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He was around when Rome was sacked, born in Roman North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother. He progressed from skeptic to pagan and, finally, to Christian, and he became one of the most influential fathers of Christianity. He wrote more than Aristotle and, unlike Plato and Aristotle; we still have all his writings and know when he wrote them. We see how he used his training in rhetoric to make his points. His most famous writings are his Confessions and The City of God. He was Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD).
In his Confessions, he recounts how he became a Christian, from a skeptic and a pagan. He was concerned with the problem of evil and had an intense guilt for what some might think are trivial transgressions. He felt guilty about stealing some pears when he was young. (This pales in comparison to what Rousseau confessed to in his autobiography.) Augustine also had a concubine for many years and had a son with her who died young.
As he developed his skill in rhetoric, he developed impressive arguments against the skeptic position. Of course, the most obvious argument is that ultimate skepticism is self-referentially refuting. To say there is no knowledge is to make a knowledge claim. However, Augustine went beyond this. He said that in disjunction, there is undeniable logical truth. One can either know something or not. And, the fact that this is true is something else one can know, and this allows for an infinite series of knowledge statements. Another argument is the precursor to Descartes’ Cogito Ergo Sum. He said that he could be deceived about his own existence. However, if he is deceived, he exists.
To alleviate his guilt and deal with his concern for the problem of evil, Augustine first joined a pagan group called the Manichees. They held that evil and good are two opposing forces which balance out reality and are necessary. Variations of this view are still around today, but Augustine still had a few doubts. When he met with one of the respected sages of the Manichee movement, Augustine was not impressed. The man did not seem as educated and insightful as Augustine thought he should be. Still, Augustine kept his doubts secret until he eventually converted to Christianity. His initial concern with Christianity was that he was not impressed with the Bible, as written in Greek. However, he met St. Ambrose, someone with whom he was impressed, and became convinced that Christianity could be a viable worldview. The problem with evil in Christianity, he decided was that it was not really evil but the absence of good. (This may seem like a lame argument today. Someone dying of cancer would not think unnecessary suffering is simply “the absence of good.” It is something substantial. However, someone skilled in rhetoric might be able to convince some people that this is a solution to the problem of evil.)
When Rome was sacked, pagans and even Christians suspected that Christianity may have contributed to weakening the Army, that Christianity could be blamed for the fall of Rome. It was only a few decades after Christianity became the official and dominant religion that Rome was sacked. This fact alone would not be a strong argument. Just because things happen after something doesn’t mean they are a consequence of that something, but a possible cause and effect relationship can build prima facie case. It was said that Christians became less interested in worldly matters and focused more on an after-life. There was also some pacifism and turning the other cheek in Christianity, something that isn’t motivational for soldiers. This, although not conclusive, can be evidence for a prima facie case.
Augustine took on these arguments in the way of a competent defense attorney. He pointed out that corruption in government could also contribute to weakening defenses, and he pointed out that many pagan religions also believed in an after-life which would be more pleasurable than a worldly existence. His refutation may not have completely destroyed the prima facie case that Christianity was to blame for the sacking of Rome, but it did poke a few holes in it and gave Christians something onto which they could cling.
Later, a faction of Christians, the Donatists, became suspicious and judgmental of people who may have sympathized with the invaders. They wanted to make the church exclusive only to pure Christians and exclude those who were not righteous. Augustine opposed this movement on the grounds that the church should be for everyone, righteous and sinners alike, and he didn’t want it to be a source of division. He did win over church leaders who denounced the Donatist movement, but there would still be rumblings from some, as there still is today, that ‘so and so’ is not Christian enough.
Another movement which formed, and which Augustine dealt with in The City of God , was the Pelagianist movement. This was a movement which opposed infant baptism, dismissed original sin, denounced a God who would make innocent people suffer, and advocated that people can, by their own virtue, achieve a certain heaven on earth, by follow the commandments and being good. Augustine opposed this because he thought it put too much pressure on humans to bring about salvation without the grace of God. He thought there is always suffering on earth, and the thought of heaven on earth would have to include such suffering. And, infant baptism is something the people would not give up because they thought it is something they could do to impact the child’s salvation.
The City of God ultimately drew a contrast between the City of God and the City of Man, and the City of Man, according to Augustine, was devoted to self-interest and worldly goods and happiness. This, according to Augustine, was not as rewarding as subjugation to God.
There were those who still disagreed with Augustine. There were monks and ascetics who suffered to win salvation and didn’t want to hear that only God’s grace and not human actions can bring about salvation. Augustine died, and these issues are still debated in Christian circles.
Bis bald,
Nick
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