Notes on Prof. Ormond's patristic philosophy lectures…

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MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY.

Christ adapted his teachings to tlie intellectual environment
and modes of thinking of the men of the first centmy, Christianity
more than any other religion, possessed the genius of assimilating
whatever was not inimical. Historically and philosophically it
must be viewed as a germ, transmuting and adapting surrounding
elements to its own spirit.

Two aspects of Christianity :

A. Theistic and Ethical Basis — the axioms on which Chi-ist's
teaching proceeded. They were, (1) Fatherhood of God. (2) Brother-
hood of Men, as sons of a common Father. This was an abstract
doctrine with the Stoics. Christ made it concrete. (3) Love, as
the supreme motive of religious and moral conduct — morality
touched with emotion : duty transformed into love.

B. Chbistology. This embraces the doctrines of (1) Man
Fallen ; (2) Etdemption ; together with the Incarnation, Media-
tion and Atonement.

As to the Axiomatic Basis, though the doctrines of the Father-
hood of Grod, the Brotherhood of Men, and Love were taught by
Plato, Socrates and Stoics, and others, Christ did not borrow from
these sources. He is original. He belonged to that line of intui-
tional genuises who apprehend truth at first hand. This gave
direct authority and living power to his teaching. After he had
stated these truths in unique form, there were found vague antici-
pations, types, or foreshadows in former writings. He first made
them influential among the masses, as well as among the few great
minds.

As to the Christoloqt, Christianity is most original and
unique. There were fragments of the redemptive scheme even out-
side of Judaism, but these had no influence on the masses of the
world. As developed by Christ and his disciples, the Redemptive
scheme is the original and distinctive element of Christianity.

The Middle Ages were characterized by the evolution of the
consciousness of opposition between God and man. In Neo-Platon-
ism, the need of divine help was recognized. The period of Modern
Times is marked by a sense of restored unity, of the reconciliation
and freedom of the human spirit. The change has been wrought
entirely by the Christian scheme of redemption. All other efforts
were failures.

2

It may seem that the doctrine of the Aoyos was anticipated by
Philo, but there was a radical difference. " In the beginning was
the Aoyos," but Philo said it was not eternal ; " and the Aoyos was
with God;" but Philo said, beneath God; "and the Adyos was
God;" whereas Philo denied its divinity entirely. From his use
of terms and method of proceeding it seems certain that John had
Philo's doctrine in mind as he wrote.

There are Three Periods of Mediseval Philosophy— I. The
Apostolic, the period of planting : II. The Patristic, the period of
the development of Christian doctrine: III. The Scholastic, the
most fruitful of all in mysticism, scientific and clear philosophic
thought. We begin with the second, as the Apostolic period be-
longs rather to the history of the chui'ch.

II. THE PATRISTIC PERIOD, 100-900.

The period may be divided into two sections, separated by the
Nicene Creed (325 A. D).

A. The A Itte- Nicene Period. Characteristics ?LrQ -. \1']
Development of Christian Theology ; and [2] Great Heresies which
arose from contact with Paganism and Judaism.

Environing Influenc S. [1] Judaism, & legalizing tendency;
[2] Paganism : [a] as a rationalizing tendency ; [b] as a polythe-
istic tendency — introducing agencies between God and man.

Stages OF THE EARLY move7nent—

(1) THE GNOSTIC MOVEMENT in the second century—
an abortive attempt to pass from Christian faith to knowledge. It
resulted in a species of half- Pagan and half- Christian mythology,
with Greek, Jewish, and Christian elements. The central question
was the Christology, though in a sense what started the Gnostic
Movement was the question of i^e origin of evil. The real question
was : what to make of Christ from a philosophical point of view.
Two Tendencies were (a) to force Christian ideas into conformity
with philosophical ideas : (b) to place aeons and beings between
God and man. The attempt was more imaginative than logical.
Valentinus, Carpocrates, Basilides, and others were the geniuses of
the time. They carried the attempt to subordinate Christianity to
Pagan ideas to an absurd extreme. The result was

(2) THE ORTHODOX REACTION of the second and third
centuries, the second stage of the Ante-Nicene Period. The men
who came forward were Justin Martyr (103 — about 160 A. D.),

Irenaeus (160 — 202 A. D.), Hippolytus a contemporary of Irena-
eus, TertuUian (160—220), and others.

Justin Martyr, a broad catholic man ; he regarded philosophy
as subordinate to Christianity but held that light could be gotten
from the former to illumine and elaborate the doctrines of the
latter, (a) Men, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Abraham, etc.,
had lived according to the law of the Adyos without knowing it.
(b) The Greek thinkers were indebted to the O. T. Justin also
attacked the Gnostic doctrines of the Xdyos, and of the total de-
pravity of human flesh. He said the flesh is not pure evil but
simply has tendencies which need to be regulated, and withheld
from an extreme.

IrGnasuS ^^^ HippolvtUS adopt Justin Maityr's view of the
flesh. They go to an extreme in rejecting all thought which is not
Chi'istian. The result was a reaction.

Tortullian went to somewhat of an extreme in the same direc-
tion but did much good to the church. Philosophy is the mother
of heresies, and must be separated fi'oin Theology. When told
that his faith without reason was absurd, he answered.—" Credo
quia ahsurchim est ; " "Cerium est quia impossibile est."

(3) THE NEW GNOSTICISM. The Orthodox Eeaction
was accompanied, from the middle of the second to the middle of
the third centuries, by an attempt on the part of some of the
church teachers to assimilate the legitimate elements of Gnosticism
to the body of Church doctrine. Chief of these were Clement ^^^
Origen, both of Alexandria. They were the first to drop apology
and take up the construction of an independent Christian system.
The important question arises. What is the test by which to dis-
tinguish between true and false gnosis or knowledge? The true
produces (a) fruits of morality ; (b) brotherly love. Faith under-
lies knowledge. The early Gnostics held the reverse. Clement
and Origen held fairly correct views on this question. Opposed
to the Nicene Creed they held the Son and Spirit to be persons
coming forth from the Father, but not His equals. Creation
. throughout eternity, the pre-existence of the soul and its entrance
into the body as a result of transgression, the freedom of the will
and active obedience as the condition of salvation, the internecine
"warfare of the principles of good and evil in Christ's redemptive act
and the final complete triumph ot the Good even to the restoration
of Satan are the most important of their remaining doctrines.

The Arian Controversy, in the third and beginning of the
fourth centufies. This was important in fixing the central belief
of the church. The great question of the early ages was as to the
nature of the Aoyos and its relation to the God-head — What to do
with Jesus Christ P It ended in the doctrine of the Trinity asserted
in the ISTicene or Athanasian creed, the first authoritative statement
by the church of its belief. Arius asserted Monotheism in such
an absolute sense as to exclude the Aoyos and the Holy Spirit from
the trinity while admiting their existence and superiority to man —
a tendency toward Unitarianism. They are merely modes in which
God reveals Himself. He made the Ao'yos a mere creature, not
eternal, but subordinate to God. AthanasiuS [298-373], a young
man of great genius and Chi'istian zeal, came forward to oppose the
views of Arius. The controversy culminated in the Council of Nice
[325]. Athanasius was the defender of the doctrine of the Trinity.
(For the creed, see Encyclopedia Britaniiica — " Creeds.") His-
torically, it is the most important of all creeds. In relation to
Christian theology, this contest settles the place of the Ao'yos in the
Christian scheme and, for that asre at least, the doctrine of the
Trinity. The controversy continued through the life of Athanasius.
He suffered a great deal, spent nearly one half his life in banish-
ment, but was finally triumphant. The final fixation of the doc-
trine of the Trinity was left to Augustine, the great representative
of the developed theology of this early j^eriod and one of the greatest
geniuses of all time.

B. The Jt*ost Hiceae T'eriod, There were a number of

influences hostile to what resulted in the Nicene Creed — [1] abstract
monotheism of the Jews ; [2] polytheistic tendency of pagan
thinkers ; [3] the idea of the corruption of the flesh. Those who
believed this opposed the Incarnation, and held an ascetic theory
of life and religious practice. This lead to [4] the opposite extreme
of li<?entiousness. This pei'iod culminates in Augustine and era-
braces Athanasius, Basil the Great, the two Gregories, Methodius
of Tyi-e, Pseudo-Dionysius, and others.

Characteristics— [1] It was a period of hitter controversy.
Though the Nicene Creed was authoritatively established, it had
not triumphed. Athanasius spent the entire 50 years of his life m
its defense and finally triumphed. [2] It is the time of active
theological construction. This part of the work of the period was
characterized by [a] loyal adherence to the orthodox faith of the
church ; [b] an effort toward the further development of the Chris-

tiau Gnosis. [3] A stage of philosophico-theological construction,
following tbe influence of Origen and Clement. This was an effort
to translate religion into terms of philosophy and was more lojal
to the Niceue Creed than the other two. Its greatest representa-
tive was Gregory of Nyssa [331-394]. in scientific method he fol-
lows Origen but adopts his dogmas only so far as orthodox. He
opposed such theories as the pi'e-existence of the soul, and only
deviates from the orthodox faith in leaning toward the theory of a
final restoration of all things to communion with God. The Trinity ;
the doctrines that the origin of the human soul is contemporaneous
with the body, that it exists after the body but has power to find
the particles of the body and reappropriate them at the resurrec-
tion; the freedom of the will; the negative nature of evil; purifica-
tion by punishment ; and the final salvation of all beings, are the
doctrines which he emphasizes most. The later stages of this third
movement are dominated by Neo-Platonism. Pseudo-Dionysius
[400- ], the representative of the time, was a Neo-Platonist. It
is an extreme influence of philosophy on theology. God is above
all names, concepts, and being. All perfections are in him, but in
an absolute sense. They do not give a conception of God, but we
employ them to bring him near. The highest theology is mystical.
There exists a hierarchy of ideas and beings. Man must rise above
all things sensuous, immerse himself in the Divine Unity, and bury
himself in the gloom of Divine Being to contemplate God. In the
mystical process we penetrate the vale and approach tbe divine
light.

Culmination of the Patristic Period— St. Augustine [o54-430].

St. Augustine was the greatest of the Patristic philosophers
and one of the greatest geniuses of all time. He was born at
Thagaste, Africa, of a heathen father and a Christian mother. His
mother exercised the first great influence over him. He lapsed
from the Christian faith however and first embraced the manichaean
doctrine of the positive nature of both good and evil. The con-
tradictions of manichaeism turned him toward the skepticism of the
New Academy, which he met with upon going to Eome in 383,
until the writings of the Neo-Platonist s gave him a tendency
toward a positive faith. In 386 on hearing the preaching of Am-
brosius in Milan he was led back into the church. He prepared
for the ministry. In 388 he returned to Africa, was made priest
at Hippo in 391, and Bishop in 395. Among his ninety works are
*' Contra Academicos," " De Veritate," " DeBeata Vita," "De Vera

Relia;ione," "De Immortalitate Animae," " De Trinitate," " Coti'
fessiones," and greatest of all " De Civitate Dei."

Forces which operated in Augustine's early development — ■
[1] Cicero. Augustine in youth, possessed a passionate, sensuous
nature. Reading Cicero's moral observations first turned him
round. [2] Manichaeism. [3] Academic Skepticism. [4] Neo-Plat'
onism, especially the philosophy of Plotinus. Here he absorbed elt-
ments of his theology. [5] Christianity, the permanent influence in
his life. The aim of Augustine as a thinker was to construct a co-
herent and systematic scheme of Christian theology or philosophy.
The two were the same to Augustine, The central idea of the
scheme is the A.oyo?, the central idea of the Nicene Creed.

A. Theory of Knowledge. [1] Relation 'between Faith and
Knowledge ? Faith in revelation gives supersensuous knowledge ;
faith in our faculties gives sensuous knowledge. Faith must precede
knowledge. [2] Relation between Revelation and Reason? The
former is to illuminate but not supplant the latter. The questions
arise, " How and what does man know ? " .\ugustine opposes the
Theory of Probability. He prefigures Descartes in asserting that
thought and therefore the thinker are the most certain of all things.
Through the consciousness of self we get the existence of other
things — man and Grod. How do we know God ? Truth presup-
poses an immutable standard of truth. Nothing is immutable
but God. Thus the Platonic ideas are parts of the divine essence
in Augustine's mind. God is also the absolute standard of the
Good, as well as the viltimate standard of Truth. The argument
is merely theological and does not profess to be demonstrative.

B. Augustine's Theology. From a Trinitarian standpoint
it is opposed to the Gnostics, Arians, Palagians, Manichaeans, and
Mystics. [1] Theism. He is influenced here by the O. T. mono-
theism and by Neo-Platonism, God is essential, unmanifested,
absolute, infinite, unchangeable, ineffable, and not to be known as
he is. We may have a relative conception of his nature Creation
is out of nothing, an eternal act identical with Providence. God
is absolutely holy. A thing is right because God commands, not
because God commands it. The ultimate ground of right is in the
divine nature, not the divine will. [2] Christology. God is mani-
fested [a] in the Trinity ; [b] in Creation, [a] God is one and
absolute, but runs out into the tri-personal form in manifestation.
[b] the Aoyos is the divine energy, ci'eating the world according to
divine power and energy. Nothing existed from eternity but God

and his eternal enei'gy. The continuance of the world is a mani-
festation of that energy : this as opposed to emanation. [3]
Relation of God to the World. The world is a direct and immediate
manifestation of God. There is no science but theology. God up-
holds and sustains all. This seems dangerously near pantheism, but
he avoids it in asserting the personality of God. God is transcen-
dental as well as immanent. Erdman says he is not open to the
charge of pantheism, as he gives too great reality to things for a
pantheist. But we are unable to say. The question of the divine
transcendence must decide.

C. Augustine's Anthropologt — [I] Psychology. The soul
is a simple, spiritual, immaterial substance, different from the body.
Proofs of its immateriality — [a] If it were corporeal, we would
know it as such, [b] Neither sensuous nor intellectual knowledge
can be experienced by a corporeal principle, [c] We understand
truth more thoroughly as we retire from sense, [d] The soul per-
ceives an impression with the entire ego. This shows a simplicity
and unity not found in corporeal things. Also all souls are created
by God, but not simultaneously ; the soul is essentially individual,
as opposed to the Pantheistic conception ; and the soul cannot be
degraded into an irrational state.

Relation of Soul to Body. The soul, though one, may be con-
sidered in two parts, [a] Pars Inferior, embracing the vegetative
and sensitive life principles, and probably mortal as Aristotle
taught, [b] Pars Superior, embracing Intelligence and Volition :
this is the spirit. The soul affects the body directly. Man is made
up of both soul and body. Neither remains unmodified by the
combination, but there is a sort of chemical change in both.

Poivers and Faculties — [a] Sensuous. Sensuous knowledge is
the product of sensuous appetite and sensuous knowledge, proper.
The former is the source of sensuous pleasure. The latter has five
avenues in the senses, and a sixth in the sensus comraunus which
gives common ideas or notions. A seventh source is Sensuous
Imagination or the imaging faculty. Eighth, sensuous memory or
memory controlled by the lower forms of association, [b] Rational,
giving spiritual knowledge, whose sources are [a] intellectual
memory, embracing imagination ; [^] intuitive and discursive in-
telligence ; [y] the Will, Choice, or Volition.

Destiny — The soul is in the image of the triune God, and is
immortal. Proofs, substantially those of Plato and Aristotle, — (a)
That which contains imperishable truth is imperishable, (b) The

8

soul is identical with imperishable reason, (c) As the principle of
life, it is imperishable, (d) Being has no contrary principle to
destroy it. Non-Being does not exist. Good alone is positive.
Augustine's belief, however, rested on the New Testament and not
on proofs.

(II) Ethics — the Science of Duty and the Good. The Basis of
Morality, the necessary presupposition, is Free Will. There is a
distinction between freedom of choice and ability to carry out our
choice. He confines his doctrine to the first meaning of freedom.
Proofs of freedom : [a] The nature of the Will which is free
from physical necessity, [b] Consciousness testifies that we
choose freely, [c] Without Free Will, there is no distinction be-
tween good and evil. These arguments are decisive. Before the
Fall, man possessed the ability both to choose and to do the good
without grace or assistance. Since the Fall he has lost that power.
Divine grace, redemption, and the Christian scheme of salvation
are necessary.

Virtue is the art of good and right living, [a] Its principle
is Love, which determines man's relation to God and to his fellow
men. The content of the principle is determined by the divine
law of the Old and New Testaments, [b] In the summum honum,
happiness is an indispensable element. But man must seek the
happiness of others as well as of himself, in perfection. The happi-
ness of a morally perfect being is the end of living. The highest
Good can only be found in God. It is communion with God,
thi'ough love, [c] Evil is merely primitive aud negative, — aliena-
tion from God. There is no evil^er se. Evil is simply an infrac-
tion of the moral order, the rejection of the Supreme Good, and
choice of an Inferior Good : any ward, act, or desire contrary to
the law of God. The mali poena is the actual loss of the sovereign
Good. The degradation, though not felt in this life, will be felt
in another.

[III] Politics — developed in " De Civitate Dei" — a philoso-
phy of history or science of politics, [a] Presuppositions — [Ij
The fall and total ruin of the race. [2] Limited redemption of
an element out of the general ruin, [b] The two Communities —
the secular state and the City of God. The first man contained
their germ in his nature. After his fall only the civil remains.
It is a system of evil to be overthrown. The system of the
church is established by Divine Grace and will ultimately triumph.
[c] The Stages in the historic evolution of the Civitas Dei : [a]

Anarchj, from Adam to Noah ; [/3] Law, from Noah to Abraham ;
[y] Grace, from Abraham to the Christian Era. The last is di-
vided into four periods, viz., from Abraham to David, from David
to Babylonian Captivity, from the Babylonian Captivity to Christ,
and the Christian Era. These stages correspond , respectively to
the childhood, boyhood, youth, and manhood of the state. The
Era of Christianity extends to the end of time.

Limitations of Augustine's View — [1] The scheme is
founded on one section of history and a small one at that. [2] It
is exclusively an ecclesiastical view. [3] He finds no place for the
state. His political doctrines are as inimical to the secular world as
his piiilosophy is to the sciences of nature. Another view, just as
Christian, leaves scope for the state and civil evolution. He was a
theologian and lived in a time when the civil order was involved in
a struggle for life between two mighty forces. He naturally chose
the ecclesiastical as destined to triumph.

P^lagius — a contemporary of Augustine, came to Rome in 400.
Fiudiag the tone of morals very low he began preaching, but was
met by the plea that on account of the determinations of Grod men
were unable to do differently. Pelagius went to the opposite ex-
treme in asserting man's freedom. He did not deny divine grace.
His work was a protest against extreme Augustinianisin.

Two ideas are to be considered in connection with the ques-
tion— [1] God's Sovereignty, [2] Man's Free Will. It was possi-
ble to carry God's Sovereignty to an extreme in Augustine's doctrine
which makes it Fatalism. On the other hand extreme views of
Free Will deny the necessity of grace. We need both, and must
combine them. We may not be able to say how to combine them.
They are united in the consciousness of Jesus. " I and my father
are Oue ; " " My father works hitherto and I work."