Saint Augustine of Hippo (detail) by Philippe de Champaigne, 1645-1650
The Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in the year 312 made the young religion a permanent and powerful force in the late Roman Empire. Born just four decades later in one of its remote provinces, Augustine of Hippo (354–430) would achieve for Christian thought an intellectual standing as enduring and dominant as the social-political influence conferred on Christian institutions by the first Christian emperor.
Augustine found in Christianity a collection of authoritative texts, creeds, and doctrines passed down by the Church and accepted by faith. He fashioned it into a formidable, systematic, and intelligible account of the fundamental structure of reality and humanity’s place in it. With intelligence, curiosity, and rhetorical skill he harnessed the philosophical heritage of the ancient world for the task of expressing a new Christian philosophy, one that could stand on its own in late antiquity’s vibrant marketplace of ideas and would eventually have a huge impact.
For nearly two millennia, Augustine’s ideas have shaped the way the world is seen. Augustine scholar Scott MacDonald explores some of those compelling ideas as reflected in some of Augustine’s major works. He is a professor of philosophy and Norma K. Regan Professor in Christian Studies at Cornell University.
10–11:15 a.m. Faith Seeking Understanding
What is religious faith? How can believers be faithful while remaining intellectually responsible and curious about the world? Augustine’s model of the relation between religious faith and human understanding opens the possibility of an intellectually rigorous Christianity.
11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Searching for God (and Other Things)
How can someone search for something if they don't know what they’re looking for? But if they already know what it is, why would they need to search for it? This paradox of inquiry is, in Augustine’s writings, a persistent and fruitful puzzle. Wrestling with it leads Augustine to some of his deepest insights into human nature: How are we able to search for (and find) God?
12:45–1:15 p.m. Break
1:15–2:30 p.m. Good, Evil, and Free Will
How can there be evil in a world created and governed by a perfectly good, omnipotent, omniscient God? Augustine’s account of the nature of God, good and evil, and the self-determination characteristic of rational creatures provides an intriguing—and controversial—answer.
2:45–4 p.m. The Human Mind (and Divine Trinity)
What does it mean to be created in the image of God? What is that image and what about the divine nature does it represent? Augustine’s search for the divine image in human beings yields a creative, original, and strikingly modern set of reflections on the nature and activity of the mind.
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