| Aurelius
Augustinus was a key figure in the transition from classical
antiquity to the Middle Ages. He lived at a time when no distinction
was made between philosophy and theology, and the purpose of both
was to show the way to wisdom, happiness, and blessedness.
Augustinian
thought is perhaps best capsulated in Anselm's famous maxim:
"I believe in order to understand." Augustine believed
the principal business of life is to arrive at the blissful
vision of God, but he came to see that this can be done only
after death. Only eternal and unchangeable goods are worth enjoying,
and all other joys or pleasures are mere stops along the way.
Temporal life is a "living death, a dying life"; its
primary characteristic is the dizzying flux of time and change.
Evil is not an active, threatening force; it is a lack, a privation,
a corruption.
For
Augustine, every time we make a judgment of relative value,
we implicitly acknowledge an absolute standard of value; and
this absolute is God. Our final end, the contemplation of God
after death, is a blissful, changeless, restful, and peaceful
stillness of vision.
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On
two audiotapes or CDs - about three hours in length.
Narrator: Charlton Heston
Author: Professor Robert J. O'Connell
Editor: Professor John Lachs
Publisher: Knowledge Products, Inc.
This
title is part of the Audio Classics Series by
Knowledge Products. Knowledge Products publishes a variety of
audio presentations on the great ideas and events of history.
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