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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput X: Quae sit inter philosophicas artes religiosi excellentia Christiani.

Quamuis enim homo Christianus litteris tantum ecclesiasticis eruditus Platonicorum forte nomen ignoret, nec utrum duo genera philosophorum extiterint in Graeca lingua, Ionicorum et Italicorum, sciat: non tamen ita surdus est in rebus humanis, ut nesciat philosophos uel studium sapientiae uel ipsam sapientiam profiteri. cauet eos tamen, qui secundum elementa huius mundi philosophantur, non secundum deum, a quo ipse factus est mundus. admonetur enim praecepto apostolico fideliterque audit quod dictum est: cauete ne quis uos decipiat per philosophiam et inanem seductionem secundum elementa mundi. deinde ne omnes tales esse arbitretur, audit ab eodem apostolo dici de quibusdam: quia quod notum est dei, manifestum est in illis; deus enim illis manifestauit. inuisibilia enim eius a constitutione mundi per ea, quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur, sempiterna quoque uirtus eius et diuinitas, et ubi Atheniensibus loquens, cum rem magnam de deo dixisset et quae a paucis possit intellegi, quod in illo uiuimus et mouemur et sumus, adiecit et ait: sicut et uestri quidam dixerunt. nouit sane etiam ipsos, in quibus errant, cauere; ubi enim dictum est, quod per ea, quae facta sunt, deus illis manifestauit intellectu conspicienda inuisibilia sua: ibi etiam dictum est non illos ipsum deum recte coluisse, quia et aliis rebus, quibus non oportebat, diuinos honores illi uni tantum debitos detulerunt: quoniam cognoscentes deum non sicut deum glorificauerunt aut gratias egerunt, sed euanuerunt in cogitationibus suis et obscuratum est cor insipiens eorum. dicentes enim se esse sapientes stulti facti sunt et inmutauerunt gloriam incorruptibilis dei in similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis et uolucrum et quadrupedum et serpentium; ubi et Romanos et Graecos et Aegyptios, qui de sapientiae nomine gloriati sunt, fecit intellegi. sed de hoc cum istis postmodum disputabimus. in quo autem nobis consentiunt de uno deo huius uniuersitatis auctore, qui non solum super omnia corpora est incorporeus, uerum etiam super omnes animas incorruptibilis, principium nostrum, lumen nostrum, bonum nostrum, in hoc eos ceteris anteponimus. nec, si litteras eorum Christianus ignorans uerbis, quae non didicit, in disputatione non utitur, ut uel naturalem Latine uel physicam Graece appellet eam partem, in qua de naturae inquisitione tractatur, et rationalem siue logicam, in qua quaeritur quonam modo ueritas percipi possit, et moralem uel ethicam, in qua de moribus agitur bonorumque finibus adpetendis malorumque uitandis, ideo nescit ab uno uero deo atque optimo et naturam nobis esse, qua facti ad eius imaginem sumus, et doctrinam, qua eum nosque nouerimus, et gratiam, qua illi cohaerendo beati simus. haec itaque causa est cur istos ceteris praeferamus, quia, cum alii philosophi ingenia sua studiaque contriuerint in requirendis rerum causis, et quinam esset modus discendi atque uiuendi, isti deo cognito reppererunt ubi esset et causa constitutae uniuersitatis et lux percipiendae ueritatis et fons bibendae felicitatis. siue ergo isti Platonici siue quicumque alii quarumlibet gentium philosophi de deo ista sentiunt, nobis cum sentiunt. sed ideo cum Platonicis magis agere placuit hanc causam, quia eorum sunt litterae notiores. nam et Graeci, quorum lingua in gentibus praeminet, eas magna praedicatione celebrarunt, et Latini permoti earum uel excellentia uel gloria, ipsas libentius didicerunt atque in nostrum eloquium transferendo nobiliores clarioresque fecerunt.

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The City of God

Chapter 10.--That the Excellency of the Christian Religion is Above All the Science of Philosophers.

For although a Christian man instructed only in ecclesiastical literature may perhaps be ignorant of the very name of Platonists, and may not even know that there have existed two schools of philosophers speaking the Greek tongue, to wit, the Ionic and Italic, he is nevertheless not so deaf with respect to human affairs, as not to know that philosophers profess the study, and even the possession, of wisdom. He is on his guard, however, with respect to those who philosophize according to the elements of this world, not according to God, by whom the world itself was made; for he is warned by the precept of the apostle, and faithfully hears what has been said, "Beware that no one deceive you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the elements of the world." ¹ Then, that he may not suppose that all philosophers are such as do this, he hears the same apostle say concerning certain of them, "Because that which is known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them. For His invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, also His eternal power and Godhead." ² And, when speaking to the Athenians, after having spoken a mighty thing concerning God, which few are able to understand, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being," ³ he goes on to say, "As certain also of your own have said." He knows well, too, to be on his guard against even these philosophers in their errors. For where it has been said by him, "that God has manifested to them by those things which are made His invisible things, that they might be seen by the understanding," there it has also been said that they did not rightly worship God Himself, because they paid divine honors, which are due to Him alone, to other things also to which they ought not to have paid them,--"because, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God: neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and of birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things;" ⁴ --where the apostle would have us understand him as meaning the Romans, and Greeks, and Egyptians, who gloried in the name of wisdom; but concerning this we will dispute with them afterwards. With respect, however, to that wherein they agree with us we prefer them to all others namely, concerning the one God, the author of this universe, who is not only above every body, being incorporeal, but also above all souls, being incorruptible--our principle, our light, our good. And though the Christian man, being ignorant of their writings, does not use in disputation words which he has not learned,--not calling that part of philosophy natural (which is the Latin term), or physical (which is the Greek one), which treats of the investigation of nature; or that part rational, or logical, which deals with the question how truth may be discovered; or that part moral, or ethical, which concerns morals, and shows how good is to be sought, and evil to be shunned,--he is not, therefore, ignorant that it is from the one true and supremely good God that we have that nature in which we are made in the image of God, and that doctrine by which we know Him and ourselves, and that grace through which, by cleaving to Him, we are blessed. This, therefore, is the cause why we prefer these to all the others, because, whilst other philosophers have worn out their minds and powers in seeking the causes of things, and endeavoring to discover the right mode of learning and of living, these, by knowing God, have found where resides the cause by which the universe has been constituted, and the light by which truth is to be discovered, and the fountain at which felicity is to be drunk. All philosophers, then, who have had these thoughts concerning God, whether Platonists or others, agree with us. But we have thought it better to plead our cause with the Platonists, because their writings are better known. For the Greeks, whose tongue holds the highest place among the languages of the Gentiles, are loud in their praises of these writings; and the Latins, taken with their excellence, or their renown, have studied them more heartily than other writings, and, by translating them into our tongue, have given them greater celebrity and notoriety.