On the Trinity

Author: Augustine
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: On the Trinity is one of Augustine's most important theological and philosophical works, discussing the relationship between God and humanity from the perspective of the Trinity itself. It holds that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are inseparable and share a single divine substance. The last eight volumes, which discuss the mental structure of "man as the image of the Trinity," hold an extremely important position in both Western theological history and the history of philosophy. Many contemporary Western historians of philosophy have found the "Augustinian source" for Descartes and the entire modern and contemporary philosophy in these last eight volumes.
Augustine (Aurelius Augustinus, 354–430 AD) was the culmination of Patristic philosophy. He was a theologian and philosopher who applied philosophy to Christian doctrine, thereby establishing a system of Christian religious philosophy. His mother was a devout Christian. At the age of 7, he entered primary school; at 12, he attended a grammar school; at 17, he studied rhetoric at Carthage; at 19, he developed an interest in philosophy and explored the origins of good and evil, leading him to convert to Manichaeism. After graduating from the rhetoric school, he taught rhetoric in Carthage for eight years before moving to Milan to teach rhetoric again. At the age of 33, he abandoned Manichaeism and converted to Christianity. In 396 AD, he became the bishop of Hippo in northwest North Africa, and he died in 430 AD.
Augustine used philosophy to explain Christian doctrine, integrating philosophy with religion. He employed Platonic theories such as the Theory of Forms and the immortality of the soul to interpret the Bible, adding his own developments and innovations, thereby laying a theoretical foundation for Christianity. As a result, the Christian philosophy he founded became an important component of medieval Christian doctrine and one of the authoritative sources for Scholasticism. In his important work Confessions, he combines his personal experiences to elaborate on his views on education. His educational philosophy became the theoretical foundation for medieval Christian education.