Augustine the Blessed: life, the main works and their influence on the development of scholasticism

Aurelius Augustine (Blessed - in the Orthodox tradition and Teacher of Grace - in the Catholic) - an outstanding philosopher, one of the founders of Christian theology. He was born in 354 in Numidia in the family of a Roman pagan citizen, but his mother Monica was a Christian. As the family was quite wealthy, 17-year-old Aurelius was sent to study rhetoric in Carthage. There the future apologist of the new religion fell in love with a woman with whom he lived for 13 long years. She became the mother of his son Adode. However, due to the difference in social origin, Augustine never married her.

Still learning the rhetoric, Augustine Blessed was carried away by philosophy. He accepted Manichaeism, but soon departed from the teachings of Mani. The spiritual quest and influence of the mother led him into the bosom of the Christian faith. In search of work, the young rhetorician leaves the African province of the Roman Empire and in 384 finds the teacher of oratory at Mediolan (present Milan). Settled near the city at Villa Kassiciakum, the philosopher created his first significant works: "Against Academics", "On the Immortality of the Soul", "On True Religion" and "On Free Will." This first stage of creativity is marked by the great influence of Platonism on the thought of the theologian.

After Easter August 387, St. Augustine was baptized in Mediolane by Saint Ambrose, the second period of the Christian apologist's creative work began. He sold his property, gave almost everything to the poor and went with his mother to Africa. But in Ostia Monica died. Arriving in his hometown Tagastu, the philosopher founded a religious community of monks. Therefore, he is considered the ancestor of the monastic order of the Augustinian. During this period, works were written on religious and ecclesiastical and exegetical problems ("On the Book of Genesis"), the interpretation of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, treaties against the Donatists. Then came the famous theologian, "Confession."

The third period (410-430) is most fruitful when the scientist was first ordained a presbyter and later bishop of Hippo (the city of the Roman Empire in North Africa). It was then that the philosophy of St. Augustine the Blessed reached its highest development. The theologian seems to be looking back at his former beliefs, and critically assessing them ("Revisions"). The questions of Christology (the human or divine nature of Christ) are reflected in the works "On the Trinity" and the cycle of treatises against Pelagius. The most significant work of the theologian is the work "De civitate Dei" - "On the City of God."

In 22 books of this work the theologian for the first time tries to analyze the entire historical process, to understand the meaning and purpose of human society and the ways of its development. Therefore, Augustine is considered the founder of the philosophy of history. The society is also connected with the Kingdom of God, as well as the person (creation) with the Creator. However, because of the fall of Adam, humanity in its mass is separated from God, but can return to Him by the grace of the Lord, - says Augustine the Blessed. The philosophy of this theologian considers the development of society as a forward movement from the vale of sorrow into which Adam and Eve were driven, through the City of the Earth to the City of Heaven (where eternity and moral perfection reign).

Thus, Augustine the Blessed considers history in the categories of linear time. This is a segment when there is a duration, for there is no time in Eternity. God guides history - whatever happens, enters into the plans and intentions of the Creator. The state in this sense acts as an indispensable stage of development. The philosopher, on the basis of the study of Holy Scripture, distinguishes 7 epochs of the development of society: the first five are the history of the Jewish people until the birth of Christ. Now the sixth era that ends with the Last Judgment, after which the seventh stage described in Revelation John will begin, when all the righteous will eternally dwell in the Heavenly Jerusalem. The society of people in its development moves from a secular state to a theocratic state, ruled by the princes of the Church. This teaching of Augustine was taken as the basis of the Roman Catholic Church in the struggle for investment.