“The medieval philosophers took it almost for granted that Christianity was
true,” he began. “The question was whether we must simply believe the Christian
revelation or whether we can approach the Christian truths with the help of reason.
What was the relationship between the Greek philosophers and what the Bible said?
Was there a contradiction between the Bible and reason, or were belief and
knowledge compatible? Almost all medieval philosophy centered on this one ques-
tion.”
Sophie nodded impatiently. She had been through this in her religion class.
“We shall see how the two most prominent medieval philosophers dealt with
this question, and we might as well begin with St. Augustine, who lived from 354 to
430. In this one person’s life we can observe the actual transition from late antiquity
to the Early Middle Ages. Augustine was born in the little town of Tagaste in North
Africa. At the age of sixteen he went to Carthage to study. Later he traveled to Rome
and Milan, and lived the last years of his life in the town of Hippo, a few miles west
of Carthage. However, he was not a Christian all his life. Augustine examined several
different religions and philosophies before he became a Christian.”
“Could you give some examples?”
“For a time he was a Manichaean. The Manichaeans were a religious sect that
was extremely characteristic of late antiquity. Their doctrine was half religion and
half philosophy, asserting that the world consisted of a dualism of good and evil, light
and darkness, spirit and matter. With his spirit, mankind could rise above the world of
matter and thus prepare for the salvation of his soul. But this sharp division between
good and evil gave the young Augustine no peace of mind. He was completely
preoccupied with what we like to call the ‘problem of evil.’ By this we mean the
question of where evil comes from. For a time he was influenced by Stoic philosophy,
and according to the Stoics, there was no sharp division between good and evil.
However, his principal leanings were toward the other significant philosophy of late
antiquity, Neoplatonism. Here he came across the idea that all existence is divine in
nature.”
“So he became a Neoplatonic bishop?”
“Yes, you could say that. He became a Christian first, but the Christianity of St.
Augustine is largely influenced by Platonic ideas. And therefore, Sophie, therefore
you have to understand that there is no dramatic break with Greek philosophy the
minute we enter the Christian Middle Ages. Much of Greek philosophy was carried
over to the new age through Fathers of the Church like St. Augustine.”
“Do you mean that St. Augustine was half Christian and half Neoplatonist?”
“He himself believed he was a hundred-percent Christian although he saw no
real contradiction between Christianity and the philosophy of Plato. For him, the
similarity between Plato and the Christian doctrine was so apparent that he thought
Plato must have had knowledge of the Old Testament. This, of course, is highly
improbable. Let us rather say that it was St. Augustine who ‘christianized’ Plato.”
“So he didn’t turn his back on everything that had to do with philosophy when
he started believing in Christianity?”
“No, but he pointed out that there are limits to how far reason can get you in
religious questions. Christianity is a divine mystery that we can only perceive through
faith. But if we believe in Christianity, God will ‘illuminate’ the soul so that we
experience a sort of supernatural knowledge of God. St. Augustine had felt within
himself that there was a limit to how far philosophy could go. Not before he became a
Christian did he find peace in his own soul. ‘Our heart is not quiet until it rests in
Thee,’ he writes.”