The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter VI Saint Benedict and Gregory the Great
In the chaos of the wars in the sixth and succeeding centuries it was the Church that preserved what was left of the Roman culture.
Monasticism began in Egypt and Syria in the fourth centuries. St. Anthony, the first of the hermits was born in Egypt in 250 AD. His rigorous asceticism was popular and attracted many copycats.
Monasticism sprang up in Syria around the same time and the Greek speaking world saw monastic organizations flourish because of St. Basil (circa 360 AD).
Monasticism began outside of the Church hierarchy and the work of St. Athanasius was what reconciled the clergy to the monks. St. Jerome promoted the movement and St. Augustine introduced it to Africa. St Martin of Tours set it up in Gaul and St. Patrick set everything up in Ireland. St. Columba founded the monastery of Iona in 566.
"There seem to have been nuns before there were monks - as early as the middle of the third century. Some shut themselves up in tombs" (Russell, 377).
The Western tradition of monasticism owes much to St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order. In 520 AD he founded the monastery at Monte Cassino. Benedict brought order to the ascetic way of life.
Benedict died in 543 and his monastery was sacked by the Lombards, but afterwards the monks returned and Monte Cassino became a place of scholarship that greatly aided the West in later years.
Benedict has been described as a miracle worker and that he wounded his body so he could cure the wounds of his soul.
"His fame being spread abroad, the monks of a certain monastery, whose abbot had lately died,
besought him to accept the succession. He did so, and insisted upon observance of strict virtue, so
that the monks, in a rage, decided to poison him with a glass of poisoned wine. He, however,
made the sign of the cross over the glass, whereupon it broke in pieces. So he returned to the
wilderness" (Russell, 379).
Benedict also faced an assassination attempt from a wicked priest. When the poisoned loaf he sent to Benedict was taken away by a crow at Benedict's command the priest sent seven naked women to tempt Benedict. For fear of the temptation being too much for the younger monks Benedict left the monastery. When news that the wicked priest had died a jubilant young monk went and told Benedict the news and said it was safe to come back. Benedict went back but mourned for the dead priest and imposed a penance on the monk who had gleefully related the news.
Gregory the Great, the powerful pope was born in Rome around 540 to a rich, noble family. After a bright start to a political career Gregory turned himself over to God and became a Benedictine monk.
"Gregory, owing partly to his personal qualities and partly to the prevailing anarchy, was able to assert successfully an authority which was admitted by ecclesiastics throughout the West, and even, to a lesser degree, in the East. He exerted this authority chiefly by means of letters to bishops and secular rulers in all parts of the Roman world" (Russell, 382).
Gregory also wrote Book of Pastoral Rule that gave practical advice to Bishops and elevated the papacy to authority and the church in authority over the state.
Gregory was hostile to secular learning and the Church retained that hostility until the 11th century under Pope Sylvester II.
Gregory wrote many letters that show him stern with both secular authorities and other bishops. However, he was much more deferential when dealing with the Emperor, even in dealing with Phocas who murdered his way to power in a brutal way.
Missionary work was crucial at the time of Gregory and much of the barbarian population of the West either converted from paganism or from Arian Christianity during the time. Gregory was particularly concerned with re-Christianizing England that had been nominally Christian under the empire but was lately overrun by pagan Angles and Saxons.
"The period we have been considering is peculiar in the fact that, though its great men are inferior
to those of many other epochs, their influence on future ages has been greater. Roman law,
monasticism, and the papacy owe their long and profound influence very largely to Justinian,
Benedict, and Gregory. The men of the sixth century, though less civilized than their predecessors,
were much more civilized than the men of the next four centuries, and they succeeded in framing
institutions that ultimately tamed the barbarians. It is noteworthy that, of the above three men, two
were aristocratic natives of Rome, and the third was Roman Emperor. Gregory is in a very real
sense the last of the Romans. His tone of command, while justified by his office, has its instinctive
basis in Roman aristocratic pride. After him, for many ages, the city of Rome ceased to produce
great men. But in its downfall it succeeded in fettering the souls of its conquerors: the reverence
which they felt for the Chair of Peter was an outcome of the awe which they felt for the throne of
the Caesars.
In the East, the course of history was different. Mahomet was born when Gregory was about thirty
years old." (Russell, 387).
Showing posts with label Jerome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jerome. Show all posts
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Three Doctors of the Church
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter III: Three Doctors of the Church
There are four Doctors of the Western Church: St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine and Pope Gregory the Great. The first three were contemporaries while Pope Gregory belonged to a later date.
Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome flourished during the brief interval between the Catholic domination of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasion of the West. These three men shaped the mold into which the Church was built for the Middle Ages more than anybody. "Speaking broadly, Saint
Ambrose determined the ecclesiastical conception of the relation of Church and State; Saint
Jerome gave the Western Church its Latin Bible and a great part of the impetus to monasticism;
while Saint Augustine fixed the theology of the Church until the Reformation, and, later, a great
part of the doctrines of Luther and Calvin" (Russell, 335).
Ambrose rose to power inside the Church by becoming somewhat of a surprise victor in the election to bishop at Milan, then the capital of the West. He acted as equal, sometimes superior to the Emperor, setting a precedent.
Ambrose wrote a letter to the young Emperor Valentinian II in A.D. 384 denouncing the idea of returning a pagan statue to the Roman Senate building. In the letter he showed that the religious considerations supersede the temporal ones.
Again Ambrose battled with the State this time refusing to give one of the churches of Milan to the Arians for use. Backed by the people, Ambrose emerged victorious. "Ambrose had demonstrated that there were matters in which the State must yield to the Church, and had thereby established a new principle which retains its importance to the present day" (Russell, 339).
Ambrose famously battled with Theodosius and won out. Again showing the power of the Emperor to be subservient to the power of the Church.
Jerome is most famous for producing the Latin Vulgate which though eventually accepted as authoritative had to initially fight against reluctance because of the work of Rabbis on the text.
Jerome was born in Stridon, near Aquileia and lived in Rome, lived as a hermit in the Syrian wilderness, traveled to Constantinople and returned to Rome where he began to work on his translation of the Bible.
Jerome found himself in quarrels often and left Rome in 386 to live in Bethlehem until his death in 420. Despite his exile away from Rome, he mourned the dying of the Roman world at the hands of the barbarians.
Augustine was born in 354 to a Christian mother and pagan father in Africa.
We know more about Augustine's early life than most others because of his Confessions. The book has had famous imitators, especially Rousseau and Tolstoy.
"Saint Augustine is in some ways similar to Tolstoy, to whom, however, he is superior in intellect. He was a passionate man, in youth very far from a pattern of virtue, but driven by an inner impulse to search for truth and righteousness. Like Tolstoy, he was obsessed, in his later years, by a sense of sin, which made his life stern and his philosophy inhuman. He combated heresies vigorously, but some of his own views, when repeated by Jansenius in the seventeenth century, were pronounced heretical. Until the Protestants took up his opinions, however, the Catholic Church had never impugned their
orthodoxy" (Russell, 345).
Augustine's obsession with sin seems morbid in modern readings, but was in line with what was seen as holiness in his age. Besides that he held that righteousness, the greatest of goods, was achieved through tribulation now that sin was in the world.
"It thus came about that Christian theology had two parts, one concerned with the Church, and one with the individual soul. In later times, the first of these was most emphasized by Catholics, and the second by Protestants, but in Saint Augustine both exist equally, without his having any sense of
disharmony. Those who are saved are those whom God has predestined to salvation; this is a
direct relation of the soul to God. But no one will be saved unless he has been baptized, and
thereby become a member of the Church; this makes the Church an intermediary between the soul
and God" (Russell, 346).
Augustine became a teacher of Rhetoric in Carthage then moved to Rome. With his move he became less convinced of the Manichean faith he had been originally attracted to. He became somewhat infatuated with the Skepticism of the Academy before meeting Ambrose in his move to Milan. It was at Milan with the confluence of his mother, a devout Catholic, Ambrose, the discovery of St. Paul and seeing the not-quite-there totality in Platonism that Augustine finally converts.
Bertrand Russell
Chapter III: Three Doctors of the Church
There are four Doctors of the Western Church: St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine and Pope Gregory the Great. The first three were contemporaries while Pope Gregory belonged to a later date.
Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome flourished during the brief interval between the Catholic domination of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasion of the West. These three men shaped the mold into which the Church was built for the Middle Ages more than anybody. "Speaking broadly, Saint
Ambrose determined the ecclesiastical conception of the relation of Church and State; Saint
Jerome gave the Western Church its Latin Bible and a great part of the impetus to monasticism;
while Saint Augustine fixed the theology of the Church until the Reformation, and, later, a great
part of the doctrines of Luther and Calvin" (Russell, 335).
Ambrose rose to power inside the Church by becoming somewhat of a surprise victor in the election to bishop at Milan, then the capital of the West. He acted as equal, sometimes superior to the Emperor, setting a precedent.
Ambrose wrote a letter to the young Emperor Valentinian II in A.D. 384 denouncing the idea of returning a pagan statue to the Roman Senate building. In the letter he showed that the religious considerations supersede the temporal ones.
Again Ambrose battled with the State this time refusing to give one of the churches of Milan to the Arians for use. Backed by the people, Ambrose emerged victorious. "Ambrose had demonstrated that there were matters in which the State must yield to the Church, and had thereby established a new principle which retains its importance to the present day" (Russell, 339).
Ambrose famously battled with Theodosius and won out. Again showing the power of the Emperor to be subservient to the power of the Church.
Jerome is most famous for producing the Latin Vulgate which though eventually accepted as authoritative had to initially fight against reluctance because of the work of Rabbis on the text.
Jerome was born in Stridon, near Aquileia and lived in Rome, lived as a hermit in the Syrian wilderness, traveled to Constantinople and returned to Rome where he began to work on his translation of the Bible.
Jerome found himself in quarrels often and left Rome in 386 to live in Bethlehem until his death in 420. Despite his exile away from Rome, he mourned the dying of the Roman world at the hands of the barbarians.
Augustine was born in 354 to a Christian mother and pagan father in Africa.
We know more about Augustine's early life than most others because of his Confessions. The book has had famous imitators, especially Rousseau and Tolstoy.
"Saint Augustine is in some ways similar to Tolstoy, to whom, however, he is superior in intellect. He was a passionate man, in youth very far from a pattern of virtue, but driven by an inner impulse to search for truth and righteousness. Like Tolstoy, he was obsessed, in his later years, by a sense of sin, which made his life stern and his philosophy inhuman. He combated heresies vigorously, but some of his own views, when repeated by Jansenius in the seventeenth century, were pronounced heretical. Until the Protestants took up his opinions, however, the Catholic Church had never impugned their
orthodoxy" (Russell, 345).
Augustine's obsession with sin seems morbid in modern readings, but was in line with what was seen as holiness in his age. Besides that he held that righteousness, the greatest of goods, was achieved through tribulation now that sin was in the world.
"It thus came about that Christian theology had two parts, one concerned with the Church, and one with the individual soul. In later times, the first of these was most emphasized by Catholics, and the second by Protestants, but in Saint Augustine both exist equally, without his having any sense of
disharmony. Those who are saved are those whom God has predestined to salvation; this is a
direct relation of the soul to God. But no one will be saved unless he has been baptized, and
thereby become a member of the Church; this makes the Church an intermediary between the soul
and God" (Russell, 346).
Augustine became a teacher of Rhetoric in Carthage then moved to Rome. With his move he became less convinced of the Manichean faith he had been originally attracted to. He became somewhat infatuated with the Skepticism of the Academy before meeting Ambrose in his move to Milan. It was at Milan with the confluence of his mother, a devout Catholic, Ambrose, the discovery of St. Paul and seeing the not-quite-there totality in Platonism that Augustine finally converts.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
St. Benedict and Gregory the Great (A)
(Originally written July 22, 2006 in Book 5)
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter VI - St. Benedict and Gregory the Great
The monastic movement, the rise of the papacy, and the conversion of the Barbarians were the greatest achievements of the Church in the 6th and succeeding centuries.
Monasticism was began in both Egypt and Syria simultaneously in the 4th century.
Monasticism initially had two forms:
1) Hermitage (solitary)
2) Monasteries (communal)
The communal form is what conquered the Christian world.
Syrian monks were more ascetic than others.
St. Basil (360 AD) introduced monasticism in Greek-speaking nations.
St. Athanasius brought the Church and monasticism together.
St. Jerome promoted monasticism. Augustine introduced it to Africa. St. Martin of Tours introduced it to Gaul. St. Patrick introduced it to Ireland.
Monasticism initially caused disorder in the Church.
St. Benedict was the founder of the Benedictine Order and the Benedictine Rule. He was born in 480 to a noble family and founded Monte Cassino in 520. Benedict stabilized monasticism and created order.
Pope Gregory the Great was a Benedictine and wrote about St. Benedict.
Gregory was born in 540 into a rich and noble Roman family. He became prefect of Rome in 573 but turned to religion.
He went to Constantinople from 579-585 as a Papal official in the Eastern Empire's imperial court. Gregory became Pope in 590 and faced political turmoil, ecclesiastical turmoil (simony and corrupt bishops) Arianism, and a reversion of England back to Paganism.
As Pope Gregory consolidated and asserted dominance to the Pontiff.
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter VI - St. Benedict and Gregory the Great
The monastic movement, the rise of the papacy, and the conversion of the Barbarians were the greatest achievements of the Church in the 6th and succeeding centuries.
Monasticism was began in both Egypt and Syria simultaneously in the 4th century.
Monasticism initially had two forms:
1) Hermitage (solitary)
2) Monasteries (communal)
The communal form is what conquered the Christian world.
Syrian monks were more ascetic than others.
St. Basil (360 AD) introduced monasticism in Greek-speaking nations.
St. Athanasius brought the Church and monasticism together.
St. Jerome promoted monasticism. Augustine introduced it to Africa. St. Martin of Tours introduced it to Gaul. St. Patrick introduced it to Ireland.
Monasticism initially caused disorder in the Church.
St. Benedict was the founder of the Benedictine Order and the Benedictine Rule. He was born in 480 to a noble family and founded Monte Cassino in 520. Benedict stabilized monasticism and created order.
Pope Gregory the Great was a Benedictine and wrote about St. Benedict.
Gregory was born in 540 into a rich and noble Roman family. He became prefect of Rome in 573 but turned to religion.
He went to Constantinople from 579-585 as a Papal official in the Eastern Empire's imperial court. Gregory became Pope in 590 and faced political turmoil, ecclesiastical turmoil (simony and corrupt bishops) Arianism, and a reversion of England back to Paganism.
As Pope Gregory consolidated and asserted dominance to the Pontiff.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Three Doctors of the Church
(Originally Written July 16, 2006 in Book 5)
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter III - Three Doctors of the Church
By the way I am watching "Take Home Defensive Driving". Rest of all it cost $40 bucks. Ridiculous. Secondly, it is four hours long. Absurd. Thirdly, it is immensely boring. Irritating.
There are four men regarded as Doctors of the Western Church. (I believe there are a number who have been added since Russell wrote this).
1) St. Ambrose
2) St. Jerome
3) St. Augustine
4) Pope Gregory the Great
"Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine all flourished during the brief period between the victory of the Catholic Church in the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasion" (Russell, 334).
The Barbarian invasions stunted intellectual growth and men of this caliber were not produced for another thousand years.
They, more than any other men molded the Church in how it would be shaped.
Ambrose determined the Church as being dominant to the State. Jerome produced the Latin Vulgate and made great strides in monasticism. Augustine laid the foundation of theology until the reformation and was widely used by both Luther and Calvin.
Ambrose's establishment as the Church being independent of the State was not challenged (philosophically) until Hobbes. It was revolutionary. The capital of the Western Empire at the end of the fourth century was Milan. Ambrose was the bishop of Milan.
His duties brought him into contact with the emperors frequently. He always treated them at least as equals, sometimes as subordinates.
At his time the State was "feeble, incompetent, governed by unprincipled self-seekers, and totally without any policy beyond that of momentary expedients. Contrarily, the Church was vigorous, able, guided by men prepared to sacrifice everything personal in its interests, and with a policy so far-sighted that it brought victory for the next thousand years" (Russell, 335).
Ambrose had every opportunity to become a powerful political figure.
Ambrose was born at Augusta Treverorum to a prefect of the Guals. At thirteen he went to Rome, was educated and learned a strong grounding in Greek. The young adult Ambrose took to law and was successful.
At 30 he became the governor of Liguria and Æmilia. At 34 he turned away from the secular government and became bishop of Milan. He gave all his wealth to the poor and served the Church the rest of his life, sometimes in the face of peril.
All three Doctors of this period, Jerome, Augustine and Ambrose wrote innumerable letters, many of which have survived. For this reason we know them better than any pagan philosopher or ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages.
Jerome wrote mostly to women, instructing them on how to maintain their virginity. Augustine wrote letters to everyone, mostly on doctrine or Church discipline. Ambrose wrote most interesting letters to emperors, chastising them when they failed in their duties and praising them when they fulfilled them.
The first public matter Ambrose dealt with was the altar and stature to Victory in Rome. It was a pagan icon removed by Constantinius (son of Constantine) reinstated by Julian the Apostate and then removed again by Emperor Gratian. Paganism lasted longer in the Senate than elsewhere in Rome. After Gratian's death a senator named Symmachus (a pagan) fought to bring it back. In 384 he became the prefect of Rome. When Symmachus sought to have the new Emperor Valentian II put it back, Ambrose wrote the boy king. He wrote "Let no one take advantage of your youth" and put for the thesis that "as all Romans owed military service to their sovereign, so he (the Emperor) owed service to the Almighty God" (Russell, 337). In addition to flattery, Ambrose threatened the young emperor with not being able to see a priest in Church or receiving a hostile greeting from a priest. Ambrose won the argument. But a usurper of Valentian II, Eugenics (a pagan) restored the idol. In 394 Emperor Theodosius defeated Eugenics and removed the altar.
Initially Ambrose had favor in the imperial court. But when the mother of Valentian II, Empress Justina (an Arian) asked for an Arian church in Milan, the Catholic Ambrose refused. The Empress sent troops to a church in Milan demanding it as it belonged to the Emperor. Ambrose assured the Empress that she may take anything that belonged to the emperor but since the wealth of the church belonged to the poor and the church to God, he had nothing to give her. The soldiers refused to take the church by force because the citizens backed Ambrose. The empress gave in. This established the precedent of the Church having authority over the State in some matters.
Ambrose's next conflict came with the Emperor Theodosius. A synagogue was burned at a bishop's instigation. Theodosius demanded that those responsible be punished and the synagogue be rebuilt at the bishop's expense. Ambrose was furious. He demanded that no such action be taken because it would cause only trouble. If the punishment is carried out the bishop will be martyred for standing up for his faith in Christ or acquiesce and become apostate. Also, money of the Church should not be used to support unbelief (as occurs in a synagogue). Theodosius backed down.
The next conflict between these two occurred when a mob in Thessolonica murdered a Roman captain. Theodosius orchestrated the slaughter of 7,000 Thessalonians in revenge. Ambrose withheld the sacraments from Theodosius until the emperor rented. Theodosius repented, without his purple kingly robes and paid public penance.
Ambrose was a remarkable statesman, but inferior to Augustine in philosophy and inferior to Jerome as a scholar.
Jerome is most notable for producing the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. The Vulgate was translated from original Hebrew texts, not the more erroneous Septuagint. Because Jerome illicit help from Jews in the translation it was initially met with harsh responses. Augustine's endorsement helped it to become the accepted version of the Catholic Church.
Jerome was born in 345 AD near Aquileia to a well-to-do, but not rich family. He studied rhetoric in Rome but he sinned there. He traveled through Gaul, retiring to Aquileia and became ascetic. He became a hermit in the Syrian desert and performed penance for his sinfulness in Rome. He then went back to Rome and befriended Pope Damasus, who encouraged him to create the Vulgate.
Jerome was quarrelsome to say the least. He fought with Augustine over the behavior of St. Peter. He fought with his friend Rufinius over Origen. He opposed Pelagius so avidly that his monastery was attacked by a Pelagian mob. He also fought with the Pope after the death of Damasus.
He left Rome for Bethlehem in 386 and lived there until his death in 420.
He converted and convinced many noble women to become nuns, pissing off people all over.
A young girl he convinced to become a nun was Eustochium. He wrote letters to her on how to maintain her virginity, exact meanings of Old Testament euphemisms, erotic mystical praise of covenantal life, stated that a nun is the Bride of Christ and the the Song of Solomon praises this type of relationship.
Linehan - I believe that this is a very bad misrepresentation of this book.
In a vision Jerome heard Christ tell him that he was a follower of Cicero, not Christ. Upon waking from this vision he denounced his love of Greek and Roman learning.
In his letters he embodies the Christian otherworldly hope of redemption outside of the collapsing world of the temporal Roman Empire.
It is strange (Russell contends) that Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose all devoted themselves to Church issues, but no practical measures to save their collapsing state.
Linehan - The emphasis on virginity by the early church to me seems harmful. It is true that some men and women may be called to a life of abstinence, but I do not think that this is a very likely occurrence. I know from a personal standpoint that living an abstinent life makes it hard to focus on anything other than virginity or how to lose it. I remained a virgin because of fear (partially) and because of failure (mostly). This was a source of enormous tension, self-turmoil, disappointment, frustration, agony, desperation, depression, guilt and countless hours of wasted time and effort. Virginity or abstinence as an end is not a virtue. What makes it virtuous is the reasoning behind it. If one declares perpetual virginity in accordance to God's plan then it is virtuous, but if it (or anything) is done as a way to impress God it is boastful and not a virtue at all. Also I find the practice of father's giving their daughters over to virginity reprehensible. It's a shame that things like this happened within Christianity because it gives ammo to those who are seeking to attack Christianity.
Augustine was born in 354 in Africa to a Christian mother and Pagan father. He spent time as a Manichaean, then became a Christian. He then became the bishop of Hippo, near Carthage, where he remained until he died in 430.
We know much of Augustine's life because of his autobiographical work Confessions.
Augustine was a passionate youth, unconcerned with virtue and impulsive. He searched for truth and righteousness relentlessly.
His youthful sins caused him to have a strong sense of sin later in life, "which made his life stern and his philosophy inhuman" (Russell, 345).
Linehan - I'm sure Russell meant this as a stab, but Augustine may very well have modestly accepted it as a compliment. I must admit that there are a few philosophers, theologians, or men that matter, with whom I identify with or respect more than Augustine.
Augustine opens Confessions with the story of stealing a pear for mischief's sake alone. He condemns himself for loving the act of sinning so much. Russell mocks this and calls it morbid to the modern mind. While this may be true it is a blight on the modern mind, not on Augustine.
Christian theology had two parts:
1) that concerned with the Church
2) that concerned with the individual.
The Catholics emphasized the first. The Protestants emphasized the second. Augustine created a harmonious synthesis that focused on both without any inconsistencies.
Augustine believed individual soul wee predestined to salvation, but had to be baptized and become a member of the Church. Predestination marks a direct connection between God and man, the Church was an intermediate between.
Sin was essential to the direct relation for two reasons:
1) Shows how God can cause man to suffer
2) Shows how souls are the most important member of the created order.
Russell calls Augustine's sense of sin 'abnormal'. Russell's indifference to sin however, is much more abnormal than any developed sense of it.
Augustine grabbed Latin easily, but hated Greek.
Lust overcame him at the age of sixteen.
Augustine's father did not pay any attention to his sins but kept him focused on school. His mother, in vain, tried to keep him chaste. He went to Carthage at 16 and fell in love with love. He also took a mistress because he was not ready for a wife, but was faithful to her and had a son he loved by her.
His mother then encouraged him to marry a girl worthy of his social status (which his mistress was not). In breaking up with his mistress to be married he broke his heart. He then took another mistress while waiting for his bride-to-be to come of age. At this time he prayed, "give me chastity and continence, only not yet" (Russell, 348).
By the time his marriage was to occur he had devoted himself to religion and chastity.
Augustine was excellent in rhetoric and introduced to philosophy by Cicero. He then became a Manichaean and taught rhetoric. He was fond of astrology at this time, but later despised it.
He read as much philosophy as was translated into Latin and mentions Aristotle's 'Ten Categories'. He grasped these works without a teacher, but decried his understanding because it profited him none.
Initially he began to reject Manichaeism because of scientific reasons, citing astronomy and Mani's (the founder of Manichaeism) blatant errors on astronomical matters. After doubting Manichaeism he went to teach in Rome.
He began to feel at odds with the Manichaeans more and more in Rome and began to slide in to skepticism, but still believed that something in men, some nature caused them to sin.
He believed evil to be a substance.
From Rome he went to Milan to teach rhetoric. He began to love Ambrose and admire the Catholic faith, but his newfound skepticism held him back.
His mother joined him in Milan and hastened his conversion.
In Milan he became acquainted with Platonism and fused the Platonic metaphysical doctrine of Logos with Christianity.
He then completely rejected Manichaeism and the notion of Evil as a substance, instead believing evil to come from the perverseness of the will.
Augustine found comfort in the writings of St. Paul (one reason I identify with him so well).
He gave up his new mistress and his wife-to-be and devoted himself to the Church. He moved back to Africa in 388 and spent the remainder of his life fighting heresies like the Donates, Manichaeism and Pelagianism.
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter III - Three Doctors of the Church
By the way I am watching "Take Home Defensive Driving". Rest of all it cost $40 bucks. Ridiculous. Secondly, it is four hours long. Absurd. Thirdly, it is immensely boring. Irritating.
There are four men regarded as Doctors of the Western Church. (I believe there are a number who have been added since Russell wrote this).
1) St. Ambrose
2) St. Jerome
3) St. Augustine
4) Pope Gregory the Great
"Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine all flourished during the brief period between the victory of the Catholic Church in the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasion" (Russell, 334).
The Barbarian invasions stunted intellectual growth and men of this caliber were not produced for another thousand years.
They, more than any other men molded the Church in how it would be shaped.
Ambrose determined the Church as being dominant to the State. Jerome produced the Latin Vulgate and made great strides in monasticism. Augustine laid the foundation of theology until the reformation and was widely used by both Luther and Calvin.
Ambrose's establishment as the Church being independent of the State was not challenged (philosophically) until Hobbes. It was revolutionary. The capital of the Western Empire at the end of the fourth century was Milan. Ambrose was the bishop of Milan.
His duties brought him into contact with the emperors frequently. He always treated them at least as equals, sometimes as subordinates.
At his time the State was "feeble, incompetent, governed by unprincipled self-seekers, and totally without any policy beyond that of momentary expedients. Contrarily, the Church was vigorous, able, guided by men prepared to sacrifice everything personal in its interests, and with a policy so far-sighted that it brought victory for the next thousand years" (Russell, 335).
Ambrose had every opportunity to become a powerful political figure.
Ambrose was born at Augusta Treverorum to a prefect of the Guals. At thirteen he went to Rome, was educated and learned a strong grounding in Greek. The young adult Ambrose took to law and was successful.
At 30 he became the governor of Liguria and Æmilia. At 34 he turned away from the secular government and became bishop of Milan. He gave all his wealth to the poor and served the Church the rest of his life, sometimes in the face of peril.
All three Doctors of this period, Jerome, Augustine and Ambrose wrote innumerable letters, many of which have survived. For this reason we know them better than any pagan philosopher or ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages.
Jerome wrote mostly to women, instructing them on how to maintain their virginity. Augustine wrote letters to everyone, mostly on doctrine or Church discipline. Ambrose wrote most interesting letters to emperors, chastising them when they failed in their duties and praising them when they fulfilled them.
The first public matter Ambrose dealt with was the altar and stature to Victory in Rome. It was a pagan icon removed by Constantinius (son of Constantine) reinstated by Julian the Apostate and then removed again by Emperor Gratian. Paganism lasted longer in the Senate than elsewhere in Rome. After Gratian's death a senator named Symmachus (a pagan) fought to bring it back. In 384 he became the prefect of Rome. When Symmachus sought to have the new Emperor Valentian II put it back, Ambrose wrote the boy king. He wrote "Let no one take advantage of your youth" and put for the thesis that "as all Romans owed military service to their sovereign, so he (the Emperor) owed service to the Almighty God" (Russell, 337). In addition to flattery, Ambrose threatened the young emperor with not being able to see a priest in Church or receiving a hostile greeting from a priest. Ambrose won the argument. But a usurper of Valentian II, Eugenics (a pagan) restored the idol. In 394 Emperor Theodosius defeated Eugenics and removed the altar.
Initially Ambrose had favor in the imperial court. But when the mother of Valentian II, Empress Justina (an Arian) asked for an Arian church in Milan, the Catholic Ambrose refused. The Empress sent troops to a church in Milan demanding it as it belonged to the Emperor. Ambrose assured the Empress that she may take anything that belonged to the emperor but since the wealth of the church belonged to the poor and the church to God, he had nothing to give her. The soldiers refused to take the church by force because the citizens backed Ambrose. The empress gave in. This established the precedent of the Church having authority over the State in some matters.
Ambrose's next conflict came with the Emperor Theodosius. A synagogue was burned at a bishop's instigation. Theodosius demanded that those responsible be punished and the synagogue be rebuilt at the bishop's expense. Ambrose was furious. He demanded that no such action be taken because it would cause only trouble. If the punishment is carried out the bishop will be martyred for standing up for his faith in Christ or acquiesce and become apostate. Also, money of the Church should not be used to support unbelief (as occurs in a synagogue). Theodosius backed down.
The next conflict between these two occurred when a mob in Thessolonica murdered a Roman captain. Theodosius orchestrated the slaughter of 7,000 Thessalonians in revenge. Ambrose withheld the sacraments from Theodosius until the emperor rented. Theodosius repented, without his purple kingly robes and paid public penance.
Ambrose was a remarkable statesman, but inferior to Augustine in philosophy and inferior to Jerome as a scholar.
Jerome is most notable for producing the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. The Vulgate was translated from original Hebrew texts, not the more erroneous Septuagint. Because Jerome illicit help from Jews in the translation it was initially met with harsh responses. Augustine's endorsement helped it to become the accepted version of the Catholic Church.
Jerome was born in 345 AD near Aquileia to a well-to-do, but not rich family. He studied rhetoric in Rome but he sinned there. He traveled through Gaul, retiring to Aquileia and became ascetic. He became a hermit in the Syrian desert and performed penance for his sinfulness in Rome. He then went back to Rome and befriended Pope Damasus, who encouraged him to create the Vulgate.
Jerome was quarrelsome to say the least. He fought with Augustine over the behavior of St. Peter. He fought with his friend Rufinius over Origen. He opposed Pelagius so avidly that his monastery was attacked by a Pelagian mob. He also fought with the Pope after the death of Damasus.
He left Rome for Bethlehem in 386 and lived there until his death in 420.
He converted and convinced many noble women to become nuns, pissing off people all over.
A young girl he convinced to become a nun was Eustochium. He wrote letters to her on how to maintain her virginity, exact meanings of Old Testament euphemisms, erotic mystical praise of covenantal life, stated that a nun is the Bride of Christ and the the Song of Solomon praises this type of relationship.
Linehan - I believe that this is a very bad misrepresentation of this book.
In a vision Jerome heard Christ tell him that he was a follower of Cicero, not Christ. Upon waking from this vision he denounced his love of Greek and Roman learning.
In his letters he embodies the Christian otherworldly hope of redemption outside of the collapsing world of the temporal Roman Empire.
It is strange (Russell contends) that Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose all devoted themselves to Church issues, but no practical measures to save their collapsing state.
Linehan - The emphasis on virginity by the early church to me seems harmful. It is true that some men and women may be called to a life of abstinence, but I do not think that this is a very likely occurrence. I know from a personal standpoint that living an abstinent life makes it hard to focus on anything other than virginity or how to lose it. I remained a virgin because of fear (partially) and because of failure (mostly). This was a source of enormous tension, self-turmoil, disappointment, frustration, agony, desperation, depression, guilt and countless hours of wasted time and effort. Virginity or abstinence as an end is not a virtue. What makes it virtuous is the reasoning behind it. If one declares perpetual virginity in accordance to God's plan then it is virtuous, but if it (or anything) is done as a way to impress God it is boastful and not a virtue at all. Also I find the practice of father's giving their daughters over to virginity reprehensible. It's a shame that things like this happened within Christianity because it gives ammo to those who are seeking to attack Christianity.
Augustine was born in 354 in Africa to a Christian mother and Pagan father. He spent time as a Manichaean, then became a Christian. He then became the bishop of Hippo, near Carthage, where he remained until he died in 430.
We know much of Augustine's life because of his autobiographical work Confessions.
Augustine was a passionate youth, unconcerned with virtue and impulsive. He searched for truth and righteousness relentlessly.
His youthful sins caused him to have a strong sense of sin later in life, "which made his life stern and his philosophy inhuman" (Russell, 345).
Linehan - I'm sure Russell meant this as a stab, but Augustine may very well have modestly accepted it as a compliment. I must admit that there are a few philosophers, theologians, or men that matter, with whom I identify with or respect more than Augustine.
Augustine opens Confessions with the story of stealing a pear for mischief's sake alone. He condemns himself for loving the act of sinning so much. Russell mocks this and calls it morbid to the modern mind. While this may be true it is a blight on the modern mind, not on Augustine.
Christian theology had two parts:
1) that concerned with the Church
2) that concerned with the individual.
The Catholics emphasized the first. The Protestants emphasized the second. Augustine created a harmonious synthesis that focused on both without any inconsistencies.
Augustine believed individual soul wee predestined to salvation, but had to be baptized and become a member of the Church. Predestination marks a direct connection between God and man, the Church was an intermediate between.
Sin was essential to the direct relation for two reasons:
1) Shows how God can cause man to suffer
2) Shows how souls are the most important member of the created order.
Russell calls Augustine's sense of sin 'abnormal'. Russell's indifference to sin however, is much more abnormal than any developed sense of it.
Augustine grabbed Latin easily, but hated Greek.
Lust overcame him at the age of sixteen.
Augustine's father did not pay any attention to his sins but kept him focused on school. His mother, in vain, tried to keep him chaste. He went to Carthage at 16 and fell in love with love. He also took a mistress because he was not ready for a wife, but was faithful to her and had a son he loved by her.
His mother then encouraged him to marry a girl worthy of his social status (which his mistress was not). In breaking up with his mistress to be married he broke his heart. He then took another mistress while waiting for his bride-to-be to come of age. At this time he prayed, "give me chastity and continence, only not yet" (Russell, 348).
By the time his marriage was to occur he had devoted himself to religion and chastity.
Augustine was excellent in rhetoric and introduced to philosophy by Cicero. He then became a Manichaean and taught rhetoric. He was fond of astrology at this time, but later despised it.
He read as much philosophy as was translated into Latin and mentions Aristotle's 'Ten Categories'. He grasped these works without a teacher, but decried his understanding because it profited him none.
Initially he began to reject Manichaeism because of scientific reasons, citing astronomy and Mani's (the founder of Manichaeism) blatant errors on astronomical matters. After doubting Manichaeism he went to teach in Rome.
He began to feel at odds with the Manichaeans more and more in Rome and began to slide in to skepticism, but still believed that something in men, some nature caused them to sin.
He believed evil to be a substance.
From Rome he went to Milan to teach rhetoric. He began to love Ambrose and admire the Catholic faith, but his newfound skepticism held him back.
His mother joined him in Milan and hastened his conversion.
In Milan he became acquainted with Platonism and fused the Platonic metaphysical doctrine of Logos with Christianity.
He then completely rejected Manichaeism and the notion of Evil as a substance, instead believing evil to come from the perverseness of the will.
Augustine found comfort in the writings of St. Paul (one reason I identify with him so well).
He gave up his new mistress and his wife-to-be and devoted himself to the Church. He moved back to Africa in 388 and spent the remainder of his life fighting heresies like the Donates, Manichaeism and Pelagianism.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
The Stoics
(Originally written July 15, 2006 in Book 4)
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter 28 - Stoicism
Stoicism was founded by Zeno, a contemporary of Epicurus, but the doctrine evolved much more gradually than Epicureanism. Zeno's Stoicism was a fusion of Cynicism and Heraclitus. By the time of Marcus Aurelius (a stoic), it had morphed into a system with Platonic and anti-materialistic elements.
Stoicism was less Greek than any other Greek philosophy. The earliest Stoics were mostly Syrian, the later were mostly Roman.
Zeno was a Phoenician from Cyprus, born in the second half of the 4th century BC.
Stoicism of Zeno formed around Cynicism but adopted some of the Academy's views and looked at Socrates as a saint.
Virtue was ultimately important to Zeno. Metaphysical subtleties were of no use for him.
Zeno did not doubt the senses because he thought that was useless and absurd. Zeno denied chance and nature was determined by strict natural laws.
He believed that everything was cyclical.
God was the soul of the sensible world.
All things possessed some bits of God, the Divine Fire.
Nature was one integrated system of many individual parts.
Free will produced virtue when one acted in accordance with nature.
Physical things were of no merit when concerned to virtue. Virtue can be found in all men, regardless of their physical surroundings.
Not just bad passions are condemned by the Stoic; all passions are.
Sympathy for death was bad. Friendship is of no account. Politics are useful, but unimportant. Nothing matters except virtue.
Zeno condemned the building of temples because there is no virtue in buildings.
He believed in astrology and divination.
Cleanthes of Asso immediately carried on the Stoic torch. He is known for 2 main things:
1) Condemning Aristarchus of Samos for promulgating a heliocentric belief.
2) The "Hymn to Zeus'.
Chrysippus (280-207 BC) followed Cleanthes and systematized Stoicism.
He believed that if a thing was to exist, the opposite necessarily exists. Thus, since good exists, evil necessarily exists.
He held logic to be fundamental.
He held an empirical theory of knowledge based on perception.
Post-Chrysippus, stoicism was altered by two men, Panaetius and Posidonius.
Panaetius introduced a lot of Platonic elements into Stoicism. He abandoned all materialism.
Panaetius befriended Scipio and influenced Cicero. Posidonius taught and further influenced Cicero.
Cicero brought Stoicism to the Romans.
Posidonius was a Syrian Greek and escaped the anarchy of Syria upon the collapse of Seleucid Empire. He moved to Athens.
He traveled extensively in Western Europe, North Africa and saw the heads on pikes on the Barbaric Spanish coast.
He was scientific, an extraordinary astronomer, and a historian of note.
He further combined Stoicism and Platonic elements.
By the way, a cover up of the Mary Magdelene by the Catholic Church is appalling. Obviously she was Jesus' husband. Just look at the Gnostic Gospels for the truth! (sarcasm obviously)
Posidonius believed the soul did not perish with the body (as most Stoics did) but rose into the air. The more virtuous a soul, the higher it rose. Extremely sinful souls were reincarnated.
Te most virtuous souls floated among the stars and helped out the living; thus, his belief in astrology.
Posidonius may have laid the foundation for Gnosticism.
The Copernican theory, not Christianity, finally doomed his philosophy.
The three most important Stoics (historically, not philosophically) were Romans:
1) Seneca - a preacher
2) Epictetus - a slave
3) Marcus Aurelius - an emperor.
Seneca lived from 3 BC - AD 65. He was a politician in Rome, though of Spanish origin. He was banished by the Emperor Claudius but was later recalled to tutor the future Roman Emperor, Nero.
Seneca amassed riches by usury in Roman Britain.
He was accused of treason by Nero and permitted to commit suicide.
He died in a Stoically virtuous way leaving 'the example of a virtuous life to his grieving family'.
Some Church Fathers considered him a Christian. St. Jerome believed he correspond with St. Paul.
Epictetus (AD 60 - 100) was born a slave. He was lame (probably from cruel punishment). He was banished along with all other philosophers by Emperor Domitian.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) became emperor in 161. He devoted himself to be a Stoic Emperor.
He persecuted Christians (Russell contends as a political necessity) for not bowing to the State religion.
His life and ring were married by horrors: wars, an immoral wife (accused), earthquakes, rebellion, pestilence, etc.
Stoic beliefs proved reasonably consistent, in that virtue is not dependent on outside circumstances. As emperor, Marcus Aurelius and the slave Epictetus held nearly identical philosophical views.
The Stoic ethic fit the hopeless age in which Aurelius lived.
"If we understand that virtue is the only true good, we shall see that no real evil can befall us" (Russell, 263).
All men are sons of God but doomed to death. Stoics go out to death without 'whining' or 'groaning'.
A Stoic is one who is sick yet happy, in trouble yet happy, dying yet happy...
Epictetus hold that one should love his enemies.
"Every man is an actor in a play, in which God has assigned the parts; it is our duty to perform our part worthily, whatever it may be" (Russell, 264).
Marcus Aurelius held that since life is fragile, virtue must always be asserted.
He regards the universe as a closely knit whole and as one living being, one substance, and one soul [pantheism?].
Despite his status as Emperor and the preeminence of the Roman people, he held all men to be brothers.
Stoic ethics and theology contradict on one point. The universe is wholly deterministic, yet man has free will. Then man can do neither harm nor good to another, but the virtuous good will is the sole good.
The Stoics held that these contradictions were of necessity because it was impossible for all men to live up to their rigorous standards. They offered lower standards to those who could not live up to the high ones.
Kant's ethical standards are similar to the Stoics (according to Russell, but I don't see the correlation).
While Stoics concerned themselves mainly in Ethics they advanced progress in two main areas:
1) Theory of knowledge
2) Doctrine of natural law and natural rights
The Stoic theory of knowledge accepted perception in the face of Platonic theory.
King Ptolemy invited a Stoic by the name of Sphaerus to dinner and to embarrass him he gave Sphaerus a wax pomegranate to eat. The king laughed and pointed out the obvious deceptive nature of the senses. Sphaerus fired back that he had felt no certainty of it being real, but figured it unlikely that anything inedible would be served at a royal meal, thus shaming the king.
The Stoic theory of knowledge also included innate ideas and principles.
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter 28 - Stoicism
Stoicism was founded by Zeno, a contemporary of Epicurus, but the doctrine evolved much more gradually than Epicureanism. Zeno's Stoicism was a fusion of Cynicism and Heraclitus. By the time of Marcus Aurelius (a stoic), it had morphed into a system with Platonic and anti-materialistic elements.
Stoicism was less Greek than any other Greek philosophy. The earliest Stoics were mostly Syrian, the later were mostly Roman.
Zeno was a Phoenician from Cyprus, born in the second half of the 4th century BC.
Stoicism of Zeno formed around Cynicism but adopted some of the Academy's views and looked at Socrates as a saint.
Virtue was ultimately important to Zeno. Metaphysical subtleties were of no use for him.
Zeno did not doubt the senses because he thought that was useless and absurd. Zeno denied chance and nature was determined by strict natural laws.
He believed that everything was cyclical.
God was the soul of the sensible world.
All things possessed some bits of God, the Divine Fire.
Nature was one integrated system of many individual parts.
Free will produced virtue when one acted in accordance with nature.
Physical things were of no merit when concerned to virtue. Virtue can be found in all men, regardless of their physical surroundings.
Not just bad passions are condemned by the Stoic; all passions are.
Sympathy for death was bad. Friendship is of no account. Politics are useful, but unimportant. Nothing matters except virtue.
Zeno condemned the building of temples because there is no virtue in buildings.
He believed in astrology and divination.
Cleanthes of Asso immediately carried on the Stoic torch. He is known for 2 main things:
1) Condemning Aristarchus of Samos for promulgating a heliocentric belief.
2) The "Hymn to Zeus'.
Chrysippus (280-207 BC) followed Cleanthes and systematized Stoicism.
He believed that if a thing was to exist, the opposite necessarily exists. Thus, since good exists, evil necessarily exists.
He held logic to be fundamental.
He held an empirical theory of knowledge based on perception.
Post-Chrysippus, stoicism was altered by two men, Panaetius and Posidonius.
Panaetius introduced a lot of Platonic elements into Stoicism. He abandoned all materialism.
Panaetius befriended Scipio and influenced Cicero. Posidonius taught and further influenced Cicero.
Cicero brought Stoicism to the Romans.
Posidonius was a Syrian Greek and escaped the anarchy of Syria upon the collapse of Seleucid Empire. He moved to Athens.
He traveled extensively in Western Europe, North Africa and saw the heads on pikes on the Barbaric Spanish coast.
He was scientific, an extraordinary astronomer, and a historian of note.
He further combined Stoicism and Platonic elements.
By the way, a cover up of the Mary Magdelene by the Catholic Church is appalling. Obviously she was Jesus' husband. Just look at the Gnostic Gospels for the truth! (sarcasm obviously)
Posidonius believed the soul did not perish with the body (as most Stoics did) but rose into the air. The more virtuous a soul, the higher it rose. Extremely sinful souls were reincarnated.
Te most virtuous souls floated among the stars and helped out the living; thus, his belief in astrology.
Posidonius may have laid the foundation for Gnosticism.
The Copernican theory, not Christianity, finally doomed his philosophy.
The three most important Stoics (historically, not philosophically) were Romans:
1) Seneca - a preacher
2) Epictetus - a slave
3) Marcus Aurelius - an emperor.
Seneca lived from 3 BC - AD 65. He was a politician in Rome, though of Spanish origin. He was banished by the Emperor Claudius but was later recalled to tutor the future Roman Emperor, Nero.
Seneca amassed riches by usury in Roman Britain.
He was accused of treason by Nero and permitted to commit suicide.
He died in a Stoically virtuous way leaving 'the example of a virtuous life to his grieving family'.
Some Church Fathers considered him a Christian. St. Jerome believed he correspond with St. Paul.
Epictetus (AD 60 - 100) was born a slave. He was lame (probably from cruel punishment). He was banished along with all other philosophers by Emperor Domitian.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) became emperor in 161. He devoted himself to be a Stoic Emperor.
He persecuted Christians (Russell contends as a political necessity) for not bowing to the State religion.
His life and ring were married by horrors: wars, an immoral wife (accused), earthquakes, rebellion, pestilence, etc.
Stoic beliefs proved reasonably consistent, in that virtue is not dependent on outside circumstances. As emperor, Marcus Aurelius and the slave Epictetus held nearly identical philosophical views.
The Stoic ethic fit the hopeless age in which Aurelius lived.
"If we understand that virtue is the only true good, we shall see that no real evil can befall us" (Russell, 263).
All men are sons of God but doomed to death. Stoics go out to death without 'whining' or 'groaning'.
A Stoic is one who is sick yet happy, in trouble yet happy, dying yet happy...
Epictetus hold that one should love his enemies.
"Every man is an actor in a play, in which God has assigned the parts; it is our duty to perform our part worthily, whatever it may be" (Russell, 264).
Marcus Aurelius held that since life is fragile, virtue must always be asserted.
He regards the universe as a closely knit whole and as one living being, one substance, and one soul [pantheism?].
Despite his status as Emperor and the preeminence of the Roman people, he held all men to be brothers.
Stoic ethics and theology contradict on one point. The universe is wholly deterministic, yet man has free will. Then man can do neither harm nor good to another, but the virtuous good will is the sole good.
The Stoics held that these contradictions were of necessity because it was impossible for all men to live up to their rigorous standards. They offered lower standards to those who could not live up to the high ones.
Kant's ethical standards are similar to the Stoics (according to Russell, but I don't see the correlation).
While Stoics concerned themselves mainly in Ethics they advanced progress in two main areas:
1) Theory of knowledge
2) Doctrine of natural law and natural rights
The Stoic theory of knowledge accepted perception in the face of Platonic theory.
King Ptolemy invited a Stoic by the name of Sphaerus to dinner and to embarrass him he gave Sphaerus a wax pomegranate to eat. The king laughed and pointed out the obvious deceptive nature of the senses. Sphaerus fired back that he had felt no certainty of it being real, but figured it unlikely that anything inedible would be served at a royal meal, thus shaming the king.
The Stoic theory of knowledge also included innate ideas and principles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)