St. Augustine is not only the bridge that links ancient philosophy
and early Christian theology with the thought of the Middle Ages,
but one who, in his philosophy and especially in his epistemology,
anticipated some of the most important ideas of Descartes and
Malbranche, Berkeley and Kant. In this study of the central aspect
of St. Augustine's thought, the author analyzes the various facets
of his theory of knowledge and offers a new interpretation of his
idea of divine illumination. St. Augustine's views on skepticism
and truth, on faith and reason, and on sense perception and
cogitation are first examined in order to show their relation to
this theory of divine illumination as the ultimate source of truth
for man. The proper understanding of the theory of illumination, of
how man apprehends the divine ideas, is the most difficult problem
in St. Augustine's epistemology, for he did not formulate any
systematic theory of knowledge. Any account of the Augustinian
epistemology, Mr. Nash believes, must resolve three paradoxes: how
the intellect is both passive and active; how the forms are
distinct from - and not distinct from - the human mind; and how
man's mind is and is not the light that makes knowledge possible.
In explaining the nature of divine illumination, Nash discusses
four interpretations that have been advanced; the Thomist (which he
rejects as not faithful to St. Augustine's general philosophy), the
Franciscan, the Formalist, and the Ontologist. He argues here for a
modified Ontologist view. In his synthesis of Christian theology
and Neoplatonic philosophy, St. Augustine held that all creation
partakes of truth in varying degrees, that man as the highest part
of creation, created in God's image and thus sharing to some degree
the divine nature, is able to know truth through the divine light
and the light of his own mind. In attempting to find an answer to
the perennial problem of knowledge, St. Augustine, Nash suggests,
was struggling to find a theory that would combine the benefits of
conceptualism and realism, and his answer was more modern than many
have given him credit for. Ronald Nash is widely regarded as one of
the premier evangelical philosophers in the world. He is professor
of philosophy at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Kentucky. He has taught at a number of other colleges
and seminaries, including Western Kentucky University and Reformed
Theological Seminary. The author of more than 35 books on
philosophy, theology and economics, Dr. Nash is in constant demand
as a speaker throughout the world.
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