Literature and History Episode 101: Against the Pagans (Augustine's City of God, Part 1 of 2)
Feb 4, 2023
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Episode notes
Israel As Providential Precursor
- Augustine interprets Jewish history as part of God's providential plan leading to Christianity.
- He claims Israel's fortunes reflected fidelity or sin toward the one true God.
Foreknowledge And Free Will Reconciled
- Augustine balances divine foreknowledge with human free will, saying God knows choices but humans still freely decide.
- He situates this midway between Stoic fate and Cicero's radical free will.
Platonism: Close But Incomplete
- Augustine criticizes pagan theology and ritual excesses, yet praises Plato as closest to Christian thought.
- He views Neoplatonism’s intermediaries and theurgy as misguided compared to Christ.