Augustine's Intellectual Conversion: The Journey from Platonism to Christianity PDF
Preview Augustine's Intellectual Conversion: The Journey from Platonism to Christianity
’ AUGUSTINE S INTELLECTUAL CONVERSION This book examines Augustine’s intellectual conversion from Platonism to Christianity, as described at Confessions 7.9.13–7.21.27. Itiswidelyassumedthatthisoccurredinthesummerof386,shortly beforeAugustine’svolitionalconversioninthegardenatMilan.Brian Dobell argues, however, that Augustine’s intellectual conversion did not occur until the mid-390s, and develops thisclaim by comparing Confessions 7.9.13–7.21.27 with a number of important passages and themesfromAugustine’searlywritings.Hethusinvitesthereaderto consideranewtheproblemofAugustine’sconversionin386:wasitto PlatonismorChristianity?Hisoriginalandimportantstudywillbeof interesttoawiderangeofreadersinthehistoryofphilosophyandthe historyoftheology. briandobellisAssistantProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversity ofBalamand. ’ AUGUSTINE S INTELLECTUAL CONVERSION The Journey from Platonism to Christianity BRIAN DOBELL UniversityofBalamand,Lebanon cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore, SãoPaulo,Delhi,Dubai,Tokyo CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb28ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521513395 ©BrianDobell2009 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2009 PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary isbn978-0-521-51339-5Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtoin thispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis, orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents Preface pagevii Noteontranslationsandreferences ix ChronologicaltableofAugustine’swritings x Listofabbreviationsandtexts xii Introduction:Augustine’sconversiontoChristianity 1 part i the way of authority and ‘the falsity of photinus’ 29 1 Thewayofauthority 31 2 ThedevelopmentofAugustine’sChristology 75 part ii the way of reason and the ascent of the soul 109 3 Thewayofreason 111 4 TheproblemofevilandthedevelopmentofAugustine’s metaphysics 138 5 Thegradedascent 183 6 TherejectionofPlatonicascent 203 7 TheOstiaascent 213 Conclusion:AugustinethePorphyrian 228 Appendix:trueandfalseinSoliloquiesii 237 Bibliography 239 Index 246 v Preface ThisbookexamineswhatistypicallycharacterizedasAugustine’s‘intellec- tual conversion’: his discovery of the difference between Platonism and Christianity, as described in the second half of Confessions 7. My primary aim is to show that Confessions 7.9.13–7.21.27 is best understood as a description of Augustine’s intellectual development from 386 to c. 395. I therefore offer a close reading not only of this central section of the Confessions but also of a number of important passages and themes in Augustine’searlywritings.Thisreadingwill,Ihope,beofvalueforgeneral readers and specialists alike. For general readers it may serve as an intro- ductiontoAugustine’searlythoughtandtothedevelopmentofhisphilo- sophicalandtheologicalideasuntiltheConfessions.Specialistswillfindinit achallengetotheprevailingassumptionthatthesecondhalfofConfessions7 isanaccountofAugustine’sinsightsandexperiencesduringthesummerof 386, prior to the time of his conversion in the Milanese garden. My book invites the reader to consider afresh the unjustly maligned problem of Augustine’s conversion in 386: was it to Platonism or to Christianity? I mustconfessthatIamnotentirelysurehowtoanswerthatquestion.ButI am convinced, as against the legions of modern scholars who have taken their cue from Pierre Courcelle’s Recherches sur les Confessions de saint Augustin (1950), that the question itself is a legitimate one. It is legitimate precisely because it is Augustine himself who poses the problem for his readers, as he recounts the story of his conversion in the Confessions. The presentbookisofferedinsupportofthisclaim. Itisagreatpleasuretorecognizethosewhohaveinspiredandencouraged meinthedevelopmentofthisbook.Mygreatestacademicdebtsaretothe Faculty of the Collaborative Programme in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the University of Toronto. I owe a tremendous amount to PeterKingandJohnMagee,withoutwhomthisbookcouldnothavebeen written, as well as to Deborah L. Black, Lloyd P. Gerson and Martin Pickavé, who have provided me with invaluable feedback at various stages vii viii Preface alongtheway.Havingthebenefitofsuchsagecounselhasmademeacutely aware that any shortcomings in this book can only be my own responsi- bility. I also appreciate the encouragement I have received from Gareth B. Matthews. Turning to the more distant past, I would like to thank Graeme Nicholson, who first stirred my interest in Augustine, as well as Martha Husain and Murray Miles for turning me on to the history of philosophy. I am grateful to Hilary Gaskin at Cambridge University Press for her interest in the book, as well as Gillian Dadd, Joanna Garbutt, Christina SarigiannidouandHilaryScannell,allofwhomprovidedexpertassistance atvariousstagesintheproductionprocess.IwouldalsoliketothankRoland J. Teske, S.J. and an anonymous reader for Cambridge University Press. I believe that this is a better book because of their helpful comments and criticism. I have also profited from a number of discussions with Michael Siebert,whoreadandcommenteduponanearlierversionofthisbook. Finally, and mostimportantly, I would liketo thankmy parents, Mark and Anita Dobell, who have been a constant source of support and encouragement. IwouldliketodedicatethisbooktothemanyfriendswithwhomIhave beenprivilegedtosharethejoysandtravailsoflifeinLebanon. Note on translations and references Unlessotherwiseindicated,alltranslationsofAugustinearemyown,from theeditionslistedbelow(pp.xii–xvi).Ihaveprofitedfromconsultingother translations,particularlyF.J.Sheed’srenditionofConfessiones:mydebtto this translation will be especially apparent in some of the more poetic passages. References to the text of Augustine are given, where applicable, accordingtobook,chapterandparagraphnumber.WhereIreproducethe Latintext, Ialsocitethe linenumber(s).Translations of otherauthors are noted where cited. While I have noted many of Augustine’s scriptural quotationsorallusions,Ihavemadenoefforttobecomprehensive. ix
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