Development of Christian Thought - St Augustine Flashcards
Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s views on human nature
.Born good society bad
.Humans are born good but our society makes us bad
Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s quote for his views on human nature
.’Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains’
Thomas Hobbes’ views on human nature
.Born bad society good
.Humans are animal life and born selfish, human life is brutish. They only act good to make an easy life for them in self-gain or because of what society has in place (police etc)
Thomas Hobbes’ quote for his views on human nature
.’The life of a man is solitary, poor, brutish and short’
Michel Foucault views on human nature
.People in power dictate human nature – we are not born with it – we are taught human nature by the people in charge, conditioned
.Human nature is a product of society
Info on St Augustine’s parents
Mother was Catholic and Dad Pagan
Where and when was St Augustine born?
Born at Tagaste (Algeria) on November 13th, 354
What was the world like when St Augustine was born?
.Born in a time of Roman Empire decline as Christianity was taking root as the official religion
.A time of great political stress and widespread religious anxiety
Where and what did St Augustine study?
Went to Carthage to study Law at 16 but changed course to Rhetoric (a mixture of philosophy, literature and public speaking)
Why did St Augustine start to study philosophy more seriously?
He was impressed with the work of Roman scholars like Cicero so studied philosophy more seriously
What led St Augustine to the Manicheans?
His interest in the problem of Evil and Suffering
Who were the Manicheans and what were their main beliefs?
.Early set of Christians who preached a different understanding of Christianity from the Catholics
.God is not omnipotent, the world is a battlefield of light and dark
.The human soul is under the influence of both light and dark
.Advocate extreme abstinence from all enjoyments of evil (including riches, lust, wine, meat or luxurious houses)
When and where was St Augustine offered a job as a public speaker (orator)?
The imperial court in Milan in 384
Why did At Augustine leave the Manicheans?
.Augustine felt the Manicheans were increasingly superstitious and did not give satisfactory answers to maths and astronomy
Who did St Augustine become interested in in Rome?
Platonists - great admirers of Plato
What were the platonists main belief?
.They took Plato’s ideas and added key elements of religion
.They said the form of good was in fact God (called ‘the One’)
.They said some people could know the One by following certain virtuous practices in the world
.Truth, wisdom and happiness can only be achieved once the soul had separated itself from all material influences through contemplation and study of the One.
.Christ had not died for the sins of the world, but he is an example of an enlightened being who had pure knowledge of the One
Where did At Augustine record his confession?
Recorded his conversion experience in his book Confessions (VII, 12)
What was St Augustine’s book ‘Confessions’? Examples from in it
.A record of sinful acts and deeds he committed in his child hood and adolescence
.The theft of a pear from his neighbour’s garden
.His ‘God-less lust’ during his adolescence where he went to riotous student clubs in Carthage (‘hissing cauldron of lust’)
.A child born out of wedlock with a women he formed a relationship with while completing his studies
.His pride, ambition and arrogance
When was St Augustine Baptised and by who?
.Baptised by Ambrose on Easter 387
When did St Augustine return to Tagaste and what did he do?
.In 388 he returned to Tagaste and established a religious community
When was St Augustine ordained?
391
When and where did St Augustine become a bishop?
.Became a bishop in Hippo in 396
When did St Augustine die, and what did he do up until his death?
.Until 430 he buried himself in priestly work and wrote theological and philosophical books
.Died on August 28 430 while Hippo was under siege
St Augustine views on creation
.God created the world from nothing (ex-nihilo)