All Christians desire to be closer to God and, ultimately, to be with him after death. But how can we get closer to God? There are two possible answers to this question. The simplest answer is that you just have to have faith in the words of the Bible. But for many, faith alone doesn't seem enough. They feel the need to understand God. What can their beliefs mean without understanding? So, once again, the question: should we follow God's word with blind faith, or should we use reason and intellect to better understand our creator? Saint Augustine, a great Catholic saint, grappled with this same question. On the surface, The Confessions is the story of a man whose spiritual journey takes him from the depths of sin and sexual appetite to the life of a devout Christian. However, in addition to his struggle with lust, St. Augustine grapples with another problem, one that lies just beneath the surface of his story. Like other Christians, he longs to be close to God, but as he searches for the method to achieve this goal, the conflict between his biblical and Platonic beliefs comes to a head. Although Plato may not seem directly applicable at first, there are many parallels between Plato's "Good" and the Christian God. However, while the Bible suggests that one can only approach God through faith alone, Plato says that one can only approach the Good by using philosophy, an act of the intellect. Throughout the Confessions, St. Augustine oscillates between these two seemingly opposing ideas, but he ultimately manages to reconcile this problem of intellect and faith. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Christian teaching presents faith as the most important means of drawing closer to God. At the beginning of the text, Saint Augustine says that "The Church required certain things to be believed even if they could not be proven, because if they could be proven, not all men could understand the proof, and some could not be proven at all. " (6, 5). For the Church, proof and understanding have no importance. Three great principles constitute the foundation of the Church. First, there is the belief in Almighty God, creator of heaven and from the earth, they believe that Jesus, who was God incarnate, was born of a virgin to die on the cross in order to conquer hell and ascend to heaven, thereby redeeming the souls of all men. , there is the promise that good Christians will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven with God. These beliefs cannot be supported or proven by the perceived laws of the world we live in. , faith has become the most important feature of Christianity A book of the Bible is almost entirely devoted to the idea of ​​faith. In the book of Job, Job becomes the subject of a wager between God and Satan. claims that Job, one of God's faithful servants, lives a "blameless" life only because God protects him from evil. To prove Satan wrong, God allows him to destroy Job's children, servants, and animals and, later, curse Job with boils. When Job's friends come to see him, they try to explain his condition to him. Presuming to know God's motives, they claim that this is God's punishment for Job. Eliphaz asks: “Is not your wickedness great? (Job 22:5). He said to Job, “Therefore snares surround you” (Job 22:10). They believe that they can understand the ways of God and that only Job's actionsmay be responsible for his misfortune. Instead of trying to use reason, Job recognizes that he cannot understand God, and points out to Eliphaz and the others that they cannot either, saying, "Where then does wisdom come from? ? of all living... Destruction and Death say: "We have heard the rumor with our ears. "God understands his way and knows his place" (Job 28:20-23). ​​In saying this, Job not only emphasizes that God is the true guardian of wisdom and understanding, but he also suggests the consequences of attempting to acquire true wisdom. Only errors can be found, and ultimately the seeker will be led to "destruction and death." The book of Job also gives a clear picture of God's view on this issue. As Job and his friends debate, God descends. a cloud and said to Eliphaz: My anger is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken rightly about me, as my servant Job said” (Job 42:7). God is angry with Eliphaz because he misrepresented him. Only Job recognizes that the wisdom of God is not to be understood by men; and, as his friends are punished for pretending to understand God, Job is rewarded for his faithfulness. Faith is also heavily emphasized in the gospels, particularly in the book of Matthew. Jesus speaks about faith often throughout this gospel and makes it clear. it is the most important part of a good Christian life. When angry with the cities that did not repent after experiencing his miracles, Jesus said: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and to the wise. intelligent and revealed them to children” (Matthew 11:25). In this speech, Jesus makes a clear distinction between the innocence and simplicity of children and men who are considered "wise and intelligent." men who seek wisdom and understanding miss the truth that Jesus preaches. By praising God for giving the truth to children, Jesus suggests that the truth is either inaccessible or difficult to understand for those who seek it. The only right way to receive the truth is to accept it as given directly from God. Jesus also illustrates how faith draws people closer to God, saying, “If you have faith like a mustard seed...nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). Using the image of a mustard seed, he illustrates how even a small amount of faith brings one closer to God, such that God's strength will be with him. This faith is the source of the connection with God. Saint Augustine testifies to the importance of faith in one of his confessions by illustrating how, without faith, it is impossible to be close to God. Speaking of his misery and pain after losing his best friend, Saint Augustine said: “I knew, Lord, that I must offer you [my soul], because you would heal it. But I wouldn't, nor could I... It wasn't you I believed in, but an empty product... what if I tried to find a place to lay my burden there , there was nothing there to support it” (4, 7). God was not with him to guide him in his troubles or give him strength in his sufferings because Saint Augustine did not really trust him. Saint Augustine suggests that if he had faith in God, God would have lifted his burden and brought him relief. Even though faith is very important to Saint Augustine, he is still, by nature, a curious man. Sometimes, however, his curiosity and desire to understand God seems like a curse to him. This is particularly evident in book 10, when St. Augustine introduces a sort of paradox after explaining his search for an answerto the question “…what is my God?” (10, 6). He says: "Animals, large and small, are aware of it1, but they cannot search for its meaning because they are not guided by reason... Man, on the other hand, can question nature. He is capable of grasping the invisible nature of God through his creatures, but his love for these material things is too great” (10, 6). gain insight into God by looking at nature and questioning it However, animals simply know that God is the higher power and is “above us” (10:6). not that in question because, for them, there is no need for a better understanding. Humans, on the other hand, because of their power of reasoning and their inquisitive minds, seek a better understanding of God. In doing so, they may become too focused on the material world, which will ultimately prevent them from knowing Him. The Bible directly answers the question of the intellect. For example, from the beginning of human existence in the Bible, it is condemned as a means used by the devil to keep men away from God. In Genesis, after God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, he gave them all of his creation, except for one thing: knowledge. He commands Adam to eat of any tree “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). God does not tell them why He commanded them not to eat from this tree, but He expects them to do what He says, even without explanation. Their role is to obey him without question. However, Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent who encourages them to eat from this tree by saying: "God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." » (Genesis 3:5). The snake explains to them that they will not die, but that they will learn to understand thanks to the tree. Being like God is too tempting for them to resist, so they eat the fruit and bring God's wrath upon themselves. It is the desire to gain knowledge and understanding that leads to man's banishment from paradise and the introduction of pain and death into the world. This biblical influence is apparent in the Confessions when St. Augustine emphasizes the uselessness, and even danger, of the intellect. An example of this is in book 5, when Saint Augustine is still among the Manichaeans. Speaking of scientists, he says, "their thoughts could go far enough to form a judgment about the world around them, although they found no trace of who is its master" (5, 3). Here, St. Augustine points out that even though these scientists claim to understand the world around them, they miss the most fundamental and important fact: that God exists and is master of everything. Their intellect brings them no closer to God than someone who doesn't understand science at all. Saint Augustine even suggests that understanding science is of no importance. After all, knowing God is what matters most to him. To illustrate this point, he says that "A man who knows that he has a tree and who thanks [God] for the use he makes of it, even if he does not know its exact height nor the width of its extent, is better than another who measures it and counts all its branches, but does not own it and does not know and love its Creator" (5, 4). In this passage, the tree can be interpreted as representing all that God has given – the entire creation as well as his word Let Augustine simply refer to a tree as a representation of the.God's earthly creation, or whether he is referring to God's word, the point is clear: it is not important to use science to understand what God created. The only way to draw closer to God is to faithfully accept his gift and praise him for it. More than simply thinking it useless, Saint Augustine at one point qualifies curiosity as a pure and simple sin. He says: "In addition to our bodily appetites, which...lead to our ruin...the mind is also subject to a certain propensity to use the senses of the body...for the gratification of its own curiosity" ( 10, 35). Here he compares curiosity to the sins of the body, but even affirms that it is “more dangerous than these” (10, 35). This thirst for knowledge and understanding, like bodily indulgences, is a sin to be avoided. Saint Augustine explains that “curiosity... invades our religion, because we put God to the test” (10:35), suggesting that giving in to this temptation only distances men from God. Although St. Augustine seems to believe that the use of the intellect is wrong, his actions show how he continues to struggle with this problem. Being naturally curious, he has difficulty accepting everything on the basis of faith alone. Speaking of mathematics, Saint Augustine says: I compared all this with the teaching of Manes, who had written extensively on these subjects... But in his writings I found no reasonable explanation of the solstices and equinoxes or eclipses and phenomena similar to those I had heard about in books written by secular scientists. Yet I was supposed to believe what he had written, even though it was completely inconsistent and contradictory to mathematical principles and the evidence of my own eyes (5, 3). This passage alludes to St. Augustine's frustration, as what he is supposed to believe does not match the evidence that seems clear to him. He prefers to agree with mathematicians because they provide solid evidence, while the religious "scientist" is unable to convince him because his explanations are not "reasonable" and he provides no real evidence. Mathematics uses concrete concepts that Saint Augustine can understand through reason, but he confesses that "I wanted to be equally sure of everything else, both of material things for which I could not vouch by my own senses, as well as of things spiritual things of which I could have no idea” (6, 4). To truly believe in it, Saint Augustine wants spiritual concepts to be as accessible to reason as mathematics. Saint Augustine's attachment to mathematics testifies to his Platonic influence. To better understand this influence, it is helpful to step back and examine the order of the universe in Plato's mind. Plato doesn't personify it like Christians do, but he believes in one thing that is the focal point of the universe. He identifies this as “the Good”. In Platonic theory, the universe is divided into two parts: the physical world, which is constantly changing, and the world of forms, which are the true, unchanging patterns that objects in the physical world only reflect. In this metaphysical world of forms, it is the Good in which all other forms participate. Similar to the Christian God, for Plato, Good is the source of all things. Humans, constrained by their physical bodies, can only perceive things around them in the physical world through their bodily senses. However, because the soul must experience its environment through the body, it does not get a true picture of the universe. He can only experience the changing world, which ultimately separates him from true forms. Mathematical thinking is very different fromsensory perceptions of the body. Plato says that mathematicians "use visible forms and objects and subject them to analysis. At the same time, however, they regard them only as images of the originals... in all cases it is the originals which concern and not the figures they have. drawing” (Republic, 510d-510e). Because it focuses on mental concepts and not their physical representations, Plato asserts that mathematics serves as a sort of stepping stone. This connection with forms is important to Plato because, for him, understanding forms should be the goal of all men. In Plato's mind, some men lead evil lives, and when they die, they are punished for living unjustly. On the other hand, some men live righteous lives and, through their good behavior, have the opportunity to choose another life. However, both classes of men fail to focus on forms, focusing instead on the physical world. A smaller and completely distinct class of men live their lives solely to understand the truth of forms. These men are called philosophers. Plato says: “And among these, those who have sufficiently purified themselves through philosophy now live completely without bodies and attain even more beautiful habitations” (Phaedo, 114c). By living like a philosopher and separating one's soul from the pollution of the body, one can obtain the ultimate reward after death. The soul is liberated and exists among forms, thus achieving the ultimate goal of being one with Good. Instead of completely rejecting the intellect, as the Bible does, Plato asserts that, used correctly, the intellect is the only way to become a true philosopher, and thus understand the Good. He, however, challenges the use of the intellect solely for the purposes of physical investigation. For Plato, one must live to separate oneself from the material and changing world. Only then can one grasp the concepts of philosophy. The process by which one can go beyond the physical world to understand forms is called dialectics. Dialectics is rational discourse between two or more people in response to a question or preconceived idea. Plato further explains the dialectic within the dialogues of the Republic. For example, he says: “Dialectics then remains the only intellectual process whose method consists of dissecting hypotheses and going back to first principles in order to obtain valid knowledge” (République, 533c-533d). By presenting intelligent arguments, participants are able to break free from the limitations of the physical world and work together to understand true knowledge of forms. In discussing the importance of philosophy among the guardians, Plato says: "Even when the eye of the soul is plunged into the muddy abyss of barbarism, dialectic gently frees it and draws it upward, making appeal to the studies we recently reviewed to support his work. of conversion” (Republic, 533d). Here he emphasizes the power of dialectic. The barbarity to which he refers is the completely incomprehensible soul of one who is rooted in the material world. However, using one's intellect, through dialectic, the soul can rise from the false images of the physical world to understand the true forms and, ultimately, understand the Good. Plato's influence on St. Augustine begins to become even clearer as St. Augustine searches the Bible for deeper meanings. In Book 6, St. Augustine describes the Bible as having “clear language and simple style [which] make it accessible to all, and yet it absorbs the attention of scholars. By this means, she gathers all men into the vast field of her net.”.