Augustine's Confessions

Augustine’s father was a magistrate, while his mother was a devout Christian. In Augustine’s Confessions he described a long series of his own sins. As a young man, he “boiled over in [his] fornications.” It was not until he was thirty–two that he abandoned his ways and converted to Christianity. He became priest, then established a monastery in Northern Africa, where he was named Bishop. Augustine became a leading doctrinal authority in the Catholic church. Following his conversion Augustine was consumed by the passion to know God, and the rest of his life was lived in that way. Augustine was platonic in his thinking. He attempted to reconcile faith and reason, but always resorted to faith in a conflict. In “The City of God” he wrote, “Seek

For Augustine, ultimate knowledge consisted of knowing God. Psychologically, Augustine believed the structure of the mind and or soul was related to trinitarian theology, meaning the mind was three in one, yet not divisible. The mind consisted of memory, reason, and will. Augustine saw the mind and soul to be equal; however, the soul was seen an immortal, while the mind was not. He believed that only through introspection can the soul reveal “higher truths.” Through reason, we understand concepts like “number” or “wisdom.” It is through transcending reason that we reach true understanding. Augustine believes sensory information is somewhat unreliable; however, what was certain was self–awareness. Augustine was the first theologian/philosopher to explain the problem of evil. He said “for man to be good, he must have the opportunity to choose to do good. God did not create evil; evil is simply the absence of

Both attempted to reconcile philosophy with Christianity; however, they went about it in different ways. Augustine is known for taking a Platonic route, whereas, Aquinas was known to be more Aristotelian. For example, Augustine and Aquinas took different positions as it relates to faith and reason. Augustine believed that faith and reason had an interdependent relationship in understand God but when in conflict, faith was the truest way to God. Aquinas believed that reason and faith could not conflict because both lead to the same ultimate reality,