Editing Augustine of Hippo (section)

=== Philosophy ===
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles - Augustine (CXXXVIr).jpg|thumb|Saint Augustine in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' ]]

==== Astrology ====
Augustine's contemporaries often believed [[astrology]] to be an exact and genuine science. Its practitioners were regarded as true men of learning and called ''mathematici''. Astrology played a prominent part in Manichaean doctrine, and Augustine himself was attracted by their books in his youth, being particularly fascinated by those who claimed to foretell the future. Later, as a bishop, he warned that one should avoid astrologers who combine science and [[horoscope]]s. (Augustine's term "mathematici", meaning "astrologers", is sometimes mistranslated as "mathematicians".) According to Augustine, they were not genuine students of [[Hipparchus]] or [[Eratosthenes]] but "common swindlers".{{sfn|Van Der Meer|1961|p=60}}{{sfn|Bonner|1986|p=63}}{{sfn|Testard|1958|pp=100–106}}<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Confessions'' 5,7,12; 7,6</ref>

==== Epistemology ====
[[Epistemology|Epistemological]] concerns shaped Augustine's intellectual development. His early dialogues ''Contra academicos'' (386) and ''De Magistro'' (389), both written shortly after his conversion to Christianity, reflect his engagement with sceptical arguments and show the development of his doctrine of [[divine illumination]]. The doctrine of illumination claims God plays an active and regular part in human perception and understanding by illuminating the mind so human beings can recognize intelligible realities God presents (as opposed to God designing the human mind to be reliable consistently, as in, for example, Descartes's idea of clear and distinct perceptions). According to Augustine, illumination is obtainable to all rational minds and is different from other forms of [[sense perception]]. It is meant to be an explanation of the conditions required for the mind to have a connection with intelligible entities.<ref name=encyclopedia>{{Cite encyclopedia| last=Mendelson| first=Michael| title=Saint Augustine| url=http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/augustine/| encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy| access-date=21 December 2012| date=24 March 2000}}</ref>

Augustine also posed the [[problem of other minds]] throughout different works, most famously perhaps in ''[[On the Trinity]]'' (VIII.6.9), and developed what has come to be a standard solution: the argument from analogy to other minds.{{sfn|Matthews|1992|p=}} In contrast to Plato and other earlier philosophers, Augustine recognized the centrality of [[Philosophical problems of testimony|testimony]] to human knowledge and argued that what others tell us can provide knowledge even if we do not have independent reasons to believe their testimonial reports.{{sfn|King|Ballantyne|2009|p=195}}

==== Just war ====
{{See also|Just war theory}}
Augustine asserted Christians should be [[pacifists]] as a personal, philosophical stance.<ref>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/septemberweb-only/9-17-55.0.html "A Time For War?"] ''Christianity Today'' (9 January 2001). Retrieved on 28 April 2013.</ref> However, peacefulness in the face of a grave wrong that could only be stopped by violence would be a sin. Defence of one's self or others could be a necessity, especially when authorized by a legitimate authority. While not breaking down the conditions necessary for war to be just, Augustine coined the phrase in his work ''The City of God''.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120728203512/http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/augustineofhippo.html Augustine of Hippo]. Crusades-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 28 April 2013.</ref> In essence, the pursuit of peace must include the option of fighting for its long-term preservation.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120728203512/http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/augustineofhippo.html St. Augustine of Hippo], Crusades-Encyclopedia</ref> Such a war could not be pre-emptive, but defensive, to restore peace.<ref>[http://www.jknirp.com/mattox.htm "Saint Augustine and the Theory of Just War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103033459/http://www.jknirp.com/mattox.htm |date=3 November 2013 }}. Jknirp.com (23 January 2007). Retrieved on 28 April 2013.</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]], centuries later, used the authority of Augustine's arguments in an attempt to define the conditions under which a war could be just.<ref>[http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0029.html "The Just War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423100800/https://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0029.html |date=23 April 2021 }}. Catholiceducation.org. Retrieved on 28 April 2013.</ref>{{sfn|Gonzalez|2010|p=}}

==== Free will ====
Included in Augustine's earlier [[theodicy]] is the claim God created humans and angels as rational beings possessing [[free will]]. Free will was not intended for sin, meaning it is not equally predisposed to both good and evil. A will defiled by sin is not considered as "free" as it once was because it is bound by material things, which could be lost or be difficult to part with, resulting in unhappiness. Sin impairs free will, while grace restores it. Only a will that was once free can be subjected to sin's corruption.{{sfn|Meister|Copan|2013|p=}} After 412, Augustine changed his theology, teaching that humanity had no free will to believe in Christ but only a free will to sin: "I in fact strove on behalf of the free choice of the human 'will,' but God's grace conquered" (''Retract''. 2.1).{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=285 }}

The early Christians opposed the deterministic views (e.g., fate) of Stoics, Gnostics, and Manichaeans prevalent in the first four centuries.{{sfn|McIntire|2005|pp=3206–3209}} Christians championed the concept of a relational God who interacts with humans rather than a Stoic or Gnostic God who unilaterally foreordained every event (yet Stoics still claimed to teach free will).{{sfn|Dihle|1982|p=152}} [[Patristics]] scholar Ken Wilson argues that every early Christian author with extant writings who wrote on the topic prior to Augustine of Hippo (412) advanced human free choice rather than a deterministic God.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=93–94, 273–274}} According to Wilson, Augustine taught traditional free choice until 412, when he reverted to his earlier Manichaean and Stoic deterministic training when battling the Pelagians.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=281–294}} Only a few Christians accepted Augustine's view of free will until the Protestant Reformation when both Luther and Calvin embraced Augustine's deterministic teachings wholeheartedly.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Luther |translator1-last=Krodel |translator1-first=Gottfried |editor1-last=Lehman |editor1-first=Helmut |title=Luther's Works |volume=48 |date=1963 |publisher=Fortress Press |page=24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Calvin |first1=John |translator1-last=Cole |translator1-first=Henry |title=Calvin's Calvinism |article=A Treatise on the Eternal Predestination of God |date=1927 |publisher=Sovereign Grace Union |location=London |page=38}}</ref>

The [[Catholic Church]] considers Augustine's teaching to be consistent with free will. He often said that anyone can be saved if they wish.{{sfn|Portalié|1907b}} While God knows who will and will not be saved, with no possibility for the latter to be saved in their lives, this knowledge represents God's perfect knowledge of how humans will freely choose their destinies.{{sfn|Portalié|1907b}}