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Particulars
of Christianity:
301
Roman Catholicism
Roman
Catholicism (Part 10)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 1)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 2)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 3)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 4)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 5)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 6)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 7)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 8)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 9)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 10)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 11)
Roman
Catholicism (Part 12)
Addendum:
In Their Own Words
(Continued from previous section.)
Ambrose was born in 339 A.D. and died in 397 A.D. In between,
he was the bishop of Milan and the mentor of Augustine of
Hippo.
"Ambrose, Saint - born AD 339, Augusta Treverorum,
Belgica, Gaul died 397, Milan; feast day December 7
Latin Ambrosius bishop of Milan, biblical critic, and initiator
of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of
church-state relations. His literary works have been acclaimed
as masterpieces of Latin eloquence, and his musical accomplishments
are remembered in his hymns. Ambrose is also remembered
as the teacher who converted and baptized St. Augustine of
Hippo, the great Christian theologian, and as a model
bishop who viewed the church as rising above the ruins of
the Roman Empire." -Britannica.com
Ambrose' influence on Church thinking is profound. Though
dwarfed by that of his pupil, it must be remembered that it
was Ambrose who influenced Augustine. Therefore, Ambrose influence
upon the Church is in no small measure through Augustine's
work.
"St. Ambrose - Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397; born
probably 340, at Trier, Arles, or Lyons; died 4 April, 397.
He was one of the most illustrious Fathers and Doctors
of the Church, and fitly chosen, together with St. Augustine,
St. John Chrysostom, and St. Athanasius, to uphold the venerable
Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of St.
Peter's at Rome." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"St. Ambrose - The special character and value of the
writings of St. Ambrose are at once tangible in the title
of Doctor of the Church, which from time immemorial he has
shared in the West with St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St.
Gregory. He is an official witness to the teaching of the
Catholic Church in his own time and in the preceding centuries.
As such his writings have been constantly invoked by popes,
councils and theologians; even in his own day it was felt
that few could voice so clearly the true sense of the Scriptures
and the teaching of the Church (St. Augustine, De doctrinâ
christ.,IV,46,48,50). Ambrose is pre-eminently the ecclesiastical
teacher, setting forth in a sound and edifying way, and with
conscientious regularity, the deposit of faith as made known
to him. He is not the philosophic scholar meditating in silence
and retirement on the truths of the Christian Faith, but the
strenuous administrator, bishop, and statesman, whose writings
are only the mature expression of his official life and labours.
Most of his writings are really homilies, spoken commentaries
on the Old and New Testaments, taken down by his hearers,
and afterwards reduced to their present form, though very
few of these discourses have reached us exactly as they fell
from the lips of the great bishop." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
One of Ambrose' chief contributions to Augustine was his own
affinity for Neoplatonic thought, in part seen in his partiality
for Origen's writings, which Ambrose used to supplement his
lack of theological training.
"St. Ambrose - In order to supply the lack of an
early theological training, he devoted himself assiduously
to the study of Scripture and the Fathers, with a marked preference
for Origen and St. Basil, traces of whose influence
are repeatedly met with in his works. With a genius truly
Roman, he, like Cicero, Virgil, and other classical authors,
contented himself with thoroughly digesting and casting into
a Latin mould the best fruits of Greek thought." - the
Catholic Encyclopedia
And like Origen, we see that Ambrose had a preference for
an allegorical and mystical interpretation of the scripture.
"St. Ambrose - He delights in the allegorico-mystical
interpretation of Scripture, i.e. while admitting the natural
or literal sense he seeks everywhere a deeper mystic meaning
that he converts into practical instruction for Christian
life. In this, says St. Jerome (Ep.xli) 'he was disciple
of Origen, but after the modifications in that master's
manner due to St. Hippolytus of Rome and St. Basil the Great.'"
- the Catholic Encyclopedia
The presence of Neoplatonic thought and allegorical scripture
interpretation embraced by Origen and Ambrose finds its greatest
expression in Augustine. As important as both of these men
were to later Christian theology the contributions of both
are dwarfed by those of their successor. Indeed, Augustine
enjoys an unparalleled appreciation from Roman Catholics and
Protestants alike for shaping post-4th century Christian theology.
Yet, though he is acknowledged by Protestant scholars, his
chief contributions are undeniably Roman Catholic, a fact,
which the RCC is proud to affirm.
"Augustine - born Nov. 13, 354, Tagaste, Numidia
[now Souk Ahras, Algeria] died Aug. 28, 430, Hippo Regius
[now Annaba, Algeria] also called Saint Augustine of Hippo,
original Latin name Aurelius Augustinus feast day August 28,
bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers
of the Church, one of the Doctors of the Church, and perhaps
the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine's
adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created
a theological system of great power and lasting influence.
His numerous written works, the most important of which are
Confessions and City of God, shaped the practice of biblical
exegesis and helped lay the foundation for much of medieval
and modern Christian thought." -Britannica.com
"Augustine - His distinctive theological style shaped
Latin Christianity in a way surpassed only by scripture itself.
His work continues to hold contemporary relevance, in part
because of his membership in a religious group that was dominant
in the West in his time and remains so today." -Britannica.com
"Augustine, Saint - St. Augustine's influence on
Christianity is thought by many to be second only to that
of St. Paul, and theologians, both Roman Catholic and Protestant,
look upon him as one of the founders of Western theology.
His Confessions is considered a classic of Christian autobiography.
This work (c.400), the prime source for St. Augustine's
life, is a beautifully written apology for the Christian
convert. Next to it his best-known work is the City of
God (after 412)-a mammoth defense of Christianity against
its pagan critics, and famous especially for the uniquely
Christian view of history elaborated in its pages." - The
Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - St. Augustine
of Hippo (354-430) is "a philosophical and theological
genius of the first order, dominating, like a pyramid,
antiquity and the succeeding ages. Compared with the great
philosophers of past centuries and modern times, he is the
equal of them all; among theologians he is undeniably the
first, and such has been his influence that none of
the Fathers, Scholastics, or Reformers has surpassed it."
- the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - If Augustine
occupies a place apart in the history of humanity, it is as
a thinker, his influence being felt even outside the realm
of theology, and playing a most potent part in the orientation
of Western thought. It is now universally conceded that, in
the intellectual field, this influence is unrivalled even
by that of Thomas Aquinas, and Augustine's teaching marks
a distinct epoch in the history of Christian thought.
The better to emphasize this important fact we shall try to
determine: (1) the rank and degree of influence that must
be ascribed to Augustine; (2) the nature, or the elements,
of his doctrinal influence; (3) the general qualities of his
doctrine; and (4) the character of his genius." - the Catholic
Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - It is first of
all a remarkable fact that the great critics, Protestant
as well as Catholic, are almost unanimous in placing St. Augustine
in the foremost rank of Doctors and proclaiming him to be
the greatest of the Fathers. Such, indeed, was also the opinion
of his contemporaries, judging from their expressions
of enthusiasm gathered by the Bollandists. The popes attributed
such exceptional authority to the Doctor of Hippo that,
even of late years, it has given rise to lively theological
controversies. Peter the Venerable accurately summarized the
general sentiment of the Middle Ages when he ranked Augustine
immediately after the Apostles; and in modern times
Bossuet, whose genius was most like that of Augustine,
assigns him the first place among the Doctors, nor does
he simply call him 'the incomparable Augustine,' but 'the
Eagle of Doctors,' 'the Doctor of Doctors.' If the Jansenistic
abuse of his works and perhaps the exaggerations of certain
Catholics, as well as the attack of Richard Simon, seem to
have alarmed some minds, the general opinion has not varied.
In the nineteenth century Stöckl expressed the thought
of all when he said, 'Augustine has justly been called the
greatest Doctor of the Catholic world.'" - the Catholic
Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - Luther and Calvin
were content to treat Augustine with a little less irreverence
than they did the other Fathers, but their descendants
do him full justice, although recognizing him as the Father
of Roman Catholicism." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - In his "History
of the Church" Dr. Kurtz calls Augustine 'the greatest,
the most powerful of all the Fathers, him from whom proceeds
all the doctrinal and ecclesiastical development of the West,
and to whom each recurring crisis, each new orientation of
thought brings it back.'" - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - The English Miter,
W. Cunningham, is no less appreciative of the extent and perpetuity
of this extraordinary influence: "The whole life of the
medieval Church was framed on lines which he has suggested:
its religious orders claimed him as their patron; its mystics
found a sympathetic tone in his teaching; its polity was to
some extent the actualization of his picture of the Christian
Church; it was in its various parts a carrying out of ideas
which he cherished and diffused. Nor does his influence end
with the decline of medievalism: we shall see presently
how closely his language was akin to that of Descartes, who
gave the first impulse to and defined the special character
of modern philosophy." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - But Adolf Harnack
is the one who has oftenest emphasized the unique rôle of
the Doctor of Hippo. He has studied Augustine's place in the
history of the world as reformer of Christian piety and his
influence as Doctor of the Church. In his study of the "Confessions"
he comes back to it: 'No man since Paul is comparable to
him' -- with the exception of Luther, he adds. - 'Even
today we live by Augustine, by his thought and his spirit;
it is said that we are the sons of the Renaissance and
the Reformation, but both one and the other depend upon him.'"
- the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - Augustine
stands forth, too, as the great inspirer of religious thought
in subsequent ages. A whole volume would not be sufficient
to contain the full account of his influence on posterity;
here we shall merely call attention to its principal manifestations.
It is, in the first place, a fact of paramount importance
that, with St. Augustine, the centre of dogmatic and theological
development changed from East to West. Hence, from this
view-point again, he makes an epoch in the history of dogma.
The critics maintain that up to his time the most powerful
influence was exerted by the Greek Church, the East having
been the classic land of theology, the great workshop for
the elaboration of dogma. From the time of Augustine, the
predominating influence seems to emanate from the West,
and the practical, realistic spirit of the Latin race supplants
the speculative and idealistic spirit of Greece and the East.
Another fact, no less salient, is that it was the Doctor of
Hippo who, in the bosom of the Church, inspired the two
seemingly antagonistic movements, Scholasticism and Mysticism.
From Gregory the Great to the Fathers of Trent, Augustine's
theological authority, indisputably the highest, dominates
all thinkers and is appealed to alike by the Scholastics
Anselm, Peter Lombard, and Thomas Aquinas, and by Bernard,
Hugh of St. Victor, and Tauler, exponents of Mysticism,
all of whom were nourished upon his writings and penetrated
with his spirit." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - Lastly, Augustine's
doctrine bears an eminently Catholic stamp and is radically
opposed to Protestantism. It is important to establish this
fact, principally because of the change in the attitude of
Protestant critics towards St. Augustine. Indeed, nothing
is more deserving of attention than this development so highly
creditable to the impartiality of modern writers. The thesis
of the Protestants of olden times is well known. Attempts
to monopolize Augustine and to make him an ante-Reformation
reformer, were certainly not wanting. Of course Luther
had to admit that he did not find in Augustine justification
by faith alone, that generating principle of all Protestantism."
- the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - In the last thirty
or forty years all has been changed, and the best Protestant
critics now vie with one another in proclaiming the essentially
Catholic character of Augustinian doctrine. In fact they
go to extremes when they claim him to be the founder of Catholicism.
It is thus that H. Reuter concludes his very important studies
on the Doctor of Hippo: 'I consider Augustine the founder
of Roman Catholicism in the West'....This is no new discovery,
as Kattenbusch seems to believe, but a truth long since recognized
by Neander, Julius Köstlin, Dorner, Schmidt,...etc..." - the
Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - No one, however,
has put this idea in a stronger light than Harnack. Quite
recently, in his 14th lesson on 'The Essence of Christianity,'
he characterized the Roman Church by three elements, the
third of which is Augustinism, the thought and the piety of
St. Augustine. 'In fact Augustine has exerted over the whole
inner life of the Church, religious life and religious thought,
an absolutely decisive influence.' And again he says,
'In the fifth century, at the hour when the Church inherited
the Roman Empire, she had within her a man of extraordinarily
deep and powerful genius: from him she took her ideas,
and to this present hour she has been unable to break away
from them.' In his 'History of Dogma' (English tr., V,
234, 235) the same critic dwells at length upon the features
of what he calls the 'popular Catholicism' to which Augustine
belongs. These features are (a) the Church as a hierarchical
institution with doctrinal authority; (b) eternal life
by merits, and disregard of the Protestant thesis of 'salvation
by faith' -- that is, salvation by that firm confidence in
God which the certainty of pardon produces (c) the forgiveness
of sins -- in the Church and the Church; (d) the distinction
between commands and counsel -- between grievous sine and
venial sins -- the scale of wicked men and good men -- the
various degrees of happiness in heaven according to one's
deserts; (e) Augustine is accused of "outdoing the superstitious
ideas" of this popular Catholicism -- the infinite value of
Christ's satisfaction, salvation considered as enjoyment of
God in heaven -- the mysterious efficacy of the sacraments
(ex opere operato) -- Mary's virginity even in childbirth
-- the idea of her purity and her conception, unique in their
kind." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
In 387 A.D., Augustine was baptized by Ambrose as a Christian.
We might also say he was baptized into Neoplatonism by Ambrose
as well.
"Augustine - But when Augustine accepted baptism
at the hands of Ambrose in 387, thereby joining the religion
of his mother to the cultural practices of his father, he
managed to make it a Christianity of his own. To some
extent influenced by Ambrose (but few others influenced by
Ambrose went in the same direction), Augustine made his
Christianity into a rival to and replacement for the austerity
of ancient philosophers. Reading Platonic texts and correctly
understanding some of their doctrine, Augustine decided for
himself that Christianity was possible only if he went further
than any churchman said he was required to go-he chose
to remain celibate even though he was a layman and under no
requirement to do so. His life with a succession of lovers
ended, Augustine accepted sexual abstinence as the price of
religion. After a long winter in retirement from the temptations
of the city, he presented himself to Ambrose for baptism,
then slipped away from Milan to pursue a singularly private
life for the next four years." -Britannica.com
The following quotes all attest to Augustine's pervasive Neoplatonic
influence. We apologize for the length of these quotes, but
given his significance to the formation of Roman Catholic
theology (and consequently some of modern Protestant theology
as well), we thought it best to overwhelm the reader with
evidence of his embrace of pagan mystical thought.
"Augustine - Intellectually, Augustine represents
the most influential adaptation of the ancient Platonic tradition
with Christian ideas that ever occurred in the Latin Christian
world. Augustine received the Platonic past in a far more
limited and diluted way than did many of his Greek-speaking
contemporaries, but his writings were so widely read and imitated
throughout Latin Christendom that his particular synthesis
of Christian, Roman, and Platonic traditions defined the terms
for much later tradition and debate. Both modern Roman Catholic
and Protestant Christianity owe much to Augustine, though
in some ways each community has at times been embarrassed
to own up to that allegiance in the face of irreconcilable
elements in his thought. For example, Augustine has been cited
as both a champion of human freedom and an articulate defender
of divine predestination, and his views on sexuality were
humane in intent but have often been received as oppressive
in effect." -Britannica.com
"Augustine - Between those two points the narrative
of sin and redemption holds most readers' attention. Those
who seek to find in it the memoirs of a great sinner are invariably
disappointed, indeed often puzzled at the minutiae of failure
that preoccupy the author. Of greater significance is the
account of redemption. Augustine is especially influenced
by the powerful intellectual preaching of the suave and diplomatic
Bishop Ambrose, who reconciles for him the attractions of
the intellectual and social culture of antiquity, in which
Augustine was brought up and of which he was a master, and
the spiritual teachings of Christianity. The link between
the two was Ambrose's exposition, and Augustine's reception,
of a selection of the doctrines of Plato, as mediated in late
antiquity by the school of Neoplatonism. Augustine heard
Ambrose and read, in Latin translation, some of the exceedingly
difficult works of Plotinus and Porphyry; he acquired from
them an intellectual vision of the fall and rise of the soul
of man, a vision he found confirmed in the reading of the
Bible proposed by Ambrose." -Britannica.com
"Augustine, Saint- His years at Milan were the critical
period of his life. Already distrustful of Manichaeism,
he came to renounce it after a deep study of Neoplatonism
and skepticism. Augustine, troubled in spirit, was greatly
drawn by the eloquent fervor of St. Ambrose, bishop of
Milan. After two years of great doubt and mental disquietude,
Augustine suddenly decided to embrace Christianity. He
was baptized on Easter in 387. Soon afterward he returned
to Tagaste, where he lived a monastic life with a group
of friends. In 391, while he was visiting in Hippo, he was
chosen against his will to be a Christian priest there. For
the rest of his life he remained in Hippo, where he became
auxiliary bishop in 395 and bishop soon after. He died in
the course of the siege of Hippo by the Vandals. Feast: Aug.
28." - The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"Life of St. Augustine of Hippo - Having visited
Bishop Ambrose, the fascination of that saint's kindness induced
him to become a regular attendant at his preachings. However,
before embracing the Faith, Augustine underwent a three
years' struggle during which his mind passed through several
distinct phases. At first he turned towards the philosophy
of the Academics, with its pessimistic scepticism; then neo-Platonic
philosophy inspired him with genuine enthusiasm. At Milan
he had scarcely read certain works of Plato and, more especially,
of Plotinus, before the hope of finding the truth dawned upon
him. Once more he began to dream that he and his friends
might lead a life dedicated to the search for it, a life purged
of all vulgar aspirations after honours, wealth, or pleasure,
and with celibacy for its rule (Confessions, VI). But it was
only a dream; his passions still enslaved him." - the Catholic
Encyclopedia
"Life of St. Augustine of Hippo - Augustine gradually
became acquainted with Christian doctrine, and in his mind
the fusion of Platonic philosophy with revealed dogmas was
taking place." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Life of St. Augustine of Hippo - It is now easy
to appreciate at its true value the influence of neo-Platonism
upon the mind of the great African Doctor. It would be impossible
for anyone who has read the works of St. Augustine to deny
the existence of this influence. However, it would be
a great exaggeration of this influence to pretend that it
at any time sacrificed the Gospel to Plato. The same learned
critic thus wisely concludes his study: "So long, therefore,
as his philosophy agrees with his religious doctrines, St.
Augustine is frankly neo-Platonist; as soon as a contradiction
arises, he never hesitates to subordinate his philosophy to
religion, reason to faith. He was, first of all, a Christian;
the philosophical questions that occupied his mind constantly
found themselves more and more relegated to the background"
(op. cit., 155). But the method was a dangerous one; in
thus seeking harmony between the two doctrines he thought
too easily to find Christianity in Plato, or Platonism in
the Gospel. More than once, in his "Retractations" and elsewhere,
he acknowledges that he has not always shunned this danger.
Thus he had imagined that in Platonism he discovered the entire
doctrine of the Word and the whole prologue of St. John.
He likewise disavowed a good number of neo-Platonic theories
which had at first misled him - the cosmological thesis of
the universal soul, which makes the world one immense animal
- the Platonic doubts upon that grave question: Is there a
single soul for all or a distinct soul for each? But on the
other hand, he had always reproached the Platonists,
as Schaff very properly remarks (Saint Augustine, New York,
1886, p. 51), with being ignorant of, or rejecting, the
fundamental points of Christianity: "first, the great mystery,
the Word made flesh; and then love, resting on the basis
of humility." They also ignore grace, he says, giving sublime
precepts of morality without any help towards realizing them."
- the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Works of St. Augustine of Hippo - Philosophy
These writings, for the most part composed in the villa of
Cassisiacum, from his conversion to his baptism (388-387),
continue the autobiography of the saint by initiating us into
the researches and Platonic hesitations of his mind. There
is less freedom in them than in the Confessions. They are
literary essays, writings whose simplicity is the acme of
art and elegance. Nowhere is the style of Augustine so chastened,
nowhere is his language so pure. Their dialogue form shows
that they were inspired by Plato and Cicero. The chief
ones are: Contra Academicos (the most important of all); De
Beatâ Vitâ; De Ordine; the two books of Soliloquies, which
must be distinguished from the "Soliloquies" and "Meditations"
which are certainly not authentic; De Immortalitate animĉ;
De Magistro (a dialogue between Augustine and his son Adeodatus);
and six curious books (the sixth especially) on Music." -
the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - (2) Nature and
different aspects of his doctrinal influence This influence
is so varied and so complex that it is difficult to consider
under all its different aspects. First of all, in his
writings the great bishop collects and condenses the intellectual
treasures of the old world and transmits them to the new.
Harnack goes so far as to say: "It would seem that the miserable
existence of the Roman empire in the West was prolonged until
then, only to permit Augustine's influence to be exercised
on universal history." It was in order to fulfil this enormous
task that Providence brought him into contact with the three
worlds whose thought he was to transmit: with the Roman and
Latin world in the midst of which he lived, with the Oriental
world partially revealed to him through the study of Manichĉism,
and with the Greek world shown to him by the Platonists.
In philosophy he was initiated into the whole content and
all the subtilties of the various schools, without, however,
giving his allegiance to any one of them. In theology it was
he who acquainted the Latin Church with the great dogmatic
work accomplished in the East during the fourth century and
at the beginning of the fifth; he popularized the results
of it by giving them the more exact and precise form of the
Latin genius." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - Augustine
stands forth, too, as the great inspirer of religious thought
in subsequent ages. A whole volume would not be sufficient
to contain the full account of his influence on posterity;
here we shall merely call attention to its principal manifestations.
It is, in the first place, a fact of paramount importance
that, with St. Augustine, the centre of dogmatic and theological
development changed from East to West. Hence, from this
view-point again, he makes an epoch in the history of dogma.
The critics maintain that up to his time the most powerful
influence was exerted by the Greek Church, the East having
been the classic land of theology, the great workshop for
the elaboration of dogma. From the time of Augustine, the
predominating influence seems to emanate from the West,
and the practical, realistic spirit of the Latin race supplants
the speculative and idealistic spirit of Greece and the East.
Another fact, no less salient, is that it was the Doctor of
Hippo who, in the bosom of the Church, inspired the two
seemingly antagonistic movements, Scholasticism and Mysticism.
From Gregory the Great to the Fathers of Trent, Augustine's
theological authority, indisputably the highest, dominates
all thinkers and is appealed to alike by the Scholastics
Anselm, Peter Lombard, and Thomas Aquinas, and by Bernard,
Hugh of St. Victor, and Tauler, exponents of Mysticism,
all of whom were nourished upon his writings and penetrated
with his spirit." - the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo - Augustine
seeks the living truth, and even when he is combating certain
Platonic ideas he is of the family of Plato, not of Aristotle.
He belongs indisputably to all ages because he is in touch
with all souls, but he is preeminently modern because his
doctrine is not the cold light of the School; he is living
and penetrated with personal sentiment. Religion is not
a simple theory, Christianity is not a series of dogmas; It
Is also a life, as they say nowadays, or, more accurately,
a source of life. However, let us not be deceived. Augustine
is not a sentimentalist, a pure mystic, and heart alone
does not account for his power. If in him the hard, cold intellectuality
of the metaphysician gives place to an impassioned vision
of truth, that truth is the basis of it all. He never knew
the vaporous mysticism of our day, that allows itself
to be lulled by a vague, aimless sentimentalism. His emotion
is deep, true, engrossing, precisely because it is born of
a strong, secure, accurate dogmatism that wishes to know what
it loves and why it loves. Christianity is life, but life
in the eternal, unchangeable truth." - the Catholic
Encyclopedia
Like Origen and Ambrose before him, Augustine not only blended
Christianity and Neoplatonic paganism, but he also set the
bar for mystical and allegorical interpretation of the scriptures,
firmly removing the Church from the grammatical-historical
method employed by the Apostles and their disciples through
the first two centuries of Church history.
"Works of St. Augustine of Hippo - The most remarkable
of his Biblical works illustrate either a theory of exegesis
(one generally approved) which delights in finding
mystical or allegorical interpretations, or the style
of preaching which is founded on that view. His strictly exegetical
work is far from equalling in scientific value that of St.
Jerome. His knowledge of the Biblical languages was insufficient:
he read Greek with difficulty; as for Hebrew, all that
we can gather from the studies of Schanz and Rottmanner is
that he was familiar with Punic, a language allied to Hebrew.
Moreover, the two grand qualities of his genius -- ardent
feeling and prodigious subtlety -- carried him sway into interpretations
that were violent or more ingenious than solid." - the
Catholic Encyclopedia
It is Augustine's allegorical approach to the interpretation
of scripture that is in no small part responsible for the
deviation of Roman Catholic teachings from those expressed
in the New Testament and in the orthodox Church writings of
the first three centuries. Chief among these is Roman Catholic
eschatology, which embodies the Amillennialist position. Whereas
the early Church understood that Jesus would return to physically
rule the earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years, the 4th century
Romanization of the Church discarded this Apostolic Tradition
and instead spiritualizes the meaning of the scripture to
arrive at the idea that Jesus rules from heaven through the
Roman bishop on earth for some ambiguous or long period of
time.
(For more on the subject of the eschatology of the early Church
and Amillennialism please visit the
Chiliasm/Progressive Dispensation articles in the Doctrinal
Studies section of the PFRS website.
In conclusion, our examination of Origen, Ambrose, and Augustine
has provided further evidence that Roman Catholic deviations
from the Apostolic Traditions of early Christianity is not
limited to mere organizational departures and Roman imperial
paganism, but also includes Neoplatonic thought and a turning
toward allegorical and mystical methods for interpreting the
scripture. Additional evidence for this conclusion comes by
way of Eusebius of Caesarea.
(Continued in next section.)
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