Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

“None Come Closer to Us than These:” Augustine and the Platonists

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dc.creator Kenney, John Peter
dc.date 2017-09-20T18:28:04Z
dc.date 2017-09-20T18:28:04Z
dc.date 2016-09-01
dc.date 2017-09-20T18:28:04Z
dc.date.accessioned 2023-03-01T18:53:34Z
dc.date.available 2023-03-01T18:53:34Z
dc.identifier Kenney, J.P. “None Come Closer to Us than These:” Augustine and the Platonists. Religions 2016, 7, 114.
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10919/79296
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7090114
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/281739
dc.description This paper reflects on the importance of pagan Platonism to one of its most sympathetic Christian interpreters, Augustine of Hippo. Its goal is to uncover what Platonism meant to Augustine and why it mattered so much to him throughout his long career. To that end the essay begins by considering salient developments in the study of Platonism over the last fifty years, with particular attention to several crucial shifts in interpretation and consequent changes in its contemporary representation. It then follows those leads into the study of Augustine, considering closely how he himself described the import of Platonism and what it contributed to his development. Brief consideration is first given to Augustine’s earliest works. Attention then turns to his definitive treatment of the conversionary power of Platonism in Book VII of the Confessions and his later assessment of Platonism in City of God VIII. That inquiry will offer a basis to conclude with some final observations on the interpretation of Platonism in the study of Augustine.
dc.description Published version
dc.format application/pdf
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language en
dc.publisher MDPI
dc.rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
dc.rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject Platonism
dc.subject Augustine of Hippo
dc.subject monotheism
dc.subject transcendence
dc.subject Catholic Christianity
dc.title “None Come Closer to Us than These:” Augustine and the Platonists
dc.title Religions
dc.type Article - Refereed
dc.type Text


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