Augustine's Philosophy: Faith, Reason, and Divine Illumination

Augustine's Inner Search

Augustine is a major figure in Christian philosophy. He believed that God is the source of all reality, truth, and goodness. For Augustine, the search for God begins with self-examination. He believed that God knows us from within, and the soul, as an image of God, is the starting point for this quest. Augustine rejected the Platonic idea of finding truth in the external world, instead advocating for an inner quest to analyze the contents of consciousness.

Faith and Reason in Augustine's Thought

Some Christian philosophers believed that faith lies beyond human capabilities and rejected reason's interference. Augustine, however, saw faith and reason as complementary. He believed that God gave us reason and that religion and philosophy are not opposed but work together. Faith precedes reason, guiding it. This complementarity serves a threefold purpose:

• Self-knowledge is the starting point for all knowledge.
• Faith encourages rising above one's limitations.
• Reason can understand the truths of faith, making reality comprehensible.

Exemplary Ideas in Augustine

Augustine believed that God created the world according to eternal ideas in the divine mind. God is both the efficient and formal cause, with temporal reality reflecting an ideal model. Drawing from Plato, Augustine posited that these ideas exist in the divine mind and are the formal cause of reality. These divine ideas are models from which God creates, defining what all creatures are and enabling human knowledge.

Augustine's Theory of Illumination

Understanding allows us to know the truth. Augustine proposed the theory of illumination to explain how a finite mind can achieve perfect knowledge of divine ideas. Just as objects need light to be seen, truths need divine illumination to be understood. God's light makes knowledge possible.

The City of God and Collective Salvation

Augustine conceptualized human history as a tale of two cities: the earthly city and the City of God. The City of God reflects on the relationship between political government and the Church. Augustine describes human history as the evolution of two opposing realities, representing two human types: those who live in evil and those who live according to God.