Augustine, the famous Western medieval philosopher

Augustine (November 13, 354 AD - August 28, 430 AD) was a Christian thinker during the ancient Roman Empire and an important representative of Christian theology and patristic philosophy in the European Middle Ages. In the Roman Catholic system, he is canonized as a saint and doctor, and is the founder of the Augustinian Order. For the Protestant church, especially Calvinism, his theories were the source of the Reformation's ideas of salvation and grace. Aesthetic thoughts are mainly reflected in his theological works and "Confessions". After converting to Christianity, he vigorously attacked secular literature and art (such as Homer's epics). He reconciled philosophy and theology and used Neoplatonism to demonstrate Christian doctrine.

Augustine - Life

Augustine was born in North Africa (now Algeria). My father was a pagan of high status. He was lazy and worldly. He did not believe in the Lord until he was dying and was baptized. Aurobindo's mother was a loyal Christian, and she hated her son who had died in his faith. Augustine had two temperaments; one was a temperament that indulged in sexual desire; the other was a sincere and upward temperament that pursued the truth. Perhaps the qualities of both parents were inherited from him. Therefore, the depths of Aurobindo's soul became the battlefield of a fierce struggle between good and evil.

Although Augustine was the first to indulge in lust, he was also the fastest to awaken in pursuit of truth. Aurobindo's repentance came at the end of the summer of 386. He left his mistress, resigned from his teaching position, and retreated to a mountain villa to study philosophy with his friends. In 391, he went to Greece. Poe went to be ordained a priest. Four years later, he succeeded to the post of bishop. Soon after his appointment, all the power of the local bishop was in his hands.

In Hippo, Aurobindo founded the first monastery in that part of Africa. He devoted the rest of his life to pastoring churches, preaching the gospel, and relieving the poor and the weak. I engage in writing in my spare time. Augustine's theological thoughts were as colorful as his life. On the one hand, he maintained the establishment of the biblical canon. His thoughts had a particularly profound influence on the Western Roman Church. He also established Christian philosophy; he took God as the center, revelation as the foundation, and philosophy as the handmaiden of theology; he advocated that faith allows people to see the truth. He later died of fever in Hippo at the age of seventy-six.

Augustine - Ideological System

Augustine believed that beauty is hierarchical. The highest, absolute beauty is God, followed by moral beauty, and physical beauty is a low-level, relative beauty. He advocated that beauty is absolute and ugliness is relative. Isolated ugliness is a positive factor in the formation of beauty. This view is dialectical.

Augustine advocated that art should abandon the real world and reflect God, so as to serve the purpose of religion. When people appreciate works of art, they actually appreciate the concept of God contained in works of art. He believed that secular art was unreal. It provoked people's evil desires and kept people away from the God of absolute beauty.

Augustine combined ancient Greek philosophy and Christian teachings, and for the first time systematically discussed a kind of Christian aesthetic thought. His concept of "divine beauty" has endured in the Christian world. Therefore, it can also be said that the aesthetics of ancient Greece did not completely break in the Middle Ages, but developed in a new fusion. His statement on the relationship between beauty and ugliness is of certain groundbreaking significance. Full of dialectical meaning and wisdom.

Augustine - Overview of Works

His works can be classified into five major categories; theology, exegesis, ethical sermons, philosophy and autobiography. Outstanding ones include "Confessions", "On the Trinity", "City of God", "On Free Will", and "On Beauty and Fit". The former is Aurobindo's autobiography. He used his personal experience to witness God's miraculous deeds and grace on human beings, and proposed the concept that people can communicate intimately with God. It is a model for all religious experience writings and a world famous work, and has been passed down to this day.

Quotation:

Punishment is justice. —— Augustine

If the law is unjust, it cannot exist. ——Augustine

Habits, if left unchecked, soon become necessities. ——Augustine

What is government if there is no justice? They are just organized bandits.

——Augustine

Once a country loses justice, it becomes a huge gang. ——Augustine

A stingy person is like hell. The more he swallows, the more he wants to swallow. He is insatiable. ——Augustine

God gives us commandments that we cannot obey in order to let us know how to pray to Him. —— Augustine

The peace of all things lies in the balance of order. Order is the arrangement of equal and unequal things in their appropriate positions

—— Augustine

Friendship between people unites the hearts of most people. Because of this precious connection, it is gentle and sweet