predestination and grace occupies an important place. Even before the birth of each person, God predestined some people to goodness, salvation and bliss, and others to evil, death and torment. A person receives good will (i.e., the will to salvation) only thanks to the grace granted to him by God

The significance of the philosophy of Augustine of the Blessed is that they:

Much attention is paid to the problem of history (a rarity for that time);

The Church (often subject to the state and persecuted in the Roman Empire) is also declared a power along with the state (and not an element of the state);

The idea of ​​the domination of the Church over the state, and the Pope of Rome - over the monarchs is substantiated - the main idea, for the promotion of which and its subsequent embodiment in reality, the Catholic Church honored and idolized Augustine the Blessed, especially in the Middle Ages;

The idea of ​​social conformism (reconciliation with poverty and foreign power) was put forward, which was also extremely beneficial for both the Church and the state;

A man was sung, his beauty, strength, perfection, godlikeness (which was also rare for that time and suited everyone);

5. The treatise On the City of God, written between 413 and 426, was Augustine's response to the accusations made against Christianity by the pagans after the sack of Rome in 410, and his most significant contribution to Western thought. . In the first five books of this voluminous work, Augustine points out that Rome fell through the fault of its own selfishness and immorality, but not through the fault of Christianity, as they say. The following five books speak of despicable paganism and the errors of the old philosophy. In the remaining twelve books, he writes about the opposition between the secular (devilish) power and the kingdom of God, the embodiment of which is the church; the struggle between them is presented as a struggle between good and evil.

The book opens with considerations arising from the fact of the sack of Rome and designed to show that even worse things happened in pre-Christian times. Many of the pagans who attribute the catastrophe to Christianity, the saint declares, during the sack of Rome themselves sought refuge in churches, which the Goths, since they were Christians, spared. On the contrary, during the sack of Troy, the temple of Juno could not provide any protection, and the gods did not save the city from destruction. The Romans never spared temples in conquered cities; in this regard, the sack of Rome was more merciful than most others, and this was the result of Christianity. God brought difficulties to both sinners and the righteous, who are strengthened in faith through difficulties. The good also have minor sins. Their task is to fight sinners, putting them on the true path. But since they did not do this because of their sins or unwillingness to intervene for fear of loss of reputation and bad consequences. They are punished together, not because they led a bad life together, but because they jointly (although unevenly, but, nevertheless, jointly) loved temporal life, which the good would have to despise, so that the bad, being convicted and corrected, would inherit eternal life (and if they did not want to be allies in inheriting it, let them be tolerant and loved as enemies: for as long as they live, there is always hope, that they will change their will. There is another reason why the good are subject to temporary disasters, such as that which took place in relation to Job: so that the human soul tests itself and, finally, realizes how much it, by virtue of piety alone, disinterestedly loves God Christians who have been sacked have no right to murmur for several reasons Other wicked Goths may have prospered at their expense, but they will be eating world; if every sin were punished here on earth, then there would be no need for the last judgment. What Christians endured, if they were pious, will turn into good for them, for the saints do not lose anything with the loss of temporary things. It does not matter if their bodies lie unburied, for the beasts that devour them will not interfere with the resurrection of the bodies. In the history of their famous husbands, they have the noblest example of the fact that for the sake of faith one should endure captivity even voluntarily. Mark Attilius Regulus proved that the gods do not bring any benefit to their worshipers for this temporary happiness: because he himself, devoted to their cult, was defeated, captured, and because he did not want to do otherwise than as he swore to them , was put to death by torture. This noblest example forces them to admit that the gods should be revered not for the sake of bodily goods or such things that a person gets from outside: because Regulus wished it was better to lose all this than offend the gods by which he swore. Augustine then moves on to the question of the pious virgins forcibly defiled during the sack. Apparently, there were people who believed that these women, without any fault of their own, lost the crown of virginity. The saint strongly opposes this view. “It will not defile (another's voluptuousness) if there is someone else's." Chastity is a spiritual virtue and is not lost from violence, but is lost from the intention to commit a sin, even if it remains unfulfilled. Augustine argues that God allowed violence, because the victims were too proud It is a sin to commit suicide in order to avoid violent defilement, and this conclusion leads to a long discussion of the case of Lucrezia, who had no right to kill herself. Suicide is always sinful. at the same time experience voluptuousness. In this case, they are sinners. To pagans: who are you to talk about your gods, and even more about our God, who "is more terrible than all gods. For all the gods of peoples are idols, and the Lord is heaven created” And the people became money-loving and prone to luxury due to the well-being that Scipio very prudently considered asnym, when he did not want a very vast, fortified and rich enemy city to be destroyed, so that lust would be curbed by fear, and, curbed, would not develop luxury, and with the elimination of luxury, the love of money would not appear; with the elimination of these vices, virtue useful to the state would flourish and increase, and there would be freedom consistent with virtue. With what zeal he would have banished from Rome the theatrical spectacles themselves, if he had dared to oppose those whom he considered gods! But he did not yet understand that these gods were demons, or, if he did, he thought that they should be propitiated rather than despised. At that time, the heavenly teaching was not yet revealed to the pagans, which, purifying the heart for the search for heavenly and heavenly things, would change the passionate movements of human feelings into humble piety and free them from the dominion of proud demons. Augustine then moves on to the impiety of the pagan gods. For example, “stage games, obscene spectacles and vain revelry are approved in Rome not because of the vices of people, but by the command of your gods.” It would be better if the Romans paid divine honors to some virtuous person, such as Scipio, than to these immoral gods. As for the sack of Rome, it should not disturb Christians who have a refuge in the "wandering city of God."

If the weak understanding inherent in man did not dare to oppose the obvious truth, but subjected its infirmity to the teaching of salvation, as to healing, until the divine help received from pious faith heals it, then people of sound mind and expressing their opinions with sufficient clarity would not need to spend a lot of money. words in order to prove the fallacy of one or another falsely formed representation. Do not forget, however, that, while saying all this, I was still dealing with uneducated people, whose ignorance gave rise to the well-known common proverb: “There is no rain, the reason is Christians.” Sacred spectacles fed the impious demons with their own food, the deities did not care about life and the customs of the cities and peoples who were revered: without any prohibitions that would inspire fear, they allowed them to become worse and suffer great and disgusting losses of the soul. all worshipers of such gods, as soon as they are seized by lust, corrected, as Perseus says, by burning poison *, look rather at what Jupiter did than at what Plato taught or what Cato thought. He adds a little further: “Our Twelve Tables, on the contrary, having imposed criminal penalties for very few crimes, they found it fair to include among these crimes if someone sang or composed verses that dishonor or disgrace another. And that's great. Our life should belong to the court of magistrates and legal proceedings, and not to the fancy of poets; and we should hear shameful things about ourselves only on the condition that we can answer and defend ourselves in court ”(4 book of Cicero“ On the Republic ”). Pagan feasts, theater, poetry-service to demons. Compare now the humanity of Plato, who expels poets from the state in order to prevent the corruption of citizens, with the divinity of the gods, demanding theatrical games in honor of themselves. Plato, by his reasoning, if not convinced, then at least advised the frivolous and morally loose Greeks that works of this kind should not even be written; on the contrary, the gods insistently demanded from solid and moderate Romans that such works should be played on the stage, and not only played, but dedicated and solemnly performed in their honor. , the gods of the Romans did not care at all to avert from their worshipers the evil of the soul, the evil of life and morals, which is so great that their most learned men say that republics perish from it even with the integrity of cities; but, on the contrary, they tried in every possible way so that, as was said above, this evil increased even more (the laws are borrowed for life). Examples of the sinfulness of Rome from the time of Romulus, Tertull, the capture of Carthage are given. Now, I believe, you see (and anyone who pays attention to this will understand very easily) into what a deep abyss of moral corruption the Roman state was plunged before the advent of our Most High King (apocalypse). The path of the evolution of history. shrink. Before that, the republic is the most corrupt and dissolute. Why did their gods not take care of preserving the republic, which Cicero so bitterly mourns long before the incarnation of Christ? The one who praises her as she was in ancient times can also, looking closely, see that even then she was not so much morally alive as simply decorated and dressed up. Rome has always, since the abduction of the Sabines, been vile and unjust. Many chapters are devoted to exposing the sinfulness of Roman imperialism. Nor is it true that Rome suffered no calamities before Christianity became state religion; the disasters that he suffered from the Gauls and civil wars were no less, and perhaps more, than those that he suffered from the Goths. The Roman Republic perished from the corruption of morals, the gods did nothing to correct and improve them, so that save her from death; on the contrary, they contributed in every possible way to corruption and deterioration of morals, so that she would perish. Both evil people and evil spirits can do not everything they want, but only what they are allowed to do by the order of the One whose fate no one can either comprehend or justly reproach. It is necessary to follow the commandments of Christ and resist the demons (gods), for there is only one God.

I will speak only about what concerns Rome and the Roman Empire, that is, about what the city itself underwent before the coming of Christ and those regions that were united with it as allied or conquered by force of arms and entered, as it were, into the body his republic. Troy (if these gods were so dissatisfied with human crimes that, offended by the act of Paris, they betrayed Troy left by them to fire and sword, then the murdered brother of Romulus would have to arm them even more against the Romans than the offended Greek spouse armed against the Trojans; fratricide the nascent state should have been more incensed than the adultery of the former was already in force. pagan gods began to patronize Rome) Ilion (the city-supporter of Rome was destroyed during the civil wars. The gods were not saved “Leaving the temples and altars, all the gods left”) On what reasonable basis, after the experience of unfortunate Troy, was Rome entrusted to the gods of Ilion for preservation ?. The rapid growth of the state after the victory over Carthage (But gradually they were replaced by a bad time, The fury of wars, an indefatigable thirst for profit), the rise of Rome through the provision of good deeds is well-deserved. The world is better than war. Placed under the protection of so many gods, Rome should not have endured and suffered so many great and terrible disasters, of which I will recall only a few. he offended the highest and true God, to whom alone these rites of religious veneration were to belong. Rome has always, since the abduction of the Sabines, been vile and unjust. Many chapters are devoted to exposing the sinfulness of Roman imperialism. Nor is it true that Rome suffered no calamity before Christianity became the state religion; the misfortunes which he suffered from the Gauls and the civil wars were no less, and perhaps even greater, than those which he suffered from the Goths.

At the same time, it was necessary to prove that the false gods, whom they openly revered, and some still revere secretly, are unclean spirits and insidious demons - unclean and insidious to such an extent that they delight in their either real or imaginary atrocities. , commanding to glorify these atrocities on the days of their holidays; this is so that weak human nature cannot refrain from reprehensible actions, as soon as it is presented to it for imitation in this, as it were, a divine example. Let us now consider how much insolence it is that they attribute the vastness and longevity of the existence of the Roman Empire to these gods of theirs, whom they consider even a decent deed to honor by playing vile games through vile people. Let us imagine a poor person, or even better - a person of a mediocre condition, and another - very rich, but greatly depressed by fears, consumed by sadness, overwhelmed by desires, not having a moment of peace and peace of mind, living in an atmosphere of constant hostile disputes, multiplying at the cost of these misfortunes his own estate to infinity, and with its multiplication multiplying the most difficult worries; but a man of mediocre condition - contented with his small and meager possessions, dear to the family, living in peace with relatives, neighbors and friends, religiously reverent, amiable character, healthy body, thrifty in life, morally pure and calm in his conscience.

I don't know if anyone would be crazy enough to doubt which of them to prefer. But just as this applies to two individuals, so it applies to two families, to two peoples, and to two states; drawing such a parallel, we will very easily see, if we are observant, where is vanity and where is happiness. Therefore, when the true God is venerated and worshiped by actual rites and good morals, a powerful and long-term government of virtuous people is beneficial. And it is useful not so much for themselves, but for those whom they manage. As for themselves, for their true happiness, in which the present life is well spent, and then eternal life is obtained, piety and honesty, which are the great gifts of God, are sufficient. States are gangs of robbers. Nin, the king of Assyria, was the first of all to violate, due to greed for power, this ancient and, as it were, ancestral custom for the peoples of the world. If this state became so great and ruled for so long without any help from the gods, then why is the merit attributed to the Roman gods in the expansion and longevity of the existence of the Roman Empire? Waging wars and expanding the state by conquering peoples seems to be a good thing for bad people, but for good people it is only a matter of necessity. To have a kind and peaceful neighbor is a greater happiness than to subjugate a bad and warlike neighbor. The desire to hate or fear someone in order to have someone to conquer is a bad desire. Injustice contributed a lot to the expansion of their empire, calling people to illegal actions, so that they had someone to wage war with and thereby increase the state. The gods are either treacherous if they leave their own and go over to enemies or are not as strong as strong gods should be, and therefore can be defeated by politics or the power of people. The Assyrian kingdom had the same problems as Rome (a crowd of gods who were revered, attributed the power and preservation of the empire). Analysis of the Roman pantheon - God is the creator of everything. The pantheon's cumbersomeness, the chaotic functions and the lack of actions of Jupiter (the head of the pantheon) with the activity of his subordinates, who independently make decisions. Ardent criticism of paganism. Goddess Happiness (Virtue) is not in the pantheon, because. unhappy people in a vast state-ve. Happiness was rightly offended that she was invited so late, and then not for honoring, but rather for scolding.) It is a gift from God, then you should look for that God who can bestow it, and leave the harmful multitude of demons, for the meaningless a crowd of fools, making themselves gods from the gifts of God, and offends God himself, whose gifts they represent, by the stubbornness of a proud will. In games, the most vile histrions sang, represented and delighted the corrupter of chastity - Jupiter. If it were made up, he would have to be angry; if he delighted in his crimes, even if they were imaginary, then when they honored him, did they not serve him like the devil? Is it really he who created, spread and preserved the Roman state - he, who was more disgusting than any Roman, in whose opinion these things were vile? Is it really he who sends down happiness, he who was honored as evil and who was even more angry if he was not honored in this way? Without the will of the true God they could by no means have a kingdom; but if they did not know or rejected these many and false gods, but knew the one true God and served Him with sincere faith and morality, then here they would have a better kingdom, and then they would inherit an eternal kingdom, regardless of whether they had here kingdom or not. Break free from superstition. And so, this God, the Cause and Giver of happiness - since one is the true God - himself distributes the earthly kingdoms to both the good and the evil. And He does this not indiscriminately and as if by chance (for He is God, and not Fortune), but in accordance with the order of things and times, an order that is hidden for us, but completely known to Him. He is not subject to this order, however, slavishly, but reigns over it, as the Lord, and disposes of it, as the Ruler. But happiness He sends down only to the good. The subjects may or may not have this happiness, those who reign may or may not have it. It will be complete in that life where no one will be a slave. Therefore, He gives earthly kingdoms to both the good and the evil, so that His admirers, still infants in their spiritual perfection, do not want these gifts from Him as something great. This is also the mystery of the Old Testament, in which the New Testament was hidden, that earthly gifts were also promised in it: people who lived a spiritual life, even then understood, although they had not yet openly preached, both what was signified by those temporal things, and in what gifts of God lies true happiness. , God of a few people multiplied His people in Egypt and delivered them from there with miraculous signs.

Astrology is not only bad, but false; this may be proved by the difference in the fortunes of twins having the same horoscope. The Stoic concept of Fate (which was associated with astrology) is a delusion, for angels and humans have free will. The cause of things, which produces, but is not itself produced, is God. It is true that God knows our sins, but we do not sin because of his foreknowledge. The Romans did many great things, first out of the love of freedom, and then out of the love of domination and out of a passionate desire for a good opinion and glory. The reward awaits the saints who endure reproach here for the city of God, hated by the adherents of this world. That city is eternal. Nobody is born in it, because nobody dies. In it is true and complete happiness - not a goddess, but a gift from God. From there we received a pledge of faith, encouraging us while, wandering, we sigh about its beauty. Freedom and the thirst for human glory - these are the two motives that forced the Romans to do amazing things. It is a mistake to believe that virtue brings misfortune, even in the present world: the Christian emperors, when they kept the path of virtue, were happy, even if they were not lucky, and Constantine and Theodosius were also lucky; on the other hand, the Kingdom of Judah existed as long as the Jews kept to the true religion. Everything in the world, just as it came from God, is contained in being by His power. Everything is in His power; He controls everything. He gives kingdom and power, to whom, when and as much as necessary. From him - a quick and slow outcome of wars, victory and defeat; from Him - blessings temporal and eternal; from God the King - complete happiness. - the all-good God showered emperor Constantine, who did not worship demons, but honored the true God, with such earthly gifts that no one even dared to dream of. He gave him the opportunity to create a city allied to the Roman state, like a daughter ancient rome but without any demonic temple and without any idol.

Despite all the skill of the doctor, the disease can remain invincible not through the fault of the doctor, but because of the unwillingness of the patient to be treated. It would be the most senseless foolishness to ask or hope for eternal life from such gods, who, in the present short and disastrous life, and as regards its maintenance and reinforcement, are considered overseeing such small details that if anything were asked from one of them being in the power and control of another, it would seem incongruous and absurd to such an extent that it would be very similar to the tomfoolery of mimes. Varro's books on pagan heritage. According to Varro, divine things are established by people. But the true religion is not established by any earthly state, but itself creates the heavenly city. She is inspired and taught by her true admirers by the true God, the Giver of eternal life. He sees how divine things must differ from human falsity and emptiness; but in matters of public cult he is afraid to touch on the erroneous opinions and customs of the people, although when one considers them one way or another and oneself confesses, and all literature proclaims that they disagree with the nature of even such gods as weak human mind imagines in the elements of this world. Seneca is against the "bloody" worship of the gods. None of those gods who are so shamefully revered and who are even more shamefully angry if they are not revered in this way, thus denouncing themselves as unclean spirits. And if someone does not give happiness, how can he give eternal life? For we call eternal life that in which infinite happiness is found.

In the 7th book "On the City of God" Augustine sets out his attitude to ancient Greek philosophy in the form of a brief historical and philosophical excursion. He writes that Greek philosophy arises in two schools at once - Italian and Ionian. The founder of the first was Pythagoras. the second is Thales of Miletus. Augustine points out that Pythagoras was the first to use the term "philosophy". From Thales via Anaximander. Anaximenes. Anaxagoras. Diogenes of Apollon and Archelaus philosophy comes to Socrates. It was Socrates who first directed philosophy to the study of morals; previously studied nature. Socrates was the first to understand that it is possible to know God and things only with a pure soul. However, Socrates was such a person that he brought to light the stupidity of his contemporaries. for which he was not loved and eventually executed. Subsequently, they began to revere to the point that one of his enemies, according to Augustine, on whose libel Socrates was executed, was torn to pieces by the crowd, and the second escaped only by fleeing from Athens. Many schools have emerged. However, they all took some aspect of Socratic philosophy, and only Plato was the best student of Socrates, who managed to develop the true features of Socratic philosophy. True, Plato has as his primary source the philosophy of not only Socrates, but also Pythagoras. As Augustine points out, from Pythagoras Plato took the contemplative part - the study of truth, and the active part - the arrangement of life issues - he took from Socrates. Augustine divides the whole philosophy of Plato into three parts: the natural (that is, physical) part, rational (logic) and ethical. In all his parts, Plato showed that he is above all ancient philosophers and the only one who came close to the provisions of Christianity. In the physical part, Plato was the first to show that God is immaterial, that He is higher than anything changeable both in material and spiritual life. Plato was also the first to show that everything exists thanks to God, that God created everything without being Himself created. and that, observing the variability of the world, realizing that the world is still cognizable, and thus striving for the truth, Plato was the first to learn that there are some non-material images - ideas. Not knowing the phrase from the Epistle to the Romans of Apostle Paul that "His Invisible, His eternal power and Divinity, from the creation of the world through the examination of creations are visible," Plato understood all this, not yet living in the time of Augustine. In the logical (rational) part, Plato was also above all philosophers. because he proved that what is comprehended by the mind is higher than what is comprehended by the senses. And in ethics. moral part of his philosophy. Plato was also above all the rest, for, firstly, he showed that only he who knew God is blessed; that the knowledge of God is the highest good (this is the view that is also contained in Holy Scripture). Augustine expresses two opposite points of view. On the one hand, he writes that Plato arrived at this by his own philosophical reflections, and on the other hand, he writes that Plato lived in Egypt for some time and, as some point out, could hear the prophet Jeremiah (although Augustine himself proves that he Plato lived later). Others say that Plato could have read the Septuagint, although Augustine argues that Plato lived earlier, but agrees that in one way or another Plato was introduced while in Egypt to the wisdom set forth in the Old Testament. Although, apparently, Plato simply described what is said in the book of Exodus ("I am who I am"), and in the dialogue "Timaeus" stated what is stated in the first chapters of the book of Genesis. Other dialogues Augustine quotes. without naming them or simply including the thoughts from them in the context of their own reflections. To the rest philosophical schools Augustine's attitude is rather contradictory. He describes his attitude towards the Stoics and pays attention only to their teaching about the soul, more precisely about the passions in the soul. Some Stoics argue that a sage must have no passions, and in this Plato is superior to the Stoics. Augustine, however, describes a case that occurs in the "Attic Nights" by Aulus Gellius, when a certain Stoic sailed on a ship and a storm broke out. Everyone noticed how this Stoic became terribly frightened and turned pale, and when the storm subsided, everyone began to laugh at him: how is it that you proclaim abstinence from passions, but you yourself were frightened more than anyone. To which this philosopher said: "You have nothing to fear for your empty souls, but I have something to fear for my divine soul." And further, as Augustine writes, Aul Gellius describes how the philosopher proves that the sage should by no means not have passions, he is only obliged to own them. This is according to Augustine. links the Stoics with the Platonists and elevates these philosophers. Augustine exposes the Epicurean school in the most unattractive light, and probably from Augustine came the myth of the Epicureans as philosophers. practicing only sensual pleasures, although in his theory of knowledge Augustine often agreed with the Epicureans and took a lot from their epistemology. Cynic philosophers Augustine called "canine philosophers", reducing their entire philosophy to sexual unbridledness. About Plotinus, Augustine writes that the bright face of Plato again shone in him. From him Augustine read many truths of Holy Scripture, and most importantly, Augustine took his method, thanks to which he was able to overcome his own skepticism and his own Manichaeism, solve the problem of evil and prove that truth exists and is knowable. Augustine devotes a lot, perhaps most of all, to the analysis of the philosophy of Porphyry (and not even philosophy, but demonology) and calls Porphyry the most learned of philosophers and sees the superiority of Porphyry over Plotinus in that he comes much closer to the Christian interpretation of hypostasis. Porfiry abandoned the idea of ​​the cycle of souls, thus overcoming the delusion about the reincarnation of people; abandoned the doctrine of knowledge as recollection; taught about the grace of God; taught about respect for God and for the Jews. Also, the traditions of the religion of Egypt and the commemoration of the dead are analyzed in detail to strengthen the position of Christian teaching.

From this book of the Stoic Epictetus, says Agellius, he read that, according to the teachings of the Stoics, when mental images, which they call fantasies, the occurrence and time of occurrence of which in our mind does not depend on our will, come from terrible and terrible objects, then they inevitably excite the mind and the wise; so that for a short time he both turns pale with fear, and is subjected to sorrow, as to passions that precede the activity of the mind and reason. But from this, de, it does not follow that a bad disposition, approval or sympathy for evil is formed in his mind. the wise man is not subject to passions and disturbances, perhaps because these passions and disturbances do not overshadow any error and do not endanger his wisdom, thanks to which he is wise. But they also arise in the soul of the wise, although without violating the clarity of his wisdom - they arise under the impression of what the Stoics call advantages or disadvantages and which they do not want to give the name of good or evil. the mind, in which such a concept is firmly held, does not allow any disturbances, even if they arise in the lower parts of the soul, to have a predominant force over it in spite of reason; on the contrary, he himself rules over them and, by his lack of sympathy, and even more so by his resistance to them, establishes the kingdom of virtue. The Stoics also often condemn mercy; but it would have been many times more honorable if the aforementioned Stoic were moved by mercy for a person in need of help, rather than succumbed to the fear of shipwreck. Holy angels, for example, feel neither anger when they punish those who are subject to punishment on their part by virtue of the eternal divine law, nor compassion when they come to the aid of the unfortunate, nor fear when they save those who are in danger whom they love. The worldview of the Platonist Apuleius (about demons and man) is considered. The demons that philosophers have placed between people and gods as intermediaries, although they can say about the soul and body: “We have one thing in common with the gods, and the other with people,” but, being, as it were, turned upside down and hung upside down, with blessed the gods share the enslaving body, and with the unfortunate people - the dominant spirit; in the lower part they are exalted, and in the higher they are humiliated. The gods are defiled by the sound of a human voice; and consequently they have demons as intermediaries, who make these sounds known to them, placed far from people, so that they themselves remain alien to all filth.

In Neoplatonism, the supreme deity is absolutely impersonal, nameless; it is just an abstract thing: a unit, a number. The one Plotina, although above all and is the god of all gods, has absolutely no name of his own and has no biography of his own. He is alien to any sacred history, i.e. it is as impersonal as the nature of which it is the ultimate deification. It is not somebody, and a person's address to it is not an address to somebody. This is just a theoretically conceivable and coldly experienced limit of everything that exists ". The problem of sensory perception. Indeed, this is a serious problem for Augustine. On the one hand, Augustine seeks to follow the Neoplatonists in his theory of knowledge. Considering that like is known by like, and since God is immaterial, then and to know God is possible only by the method of self-knowledge, comprehension of one's soul.On the other hand, Augustine cannot follow Plotinus and other Platonists to the end and does not believe that only the intelligible world has reality, that the sensible world is the world of evil and non-existence.Augustine. of course, he believes that the material world was created by God and therefore it is just as good and kind (for this is "very good", as it is said in Scripture). Therefore, feelings also give a certain degree of truth. He only outlines some stages on the way from the sensual material object, which, through the creation of images, pass into a physiological image, from it - into memory and imagination nie. Thus, some non-material image of a material object of a material object is created.

The pagans, carried away by Neoplatonism, considered the body an obstacle to salvation; therefore, from their point of view, the body should be avoided in every possible way. And Christianity teaches that the Son of God took on a human body on purpose in order to save people. Thus, a dilemma was created in the minds of the pagans regarding Christianity, which they could neither understand nor resolve and because of which they attacked him. mutable by nature, there is also intelligible knowledge. In addition to the sensible world, which is changeable in itself, there is also an intelligible world - an unchanging, eternal world. This is proved, in particular, by the fact that (as Augustine pointed out back in a dispute with skeptics), for example, the truths of mathematics are always truths. Three plus seven equals ten always, it does not depend on any material conditions; even if all matter disappears, this truth will remain. Therefore this truth (since it is always true, eternal and unchangeable) is not deducible from sense perception.

The second part of the work on the City of God begins, which speaks of the beginning, expansion and intended end of two cities, heavenly and earthly. In this book, Bl. Augustine first of all indicates the initial beginnings of these two cities in the distinction between good and evil angels that preceded them, and on this occasion he speaks of the creation of the world, which is described in St. Scripture at the beginning of the book of Genesis. Some City of God, whose citizens we passionately desire to be by virtue of the love that its Founder breathed into us. Citizens of the earthly city prefer their Gods to this Founder of the Holy City, not knowing that He is the God of gods - gods not false, that is, impious and proud, who, having been deprived of His unchanging and common light and limited to miserable power, create for private autocracy in a certain way, and from deceived subjects demand divine honors, and the gods of the pious and saints, who find more pleasure in subordinating themselves to one God than many to themselves, and honoring God themselves than being honored for God. But we answered the enemies of this holy city with the help of our Lord and King, as best we could, in the previous ten books. Now, knowing what is expected of me, and not forgetting my duty, I will begin to speak with constant hope in the help of the same Lord and our King, as far as I can, about the beginning, expansion and intended end of both Cities, i.e. earthly and heavenly , of which I said that they are in a certain way intertwined and mixed with each other in the present age; and first of all I will speak about the initial germs of these two cities in the separation of the angels that preceded them. About the knowledge of God, the concept of which people acquire only through the Mediator between God and people - the man Jesus Christ. All nature was created by God. He speaks with truth itself, if one is able to listen with the mind and not with the body. In this case, He speaks to that part of a person, which in a person is better than the rest, of which, as you know, a person consists, and better than which only God himself. For how soon there is a direct conviction, and if it is not possible, at least the belief that man is created in the image of God; that part by which he comes closest to the supreme God will, of course, be that part of him by which he rises above his lower parts, which he has in common even with animals. The Son of God, having assumed humanity and not losing the Divinity, strengthened and affirmed this very faith, so that it would be the path to the God of man through the God-man. He is the Mediator between God and man - the man Jesus Christ. That is why He is a mediator, why He is a man and why He is a path. He is also God and man: as God He is the goal towards which they go, as a man He is the path they follow. With regard to what is removed from our senses, since we cannot know it by our own testimony, we certainly require outside evidence, and we believe those about whom we have no doubt that it is not removed or has not been removed from their senses. So, just as with respect to visible objects that we ourselves do not see, we trust those who have seen them, and we act exactly the same with respect to other things that are subject to this or that bodily sense: so also with respect to what is felt by the soul or mind (for this too quite rightly called a feeling - sensus; where does the word come from s e n t e n t i a), i.e., with regard to those invisible things that are removed from our inner sense, we must believe those that have known those placed in this incorporeal light and contemplate what is in it. Of all things visible, the world is the greatest; from everything invisible greatest god . That the world exists, we see that there is a God, we believe this. And that God created the world, we cannot believe in anyone without hesitation, except God Himself. If they affirm that the soul is co-eternal with God, then they cannot in any way explain where the new misfortune for it came from, which it had never known before from eternity. If, however, they say that her happiness and unhappiness have alternated from eternity, then they must inevitably say that she herself is subject to change from eternity. She had never been truly blessed, but now she began to be blessed with some new, unalloyed beatitude, and consequently to recognize that something new had happened to her, and, moreover, something greatest and most beautiful, which had never happened to her from eternity before. Once she has experienced misfortune, she, having been freed from it, will never be unhappy later: then they, of course, will not doubt that this is possible only if God's counsel is unchangeable. In this case, let them believe that the world could also be created in time, but that God, while creating the world, nevertheless did not change his eternal advice and will. those who agree that God is the Creator of the world, but who ask what we can answer about the time of the creation of the world, should consider what they themselves will answer about the space occupied by the world. For how is it possible to ask why it was then, and not before, that the world was created; so the question is also possible about why the world is here, and not somewhere else. Epicurus (many worlds). If they say that one world was created, although it is extremely huge in its bodily mass, but the world is finite, limited by its space, and created by the action of God: then what will they answer about the boundless spaces outside the world, in order to explain why God stopped in them to act, let them answer the same about the infinite times before the world, in order to explain why God in these times remained without action. God, in whose eternity there is no change, is the Creator and Organizer of time. The world was not created in time, but together with time. About the simple and unchanging Trinity of the one God - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who has no other - property and no other - essence There is only one simple, and therefore the only unchangeable good - this is God. All blessings are created by this Good, but not simple, and therefore changeable. I say created, that is, made, unborn. For what is born of a simple good is equally simple, and is the same as that from which It is born. These two we call Father and Son, and these two, together with the Holy Spirit, are one God. This Spirit of the Father and the Son in sacred Scripture is called the Holy Spirit, in a certain special sense of the word. And He is other than the Father and the Son; because He is neither Father nor Son; but I say - different, and not another: because this good is equally simple, and also immutable and eternal. And this Trinity is one God, and does not lose its simplicity from the fact that the Trinity. For this nature of goodness we call simple, not because it has one Father, or one Son, or one Holy Spirit; and not because this Trinity existed only in name without independence of persons, as the Sabellian heretics thought. But it is called simple for the reason that what it has is itself, except for what is said of each person in relation to another. For although the Father has a Son, yet He is not a Son; and the Son has a Father, yet He is not the Father. Neither the vessel is liquid, nor the body is color, nor air is light or warmth, nor the soul is wisdom. It is that they can lose these things that they have, go into other states or change properties: a vessel, for example, can be freed from the liquid with which it is filled; the body may lose color; the air can become clouded and cool, and the soul becomes unreasonable. But if the body be incorruptible, as is promised to the saints in the resurrection, even though it will have the incorruptible property of incorruption itself; however, as long as the bodily substance remains, there will be no incorruption itself. For incorruption in each separate part of the body will be whole, and will not be greater there, but lesser here: because no part will be more incorruptible than another; but the body itself as a whole will be greater than in parts; however, although one part of it will be more voluminous, the other less, the more voluminous part will not be more incorruptible than that which is smaller. So, another is a body which is not in all its part a whole body; and the other is incorruption, which in each part is a whole: because each part incorruptible body , although it is uneven with other parts, it is equally imperishable. For example: from the fact that the finger is smaller than the whole hand, the hand will not be more imperishable than the finger. For God did not create anything without knowing it, just as, strictly speaking, even an artist does not create; but if He created all knowing, then surely He created that which He knew. From this follows something surprising, but nevertheless true, namely, that this world could not be known to us if it did not exist; but if it were not known to God, then it could not exist. But God did not only know that it was good when it was created: none of this would have been if it had not been known to Him. So when God sees that good is that which would not have been in any case if He had not seen it before it appeared; then He teaches, and does not learn, that it is good. The knowledge of God is by no means so diverse that it would otherwise represent what will be. For God despises the future, looks at the present, and looks at the past, not in our way, but in some other way, far different from our ordinary way of thinking. Without changing thoughts from one to another, He sees, but in a completely unchanging way. / From what is happening in time, the future, for example, does not yet exist, the present just exists, the past no longer exists; but He embraces all this in a permanent and eternal present. And He contemplates not otherwise with the eyes, and otherwise with the mind; because He is not composed of soul and body; not otherwise now, not otherwise before, and not otherwise after: because His knowledge does not change like ours, according to the difference of time, present, past and future From thought to thought does not pass the intention of the one in whose incorporeal contemplation all that He knows, exists together. He knows times without any concepts of a temporal nature in the same way that he sets in motion the temporal without any movement of a temporal nature. And therefore, where He saw good that which He created, there He saw good in order to create it. And what He saw created did not double His knowledge or increase it in some part, since He would have had less knowledge before He created what He saw: He would not have acted with such perfection if it were not so perfect His knowledge, to which nothing was added by His works. That is why, if we were to give an idea of ​​the One who created the light, it would suffice to say: God created the light. But if it was necessary to give a concept not only about who created it, but also about what created it, But since we needed to point out three things that are especially important for the knowledge of creation, namely: who created it, through what created it, why did he create; then it is said: And God said: let there be light, and God will give light as good. There is no creator more excellent than God, no art more valid than the word of God, no reason better than that so that good things may be created by a good God. And Plato recognizes as the most fundamental reason for the creation of the world that good creations had to come from a good God - whether he read this, or perhaps learned from those who read, or with his very penetrating mind he saw the invisible God's creations. conceived, or learned from those who conceived before. God despises the future, looks at the present, and looks at the past, not in our way, but in some other way, far different from our ordinary way of thinking. About the divine Trinity, which has scattered the signs of its trinity throughout creation. We believe, unwaveringly hold and sincerely preach that the Father gave birth to the Word, that is, Wisdom, through which everything was created, the only-begotten Son, one - one, eternal - co-eternal, highest good is equal to good; and that the Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of both the Father and the Son, and is itself consubstantial and co-eternal with both; and that all this is a Trinity according to the property of persons, and one God according to an indivisible deity, as well as one almighty according to indivisible omnipotence; but it is so, however, that when one of them is asked about one of them, we say in response that each of them is both God and the almighty, and when about all together, then there are not three Gods or three omnipotent, but one God almighty: such is the three indivisible unity, and so it must be confessed. Because of this, the philosophers, as far as can be understood, decided to divide the system of philosophy into three parts, or, rather, they managed to notice that it is divided into three parts (for they did not themselves establish that this was so, but rather found that this is so), of which the first is called physics, the other logic, the third ethics. Inasmuch as I must exist in order to be deceived, even if I were deceived; then there is no doubt that I am not deceived by the fact that I know about my existence. About being and knowledge, and about love for both. we love the very love with which we must love both being and knowledge in order to draw closer to the image of the Divine Trinity.

In this book. bl. Augustine first discusses angels, and precisely about where some have a good will, others have an evil one, and what was the cause of the blessedness of the good angels and the misfortune of the evil ones. Then, he speaks about the creation of man and teaches that he was created not from eternity, but in time, and not by another Creator, but by God. An evil will is the cause of an evil action; for the evil will, nothing serves as a cause. When the will, leaving the higher, turns to the lower, it becomes evil, not because what it has turned to is evil, but because its very turning has a perverse quality. the divine nature can never, in any respect, be diminished; and what is created from nothing can decrease. Whoever has a perverse love for the good of any nature, even though he has attained it, becomes himself evil in the possession of the good, and unhappy, as having been deprived of the best good. Here, eternal life is expected to follow, but there, although a blessed life is known, it is not eternal, but must someday be lost. God creates. Circulations, in which the soul was represented by necessity having to return to the same misfortunes, have been refuted. God created man in his own image.

In this book, bliss. Augustine teaches that death in relation to people has the meaning of punishment, and that it came from the sin of Adam. Although the human soul is rightly recognized as immortal, yet for it there is a certain kind of death. It is called immortal because it does not cease in a certain form and to some extent to live and feel; the body is called mortal because it cannot completely lose life and is completely incapable of living by itself. But the death of the soul happens when God leaves it; just as the death of the body happens when the soul leaves it. For that last and eternal punishment, of which we shall speak in more detail in its proper place, is rightly called the death of the soul, because it does not live by God; but how can it be called the death of the body, when it lives by the soul? After all, otherwise it could not feel the very bodily torments that will be after the resurrection. life in the bodies of the wicked is life, not of the soul, but of the body. Such a life can be communicated to them even by the dead, that is, the souls left by God, by their own, whatever life, as a result of which they are immortal. of the first bodily death it may be said that it is good for the good and evil for the evil. The second, however, is not good for anyone, since none of the good is subjected to it. From the moment someone begins to be in this body, subject to death, for him it is always a matter of approaching death. life is in general nothing but a path to death, on which no one is allowed to stop for a few times or go a little slower - but all are compelled of necessity to advance equally and approach evenly. About the bodies of the saints after the resurrection, which will be spiritual, but in such a way that the flesh does not turn into spirit. What should be understood by the body of the soul and the body of the spirit, or who are dying in Adam and who are made alive in Christ. When God, with the words: Adam, where are you (Gen. III, 9), pointed to the death of the soul, which took place as a result of leaving Him, and with the words: Thou art earth, and to the earth thou shalt depart (Gen. III, 19), designated the death of the body, which took place as a result of the abandonment his soul; then, probably, he did not say anything about the second death, because he wanted it to be hidden for the sake of the dispensation of the New Testament, in which the second death is announced with complete clarity; in such a way that that first death, which is common to all, is first made known, as having occurred from that sin, which in one became common to all; the second death is not at all common to all, for the reason of those called according to foreknowledge: but foresee them and foresee them, says the apostle, conformed to the image of his Son, as if he were the firstborn in many brethren (Rom. VIII, 28, 29). The grace of God delivered the latter from the second death through the Intercessor. So, the first man was created, as the apostle says, with a natural body. The apostle wanted to explain what a spiritual body is. Further, the apostle points out a new, most obvious difference between the one and the other person, saying: The first person from the earth is tortuous, the second person is from heaven. Like in a ring, taco in a ring, and like in a heavenly one, the same and heavenly. And as if we put on the image of earth, let us put on the image of the heavenly. In the image of a man of dust, due to the location of crime and death, which birth gave us; but we put on the image of a heavenly man through the grace of mercy and eternal life. It is necessary to understand that breath, through which a man was blown into the soul and into the soul, and that which the Lord did, saying: receive the Spirit of God in I am a man formed from the dust of the ground, or from mud (for it was damp dust), or - to put it more expressively, as the Scripture said - this f e r s t o f the earth she became, according to the teaching of the apostle, a spiritual body when she received a soul. The breath of God appears to come from the mouth of God; if we recognize it as the soul: then naturally we must recognize that it is of the same nature. But people who have received the grace of God, fellow citizens of the holy angels, who are in a blessed life, will be so clothed in spiritual bodies that they will no longer sin or die. Their immortality, like that of an angel, will not be able to destroy sin; bodily nature, although it will remain, will no longer have any corruption or inertness left in it. If the lust of disobedient members arose in the first people from the sin of disobedience, when the grace of God forsook them; if this made them open their eyes to their nakedness, that is, pay more attention to it, and cover their shameful members, since their shameless movement did not obey their will: then how would they give birth to children if they remained without sin in the state in which they were created.

In book XIV, in the light of the higher understanding of the nature of evil in man, presented in the Book of Genesis, is criticized negative attitude Plato to the bodily principle and the Stoics to passions. St. Augustine gives a very sympathetic characterization of Plato, whom he places above all other philosophers. All others must yield to him “who, with a mind devoted to the body, saw bodily principles for nature”: either in water, like Thales, then in air, like Anaximenes, then in fire, like the Stoics, then in atoms ... like Epicurus. All of them were materialists; Plato also rejected materialism. Plato understood that God is not some corporeal thing, but that everything that exists in the world has its being from God and from something unchanging. Plato was right even when he argued that sensory perception is not source of truth. Platonists are much higher than other philosophers in logic and ethics and are closest to Christianity. "Plotinus is known as better than others, at least in the times closest to us, who understood Plato." As for Aristotle, he was inferior to Plato, but far superior to all the others. However, both Plato and Aristotle argued that all gods are good and all of them need to be given divine honors. Objecting to the Stoics, who condemned all passions, St. Augustine declares that the passions that agitate the souls of Christians can impel them to virtue; anger or compassion per se (in themselves - Lat.) should not be condemned, but first you should find out what causes these passions. The Platonists adhered to the correct view of God, but were mistaken about the gods. They were also mistaken in that they did not recognize the doctrine of the incarnation. Over the course of many pages, St. Augustine, in connection with the problem of Neoplatonism, discusses the question of angels and demons. Angels can be good and evil, but demons are always evil. Knowledge of temporal items defiles angels (although they possess them). Along with Plato, St. Augustine argues that the sensible world is lower than the eternal world.

Book XV defines the essence of the two "city", earthly and heavenly, one of which is based on self-love, personified biblical Cain, and the other on the love of God, personified by Abel, and tells how these two opposite cities coexisted in history. Since the Fall, the world has always been divided into two cities, of which one will reign forever with God, and the other will be in eternal torment with Satan. Cain belongs to the city of the devil, Abel to the city of God. Abel, by grace and predestination, was a stranger on earth and a citizen in heaven. The patriarchs belonged to the city of God. Analysis of the death of Methuselah leads St. Augustine to the controversial issue of comparing the "Translation of the Seventy Interpreters" and the Vulgate. The date of Methuselah's death indicated in the "Translation of the Seventy Interpreters" leads to the conclusion that Methuselah survived the flood and lived for another fourteen years, which could not be, because he was not in the ark. The Vulgate, following the Hebrew manuscripts, gives a date from which it follows that Methuselah died in the very year of the flood. St. Augustine declares that the truth in this matter must be on the side of St. Augustine. Jerome and Hebrew manuscripts. Some have argued that the Jews, in spite of the Christians, deliberately forged the Hebrew manuscripts; This is the assumption of St. Augustine rejects. On the other hand, the "Translation of the Seventy Interpreters" must be recognized as inspired by God. It remains to be concluded that Ptolemy's scribes made mistakes when transcribing the "Translation of the Seventy Interpreters". Speaking of translations of the Old Testament, St. Augustine states: “The translation of the Seventy is accepted by the Church as if it were the only one, and is in use among the Greek Christian peoples, of which very many do not even know if any other exists. From the translation of the Seventy, a translation was also made into Latin, which is in use in Latin churches. In our time, there lived Presbyter Jerome, a most learned man, versed in all three languages, who translated Holy Scriptures into Latin not from Greek, but from Hebrew. But, despite the fact that the Jews recognize his learned translation as correct, and the translation of the Seventy in many places as erroneous, nevertheless, the churches of Christ believe that no one should be preferred to the authority of so many people chosen from this case by the then high priest. "St. Augustine accepts the tradition that although the seventy translators sat at their work separately from one another, there was an amazing agreement in their words, and sees this as proof of the divine inspiration of the “Translation of the Seventy Interpreters”. But the Hebrew text is also inspired by God. This conclusion leaves the question of the authority of Jerome's translation unresolved. Maybe St. Augustine would have taken the side of Jerome more decisively if the two saints had not quarreled over the issue of opportunistic tendencies in the behavior of St. Peter.

BOOKS 16-18

Augustine outlines the earthly history of two cities: Cain and Abel, Sarah and Hagar, Remus and Romulus. Between Noah and Abraham, evidence of the City of God is very scarce. With Abraham, however, his story comes to light, and in it one can discern the promises finally fulfilled by Christ. The Old Testament becomes a storehouse of "symbols". In parallel with the history of the City of God, the fate of the earthly city is developing, which is characterized by an unceasing struggle, for humanity has not been faithful to the Absolute Existence. With the help of Rome, God decided "to conquer the whole world in order to bring it into a single society, into a state where the law rules, and send down to it a lasting and vast peace." But at what cost - the price of bloodshed and wars! Meanwhile, in difficult times, tears teach the Church hope. Spreading under the care of the spirit and in fulfillment of the prophecies, until the Second Coming, it remains the wandering City of God.

In Book Nineteen, Augustine brings the story up to date and argues for a Christian rather than a Platonic ethic. talks about the meaning of peace for the human community, the ultimate goal of which is to achieve eternal peace in God. Christians are convinced that eternal life is the highest good and that the virtues are real only for those who believe in God. Philosophers fail because they are looking for the temporal and not the eternal. Christians also yearn for rest and recognize that until their mortal nature is overcome, such rest is relative, but they seek it in obedience to God and, by believing, have already found it. Philosophers have no such faith.

BOOKS 19-22

In the final three books, Augustine looks into the future. He does not accept millennialism. The millennial kingdom is either the millennium after the coming of Christ, or the entire period remaining to the world. As soon as the Church began its march from Judea around the world, the Devil was bound. Two cities - the City of God and the City of the Devil will reach the peak of their development by the day of the last judgment, to which 21 books are dedicated. Unlike Origen, Augustine did not hope for the redemption of everyone, especially the Devil. Even faithful Catholics should beware: salvation depends on a righteous life, and not just from baptism, the Eucharist, or the giving of alms. Neither heretics, nor schismatics, nor bad Catholics will escape punishment without repentance. In book 22, Augustine outlines the eternal bliss of the City of God, but dedicates much of it to the doctrine of the resurrection and miracles. He claims that the Church did not fail in miracles even in his day. Even though pagan philosophers deny the Resurrection, writes Augustine, they still agree with Christians about the rewards after death; moreover, both Plato and Porphyry believed that God could do the impossible. In the Eternal City, Christians will achieve perfect freedom, and their wills will merge without a trace with the will of God in the promised Sabbath Rest.

6 Augustine believed that not all demons are kings of the earthly kingdom. They have one prince, the "worst king" of the earthly kingdom - the devil (XI, 33. S. 229; XVII, 16. S. 265; XVIII, 41. S. 67; 51. S. 85). He, cast down with his slanderers from heaven (XI, 33. S. 229), founded a kingdom hostile to God. Members of this kingdom. These are unclean spirits and wicked people who do not honor God. (XVIII, 18. S. 24) According to the characteristics of the members of the kingdom of the earth. These are all selfish people who make themselves the center of their lives, completely attached to the earth, people of earthly benefits and lower, carnal desires, passions. The name of the earthly kingdom - “enemies of the Kingdom of God”, clearly defines the relationship of the first to the second. Enmity is the general character of these relations. In particular, the devil raised up heretics who opposed Christian teaching. But by this he only brought benefit to the members of the Kingdom of God, exercising, and therefore strengthening, patience in them. (XVIII, 51. S. 85) However, the hostile relations of the earthly kingdom to the Kingdom of God do not interfere with the fact that both kingdoms live together, are mixed, intertwined (I, 35. S. 59; XIX, 26. S. 158), even in the present earthly life they use some of the same things (XIX, 17. S. 139-141) And with regard to the mood of the members of both kingdoms during the period of this earthly life, their (members) composition cannot be finally established, once and for all. Now, in earthly life, future members of the Kingdom of God can hide among the members of the kingdom of the earth, as well as among the members of the Kingdom of God - the future members of the kingdom of the earth. During the period of earthly life, transitions of members of the kingdoms from one to another are possible. (I, 35. S. 58-59)

Doubt in itself acts as a boundary in relation to skepticism, for as a fact it becomes indubitable. “Without any fantasies and without any deceptive game of ghosts,” writes Augustine, “for me in the highest degree there is no doubt that I exist, that I know it, that I love it. I am not afraid of any objection to these truths from the Academics, who might say, "But what if you are being deceived?" "If I am deceived, then therefore I already exist" (IV C. 216-217)

It owed its influence to the idea of ​​the separation of church and state, which clearly implied that the state could become part of the city of God only by submitting to the church in all religious matters. Ever since this idea was proclaimed by St. Augustine, it has always been an element of the teaching of the church. Throughout the Middle Ages, during the period of gradual growth in the power of the papacy and throughout the conflict between the papacy and the Empire, St. Augustine supplied the Western Church with doctrines that served as a theoretical justification for its policies. The Jewish state in the legendary times of the judges and in the historical epoch after the return from the Babylonian captivity was a theocracy; the Christian state should imitate him in this respect. The weakness of the emperors and most of the medieval monarchs enabled the Church to realize to a great extent the ideal of the city of God. In the East, where the emperor was a powerful lord, historical development never went in this direction, and the church remained much more subservient to the state than it had been in the West.

The Reformation, which revived the doctrine of St. Augustine on salvation, rejected his theocratic teaching and embarked on the platform of erastianism; this was mainly due to the practical needs of the struggle against Catholicism. Erastianism is the doctrine of the subordination of the church to the state. However, Protestant Erastianism lacked conviction, and those Protestants who showed the greatest zeal in matters of faith remained under the influence of St. Augustine. Some of his doctrine was also adopted by the Anabaptists, the “people of the fifth monarchy” and the Quakers, but they attached less importance to the church. St. Augustine adhered to the point of view of predestination and at the same time insisted on the need for baptism for salvation; extreme trends in Protestantism, the latter doctrine was discarded, but their eschatology remained Augustinian.

The City of God contains little that is fundamentally original. Eschatology is of Jewish origin and entered Christianity mainly through the Apocalypse. The doctrine of predestination and election is Paulinist, although compared to what we find in St. much more complete and logical development.The idea of ​​the distinction between sacred and profane history is quite clearly expressed in the Old Testament.St. Augustine's merit was that he brought these elements together and related them to the history of his own time in such a way were able to accept the collapse of the Western Empire and the ensuing period of chaos without subjecting their religious beliefs to too severe a test.

The Jewish model of history, past and future, is characterized by features that allow it to find a powerful response in the hearts of the oppressed and unfortunate at all times.

4. Treatise "On the City of God"

The treatise On the City of God, written between 413 and 426, was Augustine's response to the accusations made against Christianity by the pagans after the sack of Rome in 410, and his most significant contribution to Western thought. In the first ten books, he critically examines the attacks of the pagans, who argued that by undermining the reverence of the Romans for the gods who brought Rome greatness, Christianity was responsible for the fall of Rome. In books 11-22, he builds a majestic plan for the implementation of divine providence in history.

In Books 1-5, Augustine answers two questions: (1) Is Christianity responsible for the fall of Rome, and paganism for its rise? (2) If not the Roman gods, then what spiritual power brought Rome to greatness? To the first question, he replies with a resounding no. Christianity softened, not hardened, the fury of the Goths. Moreover, it gave consolation, reminding us that our existence here is fleeting. A righteous man who has turned to Christ is waiting for another, Eternal City. As for, on the other hand, absurd paganism, it is of little use. Rome experienced wars and disasters long before Christianity appeared on the scene. How, then, to explain the rise of Rome? It's not about the gods and not about the respect of the Romans for them, but about the providential plan of God. God raised up an Empire to give the Romans laws, literature, and civilization. Thus, Rome owes its greatness not to fate, but to the omniscience and providence of God.

In books 6-10, Augustine disputes the truth claims of all pagan systems. He lists facts, taken chiefly from Varro, to point out the absurdity of polytheism, and quotes Socrates and Plato in support of monotheism. Far from being a statement of his philosophy, books 8-10 definitely reflect Augustine's desire to express his rejection of Neoplatonism, especially since the latter incorporated popular paganism into his system. He contrasts the Christian cult of martyrs with the worship of wandering spirits, despite their outward resemblance. The Platonists strive to find mediators between God and man in their demons; Christians have a true mediator in the person of Jesus Christ. In the sacrament of the Eucharist they offer the true sacrifice to God.

In books 11-14, Augustine develops his historiosophy in terms of the struggle between two "city" - two types of man and society. It begins in the prehistoric era: already then there were “holy and faithful angels who never fell away and never fall away from God”, and “those who rejected the eternal light and turned to darkness.” What happened then was repeated at the creation and fall of man. Created good, humanity fell because of its disobedience and is now subject to not only bodily, but also spiritual death. And now there are two cities - the city of those who live according to the law of the flesh, obeying and becoming like the Devil, and the city of those who love God and other people. The first will perish, the second will reach its eternal homeland. “So we see that two societies have arisen from two kinds of love. Earthly society arose out of selfish love, daring to despise God himself, while the community of saints is rooted in love for God and is ready to neglect itself.

In the next four books (15-18) Augustine outlines the earthly history of two cities: Cain and Abel, Sarah and Hagar, Remus and Romulus. Between Noah and Abraham, evidence of the City of God is very scarce. With Abraham, however, his story comes to light, and in it one can discern the promises finally fulfilled by Christ. The Old Testament becomes a storehouse of "symbols". In parallel with the history of the City of God, the fate of the earthly city is developing, which is characterized by an unceasing struggle, because humanity did not remain faithful to the Absolute Existence. With the help of Rome, God decided "to conquer the whole world in order to bring it into a single society, into a state where the law rules, and send down to it a lasting and vast peace." But at what cost - the price of bloodshed and wars! Meanwhile, in difficult times, tears teach the Church hope. Spreading under the care of the spirit and in fulfillment of the prophecies, until the Second Coming, it remains the wandering City of God.

In Book Nineteen, Augustine brings the story up to date and argues for a Christian rather than a Platonic ethic. Christians are convinced that eternal life is the highest good and that the virtues are real only for

believer in God. Philosophers fail because they are looking for the temporal and not the eternal. Christians also yearn for rest and recognize that until their mortal nature is overcome, such rest is relative, but they seek it in obedience to God and, by believing, have already found it. Philosophers have no such faith.

In the final three books, Augustine looks into the future. He does not accept millennialism. The millennial kingdom is either the millennium after the coming of Christ, or the entire period remaining to the world. As soon as the Church began its march from Judea around the world, the Devil was bound. Two cities - the City of God and the City of the Devil will reach the peak of their development by the day of the last judgment, to which 21 books are dedicated. Unlike Origen, Augustine did not hope for the redemption of everyone, especially the Devil. Even faithful Catholics should beware: salvation depends on a righteous life, and not just on baptism, the Eucharist, or giving alms. Neither heretics, nor schismatics, nor bad Catholics will escape punishment without repentance. In book 22, Augustine outlines the eternal bliss of the City of God, but dedicates much of it to the doctrine of the resurrection and miracles. He claims that the Church did not fail in miracles even in his day. Even if pagan philosophers deny the Resurrection, writes Augustine, they still agree with Christians about the rewards after death; moreover, both Plato and Porphyry believed that God could do the impossible. In the Eternal City, Christians will achieve perfect freedom, and their wills will merge without a trace with the will of God in the promised Sabbath Rest.

Conclusion

The most prominent representative of patristics was the Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) Augustine the Blessed (354-430), who had a strong influence on medieval philosophy, as well as on many later representatives of philosophical creativity.

For Augustine, "true philosophy and true religion are one and the same". He tried to find a philosophical justification for Christianity in the philosophy of Plato, noting that Plato's ideas are "the thoughts of the creator before the act of creation." God created the world out of nothing. The salvation of man is, first of all, in belonging to christian church, which is the representative of the "city of God" on Earth. Augustine considered two opposite types of human activity - "city of the earth", i.e. statehood, which is based "on love for oneself, brought to the absolute, contempt for God", and "city of God" - a spiritual community, which is based on love for God, brought to contempt for oneself. His main works are: "City of God", "City of Man", "Confession".

The significance of Augustine for subsequent philosophical and cultural development is great. It is due primarily to the fact that he “created an integral and complete picture of the universe, a picture so complete that for more than eight centuries the Latin West could not create anything like it. Augustine's influence on the formation and development of medieval thought was as universal as his teaching. Thomas Aquinas did not escape such influence, - according to many researchers, "the only powerful competitor of Augustine in the space of the millennium." The success of Augustine's works was facilitated not only by the depth and universality of the doctrine, which does not need proof, but also by a number of favorable circumstances. Augustine's legacy was preserved despite many extraordinary circumstances, which are not uncommon in history. Many generations of scientists read, studied, rewrote his works. It is also important that, being church man and a monk (Augustine was the founder and abbot of the monastery), the author addresses his works to a wide range of readers, not limiting it to the monastery walls. In this, the works of Augustine differ from the works of the Eastern Fathers, many of which (especially concerning the spiritual life of the individual) are written in the form of instructions addressed to monks. The works of Augustine turned out to be in an advantageous position, since it did not immediately become clear to everyone that the monastic “ smart doing" It has direct relationship to the spiritual life of any person. Meanwhile, the similarity of many of Augustine's ideas with the ideas of Eastern patristics is quite obvious.

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... , "encrypted" truth, and discover this truth. The latter provided everything necessary for the construction of ontology, cosmology, theology, epistemology, etc. Augustine was no exception. I use this approach, in 11-22 books "On the City of God" he sets out the first philosophy of history on the planet, the main " actors"which is time, fate and the world. The merging of these dimensions creates the City, and ...

Legal and social th state-va. 78 B. Chicherin's Teachings on the State and the Law Prominent figure in the liberal movement in Russia was Moscow University professor Boris Nikolaevich Chicherin. "History of half of the teachings", "Sob-th and state-in", "Phil-fiya rights." A large place in the works of Ch.a was given to the freedom of the individual. In the concept of freedom, Ch. distinguished two sides - the negative (independent)

And the death of these creatures that occurs from here is the product of the same divine will, which predetermines some to good and salvation, others to evil and death. This idea of ​​absolute predestination was developed by Augustine, however, there were various mitigating clauses in his teaching. The question of predestination was settled dogmatically: we cannot know everything we believe. About eternity, time and memory Time...

However, this applies only to fair, i.e. defensive war. Accordingly, Grotius justified "private wars" within the state if the protection of legitimate interests is pursued. 28. Political and legal doctrine of B. Spinoza Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677) is a prominent Dutch philosopher. Political and legal issues are reflected in his works "Theological and Political Treatise", "Ethics ...

ABOUT THE CITY OF GOD
'ABOUT THE CITY OF GOD'
one of the most important works of Augustine the Blessed (writing date: 413-427). The book carried out an unconventional development of the problem of periodization of the historical process. According to Augustine, 'two cities - the wicked and the righteous - exist from the beginning of the human race, and will remain until the end of the age. Now the citizens of both live together, but desire different things, but on the day of Judgment they will be placed separately. People living in God together form the 'City of God' or 'City of heaven'; others - ‘Earthly City’. According to Augustine, ‘two varieties of love give rise to two cities: the earthly city is created by love for oneself, brought to contempt for God, the heavenly city is created by love for God, brought to complete self-forgetfulness. The first exalts itself, the second - God. The first seeks human glory, the second aspires to the highest glory of God. Both cities have their messengers in heaven: rebellious angels and those who have remained faithful to God. On earth they differ as the descendants of Cain and Abel, these two biblical character act as symbols of the two communities. (‘The founder of the earthly city was the fratricidal Cain; the fratricidal Romulus, the founder of Rome, also corresponds to him.) At the same time, a citizen of the ‘Earthly City’ on this earth gives the impression of a ruler and master of the world, a citizen of the ‘City of God’ is likened to a wanderer and a pilgrim. The first is destined for eternal damnation, the second - for salvation forever and ever. As Augustine notes: ‘The heavenly city is eternal; no one is born there because no one dies; there is true and complete happiness, which is the gift of God. From there we received a pledge of faith for the time while, wandering, we sigh about its beauty. Found in the book ‘OG.B.’ and Augustine’s view of the ‘inner man’ as the image and likeness of God and the Trinity, in which there are three Persons with their essential unity. Personality in this context was supposed by Augustine to be realized to the extent that the three faces of the Trinity were reflected in their unity. According to Augustine, ‘... since we are not equal with God, moreover, we are infinitely removed from Him, therefore, through His efforts ... we recognize in ourselves the image of God, i.e. Holy Trinity; an image to which one should always approach, improving. Indeed, we exist, we know how to exist, we love our being and our knowledge. There is not a shadow of falsehood in all this. It is not something that exists outside and apart from us, something that we are aware of in the form of bodily needs... It is obvious without any fantasy: ‘I’ is the certainty of being, that which is capable of knowing and loving itself. In the face of such a truth, I am not offended by the arguments of academics: ‘And if you are deceived?’. If you deceive yourself, then you certainly are ... Therefore, therefore, I exist at least from the moment when I deceive myself. How is it known that I am able to err about my being when it is not established that I am?.. Thus, if I know that I am, then I am capable of knowing myself. And when I love these two things (being and self-knowledge), which open me as a cognizer, then the third element, no less significant, is obvious - love. There is no deceit in this love of myself, for I cannot deceive myself in what I love, and even if it were discovered that what I love is false, it would be true that I love things that are false and unworthy. , but not the lie that I love'. According to Augustine, man does not know creation, for he is a finite being. God from His own being begot the Son, Who as such is identical with the Father, yet He created the cosmos from nothing. Between ‘generation’ and ‘creation’, according to Augustine, there is a huge difference: the Creator calls into being ‘that which absolutely was not’. ‘We do not call creators,’ Augustine notes, ‘cultivators of gardens, but we won’t call the earth-mother, who feeds everyone, creating… Only God, the Creator of all creations, embodied himself in them in different ways. Only God, a hidden power, all penetrating with its presence, gives life to everything that exists in one way or another, for, if it were not for Him, there would be neither one nor the other, and even could not be. For if we say that Rome and Alexandria did not grow up thanks to the masons and architects who gave the external form to these cities, but to Romulus and Alexander, to their will, consent and orders, they owe their lives, it is all the more necessary to recognize that the creation of the world is the work of God alone. , because nothing can be made only from the matter that was created by Him, or only artifacts created by people. Were it not for this creative ability to create everything that exists, take it away, and everything would cease to be, just as it could not begin to be. However, I say ‘from the beginning’ in eternity, but not in time. (According to Augustine, God, creating this world, also created time.) Thus, history appears in OG.B. in a fundamentally new version, unfamiliar to the ancient world outlook: it has the beginning of creation and the end of the created world with a boundary moment in the form of resurrection and terrible judgment. These three significant events form world history: original sin, the expectation of the coming of the Savior, the incarnation and suffering of the Son of God with the formation of his home (city) - the Church. At the end of ‘OG.B.’ Augustine emphasizes the resurrection perspective: the flesh (though transformed) will be reborn to life: ‘the flesh will become spiritual, will be subject to the spirit, but will be flesh, not spirit; just as the spirit was subject to the flesh, and yet remained spirit and not flesh.

History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia. - Minsk: Book House. A. A. Gritsanov, T. G. Rumyantseva, M. A. Mozheiko. 2002 .

See what "ABOUT THE CITY OF GOD" is in other dictionaries:

De Civitate Dei ... Wikipedia

- “About the City of God” (De Civitate Dei) (410 427) in 22 books. in many ways the final work of Augustine, written under the impression of the capture of Rome by Alaric in 410 and consisting of two main parts: book. 1 X, devoted mainly to Roman history and ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Philosophical Encyclopedia

- (De Civitate Dei) (410–427) in 22 books. - in many ways the final work of Augustine, written under the impression of the capture of Rome by Alaric in 410 and consisting of two main parts: book. I-X, devoted mainly to Roman history and religion, explain ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

One of the most important works of Augustine the Blessed (writing date: 413 427). The book carried out an unconventional development of the problem of periodization of the historical process. According to Augustine, two cities of the wicked and the righteous exist ... ... History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia

Manuscript "On the City of God", ca. 1470 “On the City of God” (lat. De Civitate Dei) is one of the main works of the philosopher and theologian Aurelius Augustine, in which Augustine presented a detailed concept of the philosophy of history. Augustine describes ... ... Wikipedia

Augustine (Blessed)- St. Augustine and the apogee of patristics Life, spiritual evolution and writings of Augustine Augustine Aurelius was born in 354 in Tagaste (Numidia, Africa). His father, Patricius, was a small proprietor associated with paganism (he was baptized only at the end ... ... Western philosophy from origins to the present day

The style of this article is not encyclopedic or violates the norms of the Russian language. The article should be corrected according to the stylistic rules of Wikipedia. This term has other meanings, see Augustine ... Wikipedia

AUGUSTINE AURELIUS- AUGUSTINE AURELIUS (Aurelius Augustinus) (11/13/354, Tagasta, modern Souk Aras, Algeria 08/28/430, Hippo, modern Annaba, Algeria), the largest representative of Latin patristics, who played an important role in the history of European philosophy, including . And How… … ancient philosophy