Aurelius Augustine ($354-$430) is one of the key figures in Western medieval thought. His philosophical project influenced the formation of dogma, ontology, epistemology and ethics of Christianity.
Aurelius Augustine expressed his political and legal views in his works “On the City of God” and “On Free Will” and a number of others.
Note 1
The political philosophy of the medieval thinker is closely related to a wide range of issues related to Christian soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) and ethics, philosophy of history.
The provisions of the political philosophy of Augustine Aurelius
Augustine Aurelius assessed the state and social structure as a necessary consequence of the Fall of mankind. Therefore, there are negative aspects in assessments of the state and political power. As a result of the Fall, human nature was damaged; this led to the need for the emergence of the “strict” power of God and an earthly ruler, who is a prototype of divine power.
Help with student work on the topic Political philosophy of Augustine Aurelius: the earthly city and the heavenly city
Coursework 490 ₽ Essay 230 ₽ Test paper 210 ₽
Get completed work or consultation with a specialist on your educational project Find out the cost
Augustine criticizes the existing political and legal relations due to the fact that they are dominated by the rule of man over man, the mutual oppression of freedom by people. He negatively assesses the division of society into masters and slaves. But at the same time, Augustine characterizes this state of affairs as the “natural state” of man’s sinful nature.
Slavery, in this sense, falls into the category of natural from the point of view of the prevailing principles of human society at that time, although it contradicts the divine institutions about man.
Augustine Aurelius’ criticism of the state and existing social relations is made from religious, ideal positions. In his opinion, they exist only at the moment of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment, the events of which should open a new page both in the history of mankind and in the understanding of statehood, which should appear as a kind of “brotherhood of saints”, devoid of sin, evil and envy.
Before the Second Coming, from Augustine’s point of view, the Church must take custody of the “earthly” state. It must take care to instill respect among the people for law and order, as well as moral imperatives. In this sense, spiritual power in some way turns out to be dominant in relation to secular power.
Looking for ideas for study work on this subject? Ask a question to the teacher and get an answer in 15 minutes! Ask a Question
In his political philosophy, Augustine reinterprets many of the views of ancient thinkers. The philosophy of Stoicism is of greatest interest to him. Thus, interpreting Cicero’s definition of the state as a community of people based on justice and adherence to the rules of law, Augustine Aurelius considers it also characterizes the church. Like the Stoics, Augustine identifies a number of communities that underlie the understanding of statehood. This is a family, a community of language and state, a community of man and God.
Note 2
The key point in Augustine's political philosophy is his assertion of the eternity and naturalness of laws, the adherence to which is imperative.
Hieroconfessor Ambrose (Polyansky), bishop. Kamenets-Podolsky and Bratslavsky
INTRODUCTION
Preliminary information about the work of Blessed Augustine “On the City of God” - the historical circumstances of the appearance of the work, its meaning, purpose, task, plan, division of content. Sources and aids for writing our essay
We think it is unnecessary to present the wonderful, rare biography of Blessed Augustine: for the correct understanding of his teaching about the Kingdom of God, and therefore for our work, the facts of his personal life are not of immediate importance. And anyone interested in his life can get acquainted with it in his own “Confession”, and in more than one book by different authors who briefly or more fully outline the circumstances of the life of the great Ippon saint. We will directly deal with his essay “On the City of God” and provide some preliminary information about it. Here we learn the historical circumstances of the appearance of the essay, its meaning, purpose, task, plan, and the like. And all this will shed considerable light on the understanding of the very teaching of St. Augustine about the Kingdom of God.
In order to find out the historical circumstances of the appearance of the indicated work of Blessed Augustine, its significance in the fight against paganism, for this it is necessary, as fully as possible, to consider the historical circumstances and the state of the struggle between Christianity and paganism in the period preceding its appearance. But since this last work [1] was done even before us, in order to avoid unnecessary repetitions, we consider it possible not to present in full, but only briefly outline those provisions that could indicate with sufficient clarity the circumstances of the appearance and significance of Augustine’s work.
These provisions are as follows.
When Christianity appeared, paganism, willy-nilly, had to relate to it in one way or another. At first it did not pay attention to him, considering him one of the Jewish sects. But a close acquaintance with Christianity showed the pagans that they cannot neglect it: its tendencies are too great, and most importantly, they are akin, in particular, to the Roman pagans (and it is their relationship to Christianity that is interesting to us). These latter, as is known, were completely fascinated by the state. They sacrificed everything else to him. For the Roman pagans, the state was in the proper sense a god, and its embodiment was the emperor. A universal monarchy was the cherished dream of the ancient Romans. And Christianity just declared that it was destined to conquer all nations. Some of the pagans looked at him as a means of achieving their goals, since paganism by that time had already worn out, become decrepit, and converted to Christianity; others, on the contrary, met him as a dangerous rival in the same matter and, of course, began to use every effort to remove him from the path to their goals. The struggle between paganism and Christianity begins. In the first period, before Constantine the Great and the triumph of Christianity, this struggle was focused on the external side of the latter - private, home life, the behavior of Christians, worship, and especially on their attitude towards the state. The inner side of Christianity, its doctrine, does not interest pagans.
Under Constantine the Great, Christianity became the dominant religion. However, the struggle did not stop. The pagans, who lost their patron with the adoption of Christianity by the emperor, were not lost. In place of the old, changed one, they laid a new foundation for their dilapidated building. Such a basis was Neoplatonism for them - an eclectic worldview, which was a mixture of all the then religious and religious-philosophical teachings, not even excluding Christianity. Renewed by this Neoplatonism, paganism continued its struggle against Christianity. During this time of struggle, two different directions in relation to Christianity were noticed among the representatives of the first. One party of pagans, conservative, political, in its relationship to Christianity stands on the same ground. She looks at Christianity from a state point of view and denies it as a religion completely unsuitable for the Roman state system. Paganism gave Rome glory and greatness; Whether Christianity will give these latter is unknown - this is their main reason for non-recognition of Christianity. The other party, the scientific, rationalist, went further in its struggle against Christianity. She began to attack the latter’s very creed, its most fundamental points. In this party, therefore, the struggle between Christianity and paganism moves from the external side of the former to its internal side. In this phase it was more serious than the previous one, but still did not threaten Christianity with any particular danger. The fact is that Neoplatonism, which revived the enemies of Christianity, was adopted by them not in the form of a whole system, not in connection with any person or school, but in scraps and scraps. Because of this, the attacks of the pagans on Christianity were of a private, separate nature, that is, the pagans did not refute Christianity as an entire doctrine in its internal consistency, but attacked only its individual points, which seemed to them especially weak. This struggle was, as Professor Krasin aptly put it, “partisan in nature.” More dangerous things lay ahead for Christianity.
The beginning of the 5th century was one of the most disastrous times in the history of the Roman state. The attacks of wild neighboring tribes, which began from this time, were almost continuous. The Goths, led by Alaric, a year later Radagais, immediately behind him Stilicho, then Alaric again quickly crushed the power of Rome. And the Roman Empire, even earlier upset and weakened by the cowardice and carelessness of its former sovereigns, was unable to successfully resist the attacks of wild tribes and after short resistance, sometimes, however, successful, it finally fell. In 410, Rome was taken by Alaric and subjected to terrible plunder by his soldiers. The city itself is destroyed; the inhabitants were beaten and dishonored, some were taken prisoner; property, gold and precious stones were taken away; monuments of art were burned and destroyed. Glorious Rome, this proud ruler of the entire universe, as the pagans thought, turned into heaps of ruins. The impression made by the fall of Rome on Christians, and especially pagans, was stunning. What is the reason for this terrible event? This is the question that now first of all arose in the shocked minds of the pagans, accustomed to seeing in all the events of their history the punishment or blessings of the gods. There could be two reasons: one, the gods are punishing their admirers for allowing Christianity, which does not recognize the gods; the other is that the Christian God punishes the pagans for their enmity towards Christians. But the pagans could not accept the second reason, because along with them the Christians were also subjected to the disasters of destruction. One thing remains - Rome fell due to the fault of Christians. And then accusations rained down on these latter. Everything has rebelled against Christ and Christianity. There seemed to be no end in sight for the denunciations, blasphemies, slander, reproaches, and ridicule. The position of Christianity was dangerous. Previously, paganism attacked individual points of Christian doctrine and discussed them calmly. Now, with all its strength, with irritation, it attacked all of Christianity in its internal meaning, as the cause of the fall of Rome, and turned to all its points, “condemning and blaming them, as if they did not agree with common sense, or with the conditions of state and social life”, at the same time “and opposing them with their own rational and mystical doctrines” [2].
The veneration of the Roman gods is the reason for the greatness and glory of the empire; Christianity, which blasphemously denies those gods, is the cause of the fall of Rome. This is the main theme around which all the accusations against Christianity revolved. Defenders of the latter were needed. But the clergy of that time was distinguished only by ignorance, superstition inextricably linked with it, luxury, wealth, greed, and, because of all this, an unclean life and even instability in their very faith. Such representatives of Christianity, of course, could not be its defenders. And only one, but a great man had to bear on his shoulders the whole weight of accusations against Christianity from paganism, defending the former and refuting the latter. We mean Blessed Augustine of Hippo. In his essay “On the City of God,” he showed the pagans that Christianity not only does not contradict common sense, but it precisely meets its needs, it is especially beneficial for the private and public, state life of people; that Christianity not only was not the cause of the fall of the empire, but Christ also benefited the Roman pagans; on the contrary, paganism is a lie, deception, superstition, inconsistent with common sense, and it was precisely this that led Roman citizens to physical and spiritual corruption, and the Roman Empire to destruction. Hence, Rome and paganism naturally had to fall - only the City of God stands forever. This is where you need to move, this is the only place you can live.
These are the historical origins and significance and the immediate reason for the appearance of St. Augustine’s essay “On the City of God.”
Already from what has been said, the main goal of the work of the great saint is clearly visible - to defend Christianity and refute paganism, to show the glory of the City of God through its contrast to the earthly city.
Hence, the task of Blessed Augustine is clear - an exposition of the doctrines of paganism with a critical analysis of them and clarification of the historical meaning and dogmatic content of Christianity, or in other words - a description of the City of God in its past, present and future states, and in parallel - the city of the earth, in order to compare them and the glorification of the City of God, since every thing through comparison with another is understood much better than when considered only in itself.
From this, in turn, the plan and division of content of the work of Blessed Augustine is directly determined. It is quite natural that Blessed Augustine devotes the first part of his work to the analysis and refutation of paganism, as it was expressed in the doctrines of its best and most famous representatives - Plato, Apuleius, Varro and others; in the second, he sets out his positive views on Christianity with a refutation of the pagan objections against it and, in parallel with this, the historical destinies of all peoples outside of Christianity, more precisely, outside of life with the true God, and their characteristics.
Thus, the work of Blessed Augustine “On the City of God” is divided into two main parts: the first is negative, covering the first ten books, the second is positive, the last twelve. Each of these main parts is divided into smaller parts. The first book of the first part can be considered as an introduction to the entire work. Here Blessed Augustine examines the pagan objections to Christianity, caused directly by the fact of the destruction of Rome (Christianity is the fault of the fall of the state; the dishonor of Christian women, etc.). The further nine chapters of the first part contain two main thoughts and are therefore divided into two small parts. Some pagans revered their gods because they expected temporary benefits from them. In the first four chapters of nine, that is, from the 2nd to the 5th inclusive, St. Augustine refutes this error of paganism. Other pagans said that the gods must be revered for the sake of eternal life. In the remaining five chapters out of nine, from the 6th to the 10th inclusive, St. Augustine proves the inconsistency of this thought of the pagans. The second main part is divided into three small parts: the first - chapters 11 to 14 - the origin of both cities; the second - chapters from 15 to 18 - their continuation and, finally, the third - chapters from 19 to 22 - the final destinies of both.
Now we could begin to present the teaching of St. Augustine about the Kingdom of God. But before we do this, we think it useful to set forth the New Testament teaching about the Kingdom of God. We think that our essay will gain a lot from this in its completeness and clarity. According to the teachings of St. Augustine himself, things through comparison are more clearly exposed to us in their distinctive features [3]. And in the presentation of the New Testament teaching we will have another “thing” with which we can compare the teaching of St. Augustine. The completeness of the work also benefits, because not only will the teaching of Blessed Augustine about the Kingdom of God be presented, but the relationship of his (teaching) to the Gospel teaching on the same subject will itself be clear. In addition, if we did not begin to expound the Gospel teaching about the Kingdom of God, then in this case we would have to give a full assessment of the teaching of St. Augustine in a special chapter. And with our plan, we can simultaneously give, although not completely, but, in any case, to a significant extent, this assessment of the views of Blessed Augustine. Given the presence of New Testament teaching in our work, by the very presentation of the views of Blessed Augustine, we will give the reader the opportunity to see the similarities and differences between the latter and the former and the dignity of their (views). In view of the above considerations, we will first present the Gospel teaching about the Kingdom of God and then move on to presenting the views of Blessed Augustine.
As for the sources and aids with guidance and on the basis of which we carried out our work, when presenting the teaching of Blessed Augustine about the Kingdom of God, we had at hand the only source - this was the work of Blessed Augustine himself “On the City of God.”
As a guide, the main and guiding value for us was the work of M. Krasin: “The work of St. Augustine “De civitate Dei” as an apology for Christianity against paganism.” The following are the works of Prince Evgeniy Trubetskoy, “The Religious and Social Ideal of Western Christianity in the 5th Century. Part 1. Worldview of St. Augustine.” Moscow, 1892; Hieromonk Gregory “The work of Blessed Augustine “On the City of God” as an experience of Christian philosophy of history.” Kharkov, 1891; A.P. Lopukhin “Divine Providence in the History of Mankind.” St. Petersburg, 1898; Skvortsov “Blessed Augustine as a Psychologist”; some chapters from the works: L.I. Pisarev “Teaching of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Ippona, about man in his relation to God.” Kazan, 1894; N. Rodnikova “The Teaching of St. Augustine on the mutual relations between the state and the Church.” Kazan, 1897.
On the issue of the New Testament teaching about the Kingdom of God, the main textbooks were: “The New Testament teaching about the Kingdom of God” - an essay by A. Ivanov in a collection of essays by students of the Kazan Academy. Issue 2. Kazan, 1901; “The idea of the Kingdom of God in its meaning for the Christian worldview (theological and apologetic study) by Archpriest P. Svetlov, is published in the Theological Bulletin of 1902, starting with a book for the month of May. We read: “The Idea of the Kingdom of God in the Old and New Testaments” by M. Bogoslovsky, published in the “Orthodox Interlocutor” of 1887, part 3, pp. 246-266; “The New Testament teaching about the Kingdom of God in the latest Western theological literature” - N.G., published in the magazine “Readings in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment” in 1894, book. 12, ss. 747-814; “New Protestant teaching about the Church in its difference from the Kingdom of God” N.M. Ivantsev, published in “Orthodox Review” in 1878, books for July and October; “The Kingdom of God and the Church in the revelation of the New Testament” by Vladimir Solovyov, published in the “Orthodox Review” of 1885, vol. 3, pp. 23-49.
____________________________
[1] See the essay by M. Krasin “The work of St. Augustine “De civitate Dei” as an apology for Christianity in its struggle against Roman paganism.” Kazan, 1873.
[2] Krasin M. S. 140.
[3] Blessed Augustine. About the City of God. Book 1, chapter 35, page 59. Publishing house of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery. M., 1994, in four volumes. Reprint. Kyiv, 1905-1910.
In subsequent quotations we will indicate only the book (Roman numeral), chapter (Arabic numeral) and page (Arabic numeral) of this edition of the work of St. Augustine.
City of Earth and City of Heaven
Aurelius Augustine stands in the position of dividing humanity into two categories according to two types of love. The thinker calls these two types the city of God (Heavenly) and the city of earth . The first is distinguished by love for God and serving Him, while the second is distinguished by love of self, which is expressed in neglect of God and His institutions. This statement reveals a Christian understanding of the meaning of human life. The meaning of human life is not that he is a social being, but that he is, first of all, a religious being, destined to serve God.
The Heavenly City is likened to the Church, and the earthly city is likened to a specific state, the Roman Empire. But this is only a symbolic comparison that does not imply direct identity. Augustine does not affirm the visible antagonism of the two cities; for these purposes, he refuses to clearly institutionalize them. Their struggle entirely belongs to the spiritual sphere of human life. Within the framework of everyday life, members of both cities reside in the same world, but their meaning and life tasks are different.
Need advice from a teacher in this subject area? Ask a question to the teacher and get an answer in 15 minutes! Ask a Question
