An Analysis Of Augustine’s Ethical Thought

Augustine,a young man,had been troubled by the question of good and evil.As he studied and looked for answers that could explain good and evil,in the process,he met Cicero’s Holton West,and began to pursue "love "," good "," wisdom" and so on,and hoped to solve the entanglement of good and evil by believing in the monastic dualism.However,as Augustine grew up and learned to study and think deeply,he found that even the most debating Doctor of Mani could not explain his doubts.In the pursuit of the answer,he finally converted to Christianity,and even became a monk and priest,bishop,Christianity for the rest of his life Industry and destination.In the debate with pagan beliefs and Christian heresy theology,Augustine continued the early godfather theologians to explain biblical theology with classical philosophy,and to follow the path of biblical theology to transcend classical philosophy.The core of God’s grace and salvation laid the foundation of Christian theology.Augustine was honored by the later church as "Dr.Grace" and became one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church.His thoughts not only influenced the development of the later generations of the church,but also influenced the evolution of western civilization in a To a certain extent,it contributed to the transformation of Greek and Roman classical civilization to modern western civilization.This article mainly studies his Christian theology with the theme of Augustine’s ethical thought,starting from the following parts:The first part mainly expounds the theoretical origin of Augustine’s ethical thought.The formation of his thought can not be separated from his own thinking and life experience,the influence of other philosophers and theologians,and the social background at that time.In his youth,troubled by lust,good and evil,and in order to eliminate the trouble,he believed that after a few years of practicing Manichaeism,Manichaeism could not give a more complete answer to his question,and finally converted to Christianity.The formation of Augustine’s thought can not be separated from the influence of the early Christian theologians on him.He absorbed the views of the Bible,Neo-Platonism,stoicism and early Christian theology.He lives In the era of social and political turmoil,the Christian church also faced the threat of war,heresy and pagan.In order to establish the right faith and maintain the stability and interests of the church,he created excellent works and formed the ethical thought of his own love.The second part combs the main contents of Augustine’s ethical thought.In Augustine’s view,love is first and foremost a desire,a movement,love points to a goal and all movements are constantly directed towards its goal,love is also a desire,there is a holy love and love,holy love is toward God,this is eternal love,and greed is temporary,undeserving love.In the flow of love,the Holy Spirit "runs on the water ",allowing the world to see God’s love and accept God’s love.The Holy Spirit transforms love into a plural form of love that is not just the desire of the self,and "grace" nourishes these beings The plural form of love,and make it constantly flow.Build a self-community,love yourself,and love others.In the universe,everything is orderly,the higher order dominates the lower order,the same level can not dominate each other,man can be regarded as a "microcosm ",the human soul should dominate the body,if the lower order is dominated by creation,the same level dominates each other,the body dominates the soul.Love is also orderly,only in the correct order of love can enjoy true happiness.Love of your neighbor and your brother Ask Christians to love everyone,including strangers and enemies,because they may one day accept baptism and join the church as a "fellowship ".In the City of God,Augustine distinguishes between two different kinds of love that cause two different human societies(cities).Those who love God,obey God’s orders,follow spiritual life,and be humble live in the City of God.On the contrary,those who despise God and proudly follow their own physical life are punished like demons and live in the earthly city.God creates people and gives them free will,and will determines one’s behavior,and one can choose Choose good,you can also choose to do evil,but free will is weak,easy to be led astray,only through love can overcome,people should choose higher than their own things,choose good,so as to achieve a happy life.The third part is about the evaluation of Augustine’s ethical thought.Augustine’s ethical thought of love is basically based on his faith,his understanding of "love" is based on God as the core,on the basis of God,he attaches importance to the inner love for God,that only God is eternal,abandoned the pursuit of the real world.In his view,Christians should obey God’s commandments and laws,love God to love God,that is,love,all people as God’s creation,there are inevitable limitations.In the thought of love,Augustine inherited the views of the classical philosophers and adopted Christ The holy love of religion reformed and superseded them,formed the ethical thought of Christian love,and formed different ideological styles from classical thinkers,especially in the spiritual order,the expression and restraint of their inner self’s boredom,melancholy,repentance,ecstasy and other emotions,which fully reflected Augustine’s "modern" breath different from classical philosophy.His exposition of "love" laid the foundation of the ethical thought of Christian love and had a great influence on later generations.All philosophers,such as Aquinas and Luther,and theologians were all influenced by it.On the basis of inheriting his viewpoint,he further explained and enriched the understanding of Christian "love ".